An Intro into the Ladder of Divine Ascent: Rung 1

 

Denying ourselves and inflicting our bodies through fasting is a very ascetical practice that the church practices for most of the year. In fact, the church fasts more than it feasts if you were to look at a calendar. We have reached the midway point of Great Lent this year, coming up on the Sunday of the Ladder and the Ladder is great place to start to determine where we are in our struggle for God. We must always be ascending because we look down, we go from ascending towards God to descending away from God. St. John of the Ladder knew this. That is why his magnus opus the Ladder of Divine Ascent is so crucial during this time. I would like to focus on a few of the rungs today. There are thirty rungs after all, and to give them all their proper detail I will need time. That is to say there is not enough space within one blog to contain all the information I wish to convey.

So let us start with the first rung. The first rung of the Ladder is called On renunciation of the world. On the outside that appears to be a very easy and non-strenuous first rung. However, it is not easy, nor is it simple. In detailing the steps of the first rung, St. John reminds us that we must forsake every bit of this world and focus solely on the eternal life that is to come. He says in the Ladder of Divine Ascent, “The man who has withdrawn from the world in order to shake off his own burden of sins, should imitate those who sit outside the city amongst the tombs, and should not discontinue his hot and fiery streams of tears and voiceless heartfelt groanings until he, too, sees that Jesus has come to him and rolled away the stone of hardness1 from his heart, and loosed Lazarus, that is to say, our mind, from the bands of sin, and ordered His attendant angels: Loose him from passions, and let him go to blessed dispassion.3 Otherwise he will have gained nothing.”  One must remove himself from the burden of sins, and see that Jesus has already rolled away the hardened stone of his heart and called him to repentance. We forget in this world that Jesus offers repentance freely, we only but need to ask. People who have hardened their hearts and refused repentance do not wish to seek it and fall into the pleasures of this life, whether they be sexual, food related, or monetary pleasures. They want to accumulate respect and honor upon earth so that their name might live forever. One who rejects the world does not seek any of these things and only seeks out Jesus because of his own humility and respect for what Jesus accomplished through his Holy Resurrection. We fast and renounce the world because as St. John again says in the first chapter, “Those who aim at ascending with the body to heaven, need violence indeed and constant suffering especially in the early stages of their renunciation, until our pleasure-loving dispositions and unfeeling hearts attain to love of God and chastity by visible sorrow.”  Suffering in and of itself does not necessarily mean that God is punishing you, rather it might mean that God is purifying you for the purpose that he has called you to. As I sit myself and recover from medical illness, I am reminded that God is using this time for me to focus on him more. I rely on God more when I suffer than when I am fat and healthy. St. John again calls upon all Christians, not just the monks and clergy to participate in the spiritual battles that rage all around us. He gives us instruction on how to combat it saying, “Those who enter this contest must renounce all things, despise all things, deride all things, and shake off all things, that they may lay a firm foundation. A good foundation of three layers and three pillars is innocence, fasting and temperance. Let all babes in Christ begin with these virtues, taking as their model the natural babes. For you never find in them anything sly or deceitful. They have no insatiate appetite, no insatiable stomach, no body on fire; but perhaps as they grow, in proportion as they take more food, their natural passions also increase.” We know from scripture that Jesus did not seek an earthly kingdom, neither did the saints. St. Savas one of the founders of Serbia, renounced his title as Prince as went to live on Mount Athos. He was followed into monasticism by his own father, St. Simeon the Myrrh-streaming. We also know that some will renounce the world out of sin and for their own glory. St. John of the Ladder warns against this and says, “The man who renounces the world from fear is like burning incense, that begins with fragrance but ends in smoke. He who leaves the world through hope of reward is like a millstone, that always moves in the same way.3 But he who withdraws from the world out of love for God has obtained fire at the very outset; and, like fire set to fuel, it soon kindles a larger fire”  We must kindle our hearts with the fire from God, because without the divine fire in our hearts we can do nothing. The Holy Spirit appeared as tongues of fire because God himself is the living fire. The Holy Spirit is the fire that kindles our love for God and lights our path towards God. Without which we will descend in the opposite direction of the Ladder.

In the same way, we also know that we should love. Love is what Christ gave to us on the cross, at his resurrection and his ascension. So to if we are to take the first step on the ladder we must love. St. John of the Ladder says, “Let us eagerly run our course as men called by our God and King, lest, since our time is short, we be found in the day of our death without fruit and perish of hunger. Let us please the Lord as soldiers please their king; because we are required to give an exact account of our service after the campaign. Let us fear the Lord not less than we fear beasts. For I have seen men who were going to steal and were not afraid of God, but, hearing the barking of dogs, they at once turned back; and what the fear of God could not achieve was done by the fear of animals. Let us love God at least as much as we respect our friends.” God is the epitome to which we must love. Our friends and family might betray us. Our friends and family might forsake us. Our friends and family might even go so far as to hurt an harm us. God does none of those things. That is why forsaking the world and renouncing all of it is important. We might live in the world, but we do not have to be of the world. We do things with others because God does not save us alone. He does not become just a personal savior, but a savior of all men. The way we live, the way we work all is for his glory.

            St. John also discusses the struggles of renouncing the world. For those of us who live in it, we will certainly find it difficult, but with practice and love we will achieve our goal. He says in the first rung, “In the very beginning of our renunciation, it is certainly with labour and grief that we practise the virtues. But when we have made progress in them, we no longer feel sorrow, or we feel little sorrow. But as soon as our mortal mind is consumed, and mastered by our alacrity, we practise them with all joy and eagerness, with love and with divine fire.”  We will have struggles we will have sorrow but with God we will overcome all.  He also gives advice to those of us who live in the world. He says, “. Some people living carelessly in the world have asked me: ‘We have wives and are beset with social cares, and how can we lead the solitary life?’ I replied to them: ‘Do all the good you can; do not speak evil of anyone; do not steal from anyone; do not lie to anyone; do not be arrogant towards anyone; do not hate anyone; be sure you go to church; be compassionate to the needy; do not offend anyone; do not wreck another man’s domestic happiness; and be content with what your own wives can give you. If you behave in this way you will not be far from the Kingdom of Heaven.” He also gives us a rallying cry saying, “Let us charge into the good fight with joy and love without being afraid of our enemies. Though unseen themselves, they can look at the face of our soul, and if they see it altered by fear, they take up arms against us all the more fiercely. For the cunning creatures have observed that we are scared. So let us take up arms against them courageously. No one will fight with a resolute fighter.” Finally he says this to those of who live in the world and to those discerning whether monastic life is right for them saying, “Those who have really determined to serve Christ, with the help of spiritual fathers and their own self-knowledge will strive before all else to choose a place, and a way of life, and a habitation, and exercises suitable for them. For community life is not for all, on account of greed; and not for all are places of solitude, on account of anger. But each will consider what is most suited to his needs.” We must do what is right for our souls and not think about the consequences of what we are doing. Money and power will fade away, but our souls are eternal.

            I leave you with the words that end the first rung of the Ladder of Divine Ascent. Words that will resonate with many and will also discourage many. He says, “This is the first step. Let him who has set foot on it not turn back.” Turning back is not an option for those of us who love Christ. We have been set on the same path towards salvation as all who have came before. It is up to us as to whether or not we will continue on the ladder or fall with the demons. I pray that God will lead all of us higher and higher up the Ladder as we struggle daily in our lives. May God have mercy on us all.

            Amen.

My thoughts on the Jesus Prayer

 

I am amazed at the presence of Jesus Christ almost daily. As someone who has been dealing with medical issues, my life has been turned completely on its head the past few weeks as I struggle to overcome my own illness and weakness. I am not a monk, nor a member of the clergy, but I find solace in the Lord through prayer more as I practice. One of the prayers that I currently have been practicing is the Jesus Prayer. Now you can find many articles on the Jesus Prayer on the internet and you can also find books entirely dedicated to it, like The Way of the Pilgrim. Today I would like to share my thoughts and my experiences with the Jesus Prayer and hope to give you some comfort in this time as well.

The Jesus Prayer is simple. It is simply the words, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” These words contain the entirety of the gospel within a single phrase. The arrow prayer as it is. Monks on Mount Athos have been known to repeat this phrase 10,000 times a day while working or performing the services and contemplate the meaning of the words. The monks as the highest source of religious service to the Lord are connected in such a way that through the Jesus prayer they are able to grow stronger and deeper in their faith. They also are able to recall the words of scripture in this prayer, through the words of the publican In Luke 18:10-14 where he stood a far off from the altar as he prayed to the Lord. It also calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, who as Acts 4:12 says there is no other name in heaven or earth upon which a man can be saved. Not Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna, not even Vishnu.  In the Old Testament, God would not give anyone his name, because having a person’s name gave power of that person over to another. Through Jesus Christ we have the power of God living inside of us and we can call upon God to rescue us from our sin through prayer and confession. In regards to my research I came across St. Ignatius Brianchaninov who writes, “By the power of the name of Jesus the mind is freed from doubt, indecision and hesitation, the will is strengthened and correctness is given to zeal and other properties of the soul.” 

But reciting the prayer is not enough. Oh no. Many people view God today as a magic sky wizard who grants to them whatever their heart desires through their prayer. We see this in the prosperity gospel, where God wants us to be healthy, happy and having everything we want to live our best life. But that is not the case and has never been the case. We must do the will of God in accordance with the prayer we must live in total surrender to God and his wishes without thinking about ourselves and the desires of our heart. We are called to act as the stewards of the faith, the stewards of the earth. Repenting of our sins and focusing on God. The prayer states “have mercy on me.” Without sin there is no mercy. There are some in this world today that say that humans are not sinful, that everything we do is natural and that we cannot change human nature. God on the other hand clearly defines sin in both the scriptures and the natural world and even in the lives of the saints. He clearly defines the laws in which we should act.

The Jesus prayer therefore acts as a way in which we can contemplate the life in which we live, and meditate on the world. It is a practice of hesychasm, which many would consider pagan and foreign. I have been told many times, “Seraphim, why do you recite the words of the prayer over and over again?” It is not the repetition of the words that makes the prayer meaningful, it is the heart of the person. Over time the prayer breaks down the barriers between you and God and allows you to enter into his grace fully with a clean heart. St. Basil the Great writes, “But if someone claims that it is written: “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved”, and that therefore a Christian need only invoke the name of God to be saved, let him read what the Apostle has said: “How can they call upon him if they do not believe in him?” And besides this there are the words of the Lord himself: “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). Moreover, if someone is doing the will of the Lord and does not do it exactly in the way ordained or does not do it out of the proper motive of love for God, then all the effort he puts into the action is useless. And Jesus Christ himself has said in His gospel: “Hypocrites do these things as to be seen by men: I tell you truthfully, they have already received their reward” (Matt. 6:16). We wee then that we must either accept the words of the prayer without questioning God or render ourselves as hypocrites. I have witnessed in many protestant churches that people will pray with long winded expressions and yet they are really never saying anything. That is not to say that many people within those churches do not have wonderful prayer lives, I’m assured they do. Misguided though they are, they try their best. But only Orthodoxy can be the full aspect of prayer and the Jesus Prayer as well.

            Though none of us reading might be monks, it is always good to think of your home as a little monastery in the world. Where you can go and be away from the cares of this life and focus solely on God. To that end, I would like to leave you with a quote that I read by St. John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople. He says, “A monk when he eats, drinks, sits, officiates, travels or does an other thing must continually cry: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me!” so that the name of the Lord Jesus, descending into the depths of the heart, should subdue the serpent ruling over the inner pastures and bring life and salvation to the soul. He should always live with the name of the Lord Jesus, so that the heart absorbs the Lord and the Lord the heart, and the two become one.” Our only goal in life is to become one with God that he might use us to further his glory. We pray and we fast and we do all things that we are asked of, but if we do not have the heart, then we will spin our wheels without really ever doing anything.

            May God have mercy on us all.

Amen.

Our Identity in Christ

 

Identity. There’s a lot of discussion in the media today about identity and what people identify as. Where that be pansexual, nonbinary, transgender, or some of the one hundred and twelve different genders I found doing my research. However, we as Orthodox Christians know that there are only two genders for in Genesis it says in 1:27, “He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.” While man might have twisted and corrupted the divine plan for mankind, God has never abandoned us. He loves us beyond our wildest understanding. There is always hope for even the worst of sinners. As a lay person, I am the last one who should be talking about the scriptures and interpreting them, but I want to present here that our identity has already been defined for us, and that whether we are male or female, we are united in Christ.

Having been blessed to enter the Orthodox Church in recent years, I have come to have an understanding of Christ and his identity in a unique way that is not present in many places in the world. Christ himself did not come to just save us from the fires of hell, like the fire and brimstone preachers would tell us. No, Christ came to bring man into the fullness of light and life with his incarnation. His incarnation gave to us the uniting of both the divine and mortal and brought us into a place in which St. Athanasius says, “God became man that man might become God.” In that we have the ability to overcome the world just as Christ did. We can create and mold and shape the world as the sub-creators of the world. We are given the Holy Spirit upon our acceptance into the Church, and we use the Holy Spirit to guide our lives and become more like Christ with every passing moment. We can also deny this gift and become more like the demons who rejected God. Our identity is defined first and foremost by how we react and how we have interpreted the incarnation of God. Are we willing to sacrifice our own wills and thoughts for God? The great saints of our time willingly surrendered their lives at the hands of the Soviet persecutors and St. Nektarios when accused of immoral behavior did not try to resist his tormentors but rather accepted it as God’s will and sacrificed his own desire as a bishop to love God more fully.

Secondly our identity is not of this world. If we identify with the spirits of this world, we become more in tune with the world and what they want. In my opening paragraph I discussed the world and how they want to reject the nature of gender and sex in this current age. I see women laying with women, and men with men, and people are okay with it. They claim that their identity cannot be defined by the labels that man has given it, rather they want to be free to do as they please. They want to throw off the yoke of God, which Christ says is “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” They want the heavy yoke of sin around their neck not knowing that they are plunging themselves deeper and deeper into torment and sin. Our identity is a heavenly one.  We are called to be citizens of paradise, as one of my favorite hymns says. The people of this world, especially those in the west, have lost their faith because they do not practice it. It is better to hide their light under a basket than to stand for something they believe in. The reason we have allowed practices today to begin to warp the minds and hearts not just of the older generation, but the children is because we do not practice the faith. We do not pray, we do not attend services, we simply want to be able to be left alone and do what we want. We cannot be saved alone; we need others to hold us accountable and in doing so we need orthodoxy to bring about a change in our hearts through Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, our identity is defined in how we react to persecution. If we have accepted the first two points, then we understand that Christ is the savior of the world, and that we have a higher calling, a purpose to be of heaven not of earth. Our reaction to persecution is also a defining factor of our identity. I know that I have spoken before on this topic but let me go in detail as to what I mean in relationship identity. Christians since time immemorial have suffered at the hands of those who wish to see the seal of Christ stamped out from the world. Reading through the lives of apostles other night I saw how much the pagans took their anger and their unbelief out on the holy men of God. Trying to eradicate the Church before it could really be established, these pagans would crucify, burn, and torture those who stood for the faith. Today, with the gender identity craze is becoming more and more of threat to traditional and orthodox Christian belief, we have seen the weakest of Christians fall to the wayside and accept this perverse and disgusting teaching as if it came from the mouth of God himself. Instead of holding firm to the apostolic tradition, these so called Christians have rejected even the scriptures themselves. Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodists, Anglicans, and many other faith traditions have placed themselves up as God and have allowed both women priests and homosexual priests within their ranks. They have torn asunder the scriptures and done evil in the sight of God. This is persecution and when the test came to decide whether they were true or false, the fire tested these people as false. While I no doubt there are many who hold firm to Christ in these traditions, the leaders of their respective traditions have turned many astray. Those who hold firm to their identity in Christ will accept persecution with open arms, knowing that Christ himself was subject to persecution and his response was to accept the cross willingly without complaint or argument. Are we so holy that we are better than even Christ himself? The apostles saw and were blessed, blessed more so are those of us who have not seen and yet believed.

While this article took a turn in a different direction that I assume many of you thought it would, it is still good to understand that our identity in Christ is what is most important. I am sure that I will return to this topic many times and expand on my thoughts further in future articles. For now though with the celebration of the Holy Cross tomorrow I am reminded that I must sacrifice myself daily and take up the cross and follow Christ. Wherever that leads me I am willing. For it is not I that lives, but Christ who lives through me.

Amen.

Tollhouse Cookies or Tollhouse Road: The Final Ascent Tollhouses 11-20

 

Yesterday we looked at the first ten tollhouses in which God will allow the demons to test your faith on your journey after death. We looked at how one would be judged and the sort of things that will be asked of you by the angels and demons as God makes his judgment regarding your soul. The first ten were relatively concentrated on the pride and the dereliction of your duty with fellow man. We have seen that pride is the root cause of all life’s problems and as we reach further up the ascent into heaven we no doubt will as well encounter the tollhouse of pride. While I would again stress this is figurative language, the journey of the soul is something that we Orthodox take seriously. Especially as it regards to the prayers for the dead and if you haven’t read that blog I suggest you do so.  May God grant us understanding as we continue this discussion on the tollhouse road.

The eleventh torment is that of pride. Yes, after we have endured all our sins that we have committed regarding avarice, envy, and love of riches we come to heart of the matter. We come to pride. It is here at the eleventh tollhouse all of the prideful moments of our lives will be laid bare. All the times we have forgotten to honor our parents, our government, and the superiors God has placed over us, will be exposed. We will be asked to account for our sins as they have taken place. There is often a lot of talk in the media today about pride. The LGBTQ+ community has even rallied around the very term in a sense to be proud of who they are. God does not ask us to proud of ourselves. Because without Him our lives are nothing. God asks us to be humble, to be meek, to seek Him and Him alone. Being self-absorbed in ourselves we lose the focus to focus on those around us. Taking care of others, being kind and in short we become lovers of ourselves.  God does not look kindly on us rejecting his plan for our lives, seeking our own earthly desires. But here the pride we have accumulated in ourselves will be exposed. It is a grave sin brothers and sisters. Do not fall into it.

The twelfth torment is that of anger. Christ himself was once filled with holy anger for the things that he found in the temple, and how he drove the moneychangers and others from the temple in Jerusalem. However, we are not so much concerned with holy anger for the things that God abhors and detests. We are talking about the things said to those out of anger and hatred for our fellow man. How many times do we lose our temper when things aren’t going our way and we lash out because we are filled with such rage that we become hostile to those around us. We speak ill of each other and we harm the salvation and very being of people by our actions. Do we punish our children severely when an encouraging word or a light punishment was sufficient for their actions? Do we show wrath against people who have wronged us? Oftentimes we do. We live in a world today where people are seeking to be first without equals, not among equals. We don’t treat each other with respect. We cancel those who disagree with us, and we shame those with a dissenting voice. We create in ourselves this self-righteousness that is not at all how Christ acted. He could have gotten angry and lashed out at Pilate, Herod, the pharisees and Sanhedrin. But he did not. We must control our temper lest it is laid bare for us at this tollhouse and exposes us as a fraud and hypocrite. We must walk with humility and patience. Knowing that our fellow man is also sinful. Anger and hatred have no place in the heart of a Christian. We must root this out with prayer, fasting and the Holy Eucharist. Otherwise here at the 12^th tollhouse the demons will come and will be able to overcome us.

The thirteenth torment is again exposing more of the same, but it hearkens back to what Christ says, “love your enemies.” The thirteenth torment is that of holding grudges. How many people do we absolutely hate and cannot forgive them for their actions? Here I am convicted again of my own sins in my own life where I have despised someone for a wrong they have committed against me. And I humbly ask you to pray for me that I might forgive them for their actions. I pray that we will forgive all people for their actions. People today do not want to forgive their neighbor, believing themselves to be above reproach and that what they want is more important. Holding grudges and basically already judging them in place of God is a dangerous sin. Are we better than God? Do we have more knowledge and wisdom than the God that created all things? If we believe this brothers and sisters, we must repent immediately. We must turn from our wicked ways and go and seek forgiveness not just from God but from the person we have a grudge against. We must learn to let it go. The thirteenth tollhouse will expose this and I would not want for Satan to have any way of accusing us at the judgement of my failure to love.

The fourteenth torment is murder. Christ says hating one’s brother or sister is already committing murder in the heart. Have we killed? Have we struck someone down because we wanted to? Taking a life is never easy, but so too is holding anger in hearts. Committing murder in our souls against our neighbor. We must restrain ourselves from harming one another. Even if it means rejecting our passion of harming someone who has harmed us.

The fifteenth torment is that of sorcery. Now today’s world places a large emphasis on sorcery with the Harry Potter novels, the Charmed television series, and other books that feature fantastical feats with use of magic. We dear brothers and sisters, must reject it for what it is. We must reject it, because magic is using the power of the demons to achieve our goals. To achieve what we want. Magic is real. Wiccans today perform magic through the use of their spells and other acts that a Christian must reject. It may be enjoyment for us to watch shows and want to have that sort of power. But when we let the demons creep into our minds using their subtle but effective methods we could get the idea that we too should practice witchcraft and use the power of the demonic arts to achieve our goals. Here the sins of sorcery and witchcraft will be laid bare for us. If we have not participated in this we have nothing to fear for we must be reminded that God sees all and forgives all. If we only repent we will not be subject to the terrors of the demons.

Now we come to the sexual torments. Those of which are terrible and great in the world today. We see these most often in the culture that we live in especially here in the United States. The sixteenth torment is fornication. Lust and the power of sex is rampant in the world today. We see this with Onlyfans, with Instagram, and other social media sites catering to our desire to fulfill our sexual urges. Porn is easily accessible to our youth, to everyone really. Pornhub caters to people who are seeking to fulfill a longing for companionship. We do not wish to seek the companionship of God. We want earthly desires to take away the responsibility of living our lives in fellowship with God and do not want to account for our actions. It is said here that these sins will be exposed and the demons as our prosecutors will accuse of us all the sins we have committed in fornication and lusting after those who we find desirable.

Next is the seventeenth torment. Getting closer to paradise, but still a ways to go. Adultery is here exposed. The seventeenth torment will see all that which we have done in relation to the marriage bed laid bare. Have we been faithful to our spouse? Have we sought another while being married to the person God has intended? For most Christians and people this will be an easy tollhouse as for most keeping the marriage bed sacred has been a duty and an honor. They have found the person they want to spend the rest of their lives with and will do anything to keep it pure. But for others, through divorce and their own pride they have sought to destroy it whether openly or secretly. Swinging and websites like Ashley Madison have made it easy for a person to cheat on their spouse with the help of few people or a few simple clicks. People have rejected the love of their spouse and the love of God for love of themselves.  We must not fall into that trap brothers and sisters. We must rise above it, whether we are celibate for the glory of God or have found a spouse. We must keep the marriage bed sacred and love the person God has entrusted to us with the upmost purity.

The eighteenth torment is that of homosexuality and sodomic sins. These sins are those where we have lusted after the person of our same gender our same kind. We have turned from the love between a man and woman and twisted it. We see this with the LGBTQ+ community today, calling for love is love. We see people accept it as natural, as a way in which God has intended but this tollhouse and Christianity in general know that it is not. It is a foreign concept that has invaded the minds and hearts of the people of this generation.  I have known many people who were of this persuasion in my life and it is an unnatural persuasion. It is not the life God has intended for us. Yet, through repentance they too can be saved. It is not that God will condemn them and sentence them, for we know God will forgive everything if we only confess. But confession must be pure, it must be an about face. We cannot continue to live in sin when we know it is not God’s chosen plan.

The next to last torment, the nineteenth torment is that of heresies. I have spoken quite often on heresies here, but this is once again a serious issue and must be taken accordingly. Here we will be asked if we upheld the doctrines of the Church. Whether we held within our hearts the true faith, or if we have allowed false teachings to permeate our lives. Have we clung true to the faith that has been preserved for 2000 years or have we allowed new ideas and teachings to be adopted as our own. The Orthodox Church is unchanging and unrepentant in our belief that we have protected the faith that God established and that everything outside of it is heresy. Yes that will be off putting for some, but you must look and discover the truth for yourself. I nor anyone else can come to a realization of faith for you. Heresy is a dangerous game, one that if not carefully discerned can lead to the corruption of the soul and eventually its condemnation.

Finally the twentieth and last torment. Here the soul will experience the greatest of trials, where nothing else but mercy will matter.  Have we granted mercy in our life time to those who deserve it? Have we rejected giving it when it mattered most? This is the last and greatest trial the soul will take up in the ascension to heaven. But do not fear, for God forgives all. We must only be able to understand and ask for mercy. Here in this lifetime we must seek mercy for all people, not just our own life. We must be willing to give mercy to even those who we believe do not deserve it. It is difficult, but with God’s grace and love in our hearts everything is possible.

We have reached the end of our journey and have completed the road to paradise. The tollhouse road was filled with distressing things. My mother told me other day after reading Part 1, that I need to remember that the demons do not have the power to drag us to hell. And yet she is indeed right. Only ourselves condemn us. The demons do not have the authority to drag us down and bring us into hell. Only by the judgment from God. Though this is figurative language and much of it is misunderstood by even the most scholarly of priests and clergy, we must understand that these torments are indeed real and will be used to judge us as to whether our salvation has been secured through Jesus or if we were simply going through the motions. Our lives are filled with opportunities to turn to Christ or to turn away. I am saved, am being saved, and will be saved. It is not a once saved always saved mentality. It is a living our lives in accordance to the commandments and we must fulfill them to have a true Christian faith. For most they will fall away. Others will rise to the occasion and live out as best they can the teachings of Christ. So I leave you with a question. Will you take up your cross and follow Christ or will you follow Satan and his demons?

Amen.

On Repentance and Salvation

 

Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me Your statutes.

The choir of the saints has found the fountain of life and the door of

Paradise. May I also find the way through repentance, the sheep that

was lost am I, call me up to You, O Savior, and save me.

It seems like my heart has been heavier than ever these past few weeks and days, mainly because of everything that has been going on in the world. I have been dealing with a lot of struggles and demonic attacks as of late and could use your prayers as I pray for you. However, I would be remiss if I did not discuss repentance and what it has meant to the Church and the world around us. It is during the worst of times that God can bring about the most change in our lives because when we live in peace, we often think we don’t need God. Today let us discuss repentance and hope of salvation. 

                First let us set the groundwork for salvation. Salvation is a topic that many in the world believe they understand, but few truly grasp its real presence in their lives. I am not sure who said this so I can’t give credit to the following statement, but I know from experience, that I am saved, am being saved and will be saved. Salvation is not in itself a one time walk down the aisle pray a prayer and magically one is granted entrance into heaven. Salvation is a process. A process by which one becomes more like Christ. In the Orthodox Church we call this Theosis. Theosis while not a common term one might find in English bibles, it is plain to see in the scriptures especially written by St. Paul. Galatians 4:3 says, “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.” The bondage of the world is the slave to sin, Theosis is the bondage of Christ, becoming a servant of the Most High. Colossians 1:18 says, “And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” If he is the firstborn among the dead, so too must we die to ourselves and become new creatures. The way through this is the path of salvation. When we participate in the divine liturgy, the services of the church, the prayers that come from our prayer books we unite ourselves to Christ in such a way that his divine energy the Energeia in Greek (Ενέργεια του Θεού). He is allowed to work through us and with us, only by our choosing, protestants might say that we must accept the gift of salvation. Christ uses us as the instruments by which divine grace is poured out on the world and distributed among the nations of the world. He uses the priests to distribute the gifts of the Eucharist, the Bishops to uphold the teachings of the church, and the laypeople to go out into the world and sow the seeds of salvation by example, drawing all people to himself. Though many reject him, this is still the divine plan, whether they accept it or not.

                The way to salvation is a simple one. It is the way of repentance. We have discussed what salvation is, in that is the way in which God brings all people to himself and unites himself with us in union, but how must we unite ourselves to Christ. Surely, we just live our lives and God accepts for who we are right? No. That is not the case. It never has been and never will be. God being a Holy and Just God cannot dwell in the realm of sinners and cannot dwell where the stench of evil lives. The Greek word for this is called, metanoia. Repentance according to my own jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America says, “The Greek term for repentance, metanoia, denotes a change of mind, a reorientation, a fundamental transformation of outlook, of man's vision of the world and of himself, and a new way of loving others and God.” It is more than a prayer, reading the scriptures, or any other sort of act that we do. It is a complete change of mind and heart. The things that we once enjoyed, the things that are mundane and fleeting become dim lights in the eyes of one with true repentance. They look forward to the coming of Jesus Christ at the Second Coming, and they participate in the services with joy and gladness. They do not seek the wealth and pleasures of this world. Theirs is a home in paradise where there is no sighing or suffering, but life everlasting. To achieve this, one must seek Christ and his saints through prayer, through offerings and through actions. It is one thing to confess Christ, it is another to act upon it. If you believe in something so strongly that it consumes you like Christ should, you will act upon this belief. People who walk down the aisle of protestant churches, or are chrismated in the Orthodox Church, who never return once the service is over have no true repentance in their hearts. They only offer lip service to Christ like the Pharisees did. Repentance is allowing Christ to take that which is corrupted by sin, and to restore you to the way things were prior to the fall. Just as salvation is the way that Christ acts within us, repentance is the gate that must be open for Christ to come in. You must break down the bars of your own Hades, so that Christ can come in and harrow it. In this, the light of Christ can be shown through you, and you truly become the salt of the earth. My favorite Orthodox hymn repeats the phrase, “For His Mercy endures forever and ever alleluia.”  This hymn reminds me it is never too late for you to accept Christ in this world. You have the chance now. Don’t waste it on the things of the world. Nothing in this life can compare to the things prepared for us in heaven.

                I am hoping that life and Lent finds all you well as we have entered into the second week. I pray that you are struggling against the devil as St. George did with the dragon and will not yield. I pray that this article might give you hope as it does to me.

 

Amen.