Logismoi and controlling thoughts

[frphoti]

My uncle was a Seventh-Day Adventist minister. Almost ten years ago he went in for knee surgery. When he was preparing to go home, he asked my aunt if she had remembered to pick up his prescriptions before they left so they wouldn't have to go and wait in the pharmacy. She slapped her palm to her forehead in embarrassment and said that she hadn't. To that, my uncle laid into her with a tirade of names and mean words. Without responding to his insults at all, she went down to get the medication and heard over the intercom system, "Code 99, Room XX. Code 99, Room XX." She knew from her years of hospital work that that meant someone was "coding" or in an emergency state in the mentioned room. Likely it was cardiac arrest; she had heard that alarm more times than she cared to remember.

She got his medication and went back up to the room. It had taken about a half-hour due to the busy pharmacy. When she got around the corner from her husband's room, she noticed a large number of nurses and attendants surrounding the area in front of it. One of the nurses whom she recognized turned and noticed her. "There! That's her, that's his wife." She started to shake as she walked into a dream. The worst possibility started to creep into her conscience; it was her husband the code was called for.

When she started to wade through all the people, her worst fears were realized: it was him. Just moments after she left the room, he had a massive heart attack. He died almost instantly, and they could not bring him back. The whole time she was waiting in the pharmacy, he was dying. The last memory of him that she had was of him berating her over a prescription. His last act on this earth-so far as we know- was to yell profanities at his wife.

This homily I am posting is about the conscious awareness of what is going on in our minds, and that we ought at all times to keep our hearts and minds on Sweetest Lord. We do not know when we will die. We do not know at what moment we will meet our Judgement, so we should proceed through our lives with the greatest care. "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."

“Behold, the Bridegroom cometh in the middle of the night, and blessed is that servant whom He shall find watching, and again unworthy is he whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul, lest thou be borne down with sleep; lest thou be given up to death, and be shut out from the kingdom. But rather rouse thyself and cry: Holy, Holy, Holy art Thou, O God; through the Theotokos, have mercy on us.” Amen.

http://monasticlibrary.org/way-of-walter-mitty

[Barbara]

This is SUCH A MARVELOUS POST !

It really struck a positive chord !
I would love to see more like this.

I am not sure what the "monasticlibrary" is, but if they have more like that, please do post them.

This is really powerful !

I strongly believe that one must THINK FIRST before uttering any word, whatsoever.
Never "just talk " in a way which can be manipulated by demons, due to the incoherent nature of the target's brain.
This is common today, in fact, often with those on various things that twist the brain out of shape.

I am not a fan of discussing things about the brain itself, because I like to look at the spiritual warfare component always first.

But I HAVE learned that there can be correlations. I suspect that demons have some entree into for example, the frontal lobe,
where people who are weak here tend to make decisions without any control over themselves.
Ordinary ways of describing that would be "Making choices without thinking them through well first".
But it's way deeper than that.

[I am studying this idea a bit, just forming some thoughts.]

I see that the way that this man treated his wife is associated with LACK of control over impulses, AND much else.

Notice how long suffering she was ; did not reply to his insults or scream back. Very admirable !
There is a lesson in that, too.

[Maria]

Lord have mercy.

Thanks for posting this awesome homily, Father.

[Barbara]

I think REAL LIFE EXAMPLES are always the most effective ways to illustrate spiritual lessons.
Narratives like that one is a good way to drive a point home, as it furnishes all the details and presents
a vivid picture of emotions and events.

Thank you again, fr photi !