“When someone changes his way of life, should he attempt to correct the thoughts others had about him before?

St Paisios: He should not try to change the thoughts of others in a proud way; he will try first to correct himself and then the thoughts of others will be corrected or removed on their own. 

If the stigma of his past sinful life remains in society or in his narrow circle, this will be erased in time by his good behavior. There is no need to talk about it at all.

Through his sincere repentance, God will speak."(1)

'Panagouda' - St Paisios' Dwelling on Mt Athos

Reflection: 

Through our sincere repentance, God speaks.  God speaks to the hearts of those around us when we make the sincere effort to correct ourselves and continue to live a life in humility and repentance.

God will speak, when we trust in Him to help us. 

God will speak, and we will feel free from the worry of the opinions of others.

God will speak, and our relationships around us will improve. 

God will speak, and our lives will be filled with His Peace. 

Resources:

1) St Paisios, Vol. III Spiritual Struggle pg 188

“Spiritual Nobility... is sacrifice. A noble soul only makes demands of itself, never from others.  Such a soul sacrifices itself for others without expecting anything in return.

A noble soul forgets all that it gives, but remembers even the slightest thing given to it. Such a noble soul has philotimo(1), humility and simplicity, selflessness, honesty; it has it all. It also has the greatest joy and exaltation.”  

-St Paisios(2) Volume V Passions and Virtues, pg 247-248

Reflection: 

Have we been stressed lately?  More stress usually leads to closing ourselves off from others. As difficult as it may be, let us take St Paisios’ definition of a noble soul and put it into practice.  

Regardless of someone’s external appearance, opinions, comments, or mistakes in life - we are called to give our time, talents, and patience to others in this way. To give without measure, but repay even the slightest good done to us.

Let us keep ourselves accountable to sacrifice for our neighbor, and to acknowledge and repay those who have sacrificed for us. This is to treat everyone with the love of Christ(3), with spiritual nobility. 

When we ask Christ to help us act with a noble soul, our lives become more peaceful.  Our lives will become more joyful.  When we act in spiritual nobility, we will find even more fulfillment and purpose in each and every day.

Resources: 1) Read more about St Paisios the Athonite

2) St Paisios' Definition of Philotimo 

3) Matthew 22:35-37

“Let no one despair of his/her salvation...Are you a tax-collector? You can become an evangelist.(1)  Are you a blasphemer? You can become an apostle.(2)  Are you a thief? You can pillage paradise(3)...There is no evil that is not undone by repentance. Imagine a spark that has fallen into the ocean. Could it survive or continue to be seen? As a spark is to the ocean, so is wickedness in relation to God’s compassion - rather, God’s compassion is much greater, for the ocean while vast, has a measure, God’s compassion is infinite.” - St John Chrysostom The Healing of Healers, pg 52.

Reflection:

The thought that it is not possible for us to be forgiven, welcomed, and embraced, comes from the evil one deceiving us into thinking there is no hope for us, leading us to despair, deterring us from vulnerability of repentance. There is always hope, always a way to improve ourselves, always a way to grow - with Christ.  

When we choose to repent before God and neighbor, there is freedom there.  The freedom to become better, to change the way we live, to mature, to love more deeply.   

If we do not choose to repent, we will stay within the box of our own self-definitions, our own self-judgment. We limit ourselves; a self-imposed prison as if we could never change (‘I’m this kind of person’ ‘This is how I am’ etc). God wishes us to be free in His love, we must choose to live a life of repentance in order to live freely. 

Just as the Church is home for us, we can be a presence of ‘home’ for our family, friends, strangers, and ‘enemies’ who may feel unworthy of, or think they do not need: love, acceptance, and belonging. To become ‘home’ for our neighbor we must look inward and work on ourselves, continuously and consciously choosing the way of repentance.  Then everyone around us will feel embraced and the freedom to grow, change, and mature with Christ. 

As our life matures in repentance with Christ, let us strive to have compassion as vast as the ocean. Then other people will naturally experience us as ‘coming home’ in every interaction… they will feel Christ’s love.

Resources: 1) Matthew 9:9-13 Matthew the Tax Collector becomes disciple 

2) Acts 9 Saul Embraces Christ Becomes Paul 3) Luke 23:39-43 The Thief on the Cross

“Do not feel shame when repenting. Sin provokes guilt, while repentance brings boldness and freedom… The evil one tempts us with reversing the order: giving boldness to sin and shame to repentance.” - St John Chrysostom The Healing of Healers, pg 50.

Reflection:

St John Chrysostom(1) reminds us to not be tricked into shaming our repentance, but rather be confident in the true result of repentance: boldness and freedom.  From repentance and confession we feel lighter, free to shape ourselves anew with the help of Christ.  We can always change and improve, our past does not dictate our future, in Christ all transformation is possible.(2)

When we are tempted to feel shame while repenting, we are discouraged from our admitting of wrongs and choosing to ask Christ to transform our behavior, ultimately avoiding the healing Sacrament of Confession. Shame leads to blaming others for the way we feel, and our behavior begins to spiral downward. 

Shame(3) is often the feeling that we are somehow inherently flawed, and therefore we feel unworthy of connection, love, or belonging. These feelings of unworthiness, as real and heavy as they may feel, are never true of us. God is our Father, just like in the parable of the Prodigal Son, and He is always waiting for us to simply turn toward Him (repent and confess) so that He may run to us and embrace us.(4) God’s love is unconditional.(5)

Guilt is the acknowledgement that some behavior or decision was wrong and needs repentance.  Shame is a focus and judgment on oneself, vs guilt is a focus on behavior - behavior that can be changed. 
 

“Repentance is not an outward form (joy or sorrow) but the inner state of the soul which is pained because it has slighted the Lord’s love and which is grateful to Him for its restoration to the company of God’s children.”(6) Repentance is both the recognition of wrong doings, and the gratefulness of the healing God provides when we confess our brokenness and take action to change our ways.  

Let us remember with gratefulness that repentance brings boldness and freedom restoring Christ-given peace in our lives and harmony between us, God, and our neighbor.   Resources:

1) Read More About St John Chrysostom

2) Matthew 19:26

3) Guilt vs Shame YouTube Video

4) Luke 15:11-32 The Prodigal Son

5) 1 Corinthians 13 Love

6) Hieromonk Gregorios, The Healing of Healers, Pg 64.

“Prayer is the breath of the soul. Just as the body without fail needs air to breath, so the soul needs constant remembrance of God, that is, prayer.”

- Hiermonk Gregorios, The Orthodox Faith, Worship, and Life, pg 208. 

Reflection: 

Just like a doctor will evaluate our symptoms to see if we are sick, so must we care for the state of our souls. If we ever feel weighed down by the pressures of our circumstances in life, when we are afflicted by stress, anxiety, depression, or overwhelmed we should ask ourselves, are we constricting the breath of our soul through lack of prayer?  How can we give our soul more fresh air?

The moment we realize our soul is ‘short of breath’ is when we email or call the Church and ask the priest for spiritual guidance of how to build up our prayer habits.  

We can give our soul several small breaths throughout the day, saying the Jesus Prayer in short moments.  We can allow our soul to take deep breaths in the morning and evening.  We can and must allow our soul to be nourished before nourishing our bodies, praying before each meal.  Prayer is how our soul comes into contact with the Breath of Life, the Holy Spirit.(1)

When we choose to let our souls breathe then our lives and all the tasks within it are manageable, since we are constantly inviting the help of God. “In all circumstances, before we act, we should ask, ‘have I thought about this? Have I prayed about this?’”(2)

Let each breath of air remind us that we need to take another breath of prayer. 

Reference:

1) Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. 

2) St Paisios Athonite V. II pg 333.

“As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit in patience." Luke 8:5-15 Reflection: 

How do we ensure that we receive the Word of God like seeds in good soil?  

The more constantly we give of ourselves to God and neighbor, the more we open our hearts to receiving the Word of God. The more we realize we need God and neighbor to navigate through life properly, we realize we need help. Humility is the key, humility lets in God’s Word and holds it tightly.  

A humble heart is patiently open to change, patiently open to being corrected, patiently open to transformation by Christ Himself.  

We open our hearts in humility through the reading scripture, personal prayer, the sacramental life, participating in the ministries, sacrificing our time for others, and every aspect of our Orthodox Christian way of life.

Let us make the effort to create more opportunities to allow God’s Word to find rest in our hearts.  Take five minutes a day, with the daily reading(1) and we will experience the results in time, with patience and a humble heart.  Our relationship with God and everyone around us will become stronger, and more peaceful. 

Resources:

1) https://www.goarch.org/chapel

“For a person to become a Christian, one must have a poetic soul. A Christian, albeit only when he/she loves, is a poet and lives amid poetry. Poetic hearts embrace love and sense it deeply.”

- St Porphyrios, Wounded by Love, 218

St Porphyrios

Reflection: 

To have a poetic heart means to see a deeper meaning than what meets the eye.  We begin to recognize the value of everything around us, acknowledge the majesty of God’s creation. 

We are able to see our lives in context, each of our decisions, stresses, and tasks in their proper place before God and within His creation - within His love, helping us not become overwhelmed with our circumstances.   

The poetic (Orthodox Christian) heart, sees more to the human being than their externals. A poetic heart sees more to the person than one or two impressions, their opinions, or their comments.  A poetic heart sees a person for the inner disposition of their soul, always within the context of the potential to grow - with the help of a life in Christ. 

Poetic hearts do not get stuck in the judgments or draw conclusions of the external appearances, surface level imperfections, or even day-to-day mistakes of a person.  A poetic heart is “swift to hear, slow to speak.”(1)

St Porphyrios suggests that one must have a poetic heart to be Christian, because it is this kind of heart when rooted in Christ that exhibits: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”(2) When we have a poetic heart, we become more Christ-like, we see the beauty, as well as potential-beauty, in everything and everyone.  

With a poetic heart, we regain the beauty “on earth, as it is in heaven.”(3)

Resources:

1) James 1:18-20

2) The Fruits of the Holy Spirit Galatians 5:22-23

3) The Lord’s Prayer Matthew 6:9-13

 “The Church is a hospital, because it offers the opportunity for people to move from the state of being isolated individuals - to that of personhood…”

- Metropolitan John Zizioulas Illness and Healing in Orthodox Theology, pg 49.
  Life Giving Spring

Reflection: 

The way we live as Orthodox Christians is not simply a 'moral code' in order to be a 'good person', it is far deeper than that.  Our way of life is a result of the real relationship with a real person, God Himself, in order to lead us and others unto eternal life. 

We live as we are in the Kingdom of Heaven, here and now, bringing Christ to the world.  Let us not fall into the trap to live as individuals caring for ourselves in isolation from others, but as persons: those who have relationships with God and others.

Through our active relationship with God, we naturally show others His peace, His humility, His love.  Through this we provide inner healing by our very presence in their lives - since Christ is within us. 

In other words, each of our thoughts, words, and deeds should help others recover:

1. Their true identity as bearers of the image and likeness of God(1) - recovering their value, their dignity, respect, growing in Christ. 

2. A path that joins them into communion with our Creator(2), by being welcoming toward everyone so that they may always return, feeling worthy of being within the Church body and freely working on their relationship with Christ.

3. Their citizenship of Heaven(3) - the way we live should inspire them to know that life is bigger than the citizenship here on earth. We are created for a higher purpose, we have immense value, to be with God in His Kingdom.  These things aren’t necessarily said bluntly, but rather, they are lived.

The Church is a community whose people are transformed by the interconnections experienced living as the Body of Christ.  Let us do our part with Christ to assist in keeping the Church community, a hospital: a haven where everyone, no matter what they are going through, can take refuge in our community and feel that they belong immediately and are embraced by Christ and neighbor.

Resources:

1) Genisis 1:27

2)Matthew 22:36-40

3) Philippians 3

“Make the most of beautiful moments. Beautiful moments predispose the soul to prayer; they make it refined, noble, and poetic...Wake up in the morning to see the sun rising out from the sea as a king/queen robed in purple. All things enrich us, all lead us to the great Love, all lead us to Christ.”

- St Porphyrios, Wounded by Love, pg 218.

Reflection: 

Let us take the opportunity to walk outside in silence and observe God’s handiwork. Where-ever we turn we encounter God’s wisdom.(1) Let us make efforts to enjoy more beautiful moments on our own, as well as together with our families and friends. Let’s create deeper connections with our Creator and our neighbor.  

It may come naturally to enjoy a beautiful sunset, a scenic view, or the refreshing morning air.  We cannot forget that the same admiration we have for the world God created, must be multiplied 100-fold for our fellow neighbors whom God also created (even those whom we do not get along with, or that we think fit particular categories and labels).  

Human beings are the pinnacle of creation, for God created each of us in His Image and are deserving of respect, honor, and dignity. We must begin each thought process and interaction from this truth, this starting point, in order to begin to change the world.  

Every place and person we encounter are opportunities to grow closer and give thanks to Christ and one another. 

Everything leads back to Christ when we take a moment to put both our ego and devices aside, opening ourselves to grow in deep connection with God, His creation, and one another, for even just five minutes each day.  St Porphyrios reminds us that to live in “Prayer is to approach everything made by God with love and to live in harmony with everything, even with wild nature.”(2)

Resources: 1) Psalm 103 2) St Porphyrios, Wounded by Love, 220.