ΤΗΕ ROLE OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
previous:
Is spiritual life tiresome?https://hristospanagia3.blogspot.com/2018/11/noetic-prayer-and-how-to-get-used-to.html
Fr. Savvas replying to the question on spiritual life:
When we lead a spiritual life properly, there is no fatigue, no stress. And this, because we do nothing against our nature, but, on the contrary, we go back to normal. We do the normal thing. We were actually walking on our hands, and now we turn upside down and start walking normally again. Do we feel any strain by doing this? Yes, but only in the beginning. When we do it, and get used to it a little, we never want to turn upside down and walk with our hands again.
This is sin: walking upside down! This is being unrepentant. In other words, when our nous is scattered, and our heart is filled with logismoi (image-thoughts), it is like walking on our hands! Is it possible to live this way? I wonder how people do live this way, today?
Every moment living according to God’s will & ceaseless prayer
If we pay attention to live according to God’s will, we will also be in a true praying state. Let me tell you something:
Praying is not only about saying some words. We might be saying words, but never paying attention to them. So, this is not praying; it is something motoric. However, when we keep in mind to follow God’s will, we think to ourselves “What is the will of God? What is said in the first commandment? [Luke 10:27] ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind’.” There it is! What does our Lord mean by saying “with all thy mind”? What else, but to think about Him constantly? Well, this is prayer: to think of Christ all the time!
There was a soul, who used to come to me for confession, and he told me once “Father, I didn’t say anything, I just had my mind in Jesus”. “So, what were you doing?” I asked him. “Nothing, father”, he said, “I simply kept my mind in Christ. Very exhausting, though, father… very exhausting, indeed!” He was very much exhausted, but, from then on, he had godly experiences, experiences of theosis (deification).
So, this is prayer: to never lose Christ from our mind.