Be like a tire!

“We have to live with sincerity and without hypocrisy, self-righteousness, and pharisaism. The course of our life should resemble the course of a tire of a car. In a tire there is one point that touches the ground but the rest is raised above it. Let us have the same in our lives, by not being immersed completely on earthly material concerns.”

Saint Ambrosios of Optina

Translated by Dr. Nick Stergiou

http://www.orthodoxpath.org/spiritual-life/be-like-a-tire/

A CASE OF OBEDIENCE

A CASE OF OBEDIENCE

A selection from the book “The Life and Instructions of Saint Ambrose of Optina. ”

Not long before the repose of Elder Ambrose, about two years, I had to go to Optina to collect some money. We had made an iconostasis there, and I went to get the payment for our work, a rather substantial sum of money, from the superior. I received the money, and before leaving went to get a blessing from Elder Ambrose for the trip home. I was in a hurry to get back because the following day some people were coming to place a large order, amounting to several tens of thousands.

That day there was as usual a packed crowd of people waiting to see the Elder. He was told that I was waiting, and through his cell-attendant gave instructions that I was to come to him that evening for tea. Although I was anxious to get on my way, the joy and honor of being invited to have tea with the Elder overweighed all other considerations, and I decided to postpone my return trip until the evening, certain that if I travelled all night I would make it home in time.