Monthly Archives: October 2013

Reading: Maximus Confessor Selected Writings by George C. Berthold

After reading the Philokalia, I made a list of authors that I wanted to read. That list included philosophers, saints, and early Christian mystics. One of the first was Saint Maximus the Confessor. I had read the Wikipedia entry on him and was fascinated by him. My own belief in ego death reflected in his philosophy and I saw echoes of my own experiences with the God Image, the deification of man, and reconnecting with the Source.

In Maximus’ time, there was a great debate over whether Jesus had only a Divine Will or both a Divine Will and a human will. Monophysitism put forward that Christ only had a Divine Will. Dyophysitism believed Christ had both a Divine Will and a human will. This was a tremendous debate within the new church.

Maximus the Confessor believed in the Dyophysite position. He believed the only way Christ could fully demonstrate his sacrifice and vulnerability was to be faced by the same temptations as God’s creation. Ultimately, this is how the Church evolved but at the time it resulted in a heresy conviction and cost Maximus his tongue and his right hand. He died shortly thereafter in 662 AD.

As a result of the Sixth Ecumenical Council in 681, Maximus was vindicated and the Church declared Christ to have both a Divine Will and a human will. He was made a saint and is one of the last men to be recognized by both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church as a Father of the Church.

The book Maximus Confessor Selected Writings by George C. Berthold is divided into 6 key parts: The Introduction, The Four Hundred Chapters on Love, The Commentary on the Our Father, The Chapters on Knowledge, and The Church’s Mystagogy.

The Introduction provides the historical framework necessary to appreciate the world of Maximus’ time. It also gives a brief biography of Saint Maximus the Confessor to include his teachers and the great controversies of the time. The Christian Church wasn’t built in a day. Its creation was the result of many iterations of discussions and debates during the first millennium of the Church’s existence. These debates were incredibly passionate as the founders felt a responsibility almost beyond imagination. There were also consequences for those who didn’t follow the popular line of reasoning. Theologians incorporated and synthesized elements of Judaism and Greek philosophy to fully understand the Christ phenomena. Maximus was a student of Pseudo-Dionysius and also integrated the work of Plotinus, the father of Neoplatonism, into his own beliefs.

The Four Hundred Chapters on Love is also known as the Four Centuries on Love. It contains 400 verses that represent the most beautiful reflections on God, Love, and Jesus Christ ever written. It also delves into the destructive force of allowing passions to enter the heart. After I read these verses I saw a change in myself and my own understanding. I promised myself I would reread them regularly and incorporate them into my prayers and meditations.

The Commentary on the Our Father is a delightful dissection and discussion of the Lord’s Prayer. My own experiences of coming back to the Church were reinforced by this discussion. As a child and young adult, I recited the Lord’s Prayer with rote accuracy but without an understanding of its deeper meaning. One of the first things that I did as I came back was to meditate on each line of the prayer and how it evolved for me. The Lord’s Prayer hadn’t changed, by its personal meaning and reflection on my understanding of God had been altered dramatically by the passing years.

The Chapters on Knowledge or Two Centuries on Knowledge are some of the most deeply moving philosophical thoughts on God, the human ego, redemption, and salvation I have read. Like the Four Hundred Chapters on Love, there are two hundred verses to serve as a basis for meditation and prayer. Maximus’ deep understanding and inspired writing cannot help but move one to a greater appreciation of our role as God’s creation.

The Church’s Mystagogy discusses the symbolism of the rites within the Divine Synaxis. Although this was my least favorite part of the book, it was interesting nonetheless. The first eight chapters were the most rewarding with in-depth discussions of man’s relationship and responsibility to both God and himself and the logical ransom Christ paid for his Father’s creation. After chapter eight I found it became a little dry for the next 14 pages. Stepping through the individual rites and their meaning wasn’t as engaging for me personally.

In summary, this book will be a part of my permanent collection. Like a wise old friend, I find its company comforting and I am often surprised by the counsel I receive from its pages. Whenever I feel distracted, this book can be relied on to provide the answer I need. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Reading: Philokalia: The Eastern Christian Spiritual Texts by G. E. H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard and Kallistos Ware

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The Philokalia was one of the first books I read on the subject of early Christian mysticism and continues to inspire my wonderful journey. In many ways, I consider it a tasting menu and cross section of the greatest Christian philosophers, mystics, and writers of all ages.

By late February 2013, my midlife crisis of the previous two years had evolved into a crisis of faith. Spiritually I was going to hit a tremendous crossroads that would change me forever. As I sat on my couch editing GGCBCC, I grabbed a straw that had been pointing at me for awhile. That straw was a number. 662.

I was led to the Philokalia by way of Wikipedia when I typed in the number 662 into Google one night. It’s amusing that we ever made it through our day without Google. The number had come up in my life too many times recently to be discounted any longer. Among other things, it was the date of the death of Saint Maximus the Confessor. If you have ever read an author that really speaks to you down to your very soul, that’s what happened to me with Saint Maximus. As I read the Wikipedia entry, I took notes pulling out the relevant authors and books that might continue my education once I finished GGCBCC. My first book was the Philokalia.

We have a wonderful public library system in San Mateo County. It allows you to pull books in from different branches and that is exactly what I began doing. I am always open to suggestions for further reading, but for me the Philokalia was the perfect choice to begin my education. It paints a beautiful mosaic from the excerpts of leading Christian thinkers and philosophers during the creation and formation of the Christian religion. These contributors included mystics, desert hermits, Saints, and even the kernel of philosophers that together created the operating system we call Christianity.

I used to believe that religious folks were superstitious and feared science and reason. The state of Texas was proof in my mind with their desire to outlaw critical thinking in schools. Then I realized that I had typecast all Christians into an extremist minority no different than many Americans probably do with followers of the Jewish or Muslim faith. The Philokalia demonstrated to me the incredible critical thinking and reasoning that was required to build the foundation of the Christian Church.

If you can only read one book on Christianity to start your journey, I recommend the Philokalia. It will show you a beautiful back story to Christianity that will inspire further reading.

The Dream Part 5: Lost Friend and Grief No More

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So they say God works in mysterious ways. In the case of my dream, he can be exceptionally direct at times. A dear friend needed a helping hand. This friend did not ask for special favors. I just saw their obstacles and decided to offer my help. I felt God brought her into my life to teach me something that I needed to learn. I don’t have many friends and the few I have are very special to me. I had prayed and meditated on my actions and felt helping was the right thing to do. I did not want nor expect to ever be paid back. I just felt that God wanted me to help and I cared about this person.

Needless to say, our friendship had a bad day. I have had disagreements with friends before, even arguments and fights. But true friends don’t quit. They fight for each other and for their friendship. In a single night my friend cut me off completely. I prayed and sought solace but nothing helped. For almost a month I put myself through Hell as I second guessed every decision and every conversation I had with this friend. I despaired, blamed myself, blamed my friend, and asked God why he would bring me into someone’s life to help them only to be abandoned abruptly.

A week before the dream I recognized the Hell I had created for myself. I imagined Satan gleefully toying with my emotional state like a puppet on his strings and asked for God’s help to banish him from my heart and send him back to the Abyss. I incorporated that plea into my daily prayers. Never once did I stop praying for my friend. I will pray for my friend until the stars burn out, asking for God to watch over and heal her.

Then I had my opportunity to talk to the big guy one on one. It is weird the questions you choose to ask in this situation. I felt like I asked a hundred but each question went down a different rabbit hole. Finally, I asked what I did wrong to my friend? Was there anything I could do to fix this situation or would trying to fix it just make it worse? His answer: “She is on her own journey”. That’s it. Simple. Sweet. Direct. It took away all my grief, doubt, and despair in one fell swoop.

The resounding messages from my first book were two fold. First, Imagination and Will can change the world. Second, you cannot save another person. You can help others. You can bend over backwards, swim across a river of lava, and move heaven and earth for them. However, in the end, it is their decision and their life. You cannot take that responsibility away from them. They have free will and they are the sum of their parts. Give what you can, be there for them with sound counsel and as a shoulder to give them support when they are down. Understand that their journey is their own. Love them regardless of their mistakes and keep them in your heart and in your prayers. Even though my friend left me, I would not trade the wonderful time and effort I spent helping her for anything. Likewise, she shared a part of herself with me, taught me how to fish, and showed me incredible generosity and confidence of spirit. Helping her was its own reward. That’s what friends are for.