Metropolitan of Strumica Nahum: Ascension or deliriousness (spiritual deception)?
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The feasts of the Lord are a good opportunity to remember some of the key events that enable our spiritual life in the Orthodox Church.
If the Son of God had not descended to earth among us, being incarnated Himself by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary (with Her free and loving permission), and if He had not become Man, we too would not have been able to ascend during the moment of the Little Entrance of the Holy Liturgy of the Church and stand before the throne of God.
If He had not been baptised, we too would not have been able to die for the sin and be alive for God in Him.
If He had not preached His Good News for the Kingdom of God, we too would not have been able to read and preach His New Testament at the Holy Liturgy of the Church.
If He had not sacrificed Himself on the Cross for us and our salvation, we too would not have been able to offer ourselves and our whole lives to the Holy Throne of God through the Gifts we offer to Him during the moment of Great Entrance of the Holy Liturgy.
If He had not resurrected, we would not have been able to discover the Kingdom of Heaven within us, in our spiritual heart, nor would we have been able to experience the transfiguration of our souls and bodies even in this life.
If He had not ascended and sat at the right hand of the Father, also the Holy Spirit would not have descended on the Apostles, and through them and the Holy Fathers on us to this day – in the Church, nor would the Second Coming of Christ and the Last Judgment have come – but not yet in full.
Furthermore, if the Holy Spirit had not descended on us, all that the God-Man Christ did for our salvation would have no meaning for us.
So far I have spoken about our catholic life in the Church, in its Holy Liturgy. But what would that mean in practice – the beginning of our personal ascension? And of course, we do not have to wait for the great holy days to come and remind ourselves of repentance; every day we have enough social and personal reasons for repentance (change of mind), if we want to see (acknowledge) them.
It is known that the initial goal of our Orthodox spiritual life is to pass from an unnatural way of life to a natural one, and precisely that (and nothing else) is the beginning of our personal ascension into Christ. In other words, as soon as we put our mind, through obedience, to the process of healing from the passion of pride – in order to attain enlightenment and universal personal deification, at the same time our ascension begins.
Without this transition (ascension) – from the unnatural to the natural way of life, neither our conscious participation in the Little Entrance (in the Holy Liturgy) of the Church is possible (like unto ascension before the throne of God), nor personal ascension to deification, nor true celebration and testimony of the Ascension of Christ.
The main feature of the beginning of our ascension, in terms of the aforementioned transition from the unnatural to the natural way of life, is the harmonisation of the way of our life with the level of spiritual development we are at. It also means harmonising our way of life with the place and role we have in the Church as well as in society.
The problem is that most often the modern, so-called Orthodox Christians do not follow the path taught by the Holy Fathers and, today, in many of them, instead of the signs of ascension, we see the signs of spiritual deception, of delusion. We see this especially in those who have some positions in the Church. Sadly, in the last ten years, with the emergence of social networks, the same phenomenon is often also observed among those who do not have any hierarchical position in the Church.
Characteristic of all of them is the spiritual self-management – they do not have the gift of the payer of the mind in the heart (noetic prayer of the heart), and at the same time they do not have their own spiritual father.
As soon as we see that by entering the Church someone brings with him the old self, that is, he does not reject the old self – by synchronizing his way of life with the level of spiritual development he is at – in obedience. We can assuredly say that in him, instead of personal-catholic ascension, a process of individual spiritual deception is taking place.
The alignment of our way of life with the level of spiritual development we are at, in the beginning of our spiritual development, consists precisely in putting the mind in the process of healing through obedience to the spiritual father – until receiving the gift of noetic prayer of the heart. Even so, we have to be careful in this endeavour.
There are two main distortions (delusions) in the endeavour of obedience to the spiritual father. The first distortion is a semi-magical obedience to what suits us, and the second distortion is a psychological and idolatrous connection with the spiritual father – combined with his ignorance to guide the spiritual child properly. It is clear that the spiritual father should not direct the spiritual child towards himself, but towards the love and obedience of the Bishop of the local Church and the God-Man Jesus Christ.
The first case is the most common and is recognized in the general tepid attitude and the “rise and fall” approach of modern Christians, and the second case is much more dangerous and is recognized in sectarian behaviour.
Those who are psychologically attaching themselves to the spiritual father, and not only to his word – as it is right, they disregard the Bishop as the center of the unity of the Church, glorify their “spiritual father” as sinless, despise other spiritual fathers and their spiritual children, and in short: they display all the characteristics of pseudo-elitism, introversion and exclusivity over others – who disagree with their way of dealing with the “spiritual father” and his “faith”, or with his political identification (it is trendy to mention this nowadays) – which is tragic.
It is time to decide: will we ascend, through proper obedience, unto the God-Man Christ, or will we delude ourselves, from delusion to delusion, together with the demon?
The path of the humility is Ascension. The path of pride is deliriousness: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount in the assembly of the gods, on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High ”(Isaiah 14: 13-14). May God protect us from such and from any delusion …
Let us not forget: to help the suffering, they are, from God, the ladder set for our rapid personal ascension or an obstacle to it – it depends on our attitude towards them.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us!
Metropolitan of Strumica Nahum
(01.06.2022 15:58)
