Reflections on a Thursday Evening

I've been reading a book on St. John of Kronstadt;

in it talks about the theme of joy

and that it is the devil who spreads gloom.

I paraphrase but this theme I am finding

in many Orthodox places.

Living in the joy of Christ, of Pascha.

We are always being called away from and out of

despair, acedia, despondancy

in to Christ;

Christ the Living Water of Pentecost.

Lots of thoughts about being at peace by

accepting all things in the day as God's will;

whether in what God allows or in what He directly wills;

it is a mystery but somehow acceptance of the days events

can give peace

when kept with the rememberance of God

and who He is,

His goodness, His desire to save us.

I wrote before of the concept of

the door opening to summer

We are always waiting for something;

I know how much I am always waiting.

Waiting for a call or email for an interview

or for a work contract.

But it is bigger than this.

Frederica Mattehews-Green writes in her book

on St. Andrew of Crete's service

and in her book on The Jesus Prayer

how the nous,

the faculty of understanding spiritual truth

is wounded and is constantly

buzzing around in circles

looking for distraction because it has not yet

been healed

has not yet descended into the heart

and praying there.

I am slowly reading through the art of prayer

which has a lot of St. Theophan's writing

and am slowly understanding what prayer can be

and that I do not yet have it.

But it is exciting.

To realize there is more;

my spiritual father was talking to a group of us last Sunday

and explained that the understanding of the

two natures of Christ

in one Person

and that the Person of Christ did not change

in the Incarnation

but was enfleshed; Christ in His Person

became Human without losing His Divinity;

He then had two natures

even, from what has been explained to me,

two wills,

His human will and His divine will.

He submitted His will to His Father's will.

Because Christ became human and is uncreated

as one of the Persons of the Godhead

we can join in God's energies but not in His essence.

In other words,

We can align our will to Christ's will

our emotions to Christ's emotions;

these are all things that are true because of Christ's

Incarnation,

truly man, truly God.

Heavy stuff

BUT

wow.

This what Saints are made of.

Saints who are full of the Holy Spirit.

In Communion with God.

God is the Perfect Communion

the Trinity.

This is what we are called and welcomed to.

It is the only way to inward peace...