Category Archives: Stories of Faith

Humble, Merciful, and Ascetic

Let us have a humble spirit. May we be careful to never see the sins of others, only our own sins. We, however, want to fix other people, but don’t want to fix ourselves. Eh…does this happen, though? No, we don’t fix ourselves! Our brother is not to blame for whatever happens, our spiritual condition is to blame. It’s this condition of ours that upsets us, which makes us judgmental, which causes us to get angry. We mustn’t blame others for these things. The causes are within us. If we ever do or think something good, let us not regard it as our own achievement, but the achievement of God. And let us say, “You, my God, You gave it to me. It’s yours and You allowed it and gave me the strength to do it.” In this way, we chase thoughts of vainglory far from us. Continue reading →

There is a story of a high school senior who upon graduating his father takes him to a car dealership to select a gift. They found a car and the father said that he would take care of the rest. Graduation came and the young man’s father said, ‘Congratulations for finishing with honors, I want you to have this.’ And he handed him a Bible. His son was furious! ‘How dare you go back on your word and not give me the car.’ The boy said, as he threw the Bible down and left. The boy went away to college and never had anything to do with his father for the rest of his life. Continue reading →