"Remember Thy First Love" by Archimandrite Zacharias Part II

I just finished Remember Thy First Love and am blown away with the spiritual insight that is given by Archimandrite Zacharias.  This is one of his best books yet, and longest!  But this book touches so many levels of the spiritual journey/path that we Orthodox are called upon that this is a must read for all!!!!  I am glowing with joy and my heart is rejoicing with praise for the insight that is given within the book.  As usual I will write down a few excerpts from the book:

"If we are to belong to the Church of Christ, the new creation, we need the gift of faith.  This gift is the most important of the many gifts which the Holy Spirit bestows upon the members of the Body of Christ.  Our gift of faith will attach us to this glorious Body, the Church, of which Christ Himself is the Head, and will allow us to enter into communion with the abundance of divine life that flows from the Head of this Body into its members."


"We see that God judges us with respect to the generation in which we live."


"But we are wholly responsible for the direction we choose to follow: we can either remain inert and lifeless, or we can engage with the dynamic increase of life in God."


"When people say that they have lost their faith, it is not faith which they have lost, but God's energy that unites them to Him: they have lost grace."


"...revealed truth is not subject to human logic, it is beyond it.  Indeed, how can they trust a definition of faith that is no more than the product of human reasoning?  By insisting that their faith is logical, they discredit it by proving only that it lacks the true character of revelation which far surpasses human conception."


"...the nearer we draw to God, the more demanding the Spirit of God becomes, that we may live the closer to Him and be united with Him eternally."


"[Blessed] Sophrony sometimes likened the spiritual life to a sphere: whatever point of it we touch puts us into contact with the whole."


"The man who is born anew of the Spirit, as the Lord Himself says, is like the wind which blows where it will (John 3:8): one cannot tell from where it comes and where it goes."


"Each person's way to God and his relationship with Him are unique, and it is therefore difficult to speak of spiritual life according to a general scheme or pattern."  


"In other words, the way of the Lord must be prepared and cleared in order that we who are flesh may perceive and recognize the humble and luminous presence of the Holy Spirit and, through His coming, be transformed into spiritual beings."


"There is neither past nor future but all things are eternally present in the Liturgy."


"What matters above all is the faith and love and the expectation we have of Him.  We offer our poor selves and in return He gives us His love, His life, Himself."


"What is most important is our humility and our sense of unworthiness.  The more unworthy we feel as we approach the Lord, the more we attract His grace."


"We bear our small cross in obedience to Christ's commandment...Thus, by taking up our small cross, we inherit the life hidden in His great Cross."

There is so much more that I want share but I think you should read the book and let it speak to you.  Let the Holy Spirit speak to you through it.

"Remember Thy First Love" by Archimandrite Zacharias

Archimandrite's newly published book, Remember Thy First Love  (Revelation 2:4-5): The Three Stages of the Spiritual Life in the Theology of Elder Sophrony, is finally ready for purchase.  This is Archimandrite Zacharias' third book.  


From the Foreword, written by His Grace, Bishop BASIL, "In the book you now hold, Archimandrite Zacharias enjoins us to live in remembrance of our First Love, or in other words, to draw ever nearer to God.  He embellishes St. John's Icon [of the Ladder] with motifs from his own experience: we discern clearly for example the image of his spiritual grandfather, St. Silouan the Athonite, standing on the thirtieth and final step of the ladder, in the embrace of Chris the Rewarder of the contest.  St. Silouan in turn grasps the hand of his spiritual son Blessed Elder Sophrony of Essex, whose own arm is outstretched as he reaches towards his son, Father Zacharias, and beyond him to all of us as we attempt to make our way up the ladder."
[snip]
"He describes the first stage as a visitation of the Divine Spirit, which encourages man to conclude a covenant with God.  The second stage consists of a long and arduous struggle through God's providential withdrawal of His grace; it is during this stage that we learn the painful truth about ourselves as we are instructed in the ways of the Lord by the Holy Spirit.  The last stage involves our reacquisition - this time for all eternity - of the inalienable grace of salvation."