Dear Saints,

Literary giant Jane Austen once wrote: “It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.” It’s noble to say we’ll serve the Lord. And thinking of ourselves as Jesus’s followers is certainly a good start. But that only takes us so far: in the battle against fear, words and thoughts are like knives at a gun fight.

It’s been said that true love is a decisive act. It must be decisive, because the moment you choose, a million and more reasons not to follow through will seep into the slightest crevice of indecision. And it must be action, because anything less can be undone, and is therefore in some measure untrustworthy.

Having been drawn by God to Jesus, we must decide to stick with him, and we must make our decision manifest in everything we do. By definition, it will involve sacrifice: it is the cross, after all. But as those who have known a former kind of life can attest, it is the only way to truly abundant living.

Christ’s Peace,

Father Daniel

δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ