In laying out the difference between fear and dread, the Arabs are quoted to have said: “dread is the long-term and ongoing fear. Then the monk (literally: Raheb, that is, him who dreads) is called thus because he causes fear to remain perpetual”. It befits us to see that this well-known definition of the monk belongs to us all. We are all concerned with constantly fearing God, that is, with remembering that, being present “here and now”, He is both Savior and Judge. Nothing is more eloquent than the awareness that our commitment to God is an eternal decision which we take now, and keep till the end. Commitment to God, be it in the city or in the monastery, accepts no lameness, that is to lean towards Him today, and to the insanity of the world tomorrow. If we were to realize that the language had acquired its meanings from life, then this meaning becomes a reality to the person who relates it and, consequently, a constant call to repentance. The most beautiful language is that which upholds life.
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