Humility!

Humility! The basis of all the virtues and the fundamental requirement for spiritual fruition. Do you have humility? You have God, You have everything! You don’t have humility? You lose everything! So retain the feeling of humility in your heart. Our natural and normal relationship with God requires a heart which is impassioned, contrite and entirely devoted to Him, a heart which cries mystically at every moment: ‘Lord, You know all things; save me!’ If we surrender ourselves into His hands, He’ll do with and for us whatever’s best for our salvation, according to His wise and holy will. Saint Theophan the Recluse 

The soul that has acquired humility is always mindful of God, and thinks to herself: 'God has created me. He suffered for me. He forgives me my sins and comforts me. He feeds me and cares for me. Why then should I take thought for myself, and what is there to fear, even if death threaten me?' The Lord enlightens every soul that has surrendered to the will of God, for He said: Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.   Saint Silouan the Athonite

Flying High - Love

When you ascend high into the heavens in a physical way on an airplane and gaze out of the window from 40,000 feet above the surface of the earth, you cannot help but be drawn to the awesome nature of God. Having gone through the normal hassle of boarding a crowded flight in a small island airport in Greece, I sat by the window of the plane and watched the normal sights disappear. As we took off piercing the clouds, a new dimension emerged. I could no longer see the steep inclines that moments earlier had strained my legs as I walked the narrow streets of Pyrgos, Santorini. Soon, the vast expanse of the Adriatic Sea was all I could see. Then, as we encountered an area with a vast layer of clouds, there was nothing but the endless varied formation of clouds covering the earth below. Staring out the window I could only think of God. I picked up a book I had brought and here is what I read:

While still a child I would pray for those who gave me offense. I used to pray, "O Lord, lay not sins on them because of me." But though I loved praying, I did not escape sin. Still, The Lord remembered not my sins, and gave me to love people, and my soul longs for the whole world to be saved and dwell in the Kingdom of Heaven, and see the glory of The Lord, and delight in the love of God.  

I judge by my own case: if The Lord so loved me, it must mean that He loves all sinners in the same measure as He loves me. 

O love of God, no power can describe it, for it is immeasurably great and wonderful.

These are the profound words of St Silouan the Athonite. His words of love filled my heart and made me reflect on the simple truth he expresses in these few sentences. How can we have hate for our brothers and sisters of this world when we know how God loves us? Truly, God loves all His creation, each and every person, just as He loves us. 

Flying high above the earth the differences that we so great when on the ground disappear. Even the mountains are barely distinguishable. When I think of God and my own sinfulness I see that from His perspective even my own defects disappear and are forgiven out of His Love. 

This view from 40,000 feet in the air is the way we need to view our brethren. We err when we focus on their failings and are not able to see the image of God in each of us.

Let us remember always how deficient we are and how much God loves us. Like Him we need to love in the same way. This is the way to peace in the world, to peace in our city or parish, and harmony in our family.

We are about to descend into the busy airport in London. I will soon see if can hold on to this view of Love.

Reference: St Silouan the Athonite, by Archimandrite Sophrony,  pp 270-271

Pure Prayer - The Struggle and Learning from the Saints

I have learned with difficulty that we advance in our spiritual growth when we are able to learn from the Saints. It took me some time to accept this and to not view the saints as relics from the "dark ages."  Sometimes it is hard to accept what they have to teach us because they almost always  ask of us something we have not been willing to give up to this point.  It often easier to retreat to our comfort zone and hide in the norms of our modern society that favors self-satisfaction and personal comfort.


Among the treasures of the Orthodox Church are the numerous accounts that record a saint's path to union with God.  One of these is given to us by Archimandrite Sophrony on the Life of Saint Silouan the Athonite.  Saint Silouan began life as a Russian peasant.  After completing his military service he came to Mount Athos where he remained until his death in 1938.  He was not a learned man, but through tireless strivings he was able to find an authentic personal experience identical with the early Desert Fathers.  Archimandrite Sophrony was one of his disciples. 

He tells us that we all have the calling and capability to find what he terms pure prayer.  He writes,

Many people think silence in the desert to be the noblest form of life. Others would opt for reclusion. Some would say, being a fool for Christ's sake. Still others elect for pastoral service or scientific theological study. And so on. The Staretz did not consider that any of these types of asceticism manifested spiritual life at its noblest, but each of them could be so for someone if it conformed to God's will for that person. And God may have an especial purpose for each of us.

But whatever God's will for each individual, when it comes to choosing one or other form of ascetic life, or place, or manner of service, the quest for pure prayer remains imperative.

Note how he sees pure prayer as an imperative. Why? So we are abel to act in obedience to Divine will.  I find this extremely difficult because my mind distracts me because of my desires for things of this world.  Not that the things of this world are bad or evil, for everything God created was good, but because I inappropriately choose to satisfy these personal desires rather than do the will of God, which is also seen as a life of virtue, a life of love and compassion.  Obviously, from the above statement he saw pure prayer as an imperative to live this life obedient to God's will. This I know I must pay attention to.

When is prayer pure?  He writes,

The Staretz considered prayer to be pure when it was accompanied by a softening of the heart so that both heart and mind in harmony lived the words of the prayer, which in this state nothing can cut short - the attention cannot be distracted, no irrelevant thought can intrude. 
What does this softening of the heart mean?  I am still learning.  But I now know that I do not have one and my heart is hard.  I pray for it to be softened and I seek to further understand what this means.

He says on another place that pure prayer is,

"when with his mind stationed in his heart, a man prays from the very depths of his being, without images, with a pure mind standing before God.

He also says it is when "the mind is cojoined with the heart."

I am learning that pure prayer comes after much preparation, but it is a gift from God and not based on human effort.  It is something quite different that what is taught in non-Christain meditation techniques where it is our effort that is primary.

Such pure - pure in the primary sense - prayer is a rare gift of God. It depends in no way on human effort. 

And when it comes, one experiences the uncreated Light or Divine energies of God.

Divine power comes and with elusive care and ineffable tenderness transports man into the world of Divine light - or rather, Divine light appears and lovingly embraces the whole man, so that he can recall nothing, incapable of any thought.

He continues,

At this point where he engages in pure prayer he is given the capability to guard his heart and mind from thoughts that lead him to actions that are not in conformity with God's will.

Shutting the door of his heart, stationing his mind on guard like a sentinel, unfettered by imagination and cognition but armed with prayer and the Name of Jesus christ, the ascetic striver embarks on the struggle against all external influence, all thought from without.  This is the essence of mental vigilance.  Its purpose is to contend against the passions.  In a wider and all-comprehensive sense victory over the passions is achieved by keeping Christ's commandments...

Ahh... Attention is essential he tells us. Idle wandering of the mind is of no value.  I find this to be the most difficult and it does take my fullest of effort to keep my mind focused on my prayer.  


Finally he warns that this is very difficult.

Preserving the mind and the heart from all extraneous thoughts means prolonged struggle of an extraordinary difficult and subtle kind.
So, I continue my struggle but with hope.

From Chapter 6 in St. Silouan the Athonite by Archimandrite Sophrony, pp 131-142