By far, one of the most powerful sentences I've read in recent memory.
The statement invokes simultaneous awe and an overwhelming sense of responsibility. When I read this, I was thinking both, "How can any human being achieve such a thing?!" and "What a beautiful illustration of what Christians are called to do!".
This sentiment is found in the book, "Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives", which contains the life and teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica, who passed away recently in 2002, making him a modern-day Elder, well aware of the challenges faced in our current times. The book is excellent. I started it some time ago but got distracted with another book, and put it aside. I picked it up again recently and began reading it, and was astonished to learn how much our mere thoughts affect people; the good news is that we have the power to choose whether our thoughts can affect others in a positive way, or in a negative and damaging way. The book is full of practical advice on how to deal with different situations and people, and will be very helpful to me for a long time to come. I think it will be a treasured old friend I return to again and again, much like the Elder Paisios of Mount Athos' "Spiritual Counsels" series, and the St. Porphyrios the Kapsokalivite's "Wounded by Love" (canonized as a saint on November 27, 2013, and I assume subsequent publishings of his book will reflect the change from "Elder" to "Saint").
