Ruling Your Inner World

During the holiday season, our minds can go into overdrive, and we start creating narratives about what we think others are thinking. In this talk, Fr. Elijah (Abuna) teaches an Orthodox way of “ruling your inner world” by learning how to observe thoughts without obeying them. Using Psalm 42:5, the Desert Fathers, Christ’s temptation in the wilderness, and practical steps, he shows how intrusive thoughts (logismoi) knock at the door of the mind, and how discernment, Scripture, and concrete actions help us shut the door to what is false and welcome what leads to peace, repentance, unity, and communion with God.