The Blog I Never Use

My favorite ancient wise man is Abba Poemen; why? The stories about him are almost always about grace lived out in our day-to-day contact with other people. Religious leaders are generally too happy to persecute and not nearly happy enough to practice grace; Poemen is consistent in resisting judgementalism and embrace acts of grace, but he never takes such grace as freedom do mistreat others.

An Ancient Story:

Some old men went to Abba Poemen and asked, "If we see brothers sleeping during the common prayer, should we wake them?"

Abba Poemen answered, "If I see my brother sleeping, I put his head on my knees and let him rest."

Then one old man spoke up, "And how do you explain yourself before God?"

Abba Poemen replied, "I say to God: You have said, 'First take the beam out of your own eye and then you will be able to remove the splinter from the eye of your brother.' "