“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Whoever hears my voice and opens the door; I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20)
Christianity is not an individual matter or a dialogue with oneself. Christian life presupposes above all that God initiates us and that we are free to accept his presence or to ignore it. Therefore, spiritual life is a divine gift that we accept or reject. This initiative, that is, divine revelation, is not only external events throughout the history of salvation, but is also a movement between God and every human soul, internally.
Thus God “comes out” to us, as mentioned in the parable of the sower, and sows within us the seed of spiritual life. This calls us to come out of our introversion and respond to the divine call. He stands at the door knocking, but who will open? This is exactly the role of man, to open himself to the divine spiritual gift. Then the experiences of a personal encounter between God and man are realized within him. God does not hide, but reveals himself to everyone, except that we are the ones who turn away from him, says Saint Symeon the Theologian. This call of God to us is “gentle”, as he stands at the door outside knocking, waiting for someone to listen. Thus he spoke in parables, allowing whoever wanted to ignore that he understood that he should ignore, he would repeat: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”, meaning whoever wants to open his ears, let him listen!
The depth of the Christian spiritual life is therefore practically related to the degree of man’s acceptance and readiness. God “rains down on the wicked and the righteous,” but each one receives according to his desire and will. Saint Isaac the Syrian cries out, “Calm down the waves of your grace for me!” When this hermit opened the doors of his door, he could not bear the wealth of the abundance of grace and divine providence. God wants to pour out the waves of his grace in abundance, if only people would accept that!
But human freedom is always wavering between God’s grace and the temptations of Satan and the world. That is why Christians used to cry out in their liturgical gathering, “Let the world go and let grace come.” Man opens himself to divine grace when he turns away from Satan’s temptations and the deception of the world, and when he raises his desires to true divine love. This turning from one side to the other is not an easy matter, because man shares his desires and needs with the world as well. And these desires are, many times, corrupted by Satan’s slander and the deception of the fallen world surrounding him. “Cutting off passions is more difficult than cutting off limbs,” says monastic ascetic literature. Desires have a power over the will that is not easy to cut off except by the sword of faith and by replacing one desire with another. Thus, for example, a monk abandons the world (worldly things) not to live a life of “deprivation,” but to practice virtues. It is a matter of choice and knowing what we want to prevail in our lives! Thus, when the prodigal son returned to his father, he was not in a situation where he seemed to have deprived himself of the world’s good things and husks. On the contrary, he was happy because he realized that his father’s house was more beautiful than tending pigs. He said to himself, “How many servants in my father’s house have bread enough and enough, and I perish with hunger… Therefore I will arise and go to my father” (Lk 15:17-20). When human freedom chooses the divine will, man is transformed from being called to being chosen, as Saint Cyril says.
This movement or gesture, as a turning away from the temptations of the world and raising the heart to hear the voice of the Lord knocking at the door, has some apparent pain but contains a lot of deep inner consolation. Because the divine call matches the true human thirst, unlike the lie of worldly desires.
“Asceticism” is the art of this movement. Asceticism awakens man and places his freedom in paying attention at every moment. Man clings to everything that is pure, rather he approaches the world with chastity of spirit. Asceticism is not a strange, harsh word that is specific to monks, even though these devote themselves to it and become models in it. Asceticism is the “purification” of desires. Therefore, prayer, fasting, and vigils are not the goal, but rather the art. As for the goal, it is purity of the heart. Because the pure of heart see God. This art has many forms related to the nature of man’s life and his environment. Purity of the heart is nothing but “going out” toward God instead of closing in on oneself to satisfy it. Purity of the heart is, in a nutshell, “love.” And this is nurtured in us by prayer, fasting, and vigils.
Asceticism is therefore a movement to place human desires in the context they deserve. It is a movement to place human freedom under the care of the divine will. But this movement, that is, rising above temptations and raising the heart to God, does not succeed every moment, especially for beginners. Therefore, the fundamental sin in Christianity is “laziness,” that is, to stop ascending. “Go up, brothers, go up,” with these words Saint John Climacus concludes his book.
Thus, spiritual life always begins with God, but it begins with us when we adhere to an ascetic life that suits us and draws our attention every moment to the divine call. Prayer, fasting, and vigil are merely necessary practices and exercises that attract us from the distant country to the fatherly home. There is no beginning to spiritual life without these virtues. And there is no encounter with God with the lazy! “Give blood and take spirit.” “Asceticism” is an awakening that qualifies us to say: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”
Amen