Einstein once said something wonderful… Do not worry,
it is not about physics or chemistry. “The significant problems we have cannot
be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them”. I
believe this statement to be absolutely true. Your mistake now is precisely
this: you try to solve your problem only with your thoughts. But look, your own
thoughts have brought you into this condition, your thoughts have led you to
the destruction of yourself.
You would say: “What should I do? The thoughts I have
are only my own, not someone else’s”. However, there is another thought. There
is someone else’s mind besides yours: the Mind of Christ. You can do what the
Apostle Paul said, “Acquire the Thought and the Mind of Christ”. This refers to
another condition. In other words, you ask Christ to enter His atmosphere. This
may be achieved in a few hours, in a few days, and even right now if Christ
wants to perform a miracle. Right this very minute. Say, “O Christ, give me
Your mind”. “We have the mind of Christ”, said the Apostle Paul. One should
regard the events that happen around us the same way Christ would regard them:
without excessive attachment. Identifying yourself with a problem leads to the
loss of hope. Some people have lived with the Mind of Christ. They have
succeeded. They have managed to live through deaths, many disappointments,
dramatic stories, countless diseases, and various life miseries.
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| Archimandrite Andrew (Konanos) |
Just imagine: you have lost a child, some vital organ
of your body, health or anything you can think of. How would you bear it all?
However, people have suffered worse. Their secret was that they had acquired
the mind of Christ. It is not easy. I am sorry that in difficult moments of
your life I am giving you harsh advice acting like a know-it-all.
It is not my purpose. I have gone through difficulties
before, the pain from which makes me immobile. Yet now when writing this,
speaking to you like during a confession, I am in a good condition, thus I can
give you some advice. Indeed if I felt
any pain, I would not be able to speak like this. I would not even want to hear
anything. Even think. I would be completely immersed in my misfortune.
Reading these lines, you can do something too. After
all, you have put up with it for so long listening to me despite your problems
and the fact that you are losing hope and you want to cry, we are spending time
together now. It is a very good step. It is essential to let someone touch you
and open up. Open your mind, open your soul and say, “Maybe, some day, some
time, at some point, maybe, right now I will look at my life differently. If I
do so, then I will smile, since having looked differently I will say, “Problems
may be solved, they really pass. These will too. I must continue to live making
efforts”.
From the
book “On Certain Difficulties in Marriage”
by
Archimandrite Andrew (Konanos)
Source: http://www.pravmir.com/archimandrite-andrew-konanos-we-do-not-think-right-hence-all-the-ills-of-lifetroubles-there-is-a-completely-different-way/
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