A Sense of Awareness

I know of a woman who, not long ago, lost her husband of fifty years. She is struggling day by day, as we all do, with the absence of those we love but see no more. She is a woman of strong and quiet faith and she spoke recently of hearing her husband’s voice calling her name as he used to do when he would wake her from her nap. It was clear and unmistakable to her and she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Her daughter suggested that it was the “sixth sense that we no longer use.” This statement struck me as peculiar at first, as I had not heard it before, but I supposed it to be a secular scientific explanation for such phenomena. I’m sure the woman’s daughter meant well and was trying to be helpful but her statement couldn’t be farther from the truth.

I have experienced such phenomena myself on several occasions, as many perhaps have. Such things sometimes cause us to think of Hollywood movies like Poltergiest, Ghost, and The Sixth Sense. But these are Hollywood interpretations, entertaining and emotionally stimulating though they may be, they should not be taken all that seriously. We have an inherent curiosity about all things supernatural, which is quite natural, but what we do not often realize is that there is only One Who is truly Supernatural and it is natural for us to seek Him – we were made that way: “You have made us for Yourself, O God, and our souls will never rest until they rest in You.” (St. Augustine of Hippo).

In traditional usage, “supernatural” means divine: of God. The supernatural is therefore totally separate from, superior to, and in no way dependent upon what is created – what is “natural” in that sense. Only God is supernatural in His very Being. He can act with supernatural power upon all “natural” (that is, created) things and beings. He can communicate His supernatural life and power to what is created, thus elevating it. But the distinction always remains between what is created and what is supernatural. Supernatural power can bypass all natural modes of operation and can act directly upon spirit. It need not pass via the senses , or through the internal powers of imagination, mind and will in order to reach the soul of a human being. Only God and those who share in His supernatural power can do this.

Preternatural power, which evil spirits possess, is superior to human power in its abilities. It is not bound by laws of physical nature and of matter that govern all our human exercise of power in the physical and psychic orders. By virtue of preternatural power, evil spirits can manipulate psychic phenomena and produce psychic states. They are able to produce fascinating effects in our human fields of perception and behaviour. They may not be and probably are not responsible for all psychic phenomena, but they are masters of this sort of behaviour and have the ability to stimulate and entice us through our senses and imagination. But they cannot interfere with our freedom to choose or reject, because that freedom is granted and guaranteed by the Divine. God, for example, can “give” us grace, which is not ours of ourselves. Evil Spirit can only act upon what it finds and only within the limits of its knowledge. In other words, the preternatural power of evil spirits can produce nothing in us that was not already there, actually or potentially.

So what of the “sixth sense”? Is it a left-over by-product of some primordial soup? Or is it something more? I believe it to be a faculty God instilled in us from the beginning through which we are capable of perceiving His Presence. This faculty no longer functions as it originally did because of the Fall. Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect and constant awareness of God’s Presence, and this is the “natural” state of things, the way God intended and the way it will be again once the fullness of restored Communion achieved by Christ is manifested. In the meantime, this perceptive faculty, or “sixth sense” if you will, must be trained by the intellect, subjected to the Will and activity of God, which is Grace. St. Maximos the Confessor puts it this way: “Cleanse your intellect from anger, rancour and shameful thoughts, and you will be able to perceive the indwelling of Christ. [] He who always concentrates on the inner life becomes restrained, long-suffering, kind and humble. He will also be able to contemplate, theologize and pray. That is what St. Paul meant when he said: ‘Walk in the Spirit’ (Gal. 5:16).”

Everything that has living existence is related to spirit, that is, it has a spiritual dimension. Therefore, everything has meaning and nothing happens without a reason.

Hearing the voice of a deceased loved one may in fact be a comfort and consolation allowed by God (for His own reasons) to those who lovingly grieve as well as an affirmation of Christ’s words that,  “God is not a god of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him” (Luke 20:38). But we should always exercise great discernment and discrimination when experiencing spiritual phenomena, as the Adversary and his minions are ever and always seeking to deceive, mislead and delude. If our “sixth sense” is trained and controlled by humility and dispassion we will gain an awareness of God’s Love and Goodness, in proportion to our faith and God’s Grace active within us:

“If, as St. Paul says, Christ dwells in our hearts through faith (Eph. 3:17), and all the treasures of wisdom and spiritual knowledge are hidden in Him (Col.2:3), then all the treasures of wisdom and spiritual knowledge are hidden in our hearts. They are revealed to the heart in proportion to our purification by means of the Commandments. This is the treasure hidden in the field of your heart (Matt.13:44), which you have not yet found because of your laziness. Had you found it, you would have sold everything and bought that field. But now you have abandoned that field and give all your attention to the land nearby, where there is nothing but thorns and thistles. It is for this reason that the Saviour says, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’ (Matt.5:8): for He is hidden in the hearts of those who believe in Him. They shall see Him and the riches that are in Him when they have purified themselves through love and self-control; and the greater their purity, the more they will see.” – St. Maximos the Confessor.

Let’s stop giving our attention to the land of thorns and thistles and false “supernaturals” and instead concentrate on purifying our sense of awareness – our heart – for God is “… everywhere present and filling all things” and He pours forth upon us His Love, His Beauty, His Goodness, His Mercy, at every time and in every season.

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Identity Crisis

From time to time it seems prudent to articulate as clearly as possible who we are, what the Order of Celtic Benedictines is, what we are not, what we are trying to become and what our mission is in the world.

It can sometimes be a frustrating and confusing task to identify ourselves to others when we live in a culture in which the average understanding does not comprehend anything that does not fit into accepted stereotypical boxes. In other words, if one does not identify oneself as “Catholic”, “Anglican/Episcopalian”, “Greek/Russian Orthodox”, “Baptist”, “Lutheran”, “Presbyterian”, “Non-Denominational”, etc, then it is very difficult for people to form a concept of exactly what kind of Christian we are claiming to be and how we “fit” into the larger scheme of things.

Of course we want people to be able to understand who we are, we try to fulfill St. Paul’s exhortation to “be all things to all people” that we may save some of them, but this does not mean we alter our charism to conform to someone else’s perception or to be accepted or recognized as “valid” or “legitimate” by any other group or organization. This in itself can be problematic and requires more than a little skill in the field of apologetics, because no matter how much we want to keep things simple, sometimes there is just no simple way of explaining things to the un-initiated. Most times it takes an ongoing conversation and always a continuous example to re-orient the cultural thinking pattern. Coming from the Protestant background that I do I am aware of the difficulty involved in overcoming this obstacle. Therefore, with this in mind, I will attempt to answer the questions I posed above as directly as possible, for the benefit of our members as well as those who may be led by the Spirit to join themselves to us.

Who We Are:

We are Christian Monastics.

What does this mean?

This means we are disciples of Jesus Christ, seeking union – Theosis - with Him by conforming our lives to the example He set and the example of early Christians who rejected the vanity of the world and preferred nothing whatsoever to Christ.

What We Are – What We Are Not:

We are individuals who agree on both common and specific means of achieving this union with Christ and have formed an extended community in order to live out a common devout life in unity.

This means we are a Religious Order not a church.

We are part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ, built on the foundation of the Apostles and their Successors, in union with essential Universal and Right-Believing traditions, doctrines and canons. We govern ourselves because we have our own bishop, but for the sake of unity and because we believe that women can be called by the Holy Spirit to serve in sacramental ordained ministry, we are affiliated with the Anglican Communion but are not theologically aligned with it nor canonically dependent upon it.

These are the common means we agree on.

The specific means we agree on for achieving union with Christ our Lord are found in our embracing of the unique cultural heritage of the ancient Celtic Christians and their way of seeing the world around them. For them there was no separation between the spiritual and material realms: “The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, the world and all who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1) and “Am I a God near at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him? Says the Lord; Do I not fill heaven and earth? Says the Lord.” (Jer. 23:23-24).

This way of seeing the nature of things is profoundly apparent in the traditions of the Anam Cara and the Peregrinatio.

To have an anam cara or “soul friend” was to have a personal spiritual guide that was loved, respected and trusted implicitly and was the means of spiritual mentorship and apprenticeship.

The character and understanding of the peregrinatio is the ideal of the interior journey, the seeking to perceive the Kingdom of God within us and the image of Christ sealed upon the soul; the impulse to “follow the Lamb wherever He goes”.

The Celtic way of the anam cara shapes our relationships; peregrinatio is the framework of our contemplation.

Realizing that union with Christ is at the same time union with the Most Holy Trinity, we know from the example of both Scripture and Tradition that the path of Theosis favours ascetics and solitaries but even these were connected to an ordered community and guided by a rule of spiritual discipline. We choose to follow the example of order set forth by St. Benedict of Nursia. His Rule for monastic life is altogether oriented toward achieving union with Christ and so we identify with that age-old Benedictine tradition.

All that has been set forth above as common and specific means of union with Christ – Catholic, Celtic, Benedictine – are like separate streams of water flowing into one river; this river is Orthodoxy.

While the streams represent a universal yet distinct heritage and tradition, they all find their source and ultimate identity in the ancient Orthodox Christian Faith. All of these elements relate to and inform each other so perfectly it is as if several styles of Icons had been written by the hand of a single iconographer.

And what we are trying to become is that singular Icon of Christ written by the loving hand of the Holy Spirit upon our hearts.

Our Mission in the World:

Our mission is, first and foremost, to pray – communally, privately and liturgically - for all people - believers and unbelievers that all may be saved.

Secondly, our mission is to worship – liturgically; and no matter the richness or poverty of the setting, to help others experience and embrace the Fullness of the ancient Faith and the richness of the Mysteries of God’s Grace.

Lastly, our mission is to be “Windows to Holiness” that others may see what the love of God and complete devotion to Him looks like and to teach by word and example the transforming power of the Gospel and living Orthodoxy.

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Cultivating Happiness

This from our friend, The Desert Pilgrim:

The Undying Flame (from "The Battle for Life")

p. 9---

"It is the testimony of an unfailing life, an undying life, an all-sufficient life; the testimony of a life which is not an abstract, which is not something stored up, but something which is coming all the time from an inexhaustible stream; a mighty, glorious life. As the light burns, it is a constant declaration of victory, and that a victory over death, death which would seek to quench the light, quench the flame, smother it. It burns in the mist of surrounding death, a continuous declaration that death has no power to quench it."

This is very timely and speaks to me in a deep way.

Throughout our (almost) 15 year marriage, my husband and his mother frequently say and tell others that I am "one of the happy people".

Since both of them suffer with certain mild forms of depression, I usually make a little joke about it by saying that God had to make "happy people" in order to keep the depressed people from killing themselves!

They think it is an exceptional quality and I can appreciate and be grateful for their sentiment but I try to explain to them that whatever it is they perceive in me, it is not my own doing. I have simply always been aware of a disposition within myself that tends to always see the positive and the good and the potential for positive good.

I count it as a gift from God. But as is the case with many of God's Gifts, it is not a gift that does not require cultivation.

Hence, over the years, my husband and mother-in-law have come to, not just tolerate, but respect what I have to do to cultivate that gift.

Perhaps they don't fully understand but they do know that it effects them and they seem to benefit from the effect.

So this speaks to me now, the "necessity" and "continual need for oil."

Because without it, there can be no "constant declaration of victory."

And for me, in my situation, that means I cannot continue to meet every challenge, every problem that lack of money gives rise to, every temptation to feel offended by a passing word spoken out of aggravation, frustration or pain.

I cannot meet that with only the strength of my 'natural' disposition, however powerful it may indeed be of itself.

I need the continual flow of oil from the Word, from keeping the Commandments, from keeping the Sabbath, from keeping the Divine Office, from serving the Divine Liturgy, from watchfulness and the constant remembrance of the Holy Name.

I think this just constitutes a "Eucharistic awareness", the Sacramental Principle in application. In short, the Orthodox Way of life, or as the Protestants might say, "Walking in the Spirit."

But this way of life will also bring a type of alienation from those who do not or are not willing to understand. And that is a cross to bear, because it facilitates a certain isolation. The isolation that comes from the sudden and un chosen realization that there are moments within and brought on by events that one deeply feels the need to share with another who has similar understanding but there is no one to be found save Christ our Lord Himself.

This is a burden of the Interior Life.

But He is Sufficient and the burden is light as long as the oil is continual and fresh.

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Essentials For the Journey

I want to draw attention to this most wonderful essay by Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church in America:

http://www.monasteryofstjohn.org/abbatialessays/Do_not_react.pdf

I believe the spiritual principles he expounds on herein are absolutely essential to our monastic life.

The absolute Spiritual Truth is plainly seen.

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