Слово 86. Об ангельском движени 675 , возбуждаемом в нас по Божию Промыслу для преуспеяния души в духовном

The first thought, which, according to God’s love for mankind, sinks into a person and guides the soul to life, is the thought that sinks into the heart about the outcome of this nature. This thought naturally follows contempt for the world; and with this every good movement begins in a person, leading him to life. And, as it were, what kind of foundation is laid in man by the Divine power accompanying him when he desires to manifest life in him. And if a person does not extinguish this thought that we have said in himself with worldly connections and vanity, but grows it in silence, and remains in it with contemplation, and engages in it, then it will lead a person to deep contemplation, which no one is able to depict in words. Satan greatly hates this thought and attacks with all his might to destroy it in a person, and if it were possible, he would give him the kingdom of the whole world, just to erase such a thought from a person’s mind with entertainment, and if he could, as has been said, he would do it willingly. For this flatterer knows that if this thought remains in a person, then his mind is no longer on this land of deception, and his machinations do not approach the person. Let us understand this not about that first thought, which by its reminder awakens the memory of death in us, but about the completeness of this matter, when it implants in a person the inseparable memory of death and when, by constant thinking about it, a person is put into a state of incessant surprise. For the first thought 676 is something bodily, and this last is spiritual contemplation and wondrous grace. This contemplation is clothed in bright thoughts. And whoever has it is no longer curious about this world and is not attached to his body. It is absolutely true, beloved, that if God had granted people this true contemplation for a short time, then there would have been no continuity in this world 677. This contemplation serves as a bond that nature cannot resist, and for the one who receives constant reflection on this into his soul, it is the grace of God, which is stronger than all individual deeds and which is given to those who are in the middle degree, in the rightness of their hearts, desiring repentance. It is given precisely to those about whom God knows that it is truly appropriate for them to move away from this world to a better life according to His good will, which He found in them. This grace grows and remains in them in their hermitage and solitary church. Let us ask for this contemplation in prayers; for his sake we will perform long vigils and with tears we will beg the Lord to grant him to us as a grace incomparable to anything, and we will no longer be exhausted in the labors of this world. This is the beginning of the thoughts of life, bringing about the fullness of truth in a person! That is, the first thought about death. You might be interested in: