20. Abstract of : The threshold of real prayer Saint Anthony the Great, while in the desert, said that there are three kinds of people who came to God. One kind were those who automatically love God, and to them the whole thing is easy. They just had to pray and to be happy, and it all worked out for them. The second kind were born with a fear of God, and you get examples of these when you study the fathers. There is the story of somebody who, the first time he heard that he would go to hell unless he prayed 'without ceasing,' simply went into the church, signed up, and began a life of prayer. In Anthony's time, which was well over a thousand years ago, it seems that those first two kinds were fairly common. But today, at least in the West, the first kind seems to be incredibly rare, and I'm not even qualified to talk to them, but the question doesn't arise. They might be thought of as already being saints. Even the second kind now seem to be quite unbelievably rare. But it does happen! Then there is the third type, who come to God as a result of affliction ... as a result of the difficulties in their lives. Most people who grow up with modern attitudes and modern desires and still eventually remember to turn to God fall into this latter group. For them, if they aim as high as did those ancient monks and hermits, the climb is steep, the journey difficult. |
