Last evening we picked up midway through Homily Six where St. Isaac takes up the topic of the vision of the divine in the Kingdom. Such vision and its nature is predicated on the individuals degree of perfection and its gifts. Yet, Isaac is quick to remind us that there is no division amongst us and the experience of God despite how this experience is perceived. There is no disunity or division in heaven and no comparison of gifts. Each delights in the experience and continues to be drawn into the fullness of God.
Following upon this, St. Isaac would have us understand that there exists only Gehenna and Heaven and no other state. It is foolhardy to propose an in-between state that is somehow greater than Gehenna but not yet the Kingdom. Such a notion speaks of an individual's hope that the one can live this life without a sense of urgency rooted in our ultimate end. Every moment is freighted with destiny because every moment is an opportunity to love - an opportunity embraced or set aside. To propose anything less is to foster false hope as well as mediocrity and lukewarmness.
A rather lengthy discussion ensued about the differences between Eastern and Western spirituality; in particular the use of discursive mediation and the use of imagination among Western writers and the avoidance of it among the Eastern ascetics. While largely a part of our spiritual patrimony those in the West have not been catechized in the Ascetical theology and practice of the East and the understanding of the active life as being rooted in the purification of the passions and the development of unceasing prayer. The understanding of the Church as a hospital and a place of healing and Christianity being an Ascetical religion has largely been neglected in recent generations as well as its impact on our understanding of liturgy, religious art and life as a whole.
The Evergetinos - Hypothesis XLV, Part III
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXII: On Vainglory, Part III
The Evergetinos - Hypothesis XLV, Part II
The Evergetinos - Hypothesis XLIV, Part III and Hypothesis XLV, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXII: On Vainglory, Part II
The Evergetinos - Hypothesis XLIV, Part II
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXII: On Vainglory
The Evergetinos - Hypothesis XLIII, Part II and Hypothesis XLIV, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXI: On Unmanly and Puerile Cowardice, Part I
The Evergetinos - Hypothesis XLII, Part IV and Hypothesis XLIII, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XX: On Bodily Vigil, Part II
The Evergetinos - Hypothesis XLII, Part III
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XX: On Bodily Vigil, Part I
The Evergetinos - Hypothesis XLII, Part II
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XIX: On Sleep, Prayer, and Psalmody with the Brotherhood
The Evergetinos - Hypothesis XLII, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XVIII: On Insensibility
The Evergetinos - Hypothesis XLI, Part III
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XVI: On Avarice, Part II and Chapter XVII, On Non-Possessiveness, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XV: On Chastity, Part XI and Chapter XVI: On Avarice, Part I
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