"Young people
must be made to distinguish between helpful and injurious knowledge, keeping
clearly in mind the Christian's purpose in life. So, like the athlete or the
musician, they must bend every energy to one task, the winning of the heavenly
crown."
-St. Basil the
Great
"Let us draw
from the fountain of the perennial garden and from the most pure waters
springing unto life eternal. Here let us luxuriate."
-St. John Damascene
Fragrant old roses
bloom each summer in my backyard. In one spot, stepping-stones lead to a gently
bubbling fountain where birds gather for refreshing splashes and dips. Their
delightful songs remind me of God's bountiful provisions for all His creations,
even the smallest bird-even me. My patio is truly a place to luxuriate and
ponder matters of life eternal. Even so, I am not deluded; the Christian life
is not always "luxuriating." Sometimes it is carrying a heavy
cross-suffering and struggle with capital "S"s. It is in times like
this that we are most likely to receive the power-filled, personal message from
God, "I am with you," especially if we turn to the Bible and the
Church. We are not meant to walk alone, either when luxuriating or when
struggling.
The following story
illustrates how God can speak through Scripture. Some time ago my family was
about to go through some horrendous, unimaginable circumstances-not the first
bad thing to happen to us, but perhaps the least understood, and, next to the
deaths of a son and stepson, the most difficult to cope with. Little did we
know that God, in His great mercy, could foresee what was to come and was
already making provisions to hold us up with His sustaining strength and grace
during the bad times.
I did not know what
compelled me to type up certain Bible verses, mount and laminate them for use
as bookmarks. I did not know why, for weeks, I was led to meditate almost daily
on one of three passages (usually Isaiah 43:1-3)-until a rage-filled, mentally
ill family member became increasingly irrational and violent after
discontinuing his medication. As the devastating tentacles of schizophrenia
wrapped around our lives, threatening to plunge us into hopelessness, God's Word
became clear-there was no need to fear or despair, because the Lord God Himself
was our help through the troubled waters. We would walk through the fire of
tribulation but would not be burned. Who is so great a God as our God who does
wonders?
In his book Bread
for Life, Theodore Stylianopoulos says, "The essential purpose of reading
the Bible is to discover the mystery of the living Christ, to receive Him in
our hearts again and again, and to say with St. John the Evangelist, ‘We have
beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father . . . and from his
fullness have we all received, grace upon grace' (John 1:14, 16)." My
family has beheld His glory.
If there is one
thing lacking, one thing needful more than anything else among otherwise devout
Orthodox Christians today, it is personal intimacy with the written Word of
God. This is not a Protestant attitude stemming from a dogmatic belief in sola
scriptura. It has been said time and time again, by Orthodox saints and writers
down through the centuries, we must "swim in the Scriptures."
In the fourth
century, St. John Chrysostom claimed that ignorance of Scripture is the cause
of all evil. And in the nineteenth century, St. John of Kronstadt counseled:
"The Holy Scripture is the realm of Wisdom, Word and Spirit, of God in
Trinity; in it he clearly manifests himself: ‘The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit, and they are life.' In the Holy Scripture we see God face to
face, and ourselves as we are. Man, know thyself through the scriptures, and
walk always in the presence of God." He also said, "Of those who do
not read the gospel, I would ask: Are you pure, holy, and perfect, without
reading the gospel? Is it not needful for you to look in this mirror? Or is it
that your soul is so deformed that you fear to look upon your deformity?"
Several reasons are
commonly given for neglecting regular Bible reading. First, our liturgical
tradition is rooted in Scripture. The Liturgy and other services of the church
are so closely connected, they cannot be isolated into separate aspects of
worship. When we pray in the Orthodox Church, we know we are praying Scripture.
God's Word comes alive in Orthodox worship; the events of our salvation history
are mystically made a real and present reality. Many people are satisfied with
this amount of exposure. To this excuse I would answer by paraphrasing St. John
Chrysostom: I advise that you obtain a Bible and begin engraving its words in
your heart.
Secondly, some
people have tried reading and have become discouraged when they do not
understand what it all means. Instead of giving up, I would quote St. John
Damascene: "If we read once or twice and do not understand what we read,
let us not grow weary, but let us persist, let us talk much, let us
inquire." It might also be helpful to read a simple introductory book such
as Bread For Life: Reading the Bible, by Theodore Stylianopoulos. Keep in mind,
too, that it is not necessary to understand every single word and passage-only
whatever addresses your own personal, spiritual needs of the moment.
Illumination normally comes only one tiny flicker at a time. It is most
important to keep walking steadily and consistently, guided by the Unwaning
Light.
To any Orthodox man
or woman who tries the excuses, "I don't have time," or, "I've
just never got into the habit of reading the Bible," or, "We don't
believe in private interpretation of Scripture, so we can't read it
privately," or, "I read it once already," or, "It's
boring," my retorts might seem tactless and unsympathetic. They are,
however, all I can think of to say. Make time. Get into the habit. You're
missing something. Once is not enough. Is there a possibility that you find all
of the Christian discipline boring? Look to your heart. Realize that Holy
Scripture is a necessary stepping-stone in our Christian walk.
And, as with every
other aspect of spiritual life, the foundation for incorporating the Bible into
our daily lives is most easily laid in early childhood. The attitudes that we
want to impress upon children are reflected in these verses:
"Your word is a
lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105).
"The gospel
... is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes" (Romans
1:16).
"For the word
of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
Among Christians,
Orthodox parents are in a unique position as far as religious education goes.
We have immediately at hand ready-made tools for impressing God's truths upon
the child's heart in the most natural ways. Our worship involves all the
senses, our bodies as well as our minds. From the beginning of life, the infant
smells the incense; tastes the communion bread and wine; sees the candles and
icons; hears the chanting, singing, and beautiful recitation of prayers. At an
early age she touches the holy things of God and knows intuitively that she is
in a holy place.
I was reminded
recently that my oldest son, Jeff, once thought that our priest was God. This
recollection came to me at a parish function when a three-year-old girl called
out to the current priest, "God, come here. I want to talk to you."
"God," dressed in black, humbly pulled up a chair and listened with
appropriate seriousness to what she had to say. Both young children were able
to associate the priesthood with the divine, not because they had been given
formal doctrinal lessons on the nature and function of the priesthood, but
because they had experienced liturgical worship with their families. Even when
it seemed as if they were not paying attention, were possibly even being disruptive,
they were absorbing the knowledge quite subconsciously that something about
this man was special. As infants absorb the verbal language of their culture,
so too, the growing child absorbs the language and heart of our faith through
her surroundings and experiences.
The Orthodox Church
is a church of celebration; when our children are active participants in church
life, when they can share in our celebrations, they learn the reality of God's
active presence in their lives. Nor should our Orthodox rituals be restricted
within the walls of the Orthodox temple. Our homes are considered "little
churches," which means that Orthodoxy must be taken home.
Dr. John Boojamra
made the following suggestions for carrying the church home: "Children can
be encouraged to set up icon centers in their home as places of prayer, and to
engage in daily Bible reading, and prayer at meals and on such other occasions
as before a family trip. Family traditions, not uncommon among those of ethnic
origins, should be adopted for holidays."
An article by Elizabeth White
CONVERSATION