Письмо 85
Defensive Warfare and Childlike Trust
The author advises that in spiritual warfare, the most reliable strategy is to avoid direct confrontation with temptations and instead turn to God with the trust of a child.
When exactly should you go on the offensive, and when should you play defense? Experience will teach you. For some, it's better to act one way, for others the other—or sometimes one way, sometimes the other.1 But it's generally known that at first, it's better to act defensively or by flight.2 . . That is,3 e.4 when a tempting thought or an evil feeling comes, don't try to organize thoughts or actions to drive them off; instead, turn your attention away from them, turn to the Lord, fix your mind on Him, and earnestly beg Him to deliver you from the enemies attacking you—just as helpless children, when they see danger from people or beasts, don't try to fight them, but run crying to their father or mother, hoping they will rescue them from the trouble.5 Some people stay with this one weapon alone for their whole life. You seem to know about this already from the chapters of Hesychius the Presbyter. If you've forgotten, read them again. Stick with this latter way, and you'll never come out the loser.6
Read the original Russian
«Когда именно надо действовать наступательно и когда оборонительно?»
Опыт научит. Иным лучше действовать первым, другим – последним способом или то тем, то другим. Но вообще известно, что на первых порах лучше действовать оборонительно или убегательно. . . т. е. , когда придет искусительная мысль или какое недоброе чувство, не браться прибирать мысли или действия, коими можно прогнать их, а, отстранив от них внимание, обратиться ко Господу и, прилепив к Нему взор ума, умолять Его усердно избавить от нападших врагов, подобно тому, как бессильные дети, при виде какой либо опасности от людей или зверей, не вступают в бой с ними, а с криком бегут к отцу или матери, надеясь, что они избавят их от беды.
Иные во всю жизнь свою остаются с одним этим орудием. Вы, кажется, знаете о сем из глав Исихия пресвитера. Если забыли, прочитайте снова. Держитесь сего последняго и никогда не будете в проигрыше.
Notes
- 1 ↩«Первым» / «последним способом» point back to the previous section's pair: offensive vs. defensive action in spiritual warfare.
- 2 ↩«Убегательно» is rare/adverbial: flight, withdrawal, running away from the assault rather than meeting it head-on.
- 3 ↩Source «т.» is the first half of the abbreviation «т.е.» (то есть, 'that is' / i.e.), split across s6–s7 by bad sentence segmentation; s8 continues the explanation.
- 4 ↩Source «е.» completes «т.е.» begun in s6; meaning already carried in s6 as 'That is,' so this slot is left empty to avoid double rendering.
- 5 ↩«Не браться прибирать мысли или действия» = not take it on yourself to gather/arrange counter-thoughts or counter-moves; spiritual passivity that flees into prayer rather than self-directed combat.
- 6 ↩«сего последняго» points back to the defensive/fleeing recourse to the Lord described just before; rendered as 'this latter way' rather than a bare 'this last one'.
Letters on the Christian Life companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit