Orthodoxy discussion

Beginning to Pray Absence of God

I have been struck dumb by this chapter. I haven't finished it as I can only seem to read a couple or three paragraphs at a time.
The idea of having a mutual, loving relationship with the Trinity (God) has never been put so clearly and succinctly.

I'm also reading In Praise of Hatred, which is a stark contrast. It's by an Aleppine writer named Khaled Khalifa who has been pretty much censored/exiled from Syria for this work, dealing with the extermination of thousands of people in Hama in the name of rooting out the Muslim Brotherhood. The contrast is interesting as the narrator deals with self-loathing as a fundamentalist Moslem woman and we, as Orthodox, are more wholistic in our views of nous and body.

I agree, Zaina. I loved the way he talked about the absence of God not being a failure of God, but of us. Wonderful words.
I often return in thought to the story he told of the young woman who was terminally ill in this section.

So how do we keep the distinction of our love for God vs. our wanting things from Him. I know I try to avoid the 'just' prayers. You know the ones. Dear God, if you'll only JUST do x for me...

One of my friends on Facebook posted a cartoon of "what if we talked to our friends the way we talk to God"... and that brought a little bit home to me on the 'just' prayers.

I am no expert, all I can say is that all my prayers for myself and others are like the Jesus prayer... God, have mercy on me, a sinner. God, have mercy on my son, Nick. God have mercy on my daughter ... etc. I guess what I am saying is rather than telling God what to do, we come to God with our burdened hearts, we share how we feel, like we would with a friend, and we're asking for His support to walk us through it... in whatever way He chooses for it to pan out. He already knows our desires in terms of outcome, since He knows our hearts, so really all we need to do is to go to Him and be with Him, unburden our hearts, and sit at His feet.

Mimi,
That's a great way to look at it. Asking for God's mercy in whatever way He sees fit for our salvation is difficult. Having complete trust/faith that things will turn out as they should is a very difficult act no matter how simple it's made out to be.

That brilliance was Lene's not mine ;) But, I agree, beautiful way to look at it indeed.

Sorry, Mimi :)

I loved the context of the pharisee and the publican. To understand that it is not because of any righteous deed of ours but the mercy of God that He hears us is so profound

Robin,
That's one of my favorites as well. An honest, humble prayer is what we strive to make, isn't it?
So difficult but the publican shows us the way. In fact, that and the thief on the cross have a lot to teach us in and of themselves.