No wonder then that it is hard to be a Christian. It is not hard, it is impossible. No one can knowingly accept a way of life which, the more truly it is lived, leads the more surely to ones own destruction.
Father Seraphim (Rose) of Platina
Let us not, who would be Christians, expect anything else from it than to be crucified. For to be Christian is to be crucified, in this time, and in any time since Christ came for the first time. His life is the example and a warning to us all. We must be crucified personally, mystically, for through crucifixion is the only path to resurrection. If we would rise with Christ, we must first die with Him, be humbled with Him even to the ultimate humiliation, being devoured an spit forth by the uncomprehending world. And we must be crucified outwardly, in the eyes of the world, for Christ's Kingdom is not of this world, and the world cannot bear it, even a single representative of it, even for a single moment.
The world can only accept Antichrist, now or at any time.
No wonder then that it is hard to be a Christian. It is not hard, it is impossible. No one can knowingly accept a way of life which, the more truly it is lived, leads the more surely to ones own destruction. And that is why we constantly rebel, try to make life easier, try to be half-Christian, try to make the best of both worlds.
We must ultimately choose, for our felicity lies either in one world or the other, not in both. God give us the strength to pursue the path of crucifixion for there is no other way to be a Christian.
+ Glory to God for All Things +
Comments