Wisdom of the Fathers and comments

"We, then, who have knowledge of the fear of the Lord, yes, and from the Old and New Testament alike, knowing of His gentleness and loving-kindness: let us turn back with our whole heart. ...Sinners, let us cleanse our hands; double-minded, let us purify our hearts; let us bewail, let us mourn, let us weep because of our sins. Let us quit our vices; let us trust the mercies of the Lord. Let us fear His threats; let us keep His commandments. Let us love one another with our whole heart. Let us say "brothers" to those who hate and abonimate us, that the Lord's name be glorified and manifest in its joyfulness. Let us, who are harassed one by the other, grant pardon one to another, since we are all warred upon by the common enemy. Let us withstand our bad thoughts, calling upon God as our ally; and let us banish from ourselves the evil and unclean spirits. ... Let us show sympathy for one another and by humility heal one another ... for we are members one of another." ---- St. Maximus the Confessor

My favorite part of that is the ending, and I am praying it will really help me tame the evil tongue. "Let us show sympathy for one another, and by humility heal one another. " If I can keep this in mind, then when I am tempted to lash out, I will be lashing out at myself. "Love your neighbor as yourself." The Golden Rule. This is not a new idea, but one I have very rarely put into true practice. I have put on a good show, being as externally good as I can, so much so my nick name in the single days was, "Miss Righteous". I love for people to think hightly of me, and will compromise my own truth to smooth out issues. I don't compromise on Truth, with a capital T, but I will often smile and agree to do something, then act out due to helplessness and a feeling of lack of control. We'll see. St Maximus, pray for me.