“That he who is drawn into sin against his will should understand that, because he was voluntarily mastered by another sin committed previously, he is now, as a consequence of this first sin, led into another against his will.”
Morals, Rule 23, by St. Basil the Great (330-70)
An intriguing view of addiction and addictive behaviors I had not previously considered. And one, I might add, that’s extremely unpopular in 21st-century America’s religion of Therapeutic Moralistic Deism.
“That the Christian should not fear nor be distressed in difficult circumstances, and thus be distracted from his trust in God; but he should take courage as if the Lord were at hand directing his affairs and strengthening him against all his adversaries and as if the Holy Spirit were instructing him even as to the very replies he should make to his foes.”
Morals, Rule 63, by St. Basil the Great
How enlightening! How sublime! How fleeting! Intellectually I know this, yet at the slightest sighting of dark clouds on the horizon, how quickly this slips from my fingertips and I slip into despair. This is something to memorize, something to recite during the long dark nights and just before job interviews and when I approach parents of my daughter’s friends and as I hold a manuscript in my hands and hesitate before hitting the SEND button.
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