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by Cosmas Halekakis
The day of the Lord shall come upon us as a thief in the night, in a
manner not foreseen by men, as a tap on the shoulder, as a snare upon
all those who dwell on the face of the earth. We know neither the hour
nor the day, but we are exhorted to take heed of ourselves, and not to
let the cares of this world weigh down upon our hearts. Indeed, we are
called by the Lord Himself to watch and pray always to be counted
worthy to stand before the Son of man; before the awesome judgment seat
of Christ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
Scholars
speak of a natural moral law. That individuals in all societies, in all
cultures have some basic understanding of good and evil, even if it is
for completely social or economic reasons. A natural moral law usually
based on the ten commandments or other such fundamentally humanistic
precepts. No matter what religion we are, whether Orthodox or atheist,
we all have some system of moral behavior, and we know what it takes to
be "good," or to achieve our goal, within our own religion or ideology.
Each belief system has the inherent notion of perfection with
respect to its own moral imperatives as the ultimate goal. For example,
we as Orthodox Christians know the "what" of our salvific existence.
That is, we have our own basic notion of morality as revealed by
scripture and the tradition of the Church, and we know the fulfillment
of our moral system, deification. In other words, we not only know
"what" we are suppose to do, but we also know "why." Each individual
has his or her own concept of "what" they are suppose to do with
respect to their own belief system, "why" they are suppose to do it,
and even further, they also know "how. " As Orthodox Christians we all
participate in the same faith community, but as we are all different,
we all experience our faith in a
different way. Nonetheless, each
of us sees the vast tools that 18y before us with which we are able to
achieve our goals. Each of us is able to receive the Eucharist,
Confession, Holy Unction, to fast, to pray; in short, each of us as
Orthodox Christians knows "how" to reach perfection within our
religion. However, this poses a very difficult question. If we all know
"what" we are suppose to do, "why" we are to do it, and "how" to go
about doing it, then why are we unable to achieve perfection?
Everything is Iying right before us, well within our grasp, and easily
within the boundaries of our cognition. Why then are we unable to
actualize our potentialities and be perfect?
Some may respond
that it is because of temptation. That the demonic forces are
constantly at work, trying to destroy our souls, and lead us as far
away from the path of righteousness as possible. This is no doubt true,
however, surely the demon can not force our hand to sin. If so then we
would no longer possess free will, and they would be judged for our
actions not us. But just as the demons lurk within the shadowy recesses
of our minds and hearts, the ineffable grace of God pours out upon our
souls as the uncreated light, whose radiance illuminates the most inner
reaches of our being. The sly serpent is indeed at work, but so to is
the omnipotent King of kings, and thus the original question remains,
if we are responsible for our own salvation, then why are we unable to
achieve perfection if we know all that is necessary for our undisputed
victory?
One possible answer to this seemingly insoluble
question is given to us in a variety of forms throughout the liturgical
cycle of the year. Especially throughout the cycle of the lenten
season, beginning with the first Saturday of the Souls and continuing
into Holy Week itself. The Gospel reading for the first Saturday of the
Souls is taken from the twenty-first chanter of Luke. and it speaks
primarily of the second coming of the Lord. But, specifically in Luke
21:36 the Lord gives us an exhortation. He tells us to 'Watch,
therefore, and pray always." In this statement lies a possible answer
to our question. Temptation surrounds us on all sides, and we must
proceed in a spirit of soberness, and alertness of mind and body. In
short, we must constantly remain watchful, and it is our own lack of
watchfulness and protection of the intellect which leads to our own
inability to achieve perfection.
Similarly, within the
Bridegroom services of Holy Week, we sing one of the most well-know and
favorite hymns of the year, "Behold the Bridegroom comes. "We should
note that the words of this hymn also echo the notion of watchfulness
when it states, "...blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching"
and again, "...unworthy is he whom He shall find heedless." Thus, we
see this notion of spiritual watchfulness at the beginning and at the
close of the lenten season, and if we look back to the Philokalia, we
will see numerous texts by several ascetics devoted to watchfulness and
the guarding of the intellect.
St. Philotheos of Sinai
indicates the two-fold nature of watchfulness by stating that,
"Watchfulness may fittingly be called a path leading both to the
kingdom within us and to that which is to be." This statement indicates
the two dimensions of watchfulness: the eschatological dimension, and
the inner, spiritual dimension.
The eschatological dimension
of watchfulness should not be confused with a "rapture" mentality, in
which we are consumed by predicting the exact year that the Lord will
return. Nor should this dimension be confused with living life to its
fullest, and not worrying about tomorrow, in an attempt to demonstrate
a kind of zeal for living. This dimension of watchfulness does not even
really focus on the concept of death, rather, it is more concerned with
the concept of judgment. The eschatological dimension of watchfulness
indicates that we should live each day, each hour, each moment of our
lives as if we could suddenly be called to give an account of our sins.
We are to live each moment as if we could receive a tap on the
shoulder, and be taken before the Judgment seat of the Lord most high.
We do not necessarily have to believe that "fire and brimstone" shall
rain down upon the earth, but we do have to believe that one day we
will be asked to give an account of the gifts that we have been given,
and how we have used these gifts for the glory of God. Christ knows
that we will never be completely prepared
for His return and
subsequent judgment, but He still exhorts us to continual perseverance
and spiritual askesis so that we may one day fulfill our potentialities
and truly exist in His likeness.
This spiritual askesis
composes the second dimension of watchfulness: the inner, spiritual
dimension. We have spoken about the eschatological aspect of
watchfulness, in which we are called to live each moment of life in
preparation for the coming of the Lord. But the spiritual aspect of
watchfulness involves the ascetic notion of guarding the intellect, and
watching, so that the attacks and assaults of the demonic powers to not
penetrate our heart and soul, and overcome our being with temptation
and sin. St. Hesychios the priest, in the Philokalia, states that,
''Watchfulness is a spiritual method which, if sedulously practiced
over a long period, completely frees us with God's help from
impassioned thoughts, impassioned words, and evil
actions...Watchfulness is a way embracing every virtue, every
commandment. It is the heart's stillness and, when free from mental
images, it is the guarding of the intellect. Watchfulness is a
continual fixing and halting of thought at the entrance to the heart.
In this way, predatory and murderous thoughts are marked down as they
approach and what they say and do is noted; and we can see in what
specious and delusive form the demons are trying to deceive the
intellect." Thus, we see that watchfulness functions as a necessary
facet of our salvific experience. Especially now, while we are in the
midst of the lenten season, and perhaps weary from the fast. We must
indeed remain watchful, both eschatologically and spiritually, so that
on that dreaded day of the Lord, when we are called to stand and be
judged before the throne of the most high, we may indeed be found
worthy to approach, draw near, and minister to the King of Glory.
Amen.
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