A Choice

“…I opened the book to the section of Peter Damascene and began reading the following: ‘It is more necessary to learn to call on the name of God than it is to breathe. The Apostle Paul says that we are to pray without ceasing and by this he means that man is to remember God at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances. If you are making something, you should remember the Creator of all things; if you see light, you should remember Him who gave it to you; if you see the heavens, the earth, and sea and all that is in them, you should marvel and praise God who called them all into being; if you are clothing yourself, remember the blessings of your Creator and praise Him for being concerned about your well-being. In short, every action of every day should cause you to remember and praise God, and if you do this, then you will be praying ceaselessly and your soul will always be joyful.’ Then I said: ‘Do you see how convenient and simple this method of ceaseless prayer is and that it can be attained by anyone who has some human feelings?’

…

The fact is that we are alienated from ourselves and have little desire really to know ourselves; we run in order to avoid meeting ourselves and we exchange truth for trinkets while we say, ‘I would like to have time for prayer and the spiritual life but the cares and difficulties of this life demand all my time and energies.’ And what is more important and necessary, the eternal life of the soul or the temporary life of the body about which man worries so much? It is this choice which man makes that either leads him to wisdom or keeps him in ignorance.’’

~Anonymous 19th Century Russian Peasant (from The Way of a Pilgrim)