"Tell me what your authorities are ..."

A very pertinent reflection by St. Hilarion (Troitsky). He lived in the days of the rise of socialism in Russia, and ended his life as a martyr. The discerning reader will find the applicable correlations to current times. Though socialism may not be the popular word of our day, many of the underlying principles of the overarching philosophy remain. In some sense 100 years later we are still facing similar struggles. What follows are selections from an article entitled "Christianity and Socialism" originally published in English in Orthodox Life, May-June 1998, pp.35-44. 

This truth remains ever and everywhere immutable. Any single truth or any series of truths always comprise what is “greater” for man, and this “greater” is man’s authority; he refers to it, he “swears” by it. Yet the same truths are not what is “greater” for all men. Sometimes what is “greater” is entirely false; yet man nevertheless swears by this illusory “truth” as though it were authoritative. The measures by which men approach the phenomena of the life which surrounds us are quite varied. Each chooses that authority which seems best to him, and therefore one may accept the position: Tell me what your authorities are, and I will say what sort of man you are.

St. Hilarion

Now, many have quite different, and even contradictory, authorities. Truly, where now can one find in the “progressive” press any reference to God and the Church? Is not agreement with the laws of God and the Church of Christ now considered the hallmark of what is bad, of backwardness, while opposition to them is considered a sign of what is good? I recall a certain student (at the {Theological} Academy, alas!) who, seeing a man with whom he was unacquainted eating fasting food, said: “He is probably one of those who participates in the pogroms!” Another student, when I praised the Theological Academy in his presence, enumerating its good qualities, quite seriously interrupted me, saying: “No, tell me: What has your Academy done for the Revolution?” I declined to enumerate such dubious merits, yet such a statement is entirely characteristic of our times. Now it is not what is pleasing to God or the Church that is good, but what is “progressive,” “liberal,” revolutionary; that which is “right-leaning” is the concatenation of all evils. “It is in agreement with Marx!” - this is the highest praise for any teaching, for any opinion. Even holy Christian doctrine is assessed on the basis of this new standard. Thus, all of Christianity’s fundamental teaching concerning the personal struggle of repentance and humility is cast aside, while only some sort of “social teaching” is taken up and given consideration, and in it only that which one can reinterpret in a liberal-revolutionary way is approved. Those who wrote and labored in the Church, even the great Holy Fathers, are assessed using the same debased, inferior coinage. We ourselves were witness to how a certain “orator,” delivering a panegyric to Saint John Chrysostom on November 13th, 1907, declared that the great hierarch ‘thought like Marx on some things, though not as well.’ Such - we dare to say - blasphemy is now troubling to very few. In life, some new world-view is urgently announcing itself; new gods, new idols are being erected. Of course, the Church of Christ is holy and without blemish. The people of the Church continue to live in accordance with the divine laws of the past, refusing to bend their knees before Baal. For them there is no other god than God and His Christ; there is no authority besides the authority of the Church. However, there are no few people who have already adopted the new world-view, who have already bowed down before the new idols, yet nevertheless have not for some reason left the Church entirely. Such people are constantly passing judgment on Christianity, on the Church. They pass judgment not as ones taught by the Church, but as ones who would teach it; they wish to “correct” the Church’s understanding of Christianity, replacing it with their own, in which the teaching of Christ is shown to bear a remarkable resemblance to all the most recent teachings and actions of the godless, up to and including revolutions, expropriations, and bombings.

Eras of decline are always characterized by the absence of definite, clearly expressed convictions. Men become, as it were, impotent; their laziness does not allow them to think a thought through to the end, and for this reason the most contradictory elements, taken from various sources, peacefully coexist within their world-view. Such is the nature of eclecticism. Our times may serve as an illustration of this. Do not many now desire to bring together in unity the most impossible things? There are far too many who share such a desire in our days!

One of the more prominent misunderstandings which have arisen in this area is the misunderstanding about socialism. On the one hand, they aver that Christ was a socialist; and on the other hand, that socialism is entirely in agreement with Christianity. This implies that in all these discussions Christianity is not taken to be the only possible and definite form of the Holy Church of Christ. The Holy Church is mindlessly disparaged as “official,” “the one which put itself at the service of the old regime,” et al. Everyone interprets Christianity as he pleases, and only a small part of its sacred books is given any attention. The epistles of Paul are rejected; no one knows them! Even from the Gospels only that which is “appropriate” is selected, e.g., the expulsion of the merchants from the temple, as proof of the lawfulness and necessity of violence, though of course only revolutionary violence. With such devices, it is not difficult to demonstrate whatever one pleases, and not only some “agreement” between Christianity and socialism. In light publicistic literature one may constantly encounter attempts to reconcile pagan socialism and Christianity. It is sufficient merely to socialize Christianity and to Christianize socialism - and, lo! Christian socialism is the result!

Therefore, any attempt to investigate, from a strictly Christian point of view, the question of whether socialism is appropriate for Christians, or is our adversary, can only be welcome ….

If socialism looks upon itself as a world-view, what, then, is this world-view? It is, first of all, a consistent materialism … Socialism replaces everything with itself; it is founding its own religion. In the resolutions of the various socialist assemblies and the discourses of socialist leaders one finds clearly and definitely expressed the demand for a revolution in all human thought. “Socialism is not and cannot be a mere economic science, a question concerning the stomach only... In the final analysis, socialists are striving to bring about revolution throughout the entire juridical, moral, philosophical, and religious superstructure” (Vandervelde). “Is socialism merely an economic theory?,” we read in the socialistic catechism of Bax and Kvelch; “In no way! Socialism envelops all the relations of human life.” According to Bax, in religion socialism is expressed as atheistic humanism.

It is understood that in the socialist world-view there will also be no place for belief in the immortality of the soul. The denial of immortality is one of the main conditions for the success of socialism, “because with the weakening of belief in heaven, socialist demands for heaven on earth will be strengthened” (Bebel). Dietzgen advises that one prefer “a comfortable world here” to the other world. On February 3rd, 1893, a certain Catholic deputy asked the social-democrats of the German Reichstag the question as to whether they believed in the afterlife. They answered unanimously in the negative. One socialist newspaper, Neue Zeit, suggested that “the threats of hell be mocked, and that pointing to heaven be disdained.”

Now the socialists have but one desire: to debunk Christianity, to undermine trust in its historical principles, to mock the content of its ideals, and to drag even its moral teachings through the mire. Christianity arises from economic conditions and spiritual needs. For the sake of decency, they try to present the case as “scientific.” At the Mainz Conference, the demand was made “to provide a scientific refutation of the teachings of Christianity suitable for the purposes of agitation.” And so, a filthy and blasphemous caricature of Christianity appears in “scholarly” literature. “Here one does not know what to be more surprised at: the psychological limitations of the authors, their ignorance of history, the backwardness of their point of view from the standpoint of principle, or their dishonesty in distorting the facts and twisting the sense of the texts. In no single area does the science of this socialism, which boasts of its scholarship, bring such shame upon itself as here, in its juvenile, perfervid criticism of Christianity” (Kozhevnikov, p. 39).

“Irrefutable conclusions of science” arise among the socialists of Tubingen. Lafarge sees in the Christian Faith a “systematic amalgamation of ideals and myths, which dominated in the ancient world for hundreds of years.” For Bebel, the existence of Christ is “very uncertain”; Christianity borrowed from Egypt, from India, Buddha, Zoroaster, and even from Socrates; of course, it is of human origin, and “its elimination, from the point of view of progress, is essential.” The Church is “the yoke with which the clergy harness the people in the interests of the ruling classes” (Bebel).

The dogmatic aspect of Christianity is of no interest to the socialists. Who now considers dogmas obligatory? Yet the socialists dare to blaspheme even the moral teachings of Christianity and to propose their own “greater.” According to this teaching, all morality is conditional; it is immoral only to deviate from one’s own morals, and in no case from those of others (Kautsky). The conscience, according to Menger, is only fear of unpleasant consequences for opposing power and what is commonly accepted, and power and morality are in essence identical. “Hope in the Messiah is senseless; Christianity has not fulfilled its promises of universal redemption from the needs and cares of existence.” (But where is the proof that it ever made such promises?)

To criticize the moral teaching of Christianity, which they do not wish to acknowledge, the socialists do not undertake criticism, but prefer to wage war. Christianity is “a religion of hatred, persecution, and oppression” (Bebel) … The perfection of the “modern socialist movement” is not in Christian life on earth, nor in eternal blessedness in heaven. Both the former and the latter are relegated to the archives. “Our ideal is not poverty, nor abstinence, but wealth, and wealth immeasurable, unheard-of. This wealth is the good of all humanity, its holy object, its Holy of holies, toward the possession of which all our hopes are directed” (Dietzgen).

I have only wanted to show what moral ugliness socialism is, what an abyss of falsehood lies within it, and, therefore, how mistaken is any attempt to reconcile socialism and the divine Christian Faith. Such attempts are being made not only by Christians who have lost their faith, who have “changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like the corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things” (Rom. 1:23); certain among the socialists, or better to say, workers seduced by socialism, are also naively convinced that it is possible to combine socialism and Christianity. The socialist press is also trying to take advantage of this trust, arguing “that Christ belongs not to the churchmen, but to the socialists.” Oscar Zimmer, in his booklet “The Socialist from Nazareth”, reaches the conclusion that all the religious teaching of Christ was a mere addendum to His preaching of socialism. In the opinion of another author, Christ unfortunately could not fulfill His most important task - to write a manual of political economics; but the modern lights of socialism have brilliantly carried out this task.

Icon of St. Hilarion

The believing man is absolutely unable to speak of any agreement between socialism and Christianity whatever. Socialism is not only not ours, it is our declared and dangerous adversary. It is guilty of enmity toward Christianity and deserves no condescension. It is our enemy. Every member of the Church must be aware of this, and it is essential that the Church explain this for all the world to hear. If passing into heresy entails separation from the Church, passing into socialism is an error more grievous than any heresy, and is even more deserving of punishment. “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema” (I Cor. 16:22). We have already seen how socialism ‘loves’ Jesus Christ. It is necessary to commit all inveterate socialism to anathema. Ravening wolves must be driven from the flock, else the whole flock will perish. How can one speak of the ‘Christianization of socialism’? These are empty words. Can one Christianize atheism? “Christian socialism” is a contradiction in terms. What is Christian cannot be socialist. If we do not loudly and openly declare that socialism is the enemy of Christianity, nothing will result except harm and scandal. All compromises are inappropriate here. One must look one’s enemy in the eye. To underestimate danger is always deleterious.

St. Newmartyr Hilarion (Troitsky)

Cultural or Cosmic Wars?

    About this time I see again such phrases as Orthodoxy does not “actively advocate” such and such, or we are not “political,” or we do not “get involved in cultural wars.” What does this mean? Is it because we want to appear so heavenly, that we do not dirty our hands with such “mundane” earthly things? I am not addressing political parties or platforms, or the confines of narrow American politics. What troubles me is when issues, which True Christianity has always had a clear voice on, are brushed aside under “culture wars,” or whatever the label may be. Is this an attempt to appear more sophisticated than other Christian groups? (I am wondering.) Am I “involved” simply because I affirm that Christianity has always upheld the dignity of human life, and therefore understands that abortion is an all out attack against the dignity of the human person? Or that cold and ruthless drone killings are inhuman and criminal? If we as Orthodox are not “involved” in the struggle to preserve human dignity what are we doing? Or in regard to the question of proper sexual expression, if we affirm the timeless teaching of the Faith, that sexuality is a relationship between a man and a woman in the mystery of marriage, is this “political?” The Faith does not condone pornography, masturbation, homosexuality, fornication or any sexual misuse. I am not “warring” I am stating what the Faith has always upheld, regardless of the times. If I fail to do this I am failing in my obligation to uphold the Faith (a vow every Orthodox Christian takes at baptism). Are these new issues? I don't think so. As Metropolitan Jonah has said: “So often, people think that if we name sin for what it is, that we are judging people. No, we're just pointing our reality. It is not a matter of judgment to say abortion is a sin. It is not a matter of judgment to say that homosexual activity is a sin. It is a matter of simply stating the truth of the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.”

 An answer might come “we are not simply a moralizing Church,” true, if the meaning of morality is contained in the narrow dictates of puritanical thought. But we do not draw a line between the inner workings of the heart and the outer expressions of a person. That is, the outward deeds of a person reflect his inner state; thus, true “morality” is the reflection of an inner disposition, it has roots in the heart. An exterior veneer morality, with no roots in the heart, is of course condemned by Christ and the Saints, and conversely I can't “love Jesus in my heart” and be engaging in behavior clearly spoken against by the Faith. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, fornications, adulteries, thefts, murders, covetings, wickedness, guile, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, folly; all these evils from within go forth and defile a man” Christ Jesus says. St. John the Theologian clearly states, "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments" (1 Jn 5:3). The “job” of the Church is to bring mankind to spiritual health in Christ, how can we do this if we fail to address the ailments? We do not hate, nor are we against anyone, we simply know what Christ has revealed to be true spiritual well-being for His creation; and failing to properly convey this to my society and times would be an utmost lack of love, akin to a doctor who refuses to inform his patients that they are sick, even though a cure may be offered.  I am still trying to find the part in history where Christianity has been on the sidelines. (Please keep in mind I mean all this beyond our limited national politics.)

The Faith transcends  the narrow mentalities of the ages. Our “war” is never cultural. As Met. Jonah said, “we're just pointing out reality.” The reality is: as humans we are created and we will answer (sooner or later) for our heart and actions to our Creator: God. This is something the world does not want to be reminded of (and sadly many “christians”), and when we cower in a corner trying to appear detached we are failing. We must be the leaven in the world, we must be the salt of this age. This transcends earthly politics, indeed to relegate proper living to politics is to betray a sad lack of understand regarding the essence of the matter. Politics and culture have nothing to do with it. Christianity, in it's essence, is the penetration of eternity into this mortal corruptible existence. It stands as a testimony that mankind is not its own master, that we are created for God and only in giving our whole self to Him, abiding in Him and through Him, will we have true Life. And yes, this will be reflected in our outward living.

   I am sorry secular society your desire for a free-for-all amorality is wrong. I would be remiss if I failed to tell you.

   If we are not the voice of Truth we are called to be, then who will be? There is a war and it will not leave those on the sidelines in peace, “For us the wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the cosmic rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of evil on account of the heavenly things” (Eph. 6:12). St. John Chrysostom comments, “What darkness? That of night? Not at all, but if wickedness. 'For you were once darkness [Eph. 5:8],' he says, so naming that wickedness which is in this present life; for beyond it, it will have no place, not in heaven, nor in the ages to come.”

   We must both be tending our own hearts and speaking the Truth in love. As a Joseph at arimathea.org says: “One’s responsibility for his own spiritual state does not negate his social responsibilities. One’s lack of ultimate spiritual perfection must not paralyze him from tending to more worldly duties. That some Christians seem unable to grasp this reveals a rot in Christendom.”

I am afraid there is a war, and there is blood on the ground, but it is not cultural it is cosmic. 

The Same To All

"We should have the same attitude toward all of our fellow men. We must not classify people, saying, 'This one I like about so-and so I do not.' By doing so, you will have declared war on the other person and that person will not tolerate you. Even though you may not have given any outward sign of dislike by word or gesture, you have done so by your thoughts and that is enough.

We Christians have put on Christ at Holy Baptism. We have put on God, and God is love. How is it that, having become one with God at Holy Baptism, we wage war with Him? How do we wage war By our thoughts! We emit negative thoughts to our fellow men."

Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

You will be what you eat

Eating and drinking: such simple, yet vital and universal acts of humanity. We have to eat and drink. If you stop for too long you die.

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, He set mankind in the Paradise of Eden. There He planted the Tree of Life. It is clear from Scripture and the wisdom of the saints that mankind was intended eventually to partake of this Tree, but due to the fall this never happened; instead Adam and Eve were cast out of Paradise (cf. Gen. 3: 22-21). The flaming sword then barred the way to the Tree of Life. It became impossible for mankind to eat of the Tree.

In ancient Israel the consummation, the defining action, of being an Israelite was the ability to participate in the oblations sacrificed on the altar in the Temple at Jerusalem (and before that in the Tent of Tabernacle). This participation was a defining reality; only true Hebrews communed of the sacrifices in the Temple.

Eating and drinking in Judaism and Christianity have long held a much deeper significance than simply utilitarian biological functions.

God has, since the beginning, given to those who are His a very physical way of communing with Him; even to the point of taking a basic necessity such as eating and drinking and infusing it with potent spiritual reality.

Christ clearly says: “He who eats my flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks my blood abides in Me, and I in him” (Jn 6: 54-56), and elsewhere, “Take, eat; this is My body … Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins” (Mt. 26: 26-28). Archimandrite Vasileios says, "In one pearl of the Body and Blood of Christ one can find all of Paradise. So we see that Paradise is a tasting - as we sing, 'Taste and see that the Lord is good' (at every Div. Liturgy, cf. Ps. 33/34:8, my note) - to know and understand that God is love." Love which is participatory: "Take, eat ... Take, drink."

Today Eden exists and the Tree of Life is on earth. Whoever desires may still partake of the Fruit of Paradise. By the sacrifice of the Cross, Christ has planted Himself in the midst of His Church, eternally established in the time transcending reality of His sacrifice - Holy Communion. He has given those who are His to mystically and physically partake of Him through eating and drinking, and thereby commune in the everlasting victory of the God-Man.

In Eden of old the Tree of Life was imbued with grace to make Adam and Eve “like God.” Today any who would be like God must partake of the Fruit of Christ: His Body and Blood - the Tree of Life.

Icon: The Cross as the Tree of Life

Holy Communion, participation in Christ's real Body and Blood, has been the fundamental center of true Christian living since the beginning of the Church. As of old Eden was centered on the Tree of Life, and Israel was centered on the sacrifices of the altar in Zion, so the Church of Christ is centered on the altar where the Body and Blood of Christ is made manifest. A neglect or denial of this reality is a loss of that which is essential to the Christian faith. In fact a neglect of Holy Communion is a neglect of true Life in Christ: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” (my emphasis, Jn 6:53).

Just as for physical life God has set down that we must eat and drink, so in the spiritual life He has ordained that one must literally eat and drink of Him. There is no other way to be like God: a Christian eats in a physical manner of the Tree of Life, which is Christ Jesus.

This Tree has always been the center of Orthodox Christianity; It blossoms, and Its Divine fruit is distributed at every Divine Liturgy; It has not been hewn down, cast out, and replaced by new up to date shiny attractions.

The invitation is still goes out to every man, woman and child: come partake of the Fruit of Paradise planted in the midst of Eden.

Eyes of the Heart

The Body of Christ teaches us to cry out: “O Lord enlighten the eyes of my heart.” We pray thus because the transformation of our being is founded in the enlightenment of the eyes of our heart. With the heart we begin to behold Christ in truth, and by seeing Christ we begin to partake of Him. Spiritual sight is not a passive observation, but it is a dynamic participation. In beholding Christ we partake of Him and our souls are healed. This is the goal of the Christian life.

Our Lord has said: “What is a man profited, if he should gain the whole world, and lose his soul” (Mat. 16:26). Too many times we let the eye of the soul become darkened by the darkness of this world andthe man made philosophies that aggressively seek to take the place of our Lord Jesus Christ. We become weighed down by the cares of this world “what shall we eat, or what shall we wear,” or we become fearful to live the foolishness of the Gospel, desiring instead to look wise in the eyes of others. St. Paul tells us that the Gospel vision “is foolishness to the gentiles” (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18, 23). Those whose eyes have been opened, and who gaze upon the unending day, must be prepared to suffer ridicule from those that have yet to see.

It is for spiritual blindness that Christ the Lord rebukes the pharisees, calling them blind guides. They refused to receive the revelation of God through Christ; instead, they insisted on dwelling in their own philosophies and ideas (cloaked in lofty rhetoric about God), preferring their own dark reason to the Light of revelation in Christ. By doing so they created their own god, and refused the revelation of the True God. (How many systems today are founded on mankind's preference to have a god that is suitable to his standards, opinion and likes?) To have the eyes of the heart opened there must be repentance, purification and transformation. We must be willing, as the Gospel says, to lose our life. We no longer live for ourselves but for God, and through Him for the life and salvation of the world - that all mankind may know the Truth and be set free. When our eyes are opened, the facades that we have been hiding behind are revealed. It is a hard thing to find that we may have been focusing on washing only the outside of ourselves, while inside we still hide in darkness; it is not an easy thing to come to the purifying fire of God. But, to this we are called. Only by giving our hearts to the smelter pot of the Spirit can they be made into temples of the most Holy Trinity.

When the Holy Trinity comes mankind is illumined. Jesus Christ said “I am the Light of the world He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (Jn 8:12). By gazing on Christ, the eyes of the soul are no longer distracted by this world, nor infatuated by falsehood. Yet, those who have their gaze set on this world and its desires cannot know the Holy Spirit; their eyes are not filled with the light of life. By keeping our hearts steadfast on Christ we love Him the more, we see through Him Who is Truth, and become like our Lord. Vision is transformation. Elder Porphyrios says: “Christ is Joy, the true light, happiness. Christ is hope. Our relation to Christ is love, eros, passion, enthusiasm, longing for the divine. Christ is everything. He is our love. He is the object of our desire … This is our religion: for our soul to awake and love Christ and become holy, to give herself over to divine love, and so He, too, will love her.” Spiritual sight produces Divine love, which is a deep longing for Christ Jesus. St. Silouan the Athonite speaking of love for Christ says: “My soul yearns after the Lord and I seek Him with tears. How could I do other than seek Thee, for Thou first didst seek and find me, and gavest me to delight in Thy Holy Spirit, and my soul fell to loving Thee.”

What person truly beholding the God-Man Jesus Christ cannot but love Him?

The vision of Christ is given by and in the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit sinners are made holy, cowards become brave, and the proud hard heart is turned humble, soft and pliable. It is by the Holy Spirit that all things are made new for us. In Him we truly see. Through Him we partake of the Father and the Son. In Him we are made His children by adoption. He is the seal of our salvation, the guarantee of our inheritance (cf. Eph. 1:13-14). Through Him we set our eyes on the Heavenly realm, where our true home is. Through Him we are change from glory to glory, our hearts being renewed by the uncreated energy of God. By Him we are made into the image and likeness of Christ Jesus our Lord. Speaking of the transformation of those who have the eyes of their heart opened, St Symeon the New Theologion says: “For being dead, we were raised to life; corruptible, we are made over into incorruption; mortal and we are changed over to immortality; earthly, and we are become heavenly; fleshly and possessing our birth from the flesh, we are become spiritual, are reborn and created new by the Holy Spirit.”

The goal of everything the God-Man Jesus Christ did, His incarnation, death, resurrection on the third day and ascension into heaven, is to open the eyes of our hearts that we may communion with Him, the Father and the Holy Spirit. By acquiring clear spiritual sight, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, we are healed and united to God. Malady is perceived; darkness is dispersed. Divine Light is the vision that makes reality evident. Christ came that mankind might have life, and life most abundantly; that we may be filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, this is what having the eyes of our heart illumined means. Our hearts are to become a pure mirror reflecting the Light of Christ, thus we become lights on a hill, lamps that are burning in the darkness. Therefore, Christ Jesus tells us “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Mat. 5:14).  

Dying to Live

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it” (Mt. 16:24-25). It is a natural inclination of mankind to strive and seek to live. But if our desire is set selfishly on ourselves and what we want, promoting ourselves above others, then we are in fact not living but dying. Self-centered existence is but the beginning of death. Christ Jesus tells us: it is only in losing our life that we find it. The Lord Jesus gave Himself completely for all of us, even to death on the Cross. When we endure insults from other people, when we love those who hate us, when we stop our mouths from speaking foul words, crude jokes or wrongly about others (remembering that from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks); conversely when we bless those who cause us trouble and give thanks for everything, then our hearts will have welling up inside that unstoppable fountain of life, love and truth. This is the fruit of the Cross. It is not acquired easily or cheaply, for it demands our very life; and we must desire it.

If we plant the Cross in our heart, how could envy or dislike of others ever find a place in it? From the Cross Christ forgave even those who crucified Him. If the Cross becomes the center of our being then we will be given grace to endure all things with joy and love. The bitter waters which life may bring become sweet through the power of the Cross, the iron bars of hell fall and crumble, the barren plain of death becomes a fertile field bringing forth the abundant fruit of life. All the ups and downs of earthly living become one saving act, one once in a life time opportunity to become Christ-like.

The way of Christ, the way of the Cross is not the way of this fallen world. He commands us: do you wish to be first? become the last. Do wish to be strong? Become like a little child. Do you desire eternal riches? Become poor in spirit. Do you desire Heaven? Humble yourself to the earth and even to hell. Do you desire eternal joy? Endure, patiently suffering all things. Do you wish to truly live? Then lay down your life, your rights, everything that is yours, die to yourself and this world. When the Cross is set on the hill of our heart and we ascend to it willingly then we shall breath the sweet air of paradise; then the Cross becomes for us the tree of life, and not an instrument of annihilation and torture.

The Cross teaches us to simply love God, not for our own gain, not to receive something in return, not even to get to heaven, but simply because He is God - the Lover of mankind. He came and redeemed all of humanity, even while we were yet in our sins. He stood us up when we had fallen, washed us from the filth of sin and death by His very blood. He delivered us from the bonds of death and corruption. There is no other God besides Him, there is no other Redeemer of mankind. His love for us is endless and beyond words, His care for us without measure, His mercy is forever. It is through the Cross, personally experienced in our lives, that we know this to be reality. The Cross is the wellspring of our resurrection.

"Christ is still my Christ"

by, Archmandrite Aimilianos of Simonos Petra

"Whether we believe or not, we belong to God. Whether we understand or not, or feel His presence or not, or rejoice in that presence or not, He exists. He is my God. He is my Lord. Even during moments of darkness and terror, when God doesn't exist for me, He still exists. When I feel I'm a failure, when all my efforts seem fruitless, when my life seems to have passed in vain, Christ is still my Christ. He is there for me no matter what happens. He exists irrespective of my capabilities, capacities, and comprehension. I might imagine that God is small. But God is great. I might think that God doesn't hear. But He does. And He has given Himself entirely to me, so that there's only one possibility of failure: for me to break off relationship with the 'One Who exists' (Ex. 3:14) .... It is extremely important that I know this truth, and thus be able to feel - literally, palpably - the mystery of a love that renders Him immune, as it were, to my own actions. God remains the God of love, the God of majesty, the God of glory, the God of strength, the God Who achieves anything He wants to. And as He was to all the apostles, the prophets, and the saints, so He is to me, however small, sinful, destitute, and worthless I may be." 

 From The Way of the Spirit, Reflections on Life in God.