Inward peace
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I just posted a quote from St. Seraphim of Sarov that’s one of the best-known in Orthodoxy. As I’ve mentioned, I have to publish them as an entry in order to add them into the Quotes sidebar at right, and that section doesn’t allow for a very long quote. But my Daily Lives calendar had a bit more to it, so I thought I’d give the whole thing here as well:
“When the Spirit of God descends upon a man and overshadows him with the fullness of His outpouring, then his soul overflows with a joy not to be described, for the Holy Spirit turns to joy whatever He touches. The Kingdom of Heaven is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Acquire inward peace, and thousands around you will find their salvation.”
That’s one of the real differences, I think, between the way Protestants view evangelizing and the way we do. (And I don’t know what the Catholic POV is.) And that is that we think that it has two parts to it that can’t be separated: (1) you grow in the faith yourself, doing all the things that need doing — struggling, fasting, praying, reading, partaking of the sacraments, meditating, confessing and so on — and (2) you reach out — doing good works, praying for others, talking about the faith, being salt and light. The Protestants talk of giving witness, giving testimony. We Orthodox know we need to do that more. But we also think in terms of being a witness, of being a testimony.
It’s much harder that way. But it makes a lot more sense. Just as I can’t take the mote out of my brother’s eye while the plank is still in my own, I would think I wouldn’t really be equipped to show him the way to heaven unless I’d at least taken a step or two myself.
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Very good point – I consider my evangelicism to be living a Christian life. And getting up when I fall down (which is often)
Yeah, its bizarre and its hard not to wonder if I'm being decieved by Satan or getting the straight dope from people. I don't know how many times I've had clients, strangers and casual aquaintances out of the blue tell me stuff like "You just radiate peace…" or "There's something spiritual about you…." or "When I'm around you I feel so calm and grounded…" etc. etc. And without me ever saying a word about being a Christian, church or spirituality. I recall a line from a John Denver song "seeking grace in every step he takes" having an impact on me a long time ago. I made it my spiritual quest way back them to manifest God in EVERYthing I do including things as simple as walking and opening and closing doors and setting groceries down and pushing a shopping cart etc. So, yes…aquire the Holy Spirit and don't sweat what to say. I don't evangelize, people just ask.
You know, this is another great post – and, more to the point, a great point to make. I consider myself the living patron saint of nominalism, and I still see Protestant and Roman Catholic acquaintances surprised by the depth of my spirituality. That's not a comment (as those who know me) will say on my spiritual depth – it is a comment on what sort of surface-level nod to sprituality passes for religion among much of the modern Christian flock.I used to throw out "communications is a process, not an event" as a sort of wise-sounding consultant chestnut, but if you substitute "salvation" for "communications," the statement makes more sense.
Hi Greg, I concur that it may not be so much "our spirituality" that is so deep, but what passes for spirituality among the masses. I've worked with soooo many new age people (have you ever noticed that "new age-ism" is the provenance of rich people? How many poor new agers do you know?….) anyway, when push comes to shove their spirituality is but a thin veil over their egos, narcissism, anger, control freakism, and goofy humanity. As a friend of mine used to say "They are faux nice". So, yeah, perhaps anyone who is REALLY grounded in ANYTHING stands in relief to those who are tap dancing around the fringes of their sychretistic personal philosophies.