Very Rev. Ihor Kutash kutash@unicorne.org

A spiritual son of Elder Paisius of Mount Athos (1924-1994) recalls the following words of his Teacher:

Today I observe that even with great matters, when someone asks, before he has even had the time to complete his question, we interrupt him and answer him.  This shows that not only do we not seek enlightenment from the Grace of God, but we do not even judge with the reason God gave us.  On the contrary, whatever our thoughts suggest to us, immediately, without hesitation, we trust it and consent to it, often with disastrous results.

Almost all of us view thoughts as being something simple and natural, and that is why we naively trust them.  However we should neither trust them nor accept them.

Thoughts are like airplanes flying in the air.  If you ignore them, there is no problem.  If you pay attention to them, you create an airport inside your head and permit them to land! 

(Cited by Hieromonk Damascene in Christ the Eternal Tao, Valaam Books 2002, p. 318).

This may be a useful directive in our quest to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He guides us along the way of salvation, which in Orthodoxy is viewed as theosis, i.e. becoming more and more like God who calls us to be perfect as He is perfect.

It seems that the spirit of the modern age called us to live according to the dictates of reason and science.  The calls we hear today tell us we must be in tune with the times, “get into the 21^st century”. But we Orthodox recall that the Fall – sin – has not ceased to make trouble for us just because we live in a modern, “enlightened” age.  Human reason is affected by sin (as are human will and human emotions).   It is clouded, weakened, rather easily led astray.

When Hitler decided on his “final solution” to the “Jewish problem” (and other problems) he was operating on the basis of reason – as he saw it.  So was Stalin when he ordered the program of collectivization which led to the Great Famine that killed up to 10 million people in Ukraine in 1932-33.  We could go on and on.

No, reason alone is not a trustworthy guide to where we must be heading.  And science based solely upon it is no better.  What we need is Grace, God’s help, God’s guidance – which is given to us by the Holy  Spirit.  This is accessed by prayer, humility and penitence (seeking to always be turning to God and “the best way” – over and over).  It is accessed by watchfulness and patient waiting upon God to guide and help us.