heart – The Tao of Holy Orthodoxy

September 12, 2018September 12, 2018

87. Is Your Heart Wax or Clay?

Love wax seal

How you experience God’s Grace (Energy) depends upon the disposition of your heart. Since God has created you with the freedom to use your will, you choose whether your heart will be humble, soft, obedient, and open to God’s Grace or, conversely, whether your heart will be prideful, hard, self-willed, and closed to God’s Grace. In other words, you determine whether your heart will be like wax or like clay. When the same sun shines down on both wax and clay, the wax softens, but the clay hardens.

When the Holy Scripture speaks of God hardening someone’s heart, understand that the same Grace that hardened the heart of one person would heal and sanctify the heart of another. Again, you choose whether or not to allow the Divine Grace to work within you.

If your heart is humble like wax, God will impress his seal into your heart so that you may be conformed to His likeness and act according to His will.

Read: Exodus 7-15

June 2, 2018

76. Secure the Door

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Silence provides a condition of rest and prayer, but also an occasion for distraction and conflict. Keep your heart focused on God and the door to your heart secure. Be attentive so that your mind does not wonder off into temptation.

If a tempting thought presents itself, disregard it. If you pay attention to it, you are beginning to unlock the combination lock on the door by your own actions. If you begin meditating on the tempting thought, then you move toward considering acting on the thought. If you continue entering the combination numbers to the lock by taking one step at a time toward accepting the temptation, you open the door for sin to enter. Do not allow the enemy to convince you to open the locked defensive door from the inside.

Do not allow despair over tempting thoughts to take root. Spend no time wondering why you are having bad thoughts or attempting to psychoanalyze yourself. Simply, reject the thought quickly and return your focus to prayer.

Read: Proverbs 4.23-27; James 1.12-15

June 1, 2018

75. In the Calm of the Storm

Hurricane_Isabel_from_ISS

Strong winds whip fiercely around the eye of the hurricane, but the eye remains calm. When you find yourself in an environment of busy, rushing chaos or conflict among people, keep your focus on your heart and pray. Ask the Lord to give you His peace. Beware of getting caught up in the drama. Refuse to take the tempting bait, an invitation to join in the passionate thoughts and feelings others that lead toward sin. Avoid feeding the storm by your own words and actions. If you feel the passion of anger, or other passion, rising within you, reject it in your mind and ask the Lord to purify your heart quickly. Pray for everyone involved that the Lord with bless them.

Do not emotionally react, but prayerfully, thoughtfully respond in harmony with the Way. You are not responsible for what others say and do to you, but what you say and do to others in return. Whatever is directed at you, only offer back what is pure and good in the Name of Jesus Christ.

Do not be deceived by thinking that because you are calm that you are better than others. Remember your own sins and be on guard for thoughts of self-righteousness and judgmental superiority. If you are victorious in a particular moment, realize that you have not reached the spiritual heights. Pride distracts us from watchfulness by filling us with self-satisfaction for our success. Maintain your humility. Remember your own faults. Do not judge others as worse than yourself, but rather, as a fellow sinner struggling to heal the passions, be a humble agent of peace and advocate for love. If you are successful, give thanks to God, who gave you the strength.

Read: Matthew 5.1-12; Mark 4.35-41; Romans 12:17-21; Colossians 3.1-17

June 1, 2018

73. The Prayer Rope

Prayer ropes

Lord, have mercy.

This is a very simple prayer. It is a powerful prayer. With these few words, you can call upon the Creator and Master of the Universe to ask Him to pour out His Grace upon you. Through this prayer, humbly ask God to forgive your sins, purify your heart, heal your souls, and help you in everything by His Power. Whenever you pray these words, whether alone or in a service of the Church, speak with God with focused attention from your heart.

Another valuable prayer from the Treasury of the Church is the Jesus Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.

You may choose to use a bit longer form:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Pray the Jesus Prayer prayer with your heart wherever you go. Also, pray this prayer during times of private prayer in silence with focused attention. These are not empty words, but communication with the Living God Himself, who loves you and desires for you to experience the fullness of salvation.

To help maintain your focus and to keep track of the number of times you pray the Jesus Prayer, you may use an Orthodox prayer rope (komboskini). Run your thumb across the knots of a prayer rope, one knot for each time you say the prayer. The rope is not necessary, of course, but helpful. As a weapon increases the effectiveness of a warrior, the prayer rope may enhance your effectiveness in prayer by helping you pray with greater focus and more often.

If you carry the prayer rope with you, be discreet and private. Do not show it off publically as an outward sign of your religiousness. Use the prayer rope to cultivate humility and attract the Divine Grace, not to attract the attention of others.

Use the prayer rope to pray for yourself and others. Instead of saying, “have mercy on me,” you may ask God to have mercy on someone else by name. If praying for someone else, omit the words, a sinner.

Consider the prayer rope as a training device to improve your health and increase your strength, as well as a sword in spiritual battle.

As always, remain under the guidance and care of your Priest with regard to your work in prayer.

Read: Psalm 50 (51); Romans 10.12-13; Philippians 2.5-11; Matthew 6.7; 23.5; Luke 18.9-14; 35-43; 1 Thessalonians 5.16-24; 1 John 4.13-18

November 19, 2017September 26, 2018

38. Maintain Harmony and Balance

Baoding Balls

Rotating Baoding balls (also called Iron Balls or Chinese Medicine Balls) in the hand promotes good health, according to tenets of traditional Chinese medicine. Whether or not the claim is accurate, these therapeutic balls from Hebei, China can serve to remind us of the necessity of harmony.

Two Baoding balls in good condition rotate smoothly around each other in the hand as chimes inside the hollow spheres produce a pleasant, relaxing tone. A skilled practitioner can rotate them without the two touching each other. The two spheres work together for the intended health of the body. If someone cut a chunk out of a ball, destroying the completeness of the sphere, the two would not rotate smoothly together. They would likely not work very well at all.

When the various aspects of the spiritual life are kept whole and in balance, they promote the health of your soul. So, nurture harmony within your soul. Bring all your thoughts, opinions, and actions into harmony with the Spirit-guided mind, vision, and life of the Church. Be consistent. Align both your rational mind and your heart with the Way of Christ. If you do this, you will be able to see clearly, think soberly with wisdom, and live well in truth and love.

Ensure that your external action, what you do every day, remains in harmony with who you are within. Contradiction between your being and your doing promotes dysfunction and chaos. Instead, promote wholeness and wellness through harmony.

Your body must be brought into harmony with your soul. Always maintain both your soul and your body in purity. You cannot live a truly spiritual life if you misuse your body. If you are unmarried, guard the virginity of both your soul and body. If you are a man married to a woman or a woman married to a man, maintain purity in your own soul while extending self-denying love and absolute fidelity (loyalty and faithfulness) to your only beloved. Guard your marriage as you guard your soul.

We are called to speak the truth in love and to love others according to the truth. No opposition exists between truth and love. You may be accused of being unloving by someone who does not understanding the fullness of Truth. You may be accused of being narrow-minded and ignorant by someone who misunderstands the fullness of Love. Truth and love are sisters who should always be kept together.

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You do not need to look to man-made craftsmanship or symbols to see harmony. The Creator has filled the creation with harmonious balance and symmetry. A bird cannot fly with one wing. Neither can you live well and ascend toward your potential by practicing some aspects of the Way while ignoring other complimentary elements.

Generally, the health of your human body depends on the various systems working properly and cooperating together. A chemical or hormonal imbalance dramatically affects health. The health of your soul also depends on maintaining balance. If you live the whole Way, you will find balance.

You are still imperfect and in the process of healing. When you find disharmony in your life – in your heart, your thoughts, or your actions – immediately repent. Change your mind and your heart. Correct your behavior. Turn away from whatever is causing the dysfunction and, with humility and obedience, bring yourself into harmony with Christ and His pure teaching. Set things right. Bring more and more of yourself into alignment with the Way of Life.

You must constantly repent in order to make progress. Whatever you do to promote harmony through repentance will prepare your soul for God’s healing, transforming Grace to work within you.

Read: Ephesians 4.11-16; Colossians 3.1-17; 1 Corinthians 6.12-20; 13.1-13; 1 John 3