A common theme in the teaching of the church fathers is stillness. This is not a call to idleness but to a task that is very difficult: to quiet our minds. Our minds are too often controlled by our brain and its association with all our bodily needs. It is constantly bombarding us with thoughts, good and bad. It is these thoughts that keep us separated from God and our greatest spiritual challenge is to learn to still the mind so it is able to listen to God. If we are serious about doing God's will we have to become watchful in all our daily activities.
Saint Basil says,
As far as we are engaged in affairs outside of God, we are not able to make progress in the knowledge of God. Who, anxious about the things of the world and sunk deep in the distractions of the flesh, can be intent on the words of God and be sufficiently accurate in such mighty objects of contemplation? Do you not see that the word which fell among the thorns is choked by the thorns? (Cf. Matt. 13.7, 22) Does this mean we need to become a hermit? No, but it does mean we have to rethink how we do interact in the arena of worldly affairs. We cannot allow ourselves to become angry about events so that our mind is constantly troubled. We cannot let our bodily passions dictate our actions. We have to make sure we are not living among the "thorns." We have to stop and examine the activity that is filling our minds. Then, take actions to help it become quiet. When we begin to become watchful in our daily affairs then we will find that when we are engaged in our daily prayer there will be a calming of the activity of our brain and our mind will become less and less controlled by all its messages. As we are able to gain this stillness, then we may be blessed with God's grace and enter into a direct experience of Him.
Basil says,
The thorns are the pleasures of the flesh and wealth and glory and the cares of life. He who desires the knowledge of God will have to be outside of all these things, and being freed from his passions, thus to receive the knowledge of God. For, how could the thought of God enter into a soul choked by considerations which preoccupied it? Even Pharaoh knew that it was proper for one to seek God when he was unoccupied, and for this reason he reproached Israel: 'You are unoccupied, you are idle, and you say, "We shall offer prayers to the Lord, our God."' ( Cf. Exod. 5.17) Saint Basil then goes on to help us understand that this stillness is not simply leisure or idleness. Leisure can be good if its purpose is to help us gain stillness to be one with God. But when it is just to avoid boredom and instead engages in stimulating activities it is dangerous as it only fills our minds with greater distractions.
He says,
Now, leisure itself is good and useful to him who is unoccupied, since it produces quiet for the acquisition of salutary doctrines. But, the leisure of the Athenians was evil, 'who used to spend all their leisure telling or listening to something new.' (Acts 17.21) Even at the present time some imitate this, misusing the leisure of life for the discovery of some newer teaching. Such leisure is dear to unclean and wicked spirits. 'When the unclean spirit,' it is said, 'has gone out of a man, he says, "I will return to my house which I left." And when he has come, he finds the place unoccupied and swept.' (Matt 12.43, 44,) May it not be that we make our leisure a time for the adversary to enter, but let us occupy our house within, causing Christ to dwell in us beforehand through the Spirit. We can examine how we fill our leisure time. Is it used in a way that brings greater stillness? Or does it only increase our anxieties and further clutter our minds. Our television viewing should come to mind as an area to examine. Our reading matter should also be examined. Even our sporting activities can be distracting. How much time to we spend reading Scripture? How much time do we spend in prayer? How much time is the beauty of nature our focal point, contemplating the wonder of it all? How about our friends? Do they help lead us closer to God? Are there some that in their friendship and interactions are really enemies to your desire to become closer to God?
Saint Basil writes:
At all events, after giving peace to those who were up to this time troubled by the enemies, then he says, 'Have nothing to do with the enemies disturbing you, in order that in silence you may contemplate the words of truth.' For this reason also the Lord says: 'Everyone who does not renounce all that he possesses, cannot be my disciple.' (Luke 14.33) It is necessary... to be unoccupied with the pursuit of wealth, with the desire for this little glory, with the lust for pleasure, with envy and every form of wickedness against our neighbor, in order that, after our soul has found peace and is disturbed by no passion, the illumination of God, as if in a mirror, may become clear and unobscured. Seek stillness of your mind and then you will begin to have a rewarding prayer life. Orthodoxy is a way of life. How we live our life will determine how well we are able to become united with God, to become glorified and to be blessed with His grace.
Saint Basil
Calling on Name "Jesus" is NOT some kind of Magical Act
“Calling on the name of Jesus does not mean simply pronouncing the name “Jesus” in prayer or directing a prayer explicitly to Jesus. “It means that one adores Christ as he adores God…” It is not some kind of magical act whereby we call out the name “Jesus” and we are saved.
Saint Basil writes
But if someone claims that it is written: “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Jl 2:32 & Acts 2:21), and that therefore a Christian need only invoke the name of God to be saved, let him read what the Apostle has said: “How can they call upon him if the do not believe in him” (Rom 10:14). And besides this there are the words of the Lord himself: “Not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Mat 7:21). Moreover, if someone is doing the will of the Lord and does not do it exactly in the way ordained or does not do it out of the proper motive of love for God, then all the effort he puts into the action is useless, and Jesus Christ himself has said in his gospel: “Hypocrites do these things as to be seen by men: I tell you truthfully, they have already received their reward” (Mt 6:16). It was in this divine school that Saint Paul learned the lesson which he taught when he said: “If I give away all my possessions to feed the poor and give my body to be burned, but lack charity it profits me nothing” (Cor 13:3).
It is not the name itself that is important, but the intention and goal of the one who pronounces it.
In
our spiritual life we are asked to continually grow becoming more and
more like Christ. Saint Basil the Great tells us that if we are
advancing in virtue we are ever changing. This change involves an inner
change. This is a change that affects our attitude towards the world,
our friends and our enemies, our entire world view.
He writes,
'When
I was a child' it is said, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I
thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away the
things of a child' (1 Cor. 13.11)
Again, when he had become a man, he did not rest from his work, but
'forgetting what was behind, he strained forward to what was before, he
pressed on towards the goal to the prize of the heavenly calling' (Cf. Phil. 3.13, Cf. n. 10 supra.) There is a change, therefore, of the inner man who is renewed day by day....
This
inner change does not come to just any one. It comes to one who is
seeking change, one who seeks the love of God each and every day. It is
change where we are participants, where we have to make use of our free
will, and to discipline our mind and body. It is change that involves a
shift in the orientation of our heart.
Saint Basil writes,
It
is not the privilege of any chance person to go forward to the
perfection of love and to learn to know Him who is truly beloved, but of
him who has already 'put off the old man, which is being corrupted
through its deceptive lusts, and has put on the new man' (Eph. 4.22, 24)
which is being renewed that it may be recognized as an image of the
Creator. Moreover, he who loves money and is aroused by the corruptible
beauty of the body and esteems exceedingly this little glory here, since
he has expended the power of loving on what is not proper, he is quite
blind in regard to the contemplation of Him who is truly beloved.
He
is saying that we need to make sure that our motivations are not about
the love of money, our the glamorization of our physical looks, or our
accomplishment and recognition in worldly affairs. Instead the change we
seek is only about the "perfection of love" towards our God. Our effort is to be direct towards the commandment of our Lord: 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.' (Mark 12.30) Saint Basil helps us understand the meaning of "whole heart." It has to do with being a true friend of God.
He writes,
The
expression, 'With thy whole,' admits of no division into parts. As much
love as you shall have squandered on lower objects, that much will
necessarily be lacking to you from the whole. Because of this, of all
people few have been called friends of God, as Moses has been described
as a friend; (Cf. Exod. 33.11) likewise, John: 'But the friend' he says, 'of the bridegroom, who stands, rejoices exceedingly,' (John 3.29) that is to say, he who has a steadfast and immovable love for Christ, he is worthy of His friendship.
WHo is a friend? "He who has a steadfast and immovable love for Christ."
True friendship is based on true love. WHen we love someone we are
continually seeking to be with them and to please them. Being a friend
of God means we seek Him above all else and desire with our whole being
to please Him, doing His will. It is the Lord's disciples that we can
see as models for this true friendship.
Basil writes,
Therefore,
the Lord said to His disciples who were already perfect: 'No longer do I
call you servants,' but friends; 'because the servant does not know
what his master does.' (John 15.15)
Accordingly, it is the privilege of a perfect man truly to recognize
the Beloved. In reality, only holy men are the friends of God and
friends to each other, but no one of the wicked or stupid is a friend.
The beauty of friendship does not fall into a depraved state, since
nothing shameful or incongruous can be capable of the harmonious union
of friendship.
Ask
yourself these questions: Are you His friend? Or, are you only an
acquaintance? Or, maybe even an enemy? How would you describe the
intensity of your love for Him? Are you only a servant carrying out His
commandments? To be His friend one needs to be ever changing with ever
increasing love. He needs to be working on perfecting this friendship
each and every day.
A friend of God is one who has "a steadfast and immovable love for Christ."
Reference: Saint Basil's Commentary on the Psalms, Homily 17
There is no tradeoff between work and prayer. Both are essential to a healthy physical and spiritual life according to Saint Basil. It is wrong to deny prayer because of work and it is wrong to deny work because of prayer. We can learn to make our work a prayer. The Jesus Prayer and other remembrances of God during the day are a great help in this task. At the foundation a God centered work life is attentiveness based on a quiet mind as Basil explained in earlier posts..
Here is what Basil has to say to us:
As daily sustenance is necessary for everyone, so labor in proportion to one's strength is also essential. Not vainly has Solomon written in praise: “she watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness” (Prov 31:27). And again, the Apostle says of himself: “nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day” (2 Thess 3:8); yet, since he was preaching the Gospel, he was entitled to receive his livelihood from the Gospel. The Lord couples sloth with wickedness, saying: '‘You wicked and lazy servant" (Matt 25:26). Wise Solomon, also, praises the laborer not only in the words already quoted, but also, in rebuking the sluggard, associating him by contrast with the tiniest of insects: “Go to the ant, you sluggard!" (Prov 6:6). We have reason to fear, therefore, lest, perchance, on the day of judgment this fault also may be alleged against us, since He who has endowed us with the ability to work demands that our labor be proportioned to our capacity; for He says: “to whom much is given, from him much will be required" (Luke 12:48). Moreover, because some use prayer and psalmody as an excuse for neglecting their work, it is necessary to bear in mind that for certain other tasks a particular time is allotted, according to the words of Ecclesiastes: “To everything there is a season" (Eccl 3:1). For prayer and psalmody, however, as also, indeed, for some other duties, every hour is suitable, that, while our hands are busy at their tasks, we may praise God sometimes with the tongue (when this is possible or, rather, when it is conducive to edification); or, if not, with the heart, at least, in psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles, as it is written (Col 3:16). Thus, in the midst of our work can we fulfill the duty of prayer, giving thanks to Him who has granted strength to our hands for performing our tasks and cleverness to our minds for acquiring knowledge, and for having provided the materials, both that which is in the instruments we use and that which forms the matter of the arts in which we may be engaged, praying that the work of our hands may be directed toward its goal, the good pleasure of God.
Thus we acquire a recollected spirit-when in every action we beg from God the success of our labors and satisfy our debt of gratitude to Him who gave us the power to do the work, and when, as has been said, we keep before our minds the aim of pleasing Him.
From Church Fathers: The Long Rule pp 306-311
From a letter
Prayer is to be commended, for it engenders in the soul a distinct conception of God. And the indwelling of God is this – to have God set firm within oneself through the process of memory. We thus become a temple of God whenever earthly cares cease to interrupt the continuity of our memory of him.
The Heart of Basilian Spirituality p 120 Letter 2
