orthodoxgladness:

The rich is not who has a lot, but who does not require anything. – St. John Chrysostom

The more I had the more I wanted. The more I used to fill my emptiness the deeper my emptiness became. Nothing could satiate my need. I was a panting animal scouring the desert for water to quench an unquenchable thirst.

Then – what I had was taken away. The amassed items that gleamed in the light became rust-ridden waste. Having them didn’t matter. Not having them didn’t matter. All of the world’s treasure was seen, in the light of God, as worthless. They were nothing.

When I took off my fineries. My watches. My expensive clothes. My high end car. Every fear was shown to be false. I lost nothing when they were gone.

But, unexpectedly, I gained lightness like air.