"Amma Syncletica said 'Great endeavors and hard struggles await those who are converted, but afterwards inexpressible joy. If you want to light a fire, you are troubled at first by smoke, and your eyes water. But in the end you achieve your aim. Now it is written "Our God is a consuming fire". So we must light the divine fire in us with tears and struggle.'"
- Sayings of The Desert Fathers, as quoted in The Roots Of Christian Mysticism (Olivier Clement)
Indeed. Nothing worthwhile ever happens without struggle.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet in our modern world John, I wonder how much people are trained to actually realize that. In a "push button/click on the screen and get it" world, such things might seem like the true kiss of death.
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