“Would we but apply Christ’s teaching to all our problems, we would see that there are great challenges for us to meet and that God has a purpose in every situation….The way of Jesus Christ is not always the easy way out. Christ demands of us patience, courage and the power of sacrifice. These qualities are intimately related to the precept of love: “Love ye one another, as I have loved you” (Jn. 15:12). As Jesus loved us! That love cost Him the ultimate sacrifice. For us to love each other means the same readiness to give our lives for our friends. Jesus never said that His would be the easy way, but it would be full of blessings. “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, falsely, for My sake” (Mt. 5:11). Jesus warned us that we would suffer persecution, and even that the persecutors would think they were serving God. Meekness and mildness were not the only precepts He preached. He indicated that there were times when we would have to fight for our belief, for HIM. He promised us peace—His peace, but not such as the world gives (see Jn. 14:27). His peace, which stands as a rock unmoved in a sea of trouble, is that of the spirit and mind.”

~ From ‘Life Transfigured’ journal of the Monastery of the Transfiguration

***Now and then we include a particularly thought provoking or inspiring excerpt not from one of our regular ‘Elders’***