It is only when we let go of our own thoughts, ideas, will, that we can live, in all purity, in the ‘atmosphere’ of God. For man, the greatest punishment is when God abandons him to his own will. In our epoch, which has rejected Christ, no one understands such an apparently servile attitude.
Pure prayer presupposes the absence of cares. We attain pure prayer when, during whatever work, our mind remains free from thinking and can live only by the divine Name, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. I have not come to impose my will on anyone else, but, with Christ as example, to serve others. Try to act like that, and you will see that the grace of God will be with you. Then adopt this attitude at every moment of your life.
Unless we acquire the sense of service to others, our life will be useless. If we wish to regenerate our nature, to gain likeness to God, the desire to serve others should dominate our life. Serving other people has a saving power which is much greater than any theoretical theology whatsoever.
How can we know God as He is? Christ has shown us the way, asking us to dwell in holiness so as not to harm anyone else, to prefer others to ourselves, and not to struggle to lord it over them. We must die to ourselves so that others may live. As Christ said: ‘Do not be afraid to lose your life in this service’. He who serves others saves his soul for eternal life.
What is the enemy’s weapon against our salvation? Jealousy. Jealousy is the enemy’s greatest strength. That is why we must above all avoid any thought of jealousy. Jealousy is characteristic of all men, independently of their social position. There is always, in fact, someone stronger than ourselves. Other people have always got something we would like to have. By jealousy we reject others, and everything in life becomes dark and troubled, a caricature of God’s design.
Try never to accuse anyone, but rather pray for him. If we judge someone for his faults, it means we do not see our own faults. In our fallen state, we are incapable of judging our brother correctly. Don’t be so sure that your brother is wrong. Do not judge him. It is better not to judge. To live in the fear of God means to be afraid to judge someone else in a sinful way, and not as God would judge him.
What am I after when I judge my brother? As long as I do not see him as the Lord sees him, all my judgments will be wrong. Begin rather by prayer for him, by the idea of being obedient, of not judging your brethren. Begin by the desire to serve others with love, like Staretz Silouan, who, on feast days, was grateful to be allowed to serve hundreds of monks in the refectory. He was so happy to see how much Christ loved these people, these children of God. He served them with much love. Everyday tasks, accomplished in such a spirit, can become an extremely pleasant spiritual food. Because of such an attitude of service, in the evening your heart will be very tender, and you will weep before God over your own defects, your own lack of love.
To pray for someone else means that, because of the good disposition of our heart towards him, we help him to resist the negative thoughts that he may have, and not without cause, about us. On the contrary, not to pray for someone else means that we justify by our lack of love the negative thoughts he may have against us. Let us preserve unity in prayer around Christ’s chalice, and we will see that it is easy to love.
~Adapted from Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov), Words of Life, translated from the French by Sister Magdalen (Stavropegic Monastery of Saint John the Baptist, Essex)
