Embracing Reconciliation

53. If you wish not to fall away from the love of God, do not let your brother go to bed feeling irritated with you, and do not go to bed yourself feeling irritated with him. Reconcile yourself with your brother, and then come to Christ with a clear conscience and offer Him your gift of love in earnest prayer (cf. Matt. 5:24).

St. Maximus the Confessor Four Hundred Centuries on Love: #53

In the stillness of those quiet minutes before night wraps in its embrace, before the toils of the day are dulled to the gentle hush of dusk, the heart holds court with its deepest yearnings. It is in these moments, at the still of the evening, that the soul is called to reckon with the bonds of brotherhood which bind it to its kin.

They stood on the doorsteps of slumber: soulmates cloaked in the velvety dim of candles, with hearts heavy from the burden of unresolved strife. Behind the veiled tranquility of the chamber the dimness of discord echoes, and the light cast by its shadows falls. Behind this light, a remaining glimmer calls from afar—the light of reconciliation.

In Maximus the Confessor, it is from his teachings that we can draw light amid the darkness that the human heart is embroiled in conflict. It is his teachings that ring in like the call from the shofar, telling the weary soul to listen to the whispers of the conscience in trying to bring a reconciliation before the dawn. For it is in the act of reconciliation that the road to divine love becomes illuminated, and the soul finds rest in the arms of its brother.

To hold oneself from reconciliation, to build a wall between oneself and the divine, to let seeds of bitterness be sewn in the fertile soil of the heart. But to extend the hand of reconciliation is to dismantle these barriers; it is to cultivate a garden of love where forgiveness blooms like the flowers in the morning light.

In those soft minutes before sleep captures us, let us listen to the words of Maximus and let us try to reconcile with our brethren. Let us lay down our grudges and bring out the bare wounds that separate us, for in this act of vulnerability lies the seeds of healing and redemption. And as we offer the gift of reconciliation to our brother, let us also offer the same to ourselves, that we may approach the throne of Christ with consciences clean and hearts ablaze with the fire of divine love.

Let's pray and, in the quietness of the night, reconcile ourselves with divine light, which brings us closer to the face of God shining in glory. Let it be our fervent offering of prayers, without grudging in our hearts, but rather with flaming souls full of yearning spirits for oneness and peace.