Deep Spiritual Despair

The recent issue of “Again” magazine arrived in my mailbox this morning and I saw that “Our Life in Christ” host Steve Robinson had written an article titled “What I learned at Vacation Bible School”. At the end of the article I saw that Steve has a blog called Pithlessthoughts. Being the blog lover that I am, I decided to pay his blog a visit. I discovered a link to an unpublished book of his online titled “Love, Death, and Love:A Journey Through Spiritual Despair”. I highly recommend you read this short book of his, especially those who are presently experiencing deep spiritual despair. You have to start reading at the bottom of the page and read up since it is in blog format. I found his thoughts profound and I think most of you will too. The following is a taste of what you will read in Steve’s book.

“This is a book about sorrow. It is not about crisis, of some extraordinary evil or desperate station in life dealt you by fate or choice or Satan or God. It is of a kind of life, a life of mourning, of a spiritual melancholy, of perpetual sorrows of a depth and intensity that can only come from believing in God, or longing to believe in God in the face of the chaotic ambiguities and havoc of life.

This book is for the ones who find the experience of spiritual joy elusive. It is for you who feel guilty because you fake the happy Christian life to be accepted by a group who, deep inside, you believe are for the most part faking it too. It is for those who find more reasons to question God, to rail at Him, to argue with Him than to praise Him. It is for those who have a deep and hurting hollow place within them that no sermon, no prayer, no scripture verse, no spiritual exercise has ever touched with healing. It is for those who struggle silently with a sense of abandonment and loneliness in the midst of friends and lovers. It is for those who are exhausted by desperation and waiting for God. It is for those who sometimes feel they can wait on Him no longer and consider death a treasure to be sought more than life. It is for you who have considered suicide because death held out to you an enchanting promise that no logic or philosophy could dissuade you from believing…….”

“……….The dark side of spirituality is the truth that, whether we like it or not, or whether we understand it or not, pain is most often where we meet God. It is in the dark night of the soul that we meet God in a way we can in no other place. It is the experience of the absence of God that makes His presence most acutely known. It is in the winter of the heart that we feel most forsaken by God. Yet it is standing there, abandoned by Him in the cold and dark, lost in a bleak and unfamiliar place, if we will wait for Him, that we will sooner or later meet God face to face.
And, yes, sometimes it means waiting to death.”

The Dogmatics of the Orthodox Church by Archimandrite Justin Popovich

“In the European West, Christianity has gradually transformed into humanism. For a long time and arduously, the God-Man diminished, and has been changed, narrowed, and finally reduced to a man: to the infallible man in Rome and the equally “infallible” man in London and Berlin. Thus did papism come into being, taking everything from Christ, along with Protestantism, which asks the least from Christ, and often nothing. Both in papism and in Protestantism, man has been put in the place of the God-Man, both as the highest value and as the highest criterion. A painful and sad correction of the God-Man’s work and teaching has been accomplished. Steadily and stubbornly papism has tried to substitute the God-Man with man, until in the dogma about the infallibility of the pope—a man, the God-Man was once and for all replaced with ephemeral, “infallible” man; because with this dogma, the pope was decisively and clearly declared as something higher than not only man, but the holy Apostles, the holy Fathers, and the holy Ecumenical councils. With this kind of a departure from the God-Man, from the ecumenical Church as the God-Man organism, papism surpassed Luther, the founder of Protestantism. Thus, the first radical protest in the name of humanism against the God-Man Christ, and his God-Man organism—the Church—should be looked for in papism, not in Lutheranism. Papism is actually the first and the oldest Protestantism. - Fr. Justin Popovich

The Orthodox Word’s most recent issue concerns the life and teaching of Archimandrite Justin Popovich. St. Herman Press announced in this issue that they plan on printing the Archimandrite’s Dogmatics of the Orthodox Church in English. The preface to the Archimandrite’s dogmatics can also be read in this issue of The Orthodox Word.

Orthodox Conference in Erie, Pennsylvania

Fr. John Whiteford has been sharing his experience of the Orthodox Conference in Erie, Pennsylvania which took place this past June.The conference services were held at the Church of the Nativity which was an Old Believer parish that has now become a part of ROCOR. They still worship in the Old Believer form but the liturgy is in English. I recommend a visit to Fr. John’s blog for some interesting reading. The following is a taste of what you will read.

As I said, I had never seen the Old Rite in actual practice, and was struck by the way the people were censed. When the deacon would cense them, they would face the deacon with both arms raised in an orans, and then would bow towards the deacon, and then turn, and make the sign of the Cross towards the altar. The scriptural basis for this practice is “Let my prayer be set forth as incense before Thee, the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141:2, in the KJV). This was particularly striking when the choir was censed. I was generally standing behind the male choir, and so could not see their faces when they were censed, but when the women’s choir was sensed I could… and it is something you would have to see. They would be standing in a semi-circle around the music stand singing, all nearly uniformly attired, and then as a group, they would all turn at the same time to face the deacon with their hands raised, then do the bows as I described, all the while never missing a beat with what they were singing… despite the fact that they all had their eyes off the music book while doing so.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Things that Defile a Soul

It is not only passion-charged thoughts that sully the heart and defile the soul. To be elated about one’s many achievements, to be puffed up about one’s virtue, to have a high idea of one’s wisdom and spiritual knowledge, and to criticize those who are lazy and negligent - all this has the same effect, as is clear from the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee.
- Nikitas Stithatos

The Health Benefits of Frankincense

Frankincense and Mirth
Is that psychoactive smoke wafting through the pews?
By Rich Maloof for MSN Health and Fitness

“Scientific papers aren’t usually tagged with very exciting titles, but recently I came across a real barn burner: Incensole Acetate, an Incense Component, Elicits Psychoactivity by Activating TRPV3 Channels in the Brain.

Whoa.

Reading between the lines of lab-coat lingo, I realized the report was saying that frankincense—the incense traditionally burned in religious ceremonies—can act on the brain to lower anxiety and diminish depression.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Hebrew University administered incensole acetate, a component of frankincense, to lab mice and learned that it lit up areas of their little mouse brains that control emotion, including nerve circuits affecting anxiety and depression.

The findings suggest new avenues for developing medications to treat these conditions, which are the most common causes of psychiatric disability in the U.S.

The prospect of novel treatments for mood disorders is valuable and encouraging. But I was distracted from all of that by the notion that worshippers have, since time immemorial, been subject to subtle medicinal influence.

With frankincense proven to be a psychoactive agent, it’s possible that people have been expressing their faith in rites and rituals while ever-so-slightly under the influence of mind-altering substances.

Burning Boswellia

Frankincense is familiar to Christians as a gift of the Magi, but its smoke wafts all through religious antiquity. Extracted from the resin of Middle Eastern Boswellia trees, the incense was used as a religious offering by tribes and religions in the Middle East and later throughout Europe.

In India it was burned in worship and in China (where one name translates as “calling back the soul fragrance”) in mourning rituals. In the Talmud, a book of Jewish law, frankincense is prescribed in a potion to “benumb the senses” so that condemned prisoners “will not worry.”

Contemporary Christian, Islamic and Jewish ceremonies commonly use the incense in rites of passage such as baptism and ordination. As smoke rises from a thurible swung on chains, the burning resin has an ancient air that connects a congregation with early traditions.

That frankincense has been a staple of religious rituals is not lost on the study’s researchers. “Burning of Boswellia resin … is believed to contribute to the spiritual exaltation associated with such events,” they write in the paper’s introduction.

Their observation that frankincense smoke “augments the euphoric feeling produced during religious functions” is likely to resonate with many among the faithful.

“There was a strong visual and olfactory effect, and I liked being around it,” says Vince Corso, a New Jersey-based priest with a degree in divinity. “I don’t know if it aligned those parts of my brain to the magic and mystery of the experience, but I was entranced by it.”

Sense and memory

Such is the design of ceremony and all its trappings: to hold attention and establish associations.

Incense smoke burns and rises like an intangible spirit. The woody, sweet aroma of frankincense helps create a setting that is at once formal and comfortable—and distinctive enough to be memorable.

Olfactory receptors in the brain lock aromas into memory in the brain’s limbic system, where a scent is stored with associated memories of mood and emotion. Decades later, the mingled memories can instantly be recalled when the smell is detected again.

The phenomenon of aromas triggering memories is familiar to most people, and almost always fantastic in detail. Scientists believe that’s because the brain prioritizes the sense of smell since it was so crucial for the survival of primitive man. Unlike the other four senses, smells are zapped directly to an area deep in the brain. Sensing an aroma like frankincense first encountered long ago can summon up a vivid memory that sight, taste, touch or sound would never have evoked.” Read all about it at MSN Health.

HT: Fr. John at Holy Trinity in Santa Fe.

From the Little Mountain

Hermitage of the Holy Cross has produced a video on Orthodox monasticism.

“From the Little Mountain takes you through a year at the Hermitage of the Holy Cross in West Virginia. This video is an attempt to portray some of the beauty and struggle of monastic life using quotes from the Scriptures and the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church. Insights about monasticism from one of the senior monks at the monastery are given as you are visually taken through the Church liturgical year and the changing seasons in the mountains. This is a unique documentary of an Orthodox monastery in the 21st century, but the imagery and principles set forth are as ancient (and relevant) as those written by the 6th century instructor of monks, Abba Dorotheos.” Click here to see the trailer for From the Little Mountain.

A Blog with a Book List

It is a joy to see the Orthodox priest at one of the best Orthodox blogs, Ora Et Labora, blogging again. He has been in the hospital for a few months and apparently is still there but is able to post. Let us keep him in our prayers for a full recovery from his illness. Lord have mercy on him! One of his recent posts concerns the books that he has been reading while in the hospital. You can read about them here.

Prayer of the Five Wounds of the Savior

This is the prayer Fr. Isidore taught his spiritual children to pray.

Where does it hurt?
Placing the hand on the forehead, say:
Lord, Thou Who art crowned with thorns upon Thy head, to blood and marrow, for the sake of my sins;

Lowering the hand to the right foot, say:
Jesus, Whose right foot was pierced with an iron nail for the sake of my sins;

Placing the hand on the left foot, say:
Christ, Whose left foot was pierced with an iron nail for the sake of my sins;

Raising the hand to the right shoulder, say:
Son, Whose right hand was pierced with an iron nail for the sake of my sins;

Transferring the hand to the left shoulder, say:
Of God, Whose left hand pierced for the sake of my sins; and Whose side was punctured by a spear; from Whose side flowed blood and water for the redemption and salvation of our souls;

Through the Mother of God, grant me understanding.

Turning one’s face towards the icon of the Mother of God, say:
And through Thee Thyself, through Thy soul the weapon pierced, so that from many hearts will be revealed a spring of the repentant, thankful and heartfelt tears of all mankind.

*The initial words from each line of this prayer comprise the first phrase of the ancient Jesus Prayer.

-From Salt of the Earth by St. Paul Florensky

“the Orthodox reader is told of Fr. Isidore’s Godlike kindness toward all God’s creatures”

Fr. Isidore was kind to all, even to the lowest of creatures. he cared not only for those who were made in the image of god, but also had compassion for the lowest of animals. In short, he cared for all living creatures. he was charitable and fed wild animals and birds; he even kept reptiles, frogs, mice and rats. Yet if the old Abba were ever ill, he never forgot his little brothers and would ask others to feed his family. Even right before his death he asked a member of his household about the cat’s health. “Well,” he would say,”is the cat getting better?” “Yes, it’s better.” “Thank God. Thank God.”….

Once he was asked, ‘Father, don’t the mice ever bother you?” The Elder smiled: “No , they don’t bother me at all. I feed them lunch and supper and that keeps them quiet.- Salt of the Earth by St. Paul Florensky

“a discription of Fr. Isidore’s refreshments”

Whenever someone comes to visit Fr. Isidore, the gray haired monk begins hustling and bustling all around just like a youthful servant, offering food and drinks to the guests, whomever they may be. Abba is afraid that his visitors will leave without being treated…..

And God forbid, dear reader, that you should feel shy and turn down something offered. Believe me, your refusal would cause the Elder much pain. He would then tell you that something given out of love must never be refused. In Fact, those were not refreshments on the table ,but manifest love. Whatever he had, in all his poverty, would be laid out before his guests; and if he would think it something else to offer-he would break forth rejoicing, leap up and run after the forgotten thing. A piece of watermelon which he had been brought previously by a visitor; an apple, dry bread, gingerbread, a few fruit drops- Fr. Isidore divided everything equally among his guests. he left nothing for himself alleging that he had already eaten. But if one should ask him to share in the meal, then for fear of offending his guests by refusing, he would end up taking something for himself- providing that the guests themselves had enough…..

I don’t recall just how many times Fr. Isidore sat with Bishop Evdokim in the “Inner Desert”. Some cups of tea had been placed on the wobbly little table in front of them and there were a few biscuits kept in a rusty old sardine can as well as one and a half pieces of gingerbread. They got carried away in conversation and it began to rain; both host and guest took cover under the “Oak of Mamre,” and under its protection they continued their talk. After the rain, Fr. Isidore gathered the tea cups and found the remainder of the biscuits floating in the tin canon the table. A few days later the Bishop was having tea once again at Father’s place. And once again the Elder brought out the tin of biscuits, offering for consumption that which remained from the previous time. “Yes but they are all soggy,” said the Bishop a bit perplexed. “But I poured out the water and have dried out the biscuits, and now they are fine again,” explained the Elder. -From Salt of the Earth by St. Paul Florensky