Kazantzakis, Nikos, The Saviors of God: Spiritual Exercises.  New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1960. p 44. 

Life startles us at first; it seems somewhat beyond the law, somewhat contrary to nature, somewhat like a transitory counteraction to the dark eternal fountains; but deeper down we feel that Life is itself without beginning, an indestructible force of the Universe.  Otherwise, from where did that superhuman strength come which hurls us from the unborn to the born and gives us—plants, animals, humans—courage for the struggle?  But both opposing forces are holy.  It is our duty, therefore, to grasp that vision which can embrace and harmonize these two enormous, timeless, and indestructible forces, and with this vision to modulate our thinking and our action.  

Which lines or phrases caught your attention?

Where have you been “startled” by life in such a way that your world has been “shaken up” and you have been stretched beyond your comfort zone?

What have you learned from any of these experiences?  How have any of these “encounters” caused you to grow or choose a new relationship to life?

Is it true that life is always a “struggle?”  Do we or can we ever arrive at a place where there is no struggle?

If you were to translate the word “holy” into contemporary language, what word would you use?  How would you articulate the concept you believe Kazantzakis is attempting to communicate?

Why do you think/feel Kazantzakis asserts that it is our “duty” to grasp a harmonizing “vision?”    What difference does this make to anything?

What reflections or connections arise in you when you encounter this Personal Affirmation:

I embrace and harmonize the opposing forces within me.