☦ Orthodox Christianity

[sprinkleeninow]

O, how full of misery, of difficulties, and how grievous is this earthly life! From morning till night, daily, we must carry on a grievous warfare against the carnal passions, fighting against our soul, against "principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places," *whose craft and subtlety are immeasurably evil, infernally artful, indefatigable! O, Sweetest Saviour, Thou Who calleth unto Thyself all those who labour and are heavy-laden — to give them rest! Thou seest: our heart and bosom are wasted from this daily struggle and affliction, we are unnerved, weakened, we walk like shadows. Our evil enemies continually vex our souls, and endeavour by every means to draw us into the abyss of despair. Stretch forth, Master, Thy mighty right hand, and deliver us from the snares of the dragon of olden time, the murderer of men. "If any man will come after Me, said the Lord, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." But who is the daily cause of our cross, our afflictions and distresses? The old carnal man, and the Devil with his continual snares.

*indefatigable, bottomless, continual, non-stop, never-ending, relentless...

Attributed to: Orthodox Faith Blogspot

[hunter]

1. My carnal passions stuff worked out okay in the end.

The other stuff I'm still working on.

[sprinkleeninow]

2. Carnal passions don't necessarily mean what some assume they mean.

Gambling, imbibing to an excess, drug abuse, excessive materialism, getting satisfaction in hurting others through deeds/words and withholding the good from them [hmm, are there adherents to a certain political party easily coming to mind 🤔], avarice, vainglory, greed, self-aggrandizement, polluting nature for monetary gain, ponzi scheme and financial investment 'theft', unreasonable usury...