“To be sober means not to let the heart cling to anything accept God. Cleaving to other things makes the soul drunk, and it begins to do quite unaccountable things. To be vigilant means to watch carefully, lest something evil springs up in the heart.”
Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894) in The Fruits of Prayer as cited in The Quotable Saint ed. Rosemary Ellen Guiley (New York: Visionary Living, 2002) 118.
Numerous Scriptures call us as saints to sobriety. Few saints explain what it means to be sober better than the Russian bishop, Theophan. With vigilance I echo his charge: let us watch that our hearts cling to nothing but God, for I believe such sobriety precedes generosity as it helps us be sure our hearts are right. Want your heart right? Stay sober!