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I Want Nothing More
A dialogue with Abba Arsenius on hiddenness, usefulness, and the one thing needful “Arsenius, flee from men, and you will be saved.” — The Sayings of the Desert Fathers The disciple came to Arsenius after sunset. The old man was sitting outside his cell. The disciple bowed and remained standing. After a long while Arsenius said: ARSENIUS: Why have you come? DISCIPLE: Because I do not know what I am supposed to become. Arsenius looked toward the desert. ARSENIUS: Who told you
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 293 min read
We Do Not Always Know What the Net Is For
The obedience of casting the net when we no longer understand what God intends to gather “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” — Luke 5:5 There is something almost painfully human in Peter’s words. We toiled all night and took nothing. He is not refusing Christ. He is tired. He has already done what he knows how to do. He has worked through the darkness. He has cast the nets where fishermen cast them, at the hour fishermen
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 265 min read
The Peace That Comes When We Cease to Arrange the World
Purity of heart is not having found the way forward, but having ceased to need any way except the will of God. “Those who love your law shall enjoy abundant peace; for them it is no stumbling block.” — Saint Leo the Great There is a peace that comes because circumstances have settled themselves, and there is another peace that comes because the heart has ceased demanding that they be settled. We often confuse the two. We imagine that peace will arrive when the uncertainty is
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 77 min read
The Mercy of an Unfinished Life
When God does not give us a path forward, but only enough light to remain faithful where we are “Stay in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.” — Abba Moses There are seasons in life when God seems to make His will known by opening a door. There are others when He seems to make it known by closing every door through which we imagined ourselves passing. We prefer the first. A path appears. A decision becomes clear. Something that had been uncertain suddenly acqui
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 46 min read
When the Cell Begins to Close
Remaining Without Disappearing “Go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.” — Abba Moses ⸻ Something is happening. That much is clear. But not everything that quiets the surface is the work of God. And not everything that feels like stripping is purification. There is a silence that opens the heart. And there is a silence that slowly seals it shut. From the inside, they can feel almost identical. ⸻ There comes a moment in the spiritual life when the outwar
Father Charbel Abernethy
May 24 min read
Become Like a Child
On laying down the burden of being someone before God “Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” — The Holy Bible There comes a moment in the spiritual life when a man begins to suspect that much of what he called devotion was still full of himself. His labors were real. His sacrifices were real. His love may even have been real. Yet hidden within it all was the need to be someone. Someone useful. Someone fruitful. Someone importan
Father Charbel Abernethy
Apr 213 min read
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