work on yourself

--> One morning I noticed that the people of my town did not respect me any more. Troubled, I sought to understand why. At last I found that it had nothing to do with them and everything to do with me. I simply had lost all respect for myself. And why should others be more charitable than I? So I decided to work on myself. As a result, people around me began to treat me with increased consideration.

Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev

[from Souls on Fire by Elie Wiesel]

fear God as much as man

--> When Rabbi Jochanan was ill, his pupils visited him and asked him for blessing. With his dying voice The Rabbi said, "I pray that you may fear God as you fear man." . "What!" acclaimed his pupils, "should we not fear God more than man?"

"I should be well content," answered the sage, "if your actions proved that you feared Him as much. When you do wrong you first make sure that no human eyes see you; show the same fear of God, who sees everywhere, and everything, at all times."

from Talmud

The seal of the Holy one

--> God is righteous; be ye also righteous. Righteousness means love of truth, hatred of lying and backbiting. The seal of the Holy one, blessed be He, is Truth, of which actions of man should also bear the impress. Hence let thy yea be yea and thy nay, nay. He who is honest in money transactions, unto him this is reckoned  as if he had fulfilled the whole of the Torah.



from the Talmud

Beast of burden

Isachar an agile beast of burden ....saw that leisure was a good thing........so he bowed his shoulder to bear. (Genesis49:14-15)

Rabi Bunim asked , "If he saw that leisure was a good thing, why did he bow his shoulder to bear a burden?"

Rabi Bunim answers, "Leisure is enjoyable only if one can bear a burden.The person for whom the burdens of life are intolerable , cannot have any leisure either. He never knows peace."

There are some things in life which are unchangeable and they are the burdens we must bear. The reasons for these are known only to God. But if we can accept them with faith,, then we can enjoy serenity. If we defiantly refuse to accept the unchangeable, we can never know a moment's rest, because as long as we are struggling to throw off an inescapable burden , we can never be at rest.

Abraham J Twerski

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On Tolerance

THE patriarch Abraham sat at the door of his tent. It was evening, when he was wont to watch for any strangers who might pass by, for all such he bade enter his tent. He espied an old man coming toward him, leaning on his staff, weary with travel and bent with age, for he was a hundred years old. Abraham rose and asked the old man to come into the tent. He washed his feet, gave him the best seat, and set meat before him. The old man ate his supper in silence, but he offered no prayer before he ate.
"Why dost thou not first worship the God of heaven?" asked Abraham.
"I worship fire only; I know no other God," said the old man.
At that Abraham was very angry and drove his guest out into the dark night. Then God called Abraham and said to him:—
"Where is that stranger who was in thy tent?"
"I thrust him out," said the patriarch, "because he did not worship Thee."
  Then God answered Abraham out of heaven:—
"I have suffered him these hundred years, although he did not honor me, and couldst thou not endure him one night when he gave thee no trouble?"
Then was Abraham very sorry, and went and brought the old man back, and gave him rest and sent him on his way in the morning.


From the Book of Legends by Horace E Scudder

On how much we care about our bodies and how much we care about our souls.

The Bible tells us: "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" (Mark 8:36) That is how precious the human soul is. It is more precious than the whole earth with all its treasures and blessings. However, it’s frightening to think how little we understand our soul’s worth. From morning to night, we direct all our thoughts to the body, the housing for worms, this fallen coffin, and on God’s most precious and beloved creation, on His image of glory and majesty, we hardly spare one thought in a week. We spend the most flourishing years of our life in serving our body, and only the last minutes of our decrepit old age, toward eternal salvation. Daily, the body indulges itself with full cups and sumptuous dishes, as though at a rich man’s feast, while the soul barely gathers crumbs of God’s words on His doorstep. The insignificant body is washed, dressed, cleaned, adorned with all types of treasures from nature and the sciences, while the priceless soul, the bride of Jesus Christ, inheritor of Heaven, wanders with exhausted steps, donned in clothing of a poor wanderer that is without charity.

The body doesn’t tolerate one blemish on its face, any dirt on its hands, not one patch on its clothing, while the soul, from head to toe, covered with filth, that goes from one sinful quagmire to another, and its yearly confessional which is often hypocritical, only increases its patches rather than rejuvenating it. The body demands various forms of diversions and gratifications; it frequently ravages whole families, for its sake people sometimes are willing to exert all types of efforts while the soul - has barely one hour on Sundays to partake in the Divine Liturgy, scarcely minutes for morning and evening prayers, reluctantly collects a handful of copper coins for charity and when thinking about death, expresses its satisfaction with a cold sigh. For the sake of health and welfare of the body, the atmosphere and habitat is substituted, foremost and distant physicians are summoned, there is abstinence from food and drink, the most bitter medicines are consumed, the body is allowed to be burned and dissected, yet for the health of the soul, for the avoidance of temptations, for distancing away from sinful infection, they take not one step but remain in the same atmosphere, in the same iniquitous society, in the same corrupt house, not seeking any spiritual physician, or else selecting one that is unfamiliar and inexperienced, hiding from him that which is already known to Heaven and hell, and about which they themselves boast among their circles. When the body is dying, you hear lamentations and despair, but often no thought is given when the soul is dying from mortal sin.

Like Adam and Eve, we don’t know the value of our soul and give it away for a seemingly rich yield.

At least why don’t we cry like Adam and Eve? Unfortunately, in the main, our concerns are for acquiring earthly benefits and not Heavenly ones. We forget that earthly gains soon pass and cannot be retained, while Heavenly gains are eternal, endless and cannot be taken away. Most gracious Lord! Help us to despise everything transient and concern ourselves only with the needs to save our souls.

Elder Ambrose 

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Do not wish for many things

Do not wish for many things, whether they are within or out of reach. Instead, take care to sanctify the little you have.

Mother Gabriel

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