This series poses a question, notes a difficulty, and at the same time raises a concern: Can anyone today live in the world as a real Christian? Can these two things -Christian life and the world- be reconciled? Can they co-exist?
Any Christian who is honest will have no difficulty in admitting the isolation and loneliness that today's Christian experiences in the vast deserts of modern, competitive society. And this is so because he has left his foundations: having communion with God in the Holy Spirit. He has forgotten his origin, he has denied his calling - "for here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come"1 - and instead of living as a "foreigner and exile,"2 as a true hermit in the world making use and not abuse of the world - he has sought access to the world. By preferring the easy solution of ego gratification, he has deified himself.
In this first book of the series, the speaker points out that, in our times, the most dangerous thing of all is the worldly spirit, which each person has within himself and which serves his ego. Not even the "best" Christian has been spared from this, not even the monk. In his attempt to reconcile the world with Christ, he is ultimately a Christian without Christ and is "of all men most miserable,"3 as apostle Paul says. This is the drama and the tragedy of us Christians today.
This contagion of the worldly spirit, which has made the earth a desert devoid of consolation, is discussed here.
So, what then? Are we poisoned and rejected, alone and wretched in a world without God's grace, with no hope of consolation? No!
With the optimistic spirit that characterizes all his teaching, Fr. Symeon assures us that never before has humanity been so ready to accept the message of salvation.
Fr. James Coles* affirms and underlines this truth: "Truly Elder Symeon calls us to holiness in order to heal ourselves and the world. He sounds like Zosima, the holy elder from Fyodor Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov, who said, : 'My sins have polluted the whole world.'"
In the second book of the series, as Fr. James notes: "Elder Symeon says that when we believe that God is able to heal us, when we answer [His call] in the affirmative, immediately we are enlivened, immediately we are brought to action, immediately we follow the Lord. We believe that the Lord is able to forgive us, to purify us from the pollution of the worldly spirit, to illumine us, to sanctify us, to give us repentance, grace, humility, and every virtue. Immediately we will be healed: we will start to think differently, we will start to feel differently."
In the third and final volume of the series, Elder Symeon explains how we can be healed. In Fr. James' words, "He calls us to embrace God's love and compassion. When Fr. Symeon says thing like 'The spiritual life is falling down spiritually and God the Father saying, 'Would you like to try again?', Fr. Symeon always pointed out that this day is the day to start over to make a new beginning, a fresh start. That irrespective of what has happened, of how bad things may be with you, - now, this very moment: make a fresh start in your spiritual struggle."
Fr. James continues: "We are all able to receive his message because he speaks in a gentle spirit to our tired souls. God loves you and you are beloved and there is a great hope for the tired, harried soul. Fr. Symeon is speaking to our life and culture. It takes a saint to help us accept the truth that we are to blame. That is the key to the spiritual art."
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1. Cf. Heb 13:14
2. Cf. 1Pt 2:11
3. Cf. 1Co 15:19
* Fr. James Coles is an Archpriest and Pastor at St. Ignatius Orthodox Church in Mesa, Arizona. Fr. James met Fr. Symeon through his books, and the Elder's teachings have had a great impact on his life.
