Which path should we take to God?

I have received your letter. You ask me which way to go to God. Go on the path of humility! By humbly bearing the difficult situations of life, by humbly bearing the illnesses sent by the Lord, by a humble hope that you will not be abandoned by the Lord, our swift Helper and our much-loving Heavenly Father; by a humble prayer for help from above, for the expulsion of sadness and the feeling of discouragement, through which the enemy of salvation tries to lead us to despair, which is destructive for man and deprives him of God's grace and distances him from His mercy; thus we go to God.

The meaning of Christian life, according to the word of the Holy Apostle Paul, as he wrote to the Corinthians, is: "glorify God in your bodies and in your souls, which are God's."

Thus, having inscribed these holy words in your souls and hearts, you must take care that your dispositions and deeds of life are for the glory of God and the edification of your neighbor.

Through prayers to the saints, as a divine weapon, ask the Lord for intercession for the relief of bodily pains; address those saints for whom your heart has the greatest reverence.

May the Lord protect you!

Elder Nectarius of Optina

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