Although not much cultivated or esteemed today, the memory can be useful in our search for prayer. If, as Solzhenitsyn suggests, forgetfulness of God is the principal cause of all human woes, then remembering God becomes a significant step on the path to recovery.’ And if evil thoughts are the beginning of moral decline, thoughts of God, as in the case of the Prodigal Son, indicate the way back (Luke 15:17-18). Saint Basil took up this point in one of his collections of rules for monastic living:
“Therefore we ought to keep our heart with all watchfulness lest the desire for God be dislodged and driven from our souls by evil desires and filthy thoughts. On the contrary, let each one of us set on our souls the seal of the divine form and figure by means of the assiduous recollection and memory of God. Then that seal will not be moved by any disturbances whatever. If the fire of desire for divine charity burns in us, then the mind and the soul will be illuminated by the frequent memory of God and we will be lifted up and raised for the task of keeping his commandments.”
To live in accord with the Gospel, we must bear its message in mind and heart — that is, live in mindfulness.
Michael Casey, OSCO
Toward God, p. 79
