Ek lees weer, danksy Mark Sedrak die volgende anekdote:
A brother once met abbot Macarius the Egyptian, and said to him, 'Abba, say something to me that I may be saved.'
The old man said, 'Go to the burying-ground and revile the dead.'
The brother went, and reviled them, and threw stones at them, and came and reported to the old man.
He said to him, 'Did they not answer thee?'
He said, 'No.' The old man said, 'Go again tomorrow and praise them.'
So the brother went, and praised them, calling them apostles, and saints, and righteous men, and came to the old man, and said, ' I praised them.' And he said to him, ' Did they answer? ' The brother said, No.'
The old man said, 'For as much as you insulted them, they answered nothing, and for as much as you praised them, and they said nothing to you. If you want to be saved, become dead like them. Think nothing of the wrongs done by men, nor of their praise, any more than the dead do and you may be saved.'
Macarius the Great, Pseudo-Macarius: The Fifty Spiritual Homilies and the Great Letter.
Op 'n mees algemene vlak sou 'n mens die episode kan sien as 'n stukkie wysheid dat 'n mens se geestelike reis nie deur uiterlike dinge gestuur moet word nie. Die beledigings en lofprysinge van ander maak nie van jou wat jy is nie.
Op 'n meer spesifieke vlak sou 'n mens kon sê dat dit die toewyding aan jou roeping is wat jou maak wat jy is. 'n Mens se identiteit word nie deur uiterlike dinge bepaal nie.
A brother once met abbot Macarius the Egyptian, and said to him, 'Abba, say something to me that I may be saved.'
The old man said, 'Go to the burying-ground and revile the dead.'
The brother went, and reviled them, and threw stones at them, and came and reported to the old man.
He said to him, 'Did they not answer thee?'
He said, 'No.' The old man said, 'Go again tomorrow and praise them.'
So the brother went, and praised them, calling them apostles, and saints, and righteous men, and came to the old man, and said, ' I praised them.' And he said to him, ' Did they answer? ' The brother said, No.'
The old man said, 'For as much as you insulted them, they answered nothing, and for as much as you praised them, and they said nothing to you. If you want to be saved, become dead like them. Think nothing of the wrongs done by men, nor of their praise, any more than the dead do and you may be saved.'
Macarius the Great, Pseudo-Macarius: The Fifty Spiritual Homilies and the Great Letter.
Op 'n mees algemene vlak sou 'n mens die episode kan sien as 'n stukkie wysheid dat 'n mens se geestelike reis nie deur uiterlike dinge gestuur moet word nie. Die beledigings en lofprysinge van ander maak nie van jou wat jy is nie.
Op 'n meer spesifieke vlak sou 'n mens kon sê dat dit die toewyding aan jou roeping is wat jou maak wat jy is. 'n Mens se identiteit word nie deur uiterlike dinge bepaal nie.
