Welcome to Maxim Monday #13!
Fr. Thomas Hopko says in his podcast, “Do not engage intrusive thoughts and feelings. When feelings come upon you, when thoughts come upon you, don’t engage them. If you accept them, they’ve got you, and you will sin. So you’ve got to cut them off, right at the very start.”
Thaddeus of Vitovnica in the book Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica
Our life depends on the kind of thoughts we nurture. If our thoughts are peaceful, calm, meek, and kind, then that is what our life is like. If our attention is turned to the circumstances in which we live, we are drawn into a whirlpool of thoughts and can have neither peace nor tranquility.
Elder Paisios of the Holy Moutain has been known to say,
Thoughts are like airplanes flying in the air. If you ignore them, there is no problem. If you pay attention to them, you create an airport inside your head and permit them to land!
It isn’t until they land that they become sin. So “do not engage them”, they are merely invaders, intruders. Shoo them away at the start!
Priestmonk Christodoulos Aggeloglou tells us in Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain
Elder Paisios tells us that, if we are to grow in love toward our fellow man, we are to cut off those thoughts and feelings which are an offense against love: that is, judgments and resentments. He counseled that “We should never, even under the worst circumstances, allow a negative thought to penetrate our soul. The person, who, under all circumstances, is inclined to have positive thoughts, will always be a winner; his life will be a constant festivity, since it is constantly based on positive thinking” .
We get much advice on the importance of cutting off those intrusive, negative thoughts. Let us work hard this week to cut off those negative thoughts and build a city of good, beautiful reminders that dwell all around us.
Have a blessed week, my joys!
Kindler of Joy! 