Right now, at this very moment, we are living our lives between Christ’s First and Second Coming. Jesus Christ’s ministry on the earth and His ultimate Resurrection lead directly to the implementation of the Church in the world; and, the saving and deifying Grace of the work of the Holy Spirit of God within the Church is the catalyst through which humanity may be saved from eternal death. Our union with God, the Theosis which is offered to us by Jesus, can be realized only in the Holy Spirit. Only with the Holy Spirit will we be able to receive and taste redemption and Theosis.[1] Through the Holy Spirit the faithful become sharers of divine nature. They have a new life. They can put off corruption and can be returned to the original beauty of their nature. They can become participants of God and children of God and reflect the light of Christ and can inherit incorruptibility. The action of the Holy Spirit is the finalizing action. God the Father conceives of the work of salvation and Theosis. He realizes it in time in the Son. The Holy Spirit completes, perfects and adapts this work to the people within the sphere of the church where the Holy Spirit mystically sanctifies and unites the faithful with Christ, thereby creating and giving life to the mystical body of the Lord.[2]
Being open to God’s Grace is an important element for the individual. It is necessary to understand and fully acknowledge that God has made a Covenant with us and our lives, in all aspects, dependent upon our relationship with God who is active in our lives and who wills more good for us then we do for ourselves.[3] This becomes a fundamental question relative to our identity. Who am I? To whom do I belong? In the secular world our tendency is to depend solely on our own initiatives and become self-grounded instead of God-grounded.[4] Personal synergy with God requires constant recognition in one’s life. We must also remember the Covenant that God made with us which states our part in the Covenant as well. “I will be your God, and you will be my people”. “I have called you by name. You are mine” (IS: 43.1). We possess no identity outside of God’s claim on us. This covenant bond between God and man is an active bond. God is an active agent in our lives who continually acts on our behalf.
The person who can help the individual with his quest for the understanding of himself in relation to God is the Spiritual Director in the Church. Spiritual direction for a person involves bringing that person to such knowledge of self in the presence of God.[5] We know from Genesis that we were created in God’s image and that it is “very good” (Gen. 1:31). Sinfulness is unnatural for us and man’s willful fall into sinfulness did not end God’s approval of humanity. The Incarnation is proof of God’s approval of humanity because Christ could not have put on something that is innately sinful. In light of this, one’s Spiritual Director (Priest, Spiritual Father) can be seen as a positive agent for growth that is used by God to affirm the natural goodness of the person despite his unnatural choices of sinful actions. With the help of a Spiritual Director, one can better understand who he is in relation to God. In order to proceed, an understanding of God in relation to us is also necessary[6], noted as follows:
- God is the depth dimension of all experiences
- God is present and active in all aspects of a person’s life.
- God wants life for us. Life is God’s gift.
- God does not send us tragedy and suffering, but works with us in them for good.
- The proper Christian response to suffering is to resist and try to over come it.
- When we have determined what we most deeply want, we have found what God wants for us.
- We are made for true love: love of God, others and self. We find our fulfillment in giving and receiving. Love is the core spiritual issue of our humanity.
In Eastern Christian theology, the heart is the primary location for communion, healing, growth, reconciliation, etc. There, God and human beings meet in the experiences of the covenantal life (Matt 5:8, Mark 7:21-24; Rom 6:17; Jas 4:8). There we make our choices. There we struggle and pray[7]. If conversion, reconciliation and transformation (Theosis) are to occur in a person, then that person must experience a “change of heart” (in Greek called metanoia). A Spiritual Director (Priest, Spiritual Father) can help a person better understand himself in relation to God; and this understanding can only be found within His Holy Church.
In Eastern Christian Tradition, it is emphasized that it is natural for mankind to be “linked” to the presence of God, in communion with Him.[8] Since this link is a natural one, then the process becomes one of reconciliation. By removing the obstacles that lead the person along alien paths, the natural path becomes open again and this leads the person toward Theosis, toward God.[9] St. Paul in 2 Cor. 5:18 tells us that God reconciled us to Him through Jesus Christ and has gives “the ministry of reconciliation” to us. That it is through God’s Grace, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation to help others be reconciled to God.
Seeking spiritual direction from a Spiritual Father cannot be understood outside of the dimension of the ministry of reconciliation. While the essence and central meaning of the apostolic faith is constant and eternally unchanging, the conditions of human life do change. Spiritual direction deals with all that a person is and has experienced throughout his/her life. In order to accomplish a complete disclosure from the person, the person must feel that the director can be unconditionally trusted and that the Spiritual Director willingly agrees to walk with that person on his or her “Faith journey” through life.[10] Spiritual direction provides total care to the people of God with the specific goal of bringing them to reconciliation, Theosis.[11]
In reality, it is important to realize that a Spiritual Director (Priest, Spiritual Father) is not the true physician; God is the true physician. The Spiritual Director has no power in himself apart from his own continuous union with God.[12] The goal of spiritual direction within the Church, is to lead individuals deeper and deeper into the struggle for the Christian life, toward wholeness and healing, toward Theosis. Seeking out a Spiritual Director within the Church to help us understand that all this is a positive personal action in helping ourselves toward Salvation and the preparation for the Lord’s Second Coming.
St. Paul in Romans 1:5-7 reveals to those receiving his message that through Jesus, all are called to be saints; they are the called of Jesus Christ with a purpose which is to join the Church of the Apostles. We do not create the Church, God brings us to the community which already exists. Paul further says in Romans 1:12 that the people of the Church encourage each other in the faith. A mutual faith in Christ is shared among the Christians, which mutually unites them and strengthens their faith, leading the followers to grow in their faith. St. Paul further expresses how this unfolds for us as we struggle to grow in the faith, in Romans 1:17, where he says that we are given Christ’s righteousness and by our own cooperation with God we continue to grow in faith. We can receive the incarnate God through faith and live by faith. That is, the faithful actively participate in God’s righteousness through their own efforts as a response of belief and obedience. When we live by faith in Christ, we exhibit the fruit of the Holy Spirit through the Church. Thus, the Church, through our own efforts, is the Ark of Salvation for Christians leading us to our final destination, which is to unite us with God.
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[1] Op Cit., Partakers of Divine Nature, p. 29
[2] Ibid., p. 31
[3] Inner Way, Toward a Rebirth of Eastern Christian Spiritual Direction, Joseph J. Allen, pg. 65
[4] Ibid., p. 65
[5] Ibid., p.67
[6] Ibid., pp. 87-96
[7] Ibid.,, p. 96
[8] Ibid.,, p. 10
[9] Ibid., p. 10
[10] Ibid., p. 5
[11] Ibid., p. 13
[12] Ibid., p. 47
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