2026-06-10

surely passion correlates with suffering
those who've suffered more have more passion, drive, urgency
goggins is a great example
jensen huang said his advice for young people is to suffer more
the passion of christ involves immense suffering
the orthodox mystery: this relationship between love, pain, and passion

perhaps what we mean when we say 'normie' is someone who cannot understand that passion. who cannot understand the impulse behind someone like david goggins, or nietzsche, or an ascetic monk. who cannot empathize with why someone would want to be so hard on themselves.

the saint takes the pain of the world onto themselves, as christ did in the garden of gethsemene.

the warrior takes this passion out on the world. they fight to correct others. to vanquish the evil and lies in others. to fix broken systems.

the saint directs all this passion inwards. and in doing so, becomes christ-like to where their mere being saves the world.

elder paisos is the ultimate example who worked himself to death. who fasted until his jaw atrophied, and he could no longer chew.

the proof of his unfortunate correctness are in his miracles, those who witnessed him, and those who still pray to him.

the ultimate proof of the correctness of the saints is in christ, who could heal any disease, and who could raise the dead. the passionate scientist may labor his whole life and find a material cure for a terrible disease. and this is very good. but christ can cure any disease with a glance. christ can raise the dead with his hands. and he promised that his disciples would be able to do the same.

most of us cannot be st paul or st paisos. to be a saint is to be chosen. grace is required. our free will is enough for our salvation, but not for our perfection.

if we are not saints, we should labor and fight and change systems and this is all very good. but never should we fall into the trap of atheistic humanism. the trap that makes us believe that this outward struggle is the highest path. the crusader is always second to the saint. the emperor, no matter how benevolent, is always second to christ. the life of the ascetic contemplative is always second to the active, because spiritual force is infinitely greater than material force. in the fatima apparition, mary did not say to negotiate contracts or treaties. she said to pray on your knees.

god gives us the freedom to choose what path we will take. but we cannot lie to ourselves. the saint is more powerful, the saint is more glorified, the saint is more true.

the passionate person cannot rest because there is so much work to do. the peace of god is not a complacency, else he would not ask us to stay up all night in prayer, and saints would not be physically abused by demons. it is something else, something closer to the buddhist ideal of peace underneath pain.