The sayings of Elder
Aimilianos are a wonderful guide for self-knowledge, for ascending the ladder
of virtues. His advice can be followed by any Christian who labors ascetically
for the sake of liberation from his “I” and acquiring the freedom of the
children of God (cf. Rom. 8:21).
The following excerpt was
published in Russian by the Pskov Caves Monastery in the book, Life in God’s
Presence.
A spiritual man is always
peaceful
Archimandrite Aimilianos
Archimandrite Aimilianos
The natural condition in which
man should live is serenity, spiritual joy, and peace. Man is not made for
sorrow or pain. Sorrows are sent to us by God, because He wants to raise us
from our wretchedness to the spiritual heights, to give us rest from fights,
and to find joy and spiritual gladness. How do we respond to the difficulties
we encounter? For example, we have a weakness: We want to be joyful, but
instead, we easily succumb to despondency. And this grieves us. Of course, our
sorrow is not for God; it’s egotistical. We want to feel joy, but we can’t. We
look at our infirmities in an earthly way. Do you remember how the Apostle Paul
similarly asked the Lord to deliver him from his affliction? How did God answer
him? My grace is sufficient for thee (2 Cor. 12:9). God seemed to object to the
Apostle’s request: “Don’t you understand? If I take this infirmity from you,
you could perish. But with this affliction you will walk straight into Heaven.”
Our character, and our infirmities, and all our sorrows and difficulties turn
out to be our best guides on the path to Heaven.
If they become an obstacle for
us, it’s because of our own egotism. We ourselves leave God, as if we don’t
need Him or His grace; we love only ourselves. And instead of worshiping Christ,
we worship ourselves. One person can abuse his beauty and become a fornicator,
another his physical strength and become a criminal, and a third his money and
turn into a dastardly and lowly person; so our attitude towards ourselves can
be perverted, and we can deify our “I.” If a man doesn’t feel spiritual
freedom, joy, and gladness, it means he hasn’t yet found a connection with God.
The man who doesn’t love the Lord with all his heart, who hasn’t freely
surrendered to Him, is still between corruption and incorruption, and therefore
grieves and suffers from difficulties and problems, really struggling with
temptations and feeling like a failure in life.
A man of God, a spiritual man
is always peaceful, and the peace of his soul can never be overshadowed by
anything. There is no cloud above it: The sun is at its zenith and disperses
any clouds. He may have external sorrows, but they don’t affect his soul, they
don’t cause internal pain. As the bush was engulfed in flames but didn’t burn
because God was in it, the exact same thing happens with the saints. They can
burn in the fire of temptations and sorrows. But what is this fire? It’s the
visitation of God, the presence of the Living God, Who by this doesn’t allow
them to relax, but compels them to seek Him more and more. And that’s why they
don’t burn in this fire. They’re already in a state of deification, they are
partakers of the Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). They suffer neither mentally nor
spiritually. They have only one suffering, one pain—the passion of Christ. They
have one aspiration—perfection; one thirst—for God.
The peace of Christ is a deep
sense of the wholeness of a human being. It arises, first of all, thanks to the
complete unity and agreement of the three powers of the soul: the intelligent,
the desiring, and the incensive. This holy peace fluctuates when the powers of
the soul fluctuate, when the balance between them is lost. And this shows that
man has deviated from the correct path in his spiritual life, that he no longer
burns with love for God or feels His presence. In other words, there’s neither
inner harmony nor union with God in him. A man who has lost spiritual peace has
also lost God, because Divine grace no longer touches his heart, and he’s
unable to become the dwelling place of God. And this happens because the
sovereign principle, the spirit of man, called to unite with God and lead the
whole man to theosis, is at odds with the other forces of the soul. He who is
easily led to turmoil and has no peace has not yet become a spiritual person.
His soul is drawn by earthly pleasures, his spirit wallows in them and falls
into a carnal state. Such a man, although he’s created to soar in the heights
like an eagle, has fallen to the ground and grovels like a worm. Imagine that
an eagle can’t take off and walks along the earth, in the dirt. Can he not but
long for the expanses of the heavens? Can he live like nothing happened?
The basis of the spiritual
life is joy
The first foundation of the
spiritual life is joy. The Church calls us to ever abide in joy, not to go
about with a gloomy appearance, not to indulge in false sadness supposedly for
the sake of God. Sorrow for God, right and true, given by the Holy Spirit, is
not at all that sadness that sometimes comes upon us because we’re moving away
from God. When we’re on the right path and we draw near to God, then we’re
accompanied by joy and inner peace. It’s in an atmosphere of joy that the soul
is able to thrive, to see God, and enjoy His presence. This spiritual joy is
natural for man, and the Holy Spirit perfects it, so that it becomes an
unfailing, inalienable gift of God. Perfect joy is preceded by the gift of
tears. Tears express the deep pain of a soul striving to return to Paradise and
suffering from the fact that it fell, that it was expelled from Paradise and
ended up here, on earth. In other words, the sadness that the soul experiences
from the consciousness of its impotence. However, it doesn’t deprive us of joy,
but conversely, brings spiritual gladness and gives us a taste of Paradisiacal
sweetness. As it’s impossible to breathe poisoned air, so it’s impossible to
live without joy. Sorrow for the sake of God and fervent joy-making tears
enhance joy, making it genuine and permanent.
***
A man who experiences no joy
has deviated from the right spiritual path. When you have a temperature,
there’s no doubt you’re sick. The same is true in the spiritual life: If a man
feels no joy, it means something’s not right with him; and let him not think
that his love for God is expressed in sadness, or that his neighbor, his
difficulties, the weather, or poor health are responsible for his despondent
state… Man himself is guilty; he himself has departed from God.
When thanks to the
wholehearted concentration of the heart, aspiration for God becomes our
constant possession, then our joy will be measureless and life will be
spiritual. We can also understand what kind of connection we have with God by
whether our joy is small or great, full or imperfect. As great as our joy is,
so strong is our connection with God. We shouldn’t become despondent, for joy
makes our life very easy, thanks to which we’re able to live.
Why do we lose our inner
peace? We can also lose our inner peace because we isolate ourselves from loved
ones and treat them scornfully. In such cases, we dissect the Body of Christ
and something unnatural—alienation from loved ones—penetrates into our
spiritual life, which in itself should be natural and simple. Without feeling
the unity and community of the Body of Christ, we can’t feel the presence of
God and His gracious peace within ourselves. In other words, the smallest
separation from God or from any person, as well as the smallest displeasure
with the world around us, naturally robs us of the peace of Christ.
After all, the entire creation
is united with God, recognizes its Creator, and tolerates no discord or
disorder within itself. It groaneth and travaileth (Rom. 8:22) together with
man, who has fallen away from God, it strives for reunification with God, for
its rebirth, and desires to see itself as the New Heaven and New Earth (2 Pet.
3:13). And therefore, as soon as you start grumbling and getting annoyed by the
weather: “Why’s the wind blowing so hard? Oh, this endless rain! What awful
humidity!” or you even just say: “Why do we need worms, lizards, and snakes in
this world?” you immediately lose peace. When you collide with a creation
that’s seeking God and groaning, combining its tears with those of all the
saints, until it reconciles with God on the last day (cf. Rom. 8:21), your life
sounds dissonant with the whole universe, and you separate from nature and God.
It’s the same in relationships
with people: If you don’t put yourself on par with the lowest sinner, if you
don’t recognize him as part of your own being, you’ll never be able to feel
genuine peace. You should feel unity not just with all people, but also with
the smallest insect, recognizing that God Himself unites both you and it with
Heaven. Holy peace is something deeper, more durable than joy. Peace testifies
not only to how I am now, but also to where I’m going, whether my path is true,
and what kind of goal I have. The criterion in the spiritual life is joy, which
shows what my spiritual condition is now; and peace, which testifies that I’m
on the right path. If I don’t have peace, it means I’ve lost my way. We dare to
say that even sin is not so dangerous as losing peace. Of course, in and of
itself, sin is the great insult to God and man. People seek solace in sin, but
sin has never brought anyone peace. And if a man has sinned, the most important
thing for him is to immediately turn away from sin and make haste for Paradise
with all his soul. Then he will find peace, and that’s what’s most important.
When man is in a peaceful state, when his soul is calm and comforted, only then
can that fire that will enlighten him and reveal God to him be kindled in his
heart.
Archimandrite Aimilianos
(Vafeidis)
Translation by Jesse Dominick
Pravoslavie.ru
10/15/2021
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