The "white middle class," like all demographic groups, tends to have a particular lense through which it sees things. Arguably, 'being a success and looking good' are shared values for many of us. Hence, the church is often understood to be a place for people who look good and are successful (measured in various ways) to gather as "good Christians" to pray and fellowship. This is a big a problem when it is an unconscious rule for behavior. "Are you saved?" means did you complete the prescribed process and are you now a good person. Salvation, understood as union with God, like Jesus' incarnation, is a process which is far more complex than joining the church, or making a confession of faith, or receiving imputed righteousness.
A group of women shared with me their experience of crying at church sometimes, and having people ask them, "What is wrong?" Sadly, few Christians are trained in the spiritual way of the Ancient Church which spoke of tears as part of the salvation process.
We weren't trained in a model of salvation as union with God. Rather, we saw our duty as checking the boxes to insure eternal bliss in Heaven and tried to maintain a lifestyle which kept God from getting too close without making Him mad at us. Sort of like our parents when we were teenagers.
In Orthodox Psychotherapy, Bishop Hierotheos provides the science of the Fathers. Psycho (Greek for soul) and Therapy (Greek for healing) are understood spiritually as the fullness of salvation--including repentance in response to grace, discipline in conjunction with the working of the Holy Spirit, and the embrace of a new mind and new heart as (slowly) given us by God.
When our mind (Greek is nous, basically our personality=thinking, feeling, perceiving, judging) is fallen it is in darkness. The essence of our identity, our real self, lies deep within the heart (I call this the Image of God). As one's nous (understood as our 'ego' or constructed identity) is healed by divine light, it becomes one with our deepest heart and true self. When we are no longer divided (torn between allegiance to God and the 'world, flesh, devil'), our "personality/mind" and deep heart (true self) become one. The heart is freed of sinful passions, or deadly desires and is transformed to seek Abba Father and union with the Holy Three. Bishop Hierotheos writes (143) "This union is confirmed by tears of compunction and a sweet sense of the love of God.' He continues that tears are a sign of that healing process and that the ascetic rank tears very highly. A bit later the Bishop says (183) "The value of tears is great...Tears are a sign of a man reborn...if we realize our sinfulness...if we have acquired the gift of self-knowledge and self-reproach, then we spontaneously begin to weep....Tears open the eyes of the soul...St. Symeon the New Theologian, who with others can be characterized as a theologian of tears, says that tears are a sign of life." He concludes that tears are as necessary for the soul as food and drink are for the body.
Weeping in public in "our world" is embarrassing. It is considered weak by many, and it leads people to ask, "What is wrong with you?" There is much teaching from Ancient Fathers (and Mothers) about the importance of tears. We are talking about the work of the Holy Spirit within us, no one should generate emotions to appear to be crying. Anything false does not give life. However, as the Ancient Tradition understands the Scriptures, the process of becoming one with the Lord is intimately tied to facing the personality/self which we currently are and mourning about the gap (from what God created us to be) as we walk the wrong path/miss the target. As we honestly and courageously do this, we simultaneously see God more clearly--His love and mercy also produce tears of gratitude and joy.
The Bible is filled with stories of tears. Jesus Himself wept on more than one occasion. You and I, if we are growing closer to the Holy Three God will find that we cry more and more. It is what happens. The road to salvation is watered by many tears. The question is, if church is not a safe place for people to cry as they grow closer to the Lord, where then shall they go?
No comments:
Post a Comment