Saturday, March 18, 2023

Guarding the Heart - Watchfulness


To live a God seeking life in this world filled with distractions and temptations we must learn to be watchful always, guarding our heart from all evil thoughts. We are constantly being bombarded by thoughts triggered by our senses. These can tempt us into sinful acts. Our spiritual challenge is to engage in a struggle to eradicate all negative thoughts. We can learn to discipline our mind to become quiet enough so we can reject them when they occur. Jesus tells us to watch and pray (Mat 26:41). Both are essential. We must have a desire to live a Christ like life based on a loving faith so we are motivated to pay attention to our thoughts, desiring to reject those that can lead to sinful action. 

The Jesus prayer is an important discipline than can help us. This is a short prayer that seeks God’s mercy and forgiveness as well as bringing a quietness to the mind. Like any physical exercise program, it is practiced with repetition for periods of time each day until it becomes a prayer that is constantly being repeated in our mind. If we take no remedial action the brain will continue to trigger unending thoughts in response to inputs from our senses. We can easily become like a car without a steering wheel and brakes headed down a winding road at seventy miles an hour.

In addition to an inner effort to control our thoughts though attention and prayer we can become more critical about which life experiences we choose to participate in. This approach controls the kind and amount of stimulation we encounter. This includes entertainment of all forms, friends we associate with, social media we use, and other activities. A quiet spiritual life leads to a quieter mind focused on what God wills for us. Our current world is saturated with pleasure seeking activities. We are also constantly bombarded by advertising all cleverly crafted to stimulate our passions and lead us to engage in more and more of these activities. We should also be careful about idle time and daydreaming.


This spiritual task is to become more aware of our internal state and change our main focus on external events we call our daily life, to what is happening within our soul. In this way we can begin to control our thoughts and make room for an ongoing dialog with God. This will reduce the busyness and stress experienced in daily living.


We must take charge and not let our senses control our activities. We can’t be passive and let all the stimulation of worldly life fill our mind with temptations. We must learn to carryout our responsibilities without the normal bustle and fretfulness. We must become mindful, watchful. For example, we cannot allow any thoughts enter that lead us to anger and resentment. We must develop an internal attentiveness with spiritual vigilance and mindfulness. All this requires a serious effort to guard what impacts the heart of our soul.


The Orthodox way of life involving prayer, fasting, worship and participation in the sacraments will help you. Consult your spiritual father for specific suggestions related to your spiritual condition.


Reference: The Struggle for Virtue, chapter 7, Archbishop Averky

Ten Points for an Orthodox Life

Orthodox Prayer - the Jesus Prayer

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