Category: The Treatment

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36. The Practical Lifestyle of the Way

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An Orthodox Christian must strive to live a holy, virtuous life, but how do you practically apply virtue every day? What specific behavior is in harmony with the Way of Life, promoting the healing of the soul, and what actions are opposed to the Way of Life?

The Didache, an ancient text formally known as The Lord’s Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations, includes a summary of Christ’s commandments. A selection from The Didache follows. Learn The Teaching and dedicate yourselves to practicing it every moment of every day so that you may live a healthful lifestyle, oriented toward God.

 

The Didache

Chapter 1. The Two Ways and the First Commandment. 

There are two ways, one of life and one of death, but a great difference between the two ways. The way of life, then, is this: First, you shall love God who made you; second, love your neighbor as yourself, and do not do to another what you would not want done to you. And of these sayings the teaching is this: Bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you. For what reward is there for loving those who love you? Do not the Gentiles do the same? But love those who hate you, and you shall not have an enemy. Abstain from fleshly and worldly lusts. If someone strikes your right cheek, turn to him the other also, and you shall be perfect. If someone impresses you for one mile, go with him two. If someone takes your cloak, give him also your coat. If someone takes from you what is yours, ask it not back, for indeed you are not able. Give to every one who asks you, and ask it not back; for the Father wills that to all should be given of our own blessings (free gifts). Happy is he who gives according to the commandment, for he is guiltless. Woe to him who receives; for if one receives who has need, he is guiltless; but he who receives not having need shall pay the penalty, why he received and for what. And coming into confinement, he shall be examined concerning the things which he has done, and he shall not escape from there until he pays back the last penny. And also concerning this, it has been said, Let your alms sweat in your hands, until you know to whom you should give.

Chapter 2. The Second Commandment: Grave Sin Forbidden. 

And the second commandment of the Teaching; You shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit pederasty, you shall not commit fornication, you shall not steal, you shall not practice magic, you shall not practice witchcraft, you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born. You shall not covet the things of your neighbor, you shall not swear, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not speak evil, you shall bear no grudge. You shall not be double-minded nor double-tongued, for to be double-tongued is a snare of death. Your speech shall not be false, nor empty, but fulfilled by deed. You shall not be covetous, nor rapacious, nor a hypocrite, nor evil disposed, nor haughty. You shall not take evil counsel against your neighbor. You shall not hate any man; but some you shall reprove, and concerning some you shall pray, and some you shall love more than your own life.

Chapter 3. Other Sins Forbidden. 

My child, flee from every evil thing, and from every likeness of it. Be not prone to anger, for anger leads to murder. Be neither jealous, nor quarrelsome, nor of hot temper, for out of all these murders are engendered. My child, be not a lustful one. for lust leads to fornication. Be neither a filthy talker, nor of lofty eye, for out of all these adulteries are engendered. My child, be not an observer of omens, since it leads to idolatry. Be neither an enchanter, nor an astrologer, nor a purifier, nor be willing to took at these things, for out of all these idolatry is engendered. My child, be not a liar, since a lie leads to theft. Be neither money-loving, nor vainglorious, for out of all these thefts are engendered. My child, be not a murmurer, since it leads the way to blasphemy. Be neither self-willed nor evil-minded, for out of all these blasphemies are engendered.  Rather, be meek, since the meek shall inherit the earth. Be long-suffering and pitiful and guileless and gentle and good and always trembling at the words which you have heard. You shall not exalt yourself, nor give over-confidence to your soul. Your soul shall not be joined with lofty ones, but with just and lowly ones shall it have its intercourse. Accept whatever happens to you as good, knowing that apart from God nothing comes to pass.

Chapter 4. Various Precepts. 

My child, remember night and day him who speaks the word of God to you, and honor him as you do the Lord. For wherever the lordly rule is uttered, there is the Lord. And seek out day by day the faces of the saints, in order that you may rest upon their words. Do not long for division, but rather bring those who contend to peace. Judge righteously, and do not respect persons in reproving for transgressions. You shall not be undecided whether or not it shall be. Be not a stretcher forth of the hands to receive and a drawer of them back to give. If you have anything, through your hands you shall give ransom for your sins. Do not hesitate to give, nor complain when you give; for you shall know who is the good repayer of the hire. Do not turn away from him who is in want; rather, share all things with your brother, and do not say that they are your own. For if you are partakers in that which is immortal, how much more in things which are mortal? Do not remove your hand from your son or daughter; rather, teach them the fear of God from their youth. Do not enjoin anything in your bitterness upon your bondman or maidservant, who hope in the same God, lest ever they shall fear not God who is over both; for he comes not to call according to the outward appearance, but to them whom the Spirit has prepared. And you bondmen shall be subject to your masters as to a type of God, in modesty and fear. You shall hate all hypocrisy and everything which is not pleasing to the Lord. Do not in any way forsake the commandments of the Lord; but keep what you have received, neither adding thereto nor taking away therefrom. In the church you shall acknowledge your transgressions, and you shall not come near for your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life.

Chapter 5. The Way of Death. 

And the way of death is this: First of all it is evil and accursed: murders, adultery, lust, fornication, thefts, idolatries, magic arts, witchcrafts, rape, false witness, hypocrisy, double-heartedness, deceit, haughtiness, depravity, self-will, greediness, filthy talking, jealousy, over-confidence, loftiness, boastfulness; persecutors of the good, hating truth, loving a lie, not knowing a reward for righteousness, not cleaving to good nor to righteous judgment, watching not for that which is good, but for that which is evil; from whom meekness and endurance are far, loving vanities, pursuing revenge, not pitying a poor man, not laboring for the afflicted, not knowing Him Who made them, murderers of children, destroyers of the handiwork of God, turning away from him who is in want, afflicting him who is distressed, advocates of the rich, lawless judges of the poor, utter sinners. Be delivered, children, from all these.

Chapter 6. Against False Teachers, and Food Offered to Idols. 

See that no one causes you to err from this way of the Teaching, since apart from God it teaches you. For if you are able to bear the entire yoke of the Lord, you will be perfect; but if you are not able to do this, do what you are able. And concerning food, bear what you are able; but against that which is sacrificed to idols be exceedingly careful; for it is the service of dead gods.

 

Text preceding The Didache copyright © 2017 by Fr. Symeon D. S. Kees / The excerpt of The Didache is in the Public Domain, Roberts-Donaldson translation, available on the Early Christian Writings website. You may also listen to a reading of The Didache. 

 

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35. Be Like a Healthy Fruit Tree

peach tree

As an Orthodox Christian, your inner faith must be expressed in outer action. How you live your life daily reveals the true condition of your heart. A good, healthy fruit tree produces good, healthful fruit in its branches. A fruit tree that does not produce good fruit is neither healthy nor fulfilling its purpose. Purify your heart through prayer and repentance in order to produce good fruit.

Love God first, above all else, and love Him entirely, with your whole being. This is the greatest commandment of the Way. The next greatest commandment is this:  Love your neighbor as yourself. (Who is your neighbor? Whoever needs your love, compassion and kind help.)

Our Lord and Master said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Therefore, if we love Christ, we must follow His teachings, which keep us on the Way of salvation and in the stream of Life. As an Orthodox Christian, dedicate yourself to behaving the Way that Christ and His Apostles have taught us to behave daily.

Many people in Western society treat the inner life and outer action as though they are two completely separate parts of life. This is especially true with regard to the use of the body. In reality, how you use your body affects your soul. You cannot, for example, live the Way in your soul while using your body for immoral purposes. Learn the virtuous path and be obedient to Christ. Do not, rather, give obedience to the demons or allow the ravenous passion of lust, which is connected to the pleasure of the body, to control your thoughts and actions.

Following the commandments of Christ require humility and obedience. The necessity of these two, humility and obedience, cannot be underestimated. Without them you cannot walk the Way to healing and transformation nor reach your potential and purpose. Humility and obedience, which Christ Himself taught us though both His words and His example, are essential for your progress. Keep these virtues in your heart, in your mind, and in your daily work in the world.

Read: Luke 6.43-49; John 14.15, 23-24; James 2.14-26; Philippians 2.1-16 

 

Text copyright © 2017 by Fr. Symeon D. S. Kees 

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34. The Symbol of Faith

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In AD 325, Orthodox bishops from around the world gathered together in the city of Nicaea for a special meeting known today as the First Ecumenical Council. The Fathers of the Council took the dangers of heresy seriously. In order to defend Holy Orthodoxy and condemn the new false teachings of an egotistical heretic named Arius, who led many people away from the Truth, the Council composed and adopted the Nicene Creed. A few years later, in AD 381, the Second Ecumenical Council met in Constantinople, the imperial capital of the Roman Empire. This Council added a section to the Nicene Creed, thereby completing it. We call the final version the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed or simply the Nicene Creed for short. It is also called the Symbol of Faith. The Nicene Creed is a basic summary of what we believe as Orthodox Christians that has been recited by Orthodox Christians since its composition and adoption 1,600 years ago.

Learn the Nicene Creed by heart so that you know it well and can recite with the Faithful:

The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;

And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light, True God of True God, Begotten, not made, of one essence with the Father, by Whom all things were made:

Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man;

And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;

And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;

And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father;

And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke by the Prophets;

And I believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.

I look for the Resurrection of the dead,

And the Life of the age to come. Amen.

 

Text copyright © 2017 by Fr. Symeon D. S. Kees 

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33. What Do You Believe?

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What do you believe?

Being an Orthodox Christian means having right faith or correct belief, which is believing in what is really true.  As the Orthodox Church, we share the same beliefs together in our time that our Orthodox Christian ancestors believed around the world in every generation since the time of Jesus Christ and His Holy Apostles. 

We express what we believe through doctrines or dogmas. What is the purpose of dogma? Since our hearts are darkened and we require healing, we do not know or see clearly. The dogmas of the Church are like signs or lanterns along the Way of Life. If you can see the sign pointing to the correct direction, you can stay on the Way. Dogmas cannot explain a Mystery, but they keep you on the Way of Mystery. They show you the Way toward healing and transformation while preventing you from drifting off the road or outright taking a wrong turn down a treacherous road to a poisonous end.

After Holy Pentecost, the Church continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers (Acts 2.42, NKJV). Holding to the teachings of the Apostles is still central to our unity. As these doctrines unify us, they also create division between those of us who hold to the Truth and those who reject it. One who does not hold to the Orthodox Faith may wish to water down the Apostolic teaching in order to manufacture a kind of superficial unity, but this does not build a true, deep unity of Faith. You may hear someone say something like this: “What really matters is that we all have faith, or that we believe in God, or that we believe in Jesus, or that we believe in loving others, or that our paths help us find a sense of self-fulfillment and peace. Let’s focus on what we have in common, not what separates us.” Statements like this minimize the importance of doctrine and suggest that unity can be achieved by ignoring the wide difference between what is true and real and what is false and imaginary. Real unity is never created by compromising Truth or ignoring it for the sake of a thin, shallow unity. Real unity is created by rejecting untrue beliefs in order to embrace the Truth and by calling people from darkness to Light, and receiving them into the Truth.

In medicine, physicians know how to correctly diagnosis and treat a patients in order to restore health. Medical doctors distinguish between effective treatment options and ineffective treatment options to heal particular diseases. A competent physician would not say to a patient, “There are many different medicines in the world. It doesn’t matter exactly what your disease is or which medicine you take. What matters is that it is all medicine and medicine works. Let’s focus on what makes the different medicines the same, not what makes them different.” Such a view of medicine that minimizes the tremendous difference among the many different types of medications, and how they individually work with relation to particular ailments, would have tragic consequences. These are not matters of opinion, but of truth and error.

The dogmas of the Church are not opinions, but the objective Truth revealed by God Himself to His Church, which He established as the pillar and ground of Truth. We hold to what we know to be objectively True, not what we think is true, feel like is true, or seems apparently true. Since the Holy Spirit indwells and guides the Holy Orthodox Church, the doctrines of the Church do not change or develop over time, although the same teachings may be expressed with different words and explanations in different times and places in history. Across the millennia, the whole Church has affirmed the Apostles’ teachings. Even more, the Saints who have lived in different places and times down through the centuries have confirmed the truth of these doctrines. So, the dogmas we hold today have been consistently confirmed by the experience of those Fathers and Mothers who, having purified their hearts, have been taught by the Holy Spirit through prayer.

Each of us believes in the same doctrines, but just because someone agrees that certain doctrines are true does not mean that he is living the spiritual Way which those doctrines point toward. Rational belief is not enough. As St. James wrote, You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! (James 2.19). Even the evil bodiless powers know that certain doctrines are objectively true, but they do not have real faith. They know that God exists – and fear the Source of Love – but they do not believe in God. That is, they do not follow God or obey Him. We believe in God with our hearts, trust in what He has revealed to us, and live according to His instructions. The proof of real faith is seen in how each person carries out his or her daily life.

On the one hand, hold to Apostle’s teachings without compromise. Do not fall into relativism, the incorrect notion that Truth and one’s spiritual path is just a matter of individual opinion and perspective. On the other hand, be aware of the other extreme, a rigid fundamentalism that dogmatizes a particular opinion when, in fact, a range of acceptable pious views exist within the Church. If God has not revealed something clearly and the Church has not been inspired by the Holy Spirit to define a doctrine regarding the matter, do not presume that you and those who agree with your opinion possess the ability to speak with authority on the matter. The Church has been given theology, which is expressed in dogma. Be careful not to confuse philosophy of the rational mind with the theology revealed to the heart. Hold to the dogmas which we know instead of attempting to further rationally speculate, philosophically guessing, regarding what we do not know with certainty.

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The opposite of Orthodoxy (correct belief) is heresy. Heresy is a false opinion. A heretic, then, is one who makes the choice to embrace his own false opinion instead of holding to the Truth revealed to the Holy Orthodox Church, preserved by our ancestors, and passed down whole and undefiled to us. A heretic does remain on the Way of healing and transformation that leads to salvation in Christ.  Instead, he deceptively presents his own philosophical speculations as true theology. The heretic egotistically sets himself up as the authority of Truth and refuses to be taught and corrected, even when the whole Church speaks with one voice.

If I presented a glass of water before you and told you that the water was filtered and pure, except for a single drop of sewage, would you want to drink the water in the glass? No. That would be gross – and dangerous. A very small amount of harmful bacteria would spoil the whole container. Like a little bacteria introduced to water, the effect of heresy can grow. Throughout history, the Church has strongly condemned heresy and clearly expressed the difference between the unchanging Truth of God and the false opinions of heretics. The Fathers of the Church knew that what may seem like an insignificant matter can be dangerous, pointing people down a treacherous path harmful to their spiritual health. A false teaching about the nature of God, for example, can lead you to having a false view of yourself, your diagnosis, your treatment, your purpose in the world, your personal potential, your relationship with other people, and your eternal salvation. Furthermore, since heretics often spread their opinions and convince others to follow them, heresy may lead one to break from the Church. Ensure that you hold to entire Apostolic Tradition. If you hold to most of the Truth, but accept a small error, that error may make a big difference in what you believe and how you live. The dogmas of the Holy Orthodox Church lead to spiritual Life. Heresy leads to spiritual sickness, chaos, and death.

The danger of false teaching extends beyond the Church to the many other religions and ideologies around us. We certainly do find elements of truth in other belief systems, but the problem with those religions and ideologies is not the truth they contain, but the errors they contain. Those false teachings lead people away from the true God and the healing path of salvation. They misrepresent the purpose and potential of the human person and, rather than leading to the Divine Physician and His Hospital, they provide an incorrect diagnosis and ineffective treatment to heal our core spiritual problems.

Hold to the teachings of Christ and His Church. Avoid falling into the delusion that your perception of Truth is greater than those to whom God has revealed it. Pride can cause you to develop too high of an opinion of your own ability to individually discern Truth with either your own rational mind or with your feelings, apart from the Holy Orthodox Church. If you discover that you have been holding onto an opinion or view that contradicts the mindset (phronema) and teaching of the Church, repent. Be humble and teachable. Learn the Truth, embrace it, and live according to it. This is the Way of Life.

When you say, I am Orthodox, you declare that you hold to the Orthodox Faith. Learn the doctrines of the Holy Orthodox Church and keep them in your mind and in your heart. Live them through your action. Teach them to others so that the people around you may know the Living Christ. Truth is a loving Light that draws men and women out of the darkness of ignorance and death to the true God, the One Who loves them and offers them the fullness of Life. As Christ Himself said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10.10, NKJV).

Read: Ephesians 4.11-16; Galatians 1.8-9; 1 Corinthians 3.18-23; 1 Timothy 3.15; 2 Peter 2; Romans 1.16-32

 

Text copyright © 2017 by Fr. Symeon D. S. Kees 

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32. The Eight Parables

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Living the Way of Christ means possessing a good, healthful disposition of heart that produces good, virtuous action. Read these five parables carefully, learn their meaning for your life, and strive to put them into practice:

1) The Parable of the Publican and Pharisee (Luke 18.9-14)

What does this parable teach you about pride and judgment as well as humility and repentance? What does it teach you about God, prayer, and mercy?

 

2) The Parable of the Sower (Luke 8.4-15)

Are you eagerly receptive to the Truth and humbly teachable or hard-hearted and unteachable, unable to grow to maturity? You choose the kind of soil your heart shall be. Which kind of soil describes the disposition of your heart? What does this parable teach you with regard to how the condition of your heart affects both the health of your soul inwardly and also your outward actions?

 

3) The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15.11-32)

What does this story teach you about God and His love for us? (The Father did not love the son only when he returned, but the Father always loved the son.) What does the story teach you about sin and the effects of your sin? (Who created the distance between the Father and his son?) What does this teach you about the steps of repentance toward restoration? How does the reaction of the other brother also offer you a lesson?

 

4) Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

What does this teach you about true love?  Why must you love God first and best above all others? (If you do not love God wholly and above all, you cannot love all others fully.) Remember that this parable is also an image of the Church. What does this teach you about the benefit of the Church for you and everyone else?

 

5) The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders (Matthew 7.21-27)

What does this teach you about the the necessity of obedience?

 

6) The Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21.28-32)

What does this teach you about repentance with regard to obedience and disobedience?

 

(7 & 8) The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearls (Matthew 13.44-46)

Where does this teach you place of the Way of Christ in your life, considering all your competing priorities and distractions?

 

Text copyright © 2017-2021 by Fr. Symeon D. S. Kees