Fr. Maximos then elaborated on the fruit of patience and forbearance.
“The saints are fearless because they have a direct connection with God’s Spirit. Consequently, they can endure everything with peace in their hearts and without a trace of anxiety.”
“I suppose that is why we hear in church that God is ‘ever present, and fills all things’… Maria commented.
“Right. Only the Spirit of God can fill up a human being. You know, God has this attribute: whether His Presence in our existence is in small or large quantities, we feel fulfilled and completed.” “God’s Presence does not leave any gaps for the generation of angst and unfulfillment, which are so characteristic of many contemporary intellectuals and philosophers,” I said.
“Yes. A person feels completely rested in God’s Presence. But it is important,” Fr. Maximos continued, “that he does not become spiritually lazy. He continues to progress with even greater zeal and intensity within the Grace of God. Grace itself pushes the person to taste this love that emanates from the depths of our human existence.
“Angst is the consequence of the fact that people want to do things on their own and in a hurry, relying solely on their own devices and reason,” I said. “This creates pressures and doubt, concerns that they may not succeed, that they may not do things on time.”
“This is our ordinary human predicament,” Fr. Maximos responded. “All such states of mind and feelings disappear once God’s Presence is activated in our life. A person finds inner peace without becoming indifferent to others. He is compassionate and suffers with those who suffer but confronts everything the way God confronts the problems of this world.”
“All that sounds marvelous,” Teresa interjected. “But the question is how do we reach this state of forbearance?”
“Forbearance is a child of all the other fruits of the Spirit that we have talked about. We are human and we are in a hurry. We lack patience. How can we get transformed from being small-minded and fainthearted to being patient and forbearing? As you can imagine, it is not easy. It cannot be accomplished from one day to the next. And it cannot be done by declaring that as of today we will become patient, forbearing, and bighearted.”
“So how do we go about it?” Eleni inquired.
“You start with faith in God as the ultimate reality that governs the world and with the conviction that nothing can happen without God allowing it to happen. Something that happens may be bad for you, disastrous or whatever. Do not be afraid. God will never abandon you. He promised that much to us. That is the reason we must never accept whatever threats are hurled at us.”
Fr. Maximos then mentioned the way in which Jesus responded to Pontius Pilate when Pilate told Jesus that he had power to free him or have him crucified. Jesus’ response was that the Roman proconsul had no more and no less power over Him than God allowed him to have.
~Adapted from Kyriacos C. Markides, Inner River: A Pilgrimage to the Heart of Christian Spirituality
