Reader Alexander Vallens

Reflection/Summary of SPR 501

11 December, 2002

Although a reflection on our class could consist of an extensive composition of my own

thoughts and feelings of this past semester, I fail to see the value in documenting such gibberish.
Rather, my intention is to restate, briefly, the main highlights of what was covered, since the
contents of the class, echoing “The Mind of the Fathers,” transcend my paltry deductions and
observations. I hope, in all sincerity, that my paraphrasing of an entire semester’s worth of class
will indicate that my understanding of the material covered is in line with the Orthodox vision,
and that I, hopefully, was not led into a heretical view by the powers of the evil one. Thus, my
short synopsis of SPR 501-1: Foundations of Orthodox Spirituality, Fall Semester 2002, follows.
Human weakness was first manifested when man fell. Adam was ordained, that is “set
aside,” by God to be King, Prophet and Priest. God placed him in creation: to have dominion
over it; to discern God’s will to it; to mediate between it and God. Adam instead chose to serve
his own desire to be wise and powerful. Becoming aware, Adam realized his nakedness, and in
shame hid from his creator. God, after clothing him, allowed Adam, together with his companion
Eve, to exit from the shelter of paradise and proceed into the world. Adam, however, tainted with
pride, could no longer fulfill his aforementioned duties.
The human person consists of a spirit, a soul, and a body. By nature, as created by God,
the body serves the soul, the soul the spirit, and the spirit God. Adam, however, through his
surrender to passion, inverted the pattern, cutting off man from God, and directing the body to
the service of flesh. All of creation fell together with man through this transgression, and thus
every subsequent generation endures the consequences of the sin, unable to escape the harsh
reality of pain, suffering, greed, hate, and death.
Through His glorious coming, however, Christ gave man the opportunity to repent and be
lifted back to the height from which the plunge occurred. God deified flesh when He took it upon
Himself, transfiguring it by transcending its nature with the Divine Will. Each person, as a result,
is given the opportunity to redirect service in the proper direction, focusing his spirit on God, his
soul on the spirit, etc. This is achieved by directing one’s will toward God, as Christ directed His
human will to coincide with the Divine Will of the Holy Trinity, in a mystical union with Him,
called theosis.
Unfortunately, the passions of the body, when trying to satisfy the flesh, can interject and
once again redirect will downward. Since will originates with intellect, an attribute of the soul
together with heart and desire, if the intellect submits, will fails. Likewise, if the intellect resists,
the will prevails. If an attack on the will occurs, and is not immediately suppressed (i.e. is
ignored), it can take root (couple) in the heart or desire, and begin to tempt the intellect to
agreement (submission). Naturally, a struggle ensues. The struggle is the crucial point, when the
will either emerges victorious, or is broken. A defeat leads to habit, which leads to enslavement,
and finally the original attack becomes a pathological disorder.
By nature, one has several passions, or affects. Ranging from simple gluttony to complex
pride, these affects are inherent in all human beings. As one directs his will toward God and
attempts to put his will in line with the Divine Will of the Holy Trinity, the passions become
meaningless (clearly demonstrated by Christ, who in addition to His Divinity assumed full
human nature, yet to whom the assumed affects were inconsequential). The ideal passion is one
that is irrelevant, one that does not assume either of its two extremes. Taking as an example the
simplest passion, gluttony, it is easy to see the extremes, obesity and anorexia, and how each is a
destructive form of the affect. The clear ideal lies in the middle, where one does not eat too
much, nor does he starve himself. Truly, the object is for one to not even concern himself with
satisfying the passion, rather fulfilling the physical needs of the body and ignoring the desire
altogether.
Fortunately, we have the Church to guide us through the difficulty and confusion; she not
only gives us the intellectual answers, but the spiritual medicine also. Through the Church God
pours out his Grace upon us, and through the Church His Divine Will is revealed. Within the
Church one is given a choice of two paths to theosis, the monastic and married. The monastic
route, although potentially faster, is much riskier and far more difficult. It involves an immense
struggle to defeat desire through self-denial, which can easily lead to a nasty failure, and
provides a practical confirmation, or rather substantiation, of the struggle through obedience to
God, through an elder. The married path, although easier and more reliable, is much slower than
the monastic route. It again involves self-denial, gradually fostered throughout one’s spiritual
development, and is substantiated through patience and endurance within a triune relationship
between the couple and God.
In neither path, however, is the passionate nature of man ignored, as is popular among
those who see no true value in repentance. In the Orthodox Church spirituality is not denied, nor
is the common understanding of the human psyche. One could perhaps unify the greatest
achievements of psychology, anthropology and philosophy to mimic the intellectual
understanding of Orthodox spirituality. However, the mystical and spiritual ‘benefits’ of the
Church, the Grace of the Holy Spirit and the revelation of God, are irreplaceable and
irreconcilable. The mystical reality of God’s Grace, through the sanctification of the Sacraments
and the presence of the Holy Spirit continually revealing God’s Divine Will, cannot be
guaranteed elsewhere. No matter how much the secular intellectuals, religious gurus, even non-
orthodox Christian clergy attempt to answer the desperate questions of those who seek to “find
themselves,” they will all fall short lacking all that the Church provides. As ones who have
“Received the True Light,” let us continually thank God for His abundant mercy and strive to
love Him and each other as He loves us, attempting to follow the path that he paved for us when
he created our forefather Adam.