The brethren came to Abba Anthony and said to him, "Speak a word:
how are we to be saved?" The old man said to them, "You have read the
Scriptures. That should teach you how." But they said, "We want to
hear from you too, Father." Then the old man said to them, "The
Gospel says, 'if anyone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other
also.'" (Mt 5:30)
They said, "We cannot do that." The old man
said, "If you cannot offer the other cheek, at least allow one cheek to be
struck." "We cannot do that, either," they said. So he said,
"If you are not able to do that, do not return evil for evil," and
they said, "We cannot do that, either." Then the old man said to his
disciple, "prepare a little brew of corn for these invalids. If you cannot
do this, or that, what can I do for you? What you need is prayers."
Desert Father Stories
Reflection – There
are so many of these desert father stories and sayings that shine a bright
light on the spiritual life and its ways, that I am sore tempted to just keep
on with them for a little way yet. I have done quite a bit of ‘controversy
blogging’ in past weeks, which is fine too, but sometimes I think we can’t
really resolve any of the tough issues of our times and the matters that divide
and confuse us because we are not building our lives on solid spiritual
principles. This is the great genius and contribution of the desert fathers—to
elaborate for us what those principles are.
This
story, again showing the touches of humor that are frequent in the desert
corpus, highlights the attitude of soul that brings the spiritual life to a
grinding halt faster than anything else. Namely, ‘I cannot do that.’
Forgive
your enemies… I cannot do that. Take a little time each day to pray… I cannot
do that. Give alms to the poor... I cannot do that. Control your temper… I
cannot do that. Uhhh... fast a little? I cannot do that. And so on and so
forth. There can be an affliction of soul that truly makes us spiritual
invalids, and makes it impossible for anyone to give us any help or spiritual
counsel.
No,
just a bit of corn soup and prayers is all that can help the invalid soul, the
person who refuses to exert any spiritual effort whatsoever. The truth is, we
have to be fighters if we are going to be Christian, have to have a bit of
spirit, some fire in the belly, some degree of enthusiasm. The person who meets
every challenge of the spiritual life with a plaintive ‘But it’s hard! Why does
it have to be so hard?’ is in a truly lamentable condition, one which only God
can deliver them from.
Now
it is true that we in this matter there are heresies on all sides, and we have
to pick our way carefully to stay on the path of orthodoxy. Pelagianism is
the heresy that says that if we just try really, really hard, we will be able
to live a life pleasing to God. Semi-pelagianism says that God’s grace
is necessary, but he withholds that grace until he sees us making the first
efforts unaided. Quietism is over on the other side, saying that
everything is God’s grace to the extent that all we have to do is be passive
and let God do it all in us. Jansenism is a truly demonic heresy in
which (in its popular expression) God withholds his grace and love from us
unless we are already in a state of purity and goodness.
The
fact is, grace is needed for the slightest effort in the spiritual life, and we
cannot even begin the journey to God, cannot even make the first steps of
living the Gospel unless he graces us, helps us. But grace is given, this grace
to make those first steps is always available to us, because God loves us and
wants us to be holy. And because that grace is given to us preveniently (that
is, before our efforts kick in) we can cooperating with it and confidently take
on the challenge of the Gospel.
In
a sense it is true that ‘we cannot do that.’ We cannot. God can.
And God does, in us. The power is in us, not because we’re such fabulous
creatures (although we are, actually!), but because we have a Father in heaven
who loves us and who gives us the power to do all these things, all these
beautiful Gospel acts.
The
one who says, not just in an occasional bad mood (who doesn’t have those?) but
habitually, ‘I cannot do that’ is really sinning against faith. God is real,
God is here, God is with you, with me. We can do it, the Gospel that is. It is
difficult, it requires prayer and constant recourse to God to do it, but with
that constant help from Him, we can do it.
