My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
+
RESENTMENT AND FORGIVENESS (Part III)
By Hieromonk Damascene
[A talk delivered at the Annual Assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Western America.]
On Watchfulness and Prayer
The Holy Scripture and the Holy Fathers of the Church affirm that as we pray for spiritual healing from passions like anger and resentment, we must also practice constant watchfulness or attention over our thoughts. Christ spoke about watchfulness, both directly and in parables. At the conclusion of one such parable, He said: "What I say to you I say to all: watch" (Mark 13:37). Later, as He was going to His final Passion, He told His disciples: "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation" (Mark 14:38).
Watchfulness and prayer are closely connected. Saint Symeon the New Theologian explains this connection as follows: "Watchfulness and prayer should be as closely linked together as the body to the soul, for the one cannot stand without the other. Watchfulness first goes on ahead like a scout and engages sin in combat. Prayer then follows afterward, and instantly destroys and exterminates all the evil thoughts with which watchfulness has already been battling, for attentiveness alone cannot exterminate them."
The evil one wants to trap us. He tempts us with evil thoughts against our brothers and sisters, trying to sow the weeds of judgment and resentment against them, inciting our fallen nature so that we will stay far from our first-created image and be separated from God. We must not take the bait. Whether our anger arises from our own fallen nature or from the suggestions of the Evil One, we need to cut it off at once. And to recognize it at once, we must practice watchfulness over our thoughts.
Saint Theophan the Recluse writes: "The passions and desires rarely attack by themselves--they are most often born of thoughts. From this, we can make a rule cut off thoughts and you will cut off everything.
In the Philokalia, the growth from a thought to a passion is described with scientific precision. First comes the provocation of the thought, then the conjunction of the thought with emotion, then the joining of the will with the thought. If the soul does not pull back at this point, the thought becomes a habit, and the mind is constantly preoccupied with the object of the passionate urge. Finally, the person falls into the captivity of the urge and rushes to satisfy it.
From this, it can be seen why it is so important to cut off angry and judgmental thoughts at the time of their provocation. Saint John Cassian writes: "If we wish to receive the Lord's blessing, we should restrain not only the outward expression of anger but also angry thoughts. More beneficial than controlling our tongue in a moment of anger and refraining from angry words is purifying our heart from rancor and not harboring malicious thoughts against our brethren. The Gospel teaches us to cut off the roots of our sins and not merely their fruits.
Cutting off thoughts does not mean arguing with them or struggling against them. Saint Silouan of Mount Athos affirms: "It is best of all not to argue with thoughts. The spirit that debates with such a thought will be faced with its steady development, and, bemused by the exchange, will be distracted from remembrance of God, which is exactly what the demons are after.
Our struggle should not be against thoughts but toward remembrance of God. It is enough just to observe our thoughts through the practice of watchfulness. We will thereby recognize our angry and judgmental right away. We see them, we know that we don't want them because they separate us from God, and we simply let them go. If we do not align ourselves with the thoughts, they will naturally disappear. The 5th-century Desert Father, Abba (Father) Pimen, says: "If we do not do anything about thoughts (logismoi), in time they are spoiled, that is to say, they disintegrate.
When we ask Christ to have mercy on us, we are also humbling our proud fallen nature. We are admitting that we are not God and that we need God's mercy and forgiveness. In seeking God's forgiveness, we are acknowledging the infirmity of our nature, and this helps us to forgive and have mercy on others who share our fallen, wounded nature.
Since the Jesus Prayer is so short and single-pointed, it lends itself to the practice of watchfulness. We can keep our attention on the words of the Prayer more easily than we can with other prayers. This helps us to learn how to repulse or cut off intrusive thoughts, and to keep our attention raised to God. It helps us to develop the habit of inward attention. At the same time, by means of this Prayer, we are calling down Divine Grace into our hearts, for we are calling upon the Source of Grace, Jesus Christ.
As we seek to forgive people for whom we feel bitterness, we should also call upon the Mother of God to help us forgive. When Elder (Geronda) Sampson was once asked how he was to forgive his executioners and torturers, he said: "One need only pray to the Mother of God (Theotokos) and the offense is taken away. It is taken away if you only ask the Mother of God. It is enough for your heart to have some kind of direct contact with the Mother of God, and that horror, offense, injury, sorrow, and slander will be taken away."
(Next: Reconciliation Through Self-Accusation)
______________________
"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostomos
+++
With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George