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Dear Parish Faithful,
We received what appears to be a "form letter" from the Monastery of the Holy Dormition in Michigan. But true to her style and commitment to sharing the Gospel with the faithful of the Church, Mother Gabriela, the abbess of the monastery, expanded the boundaries of a "form letter" by adding some wonderful and profound insights into the Christian life with her characteristic wisdom. I, in turn, would like to share the key paragraphs of that letter that offer an outline of the Christian life, based on the Gospels and the teaching and experience of the saints. In the words of Mother Gabriella:
Before we close... we like to share with you what the Fathers of the Church suggest in order to maintain inner peace. Inner peace is acquired through humility, a virtue modern man has lost. The Lord tells us: 'Learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart.' Becoming humble is not a matter of definition but a matter of experience, of continuous practice. The Fathers concentrate more on how to acquire humility than describing it. They suggest three basic aspects:
Unceasing Prayer - It helps us become aware of our dependence on God, as St. Paul says: 'I can do nothing without God.' To become totally at peace and rested we need to depend on the One who is "totally free" - God. True freedom comes through dependence on God, not through our independence. Only when we pray we receive the Truth, and humility is the acceptance of the Truth and not what we want.
Ascetical Discipline - The discipline of fasting, keeping vigils, the physical effort of standing in prayer, making prostrations as we can, charitable works, all help us to be attentive to ourselves and to the word of God, and not to be concerned with things that are being observed and judged with the logical part of the brain, as all these are peripheral and not necessary for salvation.
Acceptance - We must accept that whatever we do is not by our own strength and ability but through God. We must see ourselves less than others because we depend on each other. Even the most important member of the body cannot survive by itself if it is cut off from the rest. Self love is contrary to humility; the person who lives only for self cannot find peace because in such a state it is continually in contradiction with the Creator - God - and the creation - our fellow man. Only in relationship with our neighbor do we have any value. How does God help us become humble? By sending the opportunities that humble us; a person that inflicts hurt, a situation that humiliates, or anything that shows us that we cannot do anything without God. A humble person is beautiful and natural because such a person is graced by God, Who is meek and humble.
I strongly believe that these are the virtues - not "values" - that Christians need to cultivate and present to the world in which we live. This is what we find in the Gospels, the Epistles and in the copious writings of saints from generation to generation. It is this Christ-like way of life that is meant, I believe, by the expression "the Orthodox Way." Mother Gabriella is able to distill this in a few short and limpid paragraphs.
We live in "interesting times," in which a good deal of what is happening in the world provokes a sense of unease and genuine fear and anxiety. In response to that fear, It seems as if contemporary American Christians are more engaged in externally defending Christianity through political power and legislation. Mother Gabriella, and the entire Orthodox Tradition, is engaged with internally transforming the mind and heart - "do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind ..." (Rom. 12:2) I am quite convinced that we need to trust her insights and our Orthodox Christian Tradition.
