Divine Eros Makes Prayer Imperative
“A person was upset with his wife. At noontime, when he got tired at work, he asked himself where he should go. He went to Elli, his wife, to get some rest.”
“Do you hear my child do you hear? He was very tired. He went to a certain place.
They talked and he rested. Because the flame of love was present, he found rest. This is a great thing.”
“Do we have divine love for Christ?
“If we are exhausted, we should approach Him through prayer so that we can find rest.
“You said to me that you got tired during prayer and during the service. What is missing? Divine love is missing.”
“How will we acquire it, Elder?”
“It is not dependent on our own efforts. It is a gift of God.
“He loves us first if we are pleasing to him. Our own attempts and external influences may bring about the opposite result to our souls: It may bring abhorrence towards spiritual things. And how will God love us? For God to love us something else is needed from us. This is it! We should humble ourselves. We should bow. We should love. We should pray. We should seek God.”
“The responsibilities and the cares of life are not to blame.” He said this as if he were reading my thoughts, that I had so many jobs and responsibilities that the time came and my mind could not bear it any longer.
“Listen so that you may be amazed!
“The other person was a female doctor! Didn’t she have responsibilities in the office, in the Hospital and in the home? But nevertheless, she waited for the proper time after getting terribly tired to be near her beloved. Do you believe this? In that situation tiredness was overcome. Everything is overcome! Do you understand this?”
~Adapted from Monk Agapios, The Divine Flame Elder Porphyrios Lit in My Heart
