Spiritual Warfare III – Afterwards

Once you have encountered a spiritual battle and you were successful in averting any sinful act, give thanks to the Lord.  But, do not be over joyful as this can lead to you to complacency and even lead you to a greater sin of vainglory. Assume that there may be an ambush laying around the next corner.  Do not share this victory with anyone.  Remain humble and ready for another battle.

If you were not successful and succumbed to the temptations presented, humble yourself.  Fall into repentance immediately.  Accept that God knows that you will not aways be successful and is always merciful if you remain humble and repentant.

Saint Theophan says,

"Our Lord is like a mother who leads her child by the hand and does not abandon him..."

Repeated failures should spurn you to engage in greater ascetic labors.  Look for new strategies, new ways to avoid such situations.  The worst thing is to become stopped by any form of depression over your failure.

Remember everyone has a different task––will face different spiritual battles of differing degrees.  We all have a central tendency for sin but it is different for each of us.  Saint Theophan assures us,

"One only needs to have the zealous desire to conquer himself."

Spiritual Warfare II - Preparation

Once we are well aware of our sinfulness (the sign of a mature seeker of God) we can then seek to anticipate the battles we will encounter during the coming day.  Our sinfulness is often triggered by our interactions encountered in the activites of our daily life.  When we know we will be facing situations where we often find ourselves falling into a sinful activity we need to protect ourselves and prepare for these battles.


Saint Theophan recommends,

"At the beginning of each day, sit and go over all possible meetings and occurrences and all the possible feelings and movements that they could cause."  

This can be a routine activity at the end of your morning prayers.  Mentally go through the day and the situations you are likely to encounter.  Think about how you can deal with those situations where you know it will be difficult for you––especially situations where you may be tempted with lust or anger.


Predetermine the best approach if temptations do arise.  Think about how you will fight it off, or will it be better for you to avoid the encounter.  When we have a weakness it is often best to predetermine a way to walk away physically from the situation. 


As you enter into the trials of the day, remember you have some important weapons.  Both of these give me great aid. One is the Jesus Prayer which you can say at any time (if you make it part of your regular prayer rule), and even more powerful is the sign of the Cross.  As you enter into a situation where you know you are facing temptation, make the sign of the Cross and say quietly to yourself, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."


By being vigilant, and aware of the potential battles you will face, you can begin to change the way you live your life transforming it into an Orthodox Way of LIfe.  


Become a proactive spiritual warrior.

Vision of Life to Come

Having a vision of the life to come is not truly possible but believing it is something wonderful is important.  Here is a view expressed by Greatmartyr  Saint Euphemia ( 3rd century AD) to elder Paisios of Mount Athos, († 1994) when she mystically appeared to him in his cell to answer his prayers.

There was a third knock and the Elder felt someone coming inside his cell and walking through the corridor. He went to the door and there he saw St. Euphemia, who had miraculously entered his cell through the locked door and was venerating the icon of the Holy Trinity, which the Elder had placed on the wall of his corridor, on the right hand side of the church’s door.

Then the Elder told the saint: "Say: Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."

St. Euphemia clearly repeated those words and immediately Father Paisios knelt and venerated the saint.

Afterwards, they sat and talked for quite a while; he could not specify for how long, as he had lost all sense of time while being with St. Ephemia. She gave the solution for all three matters he had been praying for and in the end he said to her:  "I would like you to tell me how you endured your martyrdom."

The saint replied: "Father, if I knew back then how eternal life would be and the heavenly beauty the souls enjoy by being next to God, I honestly would have asked for my martyrdom to last for ever, as it was absolutely nothing compared to the gifts of grace of God!"   (taken from: http://www.pigizois.net/agglika/paisios/11.htm) 

So often we only think of the wonders of this world.  But what greater wonder do we have in store for us when we enter the next world, where we are close to God for eternity. This is our aim to perfect ourselves so we too can be blessed with God's grace to be with God in heaven.  Thank you Saint Euphemia for this reminder.

On The Sunday of Saint John of the Ladder

Today we commemorate Saint John of the Ladder who lived in the sixth and seventh centuries. He was a monk for 64 years at the monastery of Saint Catherine at the foot of Mount Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments. He is most known for his book called the "Ladder" where he describes step-by-step, how we can lift ourselves up to union with God.

In this book one he describes our life in a Christian spiritual community analogous to a bunch of rough stones out into a jar. When stones are first put into the jar they have many sharp edges, but when they are shaken together over time the stones interact with each other, rubbing and bumping, knocking off the sharp edges so they become smoother and smoother. Eventually they are highly polished like stones on the seashore.

He is highlights for us the importance of our work together in our Christian family following the direction lad down for us n the Church. Much of our development comes through our dealing with all the difficulties we face as we interact with others. This coupled with our own self-development, God helps us grow closer to him.

We can also gain insight from Saint John's image of a ladder that we must climb to become one with God. Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow compares our spiritual climb to throwing a stone in the air. With the force of our throw the stone continues upward until the force of gravity becomes stronger. The stone then begins to fall back to earth. This is similar to our spiritual ascent. When we engage in our ascetical works we are applying a force that brings us closer to God. Jesus told us the path is not an easy one and that we must "strive". He said, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate." He is reminding us that we need to work on ourselves to enter His kingdom. We must make an effort. This effort makes up the rungs of the Ladder Saint John describes for us in his book. Like the stone thrown in the air, we can climb this ladder a ways, but, if we fail to continue to make effort to improve ourselves, we too will fall back like the stone. The final steps on the ladder are also the most difficult. Often we forget that ascetic labor is necessary. Ascetic efforts are not intended just for monastics, they are necessary for all of us.

In the Gospel lesson for last Sunday we heard Jesus telling us: "He that would come after Me, let him take up the cross, deny himself, and follow Me." Christ suffered through His crucifixion, but the reward was His victory over death in His Resurrection. We too must be crucified for our own resurrection and salvation. Jesus Christ opened the door for us and showed us the way. We must follow. Our ascetic efforts are part of our bearing that cross. We need to continually force ourselves to move up this Ladder or else we will pulled back by opposing forces and be consumed by earthly desires.

We are nearing the end of the Great Fast. Keep the fast. As we approach the Passion of Christ we experience during Holy Week, as we feel our own crucifixion along with Christ's on Holy Thursday evening, we will then feel the Resurrection on that glorious day of Pascha.

Saint John describes for us the nature of our spiritual ascent. This is an ascent that all Christians must make.

Reference 

Spiritual Warfare I

Our spiritual life is one where we continually struggle against our "self-opinon and proud mindedness." It is a struggle aimed at breaking our will so we can dedicate ourselves to God and live in a manner where we only do His will.  We have to shift from a worldly orientation to one that is oriented towards God's kingdom.  It is a shift from a world filled with temptation and evil to one that is oriented only to doing good.  The task is to tame the intellect and free it so it can be directed by divine grace.  It is an inner struggle involving our outer actions.  It's a battle of grand proportions called spiritual warfare.


Saint Theophan tells us that the attacks we must deal with are soul-related and bodily powers.
1. In the body: the source of passions is pleasing the flesh...There is sexual lust, gluttony, love of pleasure, sloth, comfort, adulterous feelings, loquacity, absent -mindedness, restlessness, will fulness in everything, unseemly laughter, idle talk, sleepiness, daydreaming, craving the pleasant and all manner of pleasing the flesh in lust.
2. In soul: a) In the mental part––opinion, exclusive belief in one's own intellect, criticism, attacking the mind of God, doubts, puffing up and arrogance, curiosity, mental plundering, straying thoughts. 
b) In the sensual part––passions that shatter peace and tranquility of heart, or various kinds of pleasantness and unpleasantness: wrath, envy, hatred, anger revenge, judgment, contempt, vain glory, ambition, pride, boredom, sadness, sorrow, depression, joy, cheerfulness, fears, hopes, expectation.


How do we get at the root of these?  This is our challenge.  Saint Theophan says that the source of all these passions is self love. At their root, he says, are pleasure, covetousness and pride.  The way to conquer them is to "cut off pleasure by self-directed wrath, covetousness with unacquisitiveness, and pride with humility."


The main challenge is to maintain an awareness of the attacks so we can counteract them. The main enemy is our thoughts. Our actions are always preceded by a thought.  This is the battle ground.  The pattern of our actions is "the onrush of thoughts, contemplation, delight in it, desire, passion, attraction, resolve, and then the deed."  Therefore Saint Theophan says, "all the ascetic's attention should be directed inside himself––at thoughts, desires, passions and attractions.  It should be most of all, incidentally, be directed at thoughts, for the heart and the will are not so mercurial as thoughts; and passions and desires rarely attack themselves––they are most often born of thoughts.  From this we can make a rule: cut off thoughts and you will cut off everything."


The battle ground has been identified and next we will deal with Saint Theophan's rules for this spiritual warfare.


ref: Path To Salvation, pp 280 - 289

The Omnipotent Prayer

The Jesus prayer is one of the most important ascetic practices of the Orthodox world. For a believer who is desirous of coming closer to God, adopting this practice can be most beneficial. It helps develop concentration, heightens repentance, provides aid in times of stress or anger, and keeps you in touch with God at all times. It is simple and powerful. Here is a short article by Elder Joseph.


THE OMNIPOTENT PRAYER:
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me ...
By Elder Joseph, the quieter and Spilaiotou (1897-1959)

Always try to make sure that the prayer of Jesus Christ is included in your daily cycle, your work, your every breath and your every sense. Oh, then how will your heart rejoice! How delighted you will be because your mind will rise towards the heavens. Wherefore do not forget to always say: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.

When you chant you will understand the chants; you will have the desire and you will likely have the voice and humility to give back, accordingly, the words of God. Therefore do not do injustice to your soul anymore, but say inwardly the prayer, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me...

When you work, do not let all your thoughts and strength be absorbed in your work, but say the prayer in a whisper. Then your works will be correct, error-free, your thoughts will be clean, and your work performance will be greater. Go ahead, then, say the prayer of Jesus Christ, so your works will be blessed, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.

The Holy Spirit protects the soul that prays. It enters the depths of the soul, has control over the inner world of the soul and it directs it towards God's Holy Will. Only then the soul has the power to say, along with the Prophet: Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! (Ps. 103, 1). Go ahead and pray: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, so you will have the protection of the Holy Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit protects your soul, you feel fulfilled and humble. You are not affected by injustice, irony or praise. You live in a spiritual atmosphere, which the virus of sin cannot penetrate. Only the Holy Spirit can judge our souls, no else has that right. The Holy Spirit gives us new eyes and new reasoning. Say the prayer frequently so you can live comfortably in any environment; Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.

More on Jesus Prayer

Grumbling

Have you noticed how often we find ourselves grumbling about this or that?  It seems that it is our nature to complain about something.


Archimandrite Seraphim Aleksiev writes,

Grumbling is like the autumn hoarfrost which, when it falls, destroys all the labors of the gardener.  Few people realize how bad grumbling is for the soul.  Almost everyone considers it to a small sin, but even though it seems so, it has very grievous consequences.  In the autumn before the hoarfrost falls, the experienced gardeners notice the signs of the coming cold weather and urge their young helpers to gather the peppers and the tomatoes.  the young ones laugh: "Why should we gather them? the weather is still so nice!"  Then the next morning they see th first frost has come over the gardens.  they pick up a pepper and take a bite to taste it, but it is as bitter as poison and cannot be eaten.  Thus their small carelessness has destroyed all their labors.  In the same way grumbling withers all the virtues of the soul and makes bitter and useless the fruits of suffering.

Why is this so dangerous?  God gives us difficulties and problems to help us come closer to Him.  This is His only aim.  He wants us to be united with Him. But when something is not just how we like it, we grumble instead of giving thanks to God.  You see, we turn away from Him rather than towards Him to seek strength and direction.  This is the danger of all our grumbles. When we grumble we have separated ourselves from God.  When we grumble we are not pleasant to others.  As Alekiev says, "grumbling withers all the virtues of the soul."

Not grumbling, but patience in suffering––this is what God wants from us.  "In your patience possess ye your souls" (Luke 21:19), the Savior has instructed us, because "we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).  Into this Kingdom of God one cannot enter with pride which teaches us to grumble, but with humility which makes us patient.  There are no greater teachers of patience that sorrows.  This is precisely why God sends us suffering: so that we will humble ourselves before Him.  No one has been saved by pride, because "God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5). The doors of the  Kingdom of Heaven are too low and narrow for the proud to enter through them; only those humbled by the sufferings of life can go through them freely.

I cant tell you how often my wife and I will find ourselves in the car on the way to church grumbling about so many little things.  When we are lucky, one of us catches our plight and says, "Let's thank God."  This always awakens us to our sorrowful state.


A good exercise is to examine your grumbles––just for one day.  Look at what it is you grumble about and reflect on why God set this discomfort in front of you.  See if you can find a way to give thanks to God for all He sends you. How can you draw strength from your relationship with Him. I think you will find this to be  a rewarding exercise.


Remember, God did not promises us that we would not have difficulties.  But He did promise that He would give us help and comfort.

“In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Ref: The Meaning of Suffering and Strife & Reconciliation, p 35, 39


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