God’s Path to Sanity- By Dee Pennock

 

 

This is the book we used to guide our parish retreat.

Dee Pennock was converted to Christianity in her twenties by two volumes of the "Philokalia" that landed on her desk at The Macmillan Company in New York City, where she was working after her graduation from Stanford University.
Later study of the Bible and early church fathers alerted her to the Adam Complex―the patristic description of human souls and their "passions," based on the scriptural Adam and Eve account.
She found that ancient patristic theology analyzed the make-up of all human nature in terms of the behavioral patterns of Adam and Eve. It described symptoms of the three major passions of the soul that characterize the Adam Complex. The patristic physicians of the soul gave detailed instructions on how to overcome these inborn passions, and how to restore a soul to spiritual and mental health.
Dee Pennock worked as an editor in three publishing houses and was the manuscript editor for the faculty of Harvard Divinity School. She has authored medical and theological articles, as well as textbooks and pamphlets for young adults. In "God's Path to Sanity," she presents a report on the patristic analyses of and remedies for what are referred to today as psychological disorders. Her book introduces readers, in eloquent detail, to the spiritual counseling and healing practiced by mainstream physicians of the soul from apostolic times through subsequent centuries. (From Amazon)

The Philokalia is an anthology of texts written between the 4th and 14th centuries by spiritual masters of the Orthodox Christian tradition. It was gathered primarily for the benefit of monastics, but its influence has extended well beyond the monastery and has exercised a great influence on Eastern Orthodox spirituality.

This is the general process described in the book:

 There are two other general categories that are helpful to understand about this book. 

1) There are three powers of the soul:

Thinking Power: Discerns truth and goodness. It is the "eye" of the soul. Reflects on the true nature of things.

Desiring Power:  Loves/desires what is good and true. This sets intentions in harmony with God's will. Orders the affections. Chooses what is good/right.

Excitable Power: Energizers the will to act. Zeal. Propels the soul into action. Provides the emotional drive to fulfill intentions. 

2) There are three ways the soul goes wrong that is related to these powers. Often these are called passions. In the modern world we often use the word "passion" in a positive sense. But for much of Christian history the passions are sinful dispositions that overtake us:

Pride: A deep distortion of the thinking power. Pride is a spiritual defect that blinds the soul to its true condition by inflating self-perception and undermining the need for God. It makes us overconfident in our own judgement. It convinces us that we already know best, which makes us resistant to correction and blind to our flaws. It block repentance because we can't admit weakness or sin. It elevates self-sufficiency over community, creating barriers between us and others. Our identity becomes rooted in an illusion. This sin is a gatekeeper to the other sins- the root sin.  (The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride)

Vainglory: This is a corruption of the soul's desiring and excitable powers, rooted in a deep craving for recognition, praise, and external approval. Vainglory is the soul's distorted hunger to be seen, admired, or affirmed. It attaches worth to appearance- to how we are perceived. Even good acts can be infected by a secret desire to be noticed, congratulated or thanked. It is an 'empty glory' because it doesn't come from God, but this can create a compulsion as we try to full the emptiness we feel. We are left with a very fragile identity that constantly need affirmation. It desires admiration over honesty, and image over transformation. (The Seven Deadly Sins: Envy)   

Self-Love: In our modern world we might think of this as a good thing. But this is love turned inward, rather than it being outwardly directed. So, this is not about self-care. It is a distorted inward turning of the soul. Self-love is an obsessive preoccupation with one's own comfort, desire, and image, where the self is placed at the center of one's life instead of God. The desiring power is redirected towards personal pleasure and gratification. It becomes self-protective, self-consoling, and self-promoting. It makes us unwilling to repent and receive correction. It prefers comfort over transformation. This can masquerade as 'boundaries' or 'self-care'. It refuses to be inconvenienced. Self-love idolizes the self, making it fragile and defensive.  (The Seven Deadly Sins: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Sloth)  

The confusing part of this book is that it seems like Pennock is trying to present these powers and passions in a systematic way, but they don't always line up that way. The desiring and excitable powers are very reactive to each other, so there can confusingly overlap when we try to understand these passions in a systematic way. 

For example, self-love may primarily distort the desiring power (through comfort-seeking or emotional gratification), but when it erupts into frustration or anger, it recruits the excitable power too.

Vainglory often begins in the desiring power (craving admiration), but when it fuels ambitious striving or reactive performance, it manifests through the excitable power.

The thinking power is more reliably distorted by pride by blinding the "soul's eye" through inflated self-perception, rationalizing sin, and resisting correction.

So, it is good to not be too rigid with these categories. 

I have read through Pennock's book about 3 times and I have taken extensive notes for myself. My notes are too long to include here, so what I did was use AI to summarize my notes. Hopefully you find this helpful. I will also include some significant quotes from each chapter. 

Book Summary:   God’s Path to Sanity:

Lessons From Ancient Holy Counselors on How to Have a Sound Mind

By Dee Pennock

 Introduction

In the Introduction, Dee Pennock lays a vital foundation for the journey of spiritual restoration by asserting that true life is found only in God. As Clement of Alexandria famously declares, “Have you found God? Then you have found life.” Pennock contends that our souls were originally created in the image of God—a complete, harmonious composition of body, soul, and spirit—but that the fall of Adam and Eve distorted this divine template through the introduction of sinful passions. These passions, inherited from our original fall, have obscured our natural state and thwarted our ability to experience true sanity—that is, the sanctity and balance exemplified by Christ.

Central to Pennock’s teaching is the idea that before any healing can occur, we must accurately diagnose the “disease” of our soul. As John Cassian wisely states, “No one can apply remedies to ill health except one who has already diagnosed the actual origin of the disease.” In our case, a deep understanding of our original, untainted nature is essential. We are reminded by the Church Fathers—notably Callistus, Ignatius, and Gregory of Sinai—that self-knowledge begins with remembering who we were created to be rather than who we have become. This diagnosis is the first step toward grappling with and ultimately overcoming the deformations produced by our fallen state.

Pennock distinguishes between the perfect, intended design of the soul and our current condition, which is marred by inherited defects or “spiritual birth defects.” These include passions like pride, self-love, and vainglory—disorders that work against the healthy functioning of our natural faculties. Rather than simply conceptualize these as abstract sins, Pennock insists we see them as real maladies, much like ailments that require skilled physicians. Only by understanding our spiritual anatomy—the thinking power, the desiring power, and the excitable power—can we begin to work on restoring our souls. In doing so, we open the door for divine grace to operate fully within us.

A further key insight in the Introduction contrasts the patristic approach with modern secular psychology. While contemporary theories often reduce human behavior to material or environmental factors, Pennock, echoing the wisdom of the ancient holy counselors, argues that our unique capacity for free will is not predetermined by mere biology or circumstance. Instead, our salvation and restoration depend on our deliberate cooperation with God’s grace. This partnership is illustrated by the analogy of a physician who can only heal properly if he understands the patient’s original state. According to Pennock, the journey to spiritual sanity is therefore an active process of repentance—a turning away from inherited error toward the fulfillment of God’s commandments.

Ultimately, the Introduction serves as a clarion call to “diagnose” our inner life honestly and to seek restoration through the twin aids of divine grace and our free will. As Dee Pennock reminds us, the path to healing begins with repenting of our fallen state and remembering our original identity in God. With wisdom gleaned from both Scripture and the writings of the Church Fathers, [such as John Cassian and Gregory of Sinai], we are encouraged to engage in this transformative process—a process that promises not only restoration of our souls but also a life marked by true, everlasting sanity in the love of Christ.

Significant quotes from the chapter:

Gregory of Sinai writes: if we do not learn what we were created by God to be, we shall not know what we have become through sin.

For it is impossible to heal the sick if one has no knowledge of the disease of the patient (Irenaeus).  

When is a soul mentally fit? When it knows a lot about itself (that is, what God made it to be and how to work with God), say holy counselors. When it readily sees and accepts reality. When it is able to prevail against whatever psychological and spiritual obstacles it may face. When it can protect itself from spiritual harm. When it is using its free will for its own greatest benefit.

If we have health of soul (so-called “sanity”), our energies work to benefit us, now and eternally. With illness (“insanity”), our energies keep working to cause us pain and distress, psychological and spiritual damage. The greatest benefit we're capable of achieving is being in harmony with God's perfect (all-loving and divinely wise) will for us. Obedience to God's will, therefore, is the ultimate sanity.

“No one can apply remedies to ill health except one who has already diagnosed the actual origin of the disease … . For unless the different kinds of sins are first explained, and the origin and causes of disease traced out, the proper healing remedies cannot be applied to the sick, nor can the preservation of perfect health be secured by the strong” -John Cassian     

Secular psychology suggests that we can't be anything psychologically except products of our material composition and environments. It thus rejects the only tool we have for gaining spiritual health- our free will; and our only means of getting through to the Lord who can heal us- repentance.

Our soul is not helplessly and irreversibly shaped by any material forces, but can be spiritually shaped and made triumphant over material influences by God, in response to our free will and prayers.

Many mental afflictions are caused by passions disturbing or temporarily taking possession of the soul. The medical art can sedate symptoms, but cannot remove passions from the soul.

Pain often alerts us to something wrong inside the body. And depression serves a similar purpose, say holy counselors, it's frequently given or allowed by God, they say, to draw our attention to something threatening the health of our soul.

Applying medications to suppress symptoms caused by a spiritual infection in the soul, say holy physicians, will leave the soul blocked off, with no relief from what is producing the symptoms. 

Chapter 1, “The Soul You’ve Got to Work With”

In Chapter 1, Dee Pennock lays the groundwork for understanding the human soul as a divine creation endowed with free will—a precious gift both from God and essential for our spiritual growth. According to Pennock, our soul is not a monolithic entity but is composed of three interrelated powers. First, there is the thinking power, often referred to as the “eye of the soul.” As the fourth-century counselor Evagrius beautifully states, “What the eye is to the body, that the mind is to the soul.” This faculty enables us to discern truth from falsehood, enabling our soul to perceive the world with spiritual insight rather than mere sensory input.

The second aspect is the desiring power—the branch of free will that takes the decisions made by our thinking power and translates them into goals and actions. Pennock likens its function to entering data into a computer; once our mind decides upon a particular goal, the desiring power mobilizes us to act, much like a typed command that eventually “prints” out a result in our lives. This analogy emphasizes that our will is not autonomous in a vacuum but works in tandem with our inner convictions.

The third element is the excitable power, sometimes called the “zeal spigot,” which provides the energy and fervor needed to carry out our intentions. This power fuels our passions and bridges the transformation of our inner decisions into visible action. St. Anthony of Egypt reminds us that life is a “union and junction of spirit, soul, and body,” and it is through the energizing nature of the excitable power that our spiritual impulses find expression in our daily lives.

Pennock emphasizes that in their original form, these capacities were created in the image of God, imbued with an innate capacity for truth and goodness. However, with the Fall of Adam and Eve, sin and its corrosive passions have distorted our natural design. The sacraments and the teachings of the Church Fathers teach that our free will, though marred, still possesses the dormant capacity for divine healing when properly realigned with God’s purpose. As John Cassian insightfully notes, “No one can apply remedies to ill health except one who has already diagnosed the actual origin of the disease.” Thus, understanding our soul’s original integrity is not only a matter of self-knowledge—it is the necessary first step toward spiritual restoration.

Pennock also contrasts this patristic view with the reductionist approach of some modern secular psychologists who focus solely on material or environmental influences. Instead, she argues that our soul’s free will—the decision-making interplay among the thinking, desiring, and excitable powers—is a God-given instrument that can either fall prey to destructive passions or be harnessed for righteous living. 

Moreover, Pennock challenges us to see our soul as a dynamic, living system—a “computer” that receives, processes, and outputs spiritual data. Just as a computer’s performance depends on the quality of its programming, our ability to live a sound, God-ordained life depends on the proper functioning of these three faculties. Only when our thinking power consistently perceives God’s truth, our desiring power aligns with His will, and our excitable power energizes our commitment to righteousness can we hope to restore the original design of our soul.

In sum, Chapter 1 calls us to a deep and honest evaluation of our inner workings, urging us to rediscover the soul we were meant to have. By understanding that our free will is both a precious gift and a potential source of disorder if left unguided, we open ourselves to the possibility of divine restoration—a restoration that begins with acknowledging the original beauty of our creation and the ongoing, transformative power of God’s grace.

Significant quotes from the chapter:

We do have inborn “passions” (called “sin”) that have glommed onto our souls as a result of the fall from Paradise. They come with the mortality we have inherited from Adam. As a poisonous serpent carries its venom inside it, mortality carries sin in it, the poison that causes us to die- For the sting of death is sin (1 Cor 15:56).

 Our salvation depends upon 2 unequal but equally necessary forces, God's grace and our own free will. In our spiritual life, writes holy Macarius of Egypt, the will of man is an essential condition, for without it God does nothing.

There are three powers in the soul- the thinking, the excitable (the energetic), and the desiring. By the thinking power we seek to understand what is good; By the desire and power we desire the good we have understood; By the excitable power we strive and fight for it.- Maximus the Confessor

 The Saints teach that faith comes from gathering knowledge. He who does not know the truth cannot have true faith; For in the nature of things, knowledge comes before faith (Hesychius).

You get knowledge of God, and knowledge of yourself, by making your soul a laboratory and experimenting in it. The tools you experiment with are the counsels of Jesus and his disciples, and those who would follow after them, to whom he said the Holy Spirit would come and guide you into all truth (Jn 16:13)- the ones who, as scripture says, have become wholly enough to be all taught with God (Jn 6:45). You actively test the counsels they offer, and examine the results in yourself.

If you are willing to be led by the evidence (and not everybody is), you're testing and tasting will bring you into more and more knowledge about yourself and God.

First you come to know something; then you will acquire faith in what you know.

Faith is a settling of the mind concerning the things that are, wrote basil the great.

Chapter 2, “Spiritual Defects the Soul Is Born With”

In Chapter 2, Dee Pennock boldly asserts that while we were originally created in the image of God, our souls are inherently marred from birth by spiritual defects—errors and deformations brought about by the Fall. These defects, more than mere moral failings, are deep-seated maladies that distort the natural, divinely intended order of our inner life. Pennock calls these inherent distortions “passions,” and explains that they despoil our original goodness by corrupting the three faculties with which our soul was endowed: the thinking power, the desiring power, and the excitable power.

At its core, the chapter distinguishes between our pristine, original creation and the fallen condition that now defines our human nature. Pennock draws on the wisdom of the Church Fathers, reminding us that “No one can apply remedies to ill health except one who has already diagnosed the actual origin of the disease,” a principle famously articulated by John Cassian. In our case, the “disease” is not a manufactured flaw but the tragic inheritance of sin—the legacy of Adam and Eve’s disobedience—which continues to undermine our potential for spiritual health.

Among the defects she outlines, Pennock singles out pride, self-love, and vainglory as principal forces that pervert our soul’s proper function. Pride, for instance, clouds our thinking power by promoting an illusion of superiority and self-sufficiency, effectively blocking us from perceiving truth as God intended. Self-love, described by Pennock as “a passionate and irrational attachment to our bodily concerns,” hijacks our natural capacity for both self-care and genuine affection for others. This is not self-love in the sense of healthy self-esteem, but an overindulgence that transforms our focus inward, leading us to prioritize material gratification and physical appetites over spiritual well-being.

Vainglory—often defined as “empty glory”—is another destructive force Pennock explores. It compels individuals to seek external validation rather than to cultivate internal, God-centered approval. Such a fixation, she explains, not only perpetuates the cycle of self-centeredness but also distances us from the authentic experience of divine love. In blending these three manifestations of inherent sinfulness, Pennock paints a picture of the soul as a delicate instrument that has been warped by its environment and its inherited corruption.

Patristic commentators support her argument. For instance, Maximus the Confessor speaks of these passions as “unnatural movements of the soul” that attack the very faculties God intended for discerning truth and goodness. Similarly, Clement of Alexandria taught that understanding what we were originally made to be is critical in overcoming the errors that now dominate our lives. These insights emphasize that our spiritual defects are not immutable characteristics of the human condition, but deviations from the ideal state that we can remedy through repentance and divine grace.

Critically, Pennock’s analysis challenges modern psychological views that reduce our behavior to external influences alone. While secular theories might blame social or material factors for our actions, Pennock—and the Church Fathers—insist that our inner life is profoundly impacted by spiritual realities inherited from the Fall. This calling to self-diagnosis is essential for any true healing. Recognizing our defects is the first step in embarking on the path to restoration, as only a clear understanding of our fallen state allows us to seek the proper remedy in God.

Ultimately, Chapter 2 serves as a sobering yet hopeful invitation: By confronting these inherent spiritual defects head-on, and by embracing a process of repentance aimed at restoring our original design, we set the stage for a transformative healing of our soul. In doing so, we not only reclaim the potential for true love and divine sanity but also open our hearts to the restorative work of God's grace—a theme that resonates throughout Pennock's entire work.

Significant quotes from the chapter:

There are certain diseases- you might call them spiritual birth defects- with which we are all born.   They are a part of being mortal (subject to death). They are not our original true nature, but have come upon us because of the fall of Adam and Eve from Paradise. Jesus came to heal these spiritual birth defects of ours, to deliver us from them and the death that goes with them, and to restore in us the beautiful spiritual nature we were created to have.

We have two different natures: 1 the nature we were created with, which is the nature to which Christ restores us; and 2 the nature we are born with, which is the nature of the fallen Adam and Eve, in need of healing and redemption by God.  Being in God’s (Christ’s) image and likeness is the human nature we were created to possess and can now regain through Jesus.

We were created with one nature and are born into this life with a different nature, a fallen nature with the various spiritual birth defects that accompany it.

The saints call our spiritual defects “passions". There are three basic passions we're born with and each has its own symptoms. All passions interfere with our thinking and emotions and behavior, just as physical diseases interfere with how a body functions. Passions cause our sins. Sins happen to us from wrong use of the three powers of the soul, the desiring, the excitable, and the thinking powers, writes Maximus the Confessor. 

What is a passion? Passion is an unnatural movement of the soul, says Maximus the Confessor, just as a physical disease is an affliction that doesn't belong to the human body by nature. 

Passion is an excessive feeling, or appetite, going beyond what is reasonable. Passions are a disturbance of our soul contrary to our nature, in disobedience to reason. Passion is not natural, and it ruins our nature instead of fulfilling it.- Clement of Alexandria

The passion of pride gives us a distorted view of reality, making it appear to us that we can handle everything without any help from God. It blinds us to the difference between ourselves and God, so that we get mixed up about which is which.

Notion of self-love blocks our zeal for spiritual work, and replaces it with lust for carnal satisfactions.

The disease of self-love inflames the will with such lust to satisfy bodily and materialistic appetites that it becomes indifferent to spiritual instructions from the soul's mind, and pushes them away.

When the passions of our irrational [excitable] part begin to act, they prevent the mind from acting rationally- Nilus of Sinai

Vainglory, as the saints say, counterfeits all the virtues like friendliness and caring and compassion for others. With this passion, people can glow with spiritual gifts, as scripture says (1 Cor 13:1-3), give unstintingly to the poor, and spend themselves helping charities, but for nothing- because, if it's motivated by vain glory, it's all an act, a counterfeit of love, to impress themselves and others.

These then are the three basic passions we all have [pride, self-love, and vainglory], our spiritual birth defects. Never think that you can tackle them on your own- just read all about them, decide not to have them, and dump them. They are not behavioral faults that anybody can correct. They are diseases of our spiritual system. And you can't get rid of them yourself, any more than you can reach in with your own fingers and pull bacteria out of your bloodstream. We need persistent prayer, with recognition of the passions in us, according to holy counselors through the ages, to deliver us from these diseases- prayer that calls into our souls the divine physician's healing grace.

 

Chapter 3, “The Medicinal Powers of Repentance”

In Chapter 3, Dee Pennock presents repentance as the essential “medicine” for the afflictions of the soul. Rather than viewing repentance merely as a momentary sorrow for sin or a superficial act of contrition, Pennock insists that true repentance is a vigorous, transformative process—a holistic remedy that heals our inner spiritual ills. At its core, repentance requires us to acknowledge the deviations from our original, God‐created state and to actively turn our will back toward divine truth.

Pennock draws on the age-old wisdom of the Church Fathers, who liken repentance to the work of a physician. John Cassian’s famous assertion, “No one can apply remedies to ill health except one who has already diagnosed the actual origin of the disease,” is echoed throughout this chapter. For Pennock, our soul’s poor condition is not accidental; it is the cumulative result of inherited defects—sinful passions such as pride, self-love, and vainglory—which have corrupted our innate potential. Only by diagnosing these deep-rooted issues can we begin to cure them. Thus, repentance is the first step toward recovery, a deliberate, ongoing commitment to cleanse the soul from these spiritual maladies.

The chapter emphasizes that repentance is far from passive mourning over lost glory. Instead, it is an active reorientation of the entire self. This involves several interlocking practices: sincere self-examination, the reading of Scripture to reveal hidden faults, fervent prayer that invites God’s restorative grace, and, importantly, an unwavering commitment to discard self-justifying behaviors. In doing so, we confront not only our overt sins but also our subtle pretense, the “idle justifications” that become barriers to true healing. As Pennock reminds us, “If we are to be healed of our internal disarray, we must first be willing to expose our faults and allow God’s grace to work upon the very depths of our being.”

Pennock’s approach is deeply patristic in nature. The saints of early Christianity, such as St. John Chrysostom and St. Maximus the Confessor, taught that genuine repentance produces a dramatic transformation of the soul. Their writings reveal that repentance is not merely a discrete event but rather a continuous, patient struggle to rid the heart of its inherited passions. The process, they argue, is medicinal: each act of humble confession and every moment of sincere prayer is like a dose of divine medicine. In a similar spirit, Pennock encourages us to adopt the regular petition, “Lord Jesus Christ, deliver me from my sinful passions,” as an integral part of our daily routine, not as an act of desperation but as a steadfast affirmation of our commitment to spiritual recovery.

Beyond its personal benefits, repentance also realigns our relationships with others. By stripping away the deceptive layers of self-love and pride, genuine repentance opens our hearts to true, sacrificial love—the love that flows from God and connects us as members of His Body. This communal aspect resonates with the ancient teaching that “the physician of one’s soul is not found in isolation.” Instead, through repentance, we become instruments of divine empathy, capable of extending mercy and compassion to those around us.

In summary, Chapter 3 “The Medicinal Powers of Repentance” offers a profound blueprint for spiritual healing. It calls us to diagnose our inner defects honestly, to engage in a transformative process that combines self-examination, scriptural reflection, and persistent prayer, and to embrace repentance as an ongoing, restorative journey. Through this process, we not only break the hold of our inherited sins but also reclaim our God-intended nature, paving the way for true, lasting sanity in the love and grace of our Lord.

Significant quotes from the chapter:

Here we are, then, having those three main passions we're all born with. They're keeping many of us from making our lives work out in the way we'd like them to. They've given some people wrong desires that have brought failures and disappointments. They're exhausting others with stress and depression. They're producing behavior that alienates us from one another. With most of us, however happy we may be right now, our inborn passions are keeping us from the greater happiness we'd have, and could share with others, if we were rid of them. And there are always some person for whom these passions make each day a day of torment.

As soon as we see and want to be rid of this sin (the passions) in ourselves, we're already beginning the healing process of repentance that can take us into heaven.

Repentance is recognizing and mourning our separation from God. It brings the divine grace that cleanses us of the spiritual weakness (the sin) in our fallen nature that separates us from God. 

Repentance is everything you do to get sin, those inborn passions, out of you. It's reading, thinking, praying, weeding-out disruptive influences in your life, sharing time with fellow Christians, following the guidance of the saints. Repentance is the renunciation of what harms us and the acquisition of what is beneficial to us, writes a holy counselor. Repentance involves godly sorrow over past sins and over the passions that are presently in us. We are carried into and all the way through repentance by the Holy Spirit.

Leading the repentant person to undertake spiritual work, the Holy Spirit, who called him to repentance, also grants him his comforts and teaches him not to turn back. For this is the aim of the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit: to purify people completely and bring them back to their original state, in which they were before the Fall. -Anthony the Great

By being able to see and condemn what we are, we immediately become able to love what we shall be in God (Cyprian of Carthage)

That's the point of Christianity- to be united with God (theosis) and have our souls take on the godly beauty that's natural to them.

“I say to you, unless your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of heaven.”- Matt 5:20.  How can we be more righteous than those who obey the law? This is how: by cutting out the very root of sin in ourselves, the inner passions that cause our outward sins- to free not only the body but also the soul itself from sin. Jesus says not only don't kill but don't even be angry with anyone. As the law forbids bad deeds so the gospel forbids the very hidden passions of the soul, says Basil the great.

The saints teach that if a person repents then falls into the same sin again, this is proof that one has not put away the prime cause of that sin, so that from it, as from a root the same growth, comes again necessarily. So one who wishes to be cleansed of sins that grow out of others should remove the first causes of those sins (Basil the Great). 

So saving repentance isn't just about single offenses we have committed. It's concerned with the spiritual condition we're now in- the passions that are now acting in us, causing our souls to be unclean and at odds with God's will for us. God has given us repentance as the way to cleanse our souls of the passions that are harming us as well as of its specific sins. 

Anthony the great teaches us to regard this life as a womb in which we're perfecting our souls, through repentance, for birth into the life to come.  Through the medicinal powers of repentance, we make ourselves ready for our birth into heaven when it comes. Then, the Saints tell us, was a baby begins to sense outside things while still in the womb, we can begin to experience some of heaven itself, to smell the air of the resurrection (Isaac of Syria), even now, today, in this present life.

 Chapter 4, “Prayer That Brings Self-Discovery”

In Chapter 4, Dee Pennock centers her discussion on prayer as the transformative tool through which the hidden recesses of the soul are revealed. For Pennock, prayer is not simply a formal ritual or recitation of words; it is an active, humble engagement with God that allows one to excavate the inner depths of one’s being. She likens the process to a receding tide that uncovers treasures—and sometimes debris—that have long been concealed on the seafloor of the soul. This metaphor powerfully illustrates how persistent prayer strips away the layers of self-deception and habitual sin, exposing the true state of one’s inner life.

Pennock emphasizes that the goal of such prayer is self-discovery. In our daily routines, many of us continue to live with latent defects—unacknowledged sins that cloud our judgment and hinder spiritual growth. As the Church Fathers have long taught, true repentance is not achieved by ignoring these flaws; rather, it is through prayerful introspection that one confronts the reality of one’s imperfections. John Cassian once asserted, “No one can apply remedies to ill health except one who has already diagnosed the actual origin of the disease.” In this context, prayer is the means by which we diagnose our inner spiritual "diseases"—whether they be pride, self-love, or the distortion of natural affections—so that the healing grace of God may then work effectively within us.

The transformative aspect of prayer is further underscored by its ability to dismantle the barriers of pride and self-sufficiency. Pennock teaches that when we earnestly seek God’s mercy with the simple, heartfelt plea, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,” we open ourselves to a process of genuine self-examination. In this humble state, our mind is cleared of the pretensions that keep us from recognizing our need for divine assistance. As St. John Chrysostom observed, a humble prayer life is what “unmasks the truth of our condition” and paves the way to spiritual renewal.

Pennock also explores how prayer functions as a mirror in which we see not only our shortcomings but also the potential for restoration. Augustine, among others, taught that our inner life is like a dark room in which light can reveal hidden corners. Similarly, through persistent and sincere prayer, the Holy Spirit brings illumination to those neglected areas of the soul that have been marred by sin. This process is gradual and demands both patience and perseverance. It is not enough to pray occasionally; one must cultivate a constant, disciplined habit of prayer that becomes as natural as breathing.

Ultimately, Chapter 4 of God’s Path to Sanity is an invitation to embark on a journey of self-discovery through prayer. It reminds us that only by exposing the hidden truths of our heart can we begin to understand our need for God’s grace and the path toward spiritual healing. As we peel away the layers of sin and self-deception through disciplined, heartfelt prayer, we open ourselves to the transformative love of Christ—a love that brings clarity, healing, and true spiritual sanity.

Significant quotes from the chapter:

A confused mind … withdrawn from God, is led captive everywhere. And there is no way of regaining its stability except by repenting to God and uniting with him, by frequent and patient prayers, and by mentally confessing our sins to him each day- Gregory of Sinai

A soul forcing itself to this practice can discover everything which is within, both good and bad. first, it will see within, in the heart, what is bad, and later- what is good. This remembrance [called the Jesus prayer] can reveal the sin living in us, and this remembrance can destroy it. The name of our Lord Jesus Christ descending into the depths of the heart will subdue the serpent holding sway over the pastures of the heart, and will save our soul and bring it to life. But this work is not done in one or two days; It needs many years and a long time period for great and prolonged labor is needed to cast out the foe so that Christ dwells in us. -John Chrysostom

So we start by calling on Jesus. Then we ask for deliverance from whatever passion we're working on (in this case, pride, ignorance of oneself). And we asked for the virtue would replace it (knowledge of ourselves, and of the passions affecting us). Sin separates us from God. We wish to discover our sin so that we can remove every obstacle between us and God. 

People sometimes pray over and over to be freed from a bad habit or an addiction, but are not freed from it. And they want to give up, because God isn't answering their prayer. Here's why that happens. Whenever persistent prayer is not delivering us from the sin or passion we're praying to be rid of, it's because that sin is anchored by some other sin underneath it- like a boat being held in check by a submerged weight. (For instance, underlying addictions to food or alcohol or other fleshly indulgences is the big passion of self-love.) So we often need to pray for God to deliver us from pride and show us the deeper sin anchoring the one that's a problem.

When we pray for God to reveal what sin is underlying the difficult, involuntary one we can't overcome it will always bring us to some voluntary sin we can get a hold of and repent, an anchor we are able to pull up. In that way, even persons who are very weak, say the saints, will find a point where they can begin to turn themselves around and change the whole course of their lives. Mark the ascetic reminds us, according to scripture, the cause of all sin that is involuntary lies in what is voluntary.

He who is drawn away by sin against his will ought to understand that he is being mastered by some other previous sin, which he serves willingly, And is henceforth  led under its power even to things which he does not wish- Basil the Great

There is a difference between the sin of ignoring our inborn passions (or being in sympathy with them and excusing them) and the evil doing of the autonomous passions themselves. When ignored, our passions independently carry out their own destructive patterns. Indifference to any passions we may have opens the door of our soul to them. If evil can work through us when we don't consciously intend for that to happen, it's evidence that there's some passion in our soul that we don't see because of pride or have deliberately ignored, allowing it to run its course. The natural function of sin is to be destructive, whether we personally wish to be destructive or not.

It is like all poisonous kinds of serpents or of wild beasts, which, while they remain in solitude and their own layers, are still not harmless; For they cannot be said to be harmless just because they are not actually hurting anybody. For when they have secured an opportunity of hurting someone, at once they produced the poison stored up in them, and show the ferocity of their nature. -John Cassian

Scripture and the saints’ assure us, there is no unforgivable sin except the sin that is not repented (Isaac of Syria). There's no reason to despair. 

When the soul falls into sin, it should turn to God with humble repentance and hope, and not torture itself with excessive sorrow and stress (Unseen Warfare).

With true repentance, we'll always be rescued from our sin, say the saints. Compared with God's mercy, the trespasses of all flesh are as a handful of sand thrown into the sea, writes Isaac of Syria. So however great our sin, even if it is murder, say holy counselors, hopelessness and despair are never appropriate.

 If, as is obvious, our sins are subject to measure and can be numbered, but it is impossible to measure the mercy or number the compassions of God, there is no time for despairing, but only for recognizing mercy and renouncing sins.- Basil the Great

The Kingdom of heaven is taken by force, and the forceful shall enter it (Matt 11:12). It means not giving up on prayer, forcing oneself until it brings the blessing we're after. Forceful prayer is praying the way Jacob wrestled with God. The saints say to keep wrestling with our repentant prayer like that, until it blesses us and leads to salvation- until it gives us the new heart and new spirit that God has promised. 

Chapter 5, “The Narrow Gate That Leads into Life”

In Chapter 5, Pennock confronts the internal resistance many face when called to repentance—a resistance that stems from an almost allergic aversion to self-blame. She argues that our human nature, steeped in pride and self-justification, constructs a false barrier between us and God’s transformative grace. Drawing on the imagery of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7:13–14 about entering through the narrow gate, Pennock illustrates that the path to true spiritual life is not an easy, wide path of self-indulgence, but a narrow passage requiring humility, vulnerability, and a willingness to confront our faults.

Pennock explains that the defenses we erect in the guise of self-justification are counterproductive; they mirror the ancestral sin where Adam shifted blame onto Eve rather than accepting full responsibility for his part in the Fall. This habitual denial of personal fault shields us from the painful admission of sin but at the same time isolates us from the healing power of repentance. As John Cassian famously remarked, “No one can apply remedies to ill health except one who has already diagnosed the actual origin of the disease.” For Pennock, the most critical diagnosis we must make is to recognize the areas in our soul where pride and vanity have taken root.

Key to this chapter is the idea that true transformation begins when we tear down our self-justifications and embrace a posture of humility. Pennock stresses that humble confession is not a sign of weakness but of strength—a necessary step towards experiencing God’s restorative love. The narrow gate symbolizes the disciplined life of repentance, where one deliberately surrenders the illusions of perpetual self-sufficiency. In the words of St. John Chrysostom, who often spoke on humility, the soul that is willing to “expose its own darkness” is prepared to receive the light of God, for “the humble spirit finds favor in God’s sight.”

Pennock further explores the painful yet liberating process of admitting our imperfections. By confronting our innate propensity for self-exaltation, we learn that the path to true happiness and sanity lies not in the constant affirmation of our own worth, but in embracing the correction that leads us closer to God’s will. This narrow gate demands that we set aside the comfort of self-deception and acknowledge our vulnerability. Only then does the life-giving mercy of God begin to work within us, transforming our inner ruins into a space of genuine grace.

Modern self-help programs often miss the deeper, spiritual dimension of our brokenness. While psychology might offer temporary relief, it seldom addresses the root of our internal disordered state—a root that can only be exposed and healed through humble repentance before God.

Ultimately, Chapter 5 is both a warning and a promise. It warns that if we remain entrenched in pride and self-justification, we will continue to find ourselves locked out of the transformative power of God’s grace, wandering in spiritual isolation. Yet, it also promises that when we brave the narrow gate—when we commit to an honest evaluation of our faults and embrace the disciplined life of repentance—our lives are radically altered. We begin a journey toward genuine sanity, where every acknowledgment of sin, every act of contrition, and every moment of humility becomes a stepping stone to a restored, flourishing relationship with God.

In summary, Dee Pennock challenges us in Chapter 5 to recognize that the narrow gate to life is not a path of gradual self-improvement through mere willpower but a profound renovation of the soul—a process that requires us to cast aside our defenses, to face our shortcomings head-on, and to walk humbly into the light of God’s healing mercy.

Significant quotes from the chapter:

We resist repentance because of a monstrous allergy we have to blaming ourselves for anything, seeing anything sinful in ourselves. This creates in us an allergy, also, to repentance, because repentance involves the confession that there is something wrong in our souls- something we're responsible for discovering and changing, through repentance.

The passion that sets us up for this allergy is vain glory. Attacks our will, giving it a strong desire to impress other people, rather than obeying God, so they'll approve of us. The will then develops a allergy to any suggestion that we are not looking good to others. A suspicion that we could have some fault that might keep us from being accepted and admired by others can make us feel very uncomfortable.

To call on this allergic reaction to the thought that there could be something wrong with us that is our responsibility to recognize and correct by repentance, there is a psychological antihistamine. It is called self-justification. Self-justification is like a thick, anesthetizing salve that soothes away every aggravating hint that there is any sin in us for which we could be responsible. It cools any suspicions that we could be blamed for anything.

How does self-justification work? It works like this: when God called Adam, who was hiding in the garden after eating the forbidden fruit, and questioned him about it, Adam said, the woman you put here gave me the fruit, and I ate it. You see? He was innocent it was Eve's fault- even God's fault, for putting eve there to begin with. Likewise, when God asks Eve she blames the serpent. She too is innocent. It was the serpent's fault- and God made the serpent.

Never try to blame your genes for whatever inborn passions you have that keep you from being in the image and likeness of Christ as we were created to be. Assuming the nature we're born with is the unavoidable nature God gave us, so that we aren't responsible for having it or correcting it, cuts off belief in any need for repentance or recovery. And how can we believe we need a savior to redeem us from inborn sin that we are convinced is natural and needs no correction?

With self-justification, avoiding the truth scripture gives us about our sin, say the saints who know the Bible so well, we leave our souls wrapped in the profound spiritual darkness of pride. As long as we keep denying that there's sin in us and rejecting the repentance to which Jesus has called us, they say, we have no access to enlightenment, no escape from the darkness and ignorance of pride. 

Most of our sin is so hidden from us that we are unaware of it and how it's affecting us. That's why David prayed to be cleansed of his hidden faults (Ps 19:12). 

Chapter 6, “God is Greater Than Our Environment”

In Chapter 6, Pennock challenges the deterministic assertions of secular psychology, which often reduce human behavior and identity to the products of material and social forces. Drawing upon a rich patristic tradition, she argues that human souls are not confined by the environment into which they are born, but are instead endowed with free will—a divine gift that empowers us to rise above inherited circumstances and limitations.

Central to Pennock’s argument is the conviction that our knowledge of God as Creator radically redefines our potential. Unlike the secular notion that we are simply conditioned by external influences—genetics, upbringing, and cultural norms—Pennock affirms that God’s creative power endows us with a free will capable of transcending even the most adverse situational factors. This view is rooted in Scripture, where Jesus himself declared, “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Such a pronouncement is not merely a statement of personal victory; it is a reassurance that divine power is always available to those who seek to align their will with God’s purpose, regardless of environmental challenges.

Pennock’s teaching invites us to see our circumstances not as destiny but as starting points for transformation. Baptism, a sacred rite in which one is symbolically cleansed and reborn, serves as a powerful reminder that our spiritual identity is not determined by our environment. Likewise, a disciplined practice of prayer reinforces this truth by constantly reorienting our hearts and minds toward God rather than toward the transient influences of the world. In this light, free will becomes the medium through which divine grace is received—a grace that actively renews us and liberates us from the inertia of our former conditions.

Patristic voices bolster Pennock’s insights by emphasizing that God’s grace always supersedes worldly conditioning. St. John Chrysostom, for instance, reminds us that a true Christian is not molded by the shifting sands of material culture, but is transformed by the enduring power of God’s love. Similarly, St. Augustine and Gregory of Sinai taught that while we might be born into unfavorable circumstances, we are never shackled by them if we yield to divine grace. These early voices echo Pennock’s central theme: that the environment is not the final arbiter of our spiritual destiny. Instead, our inherent capacity to choose God’s way—and the power of repentance and renewal—ensures that we are never victims of our surroundings.

Moreover, contemporary commentators have noted that Pennock’s insistence on the primacy of divine influence contrasts sharply with modern psychological models that tend to emphasize self-justification and the inevitability of environmental impact.  Pennock’s work reorients us to the truth that “sanity equals sanctity”—that true spiritual health arises not from adapting passively to our circumstances, but from actively seeking God’s transformative will over our lives.

In summary, Chapter 6 of God’s Path to Sanity is an impassioned call to reclaim our God‐given free will and to reject the notion that our environment determines our identity. We are invited to see ourselves as dynamic beings with the capacity to overcome material constraints through the power of divine grace. By embracing the practices of baptism, disciplined prayer, and repentance, we begin to understand that our true potential is realized only when we align our will with that of God. As Pennock powerfully reminds us, if we learn to see our lives through the lens of God’s eternal promises rather than the ephemeral pressures of the world, we truly fulfill our destiny as children of the Creator. In doing so, we not only conquer the limitations of our environment, but we also pave the way for a life marked by enduring spiritual freedom and genuine restoration.

Significant quotes from the chapter:

If, like animals, we had no free will or theology, no way to be changed and become a new creature in Christ, we couldn't psychologically be much more than products of the social and material influences that affect animals, including our fleshly human brains. But if we have the theology of Apostolic Christianity, it gives us the understanding that we have free will to call upon, and to be redeemed by, the Lord from all the world's material influences. Because God is greater than they are, we don't have to remain spiritually shaped by them.

Self-justification is the tendency, described in the last chapter, to blame something other than ourselves for any problems we have. The ways in which the social sciences “demonstrate” that we're psychologically shaped by the circumstances, people, and endless other details in our environment have given this generation an almost lethal overdose of self-justification.

Those who decide that man is not possessed of free will, and affirm that he is governed by the unavoidable necessities of fate, are guilty of impiety towards God himself, making him out to be the cause and author of human evils.-Methodius

Whatever comfort the self-justification may give to individuals, it’s only temporary. We are left unable to overcome the effects of our passions. Repentance would be uncalled for. Hope of spiritual recovery would be swept away.

Since, if all things happen by fate, neither is anything at all in our power. And again, unless the human race have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions, of whatever kind they be. -Justin Martyr

Self-justification supports that allergy to repentance that's caused by an obsession with appearing blameless and always right, with never having anything negative be one's own fault, never being wrong in one’s general view of things.

An inborn Adam complex that makes us want to be as gods is what triggers our allergy to recognizing anything wrong in ourselves.  In all unredeemed men, as the early father's taught, there is this Adam's pattern of wanting to kill God, to dismiss him, impersonate him, pretend to know more than God, to seduce others into disobeying his commandments so that they can take control of them.

The Eve complex prefers knowledge to obedience- although scripture says we get wisdom only by obeying God, not by disobeying him. The Eve complex reasons things out so as to replace God's command with their own imagined wisdom, in order to disobey God- making themselves right and God mistaken. As with Eve, innocence is a very big thing with them. The serpent beguiled her, so it wasn't her fault. And the forbidden fruit was good, so it was reasonable, even wise, to eat it. Those in the Eve pattern are susceptible to self justification- making themselves out to be right and others to be wrong.

Since at our birth we were born without our knowledge or choice, by our parents coming together, and were brought up in bad habits and wicked training, we are baptized in order that we may not remain the children of necessity and ignorance, but may become the children of choice and knowledge.- Justin Martyr

Our families and environments do influence us, but it depends on how much we accept or reject their influence. Throughout scripture, God put individuals into environments that would equip them to serve his calling. Many of the people who serve God had to endure abusive environments to prepare them for their calling (consider Joseph). Our circumstances are connected with our calling.

Your environment is given to maximize your discovery of what and who you are, to maximize your realization of your sin and need for God, to maximize your incentive to reach out to him and receive Christ in you.

Many passions are hidden in our souls, but they are discovered only when the object or cause which arouses them appears (Hesychius of Jerusalem).

One who provokes a person by speaking has only called to the surface the passion that was already there. 

For no one has ever driven to sin by being provoked through another's fault, unless he has the fuel of evil stored up in his own heart (John Cassian).

Sleeping passions awake as soon as they meet with a cause which moves them to action.- Isaac of Syria

 The passion of anger is what matters; How it got stirred up is irrelevant, because the anger was already there. Environment doesn't create our passions. It only gives us a chance to discover them. Healing is the purpose of conditions that reveal our passions. The discipline and trouble of this life, says John of Damascus, were designed to enable us to cast aside the evil that was foreign and contrary to our nature.

If a sin is not yours, you can’t repent and be healed of it. 

The saints teach that whenever you keep feeling bothered by someone, tempted to impatience or anger or revenge, it's not because of the sin in the other person. No, It’s never because of the sin and others; It's always because of the sin in you. That's why holy counselors teach: pay attention not to the transgressions of others, but only to your own, and mourn over them (Abba Philemon). 

The practice of looking for your own sin, when somebody else's sin seems to be the one that's bothering you, will bring you this reward: It will put you, and not the other person, in control of the situation- in control, that is, of your own soul and the peace there will be in it.

There are some who stand beyond the influence of the storm and the raging sea, then it is clear that it is not the outward circumstances which make the storm within us. Rather, it is the disposition or condition of our own minds. Therefore, we should so order the mind that it may bear all things contentedly in Christ. Then we shall have no storm, not even a ripple, within us, but always a clear and steady calm. -Saint John Chrysostom

None can harm him who will not harm himself (John Chrysostom). We harm ourselves greatly in this way: by blaming others for our spiritual condition, instead of praying for deliverance from our own sin.

 

Chapter 7, “The Passion That Enslaves the Will”

In Chapter 7, Pennock examines the insidious nature of vainglory—often termed “empty glory”—and its profound impact on the human will. She argues that when our deepest longings become fixated on securing human approval and adoration, our inner faculties are hijacked, leading us away from the truth of divine guidance. Vainglory, as Pennock explains, is not merely superficial vanity; it is a passion that enslaves our will by continuously compelling us to seek external validation rather than a graceful alignment with God’s eternal purpose.

Central to the chapter is the idea that this misplaced pursuit of glory creates a pernicious barrier to genuine service and spiritual growth. Pennock contends that when we adopt the mindset of “I will figure this out myself, thank you,” we not only alienate ourselves from the wisdom of God but also substitute self-justification for true understanding. In doing so, our will becomes dominated by pride and an obsession with our own importance, which ultimately leads to a perpetual state of people-pleasing and an inability to honestly confront our shortcomings. As the Church Fathers have consistently warned, pride and vainglory cloud our ability to perceive ourselves and our need for divine mercy; St. John Chrysostom famously noted that “the soul that exalts itself will be abased.” In this light, vainglory is a deceptive force that convinces us our worth is measured by external accolades rather than by our intrinsic value as children of God.

Pennock further illustrates that this unhealthy preoccupation with self obstructs natural affection for others. When our focus remains fixed on accumulating admiration, our ability to empathize and love diminishes. The saints teach that the love of God naturally radiates outward, creating bonds within the community of believers. Yet, when vainglory takes hold, it transforms our interactions into a series of transactions aimed at enhancing our self-image. By seeking glory in a world that often values appearance over substance, we risk trapping ourselves in a cycle that not only enslaves our will but also isolates us from the true communal life that Christ envisioned.

In tackling this challenge, Pennock insists that liberation from vainglory is possible only through sincere, persistent prayer and a deliberate reorientation of our hearts. She urges us to pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, deliver me from self-importance and give me self-knowledge.” This prayer is not a mere plea for forgiveness but a radical invitation to strip away the layers of deception that pride and vainglory have imposed upon us. By doing so, we open ourselves to the light of divine truth, which has the power to restore the natural order of our will and reposition us in genuine service to God and others.

Moreover, Pennock emphasizes that the struggle against vainglory is inherently a process of self-discovery. As we relinquish our false pretenses and acknowledge our dependence on God, the enslaving passion of vainglory gradually loses its grip. The transformation that follows is reminiscent of the patristic idea that “humility is the antidote to pride,” a teaching frequently echoed by early Church Fathers like St. Augustine and St. Gregory of Nyssa. Their wisdom supports Pennock’s argument that true freedom and spiritual sanity are attainable only when we allow ourselves to be honest about our limitations, thereby opening the way for divine intervention.

In summary, Chapter 7 of God’s Path to Sanity challenges us to confront and disassemble the destructive passion of vainglory—a passion that distorts our will, disrupts genuine affection, and draws us away from God’s eternal wisdom. Through the disciplined practice of heartfelt prayer and the cultivation of humility, we are invited to dismantle the idols of pride and self-importance, thereby reclaiming a will that is truly free to serve the divine purpose. This journey, though arduous, leads us toward genuine restoration, enabling us to live a life marked by true balance, sanity, and ultimately, grace in the love of Christ.

Significant quotes from the chapter:

A passion that can entrap us and keep us bound in servitude to others is vainglory. The word means empty glory. This passion makes us want to do everything we can to please other people, so we can win their admiration enough to bring a kind of glory to ourselves. It drives us into what the saints call man pleasing, or people pleasing.

Vain glory traps our will, the desiring part of our soul, ensnaring it in a craving for approval from others. When enslaved by vainglory and its people-pleasing, we are immediately trying to make a good impression, as soon as we're confronted with people. Within that capacity, that people pleasing, we become shut off from obeying and serving God. Instead of being shaped by God's will, our desires become dictated by the desires of other people. The important thing for us is to please them, impress them, attract their acceptance and praise- and to avoid losing their approval by displeasing them.

Even an industrious church worker, say the saints, with vainglory will be doing everything for popular approval, and not honestly just for God. No one enslaved by people pleasing, they say, is really serving God. We're going to pay keen attention to what people think of us, how we look to them. We want to go with the crowd, keep them from seeing anything wrong with us.  We adjust our desires to theirs, because as scripture says,  we want the praise of men more than the praise of God (Jn 12:43). 

A person who is sick from this disease [people-pleasing] does of his own accord, and without bidding, all that he thinks will be agreeable to his masters. -John Chrysostom

Vainglory puts us on stage, behaving as if we were professional actors, performing to win applause from people and to avoid having them walk out on us. It has its victims constantly checking on the responses they're getting from the audience. All that matters is getting applause from those for whom they're performing. 

People-pleasing can feel great when you're popular and being accepted by everybody because you're doing whatever it takes to make yourself fit in- and so far haven't paid much of A price for it. But here's the hook in the fish bait. We make idols out of people we want to please more than we want to please God, whether they're single persons or a whole crowd. Along with the desired popularity, we’re swallowing the idol- a hook that can choke our mind.

The saints tell us never to confuse people by displaying admiration for what we know to be false, or by pretending to be interested in it, as if it has redemptive value. Such flattery, they say, comes solely from the passion of vainglory, and is unkind. It encourages people to remain cut off from truth.

We lose every hope of being blessed ourselves, says the Bible, if we are supporting something spiritually harmful as if it were Something spiritually good- if we are supporting and encouraging what is destructive to people's souls. 

If you do not speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked person shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require in your hand. If you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his iniquity; yet you have delivered your own soul. -Ezek 3:18-21

No man wise in his own opinion because he has studied all the sciences and has learned in external wisdom, will penetrate God's mysteries or see them unless he first humbles himself and becomes foolish in his heart, repudiating his self-opinion. - Symeon the New Theologian

An academically brilliant mind, then, filled with bare knowledge And making an exhibition of its agility, but lacking the love that edifies (that is, teaches in a plain way that carries listeners up into actual wisdom), is not something Scripture tells us to admire.  As one saint said, if a man shows himself to be clever rather than spiritual, it would surprise me if he escapes the judgment for boasting  (Barsanuphius). 

If we don't believe we have sin, we don't repent. And if we don't repent, we can't receive the gentleness and mercy with which God embraces repentant sinners, as the father embraced his prodigal son (Lk 15). 

Repentance is the door to mercy, open to those who seek it diligently. -Isaac of Syria

If we don’t experience God’s mercy by repenting of our sins and being compassionately restored to him, we don’t have his mercy in us to pass along to others. 

Christianity does not allow self-righteousness to remain in anyone who comes into it. If we've obeyed all the commandments, we're still unprofitable servants, deserving no reward (Lk 17:10). The mark of idolatry (worshipping idols) is self-righteousness. But the mark of Christianity is humility, arising from its teaching that we are sinners.

 

 Chapter 8, “Idolatry That Plunges a Soul Into Turmoil”

In Chapter 8, Dee Pennock delves into the destructive power of idolatry—particularly the kind that takes root in early life and plunges the soul into a state of disarray and turmoil. She exposes how the idols we unknowingly adopt during childhood, often through imbalanced familial relationships, can form lasting obstacles to spiritual health. Pennock refers to what some Church Fathers describe as the “Eve pattern,” where a parent’s excessive possessiveness instills an unhealthy dependency, stifling genuine growth and fostering a deep-seated anxiety within the soul.

According to Pennock, these early idolatrous attachments are not merely harmless childhood quirks, but dangerous distortions that create an enduring inner vacancy. Such idols, whether represented by cherished objects, false images of success, or even distorted ideas of self-worth, become substitutes for the unadulterated love of God. As the early saints warned, “…no creation is to be worshiped, for it is the Creator who deserves adoration.” In our modern context, these idols manifest as the insidious distractions that draw our hearts away from divine love and into a perpetual state of inner turmoil.

Drawing on the wisdom of the Church Fathers, Pennock highlights that idols formed in early life—or the “childhood idols”—can corrupt the soul by undermining its natural capacity for discerning truth. John Chrysostom cautioned against letting our hearts be captured by superficial attachments, a counsel that resonates deeply in Pennock’s account. These idols, once established, generate a pattern of dependency, bitterness, and isolation. When a person clings to these counterfeit sources of fulfillment, the soul’s natural openness to the transformative light of God becomes blocked. In Pennock’s words, we are tempted to “cling to the familiar even though it only deepens our torment,” and only through persistent, importunate prayer can these idols be dislodged.

Pennock instructs her readers to engage in continual prayer—a recurring theme throughout her book—to seek deliverance from these illusory attachments. She encourages the heartfelt plea, “Lord Jesus Christ, deliver me from believing and obeying idols,” as a means to break the stranglehold of these false gods. By confronting these internal saboteurs, the believer is invited to reclaim the freedom of a clear, unburdened soul. In doing so, the path to true clarity and the liberating light of God’s truth is reopened. Such deliverance, as noted by St. Augustine, is the necessary first step toward genuine restoration.

Moreover, Pennock stresses that the internal chaos caused by idolatry is not an isolated issue—it has far-reaching consequences. The turmoil that begins in childhood can eventually lead to pervasive bitterness, emotional instability, and a chronic sense of isolation that distances one from both God and genuine human relationships. The remedy, however, is not to seek solace in further material or emotional distractions but to return, with a spirit of humility, to the source of all true love. This is echoed by St. Gregory of Nyssa’s teaching that the soul must be “freed from the chains of its own false idols” in order to achieve lasting peace.

In summary, Chapter 8 challenges us to recognize and uproot the early-formed idols that plunge our souls into turmoil. By understanding that these false attachments—whether they be objects, images of ourselves, or distorted values—obstruct our ability to experience God’s redeeming love, we are called to a rigorous, prayerful self-examination. Only by persistently asking for God’s deliverance, we can clear the way for spiritual renewal. Dee Pennock’s insights, enriched by the timeless wisdom of the Church Fathers, offer a compelling guide for anyone seeking to reclaim their inner life and step into the fullness of God’s restorative grace.

Significant quotes from the chapter:

A parent in the Eve pattern appears to be devoutly helping with the child's instinctive desire is to grow into what God created it to be. Typically, this parent is self-sacrificing and tireless in trying to do the best they can for their child.  Parents on the eve pattern can't feel their child will be safe if they let go of them. So they work to prevent them from maturing into God's will, which would remove them from their possession. Eve's possessive devotion tends to create in her offspring of fear and hatred of what it believes love is, and a determination to separate from it. 

Love is identified as a killer. It's rejecting what child is (God’s), and trying to force it to be what it is not (Eve’s). So the child is resolute in her purpose is to resist letting this “love”, which it sees as a threat to its freedom, come too close. 

We want to keep ourselves from putting blame for our misfortune on anybody else, no matter how obviously it may appear to be the fault of another person. Misfortune is meant to give us a bigger purpose than looking for someone to blame. It is to draw our attention to God and our need for God- to bring us to repentance. 

 Getting rid of all the errors and idols planted in one's mind can take a long time, though some can be cleared out quickly. It requires what's called importunity prayer. Importunity means persistent urging, or begging, as when the widow kept pestering the unjust judge to defend her. Importunity prayer is needed for deliverance from big passions like pride, because we can't throw them off by ourselves.

According to the Saints who healed people of “frenzy”, excessive passions-  not our bodily chemistry, and not earthly environments- are the cause of what we today call “mental illnesses". 

When passions become so strong that they overpower and take possession against a person's will, the saints have called them demons. These demons are powers that attach to passions, as a fever can attach to an illness. And just is a fever can make people delirious and throw them out of control, so can the passions. The worst thing for persons taken over by them is for others to insist that the evil is coming from their own thoughts, rather than from the autonomous spiritual diseases, the passions. It's like accusing sick patients of producing their own fevers. They are horrified by the idea that evil suggestions are coming from themselves. Casting out demonic disturbances from our minds has been quite a normal spiritual event for Christians through the ages.

Chapter 9, “The Roots of Willfulness”

In Chapter 9, Pennock turns her attention to the destructive force of willfulness—the stubborn insistence on pursuing our own desires over God’s precepts. She argues that willfulness is the root of much human suffering and spiritual depression. For Pennock, willfulness is not merely a matter of misdirected ambition or a simple refusal to obey; it is the very manifestation of a soul that has turned away from divine guidance. It is the result of self-love gone awry—a passionate and irrational conviction that our own thoughts and desires are inherently superior, thereby creating an “inky cloud” of deliberate ignorance that blinds us to the truth.

The chapter lays bare how this willful state is fueled by two proud thoughts that render us obstinate: first, the arrogant belief that “I know best,” and second, an inflated sense of self-importance that demands the immediate fulfillment of our personal desires. These twin passions, Pennock explains, corrode our ability to see reality as it is and lead us into mental and emotional disarray. As a consequence, when our desires are thwarted, the natural outcome is not measured repentance but a descent into anger, bitterness, and ultimately, deep depression.

Pennock draws upon the rich tradition of the Church Fathers to bolster her argument. Early saints such as St. John Chrysostom and St. Maximus the Confessor warned repeatedly against the pitfalls of pride and self-love. They taught that when the mind is dominated by the conviction that one’s own judgment is infallible, the soul becomes resistant to the light of divine truth. John Chrysostom, for instance, observed that “the soul that exalts itself will be abased,” reminding us of the intrinsic dangers of self-aggrandizement. In this light, willfulness is not only a personal failing—it is a direct challenge to God’s sovereignty, a rejection of the humility required to receive His healing grace.

This unwillingness to submit to divine wisdom is what Pennock identifies as the primary source of our spiritual ills. The will, when it insists on having its own way, creates a barrier between us and God. It replaces natural, unselfish affection with a mere caricature of love that is self-serving and ultimately empty. The remedy, she insists, is found in a radical reorientation of our priorities—a surrender of our misguided independence allowing God to enter our will and guide our desires. In this context, Pennock offers a powerful prayer that encapsulates the antidote to our rebellious nature:

“Lord Jesus Christ, deliver me from self-importance and thinking I know best, and give me self-knowledge.”

This prayer is not merely a recitation of words but a plea for the transformative humility that the Church Fathers extolled as the means to overcome pride. St. Basil the Great and St. Augustine alike affirmed that genuine self-knowledge comes only when we acknowledge our limitations and submit fully to God’s wisdom. For those who persist in living by their own standards, any temporary satisfaction is soon replaced by a profound emptiness—a spiritual depression born of unmet expectations and unrepented sins.

Moreover, Pennock underscores that willfulness not only endangers our inner life but frequently infects our relationships with others. When we allow our ego to dictate our actions, we become isolated and alienated, unable to genuinely love our neighbor as God commands. This reinforces the vicious cycle: as the self becomes increasingly isolated, its inner turmoil deepens, feeding back into the very pride that initiated its decline.

In summary, Chapter 9 of God’s Path to Sanity challenges us to confront and subdue the willfulness within our hearts—a willfulness that blinds us to truth, fuels destructive pride, and leads us into depression. By embracing humility and engaging in sincere, persistent prayer, we open ourselves to the corrective grace of God. Only by relinquishing our stubborn insistence on self-sufficiency can we begin to experience the healing transformation that restores our soul to its proper, God-intended state.

Significant quotes from the chapter:

The passion of self love produces desires for such things as money, possessions, physical thrills, drugs- anything satisfying, relaxing, stimulating, or exciting to the flesh and fleshly imagination. It's an attachment to what is materialistic, to everything scripture calls carnal.

When the world becomes sick with the infection of self-love, it does what sick wills often do. It jumps into the self-justification of vain glory- a determination to make its carnal desires appear acceptable, even attractive, seductive, and enviable. And a determination not to let the mind see and condemn those desires. A disobedient will wants to hide itself from the mind's detection, as Adam and Eve after disobeying God hid.

When our will doesn't want our mind to see truth, it produces an inky cloud of willful ignorance- that is, of pride. Pride is erroneous thinking arising from accidental or deliberate ignorance of truth. The pride (ignorance) produced by vainglory is deliberate- like shutting your eyes against something you don't want to look at, and saying it's not there. The saints teach that vainglory always leads into deliberate pride (and for this reason has sometimes been called pride), a willful ignorance of truth.

You who have devoted to shame what is divine in God's handiwork, you disbelieve everything that you may indulge your passions, because you have craving after their licentiousness, but disbelieve God, because you cannot bear a life of self-restraint.- Clement of Alexandria

We can easily form an opinion that whatever wrong thing we want is reasonable. The amount of willfulness in us will determine whether we're going to accept the truth or arm ourselves with opinions that support what we want the truth to be.

Opinions once formed cling with excessive obstinacy, when the will is not subject to reason [of the thinking power]. Inquiry after truth gives way to the search for proofs of what we wish to believe; Desire is paramount over truth.

If desire had not overcome reason, then, instead of trying to set up our desires as a doctrine, we should let our doctrines dictate our desires. There would be no contradiction of truth, for everyone would begin by desiring what was true, not by defending the truth of what he desired.

Not unmindful of this sin of willfulness, The apostle, writing to Timothy, says: ‘for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but having itching ears will heap up teachers to themselves after their own lusts, and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables’” (2 Tim 4:3,4).

They  will heap up teachers for their lusts, and make doctrine to suit their own desires, not wishing to be taught, but getting together teachers who will say what they wish and satisfy them with the doctrines of their own tumultuous desires. -Hilary of Poitiers

There are two strong convictions that open the spigot and pour fuel Into our willful desires. They arise from the ignorance of pride. The first one is an incredible certainty that one's opinions and desires are so right that they should be honored. People with much pride have a conviction in their minds that they know best about nearly everything, that their own thoughts are superior to whatever others may believe and counsel. They’re confident that they know best how everything should be managed, what’s wrong with everything and everyone, what others should be doing that they’re not doing, and how everyone else should relate to them. Scripture describes them as wise in their own eyes (Is 5:21).

How can grace, which comes to help and enlighten us, enter that man who thinks of himself that his own judgments are better than all others, that he knows everything and needs no outside help? May God preserve us from this disease of Lucifer! To those stricken with this passion, God says through the Prophet, Woe unto them who are wise in their own eyes (Is 5:21). -Unseen Warfare

The mind that is not cleansed of idolatry ... will always have some opinions from old idols and will always be pressing to adjust parts of the Christian faith to its own idolatrous beliefs of the past period since early times, many converts, instead of wholeheartedly joining the church have endeavored to force the church in some respects to join them.

One of the deadliest addictions that can afflict a soul is wanting to appear to oneself, and to imagine that one is appearing to others, to be exceptionally clever, to possess strikingly superior knowledge. It makes victims feel compelled to add a contradiction or interpretation they think is marvelously clever to whatever it stated. This addiction arises from the ignorance of pride and from vain glory it uses other people to satisfy its vain glorious lust for impressing them by appearing extraordinarily clever.

To a foolish mind writes maximus the confessor, its own thoughts seem to be the most reasonable, even if they are the most absurd. But a wise person does not so regard his thoughts. He makes other wise persons [those taught by God] the judges of his thoughts, and accepts confirmation from them.

That saint gives us this lesson:

if you wish to be wise, and not be a slave to self-esteem, always seek what is hidden from your reason. Then, finding how much and how varied is what is unknown to you, you will marvel at your ignorance and will humble your pretensions. And having realized your nothingness you will learn many great and marvelous things. But the illusion about your knowledge prevents you from learning.

There's a second way in which pride can give us a conviction that adds fuel to any willfulness we may have. It can give us the irrational thought that we're much more important than all the other people around us, that we are the one who matters most and that everyone else matters quite a lot less than we do.

When we see people with self-importance or some other fault, the holy physicians, we want always to use the experience as a reminder from God to check carefully for that fault in ourselves. We never want to observe any fault in another person and just leave our thinking there. By shedding self-importance, we are working our way toward the very beginning of humility, which the saints say protects against all temptations.

To get rid of our unclean fleshly addictions, then, we have to overcome the unclean thoughts, like thinking we know best and self-importance, that pride is put into us. You can't think your way out of a conviction of self-importance. You can't medicate your way out of it. You can only pray to be delivered from it. 

Chapter 10, “Esau’s Depression”

In Chapter 10, Pennock uses the biblical account of Esau to illustrate how unchecked willfulness and the twin pillars of proud self-importance lead inevitably to emotional and spiritual despair—a condition she terms “Esau’s Depression.” Esau’s impulsive decision to trade his birthright for a momentary gratification—a bowl of stew—serves as a cautionary tale. His behavior exemplifies a will dominated first by an insatiable, physical appetite and then by an arrogant certainty that he knows best. This dangerous combination of carnal desire and pride, Pennock explains, primes an individual to expect that every wish will be instantly satisfied, and when reality intrudes, the inevitable response is a torrent of anger and bitterness.

Pennock reminds us that when our will, fueled by self-love, is frustrated, “anger and hatred usually follow.” Scripture even refers to these emotions as the “root of bitterness.” The venerable John Chrysostom reinforces this point by noting that Esau’s subsequent tears were not tears of genuine contrition or repentance, but rather tears born of wounded pride and the burning fire of wrath. In Chrysostom’s words, true repentance must target the very anger that sears our hearts when we do not get our way. Pennock, echoing this patristic wisdom, exhorts us to pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, deliver me from anger and hatred, and give me love.”

At the heart of Esau’s downfall lies a will that insists on having its own way—a will so fixated on immediate, carnal gratification that it has lost sight of reality. Pennock warns that such an uncompromising desire for self-assertion creates an internal void where natural affection for others should flourish. Instead, we end up trapped in a cycle where every unmet expectation multiplies our sense of inadequacy, locking us into despondency. As Barsanuphius of Alexandria advises, never insist that anything be done solely according to your will; such rigid self-determination is the breeding ground for anger and ensuing depression. This relentless focus on one’s own whims produces repeated disappointments that slowly erode the soul’s vitality.

The chapter also explores how the relentless pursuit of immediate pleasure, even when achievable, is ultimately unsatisfying. Pennock emphasizes that when our desires are set on the ephemeral and the material, any temporary achievement only serves to underscore the hollowness of our pursuits. “Willfulness,” she writes, “painfully separates us from reality,” leading us to either yearn for what is not yet present or reject what is already given. This self-imposed distortion of reality is dangerous because it not only sows the seeds of bitterness but also paves the way to existential despair. John Cassian and Maximus the Confessor similarly noted that unbridled anger and persistent self-love could enslave the soul in a state of despondency—it is thus incumbent upon us to expel these destructive forces through sincere repentance.

Moreover, Pennock points out that the consequences of such self-centeredness extend beyond personal misery. When our will is exclusively devoted to satisfying our own cravings, we not only compromise our relationship with God but also alienate ourselves from the community. This isolation intensifies the sense of despair—a doom that even historical figures like Esau could not escape despite their initially privileged positions.

Ultimately, the remedy Pennock offers is radical surrender. In switching our focus from our self-serving desires to God’s eternal will, we begin to reorient our priorities. The transformation, she asserts, comes by “taking up our cross”—accepting trials and disappointments with humility and using them as stepping stones to divine intimacy. Only then can we hope to restore our soul to its original, God-given state of sanity and joy.

In summary, Chapter 10 challenges us to examine the roots of our willfulness and its tendency to produce anger, bitterness, and deep depression. It urges us to renounce that false independence through repentance and an earnest reordering of our priorities—a process that ultimately leads to a healing, selfless love exemplified by Christ’s own sacrifice.

Significant quotes from the chapter:

The story of Esau gives us a real life description of willfulness and the two proud thoughts that make it explosive. It starts with Esau’s appetite for food. Then, from his self-importance, he adds the urgent need to satisfy his appetite at once. Topping that is the proud conviction that he knows best- he knows he's the son favored to receive his father's inheritance period he knows he can get away with a rash promise to little brother Jacob  (as we see when he later goes to his father still expecting to receive the inheritance).

When we can’t get what we want, how do we handle it?  When the desires of a person possessed by carnal willfulness are frustrated, anger and hatred usually follow, as we see with Esau. Scripture calls them the root of bitterness. Because he had the root of bitterness, explains John Chrysostom, his tears were not tears of repentance, but of pride and wrath. The only repentance that will work when we're angry, see the saints, is repentance for our anger. 

If we are very willful and the object of our desire doesn't materialize, then Esau's discontent occurs. Discontent comes of being deprived of a pleasure, whether actual or expected, writes Evagrius. Then he saw his anger occur. Never insist that anything be done according to your will, warns Barsanupjius, for this gives birth to anger. And after anger comes with despondency, say the Saints. Do not pollute your mind by retaining in yourself thoughts of anger and lust, lest you sink into the spirit of despondency, cautions Maximus the Confessor.

In order to get rid of dejection, writes John Cassian, anger must first be expelled. And in order to expel anger, he says, the carnal willfulness from covetousness, gluttony and lust must be overcome. With willfulness, grief is inevitable, observes John Chrysostom. John Cassian also notes, dejection arises from some desire unfulfilled or some gain not attained to, when a person sees some hope decay.

Of all passions, two are especially cruel and grievous; That is, willfulness and despondency, when they take possession of a soul and weaken it. The two are closely connected and blended together; This is why it is so difficult to struggle with them and overcome them … the second, despondency, gripping the mind, spreads like ivy over the whole soul and body and makes our whole being lazy and enfeebled, as though stricken with paralysis.- Gregory of Sinai

With extreme willfulness, when what we want doesn't materialize, we may suffer anger.

Repeatedly dwelling upon something that has offended us, say the Saints, will greatly increase our anger and can produce a despondency that's very hard to overcome. Have you suffered evil? Asks John Chrysostom. Yet nothing so great as you will do to yourself by remembering injuries. Such remembrance produces bitterness. Continuing to nurse a feeling of hurt against someone and clinging to thoughts against that person: this is bitterness, and it hardens the heart, writes Dorotheos.

 The teaching of the Saints is that, in order to be at peace, we must be able to obtain what we want, and must refrain from wanting what we cannot obtain.

For when the objects of desire are possible, one may be soothed by the enjoyment of them but when they are impossible, one must labor for one thing, to draw ourselves off from the desire, as otherwise it is not possible to recover the soul.- John Chrysostom

Our Christian heritage is the product, not of material satisfactions, but of centuries of persecution, of prolonged torture martyrdom, of every conceivable kind of suffering and deprivation. And, through it all, of miraculous triumph and joy- with not a trace of depression in it. No anger against persecutors. No sense of loss, but rather of enormous gain, of gaining the Kingdom of heaven and everlasting life with the Lord Jesus. This happens because the will of Christians is set on things above, not on things on the earth (Col 3:2).

The proconsul said to [Polycarp], I will cast you to wild beasts unless you repent. But he answered, call them, then, for repentance from things better to things worse is a change impossible to us; And it is well for me to leave this world for a better period bring forth what you will. While he spoke these and other like things, he was filled with confidence and joy, and his countenance was full of grace. The oppressed and martyred Christians show us that it's not any worldly experience in itself that determines whether we'll suffer depression. It's where the focus of the heart is. We want our affections set on things above (Col 3:2).

To overcome willfulness, and the disappointment and anger and depression it can cause, we labor, with much prayer, to switch from our will to God's will for us. We pray to be delivered from our willfulness and brought into accepting and thinking and doing God's will. A person who wishes to kill his own will must do the will of God, writes Simeon the New Theologian. Others say nothing brings more profit to us than renouncing our own will, since in truth we gain a greater benefit from this than from any other virtue (Dorotheos). 

The more we succeed in coming into God's will, the more we realize that it's better to be obeying God than to be demanding our own way, because doing God's will always gives happiness. So the more we bring ourselves into doing God's will, the less chance there is of suffering from depression. There can be no depression when there are no passions. He who maintains passions cannot rid himself of depression (Nilus of Sinai).

If we want to be set free and enjoy perfect freedom, let us learn to cut off our willful desires; And so, with God's help, in a little while, we shall make progress and arrive at a state of tranquility. Finally, not wishing to satisfy our own desires, we find ourselves always doing what we want to do: that is, fulfilling God's will. -Dorotheos

Suicidal urges can occur in individuals whose willfulness has carried them into such a painful depression and hopelessness that they become enveloped in bitterness and the persistent hatred of life. They see no escape except death. There is a proper way to die to self. That is what Paul meant by dying to our old life. 

Feeling a need to die to it somehow, to make some sort of change, is profoundly right the saints recognized an instinctive intelligence in it. It would not be intelligent to want to stay in our fallen state and remain deadened by passions. John Chrysostom, in fact, rebukes people who haven't the sensibility to despair when, being spiritually dead they ought to despair

The urge to die to the old Adam and return to life with God is born right into us. And it's further strengthened by baptism. Jesus tells us that dying to our self (meaning the old fallen Adam, with its passions) is the only way we can possibly come into true spiritual life. He says, whoever saves his [carnal] life will lose it [his true life]; but whoever will lose his [carnal] life for my sake shall find [his true, spiritual life] (Matt 16:25).

Dying to our old self is what we do in Christianity, so that we can come to life by having the living God in us. We die to our old self by being baptized in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit. In baptism, we are planted together in the likeness of Christ’s death (Rom 6:5), so that as Christ was raised up from the dead… Even so we also should walk in newness of life (Rom 6:4).

 Dying to our old self takes time. And if there's one thing individuals considering suicide or short on, it's patience- because of their willfulness. The part of suicidal thinking that's not so intelligent is deciding to judge life before you've let God in to heal it and make it meaningful. Those who are thinking of suicide should wait long enough to learn about the great adventure of repentance. The first step is praying, for long periods of time, to be delivered from the ignorance of pride. And to receive self knowledge. This prayer very soon brings some relief by clearly revealing errors in one's thinking- like the errors of self importance and thinking we know best about everything.

All our joy and gladness are in what is pleasing to the Lord. How can we know exactly what to do that will be pleasing to the Lord, that will be God's will for us? In the same way that we learn any other skill- by carrying out the first lessons put in front of us as beginners, and going on from there to higher and higher levels. Do the good that you remember, say the saints; Then the good that you do not remember will also reveal itself to you (Mark the Ascetic).

Depression is commonly seen nowadays as a bad thing. It's not always true. Feeling unhappy, even profoundly depressed, has never been considered inappropriate by the saints. Throughout scripture, we find long lamentations. For us one cannot sail over a wide sea and not feel disquietude, so it is not possible to pass through this life without experience of sorrow (John Chrysostom). Depression is sometimes a good thing, and at other times a bad thing.

We must see that depression is only useful to us in one case, when we yield to it either in penitence for sin, or through being inflamed with a desire for perfection, or in contemplation of future blessedness. Except when used in such wholesome base, dejection should be resisted as hurtful.- John Cassian

The traditional patristic advice would be: never counsel with someone who assumes depression is wrong and wants to eliminate it at once, without considering what spiritual purpose it has. Just as we need pain to alert us to physical injury, we urgently need depression to alert us to spiritual errors and malfunctions. Depression resulting from willfulness is given to bring those who can still be saved to our loving physician for healing through repentance.

Depression is providentially given to those God knows are willing to be healed of their passions and united with him eternally. So we want to be thankful for this depression, and respond faithfully to it. It means we haven't been abandoned. The worst thing we could do about the depression resulting from our willfulness would be to suppress it with drugs instead of repenting the pride that feeds it. John Chrysostom gives this warning: among physicians, he that applies nothing is far better than he that applies hurtful things. When depression comes from willfulness, say holy physicians, it needs to be treated with the repentance that brings deliverance from willfulness and a comforting reconciliation with God's will.

Chapter 11, “The Passion That Blocks out Love for Others”

In Chapter 11, Pennock confronts the insidious power of self love—an all-consuming fixation on oneself that hinders genuine love for others. According to Pennock, self love is not a benign self-esteem or the healthy appreciation of one’s worth but a “passionate and irrational attachment” to our own physical and material interests. This misplaced affection, which many Church Fathers have condemned as “the mother of all passions” (as Hesychius puts it), dominates our hearts and minds so completely that we become indifferent to the real needs, sorrows, and joys of other people.

Pennock explains that individuals steeped in self love are essentially trapped within their own reflections; they “taste” their self-consumption so continuously that they fail to recognize the genuine, natural affection that should flow toward their neighbors. This inward fixation, often resulting in a superficial kindness driven more by vain glory than by heartfelt care, ultimately creates a barrier against true sympathy and compassion. As she notes, while such individuals might appear outwardly personable—perhaps driven by a desire to impress—they ultimately overlook the deeper, genuine sorrow and joy in the lives of others. In effect, self love blinds us to the shared journey of humanity and results in isolation both from our neighbors and from God.

Drawing upon the wisdom of the Church Fathers, Pennock reinforces that self love is not simply an economic or psychological flaw but a profound spiritual malady. For instance, St. John Chrysostom warned that “the soul that exalts itself will be abased,” suggesting that the pride inherent in self love inevitably leads to spiritual downfall. Similarly, St. Augustine and St. Maximus the Confessor stressed that such an obsession with oneself is counterproductive to the communal love that Christ commands. They taught that our natural affection is meant to extend beyond our narrow self-interest and unite us with one another in the Body of Christ.

Pennock further illustrates how self love has insidious offspring. It breeds self-praise, self-pandering, excessive indulgence in carnal appetites, and ultimately, envy and pride. These destructive traits not only erode our ability to experience genuine human connection but also prevent us from experiencing the redeeming, healing love of God. The destructive cycle is clear: self love leads to an obsessive focus on personal gratification that leaves little room for empathy, nurturing an environment where bitterness and dissatisfaction thrive. Self-love as a spiritual vice that isolates believers, leaving their inner lives barren and ineffective in truly loving their neighbors.

To overcome this pervasive defect, Pennock exhorts her readers to engage in a continuous, earnest prayer that shifts the focus from the self outward. Her recommended prayer—“Lord Jesus Christ, deliver me from self love and give me love for others”—is not merely an appeal for forgiveness, but a call to transform the very orientation of our heart. By earnestly seeking God’s intervention, we allow His grace to weaken the chains of self-centeredness, paving the way for natural, unselfish love to emerge. Through this process of spiritual realignment, the soul can break free from the isolation induced by self love and begin to experience true community and connection.

Ultimately, Chapter 11 is both a diagnosis of a profound spiritual affliction and an invitation to counter it with the corrective power of divine love. Pennock reminds us that only when we relinquish the keeping of self at the center of our lives can we truly abide in the communal and transcendent love that God intends us to share. This is the heart of a restored, sane life—a life that reflects not our flawed self-love but the genuine, selfless love exemplified by Christ.

Significant quotes from the chapter:

One who rejects the mother of passions, self-love, will with God's help readily cast out all the other passions, such as anger, sadness, rancor and the rest. The one who is possessed by the first suffers the sting of the others, even against his will. And self-love is passionate love of the body.- Maximus the Confessor

Self-love is lustful fixation on the self, which destroys the person who's possessed with it, along with a characteristic indifference to others.

The Bible says that people with self-love worship and serve the creature [themselves] more than the Creator, and they are without natural affection, unmerciful, never satisfied. The saints say self-love produces sluggard's, always desiring something (John Cassian).

People with this passion can appear to be very kind and caring (moved by vainglory to make a good impression) when in fact they are hardly bothering to notice the sorrows, fears, discomfort, and pain of other persons and creatures.

 Glorification of the self can build up in a child when parents, caregivers, educators, and others keep feeding its illusions of irrational self-importance, training it to focus its attention disproportionately on itself even when apparently attentive to others, note the saints, a person with self-love will be concerned mainly with making an impression or with some other self-serving purpose, and will not be motivated by true natural affection for other people or creatures.

With self-love, we are always seeing ourselves through a magnifying glass, exaggerating the importance of everything having to do with the self. This delusion of self-importance, from the ignorance of pride and the added force of self-love, causes drastic emotional ups and downs. The saints say it carries people into prolonged elation over their imagined for real accomplishments, and then plunges them into despair and utter exhaustion through some error or failure. They will invariably be attacked, teach the holy counselors, by the noonday demon, which envelops the whole soul and drowns the mind (Evagrius).

Examine yourself to see whether you have within you a strong sense of your own importance. Its first demand is that everything should be as we wish it; And as soon as this is not so, we complain to God and are annoyed with people. Self-importance clearly conceals himself behind humble words, settling itself firmly in the heart, so that we swing between self-deprecation and self-praise.- Unseen Warfare

[Self-love] produces dislike of the place, discussed with the dwelling, and disdain and contempt of the brethren who dwell there … it also makes a person lazy and sluggish about all manner of work … and bring such a bodily weariness and longing for food that one feels worn and wearied as if from a long journey or some very heavy work period- John Cassian

An urgency to act on impulse also comes out of self-love. It establishes a habit of behaving on impulse, without stopping to consider and evaluate an action before taking it. It leaves a person squirming for self-expression, either because of feeling important or because of wishing to feel important, say spiritual counselors. There's an irresistible urge to draw attention to the self, often by exuding charm and enthusiasm; Or by undue attention to bodily ailments, or by stirring up crisis situations that can attract attention. Or, as the Saints quite often mention by impulsively reciting one's opinions at length. Self-love, originating in the flesh is what spawns such carnal impulses and gives tremendous force to impulsive self-assertion.

When one is impelled to action, this is called impulse. In the case of creatures without reason, as soon as appetite is aroused for anything, straightway arises pulse to action. For the appetite of creatures without reason [without a thinking power that's able to curb impulses] is irrational, and they are ruled by their appetites.- John of Damascus

Good judgement gives the mind strong convictions about its decisions. Strong convictions pour fuel into the will, giving it power to succeed in what it's aiming at. Willpower creates discipline, making the flesh obedient to the soul's mind.

If life is just fleshly existence, as persons with self-love consider it to be, then it is loved when it gives pleasure and comfort, and hated when it gives displeasure and discomfort. So when there's prolonged frustration of its carnal demands, self-love gives a person a deep and habitual discontent and a kind of quiet hatred of life

Greed increases discontent in persons possessed by self-love. Greed for life to be better than it has been for them. A greed to have more than they have.

The greed of self-love, say holy counselors, will often spawn envy. As one who is discontented looks around and sees people blessed with better lives, fewer problems, greater gifts, more secure families and friendships, envy can occur.

One way in which God heals those harboring a hatred of life is by revealing how envy (of the living or the dead) has been working within them to cause discontent. He shows that we can dissolve envy, just by bringing an end to comparing our life situation with that of others. The Bible is full of reminders that we are all called into different circumstances in life, and for different purposes of God.

To handle the situations into which God has called us, we receive gifts (talents, or capabilities) that the grace of God puts into each of us. We have gifts differing according to the grace that is given us, explains the apostle. We are each given the gifts, he means, that will fit exactly with their calling from God. Our various trials and weaknesses and disadvantages are perfectly in proportion to our callings and our given abilities- those gifts, that grace has put into each of us to handle our life circumstances so we can succeed in fulfilling God's purpose for us.

When looking at our personal circumstances, then, we never measure them by someone else’s circumstances. The teaching of our holy counselors is: do not compare yourself to others in anything (Barsanuphius). Just compare your performance (your response to God's calling and purpose for you), they say, with the gifts you have been given to enable you to obey that calling. Then instead of regretting that we do not have the good fortune some others have, our only regrets are for occasions when we failed to use the gifts God has given us to fulfill the blessed purpose for which he has called us.

 We are all called to overcome different obstacles.  Some people are called to overcome psychological problems, some physical illnesses, some persecution, some slavery, some injustices of all kinds, some martyrdom. Saints point out that many, too, who have disobeyed God and then repented, will serve as warnings to others.

 Even a little humility removes the thought that we are capable of judging life, or of judging God. The adversities we dislike help us with this. Their purpose, say holy counselors, is to protect us from the thought that started with Adam and Eve, of being gods ourselves.

Fulfilling God's purpose involves being delivered from the intoxication of self-love and receiving love for God and all of their creatures. If self-love has been a strong passion in us for many years, getting rid of it may at first look hopeless. But the saints say, don't back away: when beginning to correct yourself, though you fail at first, a second, a third, a 20th time, do not despair, but rise up again and resume the same diligence, and you will surely prevail (John Chrysostom).

When we're emerging from self-love, we don't immediately jump into the love Jesus is talking about in the two great commandments to love God and to love our neighbor. We can't even make out exactly what is involved in loving God and our neighbors. So Jesus gives us a checklist that we can use to be sure we're covering the many details that have to be included in his definition of love. He tells his disciples to go out into the nations, teaching people to observe all things that I have commanded you (Matt 28)- Including all the more detailed commandments that show whether we are obeying the great commandments to love God and our neighbors, explain the Saints.

Some are: never be angry with anyone or scornful of anyone. Do not return injury for injury. Love and pray for, and do good to, your enemies. Bless those who curse you and despitefully use you. Obey the 10 commandments of the Old Testament. Do not judge or think evil of others. Give food and drink to people who are hungry and thirsty; Shelter strangers; Help to clothe the naked; Visit the sick and the imprisoned. Avoid thefts, covetousness, and violence against others. Help and comfort persons who are injured. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments (Jn 14). 

 The saints give us this interesting way to think about the commandment to love our neighbors: they tell us that all our spiritual wealth is stored at our neighbor's place. And all our neighbor’s wealth is stored within us. Alone in our homes, we are without funds, because the only financial assets we have are over there at our neighbor's place period to collect some of our spiritual wealth, we have to reach out to our neighbor, where it is stored. And our neighbors, to possess their spiritual wealth, have to reach out to us. Without this reaching out to one another, we both live in spiritual poverty.

Nothing brings more stability to a suffering soul than making a switch, through prayer, from self-love to obeying God's will in everything. When we're sick with a passion of self-love, our thoughts are always arising from proud and vainglorious fleshly sensations, as out of turbulent pools. When God delivers us from enough self-love and focuses our mind on obeying his commandments, it's like being delivered from drunken driving and becoming sober, keeping our eyes on the road, so we always know where we're going. Obeying God's commandments cuts off preoccupation with the self and brings love into the soul.

Barsanuphius counsels: Never think evil of anyone, for through this you become evil yourself, since an evil person thinks evil. And, do not judge or humiliate anyone, for this exhausts the heart and blinds the mind, and thereupon leads to negligence that makes the heart unfeeling. Simeon the New Theologian writes, a person who loves those who revile and abuse him and cause him harm, and praise for them, in a short time attains to great achievements. For this leads one into humility … which fled all three parts of the soul- the thinking, the desiring, and the excitable powers.

Chapter 12, “Restoration to Life”

In Chapter 12, Pennock culminates her exploration of the human soul’s journey by revealing that true restoration—true, everlasting life—can be attained only through a decisive turning away from self-love and an embrace of God’s commandments. Citing Clement of Alexandria’s timeless assertion, “Have you found God? Then you have found life,” Pennock reminds us that our ultimate salvation is inseparable from our pursuit of God. In this final chapter, she elucidates that restoration to life comes not by clinging to the false security of self-centered passions, but by aligning one’s entire being to the will of God.

Pennock vividly explains that life in its truest sense is restored when we replace the destructive, deadening passions of self-love with obedient service to God’s commandments. This transformation, she argues, resembles emerging from death or awakening from a deep, numbing slumber—a rebirth marked by clarity and vigor. The insidious nature of self-love is shown to deaden natural affections and distort our inner vision; it disconnects us from both genuine human bonds and from divine love. Conversely, by repenting and diligently obeying God’s detailed instructions—for instance, loving God fully and loving one’s neighbor as oneself—we begin to experience the liberating power of divine restoration.

A central theme of this chapter is the idea that repentance and obedience are not mere formalities; they are radical, transformative acts. Pennock underscores that when we pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, deliver me from self-love and give me love for others,” we are inviting God to work upon the excitable part of our soul—the very seat of our passions. Through persistent, humble prayer, God gradually redirects the energy of our rebellious impulses toward a higher, more sanctified ordering of the self. Early Church Fathers, such as John Chrysostom and Maximus the Confessor, taught that the transformation of the soul—its renewal into a state of sanity and holiness—arises out of an honest confrontation with our own defects through prayer, repentance, and humility.

Moreover, Pennock explains that the process of restoration involves a profound reordering of our priorities: when our attention shifts from self-centered desires to fulfilling God’s holy commandments, our focus naturally turns outward. We begin to look beyond our personal wants and see that our spiritual wealth is interwoven with the lives of our neighbors. The profound insight here is that “all our spiritual wealth is stored at our neighbor’s place,” so that only by reaching out and engaging with others can we retrieve the fullness of God’s love. This communal aspect echoes the patristic teaching that no member of the Body of Christ should be isolated; all are intimately bound by divine love and share in the responsibilities of mutual edification and care.

Furthermore, Pennock introduces the powerful symbolism of the cross as the means by which every offense and hardship in our life is surmounted. Taking up our cross—accepting suffering, forgiving those who hurt us, and enduring trials with grace—is portrayed as the only path to disarming the enemy of self-love. In doing so, we emulate Christ, who transformed every act of offense into an opportunity for salvation. Echoing Christ’s plea, “Father, forgive them, for they did not know what they were doing,” Pennock imparts that forgiveness must cleanse the heart before true healing can take root; only then can we let go of anger and bitterness that would otherwise harden us against divine mercy.

Ultimately, Chapter 12 is a clarion call to rediscover our divine purpose. It proclaims that restoration to life is not a passive state achieved by avoiding sin but a dynamic, ongoing process of renewal. By consistently rejecting the passions that ensnare us and embracing God’s commandments, we not only reclaim our natural state but also become vital members of a unified community. In this reclaimed life, every trial becomes an opportunity for growth, every hardship a stepping stone toward eternal, unbroken communion with God.

Significant quote from the chapter:

The Lord is concealed in his commandments, and those who seek him find him in proportion to fulfilling them (Mark the Ascetic). People who aren't trying to obey his commandments don't find him, and don't know of his power to heal souls who reach out to him. It's by getting rid of our self-love and obeying his commandments that we find him. When we pray to come into obeying his will, God heals us of the passions that deaden our souls, and restores us to true everlasting life. 

The rule in monasteries was that no one was allowed to live by himself until he had overcome willfulness and perfected the ability to live in loving relationships within the community.

He who has patience [long-suffering] enjoys A profound calm. Though you surround him with loss, bring insults upon him, bruise him with stripes, you have not wounded him. He has a long-suffering and great soul. This excellence is born of love; For, love suffers long and is kind. -John Chrysostom

And so the mind of the upright person ought not to be like wax or any other soft material which always yields to the shape of what presses on it, and is stamped with its form, and keeps it until it takes another sheet by having another seal stamped upon it; And so it results that it never retains its own form but its turned and twisted about to correspond to whatever is pressed upon it

But the upright person should rather be like some stamp of hard steel, that the mind  may always keep its proper form and shape inviolate, and may stamp an imprint on everything which occurs to it the marks of its own condition, while upon it itself nothing that happens can leave any mark.- Abbott Theodore (via John Cassian). 

You can stay true to what you are, no matter what happens, say the Saints, by letting patience make you ambidextrous. By learning how to benefit just as much from adversity as from prosperity.

For it rests with us either to profit, or to be injured, by afflictions. It depends not upon the nature of the affliction, but upon the disposition of our own minds. -John Chrysostom

The saints say it's not so hard to withstand adversities and retain our integrity if we go about it in the right way. With prayers and patience, that is, and with the understanding that adversity is often like life saving surgery, essential for removing passions. They say that, with the integrity born of the patience that comes from love, we can endure whatever adversities come upon us. They remind us that, as scripture says, the temptations we're subjected to in proportion to the gifts and grace of God available to each of us, are not greater than the temptations for everybody else. No matter what may occur to discourage us, says Dorotheos, do not be deluded by thoughts that virtue exceeds your powers. The shepherd of Hermas says: put, therefore, the Lord in your heart, and you will know that there is nothing easier or sweeter or more manageable than his commandments.

As regards all the commandments given us by God, we have received already from him power to keep them, that we may neither feel aggrieved as though anything strange were demanded of us, nor be elated as though we paid more than was given us.- Basil the Great

When we keep obeying God's commandments as well as we can, we developed the ability always to be faithful to God's love no matter what happens. It enables us to switch more fully from serving the self to serving God. Then, when we're obeying his commandments, our attention is mainly on how we are treating others, not so much on how others are treating us. The comfort of being merciful and kind to others (which is the Holy Spirit acting in us) is such that, by comparison, anything others may do to offend us is quite insignificant. To experience this comfort, writes Isaac of Syria, always let mercy outweigh all else in you, for a merciful man is the physician of his own soul. So Christians who are obeying the love commandments do not retain anger or resentment against others, nor hate others, nor seek revenge against others- for these deprive the soul of mercy.

If you are persecuted, do not persecute; if you are crucified, do not crucify; If you are offended, do not offend; If you are slandered come do not slander. To seek justice against a person is not fitting in Christian life; there is no hint of it in Christ's teaching.- Isaac of Syria

Something we learned from the church fathers is that we are all in the same position Jesus was in when he said to Pilot, you would have no power at all against me, except that it were given you from above. That is, nothing others could do to offend us could occur unless God allowed it. So they say, if some unexpected trial or loss comes upon you, do not blame the one through whom it came, but seek the reason for its coming, and you will be correctly taught (Maximus the Confessor).

Taking up our cross is the answer the Lord gives us to all the offenses against us, all our suffering, and all our adversities. Jesus tells us to deny yourself, and take up your cross, and follow him- meaning by cross, endurance of our afflictions (Mark the Ascetic). Taking up our cross means ending our resistance to whatever hasn't gone our way, whatever hasn't satisfied our self-love. It's ending all our dissatisfaction with life. All our anger against anyone we believe has hurt or offended us. Forgiveness always has to precede taking up our cross. At some point, no matter what others may have done to shatter our lives, we have to say with our heart what Jesus taught us: Father, forgive them, for they did not know what they were doing. Only then does God forgive and remove whatever hardness of heart may have remained in us- he lifts away our offenses only as we forgive the offenses of others against us. All our crosses, when we take them up after forgiving others, bring into us Jesus and his love.

Since the beginning of our mortal existence, only the cross has triumphed over all evil. Only the cross has lifted human souls beyond the reach of every evil force. Jesus gave us the way of the cross, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy might be full (Jn 15:11).

By accepting the evil that was meant to harm him, the Lord transformed it into everlasting victory over all evil. And the only way we can triumph over whatever evils have darkened our lives is to accept them as Jesus did. Accepting them makes them powerless. Christians who take up their crosses and become the salt of the earth preserve the earth by fulfilling the purpose for which it was given. If earthly life is an accident, then our of course it would be up to each of us to decide what purpose we want it to have. But if it is given by God, then its purpose is also given by God, its Creator. According to scripture, this earthly life is given by God for the purpose of our redemption, our repentance and restoration to eternal life. And it continues for the sake of people who are using it for that purpose, people scripture calls righteous. By taking up our crosses, the saints tell us, we become similar to corpses in respect to sin. Corpses are never offended, never angry at anybody, never self-righteous or self-important; They never tamper with the word of God, never envy anyone, or never discontented, never seek revenge, and so forth.

We have multitudes today in need of healing that cannot be found anywhere except in God. From him we can receive sanity, and restoration to life. What is sanity? It's just coming into God's will, and seeing the purpose of life, and living accordingly. Jesus makes it happen. He said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. All his wonderful blessings come to us through the Holy Spirit.