The Beautiful Story

One of the contemporary fathers wrote: “sometimes, an icon can be written for you, and at other times, a hateful story. We all combine this terrible contradiction”! When I read these words, I thought that their writer, when writing them, had borrowed his parlance from the Pharisee of the temple (Luke 18: 10-14). I do not want to delve into the interpretation of the parable of "The Pharisee and the Tax Collector”. I only want it to remind us of the secret that leads us out of the mire of this contradiction. What is the secret? You do know it. It is our acknowledgment that the beauty in us is an unmerited grace. Repeating the Truth is not something to be ashamed of. So?! So, our course of action should be to hold ourselves accountable for our delay in acknowledging the existence of others and their ability to be outstanding in love. Those who allow the Holy Spirit to lead them are capable of destroying what prevents the icon that is in us from becoming, itself, the beautiful story!