To the one hoping to grow into a spiritually mature person, the enemy will attempt to use desire to lead you to destruction. “Therefore, we must observe the assaults of evil spirits that come from without and also detect the evils within us, which derive from our own thoughts and we must, in particular, be vigilant towards our thoughts, for they are constantly pressing on us and, without our realizing it, they send us to perdition." The second consideration is the water that has been taken on by the pounding of the waves, these are the malformed thought patterns within us. These waves are the attack of demonic influence upon the mind. The first consideration are the waves that pound the outside of the ship. Succumbing to our thought life is two-fold. Sometimes it is assaulted by waves from the outside and sometimes it can be overwhelmed by water within. Syncletica compared the thought life to that of a ship. The assault of the enemy on the monk so often takes place in the mind, that what we dwell upon in our thoughts begins to dictate what we take action upon. To Syncletica, mastery of the thought life is of utmost importance to maturing in the spiritual life. “You have achieved a small victory with little effort, for you have given away all that is dear to your soul, with one goal in mind henceforth, direct your gaze to what is greater, namely, to love." Thought Life In giving we learn to and are moved by love, in living simply we are recognizing our source of life. The practice of poverty and simplicity was to instruct the monk to look towards heaven for fulfillment and to train the heart for love and compassion. “…almsgiving was prescribed for the purpose of instilling in men love for one another.” “…almsgiving is prescribed not so much for the sake of feeding the poor as for teaching men love and mutual concern.” She went on to teach that the command to give did not mean that acquiring possession in order to give was to be the goal, the goal was to develop a deeply compassionate heart. ![]() The discipline of simple living recognizes that, like the birds of the air that neither sow nor reap, they are nourished from their Father in heaven (Matthew 6:26). ![]() Our desire to acquire things often flies in the face of the command of Jesus to seek first the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God. ![]() “In other ways too those who practice poverty gain a great benefit for, by not focusing their mind on treasure here on earth, they are putting on the kingdom of heaven…” Amma Syncletica taught that poverty and simplicity trained the mind to focus on the heavenly treasure.
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