Orthodox Wisdom Newsletter

“We are not sanctified by the place in which we live, but by the way we live. We may be on the Holy Mountain but, in our thoughts, be in the world. Or we may be here [in the world] in body, but noetically on the Holy Mountain. If someone is a proper monk, wherever he goes is the Holy Mountain.”

~ St. Iakovos (Tsalikis), Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit

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Teaching Orthodox Theology in Alaska – Dr. Jeffrey Macdonald

☦️ Dear fellow pilgrim,

When St. Porphyrios first went to Athens, he wanted to serve the sick and so he sought out a post in a hospital. Providentially, he was given such a post, but when serving Divine Liturgy there for the first time, he found that there was a record store across the street that played pop music so loudly that it interfered with the liturgy.

The situation was so bad that St. Porphyrios was ready to quit, when God providentially led him to read the following words in a Physics textbook:

“’If you throw a small stone into a calm lake, you see the water making ripples over a small area. If you then throw in a larger stone, the ripples become larger and extend over a larger area so that they outflank the first ripples.’ At that moment I received the answer to my dilemma. It was divine illumination. I reasoned as follows: the small ripples from the singing outside the church can be outflanked by the prayers of great spiritual intensity that are being said inside the church. And at the same time there came at once into my mind forcefully, very forcefully: ‘And if you celebrate here and have your mind on God, who can cause you any harm?’”

~ Wounded by Love, p. 57

A few things struck me in this passage: one is St. Porphyrios’s humanity. The Saints are also human and have limits to their patience (though they become Saints at least partially because they are willing to stretch themselves far beyond their comfort zone). Another one is the reminder that it does not matter what situation one finds oneself in: there is always an opportunity to struggle spiritually. It can be tempting to think that “if only the external conditions were right,” that one could properly engage in the spiritual struggle. Often (probably usually!), it is precisely when we find ourselves outside of our comfort zone that we are given the “right situation” for spiritual growth.

May we learn to embrace the everydayness of the spiritual struggle!

In Christ our Lord,

Herman