THE FEAT OF REFRAINING FROM JUDGING

By Fr. Inok Vsevolod (Filipiev).

The venerable Maximilian the Confessor says: "Should we not be horrified and trembling... for God the Father, not judging anyone, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son Himself (Jn 5:22), the Son: Judge not, lest ye be judged. (Mt 7:1); Do not judge and you will not be judged (Lk 6:37), and likewise an Apostle: Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. (1 Cor 4:5) and also: ...for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself... (Rom 2:1), when I say it, it is so: people, crying about their sins, took judgment from the Son's hands and began to judge and condemn one another, as if they were sinless! Heaven is horrified by this, and the earth trembles." {Christian life on The Philokalia, Harbin, 1930).

Centuries pass, but still people stand before the very same unassailable wall of condemnation and cannot overcome it. Adam in Paradise, justifying himself before God, condemned Eve; Cain, having condemned his brother Abel in his soul, killed him; the crime of condemnation brought the Jews to the killing of the Messiah; and for us, the new Canaanites and Pharisees, condemnation pushes us to the daily spiritual murder of our brothers.

Condemning tortures even those very ones who condemn, denies them peace, forces them to constantly monitor the actions of those around them and poisons their souls with bitterly venomous suspicion.

One modern elder said: "Getting up onto the path of salvation is easy: one must just firmly resolve to never judge anyone from this moment forth." The mind can understand these words, but how to put them into effect? For this it is absolutely necessary to understand where the reason for the condemnation lies. And the reason is in our false self-appraisal: those who judge others consider themselves to be in the right, place themselves about their brother, and see themselves as being rid of those sins which they accuse those around them of. He who has not acknowledged his own personal spiritual corruption will never cease condemning his neighbors.

However, we are all infected with sin, aren't we? There is no person who could live and not sin—we all languish in the prison of our own flaws, all pray for relief in the life of the next era, and all need Godly aid. Again, many know this in theory, but when it comes down to it, withholding judgment becomes painfully difficult; we are driven to condemn. Why? Because condemnation has become our passion, and like any passion, it brings us a great reward, a fascinating, thinly-veiled pleasure. How "nice" it is to condemn someone in a friendly conversation, laugh at

someone's shortcomings, harbor malicious sentiments and engage in similar innuendo... But surely we don't disbelieve the Bible warning us that someday we will have to answer for every single word, and thus even for this false joy, intent to condemn.

The battle with the passion of condemnation, as with any other passion, cannot be theoretical; it must be every minute of every day, for al our lives; it must be based on tight self-discipline and on being attentive of our words and thoughts. In other words, without smart behavior, without spiritual feats, one cannot succeed here. What, in this case, must the said behavior and feats consist of? They must consist of attentive servitude in all facets of life. We will also definitely notice that during the course of the day the paths to condemnation, veritably invisible underwater rocks, surround us on all sides and threaten to shipwreck our soul. With God's help, we can gradually learn to avoid encounters with these submarine rocks; in those places where we used to be overcome with irritation and annoyance, we will be calm; where we used to be angry, we will be silent, where we tried to justify ourselves, we will be calm.

Where we judged our neighbors—we will pray for them and for ourselves, so that we do not fall into similar sins. Very quickly we will notice that our souls are not weighed down with condemnation, that they experience genuine spiritual happiness and lightness of being; and we are wiser—the chains and fetters of other's sins no longer anger us.

And as judging others brings with it other forms of corruption: anger, discord, and murder, so will victory over condemnation reveal the true path to those who would do good: clean prayer, peace, harmony, full awareness of one's sins. It is for this very reason that all manner of demons try to catch the soul in a net of condemnation and barriers to the cleansing of this passion. In turn, and for the same reason, we do not have the right to put down the fight with condemnation, but must immediately begin carefully watching after ourselves.

"Watching after ourselves" is the golden rule of Christian morality, but so often scorned by Christians. How much effort we exert on external affairs, and how little strength we leave for our own selves. But without these internal affairs, nothing on the outside could possibly lead to salvation...

Let's say that Russian Orthodox patriots fight for the rebirth of Orthodox tsarist Russia, and this is good; but at the same time we cannot forget that the rebirth of Russia and the tsar will not bring the light of Christ into our souls if we are weighed down by corruption. Can one imagine a sadder ending: in Russia there would rule an Orthodox tsar, but in our hearts become a hellish dusk! But this is exactly what will happen to those Christians, even if they are patriots, who do not watch after themselves, do nc lead invisible battles with their own passions, and do nc care for their souls.

The Most Holy Seraphim of Sarov said that the goal c Christian life is reaching for the Holy Spirit. And the Hoi Spirit is in fact called the Heavenly King. Both are confirms tions in our souls of the power of this King and it should b our top priority. For this it is necessary to step onto the pat of smart action, the path of spiritual conflict with passion: and to conquer them one by one, with God's help. And the  battle can begin with the very passion of condemnation and judging.

In conclusion, I will once more repeat the wise words c the elder: "Getting up onto the path of salvation is easy one must just firmly resolve to never judge anyone from this moment forth."

Orthodox Heritage Vol. 10, Issue 05-04