Relaxation is about our soul
The reading about the healing of the paralytic sends us into the depths of our own soul. The story of how Christ healed the paralyzed man makes us think about the paralysis of our own soul.
We are burdened with fear, pain, and despair. Complaining about life, we grumble against God. Faith in the values of this world deceived us in our youth and continues to deceive us in old age. The world exhausts us with meaningless vanity, chaotic thinking, and leads us to dirty pleasures. But the greatest degree of laxity is manifested in our prayer.
We are like a person who carries water with a sieve; like a circus performer balancing on a tightrope.
Such a mind is obsessed with clinging to any information about anything. For it, reading about God is more important than knowing Him directly. Everything that distracts us from salvation is the devil, who has caught us on the hook of a scattered life. Everything we are attached to, forgetting about God, is also a devilish deception. Rather than spending a lifetime reading and preaching about what God is like, it is better to know Him truly once. Our sluggishness and weakness will only make us seek "comfort" in entertainment.
If we ignore this and do not fight against such a disposition, it will only get worse. Reproaches, grievances, accusations, and dissatisfaction towards others will begin. For the lax person, everyone and everything will be to blame, except himself. Dislike and judgment will become the norm of life, especially towards those who cause irritation. Envy will hide under the veil of imaginary injustice.
A lax soul does not know how to serve others. It does not know what sacrificial love is because it loves only itself.
Egoism and judgment of others will motivate the desire to generously dispense reproaches and remarks. If such a person is criticized, he will take offense and will not accept criticism directed at him.
It is difficult to get out of this state. How to learn to calmly accept all people and all events as they are, and not as our egoism wants to see them? The devil lives where the ego reigns because the ego is the guide of the mind through the boundless mirages of life, where only the wind of longing and hopelessness wanders. If the lax person finds the strength to overcome the fear of his inner dictator—egoism, he will gain great selflessness and determination to forever put an end to his vices. All our life's tribulations are rooted in pride, which prevents us from seeing God directly. Despondency and despair are inseparable companions of a lax soul, and lack of faith becomes its personal demon.
But as soon as the soul understands that grace is the foundation of salvation, it will begin to seek support not in its egoism, but in Christ.
The root of human weakness is lack of faith, and it can only be uprooted with the help of prayer. Only courage can be opposed to weak faith, and it will lead to the house of spiritual freedom.
The lax person needs to hate his weakness. If we learn to desire salvation for everyone, even our fierce enemies, to rejoice in the successes of those we do not love, to not lose heart in temptations, and not to despair in falls, then grace will be extracted by us from any life situations. To begin with, we need to train ourselves to have an even attitude towards all people and to put prayer first.
Dreams are a treacherous demon that has enslaved the lax soul. Distraction is a cunning magician poisoning it with its thoughts. Tempting thoughts are wolves in sheep's clothing. All these are the names of our enemies who pretend to be friends. Our only Friend and Savior is Christ. And these enemies make us live in the past or fear the future, while salvation is needed here and now. Because the Lord looks at you with love at this very moment and no other. He looks with the desire to give you His eternity, but you are too busy to notice it.
