Monakhos

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:19-25 (English Standard Version)

Hebrews has always been one of my favorite books. I was looking through it today and rediscovered what I loved about it. It skips a lot of the more “basic” theology and digs in straight to the meat. Who was Jesus, and why is he important to us? What did he bring to the table, that others had not?

Jesus brought us through the curtain into fellowship with God again. He united the two again. He gave us hope for what had been lost. And he gave us freedom. From here on out “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 English Standard Version.) Furthermore, nothing can seperate us from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8:29-31.)

I know what some of you are thinking, and no this doesn’t mean we go on through life unchanged. We are changed to new creations. If you have truly had that enlightenment or salvation (depending on what you want to call it) experience, you can’t go back! And why would we?

Once we are through that curtain, we are with God. Still distinct, mind you, but as the journey continues the lines start to blur. Where does Zach end and God begin? The two are united inseperably. We become one with God.

As Saint Athanasios said, “God became human that we might be made god.�

That line in the last post stuck with me. “Living as best you can.” What’s the best I can do? How good will that be? How bad will that be? What is good and what is bad? And who is making all these definitions?

A pastor in Ukraine told my friend and I this story/joke once. I just thought of it now, and thought it would be fitting before going on.

A pastor was talking to a group of children in Sunday school. They were playing a game where the object was to name what the pastor was describing. The pastor stated that the thing had a bushy tail and ate nuts. He paused a moment, but no hands were raised. He gave a few more details, and still no hands.

After a while, a little boy raises his hand and says “I know the answers Jesus, but it sure does sound like a squirrel.”

(If you don’t get the moral of the story, you’ll understand when your older… Maybe!)

It’s easy to give “Sunday school” answers to these questions, and if I cared for them at all, I wouldn’t be asking them. After years in Christian school and Sunday school and church, I know every single one of them, and not one of them interests me anymore.

I wrote nearly two months ago on truth and since then my thoughts on the topic haven’t changed much. Truth is individual. No universal truth is true for all people. What is good for one person, might be bad for another. What might furthur one person may detriment another. Universality is nonexistent.

I have really been everywhere in this post, so let me try to narrow down the point I was trying to make in the beginning. Live. Screw up. Fail miserably. Live your own definitions. There is no truth outside of yourself. It is all inside of you. You just have to find it and live life as best you can.

… Wow, this is a sign I think that I should write what’s on my mind. When I do it comes out like this… five posts mangled into one with glaring omissions from each. Oh well, I hope you enjoy my insanity. I might be more normal tomorrow… We’ll see.

I found an awesome podcast today called The Holy Quran Daily Podcast. Every day a new section of the Quran is made available. It is read in Arabic and is absolutely beautiful to listen to, even though I don’t know enough Arabic to understand yet. Check it out!

Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me!

I have been reading about the Orthodox church a lot recently. In my reading I came across a group of people known as the Hesychasts that, from what I have read, really set the mystical tradition in the Orthodox church on its feet. A key teaching of the Hesychasts that was later written about my many church fathers in the Philokalia was the Jesus prayer. While it probably started as simply uttering the name of Jesus, it quickly progressed to the full phrase “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me!”

As one practices the prayer and becomes familiar with it, he or she can practice saying it silently. After that is mastered the individual should practice visualizing the heart, beating the words of the prayer. During inhalation say “Lord Jesus Christ.” On exhalation say “Have mercy on me.”

I have been practicing this Orthodox form of meditation for about a week now. While I have not devoted myself fully to it (as the hermit in The Way of a Pilgrim did saying it tens of thousands of times a day, I have still been able to see an impact in my life while reciting the prayer. The Jesus prayer brings with it a peace and calm, similar to what I experience in regular medition, except easier to practice while I am working or driving.

The Bible is filled with references to the prayer of the heart and commands to pray at all times. The Jesus prayer was (and is still) an Orthodox response on how to achieve what is described in these verses. When the prayer of the heart (the Jesus prayer) is fully mastered, it is as if the heart prays freely even while the rest of the body is performing other tasks, such as work or even sleeping.

If you are interested in reading more about the Jesus prayer, I would recommend Olga Savin’s translation of The Way of a Pilgrim. I read the abridged version, but it appears that it is out of print now. To read more about the Orthdox church, I would recommend Timothy (Kallistos) Ware’s The Orthodox Church.

There is no absolute truth, all truth is relative
There is no relative truth, all truth is absolute

(This just struck me this afternoon and I have been pondering it the rest of the evening.)