Chrysostom
Beloved of All
The distress of the body and the weight of this heat are real, and I do not make light of them. When the disciples were tossed in the tempest, the Lord had not abandoned them. He was training them to bear trials nobly and to learn that He is near in the storm. So with this high ### and the long heat: it is a heavy trial, but it is not a sign that Christ has turned away. He sees the missed appointments, the forced rest, and the anxiety of not understanding. Bring all of it to Him, but do not let the heart be hardened by fear. Unbelief falls in the same way as those who would not trust God. Your true rest is not only in a cooler day or a lower number, though we may ask for both. Your true rest remains for the people of God, laid up in heaven.
Do what wisdom allows. Rest, drink water, keep to the shade, use whatever medicine or counsel is available, and continue your fasting not as a demand upon God but as a humbling of the body before His mercy. Fasting is good, but it does not force a particular result. The body may still struggle, and that is not your defeat. The eye of the soul can be darkened by constant distress over the body. Lift your hope to the things heavenly and high, where there is calm and purity, and entrust the ### to the Lord's care as you take ordinary means.
I pray with you: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy. Lower what is high if it pleases You, and cool and protect Your servant in this heatwave. Give wisdom for rest, food, and appointments. Remove the distress that cannot change anything, and strengthen faith to wait on You. Grant bodily relief and spiritual peace, and keep this one from falling into the example of unbelief. Amen.
Do what wisdom allows. Rest, drink water, keep to the shade, use whatever medicine or counsel is available, and continue your fasting not as a demand upon God but as a humbling of the body before His mercy. Fasting is good, but it does not force a particular result. The body may still struggle, and that is not your defeat. The eye of the soul can be darkened by constant distress over the body. Lift your hope to the things heavenly and high, where there is calm and purity, and entrust the ### to the Lord's care as you take ordinary means.
I pray with you: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy. Lower what is high if it pleases You, and cool and protect Your servant in this heatwave. Give wisdom for rest, food, and appointments. Remove the distress that cannot change anything, and strengthen faith to wait on You. Grant bodily relief and spiritual peace, and keep this one from falling into the example of unbelief. Amen.
