{"id":389,"date":"2011-03-10T08:08:29","date_gmt":"2011-03-10T16:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=389"},"modified":"2011-03-10T10:18:47","modified_gmt":"2011-03-10T18:18:47","slug":"choose-whichever-you-want-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/choose-whichever-you-want-most\/","title":{"rendered":"Choose Whichever You Want Most"},"content":{"rendered":"

D<\/span>uring Lent, I am reading the Desert Fathers. On occasion I will post sayings that strike me during my Lectio<\/i>.<\/p>\n

A brother who followed the hesychastic<\/a> life in the monastery of the cave of Abba Sabba came to Abba Elias and said to him, “Abba, give me the way of life.” <\/p>\n

The Old man said to the brother, “In the days of our predecessors they were greatly diligent about these three virtues: poverty, obedience, and fasting. But among monks today, avarice, self-confidence, and great greed have taken charge. Choose whichever you want most.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During Lent, I am reading the Desert Fathers. On occasion I will post sayings that strike me during my Lectio. A brother who followed the hesychastic life in the monastery of the cave of Abba Sabba came to Abba Elias and said to him, “Abba, give me the way of life.” The Old man said to the brother, “In the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[15,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meditations","category-wisdom"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-6h","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":397,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/vengeance\/","url_meta":{"origin":389,"position":0},"title":"Vengeance","author":"Thom","date":"14 March 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"During Lent, I am reading the Desert Fathers. On occasion I will post sayings that strike me during my Lectio. A brother who had been wronged by another brother came to see Abba Sisoes. He said to him, \"My brother has hurt me and I want to avenge myself.\" The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Meditations"","block_context":{"text":"Meditations","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/meditations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":107656,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/i-am-still-abba-lot-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":389,"position":1},"title":"I am still Abba Lot","author":"Thom","date":"07 March 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I am often reminded of this, one of my favourite stories from the Desert Fathers: Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, \"Abba, as far as I can I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Abba-Lot.jpg?fit=782%2C1128&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Abba-Lot.jpg?fit=782%2C1128&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Abba-Lot.jpg?fit=782%2C1128&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Abba-Lot.jpg?fit=782%2C1128&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":105234,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/i-am-still-abba-lot-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":389,"position":2},"title":"I am still Abba Lot","author":"Thom","date":"05 March 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I am often reminded of this, one of my favourite stories from the Desert Fathers: Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, \"Abba, as far as I can I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Abba-Lot.jpg?fit=782%2C1128&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Abba-Lot.jpg?fit=782%2C1128&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Abba-Lot.jpg?fit=782%2C1128&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Abba-Lot.jpg?fit=782%2C1128&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110333,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/abba-lot-for-lent-2026\/","url_meta":{"origin":389,"position":3},"title":"I am still Abba Lot","author":"Thom","date":"02 March 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"I am often reminded of one of my favourite stories from the Desert Fathers. This year, perhaps, it hits a little differently. In the relative aloneness and solitude I live these days, I am much closer to the desert than in years previous. Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/abba-joseph.avif","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/abba-joseph.avif 1x, https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/abba-joseph.avif 1.5x, https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/abba-joseph.avif 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108542,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/abba-joseph-of-panephysis-for-the-vigil-of-pentecost\/","url_meta":{"origin":389,"position":4},"title":"Abba Joseph of Panephysis for the Vigil of Pentecost","author":"Thom","date":"18 May 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\u2018Abba, as far as I can I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?\u2019 Then the old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Holy Days"","block_context":{"text":"Holy Days","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/holy-days\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Pentecost-Duccio.jpg?fit=485%2C427&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":90837,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/i-am-still-abba-lot-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":389,"position":5},"title":"I am still Abba Lot","author":"Thom","date":"29 March 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"During Lent, I am often reminded of this, one of my favourite stories from the Desert Fathers: Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, \"Abba, as far as I can I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Abba-Lot.jpg?fit=782%2C1128&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Abba-Lot.jpg?fit=782%2C1128&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Abba-Lot.jpg?fit=782%2C1128&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Abba-Lot.jpg?fit=782%2C1128&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":391,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389\/revisions\/391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}