In my recent podcast interview with Father Theodore, the abbot of an Orthodox monastery, he made an interesting—and to my mind, paradoxical—observation about how we need to “exercise” in our spiritual life just like in your physical life. Here’s what he said:

“The spiritual life needs exercise, just like the physical life: the practicing of being still. I often tell people there's a very important reverse saying that they need to learn.

Don't just do something, sit there!

Because, if we don't, we can't be in communion with God, because so much else is going on. Because the truth is in life, everything we truly desire requires that we put aside other things. It's analogous to our traditional understanding of Christian marriage; marriage to another person requires that we set aside other persons. And if we don't, in most instances, our marriage will not survive."

You can listen to the whole interview here: https://www.signpostinn.org/resources/podcast or you can find our podcast on all the popular platforms.