Thursday, May 15, 2003
Humility and my place before God, part I. I have been reading about a man who travels to the Holy Mount Athos in Greece to ask questions of a hermit who lives there. The hermit is considered to be an Elder on the Mountain. Mainly, his questions are on the "Jesus Prayer". I was struck by a particular answer. The question was: how does one "warm" is heart before he prays? The answer was that you should kneel, with your hands folded behind your back, and contemplate your place before God. This is not to be a focus on God's grace and mercy for you, but your place trully before Him. It is like you are to contemplate that you have died, and the demons have come to accuse you. Every wrong thing that you have done in your life is hurled at you. As this realization sets in, you are to consider yourself condemned. The focus should not lead you into despondency or "psychopathology" as the hermit says, but apprehension. Like a convicted criminal before his trial, you would not know what sort of judgement shall be pronounced on you. As fear and anxiety become a reality, you begin to pray. This prayer the hermit is referring to is the "Jesus Prayer": Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." A right feeling has been reached when there are no excuses proclaimed, but only the Jesus Prayer. This prayer, as far as I can tell from my reading, is a Hesychastic prayer that originates in the Egyptian desert where the first monks removed themselves. It originated very early, in the fourth century. It was believed, and subsequently taught, that the mere mention of "Jesus" had miraculous power over many spiritual infirmities. The rest of the prayer was added no more than a century later. I have been using this prayer for a while, and I can say there is something trully mystical about it. As James has said, it is prescriptive, however. One should be careful in practicing it without the advice of a Father Confessor, as the Church Fathers of the Eastern Orthodox Chruch teach. Apparently, if the prayer is prayed without the above attitude, among other things, it can be detrimental.
Anyway, this humble approach to the prayer was very powerful for me. I am one who always looks for the excuse. Responsiblity, mine and mine alone. Will I accept it now as a place to begin to return to God, or will I wait until it is thrust at me, like a two-edged sword?
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
I have decided to interrupt my dialogue on humility to share with you an article, written by Howard Zinn-author of "Peoples' History of the United States", about the recent victory in Iraq. I would have just created a link, but I did not have enough time to figure it out. As you read, consider that the patriotism that Zinn describes would have to firmly based in Divine Humility. Enjoy, or at least, be informed.
My Country: The World
Howard Zinn is an historian and author of A People's History of the United States.
Our government has declared a military victory in Iraq. As a patriot, I will not celebrate. I will mourn the dead -- the American GIs, and also the Iraqi dead, of which there have been many, many more.
I will mourn the Iraqi children, not just those who are dead, but those who have been blinded, crippled, disfigured, or traumatized, like the bombed children of Afghanistan who, as reported by American visitors, lost their power of speech. The American media has not given us a full picture of the human suffering caused by our bombing; for that, we need to read the foreign press.
We will get precise figures for the American dead, but not for the Iraqis. Recall Colin Powell after the first Gulf War, when he reported the "small" number of U.S. dead, and when asked about the Iraqi dead, Powell replied: "That is really not a matter I am terribly interested in."
As a patriot, contemplating the dead GIs, should I comfort myself (as, understandably, their families do) with the thought: "They died for their country." If so, I would be lying to myself. Those who die in this war will not die for their country. They will die for their government. They will die for Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld. And yes, they will die for the greed of the oil cartels, for the expansion of the American empire, for the political ambitions of the President. They will die to cover up the theft of the nation's wealth to pay for the machines of death.
The distinction between dying for our country and dying for your government is crucial in understanding what I believe to be the definition of patriotism in a democracy.
According to the Declaration of Independence -- the fundamental document of democracy -- governments are artificial creations, established by the people, "deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed", and charged by the people to ensure the equal right of all to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Furthermore, as the Declaration says, "whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it."
When a government recklessly expends the lives of its young for crass motives of profit and power, always claiming that its motives are pure and moral ("Operation Just Cause" was the invasion of Panama and "Operation Iraqi Freedom" in the present instance) it is violating its promise to the country. It is the country that is primary -- the people, the ideals of the sanctity of human life and the promotion of liberty. War is almost always a breaking of those promises (although one might find rare instances of true self defense). It does not enable the pursuit of happiness, but brings despair and grief.
Tom Paine said: "My country is the world. My countrymen are mankind."
With the war in Iraq won, shall we revel in American military power and, against the history of modern empires, insist that the American empire will be beneficent?
The American record does not justify confidence in its boast that it will bring democracy to Iraq. Should Americans welcome the expansion of the nation's power, with the anger this has generated among so many people in the world? Should we welcome the huge growth of the military budget at the expense of health, education, the needs of children, one-fifth of whom grow up in poverty?
I suggest that a patriotic American who cares for his country might act on behalf of a different vision. Instead of being feared for our military prowess, we should want to be respected for our dedication to human rights.
Should we not begin to redefine patriotism? We need to expand it beyond that narrow nationalism which has caused so much death and suffering. If national boundaries should not be obstacles to trade -- we call it globalization -- should they also not be obstacles to compassion and generosity?
Should we not begin to consider all children, everywhere, as our own? In that case, war, which in our time is always an assault on children, would be unacceptable as a solution to the problems of the world. Human ingenuity would have to search for other ways.
Tom Paine used the word "patriot" to describe the rebels resisting imperial rule. He also enlarged the idea of patriotism when he said: "My country is the world. My countrymen are mankind."
Monday, May 12, 2003
Humility as seen in others. I was part of a discussion group this last Saturday and was amazed to see true humility(Divine, that is) in one of the people present. This person has been through a hard journey. A victim of drug and alcohol abuse, and subsequently self-hatred and loathing, he has been very subdued and depressed. We were discussing the "Jesus Prayer" and how to prepare yourself to practice it, when this person spoke up to share some words with us that were spoken with much humility. I have rarely seen someone portray this much humility. He said, "Before I rise in the morning, I lay in my bed and listen to the birds singing outside. I begin to meditate on God's love for me and then I meditate on how truly sinful I am in rejecting His love for me when I get hung up on my unworthiness. Then, when I feel that negative thoughts are successfuly ingnored, I begin to pray the 'Jesus Prayer'. As I say it, I begin to sence a peace in my heart that I can not explain. After doing this for a while, I rise to begin my day."
This was so profound to me because of the attitude of humility in his words and knowing that his actions prove what he said. He was clearly able to partake of God's grace for Him and to rest in that, in repentance and humility. What a strong example for me!
