The works of men

An old man was sitting in his cell and a voice came to him which said, "Come, and I will show you the works of men." He got up and followed. The voice led him to a certain place and shewed him an Ethiopian cutting wood and making a great pile. He struggled to carry it but in vain. But instead of taking some off, he cut more wood which he added to the pile. He did this for a long time. 

Going on a little further, the old man was shown a man standing on the shore of a lake drawing up water and pouring it into a broken receptacle, so that the water ran back into the lake. 

Then the voice said to the old man, "Come, and I will shew you something else." He saw a temple and two men on horseback, opposite one another, carrying a piece of wood crosswise. They wanted to go in through the door but would not because they held their piece of wood crosswise. Neither of them would draw back before the other, so as to carry the wood straight; so they remained outside the door. 

The voice said to the old man, "These men carry the yoke of righteousness with pride, and do not humble themselves so as to correct themselves and walk in the humble way of Christ. So they remain outside the Kingdom of God. The man cutting the wood is he who lives in many sins and instead of repenting he adds more faults to his sins. He who draws the water is he who does good deeds, but mixing bad ones with them, he spoils even his good works. So everyone must be watchful of his actions, lest he labour in vain." 

Someone asked Abba Agathon, 'Which is better, bodily asceticism or interior vigilance?' The old man replied, 'Man is like a tree, bodily asceticism is the foliage, interior vigilance the fruit. According to that which is written, "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire" (Matt. 3.10) it is clear that all our care should be directed towards the fruit, that is to say, guard of the spirit; but it needs the protection and the embellishment of the foliage, which is bodily asceticism

The Best Kept Secret

There were 3 rural parish priests who had a problem with birds nesting in the nooks and crannies of the ceilings of their churches. One had a shotgun and fired a few shots at the ceiling and they flew off, only to return soon after. The second rigged up a net and caught them, put the net in his truck, drove them 100 miles and released them and when he got back to his church they were already back. The last one had one of those high pressure car washing devices which he filled with Holy water and Baptised the whole flock; and never saw them again. 

Many in the last few generations align to tradition without knowing why and maintain a skin deep relationship with the church and often no relationship at all with their God. 

When I was taught about religion; it was by religious sisters, who could talk about hell with such clarity and detail that we all knew they had been born and raised there! I could probably pass a test on the Catechism but didn’t have a clue who God was really or how this could be a part of life beyond having to go to Mass on Sunday; and this unimpressive start was before sin entered the picture much. 

Who God is and what He can be for a follower of His, is probably the best kept secret in the church and strangely religion often stands in the way of its discovery, distracts from the goal rather than leading to it. Grace has its own timing of course, but it’s seldom entirely independent. The catalyst is generally a witness, someone who does know God, who has experienced that touch of grace in a way which brought about a transformation in their lives and can then do the same for the listener. God is experiential, a theoretical one won’t captivate anyone, He is living and acts mightily in the here and now, not merely historically. 

When someone opens their heart to God, in all sincerity, then it’s like being unplugged from the Matrix.., to suddenly see the world as it really is, who we are, and who God is. And then the journey begins together and we realize all He can be for us. The most beautiful thing to realize is that we are not alone. There is a good Father on whom we can rely entirely for everything we need; there is no need to be afraid of life anymore, you are in safe hands. But we must be intentional about seeking him out, trusting Him and being aligned with His Spirit through prayer. 

How can the current or next generations ever know God unless there are authentic witnesses to tell them the church’s best kept secret?