A short prayer 4 — Let Your Seed take root

Lord Jesus Christ, my God, let not too many seeds fall to the wayside, nor let them fall upon rocks or hardened earth. But may the earth upon which Your Seed is scattered be made soft and fertile. Let as many seeds take root as there is room for. May they all seek You and find You, and may they not be drawn away by idols and by the cares of this world. Amen.

Eternity versus this life

Why do you seek anything of this life? Wealth? Success? Why do you worry what to eat or where to lay your head? Fear neither death nor pain. Chase not after fleshly pleasure. Love not earthly wealth, which is worthless. Chase not after worldly success and the praise of men, but seek after the praise of God and the angels, who give praise in secret. Men may scorn you, yet on that day it will be such that "The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." (Isaiah 55:12)

The kingdoms of this world are passing away, along with their rulers. But the kingdom of heaven endures forever. Death is no more; pain is nothing to fear; our sufferings are but a small moment. This life is but a single breath; it is passing away, then comes the eternal life. The rulers of this present age are robbed of their power; Christ has robbed them by the Cross. And so the dark spiritual powers which rule the flesh are also robbed. Corruption is washed away by the blood of the Lamb, and no place is found for corruption in the age to come.

A person who intends to live to old age thinks, “How do I guarantee provisions for my long life?” So it is with a person who knows of eternal life. He thinks, “How do I guarantee provisions for the whole of eternity?” He thinks not of this life, which is but a breath-span, but thinks to eternity. 

St. Maximos on death and the end of all evil

St. Maximos the Confessor (7th century) writes the following: 

I do not think that the end of this present life is rightly called "death". More accurately, it is deliverance from death, separation from corruption, liberation from slavery. It is cessation of turbulence, destruction of wars, dispelling of darkness, rest from suffering, calming of turmoil, eclipsing of shame, escape from passions and—to sum up—the termination of all evils. The saints who have achieved these things through voluntary mortification live as strangers and pilgrims in this life (cf. Hebrews 11:13), fighting bravely against the world and the body and the assaults stemming from them. (Various Texts on Theology, The Divine Economy, and Virtue and Vice, 5:76, Philokalia)

The radio of the heart: space cannot separate us

Please read the letter, I wrote it in my sleep / With help and consultation from the angels of the deep / Please read the letter that I wrote... (Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, "Please Read the Letter")

… Don't need no phone at all / We've got a thing that's called radar love / We've got a wave in the air / Radar love! (Golden Earring, “Radar Love”)

There is a letter sent by St. Porphyrios (on Mt. Athos in Greece) to St. Sophrony (in Essex in England) that goes

Elder Sophrony, 

I embrace you in Christ. 

A certain person told me that you would like to have us meet; that you’ve invited me to come to England and if I cannot go there, you will come to Greece. 

Since it is impossible for me to come, and I do not wish you to go to the great trouble of travelling here, and since Christians cannot be separated by distances, we could meet one another in prayer by saying, ‘Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me’... (St. Porphyrios, letter to St. Sophrony)

It was later confirmed that the two were meeting each other in prayer: 

In November 1990, we had the privilege of meeting Elder Sophrony in Essex and talking to him. He told me that he used to meet Elder Porphyrios in prayer every night. They each knew what the other one looked like, even though they had never seen one another with their physical eyes. Elder Porphyrios had never seen Elder Sophrony, and vice versa. (Elder Porphyrios: Testimonies and Experiences)

The heart can communicate things in secret between people. It is the radio by which we listen to God, and pray to the saints, and meet in prayer with another. The Holy Spirit, God Himself, is an invisible strand which connects believers; He is our phone line, if you will.

Yes! We do not really need physical communication at all. Or, just as we communicate through physical energy—through light, radio waves, for example—so it is possible to communicate through God’s energies—through the divine light.

Even if matter, space and time should keep us apart, we are yet not separated from one another. There is nothing that the dark spiritual and earthly powers can do to keep us truly apart. This world and the flesh have no power over those who have found rest in God—a rest which is found within the heart. One only needs to look with the eye of the heart, and listen with the ears of the soul, in order to see and hear another.