The end is here! I really cannot believe we’ve reached the end of the 55 Maxims of Christian Living by Father Thomas Hopko, of blessed memory.
It has been such a blessing to me to work through these maxims for my blog. Reading through each and then doing some research to try and fill out the post. I’ve been blessed. And I thank you for sharing in this with me.
This last one is important. And good.
And finally, get help when you need it, without fear and without shame. We all need help. A Russian saying is: “The only thing you can do alone, by yourself is perish,” is go to Hell. If we are saved, we’re saved with others. So we must have counsel. We must have friends. We must be with others. And sometimes, we need specific help, like if we’re caught on drugs or alcohol or sex. Then, we have to go and get that specific help, like we would go to a doctor when we are sick. Sometimes, we don’t know what to do, so we need help. We have to go to an elder person, a more experienced person to give us guidance. But we should never, ever, be ashamed or afraid of getting help. It’s just a normal part of the human race. In the Lenten Season, as a little a mini-life, it’s a time when we take advantage of all the help we can get. We take the help of the Scripture writers. We take the help of the Saints. We take the help of the services. We take the help that God provides in all the various ways that he provides it—for the sake of our life, our healing, and our salvation. So the last maxim, 55, get help when you need it without fear and shame. Be a human being. Be a Christian.
Fr. Thomas Hopko
The quote above is directly off of the transcript from the Ancient Faith podcast in which he shares his 55 Maxims of Christian Living. Sometimes it seems like there are typos or a mixed up sentence but if you listen to the podcast you can see why.
These are Fr. Thomas’ words. He is so wise and such an encouraging person. I wish I had known him.
“We should never, ever be ashamed.”
I need to take that in and truly believe it. It is a hard one for me to really believe because I think I learned otherwise.
May God be with you all this week. May you feel His love and comfort. And if you need help in something…go get it, without shame!
Kindler of Joy! 