March 13, 2006

•  ~Are we too busy for God? ~

  
  

   Fr. Steven makes some excellent points.

  
  

  From the perspective of within/inside, Great Lent is an intense parish activity that absorbs the time and energy of the parish in ways that are wholesome and spiritually fruitful.  We are “keeping Lent” together, as a body of believers.  We understand the signs and symbols of Great Lent and what is expected of us in terms of our personal effort.  We then make an honest attempt to make our homes an extension of the Church (the home is a “little church” according to St. John Chrysostom), by creating some further signs of a “lenten atmosphere” in our homes within our families.  (For the moment, the point is not whether we are successful or not – we are speaking of intentions and effort).

  
  

   

  
  

       However, from the perspective of without/outside, meaning our secularized society or the world at large, Great Lent has no impact whatsoever.  It is not being observed (even if the occasional restaurant sign may advertise a lenten meal on Fridays!), and the world will not lose a beat in its hectic rhythm of unending activity because certain Christians are observing a lenten season.  Nothing outside of the Church will stop for our sakes, and life continues with its daily round of demands and responsbilities.  Outside of public discourse or social/cultural recognition, Great Lent becomes a highly personalized religious endeavor.  We can test this with a simple question:  Do your next door neighbors know that you are now observing Great Lent?  This is even more the case for us as Orthodox Christians because we are such a minority.  Schools may close for the western Good Friday, but not for our Great and Holy Friday observed on a different date.

  
  

   

  
  

       Since life continues essentially unchanged, and we remain as “busy” as ever, we may be tempted to say to ourselves, consciously or unconsciously:  ”I am too busy for Lent.”   Or:  “How can I possibly integrate almsgiving, prayer and fasting into my life when I hardly have a second in which to catch my breath?”   Or with a further touch of frustration:  “The Church should get more realistic and change its expecations of the faithful in this day and age.”  I fully acknowledge the reality that prompts such a series of thoughts.  And that reality affects us all – the priest’s family (since he and his family do not live in some sort of mysteriously protected vacuum) and well as the families of all parishoners.   My pastoral concern with the thought “I am too busy for Lent,” is the following:  it is dangerously close to the thought  ”I am too busy for God.”   No one would admit to such a thought, of course, but that could be the practical result of excusing ourselves through our busy-ness.

  
  

   

  
  

       Making the near-equation between “I am too busy for Lent” and “I am too busy for God,” is based upon the fact that Lent is all about God.  Whatever image we employ, a School of Repentance, a Journey to Pascha, A Season of Abstinence, etc., the meaning of Great Lent is to bring us closer to God.  We drift away from God or take God for granted in our lives.  Through repentance, strengthened by the tools of almsgiving, prayer and fasting, we return to God in a spirit of humility and contrition:  “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.”   Eliminating Lent from our lives outside of some nominal practices will have the effect of marginalizing God even further by either the endless and essential activities thrust upon us; or the empty distractions willing embraced by us. 

  
  

   

  
  

       If we are indeed “too busy for Lent,” then we will too busy to practice the following based upon constraint of time, exhaustion of mind and body, or preoccupation with other attractions:

  
  

   

  
  

  
  
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    praying with consistency and concentration
    
    
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    fasting beyond the nominal 
    
    
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    reading the Scriptures
    
    
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    attending the services peculiar to Great Lent
    
    
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    seeing a neighbor in need of assistance
    
    
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    participating in parish Retreats meant to deepen the lenten experience

  
  

      In today’s world, many of the faithful only know that its Lent by the priest’s lenten-colored vestments worn on Sunday morning!  This is not meant reproachfully, but as a pastoral reminder of the many challenges set before us by conditions as they exist today.  There would be no worthy reason to remind anyone of this if nothing could be changed.  Otherwise, we would only invite discouragement or “guilt.”   But I am convinced that some things can be done, and need to be done if we are going to take Lent seriously.  I am convinced that we can examine our priorites with care and responsbility and make the kind of “adjustments” needed to maximize our lenten effort by stressing the essential over the non-essential.   Perhaps we could offer as a working definition of Great Lent in our current social and cultural climate as the rediscovery of the essential over the non-essential in our lives.  Based on the Gospel that would be the love of God and neighbor (and if we are really “too busy,” the “neighbor” could be our family members!)  over “mammon” and “treasures on earth.”  (cf. MATT. 5:19-20, 24)  In the words of Fr. Alexander Schmemann:

  
  

   

  
  

          However new or different the conditions in which we live today, however real the difficulties

  
  

          and obstacles erected by our modern world, none of them is an absolute obstacle, none

  
  

          of them makes Lent “impossible.”

  
  

   

  
  

          Let us now set out with joy upon the second week of the Fast; and like Elijah the

  
  

          Tishbite let us fashion for ourselves   from day to day, a fiery chariot from the four great

  
  

          virtues; let us exalt our minds through freedom from the passions; let us arm our flesh

  
  

          with purity and our hands with acts of compassion; let us make our feet beautiful with

  
  

          the preaching of the Gospel; and let us put the enemy to flight and gain the victory.

  
  

   

  
  

          (Sticheron, Vespers of the First Sunday of Great Lent)

  
  

        

  
  

   

  
  

      

  
  

  Fr. Steven C. Kostoff
  Christ the Savior/Holy Spirit Orthodox Church
  http://www.christthesavioroca.org

  • 4:13 pm
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