How Does One Come Closer to God?

Psalm 63 shows us a path to communion with God according to the commentary of Elder Aimilianos. He identifies six stages found in this Psalm.

1. Pray at night and ardently search for God. “O my God, to You I rise early at dawn. My soul has thirsted for you; how often my flesh has longed for You, in a desert land, parched and impenetrable.”
2. Separate the heart and mind from all that is within and around you. “Thus I have appeared before you in Your sanctuary, that I might see Your power and Your glory.” “In order for my heart to be pure , it must be completely liberated from all earthly attachments, and then I shall know what Christ means when He says, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Mat 5:8).’ “
3. Place all our energies in His service. “Thus I will bless you throughout my life, and in Your name I will lift up my hands.”
4. Recall God and all His benefits ceaselessly. “I remembered you on my bed”. Elder Aimilianos says, “It is essential to remember God, to hold God within memory, for memory fuels desire, and it is by means of desire that God becomes our possession.”
5. Experience God’s Grace. “For you have become my helper, and in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.”
6. Be conscious that you are nothing, can do nothing, and are completely incapable and unworthy. “ My soul clings closely behind You, Your right hand upholds me.”

The Elder says,

“My desire is for Christ; my longing is for Christ. It is for Him that my life is being transformed... my path is one constantly seeking after the Lord.”

Reference: Psalms and the Life of Faith, by Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra, pp 19-24

Ten Points for an Orthodox Way of Life

The Glykophilousa Icon and Aim of Our Life, Theosis.

My soul clings closely behind You, Your right hand upheld me. (Psalm 63:8)

This phrase shows that there are two things necessary if we are to find union with God, says Elder Aimilianos. “The exercise of our free will, which is expressed in the first part of this verse, and divine grace, which is expressed in the second.”

The image of this union we seek as Orthodox Christians is most vividly seen in the icon know as the Glykophilousa. 

This icon like the “Portaitissa” is one of the icons saved from the Iconoclastic Controversy and brought miraculously to Athos. It was the property of Victoria, the devout wife of the eikonomachos senator Symeon, who, to avoid having to hand it over, threw it into the sea. The icon, floating upright on the waves, reached the dock of the Monastery of Philotheou, where it was received with great honor and rejoicing by the Abbot and fathers of the Monastery, who had been warned of its advent by a revelation of the Theotokos.

In this image we see the Theotokos holding the Christ child so tenderly and yet so firmly in and embrace. Their mutual love is obvious. It appears as if their bodies merge and form a union of one body. With their cheeks pressed together they have like one face and project a single person. This, says Elder Aimilianos, “is the exercise of free will.” When we are free of passion and join our will with His, we become free and joined as one with Him. We embrace Him with the same tenderness and firmness shown in this icon out of our boundless love for Him. He then merges with us and we become like one person.

The Psalm is showing us that David’s “inner disposition is simple, namely, not to be separated from God.” To Hold God in a loving embrace as seen in this icon. The last part of the verse shows that our ability to have this union comes from God. It is by our free will working in synergy with His and His Grace, brings the desired joy found in union with Him.

We can use this image to remind us of the aim of our life, to be united with Christ in love. 

Saint Athanasios of Alexander says commenting on this verse,

Not even for a moment, my God, can my spirit be separated from You, for I am afire with ardent love, and as if my mind were a mass of glue, I adhere to You in desire.”

Reference: Psalms and the Life of Faith, by Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra, pp15-16.

Ten Points for an Orthodox Way of Life

Spiritual Nature of Man - Foundation of Orthodox Spirituality

This is a 10 minute video from a recent class at Saint George that explains the foundation for Orthodox saying they have the fullness of faith. It explains the fullness of our understanding of human nature which is basis for our Orthodox way of life as taught throughout the centuries by the Church and the Church Fathers.

https://youtu.be/08Kop8w9iIo

Why is the Holy Trinity Essential in Orthodox Spirituality?

This is a difficult but important question. The foundation of our spiritual life is based on the nature of God, One God in Three Persons, The Holy Trinity. So why is this truth about God so important in the Orthodox understanding of Theosis, our aim to seek union with God? How can our unity with God in eternity be guaranteed? Only if the divinity has also taken on flesh. The incarnation of God in Jesus Christ, His Son, shows the love God has for man. Why? Because for our union to be possible God cannot be some impersonal being. Because of the Triune nature of God, in our path to unity with God we will never lose our identity. It is because God has become man that we too will be assured of our identity in our eternal life. Like Christ related to the Father we too will have a personal relationship in heaven for eternity with Him nourished in His love. Since we know God to be trinitarian we know God can never be reduced to some infinite oneness but always exists as Three Persons. This is the true nature of God as found in Holy Scripture. The Orthodox Saints use the terms "life in Christ", Life in Spirit, and the "Spiritual life" to describe the nature of union with God.

The distinguishing feature of Christianity is this Triune nature of God. God became Man to transform us in Spirit. He communicates to us by the Spirit and His uncreated energies. God is never distant from us because His uncreated energies support our existence and nurture our spiritual growth.

Saint Simeon the New Theologian describes the union experienced by him as follows.

Even at night and in the midst of darkness I see, trembling, Christ opening the heaven for me and I behold how He himself beholds me from there and He sees me here and below together with the Father and the Spirit in the thrice holy light. Because this is one and the same nevertheless in three images, although it is only one. And it illuminates my soul brighter than the sun and floods my spirit covered with gloom.... And this miracle was even the more astonishing because it opened my eyes and helped me to see, and that which I saw is He himself. Because this light helped those who behold to know themselves in light of those who see in light see Him again. For they see the light of Spirit and in as much they see Him, they see the Son. Now he who has been made worthy to see the Son, sees also the Father.

Note how Saint Simeon sees God in distinct three persons. This is quite different from the way many western mystics like Eckhart see God. Eckhart only sees God as a unity of persons, one thing. While Simeon sees God in the differentiation of the three persons. Christians from the earliest times have seen Christ as the Son, something which is much greater than simply Christ the man. When we are blessed with divine insight in union with God we will find the living relationship between man and God like that which exists in the relationship among the Holy Trinity.

This relationship of the Three persons is also a demonstration of pure love of God. From this we know that God is truly love. Not only is He a God of love but our union with Him demands our love of Him.

Staniloae writes

Only a perfect community of supreme persons can nourish with its unending and perfect love, our thirst for love in relation to it and between ourselves. This relationship cannot be theory but must be lived too. This is so because love isn't satisfied with only being theory, but wants to give itself, to welcome and be welcomed...

The Trinity, radiated by this love which is proper to it, can't be lived and conceived without it uncreated energies in ever increasing levels. Love is characterized by this paradox. One the one hand it unites object who love each other, on the other hand, it doesn't confuse their identity...

God wants to gradually extend the gift of His infinite love to another order of conscious subjects and namely to created ones. He wants to extend this love in its paternal form as toward other sons united with His Son. 

So after the creation of man, He wanted His Son to become man so that His love for His Son, made man, would be a love which is directed toward any human face, like that of His Son. In the Son made flesh we are all adopted by the Father... God made man as an image of His Son so that His Son could become man too. The Father loves all of us in His Son, because the Son was made our brother....The Son's love for us isn't separated from the Father's love for us, but in His love as a brother He makes the Father's love and also His love for the Father, engulf us. In us the Father welcomes other loving and loved sons because His Son was made our beloved brother.

Also, with this love of the Father and our love for Him in Christ, love is poured on us in the form of the Holy Spirit, His uncreated energies.

Staniloae

If the Son had not become man we would not have received the love of the Father. It is in Christ as man that it reached us. It is by the incarnate Son that the Holy Spirit radiates within humanity and the world is the love of God for us of outs for God.

It is the Spirit that brings into creation Trinitarian love raising creation to the level of divine love and Theosis. This is why we invoke the Holy Spirit in all our sanctifying services. It is by the Holy Spirit that creation is raised up to the divine world and the divine realm penetrates us. With this we are changed. This is the nature of Orthodox spirituality. Our aim is to acquire his uncreated energy that comes though the love of God in the Holy Spirit. This much more than the understanding of God intellectual through the Scriptures. Man can be joined with God though His uncreated energies that we are blessed with by the Holy Spirit.

Reference: Orthodox Spirituality by Fr, Dumitru Staniloae, pp 46-55.

What is Orthodox Spirituality?

The term spirituality is used very loosely in our culture. But Orthodox spirituality has a very specific meaning. It is most clearly stated by Fr. Dumitru Staniloae a renown Romanian Theologian (1903 - 1993). He describes it as a life long process. It is a road that leads one to "perfection in Christ." This road involves the "cleansing of passions and the winning of virtues." It is a process that that takes place in a certain order. It is a process that involves the cleaning of one passion and then another. At the same time one acquires different virtues. Once a certain level of perfection is reached it "culminates in love." Finally one has closed themselves of all passions and has attained all virtues. This is perfection. He says,

"As man climbs toward this peak, he simultaneously moves toward union with Christ and the knowledge of Him by experience, which is also called deification."

Orthodox Spiritually involves a step by step transformation. as one processes he is filled with more and more presence of God.

The aim is perfection in Christ, a full union with Him. Our will become one with His and we are able to do His will instead of your self-centered will as we pray for in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy will be done." Since God's goodness is infinite there is no end to this process. We never reach the point of total perfection.
He says,

"Our perfection, our union with God, is therefore not only a goal, but also an unending progress.... The culminating state of the spiritual life isis when the believer is raised higher than the level of his own powers,not of his own accord, but by the work of the Holy Spirit.

He describes this as a mystical life. He says,

"It is only by prolonged effort, by discipline, can testate of perfection and mystical union with God be reached."

This is called Asceticism which we will discuss in the next posting.

Reference: Orthodox Spirituality by Fr. Dumitru Staniloae 

Should We Fear God?

For many years I was troubled by the pronouncement when the chalice is brought out to offer communion, "With the fear of God draw near."

Why should we fear God? Should we fear Him because He will punish us for our mistakes? But we know He is a loving and forgiving God. How could He punish us whom He created. Maybe we  should fear Him because we are not willing to give up our way of life to become congruent with the Life of His Kingdom.  Maybe we should fear Him when we learn that we are seeking to make His kingdom like we wish it to be and know deep down that this is not the realty we face?

I recently saw a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon where Calvin says the following, "If Heaven is Good and if I like to be bad, how am I supposed to be happy there?" Calvin like many of us prefers to be "bad".  If that is the case then our choice will be hell. For Calvin, heaven only has meaning if it can be like he wishes it to be, "bad". But this is not the way it is. This is not the reality of our existence. Heaven is God's Kingdom. He calls us to perfection to be joined with Him in His Kingdom forever. His commandments are the only way to enter.

C.S. Lewis also addressed this issue in his book, The Great Divorce. In this book residents of Hell are given the opportunity to visit Heaven. When they arrive, they are met by heaven's Spirit residents  who tell each of them in an individual encounter that they are welcome to stay. All they need to do is to  give up their sins, whether that be a lack of forgiveness, a lust for recognition, or some other self centered activity. But in his story, none are willing to give up why they are living in Hell where the worst tendencies are accentuated. Unwilling to change they choose to stay in Hell. The visitors one by one get on the return bus and willingly to go back to hell.

All of us have our bad habits that we probably know are not acceptable to God. We need to ask ourselves, are we willing to change because of our love for God? Are we willing to give up what we think gives us fleeting pleasures in our life, and instead seek what God intends for us?  Or, do we expect God to adapt to our way of thinking? Do we think in the end it will be OK because I believe in Christ?

My problem was that I did not really believe in any absolutes. I believed that God surely would adapt to my view of what is a good life and way of living, after all I was a respected member of our society. I wanted to change the wording in the proclamation before communion to "awe" instead of "fear". But this misses a most important point I was to later learn.

The day of reckoning will eventually come for all of us. We will either have been trained through a life of repentance to have demonstrated our love for God and our willingness to work toward giving up our ego-directed actions to follow Christ, or, remain stuck in our own personal version of what God will accept. In the end we will be the one who chooses heaven or hell.  Will we be like the visitors to hell in Lewis' story, where when even confronted with what heaven is really like they were unwilling to give up what they believe gives them pleasure? They preferred the place where "bad" was acceptable like Calvin.

Christ told His disciples to "Follow Me." They gave up their livelihood and followed Him. We are not asked necessarily to give up our livelihood as they were. But, if we surrender to Him and cleanse our hearts of the passions, we will be blessed with His grace. It will then be up to us to follow the way He guides us. This is the path to heaven. There is no other.

There comes a time when our appropriate fear of God is transformed into an intense love for God. Our fear becomes transformed into a loving obedience. We will no longer fear His punishment, or that we will have to give up what gives us pleasure, because we have found true pleasure and joy in union with Him. We will be fearful that we could still lose the joy and comfort we gain when we willingly live in His grace.

"With the fear of God, faith and love, draw near."

See also this post

History of Doctrine Series - Theosis

The 9th in the History of Doctrine Series discusses the importance of the doctrine of the two wills of Christ.  I am highlighting this as this is the true significance of the Incarnation that Christ came to join His divine will with out human will so we could then join our human will with His divine will.
Here is the link to this session where you can also view the other sessions in this series.  
I conduct these each Tuesday evening at the Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Greenville, SC.
http://www.stgeorgegreenville.org/OurFaith/HistoryofDoctrine/History_of_Christain_Doctrine/Our_Faith/Entries/2011/11/16_9._Byzantine_Theology.html

Perfection: Deification

Can we really be deified?  What does this mean?  This is a central doctrine in the Orthodox faith and is called Theosis.

Fr. Dimitru Staniloae defines deification as "God's perfect and full penetration of man."  It is something that never stops but continues to the infinite.  It is an experience that only mankind is capable.  It is the result of a growth of our receptive powers to receive and use the divine energies.  It is through deification that we reach towards our potential to become like God, made in His image as we learn from the book of Genesis.


Fr. Dimitru says,

Man becomes more and more like God without identifying with Him.  Man will continue to become like God forever, in an ever fuller union with Him, but never will he reach full identification with Him; he will be able to reflect God more and more, but he will not become what God is.

The Holy Fathers emphasize that deification is by grace and not by man's own effort or nature.  When deified man's nature remains the same.  He does not become a source of divine energy, like God.  He receives God's energies though grace.  Man only reflects God's energies.  He never assumes the role of the source.


We never receive the totality of God's energies.  Through our efforts in preparation we make an ascent and as we grow spiritually God's energies descend on us granting us increased powers.


Fr. Dimitru concludes his book with the following thoughts:

The divine energies are nothing but the rays of the divine essence, shining from the three divine Persons.  And from the time that the Word of Good too flesh, these rays have been shining through His human face.

It can also be said that the things of the world are images of the logoi of the divine Logos, which are at the same time energies.  By creation God put a part of His infinite possibility of thought and of energy into existence, in the form specifically at the level of the understanding of human creatures.  He did this to permit a dialog with God and towards union with Him.

The incarnation of the Word confirmed the value of man and of these images of reason and of energy measured by him.  But it also gave man the possibility to see in the face of the man of the Logos, concentrated anew, all the logoi and divine energies.  Thus final deification will consist of a contemplation and a living of all the divine values and energies conceived in and radiated from the face of Christ according to the supreme measure of man.  But by this, in the face of each man, by the logoi and the energies gathered in him, the logoi and the energies of the Logos will be reflected luminously.  Eternal bliss will be the contemplation of the face of Christ.

So all will be in God and we will see all things in Him, or God will be in all things and we will see Him in all things; and the unitary presence of God in all things will be real to the extent that all creatures gathered in Him remain real and unmingled in God

This is the eternal perspective of deification.

Reference: Orthodox Spirituality, pp 362 - 374 

Basis for Union with God: Love not Intellect

Some Protestant theologians see the Word as the only means of divine revelation. They say it was intended for our intellect. But this is a sign of a person distinct from us rather than one in union with us.  This view explains their emphasis on Bible study and their denigration of the sacraments and all that is considered mystical. It is a denial of Orthodox spirituality. This view implies the Word does not have a spiritual task. But we all sense there is more than an intellectual understanding of God. We sense that there is something beyond an intellectual understanding. We seek and yet cannot completely know. The reality is that the Word of God impacts us in a dynamic way. It was intended for the soul and not just the intellect. The Word awakens faith in us. This demonstrates that there is a direct relationship involved between us and the Word. Our Church Fathers do not limit us to only an intellectual dimension of the mind but speak of the "feeling of the mind and our relationship with God."


Fr. Dimitru tells us,

"The Fathers of the Church when they speak of the "feeling of the mind," assert a direct contact of the mind with the spiritual reality of God, not a simple knowledge of Him from a distance. Its something like the "understanding" of a person with whom you are in contact.

In seeking this spiritual union we do not imply that we will ever assume the divine substance of God. We are His creation, creatures.


Fr. Dimitru also says,

On the other hand, our creatureliness implies the sovereignty of God.  It makes our transformation into a divine substance impossible, no matter how close we get to Him.  Our approach to God, our uplifting to an understanding of Him, can only be realized if God Himself clothes us with the things proper to Him; but even if we are penetrated by His power, we can't shed our created nature.  Our nature can't become uncreated: We become gods by grace, not by nature.

We can conclude from this that our link to Him must be established on the basis of a personal relationship. This begins with a spiritual encounter with Him. He must reveal His nature to us.


We can use the analogy of knowing our neighbor.  We cannot know the inner nature our neighbor by our own initiative.  For us to truly know them, they must reveal themselves to us on their own initiative.  Normally this is revealed in inverse proportion to the aggressive acts we take to know them. The more we demand they tell us, the less likely they will reveal their inner personhood to us.  We must first show our own vulnerability and humility for a relationship to develop. This is how it is with God. We can't know Him unless He reveals himself to us. We should not have any fears about losing our identity in this process. Just like in our developing a relationship with our neighbor as we develop a relation sip with God and find union with Him, we do not lose our own identity. It is with humility and love that we allow Him to reveal Himself to us.


Fr. Dimitru says,

The spiritual Christian adopts this affirmation of supreme humility, but likewise of supreme daring:"I am man, but I live as God, by what God has givine me; I am man, but I an on God's level by the grace with which He has been pleased to cloth me..." This reflects the expression of Apostle Paul: "I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20).

As in a relationship between two people, it is love that is central to our union with God. We must not make the mistake of only trying to know God intellectually.  We must cultivate a loving relationship.


Reference: Orthodox Spirituality, pp 30 - 39.

Deification - The Uncreated Light

Deification is an enhypostatic* and direct illumination which has no beginning but appears in those worthy as something exceeding their comprehension.  It is indeed a mystical union with God, beyond mind and reason in the age when creatures will no longer know corruption. - Saint Maximus the Confessor

Deification is most often expressed as involving the "Uncreated Light."


Fr. Sophrony says,

This Light penetrates us with the power of God, we we become 'without beginning'––not through our origin but by the gift of Grace: life without beginning is communicated to us.  And there is no limit to the outpouring of the Father's love: man becomes identical with God––the same by content, no by primordial Self-Being.  God will eternally be GOD for the reasonable being."  (We Shall See Him as He Is, p172.)

It is though our participation in this uncreated light that we become deified, become like Christ.  We do not become a god in essence but by Grace and adoption.  We are  taught that we can never behold, or know the Divine Essence, but when we are filled with this Divine Light we experience His Uncreated Energies. This is a personal communion with God, face to face. Our identity is not assumed into the Divine Essence. And, it is much more than an experience of Light.


Here is how Saint Symeon the New Theologian expresses it in one of his hymns,

He Himself is discovered within me, resplendent inside my wretched heart, enlightening me from all sides with His immortal splendor, shining on all of my members with His rays.  Entirely intertwined with me, He embraces me entirely.  He gives Himself totally to me, the unworthy one, and I am filled with His love and beauty.  I am sated with pleasure and Divine tenderness.  I share in the Light.  I participate also in the glory. My face shines like that of my beloved and all my members become bearers of Light.

* Fr. John Meyendorff explains the meaning of enhypostatic:
"This divine light cannot be contemplated as a hypostasis, that is, as an independent reality, since strictly speaking it has no essence. It can be contemplated only in a hypostasis, i'e', in a personal locus. Here Palamas has in mind the deified saints who by grace show forth in their whole persons the light that transforms them. But the energies are also "enhypostatic" in respect of the Person (hypostasis) of Christ. The light of tabor does not reveal the divine essence, but the second person of the Trinity.

As well as meaning "what exists in another hypostasis", enhypostatic can also mean "what really exists"' that which is genuine or authentic, e.g. of our real adoption as sons by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The first sense of the word goes back to the christology of Leontius of Byzantium, the second to Mark the Monk.

God's Dwelling Within - Theosis

There comes a time when God no longer hides his grace from us.  When God knows our soul to be ready and fully mature there is a mystical union that occures.


Saint Theophan describes this state as follows:
God dwells in man in a special manner.  He visibly fills him, unites Himself to him and communes with him.  This is the goal man strives to achieve through all the ascetic struggles and labors, all the economy of salvation from God Himself, and all that happens to each person in the present life from birth to grave.  
St. Macarius writes that the work of grace after long trials finally sows itself fully, and the soul acquires full sonship of the Spirit.  God Himself proves the heart, and man is made worthy to become one spirit with the Lord.
(Path To Salvation, p198)


According to St. Diadochos, "If a man while still alive, can undergo death through his labors, then in his entirety he becomes the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit... Grace illumines his whole being with a deeper awareness, warming him with great love of God. (Philokalia, vol 1 no 82, 85, p 284, 285)  This action reveals itself or is accompanied by different manifestations with different people.


A spiritual description by St. Macarius,
The soul that is is deemed to be judged worthy to participate in the light of the Holy Spirit by becoming his throne and habitation, and is covered with the beauty of ineffable glory of the spirit, becomes all light, all face, all eye.  There is no part of the soul that is not full of the spiritual eyes of light.  That is to say, there is no part of the soul that is covered with darkness but is totally covered with spiritual eyes of light. FOr the sou l had no imperfect part but is in every part on all sides facing forward and covered with the beauty of the ineffable glory of the light of Christ, who mounts and rides upon the soul."
(The Fifty Spiritual Homilies, Homily 1.2, p 37)


Reference: (Path To Salvation, p198)

Why Does Grace Come and Then Leave?

Having been awakened with faith, having zeal, being baptized, and experiencing divine grace, God then hides grace from us, Saint Theophan tells us. This is a most common experience for all serious Christian  faithful who seek union with God. It seems that as soon as we have His grace, it is gone.  It comes and then leaves. Why is this most sublime feeling allowed to leave us? It seems as if God abandons us.


When this happened to me I felt betrayed, after all, I had accomplished a great thing through my spiritual efforts.  Yes, I was proud. If it had stayed with me, this pride would only have grown and I would have remained complacent.  But when it left, what did I do?  I sought help and was guided to work hard to uncover my deep hidden sinfulness.  This involved things everyone else knew about me, but were hidden from my own self-awareness.  I gave up my old ways of seeking an spiritual experience through the eastern meditation practice I had long practiced.  I started anew in my spiritual path becoming obedient to my spiritual father.  Glory be to God for this!


This is why this withdrawal happens.  Initially we are encouraged by the experience of His grace, but we still have great pride and need to be humbled. After this initial encouragement, this withdrawal leeds us to further growth through a processes of purifying our heart.


Saint Diadochos tells that grace is working in us without our knowledge,

At the start of the spiritual way, the soul usually has the conscious experience of being illumined with its own light through the action of grace. But as it advances further in its struggle to attain theology (knowledge of God through direct experience), grace works its mysteries within the soul for the most part without its knowledge. 


He continues to clarify the two ways that grace works in us -  with and without our knowledge:
Grace acts in these two ways so that it may first set us rejoicing on the path of contemplation, calling us from ignorance to spiritual knowledge, and so that in the midst of our struggle it may then keep this knowledge free from arrogance. On the one hand, we need to be somewhat saddened by feeling ourselves abandoned, so that we become more humble and submit to the glory of the Lord; on the other hand, we need to be gladdened at the right time though being lifted up by hope... 
(Philokalia, vol 1, no 69, p 276)


Through this awareness of a direct experience and then its withdrawal, God is nurturing us to complete the course.  He wants us to have holy love and for it to become habitual.  If He allowed grace to remain ever present to our awareness, we would become satisfied, stuck in our pride and hidden sinfulness, and not continue on our path to perfection.


Saint Diadochos says,

When God recedes in order to educate us, this brings great sadness, humility and even some measure of despair to the soul.  the purpose of this is to humble the soul's tendency to vanity and self-glory, for the heart is at once filled with fear of God, tears of thankfulness, and great longing for the beauty of silence.

(Philokalia, vol 1, no 87, p 286)

Saint Diadochus continues, highlighting the way God works for our benefit. ,
As the soul advances, divine grace more and more reveals itself of the intellect.  During the process, however , the Lord allows the soul to be pestered increasingly by demons. This is to teach it to discriminate correctly between good an devil, and to make it more humble through the deep shame it feels during its purification because of the way in which it is defiled by demonic thoughts.
(Philokalia, vol 1, no 77, p 279-80)


Saint Marcarius of Egypt also advises us about how God's grace works within us.
The spiritual influence of God's grace within the soul works with great patience, wisdom, and mysterious management of the mind, while the man for long times and seasons contends in much endurance; and then the work of grace is proved to be perfect in him.
(Fifty Spiritual Homilies, 9.1 p 83)


Knowing God in a way where we experience Him continually and are able to carry out His will is a process.  As we gain the ability to do God's will, we again experience his grace, but when we fall back, engage in judging others or become proud of our spiritual advancement for example, this feeling is withdrawn.  Not as a punishment but to  spur us on to greater and greater growth until we have purified our heart and join in union wtih Him continually.  Knowing God is not an event but a lifelong process.


Reference: Path to Salvation pp 196-197

Become "Partakers of Divine Nature"

Father Maximos perceived the Scriptures as foretelling man's purpose, since it was God Who said, "Let us make man according to our image and likeness....And God made man, according to the image of God He made him, male and female He made them.  And God blessed them...And God saw all the things that he had made, and, behold, they were very good (Gen 1:26, 27, 28, 31)."

"In his commentary on the Lord's Prayer, Our Father, he writes that "we are also taught to speak to ourselves of the the grace of adoption, since we are by grace worthy to call Father the One Who is our Creator by nature.  Thus by respecting the designation of our Begetter in grace, we are eager to set on our life the features of the One Who gave us life.  We sanctify His  name on earth in taking after Him as Father, in showing ourselves by our actions to be His children....

"Now His divine power has 'freely given to us all the things for life and piety, through the full knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which he has freely given to us the very great and precious promises, that through these ye might become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:3,4).' God made us so that we might become 'partakers of the divine nature' and sharers in His eternity, and so that we might come to be like Him (1John 3:2) through divinization by grace."
( The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church - January, Holy Apostles Convent, pp 826-827)

The path that he taught was the way of love.
"and do not say that "mere faith in our Lord Jesus christ can save me." For this is impossible unless you acquire love for him through works.,,,,The work of love is the deliberate doing of good to one's neighbor as well as long-suffering and patience and the use of all things in the proper way."( Four Centuries of Love, 1:39)

He also taught that this is impossible without ascetic labors.
Afflict your flesh with fasting and vigils.  devote yourself diligently to psalmody and prayer, and holiness in chastity will come upon you and bring love. (Four Centuries of Love, 1:45)

Goal: Living in Unity with God

With faith, zeal, experience of God's grace, and a realization of our sinfulness we now move toward the goal of all Orthodox Christians ––"A Living Unity with God."

Saint Theophan makes his point with several Scripture references.
"Seek ye the Lord and be strengthened; seek ye His face at all times. (Ps 104:4)

Paul reminds us,
For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “ I will dwell in them... (2 Cor 6:16)
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Cor 3:16)

Jesus says,
“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. (Jn 14:23)
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (Rev 3:20)
I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. (Jn 14:20)


Saint Theophan says this living unity with God is enlivening and God's goal for us.,

God's indwelling is not merely mental... but is a living, enlivening thing, to which contemplation should only be considered a means. Mental and heartfelt longing for God, that has come by God's good will, prepares a person to truly receive God. It is a kind of unity in which, without eradicating human strrength and personality, God manifests Himself as one that worketh in him both to will and to do (Phil 2:23); and the person, according to the Apostle, does not live but Christ lives in him (cf. Gal 2:20). This is not only the person's goal, but also the goal of God Himself.

The Orthodox Way of life is about attaining this living unity with God.  It is something we must continually work at.  Its much more than a conversion experience.  Such experiences are only the beginning of an Orthodox Christian life.  This is when the real work begins. Knowing this indwelling God is a process of purifying our heart, purging our actions of all sinfulness.  All this prepares us to receive His grace to align our will with His.  This is our aim.  This is the path to a truly virtuous life.

Seeking Theosis in a Busy Life - More From Saint Theophan the Recluse

Saint Theophan spoke often about the struggles we face when we are active in the affairs of the world. He writes,"There is a widely accepted misconception among us: that when one becomes involved in work at home or in business, immediately one steps out of the godly realm and away from God-pleasing activities...." He points out that we do NOT have to run from this activity to come closer to God! He writes, "Home and communities depend on concerns of daily life and society. These concerns are God-appointed obligations; fulfilling them is not a step toward the ungodly, but is a walking in the way of the Lord."

We can be seriously misled by the idea that somehow these mundane activities of this world are to be avoided. This would be a very dangerous path. Instead as we saw from his advice in the last post, in addition to the time we dedicate to our morning and evening prayer, we need to learn to glorify God in all our activities and to call on His help as we muddle though all the difficulties we face daily in our work or in taking care of our families. He writes, "grasp the concept that everything you do, inside and outside your home... is godly and God-pleasing...." He tells us that If we complete our godly deeds in an ungodly manner this will "tear your mind from God." He then instructs us, "approach daily matters with knowledge that to fulfill them is a commandment. Administer them as administering God's law."

Each of us has a place along with responsibilities that God has given to us. God is watching us and sees how we handle our assignments. We cannot hide from Him or the tasks He has given to us. So do your work, keeping in mind that all that comes to you throughout the day is sent by God.

Saint Theophan says, "By orienting yourself to God at all times, your chores at home and responsibilities outside the house will not distract your attention from God, but, on the contrary, will keep you intent on completing all tasks in a God pleasing manner...." He cautions, "Be careful to distinguish between concerns prompted by frivolity, passions, flattery and worldliness, from those that are correct, appropriate and honorable." He says that what is essential is that we have committed ourselves to live in a God-pleasing manner.

The above is from Letter 49 in the booklet On Prayer.

An Additional Thought

I pass on a thought in a similar vein from a recent podcast by Matthew Gallatin, Theosis In A Busy World. In this podcast Matthew answers a letter from a listener who feels overwhelmed by his daily duties in his quest for the proper spiritual path.

He is the author of Thirsting For God in a Land of Shallow Wells published by Conciliar Press. He lives in Northern Idaho and is a former Professor of Philosophy. You can learn earn more about Matthew’s ministry at his website.

More on Prayer... and living the Orthodox way of life.

Meaning of Theosis