5th Sunday After Pentecost-- The Spiritual Adultery, which is Idolatry

The power of God inspires awe

     The story of the Gadarene demoniacs is concerned with the Lord’s journey across the sea to the Gentile district of Decapolis.  There, He encounters two infamous demoniacs, and cures them.  The demons, which are cast out from the demoniacs, enter, with the Lord’s permission, the nearby herd of swine, which rushes down the bluff and is drowned in the water of the sea.  The townspeople come out from the town in response to all the commotion and they beg the Lord Jesus to leave their district and go home to Jewish Galilee. 

     The story ends with the townspeople so overcome with dread on account of the cure of the demoniac that they beg the Lord to leave.  In an instant, they had forgotten the fear and dread, which they had for the two men, who lived in the wilderness, never wore clothes, could not be restrained even by chains, and would accost and molest anyone who was travelling on that particular road.  Suddenly, all the fear that they feel is directed towards the man who has, inexplicably, cured and tamed these monsters.

The greatest trial is the greatest blessing

     The power of God is an awesome and fearsome thing, and, although the Lord always employs His power for our good, often we are caught unawares by it, we become afraid of His actions in our lives, and we may even pray that the effects of the Lord’s work in us be mitigated or disappear.  Very often, truly holy people have learned from experience that the most frightening of their trials and tribulations were, in fact, the greatest of God’s blessings, which contributing immeasurably more than anything else to their growth in holiness and to their journey along the way of salvation.  “The greatest trial is the greatest blessing” is an insight that cannot be learned by any other means than by experience.  It can be repeated a thousand times in sermons and conferences and spiritual books, but it will always ring hollow and platitudinous if it is not known by experience. 

     Paradoxically, “the greatest trial is the greatest blessing” becomes true to the greatest possible degree when that trial ceases to be perceived as a trial.  For example, there are numerous examples of the saints being transfigured into the likeness of Christ through the suffering of crippling disease. The more the disease destroys their physical nature, the more their spiritual nature grows, strengthens and thrives.  The more their personal suffering increases, the greater their compassion for others increases. 

We are not our thoughts

     We tend to identify ourselves with our thoughts.  This perhaps is the cultural influence of the 17^th century French philosopher Rene Descartes, who famously postulated, “I think, therefore I am.” But to identify ourselves with our thoughts is like identifying the sky with the clouds.  The clouds are in the sky. The clouds float across the sky.  But the clouds are not the sky.  We sometimes think that we can know ourselves by observing our thoughts, but, in reality, by that method we would learn much more about someone else other than ourselves—we would learn about the Evil One.  In our tradition, thought plays a very important role.  Thought is the primary means of temptation.  According to the Fathers of the Church, especially St. Mark the Ascetic, thoughts are like guided missiles, which are sent by the Enemy.  They carry an explosive payload—a passion, which is calculated to harm the soul in a specific way.   Under the constant barrage of these missiles, any tribulation, any situation, can appear to be very, very bleak.  It would be interesting to know for certain how much of the societal problem with clinical depression is caused by cultural thought obsession. 

     It is feature of every spiritual tradition, including our own, that in order to truly know ourselves, and to know our God as well, thought has to be immobilized. This is not to suggest that we should no longer have thoughts.  Such a thing would be impossible, but we should allow our thoughts to drift by like the clouds in the sky without attaching to them.  Forming attachments to thoughts is, according to the Fathers, the spiritual adultery, which also goes by the name “idolatry.”  On the contrary, through concentration in prayer the mind is freed from the limitations imposed upon it by our lower natures, and is free to ascend toward God, without thought, moving towards that which transcends thought.  As long as we remain mired in our thoughts, the Lord’s actions in our lives are going to appear frightening, depressing, even confusing, but if we put away thought through an effort to live in simple awareness perfected in prayer, then we will know and recognize the deeds of God by means of simple intuition.  We will become acquainted with our deepest selves, our spirits, which do not have thoughts or feelings, but simply know and love without conceptual mediation. 

    Living in simple awareness means “doing what we are doing,” with complete concentration on the task (whatever it may be). This is perfected by prayer, through offering each and everything to God by conscious determination.