12/12/2019
Artemy Slezkin
Prayers are the unbreakable “steel threads” that we use to “stitch ourselves” to eternity.
We need to make up our minds—who are we with? Who are we for? Under whose banners are we struggling for salvation from the power of the devil and death?
Each of us stands before the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven, the eternal Kingdom of Christ, and each of us holds the key: a life according to the Gospel commandments, active repentance, and tireless mercy.
Praying for others, especially for those who you detest, is bearing their burdens according to the law of love, the law of Christ.
Here on earth all of us humans are Wanderers and strangers. We are guests who have been allowed to wander here for a short time to collect treasures that will be useful to us in Heaven.
As for saying “I can’t” when, in fact, “I can”—this is playing a double game with ourselves. By our “I don’t want to,” when it actually should be “I can,” we deal cunningly with God.
Death will take life from our bodies, but our souls’ eternal life will continue. And it is this eternal life that we must implore the Lord to grant us every day, every hour, and with every sigh.
