When men search for God with their bodily eyes they find Him nowhere, for He is invisible. But for those who ponder in the Spirit He is present everywhere. He is in all, yet beyond all.
Symeon The New TheologianRead
Through repentance the filth of our foul actions is washed away. After this, we participate in the Holy Spirit, not automatically, but according to the faith, humility and inner disposition of the repentance in which our soul is engaged. For this reason it is good to repent each day as the act of repentance is unending.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Repentance cleanses us from wrongdoing and allows us to engage with the spiritual realm positively.
This quote emphasizes the transformative power of repentance, suggesting that our past actions can be purified through sincere remorse and a change in disposition. It underscores that this process is continuous, and the depth of our repentance affects our connection to the Holy Spirit, encouraging daily self-reflection and humility.
Themes
RepentanceForgivenessSpiritualityHumilitySelf-Reflection
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon about forgiveness, one might use this quote to illustrate the importance of daily repentance.
More from Symeon The New Theologian
All quotes →Similar quotes
It is the nature of all greatness not to be exact.
Edmund BurkeRead
Before a brain can register a thought, a mind must think it... every step of the way is mind over matter... We override our brains all the time.
Deepak ChopraRead
Extremes are for us as though they were not, and we are not within their notice. They escape us, or we them. This is our true state; this is what makes us incapable of certain knowledge and of absolute ignorance... This is our natural condition, and yet most contrary to our inclination; we burn with desire to find solid ground and an ultimate sure foundation whereon to build a tower reaching to the Infinite. But our whole groundwork cracks, and the earth opens to abysses.
Blaise PascalRead
A society is defined as much by how it comes to terms with its past as by its attitude toward the future: its memories are no less revealing than its aims.
Octavio PazRead
Systematic philosophical and practical anti-intellectualism such as we are witnessing appears to be something truly novel in the history of human culture.
Johan HuizingaRead
I don't believe in God but I'm very interested in her.
Arthur C. ClarkeRead