St. Isaac the Syrian - unique and distinctive among the desert fathers
In reading the Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, we began to see what is unique and distinctive about him in relation to the other desert fathers. He certainly speaks about the specific disciplines of the ascetic life; fasting, vigils, unceasing prayer, overcoming the passions, etc. Yet all of these things are encompassed in Christ and our life in Him. It is impossible to read Isaac then and for our faith to remain something that is notional and purely rational. In fact, what we experience is just the opposite: we are confronted with the stumbling block of the selfless love and humility revealed to us in the Cross. God has revealed himself as omni-vulnerable, as humble and lowly.
It is this life that we participate in purely by the mercy of God. It is bestowed upon us through our baptism, through the gift of the holy Eucharist, and through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The only glory that is ours comes to us from the benevolent hand of our God, Who now dwells within us.
It is this life that we are to manifest to the world and to do so means setting aside the false self. There must be a willingness within us for self-contempt (to hate oneself as Christ says), to make ourselves the servant of others, and to look upon no man except with love and compassion.
One of the most troublesome provocations that we experience in the spiritual battle is to see virtue as something we struggle for with great resolve; enduring the sufferings of this world with raw grit. Our faith then simply becomes a dim shadow of the reality that God has called us to in the life of grace. We can become experts at creating the appearance of virtue yet this too will fade as quickly as everything else of this world. We are to become humility because this is the essence of God. We are to become selfless love because this is what God has revealed to us. We deprecate the honor of this world because it does not fill our minds and hearts with wonder or the desire for the love of the kingdom.