55 Maxims for Orthodox Christians

[Maria]

55 Maxims for Orthodox Christians by Father Thomas Hopko (OCA)
1.. Be always with Christ and trust God in everything
2.. Pray as you can, not as you think you must
3.. Have a keepable rule of prayer done by discipline
4.. Say the Lord's Prayer several times each day
5.. Repeat a short prayer when your mind is not occupied
6.. Make some prostrations when you pray
7.. Eat good foods in moderation and fast on fasting days
8.. Practice silence, inner and outer
9.. Sit in silence 20 to 30 minutes each day
10.. Do acts of mercy in secret
11.. Go to liturgical services regularly
12.. Go to confession and holy communion regularly
13.. Do not engage intrusive thoughts and feelings
14.. Reveal all your thoughts and feelings to a trusted person regularly
15.. Read the scriptures regularly
16.. Read good books, a little at a time
17.. Cultivate communion with the saints
18.. Be an ordinary person, one of the human race
19.. Be polite with everyone, first of all family members
20.. Maintain cleanliness and order in your home
21.. Have a healthy, wholesome hobby
22.. Exercise regularly
23.. Live a day, even a part of a day, at a time
24.. Be totally honest, first of all with yourself
25.. Be faithful in little things
26.. Do your work, then forget it
27.. Do the most difficult and painful things first
28.. Face reality
29.. Be grateful
30.. Be cheerful
31.. Be simple, hidden, quiet and small
32.. Never bring attention to yourself
33.. Listen when people talk to you
34.. Be awake and attentive, fully present where you are
35.. Think and talk about things no more than necessary
36.. Speak simply, clearly, firmly, directly
37.. Flee imagination, fantasy, analysis, figuring things out
38.. Flee carnal, sexual things at their first appearance
39.. Don't complain, grumble, murmur or whine
40.. Don't seek or expect pity or praise
41.. Don't compare yourself with anyone
42.. Don't judge anyone for anything
43.. Don't try to convince anyone of anything
44.. Don't defend or justify yourself
45.. Be defined and bound by God, not people
46.. Accept criticism gracefully and test it carefully
47.. Give advice only when asked or when it is your duty
48.. Do nothing for people that they can and should do for themselves
49.. Have a daily schedule of activities, avoiding whim and caprice
50.. Be merciful with yourself and others
51.. Have no expectations except to be fiercely tempted to your last breath
52.. Focus exclusively on God and light, and never on darkness, temptation and sin
53.. Endure the trial of yourself and your faults serenely, under God's mercy
54.. When you fall, get up immediately and start over
55.. Get help when you need it, without fear or shame

http://www.orthodoxanswers.org/55maxims/

[SolarFlare]

You said be cheerful. I was under the impression that we could not trust our thoughts. I was always taught that emotional states were prelest, and that if I have a sensation of joy, that It was a delusion of the devil.

Pray when we can? We can do a lot. Praying when we can means, praying literally every moment of our conscious life. Who authored those sayings?

[SolarFlare]

"Do nothing for people that they can and should do for themselves"

I disagree with that. That is not the Christian attitude. It's very Orthodox, but not Christian. In Christianity, we go out on a limb for other people. One elder said, the extent to which we love others, is the extent to which we love God. Why wouldn't a person want to love God by loving others as much as possible? In Christianity, other people come before ourselves.

[Priest Antonios]

Who authored those sayings?

55 Maxims for Orthodox Christians by Father Thomas Hopko (OCA)

I hope that helps.

-Dcn Antonios

[SolarFlare]

"Do nothing for people that they can and should do for themselves."

That seems Pharisaical to me. I'm sorry. Compare the teaching of Saint James.

" If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? (James 2:15-17).

It also seems to contradict his other comment:

" Be merciful with yourself and others."

[jgress]

I think St James is talking about saying pious words to someone in real material need without giving them what they need, while Fr Thomas is talking about those who aren't really in need but just can't be bothered to get what they need for themselves. It requires discernment to tell the difference.

[arcmode]

Forgive me all, but I remember listening to this guy years ago on Antichrist Radio and he is not an Orthodox priest. He is just a super protestant, don't listen to him. He does not teach the Patristic way, and he doesn't want his listeners to learn it either. That's his job.

The idea that you should pretend to be happy when you are not is one of the deepest social/psychological problems in our culture. Of course, at the same time we must always be honest with ourselves and others. Pure doublethink, America's finest export. Poor people can't even detect it anymore, it's already their religion. Now it's wearing vestments and that's about the depth of the conversion. In fact, these false shepherds are even worse than the worst of the worst pagans and satanists but how many even get it? Lets be honest, this is the antichrist as far as we can know him today.

I don't care how offensive this post might sound to some readers, I spent over a decade listening to this 'improved' form of 'orthodox spirituality' and it is as far from the Holy Fathers as you are going to get. Spit it out. Certainly there are sincere people within world orthodoxy, but they only stay because of these wolves, teaching the correct and approved methods of whitening the sepulchure of the west and it's endless fall. If we want to help people escape this insane cult that bears only an external resemblance to Orthodoxy while preaching a kind of hyper heterodoxy, we must denounce these wolves at every opportunity, not excuse them!

This is the whore.

If you want some maxims read the desert fathers.

If any one would like to defend the Ancient Fraud Freakshow and it's ringmaster Mr Hopko, I'd be happy to discuss it.

Holy Guardian Angel, pass the ammunition