Daily Meditations

Are We a Bee or a Fly? Joyful Living.

Are we a Bee or a Fly?

We must look only for the good in others

By Abbot Tryphon, November 27, 2019

Saint Paisios of the Holy Mountain said there are two types of people. “There are the bees and there are the flies. The bees are attracted to flowers and sweet smells, whereas the flies are only attracted to dirt and stench. Ask a bee where there is stench, and he will say, what is stench? Ask a fly, where is the sweet smell, and he will say, what sweet smell? The bee knows only sweetness and good, whereas the fly knows only stench and dirt.”

As we examine our lives, we must decide whether we will be a bee, or a fly. Do we judge others, and look only for the stench and the dirt, or do we look only for the good in others, and see the stench only in ourselves.

Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

~Abbot Tryphon, The Morning Offering, https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/morningoffering/2019/11/are-we-a-bee-or-a-fly/.

 

Joyful Living

Don’t ignore the little things that bring you joy

By Abbot Tryphon, December 5, 2019 

If we pay attention to our health, family and spiritual life, everything else will take care of itself. We shouldn’t let life be so full of work that we don’t have time to focus on the things that bring us joy. We must pay attention when the Lord is calling us to slow down.

It is easy to resist taking care of oneself if we run at full speed as though we are the only one who can get things done. We all need to set priorities, making sure we focus on Christ and not let that which is transitory rule our lives.

If we focus only on the things that haven’t been done and ignore the little things that bring joy to our lives, we’ll find ourselves in a rut. If we are constantly thinking of where we’d rather be living, or the job we’d rather have, or the work that still needs to be completed, we’ll wake up one day and realize all we’ve needed for happiness has been right in front of us. We don’t want to wait to enjoy what we already have.

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

~Abbot Tryphon, The Morning Offering, https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/morningoffering/2019/12/joyful-living/

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