St. Theophan the Recluse - ΟΝ CORRECTING THE HEART

By St. Theophan the Recluse, translated from "Pisma o Khristianskoi Zhizni," Moscow, 1908.

I want everything to be J. MINE" determines the greedy man. This is the second outgrowth from the root of evil. It reveals most noticeably the spirit of self- love which acts here as a kind of independent entity; the greedy man does not say a word, he does not take a step or make a move unless it is to bring him some advantage. Everything about him is calculated, everything is so ordered, everything is motivated in such a way that time and place and objects and persons—in short, everything his hand or mind touches upon—bears their own related tributes into his coffers.

Personal gain or interest—this is the principal incentive which everywhere and always brings his entire being into a flurry of activity, and under its influence he is prepared to transform everything into a means to achieve his own ends: He will seek the highest ranks of dignity and honor if this is advantageous; he will accept the most difficult employment if it is more profitable than others; he will set his mind to endure any and every difficulty—he won't eat or drink—if only his gain is realized. He is either mercenary or acquisitive or stingy, and only under the strong influence of vainglory is he able to love splendor and luxury. His possessions are dearer to him than life itself, dearer than people, dearer than the Divine commandments. His spirit is stifled by things; and he even lives through them and not of it self. Here, then, is the power and the sphere of influence belonging to this second outgrowth from the seed of evil—self-love! And who doesn't have certain things which it would be as painful to part with as it would be to part with happiness?

"I want to live for my own pleasure," says the carnal man. His soul is mired in the flesh and in feelings. He doesn't think about heaven, about spiritual needs or the requirements of the conscience or about responsibility. He doesn't want to, he cannot think of this. His experience is limited to various forms of enjoyment; he cannot do without them; they occupy his thoughts and conversations.

If the carnal man begins to please his palate, he becomes an epicurean; the play of colors cultivates his taste for elegant dress; a variety of sounds inspires pointless or annoying talkativeness; the need for food leads him to gluttony; the need for self- preservation- to laziness; other needs – to dissipation.

On the exhaustion of love...

“Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with love” (1 Cor. 16, 13-14).

In the Church of Corinth, founded by the apostolic labors of the holy Apostle Paul during his second journey (circa 53 A.D.), discord and division occurred. After Apostle Paul had departed from the city of Corinth, various false teachers appeared there, who began to belittle the dignity of the apostles, in order to elevate themselves in the eyes of the newly-converted Corinthian Christians. In this they were so successful that local Christians became divided into parties, each choosing a different teacher for itself.

When he learned of this, Apostle Paul became greatly saddened, knowing that, according to the Gospel, no house or church divided would be able to stand. Consequently, the same fate could befall the Corinthian Church. In order to summon all the faithful to unity, Apostle Paul wrote them an epistle explaining the principles of the Christian faith and a Christian outlook in general.

What once took place among the Christians of Corinth, is currently taking place among us. Due to extraordinary discoveries in the fields of technology and science, and the development of the arts and commerce, etc., the present age can easily be called an age of progress; however, in terms of spirituality, religiousness, church attendance and morality, – it leaves much to be desired! This is confirmed in modern society by a universal and passionate pursuit of material gain.

In modern man belief in the Lord God has become faint, if not completely dissipated. This is the cause of all our dissensions. Such weakening of faith permeates our consciousness. Our consciousness then becomes desensitized to our spiritual needs which leads to spiritual paralysis. This, in turn, leads to our lack of understanding – and lack of a desire to understand – the needs of others.

Christianity is founded upon these three: faith, hope and love. As long as time continues to exist for us, faith and hope must also exist, but when time ceases, i.e. after we pass from temporal life into eternal life, especially after the Last Judgment, faith and hope will cease to exist, and only love will remain.

The Orthodox Church teaches us that love is eternal, while faith and hope are temporal. Thus the apostolic advice: let all your things be done with love – remains forever appropriate.

Love unites everything, secures everything. Love is the sum total of all virtues. And it is love that is so sadly lacking in our times.

Love, like any other Christian virtue, does not vaunt itself, does not openly flaunt itself in the street, as does vice. Love conceals itself from the gaze of others and is recognized only by the fruit it bears.

There are occasions, naturally, when love proclaims itself firmly and courageously, whenever the need arises. Love is often revealed in patience towards others, in tolerance towards their frailties; love bears the burden of others. Sometimes misconceptions and prejudices serve to impede the revelation of love between people Some people have a soft heart, but their mind is infected with all kinds of prejudices: the heart wants to do good, but the mind rejects it. For example: the heart wants to forgive an offense, while the mind whispers: will I not seem to be a weakling? Will it not go against my honor if I do not take revenge against my offender? Or another example: the heart wants to help someone in need, while the mind warns that one should not lose one’s dignity in the eyes of society.

And, finally, the cause of such rare occurrence of love between people is egoism. Excessive love of oneself suppresses love of others. There are many examples of egoism destroying a person, a family, even entire nations. Look at what is left of the proud Romans. Great cities have vanished from the face of the earth, and even archaeologists cannot find them.

Love cannot be deceived. It has to issue from within and cannot be hypocritical. Love subsequently cemented the Corinthian Church, which flourished in the history of Christianity. Love will help us too – each one of us individually, and our parishes, and our Church.

Let us learn to act in all instances with love, and thus we will fulfill the law of Christ.

Protopriest Igor Hrebinka

St.Nikodemos The Hagiorite-Our severe judgment of others comes from a high opinion of ourselves and the instigation of the devil. How to overcome this tendency

Saint Nikodemos The Hagiorite

 

 Unseen Warfare

Self-love and high opinion of ourselves give birth in us to yet another evil which does us grievous harm; namely, severe judgment and condemnation of our neighbours, when we regard them as nothing, despise them and, if an occasion offers) humiliate them.
This evil habit or vice, being born of pride, feeds and grows on pride; and in turn feeds pride and makes it grow. For every time we pass judgment our pride takes a step forward, through the accompanying effect of self-importance and self-gratification.

Since we value and think of ourselves so highly, we naturally look at others from on high, judge and despise them, for we seem to ourselves far removed from such faults as we think others possess. And here, seeing our evil disposition, our ever-wicked enemy stands by watchfully and, opening our eyes, teaches us to keep a sharp watch for what others say and do. From these observations he makes us draw conclusions as to their thoughts and feelings; and, on these suppositions, form an opinion of them, generally not good, exaggerating this supposed defect into a deep-rooted feature. These judges do not see and realise that the very origin of their judgment, the suspicion of wrong in others, is impressed on the mind by the action of the enemy, and then fanned by him into a conviction that they are actually such, although it is not so at all.
So, brother, since the enemy watches you constantly, waiting for an opportunity to sow evil in you, be doubly watchful over yourself, lest you fall into the nets spread for you. As soon as he shows you some fault in your neighbour, hasten to repel this thought, lest it take root in you and grow. Cast it out, so that no trace is left in you, and replace it by the thought of the good qualities you know your neighbour to possess, or of those people generally should have. If you still feel the impulse to pass
judgment, add to this the truth, that you are given no authority for this and that the moment you assume this authority you thereby make yourself worthy of judgment and condemnation, not before powerless men, but before God, the all-powerful Judge of all.
This reversal of thoughts is the strongest means, not only for repelling accidental critical thoughts, but also for completely freeing yourself of this vice. The second method, equally very strong, is never to let go from your mind the memory of your own wickedness, your unclean and evil passions and actions, and correspondingly to hold on to the constant realisation of your own unworthiness. 

You will certainly find in yourself no small number of such passions and passionate actions. If you have not given up and shrugged your shoulders, saying: ‘Come what may”, you cannot help caring about finding a cure for these ills, which are killing you. But if you act sincerely in this, you should have no time free to concern yourself in the affairs of others and to pass sentence on them. 

For then, if you let yourself do this, the sayings will keep ringing in your ears: “Physician, heal thyself” (Luke iv. 23). “First cast out the beam out of thine own eye” (Matt. vii. 5).
Moreover, when you judge severely some wrong action of your neighbour, you must know that a small root of the same wickedness is also in your own heart, which, by its passionate nature, teaches you to make suppositions about others and to judge them. “An evil man out of the evil treasure” (of the heart) “bringeth forth evil things ‘ (Matt. xii. 35). But an eye, that is pure and without passion, looks too without passion on the actions of others, and not with evil. “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil” (Habakkuk i. 13). 

Therefore when the thought comes to condemn another man for some fault, be indignant with yourself as a perpetrator of the same actions and guilty of the same fault; and say in your heart: ‘ Unworthy as I am, how can I raise my head to see the faults of others and accuse them, when I am submerged in the same sin and my trespasses are even greater?’ By doing this you will turn against yourself the weapon, which evil thought urges you to use against another; and instead of wounding your brother you will put plasters on your own wounds.
If the sin of your brother is not hidden but obvious to everyone, try to see its cause, not in what the wicked passion for judging suggests, but in what a brotherly feeling towards him may indicate, and say to yourself: since this brother has many hidden virtues, so, to protect them from being harmed by vainglory, God has allowed him to fall into the present sin, or to stay a short time in this unbecoming guise, so that he should appear unworthy in his own eyes and, being despised for it by others, should gather the fruits of humility and become even more pleasing to God; in this way the present instance will do him more good than harm. 

Even if a person’s sin is not only obvious, but very grievous and comes from a hardened and unrepentant heart, do not condemn him, but raise your eyes to the wondrous and incomprehensible judgments of God; then you will see that many people, formerly full of iniquity, later repented and reached a high degree of sanctity, and that, on the other hand, others, who were on a high level of perfection, fell into a deep abyss. Take care, lest you also suffer this calamity through judging others.

So stand always on guard in fear and trembling, fearing more for yourself than for others. And be assured that every good word you may utter for your neighbour, and every rejoicing for his sake is the action and fruit of the Holy Spirit in you, whereas every bad word and scornful condemnation comes from your evil nature and suggestions of the devil. Therefore, when you are tempted by some wrong action of your brother, do not let your eyes sleep until you have driven this temptation from your heart and wholly made peace with your brother.

Taken from "Unseen Warfare" By St Nikodemos The Hagiorite