Saint Gregory Palamas - a witness we need

Orthodoxy is real.  Spiritual warfare is real.  By this, I mean that the God who made this world and everything in it really has created a mystical path that can lead all of us towards healing, perfection, and joyful unity with Himself and one another. 

This path is well travelled – the icons that grace our homes and churches do not just depict historical men and women who lived virtuous lives; these are not just people who put their service of neighbor above their own welfare; these are people who have been perfected in Christ; people who have witnessed first hand the uncreated energies of God.   More than simple reminders, the saints depicted on the icons in our homes and churches – along with a host of other saints and angels – stand ready to assist you as you walk the very same path they themselves walk.  This is as obvious and true as the nose on my face.

But there is more to reality than just this.  There are also demons – fallen angels – and other servants of pride and darkness that want to see you fail.  They stand ready to exploit your weaknesses and pull you from the true path to happiness.  The fallen world outside these doors is their playground, and the witless wanderers – those who refuse to struggle on the path towards righteousness - are their toys.  Creation is being restored to light and love, but in the meantime, there are forces that would draw men into darkness and misery.

The good news is that the very God whose Word brought creation into being as an outpouring of His own loving Communion created each of us to share in His joy.  Just as light always drives back darkness and love always suffers every malice; so too does He who is the source of light and love triumph over all shadows and despair.   There are demons, but each of you has been granted the power to triumph over them and to stay on the path of righteousness.  In fact, this is your calling as Christians: to bring light to darkness and to repel the demons that do men harm.

Maybe you don’t believe me; many people do not.  Maybe you think that hurch is just a place to pass on sound moral teachings, a good place to meet friends and reinvigorate happy memories; a place that allows us to stay connected with our past and ensure that our children do the same.  That may be what some people believe, but it is not the Church that Christ Himself established.

If you read the Gospels with an open mind, you cannot help but notice the role of the supernatural, and you cannot help but notice the reality of spiritual warfare.  During His earthly ministry, Christ taught us how to resist the temptations of the Evil One – and I am not just talking about resisting the temptations of sin without our own selves; after all, Christ was not arguing with and resisting His subconscious in the desert … He was arguing with and resisting the Prince of Darkness himself.   Then, when He went on to heal demoniacs, He wasn’t just curing people with epilepsy and other health problems, He was driving out demons.  And when He empowered and dispatched His apostles to go out and exorcise demons, they really were fighting demons; not just culturally bound explanations for bad behavior.  Christ’s entire ministry – to include His descent into Hades – was to spearhead and bring victory in the war against the hosts of evil, even to the point of destroying the sin on which they feed.

In fact, even if you look at the “medical” miracles that He performed, they were often less about the actual healing of maladies than they were demonstrations that Christ had the power to defeat evil and sin.  For example, remember the healing of the paralytic, how Christ healed Him “... so that [men would] know that the Son of Man has the power to forgive sins” (St. Matthew 9:6).  Even when He simply forgave sins, you recognize when you read the Gospels that He was doing something more giving men and women the equivalent of a free trip to the psychologist: the spiritual blight of sin was actually removed from their souls.  He had defeated and removed the sin in their lives.

I say all this about spiritual warfare not to scare you – Christ has already defeated evil and we share in this victory through His love and mercy (there is nothing to be scared of in Christ)– but to remind you that Christianity is more than rituals and rules: it is a mystical path to theosis; the sure way to become through grace what God is by nature; the way to deification; the way to become so strong in joy and charity that the very world around you is transformed by it.

Some 14th Century Christians had forgotten this.  They tried to strip Christianity of its mysticism, to remove what they considered unscientific and superstitious.   St. Gregory Palamas fought against this tendency.  He defended mystical Christianity from those who would have turned it into a dressed up and ritualized secular philosophy.  We need to do the same now.  As I will argue later tonight (see below), a demystified Christianity cannot keep people on the path to righteousness because it is not real.  It cannot heal broken souls, and it cannot give people the strength to become sources of perfect charity.  It isn’t real and it doesn’t work.  Churches that embrace this fiction are doomed to failure, and the ones that actually manage to stay open damn their members to a life of mediocrity (at best).

Such a Christianity leaves people defenseless in spiritual warfare.  St. Gregory Palamas was right: Orthodoxy is the mystical path to divinization.  But the flip side is true:  there are demonic paths to despair.

The tragic irony is that our supposedly secular society wants to emasculate Christianity by removing the miraculous and spiritually beneficial, but is all into selling us that which is demonic and spiritually dangerous. 

Let me give you some examples. 

Milton Bradley sells as a toy a game (the Ouija Board) that opens the unwitting to demonic forces… but would never think of marketing a game that features an icon of a guardian angel with a prayer to teach children how to communicate with him and teach them about the many wonderful ways angels protect and intercede for us. 

Groups of friends think it’s great entertainment to visit psychics together in hopes of getting a glimpse of something supernatural, but would never even think of attending a Divine Liturgy together where the Holy Spirit is tangibly active and Christ Himself moves visibly into and through those who worship Him. 

People visit mediums in order to find out how departed loved ones are faring, but would never think of praying for their departed loved ones, lighting candles for them, or requesting special commemorations or panakhidas for them; in short, they won’t do the sorts of things that can actually bring mutual peace, comfort, and joy to all concerned.

People read all kind of books and watch shows on the supernatural, but never bother cracking open their prayer book – something the Holy Spirit – God Himself - has written for us so that we can learn how to interact with angels, fight demons, forgive sins, and participate in the victory of Christ against the very gates of Hell themselves.

The spiritual world is real – it is inexorably linked with the part we see with our eyes.  The mystical path of Orthodoxy is the way to learn more about it, how it works, and how to grow strong in its ways.  Don’t close your eyes to reality.  Don’t dumb down the Truth. 

Embrace Christ; walk the mystical path to perfection.

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[talk given at the pan-Orthodox vespers servive at St. John’s Romanian Orthodox Church in Woonsocket, Rhode Island]

Saint Gregory Palamas:  authentic spirituality

Other ways work… but not well.

The gist of my talk will be that there is an authentic spirituality that leads to ever increasing joy and unity with the eternal perfection that is our God, but that many people forsake this path for one created by demons to lead us towards despondency and damnation.  In order to make this point, I want to first share three analogies that will give you some perspective on the seriousness of the problem.

Analogy One:  the body

We know quite a lot about the body; about what makes it work well and what sorts of things harm it.  We know, for instance, that smoking, heavy drinking, a poor diet, and drugs damage the body.  We can describe the correlations between such behaviors and various health problems.  We can even describe in precise detail the mechanism that leads from these risky behaviors to their associated negative consequences.  And yet despite this knowledge, people still smoke; people still drink heavily, people still eat garbage, and people still do drugs.  Why?

Let me give you a very provocative answer: people smoke, drink, eat garbage, and do drugs because, to a certain extent, these behaviors work.  They give people what they want – at least in the short term.

Before you call my bishop, let me be clear: these behaviors are dangerous.  They are stupid.  Rational people – Christian people – know better than to treat their bodies so poorly.  And for good reason.  But I think everyone recognizes that the temptation to engage in these deadly behaviors is real because these behaviors work: they really do bring immediate gratification.  Go down the list:  smoking brings comfort and control; fatty, sugary food tastes good; alcohol brings relaxation and sociability; drugs bring pleasure and a way to cope with difficult problems.  We can’t pretend that these effects don’t exist.  People do these things because, to an extent, they work.  They do it because they enjoy it.

Analogy Two:  money

We also know quite a bit about how markets work, both in our homes and the broader economy.  We understand that compound interest works against us when we borrow and for us when we save; we understand how debt limits our freedom and constrains our ability to react to changes in our circumstances, desires, and opportunities; we know about the differences between capital investments and perishable purchases; we know the satisfaction of deferred gratification and the value of setting goals and how rewarding it is to finally achieve them.  We understand scarcity and the need to live within our means; we know that we will run out of money long before the good idea fairy’s wand ever runs out of neat things we should do. 

We know all these things, and yet people still refuse to save for retirement; people still refuse to put money aside for a rainy day; people still go as deeply into debt as the banks will allow them to; people still spend money they don’t even have on luxuries and gambling.  Why?   

Again, let me be provocative: people do these things because, to a certain extent, they work.  They act this way because they like having fancier cars, bigger televisions, better clothes, and bigger diplomas than they can afford, and generally because they buy into this version of the American dream.  There is simply no getting around it: the reason people spend money they don’t have buying things they don’t need is because they enjoy it… and because they can.

Analogy Three:  extra-marital sex

[This one is a bit dangerous – usually we use analogies in order to bring people from something they understand into something they do not; the understanding of one thing provides a way of understanding another.  When it comes to the dangers of extra-marital sex, some would argue that this itself is terra incognito.  This may be true of the general culture – and as a teacher, I might not use this one to explain things in the outside world.  But here in the Orthodox Church, I think that we still have a sense of perspective and truth on this issue – despite the best efforts of the world outside.  If not, then perhaps the power of the first two analogies will serve to teach us about this unfamiliar territory, too.]

We know a lot about how relationships work.  We know that a healthy marriage is, for those who are not called to celibacy, the safest and most rewarding way to enjoy life.  Thanks in part to a great deal of sociological study, we also know the kinds of behaviors that set unmarried people up for failure as they move towards marriage, and we also know the kinds of behaviors that undermine existing marriages.  There is no secret about what destroys relationships and about what builds them up.  Among other things, we know that monogamy is the healthiest way for spouses to live and that chastity is the healthiest way for unmarried people to live.

But despite this, people still engage in adultery; despite this, more than half of all college students report having “friends with benefits”; despite this, a majority of couples live together before they get married and roughly the same proportion live together but never get married; despite this, hooking up is so popular that abortion has become an accepted form of birth control and STD’s are seen by many as an acceptable risk; despite this, pornography is big business; and despite this, people are willing to spend their precious free time (and even time at work) surfing porn and searching for new partners; in short, despite knowing that chastity and faithfulness build lasting happiness, many people continue to have sex – both real and imagined - outside of marriage.  Why? 

Again, let me be provocative: they do it because, to a certain extent, it works.  People enjoy intimacy without responsibility; they enjoy buying titillation like they buy dinner; they enjoy the feelings of tension and release without having to actually learn to love; and they enjoy the superficial joys of passion without having to worry about any obvious consequences. 

In Summary:

We know how our bodies work, but people still do drugs, eat garbage, refuse to exercise, and binge drink; we know what builds wealth and financial security, but people still borrow money in order to buy things they don’t need; we know what builds joyful marriages, but people still engage in extramarital sex and pornography.  Why?

Why do people do such destructive things?  People do these things because they bring enjoyment – they do them because these behaviors work… at least in the short term.

Transition:

The problem is that the initial enjoyment is soon dwarfed by terrible consequences.  Satisfying short-term desires in these ways ends up causing disaster; it creates personal crises that no amount of smoking, drinking, eating, drugs, spending, gambling, or extramarital sex can solve.  People learn too late that the joy such behavior brought was only temporary … and that their new sorrow and emptiness is increasingly immune to the normal methods of relief.   This is how so many people end up spiraling into misery and without any hope of getting better.

Of course it is never too late to go back to sound principles.  It is never too late to begin eating right, avoiding drugs, being fiscally responsible, and becoming chaste and faithful.  Because they take advantage of the way the world works, these will bring stability into people’s lives.   People still have to deal with the consequences of their behavior – the health problems, the debt, the lack of trust – but over time, principled behavior may even ameliorate these. 

What is the point of my reminding you that we need to be more intentional about how you live; of reminding you that behaviors that go against basic physiological, economic and social-psychological laws are destructive; of warning you not do things you know to be dangerous just because they seem fun or provide quick and easy entertainment?  The point is that I’m not just talking about the things that kill the body, but also – and much more importantly – of the things that kill the soul.

Spiritual Reality

The point is that what holds true for these other areas of our lives also holds true for our spiritual lives.  We know how the spiritual world operates.  We know what causes spiritual health.  We know that God created us for perfect and joyful unity with Him and one another.  We know that this is possible through participation in the life of the God-man Jesus Christ.  We know that the Mysteries, prayers, and disciplines of Orthodoxy are the path to healing, theosis, and deification.  We know that a virtuous life brings joy.  We know that our spiritual health is inextricably linked to our physical health.  We know that spiritual warfare is real, that there are demons trying to pull us away from the path of righteousness so that they can feed on our despair, and that the way to victory in this warfare is through the Cross of Christ, strengthened by the Holy Spirit.

We know all these things, but we still worship idols; we still make up our own rules about love; we still visit palm readers, psychics, and fortunetellers; we still neglect our faith; we still don’t prepare for confession or Communion; we still don’t say our prayers; we still engage our vices; we still flirt with demons and sully our relationship with Christ. 

Why do we do these things?  Why are we lazy about Orthodoxy, Christ, and the angels who love us; but so quick to embrace idolatry, wickedness, and the fallen angels that only seek our ruin? 

I hate to say it, but it is for the same reasons people do all those dangerous things I spoke of before: they do them because there is a sense in which they work.  False spirituality – or what Fr. Seraphim Rose called “the religion of the future” – is popular because it is real.  Like drugs, false spirituality provides immediate gratification – after all, the demons know how to feed our pride, tell us what we want to hear, and make us think that we have found an easy way to love and enlightenment.  There’s no fasting, no regimented prayer rule, no repentance, no need to develop control over the passions, and no need to love and suffer for an enemy. 

Much of it is warm fuzzies, navel-gazing, and complete nonsense, but it works.  Can the same thing be said of the watered down religion so many Christians practice – a Christianity removed from miracles, a Christianity stripped of the supernatural, a Christianity that lacks the power to do anything but provide basic moral direction and ethno-cultural reinforcement? 

In this battle, a false religion that provides immediate gratification will beat out a watered-down version of the Truth almost every time.  But separating Christianity from its mystical roots doesn’t just make it less competitive in the modern religious market, it turns Christianity into a heretical mockery of itself that cannot deliver the goods: a secular, emasculated Christianity cannot heal people and draw them into divinity….. so what is the point?  Any system can teach basic morality; any club can maintain ethnic identity.  At its best, Christianity does these things as a side-effect of its only real purpose: uniting people with the eternal unity and perfection that is God.

St. Gregory Palamas knew that Christianity provided a mystical path to theosis; and he knew that it was heretical and dangerous to claim otherwise.  He fought with Barlaam to keep the Truth from being disarmed, secularized, and watered down.  We would do well to follow his lead.  The Christianity that the world would have us offer doesn’t work – it can’t deliver the goods – in fact, it doesn’t even try.  And since it doesn’t even try, is it any wonder that a recent nationwide survey found that Christians increasingly dabble in New Age mysticism? 

But the Christianity of St. Gregory Palamas (true Orthodox Christianity) does work – and because it (unlike the false “religions of the future”) is built on sound principles, it works in both the short and long term. 

Like drugs, and deficit spending, and adultery, false religions offer something fun and useful in the short term, but lead to long term disaster.  Stay away from them.

Live well.  Grow in perfection.  Embrace Orthodoxy, and embrace it in its fullness.