The distracted man has a very simplistic and superficial understanding of all things, including the most important. He is not capable of deeply penetrating into the essence of things, of rationally and circumspectly considering what takes place around him. Therefore, his personal life is quite disorganized and fraught with blunders, and he often—at times involuntarily, due to his lack of sensitivity and thoughtfulness—causes much harm and suffering to others.
“He who is distracted,” says St Ignatius, “is often inconsistent: his emotions lack depth and strength and, therefore, are unstable and short-lived.” It follows that a distracted person cannot in any way be depended upon: he is an unreliable, unfaithful, light-minded person. He is inclined to let down, be unfaithful to or betray even those people by whom he is considered a close friend.
St Ignatius further says, “Love for one’s neighbor is foreign to the distracted man who indifferently looks upon the distress of others and easily lays upon them burdens grievous to be borne.” One who is inattentive to himself, of course, cannot enter into the soul, into the emotional states, of others. Therefore, his soul remains closed to others: he cannot have sympathy or understanding for the others’ woes. He is not in a state to understand what someone else is able or unable to bear, and, therefore, is faultfinding and exacting in relation to others, and often demands from them that which is impossible or beyond their strength.
Finally, according to St Ignatius (Brianchaninov), “sorrows affect a distracted man intensely, precisely because he does not expect them. He expects only joys. If the sorrow is great but quickly passes, he soon forgets about it in the bustle of distraction. Long-lasting sorrow crushes him.” And this is understandable, for the distracted man’s mission in life is to search out only that which is pleasant; thus, all that is unpleasant is very difficult for him to endure.
–Archbishop Averky Taushev
Lew☦️ /
npub18z…va790
2024-06-14 11:07:35
Author Public Key
npub18zqmath26txwfhc70af8axk7pftjre9x7cf0lxkg92nvj2cpfgts8va790Published at
2024-06-14 11:07:35Event JSON
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"pubkey": "3881beaeead2cce4df1e7f527e9ade0a5721e4a6f612ff9ac82aa6c92b014a17",
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"content": "The distracted man has a very simplistic and superficial understanding of all things, including the most important. He is not capable of deeply penetrating into the essence of things, of rationally and circumspectly considering what takes place around him. Therefore, his personal life is quite disorganized and fraught with blunders, and he often—at times involuntarily, due to his lack of sensitivity and thoughtfulness—causes much harm and suffering to others.\n\n“He who is distracted,” says St Ignatius, “is often inconsistent: his emotions lack depth and strength and, therefore, are unstable and short-lived.” It follows that a distracted person cannot in any way be depended upon: he is an unreliable, unfaithful, light-minded person. He is inclined to let down, be unfaithful to or betray even those people by whom he is considered a close friend.\n\nSt Ignatius further says, “Love for one’s neighbor is foreign to the distracted man who indifferently looks upon the distress of others and easily lays upon them burdens grievous to be borne.” One who is inattentive to himself, of course, cannot enter into the soul, into the emotional states, of others. Therefore, his soul remains closed to others: he cannot have sympathy or understanding for the others’ woes. He is not in a state to understand what someone else is able or unable to bear, and, therefore, is faultfinding and exacting in relation to others, and often demands from them that which is impossible or beyond their strength. \n \nFinally, according to St Ignatius (Brianchaninov), “sorrows affect a distracted man intensely, precisely because he does not expect them. He expects only joys. If the sorrow is great but quickly passes, he soon forgets about it in the bustle of distraction. Long-lasting sorrow crushes him.” And this is understandable, for the distracted man’s mission in life is to search out only that which is pleasant; thus, all that is unpleasant is very difficult for him to endure.\n\n–Archbishop Averky Taushev",
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