on inner peace

[Miriam]

On inner peace.
Inner peace is acquired through sorrows. The Scriptures say: We went through fire and through water; but Thou has brought us out into a tranquil place (Psalm 66:12). For those who wish to please God, the path lies through many sorrows. How can we worship the holy martyrs for the suffering they endured for the sake of God, when we ourselves are unable to endure even a single spark? Thus we must concentrate all our thoughts, wishes and actions towards attaining the peace of God. We must do our best to preserve this inner peace and not become upset by insults on the part of others; to this end we must make a great effort to restrain our anger, and by means of attentiveness safeguard our mind and heart from unseemly actions. Therefore, we must be totally indifferent to insults from others, and we must attain such a disposition whereby these insults would seem to us to concern others and not ourselves…

Saint Seraphim of Sarov.

[Maria]

Thanks for posting this.

I am studying Job, Isaiah and the Aeneid in college, and the question came up why do we suffer? Would a good God allow such evil to exist?

I think of a man who had a terminal illness. He began to prepare for his death and people told him to not think of death but to ask for healing. His reply: I've lived a long life already, and I've laughed at death and not taken care of my soul. Now I know I have but a few months left and I must pray and repent. I would not ask God to heal me, because then I would fall back to my old bad habits. No. God gave me this suffering to prepare me to meet Him. I plan to use my remaining days wisely. My suffering is my way to salvation.