www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Head in the clouds, lost sight of practical faith

I have a bit of a problem. I jumped into too deep of waters upon conversion out of pride in my intellectual capacities and now I've got myself kind of stuck in the more esoteric and academic matters of the Faith. Also, I feel like I'm lacking something here, because everything I see is always from some sort of saint's or monastic's angle, and I'm having a hard time relating all this to my every day life. If there was one thing that Protestantism did for me (convert here) is that it made it easy for me to digest things to a practical level. Am I missing something here?

I mean, I became Eastern Catholic because I wanted a greater sense of the transcendent... but I think I've gone too far with it.

Have you spoken with your priest about this? You might want to start there. Oh...and pray for God's guidance .

Heavenly,

The challenge that we faithful face is to allow the Holy Spirit to mold us; that is, for us to be receptive to His inspiration and to act upon it.

There are two extremes of baptised persons, one is to have no interest in delving into the deeply spiritual life of the great theologians and spiritual heavyweights and staying ignorant of spiritual needs and answers.
The other extreme is to delve deeply, reading book after book and becoming obsessed with intellectual knowledge, but failing to take them to heart. As you humbly said, "jumped...upon conversion out of pride in my intellectual capacities."

The most admired saints are those who didn't aspire to great theological knowledge, but rather those who prayed simply and sincerely to know God's will and to overcome pride and laziness to practice those inspirations.

Do not become discouraged, but you should probably cut out for a while all your reading except for the Bible. Daily read just a little from the four Gospels, especially Matthew. Read a paragraph or two, and reflect on it. Ask the Holy Spirit, "How does this reading affect MY life?" This is the greatest prayer.

A great many people have a "spiritual high" like you did. But when it doesn't persist they are disappointed. Its because we aren't grateful for the exceptional gift of enlightenment that God gave. We want to be on the receiving end and fail to realize that the gift was to strengthen our faith so that we KNOW, unequivocally, that God is present, that He exists, that he is Omnipotent, and that no matter what tortures or discomforts we may experience from the world from that day on.......God will be there to receive us and give us unending love for the rest of eternity.

A final note....now that you know God's love you are required to see Him in each person you know and to be concerned for their spiritual welfare. This doesn't mean lecturing or preaching, but you should exhibit your Christian love. This can be done in subtle and invisible ways.

May you bask in the glory of the Resurrection,
Deacon Paul

HeavenlyBlack,

Have you gone to matins (morning prayer) or vespers (evening prayer) at a Byzantine-EC monastery? This has helped me understand the 'mystery' of the Catholic Church.
The following is a quote I found to be useful when writing a paper on the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours:


This is the Canticle of Mary when she visited her cousin Elizabeth.

I hope this explanation helps.
Robert Pauly bob.pauly260@gmail.com

I would also suggest you watch the film 'Into Great Silence'. Its look at La Grande Chartreuse and the quiet life of faith lived by the monks there, proffers a wordless reminder of the simplicity of what it is all about.

Please, especially if you can't get to a monastery yourself, watch this film.

The suggestion of participating in Matins and Vespers is excellent; at a minimum, I would suggest reflecting on one Psalm in the morning and another in the evening.

The Psalter was the prayer book Jesus used.

Another very good movie is "The Island" (Остров), which while fictional is a good depiction of Eastern monasticism, its relation to modern society, and metanoia.

Yes, this is why I opted to become a Benedictine oblate . . .

The rule of Benedict, especially for me, sets down a pattern of life and obedience for one and all. It is our obedience and bending of our will to that of the Will of God that defines our Christian vocation in the first instance.

Obedience is the great school of humility. The "Way of the Ladder" by St John Climacus contains many teachings and examples of obedience and humility.

To have a daily rule of life/prayer is the essence of all this. We observe it not because we feel like it or because we are inspired to do it (if we left this to inspiration, we would probably pray hardly at all).

And when Benedict got to the prayer life of his rule, I thought he was going to write about "self-actualizing contemplation" or something like that.

Instead, he sets out which Psalms to pray at which times of the day.

The great Anglican divine, Bl. William Law in his "A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life" outlined the need to pray throughout the day, six or seven times, based on the Benedictine/monastic model.

Monasticism, whether in monasteries or in the world, lies at the heart of Christianity and especially the Eastern Church.

It is all about simplicity and prayer, service and work.

Even when we pray the Jesus Prayer, we are to still our senses and empty our minds of images as we simply recite the words, allowing the Spirit of Silence to guide us where He wills.

Alex