Mission Monthly Newsletter February 2002

...Meditate on These Things. Phillipians 4.8

"Truly, my beloved, I write to you as reasonable men, who have been able to know yourselves. For he who knows himself, knows God; and he who knows God, is worthy to worship Him as is right. My beloved, in the Lord, know yourselves. For they who know themselves, know their time; and they who know their time, are able to stand firm, and not be moved about by [passions]."

            St. Anthony the Great   

    The ongoing process of self-examination is central to the spiritual discipline (i.e. prayer, fasting and the work of virtue) of the Orthodox Church.  This can become a stumbling block to many who see only external “rules and regulations” rather than a beautiful opportunity to nurture the inner man.  If they were only “rules and regulations” then I would have to agree with those who call this foolish or artificial; but fortunately they are not.  Those who would challenge the wisdom of spiritual discipline do so outside the authority of Tradition and potentially deny themselves a priceless gift.

     Many of you have heard the patristic quote, “To know oneself is a greater miracle than raising the dead.”  That being said, we have two choices before us: 1) lose hope that such a miracle could ever occur; or 2) take joy in our inclusion in the death and resurrection of Christ and see the doors of God’s “abundant life” (John 10:10) open wide before us.

     Where does this “possibility” begin?  I believe that it is in the “right” worship of God.  This is one of the greatest challenges God has set before His creation.  Unless we worship Him rightly all that follows subsequently will be incomplete or flat out wrong.  Yes, all things begin with the grace of God, but what follows is our choice of what and how to believe.  Fr. Alexander Schmemann often used a famous Latin saying, “Lex orandi lex est credendi” which  means how we pray determines what we believe.  This leads to the undeniable conclusion that if you worship rightly then you will believe rightly and the great possibility of our ultimate victory will be strengthened.

     The other great challenge we face (covering just about all the rest) is our warfare with the passions, or as the Apostle John so skillfully summarized, “The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16).  If we cannot agree with this than we will not agree on much.  As Orthodox Christians we are essentially commanded to accept this challenge as the centerpiece of our relationship with Christ as we participate as co-redeemers in the work of our Savior.  We absolutely cannot stand by watching as man’s fallen passions desecrate God’s creation.  Jesus was very clear about this when He warned His disciples, “A servant is not greater than his master.  If they persecuted me, they will persecute you” (John 15:20).  Jesus was talking specifically about the persecutions of man, but we also know that Jesus accepted the persecutions of the passions and remained without sin.  It is within this example set by the Lord that we are to accept the challenge of St. Anthony, “My beloved, in the Lord, know yourselves.”  We seek to know ourselves in order to discern in what ways the Lord is asking us to join Him in the struggle against the fallen nature and the passions.

     Time is a fleeting reality.  A somewhat tragic consequence of its measurement is then knowing just how fast it slips by.  It’s the awareness of time’s flight, however, that should inspire us to “stand firm” against sin and fight for virtue, showing our thanksgiving for God’s mercy in abundance.  If we ever hope to be successful in this stand, our direction is clear; seek God and the knowledge of Him which He allows in right worship; seek to know yourself and the time which you’ve been given that by His grace you may defeat the passions to the glory of Him who has given so great a salvation.