Light of Truth

In the first chapter of Genesis after creating heaven and earth God creates light to overcome darkness. This was before the sun or any of the stars, so what is this light and what is its significance for us today?

Saint Paul gives us the answer in his Second Letter to the Corinthians 4:6-15

"Brethren, it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," (Gen 1:3) who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

Paul is referring to the uncreated light we first see in the Creation story. He shows us that this is a mystical light that also shines in our hearts to enlighten us about the truth of Christ. It is a light of knowledge, the greatest knowledge of all.  It is the light that illumines those who have given us the Scripture and the writings of the Prophets and Church Fathers. It is the light that overcomes darkness or our ignorance of the Creator.

St Basil the Great says, "It made darkness vanish, dispelled gloom, illuminated the world, and gave to all beings at the same a time sweet and gracious aspect." Saint John the Evangelist says, "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God... He was the true Light, which enlightened everyone coming into the world." (Jn 1:1; 1:9)
St. John Chrysostom adds, "...this visible light, produced by the command of the Lord, removed the darkness from our vision, in like manner the light coming to our minds dissipated the darkness of error, and led those in error to the truth."

Paul continues,

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us.  We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So death is at work in us, but life in you."Since we have the same spirit of faith as he had who wrote, "I believed, and so I spoke," we too believed, and so we speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into His presence.  For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God."

This light of Truth we receive in our Baptism and is nurtured through the sacrament of Holy Communion must be treasured as Paul says. We must remember to Glorify God for all we receive from Him. Through this inner light it is Christ who lives in us so we can live in Him. God has created all we know and inherent in this creation is His "light". 

Through the Orthodox way of life we are purified, prepared, so that we can know this "Light" which gives us the full truth and a faith that is unshakable.

Saint Paul says,  "Let us walk becomingly as the light of day suggests." (Rom 13:13)  
Let us not engage in actions that are proper to the dark or ignorance.

What Strengthens Faith

Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Church gives us nine points to strengthen our faith.

1. Confidence in God's qualities:
Pope Shenouda suggests that we "put in our heart that God is a doer of benevolence." He quotes St. Paul, "All things work together for good to those who love God." (Rom 8:28) We should view God as a living Father who treats all his children with tenderness and gives them good gifts. We must have confidence in God's ability to do anything. Remember that He "loves and wants benevolences for you." Abraham had such faith when he took his Son Isaac to be sacrificed. He had confidence that God was able to raise him from the dead so he did not fear for his son. God is "A father of many nations in the presence of Him whom he believed--God who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did." (Rom 4:17) We can also have confidence in His judgement and that His planning is for our good even though we may not understand it.

2. Confidence in the sincerity of God's timing:
He points out that God promised Abram (Abraham) that He would give him descendants which He did after along time. He also promised His people freedom from captivity and did free them from the Egyptians. He promised He would send the Holy Spirit to all people (Joel 2:28) and he did on the day of Pentecost. The Bible shows us many such stores of his promises and their fulfillment according to His timing.

3. Look unto God and not unto the surrounding circumstances:
Recall the story of David and Goliath. If David had looked at the mighty Goliath he might have been afraid, but through faith he instead looked to God knowing He would guide his hand. (1Sam 17) No matter the circumstances we ind ourselves, we must look to our faith and let it permeate our heart knowing that the loving God is able to do anything. We can't be controlled by the power of our enemies or circumstances but in faith seek help from God who will rescue us from them.

4. The Stories of faith and companionship with men of faith:
Read the stories in the Bible and the saints about those who lived with faith and try to absorb faith from them. Pope Shenouda says, "Whenever a person reads stories about faith, about the confidence in God and miracles happened with His Saints, his heart will be filled with faith and he will come to love this life full of faith."

5. Humility of Heart and mind:
We need humility to accept "what comes from God with satisfaction." We must admit that our minds are limited. We must be able to say before God: "Your wishes O Lord are above my understanding and Your works are above my knowledge. Who am I in front of You? All my knowledge is ignorance in front of You." We should remember what Luke recorded and ask for the faith of children and not rely on that of philosophers or other . (Luke 10:21)

6. The Experience with God
When we surrender to God we can "live with Him and test Him, try to rely on Him, and at that time you will see His miracles working in you." Associate with Him so that you know who He is as David the prophet said, "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good." (Ps 34:8)

7. See God in all things:
Some say when they learn that man can destroy the atom and use nuclear energy, "How great is the human mind." But one who believes in God will say, "Glory to you God the creator of this human mind and all the possibilities You have revealed about the power you have put into nature. Or when a sick person is cured, do not not simply give praise to the doctor, but give thanks to God for the ability of this person to heal. Search for God's work in all aspects of your daily life. When you see a beautiful flower do not simply describe or examine it like a botanist, but praise the Lord for the beauty He has created. The Prophet David tells us, "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork." (Ps 19:1)  Admire the moon and the stars in the sky and remember God who created all we know. "Do not separate God's creations from Him."

8. Take the Lord as your friend:
When you "accept His friendship and love, you will enter the real faith... you will look forward to seeing Him as a friend to tell Him your secrets, and enjoy His companionship and love...you will take care as a friend not to hurt His feelings or make Him angry.

9. Prayer for the sake of Faith:

Pray for you faith that it may grow and increase. 

Tell Him: Give me O Lord, that I believe in You with full faith. Give me that I love and have confidence in You in everything, and to believe that You do me benevolences even if the world was dark in front of me. Let me feel that my mind is much smaller to understand Your wisdom and judgment. I know that You are a doer of benevolences, that You are loving, that You see everything and that You are capable of doing everything, and in spite of that my faith often weakens... so help my weak faith.

Reference: Life in Faith, pp 109-122

Information of the Coptic Church and its relationship to the Orthodox Church

What is the faith that will bring us salvation?

What is the faith that will bring us salvation? Is it enough to believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

St John Chrysostom writes

He that believes in the Son has everlasting life." Is it enough, then, to believe in the Son,' someone will say, 'in order to have everlasting life?' By no means! Listen to Christ declare this himself when he says, 'Not everyone who says to me, "Lord! Lord!" shall enter into the kingdom of heaven'; and the blasphemy against the Spirit is alone sufficient to cast him into hell. But why should I speak of a part of our teaching? For if a man believe rightly in the Father and in the Son and in the Holy Spirit, but does not live rightly, his faith will avail him nothing toward salvation (Homilies on the Gospel of John 31:1[circa A.D. 391]).

Jesus himself tells us that mere belief is not sufficient. The Lord Himself said, 

“Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 7:21). The Lord continues “Many will say to Me in that day, `Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'  (Matt.7:22-23).

Faith is not simply a belief but also a life. You can test it by its fruits in your life... as the Lord said

 “You will know them by their fruits….every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matt. 7:16-20).

John the evangelist teaches us

 “Now by this we know that we know Him” how? “If we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him ” (1 John 2:3-4). 

Faith is tested through a life of obedience to God's commandments, and he who does not have this obedience is not considered a believer of Truth, and can not claim to know God.

Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Church writes in his beautiful book, Life of Faith,

The intellect may guide you to the beginning of the way but faith continues with you on the way to the end. Faith does not contradict the intellect, but leads it to a higher level the mind alone cannot reach.... The mind can bring you to know God and some of His qualities but of faith, “God has revealed… to us through His Spirit.” (1 Cor. 2:10). God shows Himself to the believer to what they can bear to comprehend.

Faith is something that is always underdevelopment and constantly being tested.  We should never assume we have sufficient faith. It demands the perfect love of God and others. Its limits are discovered in our tendencies for sinfulness and our fears. The best work of the devil is to convince someone that they are saved but their declaration of faith.  This is only a starting point along the path to salvation.  Only God grants us the grace of salvation.

Reference: Life of Faith, Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Church

The Two-fold Significance of a Clock

The Two-fold Significance of a Clock

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Every device of which man boasts as an invention of his mind is revealed by Divine Providence and every invented device has its two-fold significance one physical, the other spiritual. Even the clock is a wonderful device but it was not invented merely to tell us the time of day and night but also to remind us of death. This is its spiritual significance. When the small hand completes its rounds of seconds and minutes then the large hand arrives at the ordered hour and the clock strikes. So will the clock of our life strike when the days, months and years of our life are numbered. That is why St. Tikhon of Zadonsk counsels every Christian to reflect:

1. How the time of our life continually passes;

2. How it is impossible to bring back time that is past;

3. How the past and future times are not in our control but only that time in which we are now living;

4. How the end of our life is unknown;

5. How we must be prepared for death every day, every hour and every minute;

6. How because of that we must always be in the state of continual repentance;

7. How we must be repentant in every hour and spiritually disposed as we would wish to be at the hour of our death.

Eschatology/Death Christian Living

From MYSTAGOGY 

July 2, 2010 8:24 AM
by John Sanidopoulos

 

Do We Spoil Our Children?

This is a common concern among parents. We wonder, "Will our children grow up to become self sufficient, able to deal with the tribulations of life, provide for themselves in a fast changing world, and maintain their Orthodox faith?" Children need to be nurtured, but as they grow older they also need to have limits set for them, learn to participate in family routines and be obedient to their parents directions.  We as parents are faced with the dilemma of balancing their immediate needs for gratification and the larger life lessons that they need to learn.

Dr. Mark Bertin tells us that current research shows that children benefit from strategies that build self-control and emotional resilience. these strategies involve saying-no, setting limits and not trying to satisfy them with stuff.

This is congruent with sound Orthodox teachings.  To know God we must overcome our passions.  We need a high degree of self-control to become united with God so we are obedient to do His will, living out the virtues that lead us to eternal life in His kingdom.  This can be taught at an early age.

Saint John Chrysostom tells us,

 Children who are submissive and faithful to God in their obedience to His law will have found an abundant source of happiness, even in this temporal life.... The youth to whom you give a good upbringing will not only enjoy general respect, he will also become dearer to you yourselves! Your attachment to him will not be a mere natural attraction—it will be the fruit of his virtue. For this, during your old age, you will in turn receive from him the services of his filial love. He will be your support.... Therefore I beg you to take care for the good upbringing of your children. First of all think of the salvation of their souls. God has placed you as the heads and teachers over your families. It is your duty to watch, and to watch continually after the behavior of your wife and children…

The Apostle Paul tells us, "You fathers... bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:4).

It is most critical to make sure we raise our children in a way that they learn to respect their parents and love God. The main element for this is the loving environment of the family home. We as parents must be examples for our children. We must not only teach what Christ has shown us, but we must practice it. This love does not mean we accept bad behavior, but that we teach and practice the idea of repentance.  We must teach them to acknowledge their mistakes, and learn the power of forgiveness. Sometimes our punishments, especially when we respond out of anger, only cause a child to suppress their mistakes to avoid future punishment rather than seeking help and asking for forgiveness.  Repentance is the nature of a loving relationship.

Prayer is also an essential element in a Orthodox Christian life. This too we must practice and teach. We should have our children pray with us. A child who is brought up in a family atmosphere where daily prayer is practiced, will naturally be drawn to a pattern of daily prayer. Prayer should and can be just a normal part of our family life. It does not have to be a moment of upheaval to the family routine but instead the routine of daily family life itself. In addition to our daily prayer routine we also need to have a regular practice of participating in the worship services and partaking of the sacraments.  When our children prepare to take communion the parents should also be prepared to take communion with them. As a Deacon who administers Holy Communion, it always breaks my heart to see parents bring their children for communion and then turn away without receiving it themselves. This is not the right example to set. Worse yet are those who drop their children off for Sunday school and then come to church as it is ending. We must be ever conscious of what example we are setting. Only a sincere practice of faith will educate our children properly.

Obedience is another essential discipline our children must learn.  To live the life of Christ we must become obedient to His teaching out of our love for Him.  This begins with learning obedience to our parents. Children are very clever at finding tricks to get their own selfish way. These tricks do not lead them to true love and obedience that is necessary for a Christian life.  We need to expose them and teach them to respect and obey their parents who love them. Depending on age and maturity we move from "do as you are told" to a natural action that comes out of love for another person.

We can easily over do our attention to our children as well.  Elder Paisios gives us a thoughtful warning about the harm that comes from this.  He says,

Many parents bring their children spiritual harm by demonstrating their love for them in an inappropriate manner. For example, out of an excessive human love for her child, a mother may hug and kiss him, and say to him, “ O what a wonderful child you are,” or “You are the best little boy in the world, ”etc. As a result, from a very early age(while he is still unable to comprehend or object to the meaning of those words), the little one acquires a high opinion of himself, thinking of himself as the best of brightest. Naturally, for the same reason, he will not sense a need for God’s grace, and will not know to ask God for help. Thus from early childhood, the child will have a high opinion of himself that is rock-solid, one that he will never be able to overcome and will take with him to the grave. Moreover, the first to suffer from this haughtiness are the parents themselves. Really, will children quietly sit and listen to parental instructions when they are certain that they are the best, that they know everything? For this reason, parents should be very attentive to their children’s spiritual development; they bear responsibility not only for themselves, but for their children as well.

Orthodox parenting begins with a understanding that we are responsible for developing souls. Our task is to raise saints that God will embrace with great joy. To do this the parents also need to be like saints.

Elder Porphyrios says,

The parents need to devote themselves to the love of God.  They need to become saints in their relations to their children through their mildness, patience, and love.  They need to make a new start every day, with a fresh outlook, renewed enthusiasm and love for their children.  And the joy that will come to them, the holiness that will visit them, will shower grace on their children.  Generally the parents are to blame for the bad behavior of the children.  And their behaviour is not improved by reprimands, disciplining, or strictness.  If the parents do not pursue a life of holiness and if they don’t engage in spiritual struggle, they make great mistakes and transmit the faults they have within them.  If the parents do not live a holy life and do not display love towards each other, the devil torments the parents with the reactions of the children.  Love, harmony and understanding between parents are what are required for the children.  This provides a great sense of security and certainty.”

Examine your family life and evaluate how well you are practicing the Orthodox Way of Life, keeping in mind you are nurturing not just your own soul but also your child's.

Reference: Wounded by Love: The Life and Wisdom of Elder Porphyrios, trans. by John Raffan (Limni, Evia, GRE: Denise Harvey, Publisher, 2005), 196.

On Jesus Prayer

By St. John Chrysostom

The remembrance of the name of Jesus rouses the enemy to battle. For a soul that forces itself to pray the Prayer of Jesus can find anything by this prayer, both good and evil. First it can see evil in the recesses of its own heart, and afterwards good. This prayer can stir the snake to action, and this prayer can lay it low. This prayer can expose the sin that is living in us, and this prayer can eradicate it. This prayer can stir up in the heart all the power of the enemy, and this prayer can conquer it and gradually root it out. The name of the Lord Jesus Christ, as it descends into the depths of the heart, will subdue the snake which controls its ranges, and will save and quicken the soul. Continue constantly in the name of the Lord Jesus that the heart may swallow the Lord and the Lord the heart, and that these two may be one. However, this is not accomplished in a single day, nor in two days, but requires many years and much time. Much time and labor are needed in order to expel the enemy and instate Christ.

 Letter to Monks (PG 60, p. 753).

I  saw this on the Blog Milk and Honey and thought it was a good thought for this blog as well.

“As I find you, so will I judge you”

 St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom commented on the following saying of our Lord, “As I find you, so will I judge you,” (Ezekiel 33:20) saying that forgetting to practice the smallest of the Commandments of our Lord is all that is sufficient to send one to Gehenna and exclude us from the kingdom of heaven.

Think about this for a moment. How many of us are ignoring the reality of our sinfulness?  How many blame others for our shortcomings? How much time to spend complaining about what others do?  Do we spend the same amount of time thinking about our own actions?


Saint Basil of Poiana Marului says the following,

Yes, we sin every day, at times unconsciously or out of forgetfulness, without intending to or involuntarily, or because of weakness we sin every day willingly and unwillingly. Because of our human nature and weakness we sin every day willingly and unwillingly. Is this not what the apostle Paul refers to when he says, “I do what I do not want and what I do not want is what I do” (Romans 7:15)? All of us commit excusable sins without asking to be excused. Or rather, we fall into sins that can be forgiven and yet we feel no contrition and thus become guilty of God's judgment and bring God's wrath upon ourselves. In the words of an ancient saying, “we have made a habit of sitting with her own free will”–– that is, we are consciously aware of committing sins and have developed the habit of sitting with our own free will.

The recognition of the reality of our sinfulness, the fact that we do sin many times each and every day, is the starting point for our salvation. It is important for us to recognize that we must continually ask the Lord for forgiveness as well as those whom we transgress. Saaint Basil tells us that “we should ask forgiveness of our fellow man face-to-face and beg forgiveness of God with the intellect and secret.” 


We all have particular passions that we have grown up with, that have given us great pleasures, that we have continued to nurture and develop habitually. This passion will be different for each individual. For one person it may be an insatiable appetite for food, for another love of money, anger, self-esteem, arrogance or others. All of these increase over time through habit. St. Hesychios reminds us what the great lawgiver Moses teaches when he says,  “Pay attention to yourself so that you have no secret thoughts in your heart” (Deuteronomy 15:9). Needless to say, it is imperative that we learn to closely examine ourselves each and every day. It is a matter of recognizing that we have weaknesses and that we need to pray to God continually with a broken heart and the contrite spirit. We must avoid accusing others but instead forgive others as this is what is pleasing to God. With our forgiveness of others and our recognition of our own weaknesses God will forgive us through his great mercy.


Our challenge in the spiritual life is to live the Commandments that Christ has given to us; all of them all of the time. We need to work at this with the best of our ability, recognizing that we are not fully capable of doing this. Because of this imperfect condition, we need to always be repentant and seeking forgiveness from others and our Lord.


This is an issue of obedience. We must learn to become obedient to God's commandments not to our own self-gratification. Saint Basil points out that in these times there is a widespread practice of being obedient for human reasons. This is where we use our obedience to get a promotion or earn a favor of any kind. This is how we learn to survive in the modern workplace.  We become obedient to the organizations rules and norms and learn to do what we are asked for the benefit of those who are paying us. We know about obedience and have the ability for it. Our challenge is to transfer this skill we have learned to use for our own benefit, to follow God's commandments in the same way. 


Saint Basil points out,  

“one who forces himself in obedience for Christ  alone and submits themselves to his precepts will find relief from his passions. The one who forces himself for the things of the world hoping to obtain prestige and riches along with physical pleasures is unaware of his burden. This is why the fathers rightly say that there is obedience for God's sake and obedience for the devil's sake.... As for us, let us force ourselves to demonstrate the power of obedience for the sake of God."

He also shows us that the most powerful way to deal with this weakness is the practice of what we know as the Jesus Prayer.  He says, if we turn to God saying with our mind, 

"'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner,' beyond all doubt this will obtain forgiveness of sins for him, and with this prayer also he will fulfill his entire rule, following the example of that widow of the Gospel who used to cry out to the judge day and night claiming her do (Luke 18:1–8 ). 

The Jesus Prayer had its beginnings in the days of the apostles. It has been practiced  by the Saints since that time. Many of them  have written much about this practice. It is a common practice within the Orthodox Tradition.


The practice of the Jesus prayer, does not come without effort. We have to commit  ourselves to a daily prayer rule were we repeat this prayer over and over and over each and every day.  By doing this this, prayer becomes ingrained, etched, programed in our physical brain, so that when it's needed, it is instantly available to us. Living a life with this prayer at the tip of our tongue is the easiest way to constantly be reconciled to our God.


The first step that we must make is to recognize of our nature. We must acknowledge that we are continually, both willfully and unknowably, using our free will to act against the Commandments of our Lord. We also must recognize that our Lord is most merciful and wants to give us help. The only way that we will receive this help is through a life of continual repentance. He has given to us the Jesus Prayer as a powerful way for us to learn to practice obedience to his commands.


More on the Jesus Prayer


Reference: Elder Basil of Poiana Marului: Spiritual Father of Saint Paisy Velichkovsky, pp 109 - 123