Despair

“The first to enter heaven was a thief. And the first to enter hell was an apostle of Christ. And how all this happened is a great lesson for us. Therefore, one should never despair nor give up on another.” (Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol)

“A man becomes spiritual insofar as he lives a spiritual life. He begins to see God in all things, to see His power and might in every manifestation.” If a believer sees God’s Almighty hand in all things, then, “Always and everywhere he sees himself abiding in God and dependent on God for all things.”…On the other hand, “But insofar as a man lives a bodily life… he does bodily things; He doesn’t see God in anything, even in the most wondrous manifestations of His Divine power. In all things, he sees [only] bodily and material [things]. Everywhere and always, “God is not before his eyes.”…we despair because we look at the course of this world through earthly eyes. But faith sees God working invisibly and powerfully even in the most difficult and seemingly hopeless circumstances and in otherwise upsetting events.” (St. John of Kronstadt, Fr. Basil)

“Sadness and sorrows are challenges that every person faces on their life path. However, by following the instructions of the Bible and drawing strength from faith, we can learn to deal with them and not let them take over our souls. Believers always find comfort and support in communion with God through prayer and reading the Bible, which helps us keep hope and fight against despondency. We must remember that God is always with us and ready to help us overcome any problems.” (Priest Alexei Taakh)

“…if I suffer from anxiety and despair without trying to deal with or overcome it, I won’t grow spiritually. But by dealing with it, I become stronger. This growth isn’t just for myself, it benefits others too, because having been through it, I know how it feels, what to expect, and can understand the depth of their pain. Because I know firsthand how difficult it is, I won’t simply say: ‘Do your best and God will provide.’ My prayer for them will be different because I have the knowledge of the severity of the temptation. That’s why these issues help us grow spiritually and why God allows them. Otherwise, He wouldn’t allow them.” (Bishop Emilianos)

“Christianity, though aware of the evil and corruption in this world, refuses to surrender to cynicism and despair, affirming instead that futility will not have the final say. Christianity proclaims that Christ has decisively defeated the old order (violence, disease, hurricanes, earthquakes, and so on) even if we do not yet see the final outworking of that victory. As we await the fulfillment of our salvation—both for our own lives and for the earth itself—the Church provides us with practices that embody this hope as tangible ways of affirming the goodness of creation and reaching toward the coming reality wherein God becomes all in all.” (Robin Phillips)

“The greatest sin these days lies in the fact that people are plunged into despair and no longer believe in the resurrection’…People are now in deep despair, ontologically and existentially, because it seems we’ve been deprived of the right to transfiguration, to resurrection.” (Saint Sophrony in Essex, Iraklis Filios)

“Despair. That is the end of all things apart from Christ. However, that same despair rightly frames the event of the resurrection itself. The death of Christ mirrors and accompanies the path of all creation, including ourselves. But it leads us to a moment as surprising as our existence itself (which we take for granted in our ingratitude). That moment is the conquering of death by Life itself, just as Life itself gave (and gives) existence to the universe itself.” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“Christ’s Resurrection marks the victory over death and the consolidation of the hope of immortality. This hope can give courage, provide strength and endurance for people to put up with the problems and pains of this life. The resurrection is the culmination of the Passion, the image which directly succeeds the tragedy of the Cross. It is precisely this that is the hope: the fact that behind the Cross that each person, without exception, bears in this life, there is Christ Who suffers with us, Who gives all of us release, redemption, validation, the resurrection of life and of the conscience, the end of pain and of anguish…‘without the Resurrection there’s nothing more absurd in heaven or under the heavens than this world, nor greater despair than this this life, without immortality’.” (Archimandrite Epiphanios Ekonomou, St. Justin Popovich)

“Christ’s resurrection isn’t some miraculous event in his life. It’s not a personal occurrence with no further reverberations for humanity. There were other occasions mentioned in Holy Scripture when the dead were raised. Lazarus was raised after he’d been dead for four days. Others were raised by Christ and his Apostles. But they all died again and were buried. Christ rose and entered eternity, renewing the whole of the human race and leading it into eternity through his hypostasis: ‘Christ effected the renewal of our nature in his hypostasis’ (St. Isaac the Syrian)

“Without the resurrection there’s nothing more absurd than this world, in heaven or below heaven. Nor is there any greater despair than this life, without immortality. In all the worlds, there’s no more unfortunate creature than the human being who doesn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. This is why, for human beings, the Risen Lord is ‘all in all’ in all worlds. Whatever is Beautiful, Fair, True, Endearing, Joyful, Divine, Sage and Eternal. He is all our Love, all our Truth, all our Joy, all our Good, all our Life, Eternal Life in all eternities and infinitudes.” (St. Justin Popovich)

#SaintSophronyinEssex #IraklisFilios #FatherStephenFreeman #ArchimandriteEpiphaniosEkonomou #StJustinPopovich #StIsaactheSyrian #MetropolitanAthanasiosofLimassol #StJohnofKronstadt #FrBasil #PriestAlexeiTaakh #BishopEmilianos #RobinPhillips