Chapter 124

The Path to Salvation

Ask and you will receive, knock and it will be opened to you. A blacksmith knows that if he strikes with a hammer, a nail will come out... But one who is zealous for spiritual things cannot say: I will do this and that and obtain this result. Strive, like a little fish against ice, seeking, and you will obtain what the Lord is pleased to give and when He is pleased to give it: write this lesson on your heart. Seek, cry out with contrition of heart, with utmost self-abasement and with unwavering faith that the Lord will give all that is needed; and when something is received... it is not ours... And even if the Lord gives nothing — glory be to God! You must entrust your entire salvation into the Lord’s hands — the surest, most reliable, good, and wise path. (10, 28–29)