The Hell of Having

I remember as a child, my parents would limit the amount that would be lavished upon me. I certainly was not deprived of anything. Chocolate, good food, toys, trips out to the park, all these would be common occurrences.

Good things would be measured, if they were not there was every chance that I would take them for granted.
Above all, they did not want me to become 'spoiled'.

I am sure we have all seen it, someone who has everything but cares for nothing.
This is reflected in peoples' attitude toward material things. When things are not received as beautiful and useful objects worthy of thanks, they become 'mere things', commodities.
Of course this is encouraged by the people who sell the things because as long as people are unsatisfied with what they have, they will always want more.

For example, I recently was given an Apple iPhone for my birthday. Wonderful, it has made things much easier to keep in contact with those I love. Less than a month later, the updated version was released. Though I knew better, I still had a nagging feeling of envy, something which has been instilled in me for over two decades.
Even though the updated model is not dissimilar from the model I have, I know that if I were to get the updated version, I would not be satisfied. Infact, I would probably be annoyed at myself for playing into the hands of those who feed upon this cycle of novelty and envy.

Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. - Oscar Wilde

One of the remarkable things about the Christian life is that, through the Eucharistically minded vision, all things are made beautiful. The world is a wonderous gift which celebrates God. I do not mean this in the "look at how beautiful that sunset" way, but on a more every day basis. The food we eat, the sleep we have, the clothes we wear, the air we breathe; it is all restorative to ourselves and holds us together as community.
For a person to eat well, the food must be farmed. To be clothed, someone must grow the plant to make the fibre, which is then spun and knitted or woven into a textile, which is tailored to make the final object. Everything is manufactured, and this speaks of community.

When we, as consumers, fail to see the chain which leads to the finished article, the object becomes dehumanised and of no intrinsic value other than 'fashion'
Everything becomes disposable, and in so doing, we desensitise ourselves to the co-operation of living, as well as our duty to support those who labour for us.

A world without people, without relationships, is a lonely place.
The French existentialist philosopher John Paul Satre famously wrote "Hell is other people".
I refute that, "Hell is isolation".

Satre was saying that it is our interpersonal relationships which cause us the greatest misery and despair. Though there is certain torment in that, it is favourable by far than isolation. This is because all existence is found in relation.
What good is a gift it can not be given?
What use is love if it can not be shared?


And so I return to my first point.
When we receive to the satisfaction of our own desires and are blinded by the objects to the point where we cannot see the creative act behind them, it is a sad thing. It is a sad thing because that part within us which has delight in receiving the gift as an act of love becomes idle. A state of entitlement and self-worth develops; this in turn causes a person to fail in relating to people. People in themselves become commodities. This leads to dystopia.



It is thanks to a post on another blog site that I was encouraged to write this article.
"The Dream"

On the advancement of Humanity

The Romanian theologian Dumitru Stăniloae, a twentieth century Orthodox priest and writer, continuously considers the place of theology in the twentieth century world. His thought is as relevent today as it was in the mid to late part of that century.

His principle idea is that the world is a gift from God to creation and principally to humanity. The liturgy of the church forms the central point of reference in the giving of thanks towards its creator God.
Every person has the duty and joy to offer to God the thanksgiving for life and in so doing furthers the experience of God in the world.

Theology is not bound by constraints of tradition and convention, but is a living relationship of giver and receiver. Ultimately the purpose of religion is to make the awareness of God present in all things real. It is the responsibility of the church leader to encourage the faithful to acknowledge the workings of God in the world and in the personal lives of each believer.

In reading the second part of Stăniloae's magnum opus 'The Experience of God' I came across a startlingly refreshing thought of this Christian thinker:

A good part of more recent theology puts the idea of hope in the forefront. "Any idea of God that cements the existing social order is abandoned. Today it makes sense to speak about God only if he opens a future and has a function in transforming the world." That is, only if, as God leads the human being toward himself and toward salvation, he is leading him to higher levels.

Here Stăniloae encourages and challenges us as modern Christians to consider the present day operations of God in our world. It is imperative to be responsive to the direction which God calls us in furthering the joy of Christian fellowship as it is the divine desire that the gospel which was revealed some two thousand years ago should find its continual flourishing in our present day lives. The existence of new evils serve only to encourage us to address them as injustices and it is our privilege to overcome them with ever greater actions of that which is good. (p. 194)

The old traditions which bind humanity to convention and law can become constricting in the advancement of the will of God. Stăniloae writes:

St. Paul the apostle opposed the "newness of spirit" to the oldness of the letter or the law as he opposed the life of the resurrection to abiding in death. Now where the law is, there is found a sign that sin reigns. "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law" said St. Paul (1 Cor 15:56). When the law does not prepare men to go beyond the level it has helped them to attain, that is, when man does not draw the conclusion as a kind of constant newness, that Christ is the "end of the law" or that "love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom 10:4, 13: 10), then the law is the power of sin that leads to death. Moreover, sin is the sign of the survival of the old man. (p. 195)

Ultimately we are called, as priests of creation, continually giving thanks for our existence and that which we experience through our senses, we are called to make God relevant through being ever conscious of the activity of the divine in our world. The consciousness is a marvelous gift for advancement. Humanity strives for ever increasing heights of perfection, towards the attainment of 'theosis', that is, the dwelling of individual humans with God. That which is evil calls for addressing. Goodness always prevails, and so, in what Stăniloae calls 'providence', the present evils are always balanced by ever new goods. 'God is leading the world toward ever new phases' (p. 192).


In conclusion I would say that the tradition of the church is a resource which depicts how humanity has engaged with the life of God in relation to the evils of that age. Tradition can not be convention, something to be followed as law, because it must exist in relation and thus relevance with contemporary issues. Tradition is a resource for the living, indeed tradition itself is living, because much as a person develops and grows in relation to the stimuli that affects him/her, so too does the gospel of Christ relate to the ever changing dynamic of modern life. New problems require new answers; it is through this engagement that the church maintains its relevance with life in the present age and continues to pass on to the next generation the example of God working in the midst of His creation.


Citations are taken from: Dumitru Stăniloae, The Experience of God, vol. 2, (2000), Holy Cross Press, Brooklyn MA.
It may be purchased as a book from the publisher here.

Love & Time - a debt to Staniloae. (part I)

Dumitru Stăniloae, 1903-93

Glory to you O Lord, glory to you.

The principal text which I am using primarily in this series of posts is Dumitru Stăniloae's "Eternity and Time", a pamphlet of thirteen pages and available from the Convent of the Incarnation, a link to a place of purchase is provided at the end of this post.

The person of Fr. Stăniloae

Dumitru Stăniloae was a prominent theologian of the twentieth century. He was a priest of the Romanian Orthodox church and it was in this climate that he worked his theological contributions. Romania is unique among Orthodox countries in that it is encircled by Latin Catholic countries, and this geographical positioning has informed the historical development of Romanian theological inquiry. 'Romania represents what Fr. Dumitru terms "oriental Latinity."' (Met. Kallistos foreword to Stăniloae D., 1994, p. ix).

Stăniloae frequently cites the Patristics of the Church, particularly Saints Gregory Palamas and Maximus the Confessor. Working in what has been termed a 'neo-Patristic synthesis', Stăniloae sought not to hearken back to a golden age of theology but rather, to illustrate the life of the Church as being expressed and understood through the witness of the greater body of Christ as an eschatological singing of theological praise before the throne. Living theologians today contribute to this great song of praise and using terminology revealed and taught by elders in the faith, are able to express in contemporary terms the magnificence of God's love for His creation. There is nothing old in the Patristic view of Theology for it is through the Holy Spirit that 'all things are made new'.

Stăniloae expresses beautifully in his largely untranslated works into English, the role of humanity in relation to the creation which we are dependent on, but also on which we minister to and offer in solemn thanksgiving to our gracious provider, God. Prayer which is to say, the desired communion of the children of God with their Father God, is the basis on which faith, living faith, is founded. 

The only genuine theology is that summed up by Evagrios of Pontos in a phrase which Fr. Dumitru likes to quote: "If you are a theologian, you will pray truly. And if you pray truly, you are a theologian." (ibid. p. xiv)

It is Time

It is time, always, to be called to repentance.  Never is there a moment when a return to God and his holy institutes is forbidden or even hinted at being 'incorrect', if there were, it would truly be a human construct and would not be in accord with the divine will. God wills to be with us always, to eternity, for as we are made in His image, we partake in a mystical sense, His Spirit, mixing it, or acting in co-operation with it, in a mystical way with our human spirit which is what makes us that most marvelous creature, the lord of creation. 

Every moment of consciousness, of divine contemplation, is a prayer to God. To keep God always before one's mind is a great gift and a source of joy and courage.

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem : let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth : yea, if I prefer not Jerusalem in my mirth. - Psalm 137:5-6 (Coverdale/BCP)

The fear of eternal damnation and hell-fire is a frequent theme in Christian thought. The flame which burns but never consumes, the pains which toil but never expire. The real terror is not solely in the sensation but made most horrid in the duration. 

I have long held the belief that Hell is a place not necessarily of physical torment, nor is it a 'place' per-se, but rather, that it is a state of non-being. It is an existence without being, and this is because it is the fulfillment of the will of the individual to establish a 'life' without relation to the giver of life. It is a love which is directed as a relationship between no parts but itself, and this establishes itself in loneliness. How can you have love if it is not shared?

Time for Stăniloae is a measurement of that distance between the giver of the gift to the receiver, and the offering back of that gift to the giver. It is that sense of anticipation, of longing, of waiting for the recognition of the gift which is given. To give a person a gift is to await a thanksgiving, the granting of thanks is an acknowledgement of appreciation for the gift.
Love is something to be shared, the moment it is not reciprocated it loses its nature as love. Fortunately Christians have the institution of the Church to encourage them back into the dynamic of loving through the medium of effective preaching, sacramental ministry, and private as well as intercessory prayer.
Until the next post on this topic I shall end with this quote:

Love is the gift of oneself to another, and the waiting for the full return of that gift from the other in response. Only in a complete and immediate response to the offer of love is love fully realised and full communion attained between the two. The interval of waiting for the response is time. As such, time represents a spiritual distance between persons, while eternity is beyond all distance or separation. (Stăniloae, 2001, p. 3)

To be continued.

Click here to be directed to a stockist where "Eternity and Time" may be purchased.

Stăniloae, D., 1994, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology; the Experience of God Vol.I, Holy Cross, Brookline, MA

Stăniloae, D., 2001, Eternity and Time, SLG Press, Convent of the Incarnation, Fairacres, Oxford