From God

This is the time to call down for gifts for the public good. The best that is done by a man, who strives for the good, is for him to remind himself constantly, in an acceptable and in an unacceptable time, that he is a servant who “does what is his duty to do” (Luke 17:10). Elder Ambrose of Optina (+1819) used to repeat: “He who thinks that he has a certain virtue, loses it”. How can this awareness remain my fortress, by night and day? By two interconnected things: by my acceptance of the fact that I am always in need of the mercy of God; “God, be merciful to me a sinner”; and then, by my having mercy on others, also always. No man can be of any use, other than he who manifests an explicit belief that God, Who gives us life with His mercy, is the One Who pours down the good gifts from Him (James 1:17).