Why is this topic today and what is its importance? What does spirituality, and especially Orthodoxy, benefit us?
Today we are witnessing the spread of spirituality and spiritualists after the dominance of matter and material needs over everything, first of all over man. Spiritual scientists, spiritual doctors, whether they are honest or liars and charlatans, are multiplying. As for us Christians, we have one Holy Spirit, “the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father… He is worshipped and glorified.” Our spirituality is in distinguishing between what is God’s and what is not.
Why Orthodoxy? Is there any benefit in distinguishing between Orthodox and non-Orthodox? Is there any benefit in having an “Orthodox Church” distinct from, for example, a “Catholic Church”? Many questions await clarification.
If we open the devil’s file on the Internet, we find on the list of the devil’s most important enemies “all the Orthodox churches in the world.” If we ask about the reason and justification for the Orthodox Church’s participation in the World Council of Churches, we see the most common answer: “We want to bear witness to the truth in today’s world.”
The Lord Jesus said to Pilate: “For this reason I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth… Pilate said to him, What is truth?” (John 18:37). Jesus did not answer then, but he had already answered by saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:7).
Does this mean that Orthodoxy today is no longer closer than others to the truth, I mean to Christ? This is what we hope for in any case.
Now let us see what heresy is. It is basically the confusion between the things of the world (the created) and the things of God (the uncreated). The reason for this confusion is the blackening of the heart, its darkness through pride, lusts, and worldly concerns. Therefore, someone said that heresy is ultimately a lack of love (as well as every intellectual and practical deviation in the Church and in the world).
One confuses matters of the mind with matters of the heart. With the mind, a person knows his surroundings, manages his social life, and knows various sciences. This is the function of the brain, which God created miraculously to fulfill this purpose. As for the heart, it is the organ through which we communicate with God and know Him. When the mind and the heart are united, a person is united. Duality disappears when a person constantly remembers God:
“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,” “Jesus, have mercy on me, Lord, have mercy,” “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” Hence the close connection between doctrine and life. This prayer, constant prayer and the invocation of the name of the Lord Jesus, is accompanied by austerity in life, poverty and simplicity of living, as well as a rebuke of the ego that takes over us through love “that seeks nothing for itself” (1 Corinthians 5:13), resistance to evil desires. This behavior in life serves the correct doctrine.
We see from here how the “spirit of Christ” differs from the “spirit of the world.” The Orthodox is ascetic in his life. A monk in his home, in his work, in his dress, chaste in his feelings and thoughts. This is because he is in love with the Lord, loves his neighbor, open in heart and mind to all religions and all trends while adhering strongly to his faith. He is self-denying. Here an objecting Lord quickly asks, “Are these virtues not available in every Christian, indeed in every good person?” We answer: In Orthodoxy this spirit prevails. It is a tendency above all tendencies.
The love of God overcomes the love of the world. The Orthodox does not allow the worldly establishment, or even the law and order, to overcome him, to dominate him, to be alone.
A strong tendency that draws grace to the heart, ignites a fire in his heart.
Of course, in all this process, there must be a supervisor, a consultation. There must be fellowship. There must be living in the Church. In it this tendency is embodied, in it it bears fruit and is reflected on others. The love of God is poured out as love for our neighbor, just as our love for our brothers and sisters strengthens our love for God.
The Church is a communion. It is a counsel that does not individualize. Man is not complete alone. This is the will and plan of God the Creator. The Church is not reason and intellectual research. If the institution becomes overwhelming, if the Church becomes an earthly institution only, we become worldly and secular. This is the disease of Christianity in our world today. Hence the importance of monasticism: to refuse to be attached to this earth because the Christian longs for the Kingdom. The Kingdom is to live with God eternally without obstacles.
Can a person own and live as if he owns nothing? He must give up something, or rather things. He must renounce the world. We are often theorists who master the art of talking about God and live in “pomp” and have not yet experienced the art of living with God.
We do not practice letting go. We are easily led to consumption, we get caught in the nets of material things and also in our arrogance, in not touching our dignity, in our hidden pride. We want to let go, give us, Lord, to let go for you. There comes a time when there is no room when we have to let go of everything against our will. Let us let go today of our own free will while we have time.
We need a monastery, that miracle suspended between heaven and earth, and we also need an Orthodox parish with an Orthodox pastor where the effort is made to make everything common. Is this still possible today? The pastor, of course, is important in this matter. He must be wise, a loving and self-giving father, endowed with discernment and experience (an elder recently told me that a priest must be at least forty years old to face the intractable problems of our time). Of course, God supports him with His grace and talents, while the priest must be patient and simple in life. The priest must be flexible and balanced, not extreme.
The monastery and the parish complement each other. Where do you think the theologian is born, in the family home, in the monastery, in the parish or in a theological institute? One of the contemporary saints says that a day is coming and it is approaching when the monk will be in the world (as if the world has become a desert monastery). This is the challenge of Orthodoxy. Will we find it?
From Syndesmos News, Year 2, Issue 1, Commemoration of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross 1998
Archimandrite Ephrem Kyriakos
Metropolitan of the Diocese of Tripoli, Koura and their dependencies currently
Quoted from Orthodox Heritage Magazine
