Toward Attention

The Spirit, a Seed

"(The parable of the mustard seed, Mt. 13:31ff.) Now consider God's wisdom with me here, how, by using examples of things which appear to us to be of little significance, He outlines what surpasses our intellect and reason. And He does all this in order that those who are unbelieving, and by consequence of their unbelief become unworthy of such matters, may remain blind and have no portion in these good things, and that the believers, who receive the word of the parables with assurance, may behold the manifest fulfillment of what occurs in them, the truth itself. For these parables are images of things which are actually happening. Listen to how this is so. The grain of mustard is the Holy Spirit, and the latter - understand me well! - is nothing other than the Kingdom of Heaven. The man is every believer who wants to receive this seed by doing the commandments. The field is no other place than the heart of each one of us. It is there [in our hearts] that we receive and hide that one
seed which is not many, nor divisible, but Who is by nature undivided and inseparable."

St. Symeon the New Theologian.

I have often argued that the talent (in the parable of the talents) and the seed (in the parable here referenced) are images of the divine and life-giving Spirit: this is late confirmation of this tradition of exegesis (if St. Symeon's reading reflects a tradition), but confirmation that this is quite canonical, and thus ordinary (in the etymological sense of that word) quite late into the tradition.

It is nice to see this imagery joined explicitly to the commandments, as I've never seen the relation between these things discussed in the same passage.

The Lord, The Pharisees, and Ascent Into Heaven

Matt. 23:13: "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."

It sounds like He's talking about some kind of ascent into heaven.

The verses before this have to do with humbleness and exaltation.

New/Old Perspectives

Great post on the newer wave of biblical studies here. Well said, John. The biblical text is not to be schucked in favor of either the history or ur-text that lies behind the canonical, final form of the text itself: the biblical text is not to be translated into something other than the story it presents to the reader.

Funnel

The moral decisions required for ethical purity are difficult and entail suffering. They require constant attention, watchfulness, focus. Kedping watch and focused practice is difficult -- it often feels constricting, like going through a funnel. Eventually, we are enticed away from keeping watch to slacken and "be human," to be somnolent/relaxed, distracted, dissolute.

 I call to mind the Lord's words about a "camel going through the eye of a needle" -- it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.  (I wrote before on this passage.)

We see this in St. Paul's argument throughout Colossians, where he sounds it off at the beginning:

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness [of God] should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. [Colossians 1:19-23, NKJV, my edits]

[Christ] we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. [Colossians 1:28]

"If you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the Gospel." Immovability entails this funnel -- it is difficult to avoid passionate distractions from this end of our salvation and perfection ("perfect in Christ Jesus"), whether they are publicly recognized as such or not.

We are to

[hold ]fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. [Colossians 2:19]

Our steadfastness is not necesssary because God wishes to reward it extrinsically, as though our salvation were something external to our cleaving to God in Christ, "in whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily" (2:9), but is simply our abiding in Christ, our drinking from the fount of His divine-humanity via our loving attention, obedience, delight. This requires the stripping away of all sin, though:

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead (2:11-12)

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (3:1-2)

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (3:5)

But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him (3:8-10)

And then the goal of this stripping-away, which is the acquisition of holy things:

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (3:12-17)

This is so much more than a Boy-Scout ethic. How far we are from this! --not merely from the virtues listed as though they were to be considered abstractly, and we against them as a background, but singing to each other always, being thankful, letting the peace of God rule in our hearts, teaching one another, giving thanks to God the Father through Christ in all things, doing all in the Name of Christ -- that is, out of a desire for Him and, so to speak, manifesting Him in all things. This really does require the stripping away of the "sins of the flesh" that we have put off in baptism, and the vesting with the New Man, Christ.

It requires that we go through a funnel of sorts, as the camel through the eye of a needle. This cannot be but a painful exercise for those of us who are burdened like the rich man.

 

Origen on Spiritual Adultery

This from Origen's Homilies on Leviticus, published by CUA Press:

"He will not take a harlot." [Lev 21:14] What soul is "a harlot"? That one which takes "lovers" to itself, about which the prophet says, "You were prostituted to your lovers." Who are these "lovers" that enter to the prostituted soul except the hostile powers and demons that are captivated by the desire of her beauty? For the soul was created by God beautiful and becoming enough. Hear how God Himself speaks: "Let us make man in our image and likeness." See how becoming, how beautiful the soul is. It has "the image and likeness of God." When the opposing powers, that is, "the devil and his angels," [Rev 12:9] behold this beauty, they covet its aspect; and because they cannot become his bride, they desire to be a prostitute with it. Therefore, O man, if you receive in the bed of your soul the adulterous devil, your soul has prostituted itself with the devil. If you receive "his angels," if you receive diverse spirits which persuade you to sin, your soul has prostituted itself with these. If a spirit of wrath or envy or pride or imurity should enter your soul and you receive it, if you should assent when it speaks in your heart, if you should take pleasure in these things which it suggests to you according to its mind, then you have prostituted yourself with it. Therefore, "the great priest will not take a harlot and will not contaminate his seed in his people." [Lev 21:14] What is that "seed" by which he does not want "to be contaminated"? It was written in the Gospels, "He who sows sows the word." [Mark 4:14] Therefore, he does not want the word of God "to be contaminated" by those "who sow." But who are they "who sow"? They are those who bring forth the word of God in the Church. Therefore, let teachers hear lest perhaps they trust the words of God to "a contaminated" soul, to "a harlot" soul, to an unfaithful soul, lest perhaps they cast "a holy thing to the dogs and pearls before swine"; [Matt 7:6] but let them choose clean souls, "virgins in the simplicity of faith which is in Christ"; let them commit to them secret mysteries; let them speak to them the word of God and the secrets of the faith that "Christ may be formed" in them through faith. Or, do you not know that from this seed of the word of God which is sown Christ is born in the heart of the hearers? For the Apostle also says this: "Until Christ be formed in us." [Gal 4:19] Therefore, the soul conceives from this seed of the word and the Word forms a fetus in it until it brings forth a spirit of the fear of God. For so the souls of the saints say through the prophet, "By your fear, Lord, we conceived in the womb and brought forth in labor and gave birth; we have made the spirit of your salvation upon the earth." [Isaiah 26:18] This is the birth of the holy souls, this is conception; these are holy unions which are convenient and apt for the great high priest, Christ Jesus our Lord, "to whom is glory and power forever and ever. Amen!" [1 Peter 4:11; Rev 1:6]]

I thought this was an interesting presentation of the motivation of demons. In the daily prayers I constantly hear about how the disordered passions prevent the birth of Christ in my soul.  

Seeing and Believing

"But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe." (John 6:36)

"For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:40)

What is interesting is that, although belief gets priority, it builds upon vision, it is a certain kind of response to vision. Even if the vision isn't ours, but is mediated to us:

Jesus said to [St. Thomas], "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."

For how can one believe in what one has not seen?

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life -- the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us -- that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have communion with us; and our communion is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Others can see for us, and we may believe through them, as witnesses that mediate the Radiance of the Son ("I do not pray for [My apostles] alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word" [John 17:20]). Not all see, but sight is not consigned to those historically proximate to the Word and Son of the Father (though there is no belief but through their witness, no vision but through the luminosity they receive from the Light and offer to us in the Gospel and the evangelical tradition). Think of St. Paul's ascent "into the third heaven." The Lord teaches us:

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

I'm already beyond the limits of what I can say with the knowledge that the fathers say it.

Accusations, Cosmic Collapse, the Need for Chastity

If we do not accuse ourselves, but others, we become demonic. In the prayer of St. Ephraim which we say during Lent (and which those of us who are less spiritual than most say year round), we say quite simply:

"O Lord and Master of my life,

drive far away from me

the spirit of despondency,

negligence,

avarice,

and idle talk.

"But grant unto me, thy servant,

the spirit of chastity,

humility,

patience,

and love.

"Yea O Lord and King,

grant me to see mine own transgressions,

and not to judge my brother,

for blessed art thou unto ages of ages, amen."

This should be enough for us to see the unity of chastity and charity. If we do not chasten ourselves, we will devour our neighbor, even if we do it ever so innocently, and think of them as lower than ourselves, or needing guidance and instruction, or poor and lost, or somehow worse off than we are. "Lord, I thank Thee that I am not like other men..." -- the rude, the impious (or "unsaved"), the braggarts, the tardy, the intolerant, the lazy, the cruel, etc. Now, charity does not mean blindness, but "love covers a multitude of sins" -- covers them, does not make them invisible. Noah's nakedness is covered by the charity of his sons. 

He who washes his neighbor's garment with inspired words, or who sews it up by contributing to his needs, has the outward appearance of a servant, but is really a master. But when he acts in this way he must be careful to do so truly as a servant, lest by growing conceited he loses both his reward and his proper rank. 

St. Ilias the Presbyter, Gnomic Anthology 1.50.

This is, of course, nothing but a reiteration of what the Master teaches: "remove the plank from your own eye before you remove the splinter from your brother's eye," and "he who is first among you must be least of all and servant of all." And certainly, they must not be puffed up with the sense that they are, of course, servant of all. The dangers of the Enemy are everywhere. Without self-accusation and chastity, true and interior chastity that encompasses more than just the groin, the world collapses.

St. Gregory of Nyssa on a Beatitude

"'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.' Now I know that in many passages of the Divine Scripture holy men call the Divine Power merciful; as does David in the Psalms, Jonas in his prophecy, and the great Moses frequently in the Law. If, therefore, the term 'merciful' is suited to God, what else does the Word invite you to become but God, since you ought to model yourself on the property of the Godhead? For if the Divinely inspired Scripture calls God merciful, and if the Divinity is truly blessed, then it should be clear how the following is to be understood. It means that if a man is merciful, he is deemed worthy of the Divine Beatitude, because he has attained to that which characterized the Divine Nature."

St. Gregory of Nyssa.