Not too long ago, my (painfully shy ; ) little girl went up to a Priest she had just met and presented him with a question: "Is it proper for me to play with toys while I'm in Church?"
The Priest gave her a very nice kid-sized talk about the joys of praying and being with God. And how when she looks at her toys, she should use them to focus on God. He never once forbade her toys, or told her she shouldn't play with them - only that there were so many MORE DESIRABLE things to do in Church - like praying!
I said, "Well, you're much more diplomatic than Mommy is!"
The Priest replied, "When we think about Christ, we are always looking at Christ. When we think about the things we shouldn't do, we spend all of our time looking at - and thinking about - what is forbidden. And when we do that, we have our backs to Christ."
I was struck by his wisdom! Since our Orthodox Priests marry and have children, I thought to myself that he had probably used this gem with his own kids many times.
It was a great reminder for me, too - in all aspects of life.
In our Spiritual life (which is much more important than our physical health, or diet, or academic or financial life - or any other earthly thing), keeping our minds on Christ is the only way to go. Focusing on the "shouldn'ts" of life will take our eyes away from Christ. Likewise, focusing on the enemies of Christ, or the sins of others, or the worldly political happenings of the day will keep us off-center. If we focus on Christ and Loving Him, all else will fall into place.
Similarly, in the much less important, but still valuable realm of health & diet, keeping our eyes on that food we feel is forbidden will only make us focus on it, and will generally make us want that food more. Keeping our eyes on delicious, healthy, plant based, whole foods that make us feel good will help us enjoy them more, and want other foods less.
This is being shared on Faith Filled Friday, Bible Love Notes, Hearts for Home, Healthy Vegan Fridays, Tell Me a True Story, Hear it on Sunday, Use it on Monday, Mommy Moments, The Modest Mom, Clever Chicks, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Teach Me Tuesday, Teaching what is Good, Encourage One Another, Hearts for Home, Homemaking Linkup
This is SO helpful - thanks very much for sharing the story.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it - his advice was a help to me : )
DeleteWhat a blessing that was for your daughter to realize she was not being criticized. And what wisdom the man of God had in answering her question.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your sweet story at "Tell Me a Story." Do come back the first of next week.
DeleteKeeping our eyes on delicious, healthy, plant based, whole foods, is easier if we shop while full or satiated, not buying high caloric foods, and eating at home, as much as possible. However, it is very easy to turn to temptation and should be done occasionally.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! If we think about & feed ourselves good food when we're hungry (both Spiritually & physically) we get less hungry for junk.
DeleteLucky you have a good priest :)
ReplyDeleteWe HAVE been blessed with several good Priests! But, this particular Priest was not our own - he was just in town visiting family on summer holidays when my daughter encountered him. She is super-outgoing and didn't blink about walking up and asking a question of a new Priest!
Deleteinteresting, thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThank you - and thanks for stopping by : )
DeleteI really enjoyed reading this - thanks for posting :-) xxx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sandy - glad you liked it : )
DeleteLove this story, and such a good lesson here. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by again - it's always good to see you : )
DeleteFocusing on the "shouldn'ts" of life will take our eyes away from Christ. - my favorite line. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by! I stopped by your blog, and I love your current feature on teaching kids about Missions! I grew up reading missionary stories, and it's great to have resources like this for our kids : )
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