Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanic) tries to explain who really carries his cross and who does not.
With the Cross
Carrying
our own crosses is the only way to salvation. Unfortunately, not all people who
claim that their crosses are extremely heavy carry them for real. Most of us
are cross-bearers without the cross, and each one of us can become part of that
unholy tribe.
It’s
impossible to carry the cross of the faith in Christ and commit crimes. No
matter how eloquently and persuasively we preach our deep faith at the people
around us, no matter how much we complain of our difficult paths and our
crosses, we are not carrying our crosses if our actions say the opposite.
For
instance, you can’t pretend to be carrying your cross and disregard your
neighbor at the same time. The person who really carries his cross knows with
every single cell of his body how heavy it is, so he won’t crucify another
person, for he knows the value of each step, each breath, each sweat-drop, and
the teeth gnashing from exhaustion.
The
person whose back aches because of the weight of his own cross won’t laugh at
the weaknesses and failures of his neighbors. He remembers how painful it was
to fall because every such failure left lifelong scars and wounds on his own
body and soul.
You can’t
carry your cross and not support the person walking by your side. There have
been so many arms that hugged and supported you when you were about to fall.
There have been so many shoulders that you could lean on to avoid falling down
and to have a rest before continuing your journey.
A person
who carries his cross must hate the evil that destroys our human self and
sympathize with the person who is stuck in that filthy pit of evil and unable
to move.
Without the Cross
Living
without the cross means living in evil. The cross is always the plus; it’s the
quintessence of goodness, love, and positive attitude. It is the best
protection against evil.
According
to Saint Augustine, evil is perverted goodness. Nikolai Berdyaev, an Orthodox
philosopher, gave the following detailed definition of evil, “Evil is
separation from the Absolute Being, committed as a voluntary act… Evil is
creation that deified itself.”
The human
desire to become a god instead of revealing the image and the likeness of the
true God is the greatest trick invented by the devil. It leads an individual away
from God, and therefore away from the path of goodness and salvation. Evil
provokes the worst and the most treacherous traits of a human personality. Evil
does not let people carry their crosses; it prevents them even from coming
closer and touching it. In all its incarnations, evil invites an individual to
reject the cross and throw it away.
The
choice of good or evil, of bearing one’s cross or rejecting it is a source of
constant struggle in a person’s life.
We only
need our free will to make this choice, “Whosoever will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mark 8:34). The Lord is
simply suggesting, “If you want to come after me”. He does not break our will
and doesn’t rush us. He invites us to follow in his own footsteps.
Evil and
good are incompatible. A plus and a minus make a minus, as we all know. You
just can’t truly and genuinely believe in God and at the same time steal,
murder, commit fornication, and lead an immoral life.
Essence of the Cross
The
essence of our carrying of our cross is submission to God’s Providence and his
holy will. We should try to accept everything that occurs in our lives as our
own and as something necessary for our salvation. We should accept it without
grumbling or judging.
The more
one trusts the Creator, the easier and more exciting his path will be. If one
pays attention to God’s hints and accepts everything as it goes, his heart will
acquire peace and he will not waste his energy on unnecessary battles but
instead will obediently follow the prescribed directions.
If we
trust God, we will avoid self-pity, which can make our path and our burden
heavier. Self-pity and egoism are the core of pride that inevitably leads to
the destruction of our personalities and to falsehood.
There
have been many sad examples of false goodness, false nobleness, false
Christianity, and false Orthodoxy both in the course of history and in our
contemporary society.
We all
should avoid covering our bad intentions up with respectable pretexts in our
daily lives so as not to happen to be false cross-bearers who don’t actually
bear their crosses.
With the
Lord’s Cross in front of our eyes, let us reinforce our prayers so that we
could bear all burdens of our earthly lives without complaints. Let us cleanse
our hearts with truth and hurry in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, carrying our
crosses and not rejecting them no matter how heavy they might be.
Recorded by Natallia Goroshkova
Translated
by The Catalog of Good Deeds
Source: https://pravlife.org/ru/content/krestonoscy-bez-kresta
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