Romans
5:1-10; Matthew 6:22-33
Ours is an age of
anxiety. Many people are overcome with
worry about matters large and small. Some
certainly do need the help of physicians and psychological counselors in order
to cope with their fears. The sickness
of our souls remains, however, at the very heart of all our collective and personal
brokenness. If our souls are not healthy,
we will never find the peace that truly satisfies us as God’s children who bear
His image and likeness.
The Lord spoke of
the health of our souls in terms of vision: “The eye is the lamp of the
body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole
body will be full of light; but if your eye is evil, your whole body will be
full of darkness. If then the light in
you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
Christ taught that, if our spiritual vision is clear and focused, we
will see ourselves and our problems in light of God’s kingdom. Then
we will be able to serve our one true Master and gain strength for being at
peace, regardless of the circumstances of our lives.
If our spiritual
vision is clouded and unfocused, however, we will not have the strength to see our
problems and challenges in light of the Kingdom. We will instead stumble in the darkness to
the point that we make the passing things of this life our constant obsessions,
which is a path only to greater worry, anxiety, and fear. For example, many people make money and
possessions false gods for which they will sacrifice just about anything. Jesus Christ teaches that we are not to worry
about our food, drink, and clothing.
Instead, we are to trust that our Heavenly Father knows that we need
these things. “Seek first His kingdom
and righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”
This teaching does
not condemn reasonable provision for a decent life for ourselves and our
families. It does not deny that the
necessities of life are God’s good blessings. Instead, it gives us a clear example of how spiritual
blindness enslaves us to idolatry, which leads only to constant worry. Poverty, hunger, and famine are always possibilities
in our world. Economic depression,
natural disaster, war, crime, disease, and disability are obvious threats to having
adequate food, clothing, and shelter.
There is simply no way that we can protect ourselves completely from
such dangers. If we make the physical necessities
of life our gods, we cannot avoid being consumed by worry about them. That kind
of idolatry inevitably fuels anxiety.
If the eyes of our
souls are gaining clarity and focus, however, we will not blindly view life’s necessities
as the highest good, and neither will we make the lack of them the greatest
evil. Instead, we will be illumined with
the light of Christ to the point that we will see even the worst circumstances
of life in this world as opportunities to serve our one true Master. We will already participate in God’s reign as
we learn to trust more fully that our Heavenly Father will provide what we need
in this life and beyond.
When
we struggle to see that God cares for us in the midst of our challenges, we must
remember St. Paul’s example of using suffering and difficulty for growth in
holiness: “We also glory in
tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance
character, and character, hope.” Not
simply wishful thinking, Paul’s hope is grounded in “the love of God …poured
out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit Who was given to us.” Christ
died for the ungodly, including us, and has sent the Holy Spirit into our
hearts and souls to enlighten us with the glory of the Kingdom. In this context, our difficulties and needs are
opportunities for gaining greater healing for our souls. We must use these tribulations to gain greater
spiritual strength, clarity, and vision by growing in trust, humility, and
patience.
When we are
overcome with worry about any problem or threat in life, we must use our
weakness as an opportunity to gain greater spiritual strength: as a reminder to guard our thoughts as we turn
our attention from obsessing about what we cannot change to an earnest, humble
plea for the Lord’s healing mercy. That
is how we will open ourselves to greater participation in His life and, thus,
find true peace.
Some lose the joy
of life because of worry fueled by the love of money; others become miserable
because of domination by anger, fear, lust, gluttony, self-righteousness, or
other passions. These and all our other
habitual sins are symptoms of our spiritual blindness, of our darkened souls
which keep us from seeing ourselves, others, and the entire creation in the
glorious light of the Kingdom. As long
as we remain in the dark, we will never see anything clearly and easily stumble
and fall.
Those
who are sick do not need relief only for their symptoms; they require healing
from the causes of their disease. They need therapy that goes to the heart of
the matter. We will find that kind of healing in the spiritual life by: opening our souls to the light of Christ through
daily prayer; reading the Bible and the lives and teachings of the Saints; and watching
our minds and mouths to reject thoughts and words that are not pleasing to God. We will find it by fasting in order to humble
ourselves before the Lord and gain strength in refusing to be enslaved to selfish
desires. We will find it by taking
confession on a regular basis as we embrace the mercy of the Lord through sincere
repentance. We will find it by: forgiving those who have wronged us and asking
forgiveness of those we have wronged; giving generously of our time, attention,
and resources to those in need; and attending the Divine Liturgy regularly as
we receive the Body and Blood of Christ as often as possible.
This way of life
is for our healing; it is for our good.
It is what is necessary for us to open our darkened souls to the brilliant
light of Christ as we learn to seek first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness. It is how we may gain the
clarity and strength to serve our one true Master as we come to place our
problems, fears, and worries in the context of trust in a Lord Who has
conquered even death itself for our salvation purely out of love for His sons
and daughters.
Regardless of the
form that darkness takes in our lives, we must not despair. Instead, we must use our weakness and pain as
reminders to open ourselves to the light of Christ as best we can. Stumbling
around with our eyes closed is a good way to become disoriented and hurt ourselves. All of us have probably learned from
experience that nothing but brokenness, pain, and worry come from embracing
spiritual blindness. Since God created
us in His image and likeness, we will never find ultimate satisfaction by
looking for fulfillment in the passing things of this world. Doing so will only make us miserable and
weak.
Let us, then, open
ourselves to the healing light of Christ, trusting that He will respond
graciously to even our small, faltering steps to put our lives in the context
of His Kingdom. That is the ultimate
cure for our worries. If we trust
primarily in ourselves and what we can get by using worldly things according to
our own designs, we will inevitably be consumed by anxiety and fear. But if we gain the spiritual clarity to behold
all things in the light of His glory, we will know peace from the depths of our
souls. The One Who dwells in our hearts
has conquered even death itself and made us participants in His eternal
life. He delivers us from slavery to
the fears that are rooted in our blindness.
He makes it possible for us to experience already the joy of heaven even
as we live and breathe in this world with all of its and our problems. As the Lord said, “Seek first His kingdom and righteousness,
and all these things shall be yours as well.”
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