wisdom for wednesday (VII)
Weekly wisdom continues as we head into the sunny and stormy mid to late July. In the summer - the sky can be deceiving in one instance blue skies and in a matter of moments the atmosphere changes with dark clouds rain, hail and wind descending.
It is what came to mind as I read from the Philokalia this morning.
- “I entreat you not to leave your heart unguarded, as long as you are in the body. Just as a farmer cannot feel confident about the crop growing in his fields, because he does not know what will happen to it before it is stored away in his granary, so a man should not leave his heart unguarded as long as he still has breath in his nostrils. Up to his last breath he cannot know what passion will attack him; as long as he breathes, therefore, he must not leave his heart unguarded, but should at every moment pray to God for his help and mercy.” [St. Isaiah the Solitary from I, On Guarding the Intellect, sec. 15]
