We should know that even one tear of repentance is equivalent to a spiritual bath. Just as the body feels refreshed when it bathes, and just as clothes become clean when they are washed, similarly, the tears of a repentant soul purify the heart, purify the mind, purify the body, purify life, purify speech, and purify a person’s every action. Let us kneel and pray with extreme humility! Every repentant soul is given words: it is granted enlightened prayer.
It is necessary for us to receive enlightenment. We should not be deluded by the world. We should not be drawn and attached to earthly things. We should not be weighed down by matters of the present age and this current life.
Rather, we should be affixed to the things above, to the Kingdom of God. Down here on earth, as man advances through the many years of life, he changes due to illness and aging. He is born as a small infant. He then develops into a child, and later an adolescent. He grows old, and finally he returns to God. These progressive stages in age alter man, until he finally matures fully like a well-ripened fruit. As he changes physically, his soul is also changing. If he draws near to God, he receives the things that come from God. We touch an object, for example, and feel if it is warm or cold. We touch a piece of clothing and say it is soft. When we touch wooden furniture we say it is hard. As soon as we touch something, we sense its specific properties.
The same takes place with the soul. When we approach God correctly, we feel and taste His energies. For instance, when we pray, we feel the love of God, the joy of God, the peace of God, the wisdom of God, the compassion of God. Thus, we also become compassionate and loving; we also are enlightened and purified. Just as God is pure, man also becomes pure because he receives the power from God to purify himself. Thus, slowly but surely, his soul is embellished in the eyes of God.
A certain saint would pray with these words: “O Lord, allow me to help others, not for others to help me. Give me the strength to love, not to be loved. Give me the strength to be understanding, not to be understood.” Love, the way it was taught by our Lord, not the way it is distorted by people, is an expression of sacrifice. It is a “sweet-smelling, spiritual aroma” (cf. Eph. 4: 18). It is an expression of the heart, and an offering that issues from a clement soul.
Love is not measured by what you give, but according to how you give. Love is not stretching out your hand only, but giving your heart as well. If you know how to share with others, then you know how to love. “For God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9: 7), declares the Apostle Paul. God loves the merciful person who gives eagerly, with a cheerful face, and on his own accord. Alms offered with sorrow and reluctance are unacceptable and are spurned. The root of charity is found in the heart.
It originates from our heart and ends in the palm of our hands.
Charity transmits warmth to others when the fire of love co-exists. Alms without love is frigid and oppressive. It is a dead corpse void of the sun and light. It is a flower lacking beauty and fragrance. When someone gives without love, he is actually offering an insult. For what value does the most exquisite and expensive gift have when it is offered without a genuine smile?
Elder Ephraim Of Arizona