The Book of Job says, this life is a warfare, and in my readings I have found that human history is nothing other than the ongoing struggle in human affairs between the Light and the Darkness. And, indeed, this has been my own experience.
There is no avoiding the war; you serve the Good or its Enemy. Most men believe they can sit comfortably on the fence, deserters from the field of battle. This is often due to sloth (Latin acedia), which is spiritual laziness or torpor. Dorothy Sayers described this as "the sin which believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, loves nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and only remains alive because there is nothing it would die for."
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Askesis
With Ash Wednesday almost upon us, this seems a fitting time to launch a blog dedicated to a subject that has been on my mind for some time, the practice of asceticism. The importance of asceticism for the Christian man seems to be something like a lost secret, although it was not long ago a commonly accepted fact. There are levels of asceticism, of course, and one need not wear a hairshirt and live in the wilderness on locusts and honey to practice it. In his book, The Struggle with God, Paul Evdokimov pointed out that every Christian is called to asceticism (Latin ascesis) as one part of the spiritual life.
“Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." St. Paul exhorts all the faithful to exercise themselves in the combats of the faith and gives us an image taken from military life and from that of sports--the soldier and the athlete. The word “ascesis” comes from the Greek askesis and means exercise, effort, exploit. One can speak of the athletic ascesis when it seeks to render the body supple, obedient, resistant to every obstacle. . . Monastic tradition has given to this term a very precise meaning; it designates the interior combat necessary in order that the spiritual acquire a mastery over the material.
“Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." St. Paul exhorts all the faithful to exercise themselves in the combats of the faith and gives us an image taken from military life and from that of sports--the soldier and the athlete. The word “ascesis” comes from the Greek askesis and means exercise, effort, exploit. One can speak of the athletic ascesis when it seeks to render the body supple, obedient, resistant to every obstacle. . . Monastic tradition has given to this term a very precise meaning; it designates the interior combat necessary in order that the spiritual acquire a mastery over the material.
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