It’s Fénelon Friday!
LETTER 35: Bearing Dying Takes the Place of Final Death
We Christians must bear our crosses. In my opinion, self is the greatest cross of them all! We cannot get rid of the weight of that cross until we see that there is nothing that can be done about our condition—that we can only tolerate ourselves selves as we do our neighbor—and surrender ourselves to God. If we surrender and die to self every day of our lives, there won’t be much to do on the last day of our lives. The uncertainties of death will cause no fear when our day comes, if we do not allow these uncertainties to be exaggerated by the worries of self-love. Be patient with your own weaknesses, and be willing to accept help from your neighbor. You will find out in the end, that these little daily deaths will completely destroy the pain of our final dying!
Francis Fénelon, Let Go (New Kensington, PA: Whittaker House, 1973).
Learning To Be Full Of Grace And Truth. 