Gospel Love

The foundation of a Christian life is Love. This is a deep non-emotional love based on the love Jesus Christ has for us. Our aim is to become like Him, fulfilling the nature of our creation, made in God’s image and likeness. This is a life seeking unity with His Grace, the Holy Spirit, God Himself. This kind of love Archbishop Averky calls Gospel love. 

Gospel love is based on what is revealed to us in Scripture, a love based on sacrifice for others. Scripture says, 

“God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in Him.”  (1 John 4:16).

We develop this kind of love observing how God showed His love for us. When the time was right God chose to bring forth His Only Begotten Son,  giving Him flesh to bring a new commandment based on love. He told His Apostles: 

“A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, as I have loved you. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13: 34-25).

Love is the essential message of the Gospels. It is why God created the world. It is the creative force in all life, the underlying principle of all God created. It is this same love He desires for us, to be perfected in Love united with Him.

Think about the love demonstrated when Jesus was obedient to death, voluntarily giving up His life on the Cross. This He did for us, to free us from our sinful fallen nature. It was this sacrificial love that inspired the Apostles and early Christian’s to endure persecution, torture and even death. Their Love of Him brought thousands to believe in Him. It is this Love that enables all that is beautiful, a loving family life. All this comes from, God’s love.

We received a clear commandment from Christ about love. When a lawyer of the Old Testament approached Him asking, “What is the greatest commandment of the Law,” He answered, 

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it:“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets (Matt 22:37–40).

This is frequently referred to as the “Short Gospel.” He then let them know He was God. It is only with faith in the Gospel, in Jesus as the Son of God, that we can have true Christian, selfless, unconditional love. Ours is a faith based on Love.

And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment (1 John 3:23). 

This faith cannot be a passive or an intellectual one. It must be a loving living faith. One based on loving action. Saint James tells us, 

If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world (Jas 1:26–27). 

And this commandment have we from Him: That he who loves God must love his brother also (1 John 4:21).

To gain this love in our life we must believe in His Incarnation as the Son of God, fully human and divine. We must further understand the love demonstrated in the sacrifice He made when His gave up His life on the Cross.

Understanding this Love we will be able to commit ourselves to the effort required to be worthy of His grace. It is only through His grace working in our heart, our conscience, that we will gain the same selfless love of Him and others.

The Evangelist John tells us, 

We perceive the love of God “because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). 

When we have this understanding then we will be able to act like Him. “If you love me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

Developing Gospel love begins with faith through which we gain God’s grace, enabling us to act with the same love He had for us. But, this is not the easy path. It is a narrow one that involves struggle. The easy path, following our own pleasure seeking desires, leads to eternal grief and torment, while the narrow path, making sacrifices to benefit others, leads us to a union with Him in Paradise. The main motive we should have in all our actions is this love. We are to seek no benefit, no recognition. The only motive for true Christian morality is selfless love. It is as Saint John tells us, 

We love Him because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19). And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world (1 John 2:2). 

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:10–11). 

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen (1 John 4:20)?

To become like Him we need to learn His commandments. We must study the Gospel. We must develop the necessary discipline and struggle to live as He taught. Above all we need to seek the Holy Spirit. It is only with God’s help that we will be able to do this. 

This requires a life of prayer and fasting, worship and participation in the Holy Sacraments. He gave us everything we need in His Church. This is what we call the Orthodox way of life.

Reference: The Struggle For Virtue, Archbishop Averky, Chapter 7

Ten Points For Living an Orthodox Life

When Attacked, Respond with Love and Humility

Psalm 37 (38) verses 14 & 15 say in response to slander and personal attacks described in previous verses:

But I like a deaf man do not hear, And I am like a mute who does not open his mouth. I am like a man who does not hear, And who has no reproofs in his mouth

David demonstrates this in the story of Shimei (2 Samuel 16:5-13). It is about an man who cursed and threw stones at David, but David did not respond or retaliate. Instead he accused himself of being worthy of such reproof. He responded in this way even though he had soldiers with him who could have killed Shimei who was from an enemy camp. 
Reflecting on this story we are reminded how we too are called to act in this way. But we realize how difficult it is to act similarly when we are attacked in anyway. 
The commentary of St. Ambrose on this Psalm reminds us of how Christ similarly responded as He was being falsely accused by Pilot.  As Elder Aimilianos says, “To be sure, it is no small thing to be patient, to act as if nothing were happening, when others are slandering you”. 

David shows how when we trust in God, we can recognize our own sinfulness when attacked by others and respond only with love. With love we will be like one who does not hear and is like a mute with no reproofs in his mouth.

From Saint Porphyrios says:

When someone injures us in whatever way, whether with slanders or with insults, we should think of him as our brother who has been taken hold of by the enemy. He has fallen victim to the enemy. Accordingly we need to have compassion for him and entreat God to have mercy both on us and on him, and God will help both. If, however, we are filled with anger against him, then the enemy will jump from him to us and make a mockery of us both. A person who condemns others does not love Christ. Our egotism is at fault. This is where condemnation of others stems from. (Wounded by Love, p 18)

What is Fear of God?

Saint Theophan says,

In moral and religious life, the fear of God moves and urges one to carry out the will of God...

Saint Athanassios says,

Make me firm in Thy words, unfailingly protecting me by Thy fear; let Thy fear be upon me, keeping me in fear and letting me not go astray from Thy words.

But I thought God was about love. If He loves me and I love Him what is there to fear? I have always had an aversion to the call the deacon makes at the time of offering Holy Communion to the faithful: “With the fear of God, faith and love draw near.”  Initially I wanted to substitute the word awe for the word fear. What I have since learned is that there is more than one way to think of fear.

Saint Theophan says,

Fear of God is a distinctive feature and a true sign of whether one stands on the true path. If you have it you are in good condition; if not, in bad condition, even if in your behavior no bad deeds are apparent.

Hmm, what is the meaning of fear as it is being used by our saints, elders and in our liturgies? Blessed Anthimos gives us an explanation. He says there are two types of fear. For the first he uses the example of a slave who does not love his master, or even care about his aim, but yet out of fear of being punished he does not violate what he wills for him to do to carry out his aim. This is action done out of fear of punishment if the action is not done. In spiritual life this may be where a beginner is, one who has not perfected his love of God and fears that if he does not follow his commandments he may be punished with difficulties in this life as well as the one to come. He sees God as a heartless task master.

To describe the second kind of fear he uses the example of a friend.  When you have a close friend you love dearly and feel reciprocal love, there is a fear that you might lose this loving relationship, that you will lose their love. This is a perfect kind of fear that can be found in our spiritual life. Those who fear God in this way see God as a loving friend, one you love deeply and you know that He loves you even more. Your fear is that you will lose His love. So you try very hard to do what He expects from you. 

Saint Augustine says, 

God establishes His word in those to whom He gives the spirit of His fear—not the spirit of bondage again to fear (Rom 8:15), which is driven away by perfect love, but the spirit of that fear of which one fears to offend the loved one.

To often we are guided by the fear of the slave, not having yet the perfected love of God. There is a progression, Saint Theophan points out. Our fear in relation to God is “at first that of a slave, then that of a hireling, and then that of a son.” The fear of the slave is OK in the beginning, but we do not want to stay in this view. We should strive to move to a higher level until we reach the feelings of a loving son of his father. 

When we listen to sermons from mainly Protestant denominations we frequently hear a message geared to the slave. We are portrayed as slaves of God and must act against our will to do His will to avoid God's fierce punishment. We must have compassion on these people and pray that they will eventually move to a higher level where a more loving relationship is fully developed with God. This progression is important because when we have the motivation to do His will out of love, the second kind of fear will give us greater zeal for God. Motivation that comes out of love is always stronger that the motivation to avoid punishment.

Saint Theophan says,

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom... As true wisdom begins with fear of God, and there is no spiritual wisdom without such fear, so should fear not be without wisdom. Holy fear is like a base for the word (wisdom).

Prophet David writes: 

Establish for Thy servant Thine oracle unto fear of Thee. (Psalm 118:38)

Saint Theophan comments on this,

The Prophet is asking God to teach him to incline his heart to do everything to please Him alone, to do good not just out of a sense of duty, not just because of the demand of moral dignity of a rational being, but especially because that is what the will of God, Holy and pleasing, requires, because God wants it this way.

When you hear the deacon’s call to approach the chalice with fear, remember the second kind of fear. You are more than a slave in God’s eyes. He is calling you with love and faith as well, a love you never want to lose, a faith that is unshakable. You love Him so much you want to be with Him always and never lose the feeling of His love.

Saint Porphyrios says,

Christ is everything. He is our love. He is the object of our desire. The passionate longing for Christ is a love that cannot be taken away. 

The concept of fear (1st type) is good in the initial stages. It is for beginners... the beginner, whose sensibility has not yet been refined , is held back from evil by fear... But if we examine the matter more closely we see that it is governed by self-interest.... As we progress, the Gospel leads us to understand that Christ is joy and truth, that Christ is Paradise. Saint John the evangelist says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. The person who fear (like the slave) is not perfected in love. (Wounded by Love, pp  96, 105)

Reference: Psalm 118: A Commentary by Saint Theophan the Recluse, pp 107-109.

How to Love God with Our Whole Heart

When Jesus tells us to love God with our whole heart, what does He mean? 

Theodore the Ascetic answers in this way:

Whatever a man loves, he desires at all costs to be near continuously and uninterruptedly, and he turns himself away from everything that hinders him from being in contact and dwelling with the object of his love. It is clear therefore that he who loves God also desires always to be with Him and to converse with Him. This comes to pass in us through pure prayer. Accordingly, let us apply ourselves to prayer with all our power; for it enables us to become akin to God. Such a man was he who said: O God, my God, to You I rise early at dawn; my soul has thirsted for You (Ps 63:1). For the man who cries to God at dawn has withdrawn his intellect from every vice and clearly is wounded by divine love. (From Theodore the Ascetic, Spiritual Chapters 94, Philokalia 2:35.) 

Truly loving God is all consuming. There is nothing more important. When we love God with our whole hear we long for the time of prayer. We never miss the opportunity to attend the Divine Liturgy to be in communion with Him to partake of Holy Communion. Prayer and Liturgy are the foundation of living an Orthodox way of life. Our love of God constantly draws us to seek to be close to Him. We will without hesitation make a sound prayer rule that we eagerly fulfill each day even if we are busy our tired. We arrange our work schedule so we can participate in the Divine Liturgies being offered in our community.

In Psalm 63 (LX 62) David expresses his love by saying, My soul has thirsted for You; how often my flesh has longed for you, in a desert land, parched and impenetrable.

We can only imagine the level of thirst one must experience when in the middle of a desert where water is rare and often quite distant. This intense thirst one would experience there is just like the intensity of our desire to be in communication and in Communion with Him when we love Him with our whole heart. Our intense love is the same as the thirst one would have in a desert land, parched and impenetrable.

Ref: Psalms and the Life of Faith by Aimilianos of Simonopetra, p4

Ten Points for an Orthodox Way of Life

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.

Don't Cause Offense Over What Does not Harm You

This message is particularly important in this political season where tempers fly even over political rhetoric.

Saint Theophylact writes,

We should not take offense to anyone over things that do not harm us.

He wrote this commenting on a lesson Jesus taught His disciples when someone came to Peter and craftily asked if Jesus had paid the temple tax. (Matthew 17:24-27)

Jesus answered Peter, Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? Of their own sons, or of strangers? Peter answers, Of strangers. Jesus continues, Then indeed sons are free.

What He was saying was that as the son of God, the King, He should not have to pay the temple tax. 

But he continued saying that even though He shouldn't have to pay this tax, least He should offend them, He performs a miracle where the fish have coins in their mouth, and He tells Peter to use them and pay the tax. 

Even though He did not owe the tax He thought it more important to make allowance for their misunderstanding and to not cause any offense.

Our lesson from this event, according to Blessed Theophylact, is that we must not cause unnecessary offense when others ask us to do something that will not cause us harm, even though we may not agree with or like it. They may not even be asking us to do something but merely offering their idea or assessment of a situation. We don't have to answer in a way that will only raise tempers.

Think about all the times you have gotten angry, upsetting yourself, causing stress in yourself because of actions or words of others. How did that feel? Then think of the times when you responded and caused the same reaction in the body of someone else. How did that make them feel? Always keep in mind the well being of others. Don't be always insistent on your view or your way of doing things. Don't get upset when others do things differently than how you would do them. If you follow this advice, you will find a growing peace within and then you will find you are more able to interact in helpful ways where all grow in Christ.

We make ours and others lives stressful and difficult by insisting that everyone behave according to our expectations, our rules and resist going along with others when there is no harm to us.

Learning to love one another requires that we learn to be very careful about what we object to in what others ask of or say to us. If we are careful we can make this world one that is more peaceful with less stress. Remember how Jesus did not insist on His right not to be taxed, but chose instead to pay the tax so He would not create an issue.

Respond always with kindness and love with Christ ever in your mind.

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

Dealing with Resentment

How often does it happen that after we have a disagreement with someone and we have apologized and repented, that we still have lingering within us a seed of resentment? What happens when this is the case? The next time we run into conflict with them the old case rises again to make the current disturbance even worse. Or, when we hear someone else complain about this person, we are glad to hear this. Or, when we see something good happen to this person, we become upset to see them honored in such a way. This is all a case of rendering evil for evil.

Saint Dorotheos gives us an analogy:

A person lighting a fire first has a small piece of tinder. This represents the word of the brother who has upset him. This little fire is very feeble. What significance has the word of your bother?  If you put up with it you blow out the small fire, but if you begin to think to yourself, "Why did he say that to me? I myself can answer him. If he did not want to hurt me, he wouldn't have said that and believe me, I can upset him too." In this case, you add small pieces of wood to the fire or some other fuel like the person that lights a fire and you produce smoke which is agitation.

This hanging on to issues with lingering resentment is probably the greatest problem in all relationships, especially in marriages. We are not good at cleansing ourselves from the remnant of resentment. Even if we do repent and make amends we let hurts linger, only to have them rise up again and lead us to sin and turmoil.

How do we get rid of these remnants of resentment? Here is what Saint Dorotheos says,

By praying for the person that upset him, with his while heart, saying, "God help my brother (spouse) and through his prayers, me." Thus, he prays fervently for his brother (spouse), which is evidence of sympathy and love, and, at the same time, he humbles himself by asking for help through his brother's (spouse's) prayers. Where there is sympathy, love and humility how can anger, resentment or any other passion prevail?

This is a common teaching of the Church Fathers. Evagrius writes, "The person that prays for his enemies has no resentment."

Try it. I think you will find that it makes a difference. In dealing with sin in our lives it is through the work of God's grace that we are healed. We only need to ask for it in our prayers.

Reference: Abba Dorotheos: Practical Teaching on the Christian Life, pp 153-158

Why We Should Blame Ourselves

Saint Dorotheos give us a most difficult teaching. He says, 

"The root cause of every disturbance, if we examine it carefully, is from not blaming ourselves.... Whatever happens to us, whether it be damage, or dishonor or any other affliction, we deem ourselves worthy of it and are never troubled."

We logically respond, "if someone upsets me and I have have not done anything to justify this, how and why should I think of myself being worthy of this?"  Saint Dorotheos answers this by saying that if we search ourselves more deeply with "fear of God" we will find that there was a word, a gesture, a facial expression or a deed that triggered the seemingly unjust action in the other person. Then, if we think further still not seeing any error, we can search into the past and think about how we might have offended this person at some earlier time causing their attitude that caused them to act in a way that upset us at this time. Even digging more deeply, maybe they suffer from some other sin or had a recent encounter that upset them and is being reflected in their current action against us. Therefore, our reaction was not called for we should have been more sympathetic to their distress. Saint Dorotheos says, "Therefore, as I said, if a person searches himself in the fear of God and diligently examines his own conscience, he will certainly find that he is guilty."

The very fact that another person upsets us indicates that we have hidden in our subconsciousness a passion that is triggered by another person's action. When someone does something that upsets us it gives us cause to dig deep into our inner being to discover why we react in this way.  We know all our brothers and sisters are sinners like ourselves. Why would their action be cause to turn us to anger or being upset? If we have love for our neighbor as we are called to by Scripture, we would have compassion for the plight of our brethren.  We would not act in a way that would cause them further difficulty, but instead, try to act in a way that would lead them to overcome their sinfulness. Our caring thoughts would then be directed towards them rather than ourselves.

I think this teaching gets at the core of the meaning of "love your enemy".  When our soul is strong and our heart pure, we can withstand any affront by another person without being upset. We become able to maintain our inner calm no matter how we are attacked. Besides, what good does it do to get upset?  What is achieved in worldly terms other than create distress and turmoil? We lose our inner peace and most likely separate ourselves from God, and are now unable to respond in a godly loving manner.

Saint Dorotheso writes,

In truth, whatever we may suffer, we suffer it because of our sins. If the saints suffered, they suffered for God's name or to demonstrate their virtue for the benefit of many or to gain greater reward from God. As for us wretches, how can we say this? We sin like this daily and in seeking to satisfy our passion, we abandoned the right path, which the Fathers spoke about, that of self-accusation. Each one of us follows the wrong path, tries on every occasion to put the case against his brother and throw the burden of responsibility upon him. Each one of us is negligent and keeps nothing, but demands that our neighbor keeps the commandments.

Let's challenge ourselves to reflect on this teaching. Think about your inner peace and how important it is to retain it and how easy it is to lose it. How often we fail to think in loving terms about the condition of our neighbor. We know we are better servants of our Lord when we maintain this inner peace. Try using those instances where we are upset by others to learn something about our own sinfulness and how we can improve ourselves. This is all part of the way of repentance that brings us closer to God.

Reference: Abba Dorotheos: Practical teaching on the Christain Life, pp 143-150

How Do We Judge Others?

The problem of judging others, even in the slightest way, is that it leads us to to forget our own sinfulness and leads us into idle talk about others. This happens all the time in small social gatherings. It does not take long before someone begins to talk about someone who is not part of this social group. In this idle chit chat we forget about our own problems and project all our inner fears on others. We do this with people who we don't even know.  This may be a leader of our organization or country, or some public figure. How easy to condemn them rather than ourselves. Saint Dorotheos says, "Nothing makes man more naked or carries him so effectively to his ruin as slander, condemnation and disregard of his neighbor."

He tells us that to slander is to say something against another person like "that person lied," or "she became angry."  It is speaking with passion about another's sin. But we often go further than this and condemn the person saying, "that person is a liar," or "she is an angry person." Now we find we are judging the whole person, condemning them. Saint Dorotheos reminds us of the following: "The judgment of others is a much graver sin that any other as Christ Himself said, "Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, then you will  see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye" (Luke 6:42). 

The problem with such judging is that we do not know the whole story about how others are struggling. Only God knows. Saint Dorotheos says, "Only God, who knows the situation of each one of us, our strength, environment, our individual gifts, temperament and capacities, can justify or condemn. He can judge each of these things, as He only knows." Based on the situation of each person, the environment they live in, the difficulties they face, the responsibilities they hold, God's judgment will be different. No matter how badly you think another person acts you do not know how much they struggled before they acted. Only God can see another's labor and sorrow and can have mercy on them. God may be merciful to this person we choose to judge, yet we choose to become his judge and in the process lose our own soul. We only know about the sin but we do not know about the repentance.

Saint Dorotheos says,

Those who desire to be saved do not pay attention to the faults of their neighbor, but always to their own and thus progress. Such was the man who saw his brother sinning and groaned, saying "Alas, he sinned today for sure it will be me tomorrow."

We sin ourselves but do not repent and then find judgment in others. We are all hypocrites. How serious this must be for our soul!  It is important not to lose the focus on our own sinfulness and our own need for repentance and our need for the mercy of God.

Saint Dorotheos says,

If we have love, with sympathy and compassion, we shall not see our neighbor's faults, as it says, "Love will cover a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8). Again it says that, "Love thinks no evil, bears all things", and so on (1 Cor. 13:5-7).

What do the saints do?  They seek to heal others. Saint Dorotheos writes:

They do not judge or dislike him but suffer with him, admonish him, offer him consolation and healing like a sick member. They do everything to save the sinner. Take the example of fishermen; when they put the fish on the hook into the sea and get a very large fish, if they feel the fish is struggling and fighting, they do not pull it straight away by force, since the line would break and the fish would be lost. Rather, they skillfully give it line and allow it to run freely until they know it is slackened and calm from its struggle. Then they gradually draw it in."

We  must learn to have love and to suffer with others so we can assist them in the right way and at the right time. If we condemn them then we will not make any effort to help them. We all need the help of others who are stronger than ourselves. "We are individually members one of another" (Rom 12:5). "If one member suffers all members suffer with it" (1 Cor 12:26).

Saint Dorotheos says,

Let each one serve the body according to his ability, and try to help one anther whether it is by preaching and putting the word of God into the heart of a brother, consoling him in time of trouble or by giving him a helping hand. The more we love and help each other the closer we are to God.

Saint Dorotheos gives us one of my favorite images of this reality:

Suppose there there is a circle on the earth, as if drawn by a compass. The center is exactly the middle of the circle. Take care to understand what I mean. Let us suppose that this circle is the world and God is the center. The straight lines drawn from the circumference to the center are the lives of men. As far as the saints, desiring to approach God, move inward, they become near God and near to each other and as far as they approach God, they approach each other. As far as they approach each other, they approach God. You should understand separation in the same way. When they move away from God and follow external things, it is evident that as far as they move away and become distant themselves from each other, they distance themselves from God. This is the very nature of love. In as far as we are outside and do not love God, each one of us is also distanced from his neighbor, but if we love God, the more we approach Him through Love for Him, the more we are united to our neighbor through love, and as much as we are united to our neighbor, we are united to God.

As we see the difficulties in others behaviors we should be careful not to judge and condemn them. Instead we should examine our own behaviors and seek to make improvements there. If we can do this in ourselves then we will have the necessary love to look at others who are struggling and seek effective ways to help them as they struggle. In this way we can become united as one, one to another and one in God.

Reference: Abba Dorotheos: Practical Teaching on the Christain Life, pp 133-140

Way of Love

"Treat well those who are good," said the Ancient Sage
"Also treat well those who are not good;
Thus is goodness attained.
Be sincere to those who are sincere,
Also be sincere to those who are not sincere;
Thus is sincerity attained."
And the Way, when He became flesh, said:
"If you love those who love you, what thanks do you have?
For sinners also love those who love them.
If you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks do you have?
For sinners also do the same.
And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks do your have?
For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again."

On account of these five reasons do people love one another;
For the sake of the Way, as when the virtuous person lovers everyone;
Or for natural reasons, as parents love their children and children love their parents;
Or out of vainglory, as the one who is honored loves the one who honors him;
Or for avarice, as the one who loves a rich person for what he can get;
Or for pleasure, as the one who is enslaved to his fleshly desires.

The first of these is praise worthy,
the second neutral,
And the the rest belong to the passions.

From Christ the Eternal Tao, pp 170-171

The Orthodox Way leads us along a path of repentance where we learn, with the help of His grace, to control our passions, so we become capable of true love.  How does one do this?  Look here for the ten basic principles of the Orthodox Way of life

True Love

Love is central to the Orthodox Way of Life. But to love, we must first have what the Fathers call dispassion. This is where we have been freed from control by the passions. With dispassion our response to the sensual inputs we receive from our senses no longer determines our response to them.  We are able to receive them without having any particular desire, but instead we can act with self-control based on the virtues brought to us by God. As long as our actions are controlled by our bodily instincts we cannot surrender to God and convey His love. Why? Because we are still egocentric in our way of being and a slave to our bodily and worldly passions.

Diadochos writes,

He who loves himself, cannot love God. But he who doesn't love himself because of overwhelming richness of the love of God, loves God, for such a person never seeks his own glory, but that of God. Because he who loves himself seeks his own glory, but he who loves God, loves glory of Him who made him.  Since it is proper to the sensitive soul to always seek first the glory of God in all the commandments which he is carrying out, and secondly to enjoy himself in his humility.

What is love?  For Orthodox Christians, love is an uncreated energy of God that is communicated to us by the Holy Spirit. It is a divine and deifying energy that is a genuine participation in the life of the Holy Trinity.  Saint John says, "Love comes from God." (1John 4:7)

This divine love of necessity comes only after one has gained a victory over the passions and one has the power of concentration to focus his soul on God in prayer. When we feel this love of God in our hearts, it is then that we become capable of loving our neighbor with a spiritual feeling.  This capability to love others is a fruit of the love of God.

Saint Isaac the Syrian says,

He who loves God, cant help but love every person as himself, even though he is displeased by the passions of those who are yet uncleansed."

On the other side, he who has any trace of hatred in his heart will not be able to have this love for others.

Saint Maximus the Confessor writes,

"If a person sees a trace of hate in his heart, for any fault whatsoever in anyone at all, he is completely alienated from the love of God."

See how important it is to reconcile yourself with everyone?  Even one trace of hatred will block you from God's love.  To love truly requires a pure heart.  We need to examine ourselves and all our relationships to see where we are holding any grudges that defies our love.  Even though it may not be easy to reconcile, we must do so if we want to be joined with God in His love.

Saint Isaac the Syrian describes the nature of God's true love.

And love, having God as its cause, is like a spring bubbling up whose stream never stops and He alone is the cause of love and its material is inexhaustible... for this material which brings him to the remembrance of God is always available to him, so that even in sleep he speaks with God.

Seek after this unending source of love. Prepare yourself with dispassion. Reconcile all your relationships. Let none be swept under the carpet. Practice the Orthodox way of life. It will lead you to this pure love.

Ten Points for an Orthodox Way of Life

Resource: Orthodox Spirituality by Dumitru Staniloae, pp 303-309

A Life of Balance

I read the following article on the blog Kanylaki: Orthodox Spiritual Counsels and it went straight to my heart. Orthodox faith is based on Love, not legalisms, rituals, fasting routines or other self-guided efforts, but on a faith founded on love.  First, a love for God and second, a love of all Creation.  Too often we get focused on the disciplines and rituals taught by the Church as aids to our spiritual growth and make the mistake thinking they are the means to salvation. No! They are only aids. The Way is to love God with our whole heart and mind and allow His grace to work through our heart. It is only through His grace that we are saved, not by our self-efforts. Our self-efforts are only to help prepare us to receive His grace. We cannot allow them to get in the way through our obsession with them. 

The Orthodox way of life is a life of balance.  We feast, we fast, we pray, we worship, we work, we play, we love. God's creation is all good and we must use it properly in balance.  If we focus too much on the disciplines, then we will stifle our heart and lose love. Our heart becomes hard. We criticize others for their lack of discipline. We become more self centered. We become insensitive to the real needs of others. The Holy Spirit holds back. The grace we seek seems distant. I know this error well. May the Lord have mercy!

Please read the article below written by one of my favorite Elders, Paisios.

Elder Paisios-On The Letter of The Law

Elder Paisios 

I once asked someone: "What type of warrior do you consider yourself to be? Christ's warrior or temptation's warrior? Are you aware that the evil of temptation also has its own warriors?"

A Christian must not be fanatic; he must have love for and be sensitive towards all people. Those who inconsiderately toss out comments, even if they are true, can cause harm.

 I once met a theologian who was extremely pious, but who had the habit of speaking to the (secular) people around him in a very blunt manner; his method penetrated so deeply that it shook them very severely. He told me once: "During a gathering, I said such and such a thing to a lady." But the way that he said it, crushed her. "Look", I said to him, "you may be tossing golden crowns studded with diamonds to other people, but the way that you throw them can smash heads, not only the sensitive ones, but the sound ones also."

Let's not stone our fellow-man in a so-called "Christian manner." The person who - in the presence of others - checks someone for having sinned (or speaks in an impassioned manner about a certain person), is not moved by the Spirit of God; he is moved by another spirit.

The way of the Church is LOVE; it differs from the way of the legalists. The Church sees everything with tolerance and seeks to help each person, whatever he may have done, however sinful he may be.

I have observed a peculiar kind of logic in certain pious people. Their piety is a good thing, and their predisposition for good is also a good thing; however, a certain spiritual discernment and amplitude is required so that their piety is not accompanied by narrow-mindedness or strong-headedness. Someone who is truly in a spiritual state must possess and exemplify spiritual discernment; otherwise he will forever remain attached to the "letter of the Law", and the letter of the Law can be quite deadly.

A truly humble person never behaves like a teacher; he will listen, and, whenever his opinion is requested, he responds humbly. In other words, he replies like a student. He who believes that he is capable of correcting others is filled with egotism.

A person that begins to do something with a good intention and eventually reaches an extreme point, lacks true discernment. His actions exemplify a latent type of egotism that is hidden beneath this behavior; he is unaware of it, because he does not know himself that well, which is why he goes to extremes.

Quite often, people begin with good intentions, but look where they may find themselves! This was the case with the "icon-worshippers" and the "iconoclasts" of the past: both cases were extremes! The former had reached the point of scraping off icons of Christ and placing the scrapings into the Holy Chalice in order to "improve" Holy Communion; the latter, on the other hand, burnt and totally discarded all icons. That is why the Church was obliged to place the icons in higher places, out of reach, and, when the dispute was over, lowered them so that we can venerate them and thus confer the appropriate honor to the persons portrayed therein...

- Elder Paisios the Athonite, The Letter of the Law

Love Between Spouses

What is it that makes a marriage endure? It's not that both are the same character.  For we compliment each other through our differences as we face the tasks of life. 

Elder Paisios uses the following common sense example, "A car needs the gas pedal to move but it also needs the brakes to stop." It is through our differences that we find harmony. Elder Paisios said think what would happen if you were both the same character. "For example, if both of you had a short fuse you would tear the house down."  Our compatibility in difference is the harmony of God.

What is essential for a good marriage is respect for each other's uniqueness. Respect is what leads to pure love.

Elder Paisios puts it this way:

Couples should have a purified love for one another... To live harmoniously couples need from the very start to set their love as the foundation of their life, a true genuine love, one that is found in spiritual nobility, in sacrifice, not in fake, worldly and carnal love.  If there is love there is sacrifice, one will always arrive at the standpoint of the other, understand the other, have compassion for the other. And when we take our neighbor into our suffering heart, then we take Christ Himself into our heart, and He fills us with His ineffable exultation.

Too often we think of love in terms of carnal or sexual encounters.  Such physical love is not evil in a marriage relationship but such love only unites people externally. When the worldly attributes of such encounters are gone such love separates them and there is the feeling of loss. But the Elder says, "When there is spiritual true love between a couple, and if one spouse losses his or her worldly attributes, not only will this not separate them, but it will unite them all the more."

The Elder shares a story of a Greek-American doctor who told him about what was clearly an encounter with the uncreated light of God. Elder Paisios then seeks to find out the condition for this encounter. The story follows:

I marveled realizing that this man had been made worthy to see the Uncreated Light, and I asked him to tell what had preceded this. "Father", he went on, "I'm married and have three children. We had a good family in the beginning. But later on my wife didn't want to stay home with the children; she wanted us to go out with friends. I went along with her wishes. After some time she said that she wanted to go out with her friends alone, without me. I accepted this too, and stayed home with the children. Later, she didn't want us to go on vacation to gather and asked for money to go by herself. Finally, she asked for a separate apartment to live alone. This, too, I did for her; but she had her friends over all the time. During this entire time, I tried to help her through various means, by caring for her, loving her and giving her advice; I tried to make her think of the children who missed her, but she remained unmoved. In the end she took a great deal of money from me and disappeared. I searched and asked for her everywhere, but it was in vain.  I had completely lost track of her. One day, I learned that she had come to Greece and was living in a house of ill repute. I just can't describe how upset I was by her sorry state. In my utter grief, I knelt down to pray. 'My Lord,' I said, 'please help me find her and do whatever I can to help her not lose her soul. I can no longer bear to think of her utterly fallen state of being.' It was then that the light flooded my room and my heart was filled with peace." "My brother," I told him, "God took notice of your patience, your forgiving spirit and your love, and brought you consolation in this manner."

The central idea behind lasting love is respect and sacrifice.  This is how God loves us.  He shows us how we are to love each other.  Harmony in marriage only comes from this pure love that is beyond all physical aspects of a sexual relationship. With pure love we will see God. Marriage can be a powerful path to union with God.

Reference: Elder Paisios of Mount Athos: Spiritual counsels IV: Family Life, pp 41-48

On Relationships and Love

As Orthodox Christians, how are we expected to relate to one another?  Jesus was very clear on this. He tells us that we are to love one another. He told this to his disciples numerous times. He says forcefully, "This is My Commandment, That you love one another. (Jn 15:17)  This commandment was then repeated by his disciples in their writings. He is also very clear about the extent of this love. He tells us that we are love our neighbor as we love ourselves What ever you wish men to do to you, this is what you should do to them, Matthew records. (Matt 7:12)

Metropolitan Gregory of St. Petersburg gives us some direction about how to live these words in our relationships.  He was writing in the 19th century.

1. He says to wish the best to all your neighbors. "rejoice when they are happy and commiserate when they fall into misfortune."

2. Do not speak poorly of anyone. You surely would not want someone to speak poorly of you. Do not be suspicious of anyone, he says. As Paul tells us, "Love loves no evil." (1 Cor 13:5)

3. You like it when others speak well of you, so "speak well of all your neighbors, be especially careful not to slander your neighbor."

4. When someone speaks ill of someone that is not part of your circle of close friends, try to defend them if at all possible and never repeat what you have heard.

5. You do not like it when someone divulges your shortcomings, therefore, when you see the weaknesses in others do not speak ill of them to others. 'Charity...beareth all things... endureth all things' (1 Cor 13:4-7). You must seek to find the proper time to help such a person to see what they may not see in themselves so they can correct their ways. This takes a lot of love and carefully picking the right time to act. Avoid a direct confrontation that may raise anger as you would not like someone to tempt you in this way. 

6. Strive to help others who are in need as much as you can. Metropolitan Gregory says, "a) We must, before helping others people help those whom God's foresight has united us with.... b) Among the above, before others, come to the assistance of those who are especially in need, that is the ill and disabled. Even if you cannot give them what they specifically need, than at least visit them, serve them in some way, and comfort them. Act this way even if they are totally ungrateful to you, for 'Love does not seek its own' (1Cor 13:5)"

7. Pray for all the departed and especially for those who died suddenly without proper preparation while still in serious sins.  Metropolitan Gregory says, "Remember them more often, and offer what alms you can for their salvation.... [they] need our help incomparably more than those among the living who are extremely impoverished, because the reposed are now incapable of helping themselves. Only we the living can offer help."

8. Jesus asked us to love others as He loved us (John 15:12). Therefore, we must strive to develop our faith in Him along with a zealous desire to do His will. Metropolitan Gregory says, "We should act in relationship to our neighbor so that he might acquire love for Him, zealously striving to fulfill His commandments and thus continually grow toward eternal blessedness... The spiritual need of our neighbor is incomparably more important than any of his physical needs."

9. Our spiritual help should be offered first to those that God has bound us to, our children, relatives, friends, benefactors and employes.

10. As his last point he says, "we should never refuse physical and especially spiritual help to the depraved, to foreigners, non-orthodox, heretics, atheists, and enemies, for all of them, no matter what their orientation or disposition, are human, all created by the Creator, all with an immortal soul and in the likeness of God... We should show love to all people."

As Father Gregory tells us, if we work at doing these things the world will be different, it will be filled with happiness. It is by loving others that the universe is transformed in His love. He looks for us to work in cooperation with His love.  This is the way love is spread to all peoples. It is also the way we love God.

Reference: How to Live a Holy Life, Metropolitan Gregory of St. Petersburg

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