I’ve spent too many years of my life convinced I was right about everything. That immature mindset never produces wisdom, only heartache, and slavery to my passions and desires. That mindset sees “enemies” everywhere. That mindset creates walls where bridges should be. And it prevents me from growing and maturing in my love for God and others.
In other words, that mindset isn’t Normal Orthodoxy.
Our Faith invites us to a humility that sets me free to have my heart formed and shaped, the “ground” of my heart “tilled” by the loving Holy Spirit that wishes to grow the virtues in my life. That is what the Orthodox Faith is supposed to be doing in your life and my life. It’s time we insist on Normal Orthodoxy in our everyday lives!
Look at our lesson today in Matthew 13:10-23,43:
At that time, the disciples of Jesus came to him and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: ‘You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see and your ears, for they hear. Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
“Hear then the parable of the sower. When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Discovering what kind of “ground” is in your life is all about the hard work of knowing yourself. Is the “ground” of your life prepared for God’s word? Do you even know yourself well enough to discern this about yourself?
You NEED to know all of this about yourself! But you won’t know this about yourself simply by being told. How many times have you heard good advice and then promptly ignored it? We have to learn these truths about ourselves, not for God’s benefit, but for ours.
So our loving and gracious Lord places us in real lives where good things and bad things and everything in between things happens to us; where we have to make choices, decisions, and set priorities; all of which teach us about who we really are and reveal to us (not God. He already knows) the places in our soul most gripped by fear and the slavery to our passions. It is at moments of deepest love for God and others that this information about my own self proves to be the places and times where I grow best; where I mature, develop, and become who I really am. No wonder the Fathers teach us to say “Glory to God for all things!”
Today, are you willing to be tutored by your life about yourself? The whole of the Normal Orthodox Faith is meant to bring you to the place of spiritual maturity where you can learn who you really are so that God can restore His Image in you and make you into His Likeness. Your whole life is meant to bring you to that glorious place of being Orthodox on Purpose!
P.S. Dear Lord, You have loved us even before You said “Let there be light.” And this eternal, undiminished love desires us to be transformed by the wisdom of the Faith into persons who can truly be in communion with You and with others. Yet, dear Lord, we live in a hostile age to this wisdom of the Faith. Please help me make the hard choices to embrace timeless wisdom instead of the thin gruel of modern immaturity. Save me from loving the praise of men more than the wisdom of God. Amen
