For this week’s blog post, I wanted to focus on the reading passage from the Philokalia. The short story being told having to do with prayer, worship, different types of prayer, and how St. Simeon was able to save himself and his morals and livelihood through worshipping God was very interesting to me. I was never a religious individual and did not grow up practicing or taking part in any type of organized religion. I never really understood how religion was viewed in certain groups or how it can become such a significant part of a person’s life and daily practice. This is definitely because I was not raised around a religious community, but I still had trouble grasping this concept. While reading the literature for this course, I constantly find myself confused or a little bit lost in the readings because I do not have any pre existing knowledge about Christianity or really any religion or religious studies at all. This week’s passage from Philokalia, while it did not completely explain the concept of religion to me, was able to show and explain to me how one person who was struggling with temptation and moral unhealthiness be “saved” by the word of God and worship for hours and hours, until midnight every day. It was said that he stood still “like a pillar”, saying more in his mind than with his mouth to God praying for salvation and appreciating what believing in God has done for him. I found this story especially interesting because although it may not be 100% true, stories like this exist in real life. Individuals can find their purpose through religion, and while I may not be one of those people, I can appreciate the benefits Christianity has for others who are looking for a way to change their lives in a positive way.