Chapter Five
A. The Roles of Spirit and Mind It is a well known fact that Christian teaching in general, and orthodox teaching in particular, is spiritual. Its aim is to address the spirit, the
divine element within us which lifts us up to spiritual, eternal, and doctrinal concerns. The Spirit is "meek and mild", speaks quietly, and moves the depths of our beings with power. The Spirit addresses the whole human
entity. The Spirit is in touch with the divine, while the mind studies, analyzes and comes to conclusions, and the self feels and is emotionally stirred. Even the body has to be disciplined to give the spirit the opportunity to be
released.
Orthodox teaching rejects the emotional and sentimental methods of teaching because this would address only one of the basic components of human nature,
that is, the self. So you see a person being stirred and weeping, or being moved and joyful. But all this takes place at the level of the self only, and does not encompass the whole being. The danger here is that
emotions are closely attached to the ego. When a person ends his emotional prayers, his ego is comforted because he feels he has made a great effort. Here is where the danger lies, for man feels that he has achieved something and
has prayed with fervor. The enemy then comes and plants self within him, and so man deviates from the path and is lost. Orthodox prayer is the prayer of the spirit, the mind, the emotions and the body
together. The spirit contemplates God; the mind talks calmly and reasonably with God; the emotions experience the enlightening light; the body kneels, lifts its hands and beats its breast in reverence. The person leaves his prayer
chamber humbler and calmer and with more peace and meekness.
Let us study those four elements that work together to form Orthodox spirituality.
1. The spirit
It is the basic element in spiritual life, for very simply, it is the element that makes us reach God and takes us beyond the horizons of the finite to what is outside time, matter, and death to the eternal and immortal world of the spirit. It is the element through which we believe in God and get to know the Creator, His angels, and His heavenly world. It is the most important component of man that distinguishes him from other creatures. Many creatures share with us the material body, and some, such as animals, share with us a self which has reactions and instincts. However, man is different from all of them because of the spirit which communicates with God and the other world, and the mind which thinks, studies, analyzes and deduces.
The role of the spirit in faith is more important that the role of the mind, although they complement each other. The apostle says: "For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. but he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For 'who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?' But we have the mind of Christ." (1 Cor. 2: 10 -16).
We can deduce from the above passage the following: .
The apostle said this to the Greek Corinthians who possessed human wisdom and philosophy to confirm that the mind alone cannot know God. They had the 'unknown god' whom they worshipped without really knowing him. (Acts 17: 23). . There is a difference between God's Holy Spirit and the human spirit within us, even though God's Spirit works in us through this human spirit which God has implanted within us as a means of connecting us to God. .
The things of God cannot be known by anyone other than the Spirit of God. Therefore, we cannot know God except when we give our spirits the opportunity to commune, to contemplate, and to worship, so that we, who are finite, can
understand a little about infinite God. . It is important to compare the spiritual with spiritualities. This means that we should not try to get to know God who is spirit using material criteria: time, space, and senses
...etc. This is clearly wrong, since we should not measure length using kilograms, or weight using kilometers. We have to use the appropriate means in studying the matter at hand. That is why the human spirit must move within
us in prayer, reverence, contemplation, holiness, and striving in order to get to know God partially and incompletely since man is finite. However, in eternity, knowledge will be fuller and more complete, "face to face" (1
Cor. 13: 13), because we will be in the world of the spirit. The human spirit will then have the freedom to soar, probe, understand, and express. Thus, Job says: "and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh
I shall see God." (Job19:26). God does not submit to the senses, but reveals Himself to the spirit as an abundant divine grace within man's limited capacity to comprehend. . There is a difference between natural man
and spiritual man. Natural man is born with sin and his nature is corrupt. That is why it is difficult, and even impossible, for him to seek the world of spiritualities and to know it: God, the angels, immortality, the saints,
....etc. As for the spiritual man who has
b
been renewed through baptism,b been sanctified by the Chrism,
b been united with the Lord through Holy Communion,
b renewed his promises through repentance,
He can, with the grace of God working in him, and with the Spirit of God abiding within him, penetrate into the spiritual world, for he is not under judgment (because of defilement, corruption, and bodily sin), but has the mind of Christ, to Whom be glory.
Thus, we can say that the spirit is the first factor in the Christian life which we always call the spiritual life, in recognition of the importance of the human spirit in its contact with God and its entrance into the metaphysical world (beyond nature).
I quote here a well-known saying of Pope Shenouda III's, "Spiritual life means that the body submits to the spirit, and the human spirit submits to the Holy Spirit."
2. Mind
The one who believes that the mind, this gift of God to man and the second element that distinguishes man from other creatures, has no role in the Christian life is mistaken. It is a dangerous crime to attempt t remove the mind from the spiritual life so that it remains "fruitless" Sufficient evidence of this is provided by St. Paul in his request to his children at Corinth to pray with the mind and not with the spirit only. He says: " Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the result then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say 'Amen" at your giving of thanks since he does not understand what you say? For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified. I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, then ten thousand words in a tongue. Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature." (1Cor. 14: 13 - 20).
We can deduce from this passage the following: . The gift of speaking in tongues was a
miracle for the benefit of the unbelievers, to the extent that the apostle wanted to limit it if it was not accompanied by the gift of translation. This meant that the tongue would be comprehensible to the unbeliever who was
filled with wonder at the sight of a Jewish fisherman speaking in it without any previous learning. As a miracle, it was evidence of the work of the Spirit of God in the apostles. However, moving the muscles of the mouth, jaw, and tongue in
incomprehensible jargon is not a gift or a miracle by any criteria. It is an emotional reaction resulting from a concentrated attempt to obtain this gift, as though it were the only manifestation of the work of God's Spirit, although the
Spirit of God has many other gifts. . There was another necessary accompanying gift, that of translation of the tongues so that ordinary believers could benefit from what was being said in that
tongue. We can visualize Jerusalem, the religious and touristic city, with many nationalities each with its mother tongue, meeting with the Jews of the 'Diaspora' who came from different parts of the world. They had learned the
language of these countries along with their Hebrew language. They all gather together. The apostles speak in different tongues, and many believe when they see this miracle. The apostles spoke in tongues they did not know
before in the midst of this great throng on the day of Pentecost. Three thousand souls believed after listening to St. Peter's speech in the Hebrew that all know, the Judiazed Gentiles as well as the Jews of the 'Diaspora'. This was the
miracle of the day of Pentecost. . Later on, in the local churches, if someone spoke in a tongue for the benefit of a non-believer, the apostle stipulated that there should be a translation and that this should
be done with decorum and in an orderly manner. In Christian spirituality, both the mind and the spirit participate; the enlightened mind responds to the activity of the spirit. As for unintelligible behavior or words that belong to
no language whatsoever, that is not of the Spirit. . There is a close tie between the spirit and the mind, or between faith and understanding. The apostle says: "
By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God"
(Heb.11:3). Faith is our way to understanding and to the solution of many intellectual problems. It is sufficient to examine Darwin's theory which is still just that, a theory. He was unable to understand two points, either intellectually or scientifically. They are the first origin of life and the missing link between the gorilla and man. By faith, we solve all these problems. God is the origin of existence, and by necessity exists. This is the secret of life. There is no missing link between the gorilla and man; God created man along different lines from other creatures, as He gave him a mind and a spirit. There is a resemblance to animals in body and self as evidence of there being one Creator. There is no problem in man's resembling animals in some of the physical systems since these systems serve the same functions in both. The same applies to reactions and instincts; the resemblance is evidence of there being one Creator, the Great Engineer who is behind all the universe.
. There is no contradiction between faith and science. Faith deals with what is unseen while science is concerned with the concrete world. Faith supports science and scientists since it considers man to be the crowning of
all creatures and priest over all creation. He is able, thanks to his inherent wisdom, to probe the depths of the world, and to discover the laws that the Creator has laid down. Although the Holy Bible is not a scientific book, it
contains no scientific errors and does not contradict any of the givens of science. In fact, it was the first to state that the world is a sphere, for it says: "It is he who sits on the circle of the earth"
(Is.40:22). When Newton was asked about how he felt at having discovered the greatest of natural laws, he said, "I was like a small child diverting himself on the shore of a huge ocean," and Einstein said: "Whenever I contemplate this universe, I become more ignorant."
. Just as faith does not contradict the mind or reason, and both are complementary, so the finite mind cannot penetrate into the infinite, just like the microscope is used by the finite eye to see small organisms and the
telescope to see distant phenomena. The eye cannot dispense with the telescope and the telescope cannot dispense with the eye. Both complement each other. In the same way, the mind helps faith, and faith helps the mind to
explore the other world. . Also there is no conflict between the spiritual and general culture, whether literature, art, philosophy, sociology, psychology, history, geography, mathematics, and the different sciences. All of
these are the product of the human mind. But for a glimpse of divine knowledge and inspiration from God, man would not have reached many of them, such as the discovery of natural laws (Newton's apple), or Archimedes' displacement, or the
discovery of penicillin, .... etc.
Therefore, it is dangerous to despise the mind, for it is a divine gift. God created us in His image in many respects, one of which is the mind and wisdom. Also the work of the mind is absolutely essential in the study of the Holy Bible, ecclesiastical subjects, general culture and contemporary trends. All that is required is that the mind be enlightened with the light of God through baptism and sanctification, through unity with the Lord, and through the constant filling of the mind with the thought of the Fathers and with spiritual writing. Thus, we will have a mind that is able to discriminate and benefit.
The Danger of "Brainwashing" There is a method which is scientifically studied in universities abroad called Brain-washing or Mind Control in which a leader, usually the member of an
organized group having specific religious or political aims, undertakes to wash the brains of his listeners so that they totally follow him mindlessly and blindly. They acquire a "personal loyalty" to this leader and can see no
other way out and no other teacher. They are perfectly ready to become his followers and totally devoid of will. They do not think about or discuss anything with him or anyone else, but they live in a totally passive state that strips
them of their humanity, their characteristics, and their ability to discriminate and make appropriate decisions. They ask the leader to make decisions on their behalf so that they do not take responsibility for them. They do not
want to take the trouble of thinking or praying, or experiencing God's guidance of the reason, the will, and their being.
This dangerous method
creates rubber stamp copies, each losing its distinct characteristics and individual traits. Man then loses the feeling that he is loved by God "personally" and "individually", in a way differing from any other and in keeping with his
needs, problems, nature, and spiritual, educational, and social circumstances. This follower also gradually loses his role in life, his ability to be responsible and to communicate and engage in a dialogue with others. Furthermore,
he loses his family, church, and social relationships and becomes merely an instrument or tool in the hand of the leader, to be used as the latter wishes. Perhaps we recall the so-called Rev. Jones who managed to persuade an
enormous number of people to commit mass suicide in the hopes of all going together to a happier after-life. This is the utmost that an absolute leader can do, but there are degrees of submission and dependence and of the loss of
spiritual and intellectual vision and insight, differing according to the strength of the leader and his dominance over souls and to the weakness of the personalities, intellects, and spiritual awareness of his followers.
How Does Brainwashing Take Place?
. There is an intelligent leader who has studied this method or belongs to this school or to an organization whose aim is Mind Control. . This leader addresses his listeners' physical and
psychological needs, and even their spiritual needs. They feel that he is aware of their pain and hopes.....; this one is ill and that one is about to commit a sin; the third has a family or a financial problem. The leader offers
them solutions that are in fact stupid solutions. . Psychological suggestions are exploited to influence the listeners. For instance, they suggest: "We are all in the presence of God; the Spirit of God is
moving among us now; all those present will receive strength and liberty from all enslavement, I trust that God is working now in this meeting; you will leave this place a totally new person; what you could not do for decades, you will now be
able to do ..... etc." . The suggestions are made more potent by playing on feelings and emotions through sentimental hymns, or through emotionally moving appeals, so that the leader addresses the individual's
psyche, not his soul or his reason. . The body is involved in this process; they stand, move, bend with the music, go into convulsions, weep, and laugh. In the West and in Africa, they dance to music; this emotional charge
expresses itself through physical movement. The work here is not spiritual at all, but is emotional. It takes place at the level of spirit and body, not on the level of soul and mind. . The
effectiveness of the leader increases when he presses his followers' heads, or when he breathes violently in their faces. The follower moves back or bends his head backwards. The leader presses on the center governing balance, so
the follower falls to the ground. This is repeated particularly with young girls and women because of their strong emotionalism Thus the other followers feel that this leader who causes people to fall to the ground with a touch is
truly strong. Naturally, there is no spiritual strength here, no sign of the cross and no anointing with oil. It is all merely suggestions made to people who are in need, who are psychologically, mentally, and spiritually
weak, in addition to the pressure exerted on the cervical nerves, which causes a loss of balance and falling. . Some of these people have said that they felt they were in heaven. The reason is that they needed to feel that
they were far removed from their problems, a well-known type of defense mechanism resorted to by a person who cannot face his problems and who thus regresses to infancy, to sleep, or to drug addiction, or who escapes from this world through
this type of suggestion. . There is no doubt that the greatest danger to these souls is the danger of dependence. That is, they become totally dependent on the leader for everything. You notice that: they stop thinking for themselves and ask the leader to decide about all the issues in their lives. they are addicted to listening to this leader in order to obtain the tranquilizing doze from him. they are naturally unable to listen to anyone else; they are addicted to him and wholly dependent upon him. they lose their personality and spiritual individuality; they are united to this leader and have
canceled themselves in order to avoid any conflict, engaging in dialogue, facing up to problems, or taking responsibility for themselves. This method is extremely dangerous for the spirits, minds, and souls of people, especially
young men and women. We have to be alert to this danger and avoid it so that a person can grow as a child of God, a member in the Church, interacting with society, responsible for his choices, fulfilling God's purpose for his life,
preserving his individuality and his distinctiveness in accordance with the gifts and talents granted him by God.
1 Cor. 12 and Rom. 12 present us with the one body which has many different, complementary, and cooperative members, united in the Holy Spirit and in love for the growth of the group (not of the individual alone) in the Church of Christ.
B.The Participation of Spirit and Body: In Orthodox spirituality, it is not enough that the soul and mind work together; the spirit and the body have to take part too.
3.The Participation of the Spirit
The human spirit is the source of instincts, spiritual needs, emotions, habits and tendencies. All these combined take part in forming Orthodox spirituality. The Lord Jesus sanctifies the human entity in its totality and in its parts and creates man anew through baptism and the Holy Chrism, through repentance and Holy Communion, through the anointing of the sick and marriage, and through the holy priesthood. Man with all his components thus becomes a vessel for grace and a useful tool of the Holy Spirit. There are some examples of how the spirit participates in Orthodox Christianity:
1- The instincts: The Spirit of God sanctifies the human instincts, such
as the sexual instinct, hunger and thirst, man's curiosity, his love of life, and his need to belong. All of these instincts which God has implanted in us are thus used for the service of man and for the continuity of the human race.
They are put to the use of the spirit and to the expansion of the kingdom of heaven. A man marries in order to live in the unity of love, in the purity of conduct, to cooperate in life, and to beget children for the Kingdom. The
husband becomes a father and the wife a mother, offering to their children the love of God through their own love, and the gentleness and care of God through their own, bringing up their children in the fear of the Lord. The
Christian individual takes care of his life for it is a talent in the service of the Kingdom and because it is a gift of God which does not belong to him. As he acquires the instinct of curiosity, the Spirit exploits it in the
discovery of immortality and in the knowledge that glorifies God, and in other achievements that build up man and humanity.
2. Our Spiritual needs:
These can only be satisfied by the Lord Jesus Christ
b He is our way to success
b He is the way for man to become loving and loved
b He satisfies the need to belong: to the family, to the Church, to society, and to all of humanity.
b He is our basic and only reference: in His Book and in the writings of the Fathers of the Church.
b He realizes for us our individuality and our distinctiveness. We are not just numbers for Him, but names He knows and loves and cares for.
b He is the source of our feelings of security "Believe and you will be safe."
Thus, the Lord Jesus satisfies all our spiritual needs, and so our souls grow and increase in peace and we live in harmony.
3. General motives
As for our general motives such as following the crowd or imitating others in their conduct, the Lord Jesus sanctifies them so that I do not follow the
majority in wrongdoing, but I have a strong flexibility that allows me to cooperate with people in what is right and to desist in what is wrong. I imitate people in what is good and avoid doing so in what is not. "
But it is good to zealous in a good thing always" (Gal. 4:18) "And do not be conformed to this world" (Rom. 12:2)
4. The emotions:
Orthodox spirituality disciplines natural emotions in man which are developed by repeated arousal, maybe in what is right or maybe in what is wrong! Orthodox
spirituality gives the individual the capacity for spiritual love (agape) which is more sublime than human love (philia) and rejects lust (eros).
The Christian person, in the Holy Spirit, knows how to direct his emotions so that they are controlled and rational; he even makes them spiritual and sanctified. Our emotions do not become rampant, running away with us at the expense of the salvation of our souls and our faith in Christ.
Orthodox Christianity does not address the feelings and natural emotions of man with cries, tears, hysterics, or
physical movements, or with rhythmic clapping. On the contrary, it rejects all of these for two reasons: . Emotions are close to the ego, for after this kind of emotional worship, the self becomes inflated and is aware
of the effort it has expended and feels pleased with itself. It also feels that it is superior to others, or that it has reached the end of the way to the Kingdom. . Emotions are inseparable for the flesh and are often the
expressions of emotional desires, and natural emotions frequently lead to the dangerous slopes of sin.
But emotion that is sanctified by the Spirit is "the ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit" (1Pet. 3:4) which appeared to Elijah in the form of a gentle breeze, not in the form of a storm or an earthquake. Naturally, this is not a literal explanation, for the Spirit often comes in the form of a strong wind (as at Pentecost) or in an earthquake, but what we mean is that the daily life of the Spirit of God in us is generally quiet and stable, moving, not the emotions in us, but the spirit.
5. Habits:
Who can deliver us from them save Christ? "Therefore if the Son makes you free you shall be free indeed"
(Jn.8:36). The Holy Spirit delivers us from the slavery of habits such as youthful sins, smoking, alcohol, and drugs. No one but God sanctifies us and releases the energies of a pure will, and it is only God who delivers us from the slavery of the evil one and his evil powers.
Habits are only overcome
We hear that the saints were careful of their physical health, feeding their bodies and resting them so that they would serve their spirits and so that they would be their partners in future glory.
The great St. Anthony left his cell after twenty years. He was not gloomy, but on the contrary, cheerful He was not overweight (from too great a laziness), nor was he weak (from too severe an ascetic life); his body was neither too fat nor too thin. It was made healthy by sound spiritual fighting, by fasting, and by other ascetic disciplines while at the same time taking care of the body and keeping it healthy.
Scriptural Verses and the Sayings of the Fathers 1. On the Freedom of the Soul Verses:
Sayings of the Fathers:
b Let us ask God to give us the wings of a dove (Ps. 55: 6), that is, the Holy Spirit to fly to Him and be safe. (St. Macarius the Great).
b Sin.... we resist it, struggle against it, and fight it ... but to remove it and uproot it is the part that is in the Hand of God and which He grants us.(St. Macarius the Great).
b Those look to the world and the valuable luxuries in it as though they were insignificant, nay hateful things because of the love that is in them. (St. Macarius the Great).
b When you fight a habit, you will naturally encounter opposition from the evil one... You have to double your fight... and know that the Lord is near your soul and body, and can see your struggle, though He leaves you so you acquire knowledge and efficacy until you are disciplined. Grace also guides when your trouble increases and when you attain rest, grace makes itself known to you and shows you it left you to struggle for your good. (St. Macarius the Great).
b I ask you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you do not neglect your life and salvation and do not let this passing time rob you of eternal life, nor this heated body keep you away from the Kingdom of light, nor this temporary passing seat remove you from the seats of the angelic hosts. Truly, my children, my spirit is amazed and my soul disturbed, for we were all given the liberty to be saints, but in our blindness we are drunk with the pleasures of this world. (St. Anthony the Great).
B. On the Incense: Verses:
b "And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hands." (Rev. 8: 4).
b "Let my prayer be set before You as incense." (Ps.141:2)
b " in every place, incense shall be offered to My Name (Mal 1:11).
b "While the king is at his table, my spikenard sends forth its fragrance." (Song. 1: 12).
Sayings of the Fathers:
T Moses asked Aaron to offer incense in the midst of the people, so the Lord lifted His anger from them. (Num. 16: 44-48)
T Presenting incense to the priest is in order to receive the blessing of their prayers which are raised with the prayers of the people, as members of one body. (St. John Chrystotem)
T The incense offered to the high priest is offered to the Spirit of God and to the Divine Authority that he bears for the glory of God. (Bishop Yousab Al Abahi).
C. On Kneeling: Verses:
T "for the Father is seeking such to worship Him..... in spirit and truth " (Jn. 4: 23 - 24).
T "That at the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth" (Phil 2: 10).
Sayings of the Fathers:
T Every time we kneel on the ground, we indicate how sin has brought us down, and when we get up and stand, we acknowledge the grace of God and His mercy which lifted us up from the ground and granted us a portion in heaven. (St. Basil the Great).
T The person who prays begins by prostrating oneself once or three times and at the end of each psalm or hymn, and during prays whenever worshipping God is mentioned. As for the times when it is forbidden to prostrate oneself, when it is enough to kneel only, these are on Saturdays, on Sundays, during the fifty days after Easter and the on Lord's feast as well as after Communion. (Church Laws).
T Force yourself to bow before the Lord (metania) for He is the One who moves you to pray.
T If we are troubled by thoughts during prayer or if we feel bored, let us fall to the ground with our prayer book in our hands, and let us plead while we are kneeling, that the Lord may grant us energy to complete the service of prayer.
T The smell of sweat during prayer is better than the smell of incense and fragrances. (Mar Isaac the Syriac).
T From many "matanias", the body is tired and heated and the many thoughts leave it. The heart is humbled and man experiences great spiritual joy. (Bishop Ignatius).
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Thus, all of man's being takes part in Orthodox spirituality:
T The spirit is in touch with God in reverence.
T The mind contemplates and meditates on the word of God.
T The spirit humbles itself and offers its emotions sanctified by the Spirit.
T The body also abases itself and takes part with all its strength in glorifying God.
May God help us so that we can offer Him true spiritual worship.
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