Journey to Mount Athos

by Spyridon Bailey

“God’s desire to save you is incomparably greater than that of your enemy to destroy you.”

“You must pray for the world. Encourage your people to pray for the whole world. It is more important now than ever before.”

Pray for the whole world .

“The Christian west, in fact western civilisation as a whole has lost touch with true Christianity. It proclaims Christian words, but it no longer has any real grasp of authentic Christianity. A full thousand years now separates the west from true Christianity, from the tradition of the Church. It is so polluted with nihilism that what it believes to be Christianity is really an empty shell. The Church has always proclaimed that we are not here simply to be blessed by God with particular gifts or experiences; but that we are created to become gods by grace. Our Creator is God by nature but we are called to be gods by grace. Western Christians believe that the purpose of their faith is moral improvement or the hope of heaven one day. Yes we must work to become more moral, but this is not the goal, it is part of the process. The west no longer understands that our purpose in life is Theosis.

And how did God descend to earth? Through the Theotokos. She is the link, the bridge between heaven and earth. Without her willingness to participate in God’s plan the incarnation could not have happened.

“If we struggle to become like Christ then everything can become a blessing because we accept everything as the will of God. While we are still clinging to our own will, insisting on what we think is best for us then we are resisting God’s will, God’s plan, and things feel painful or difficult. Even death may be seen this way. If we see anyone’s death, including our own, in any way other than through the truth of the Resurrection, it can only be a catastrophe and tragedy. But for Christians there is victory in death because we know we shall be raised by God. The world can take many things from us, but it cannot take away our death!”

But England’s church has cut itself off from authentic Christianity. It has ordained women, it has accepted worldly morality, there are same sex relationships blessed in its churches.

“Don’t be downhearted by this.” He was smiling again. “Put your trust in the love of God, you can do no more. Ultimately all things are in God’s hands, we must have faith that all will be as it should. So often our fear and anxiety comes from our not wanting to face our struggles. But the saints tell us that when we endure, when we are faithful in our sorrows God does not turn away from us. Remember Christ’s words about the sparrows and even the flowers in the fields. How much more is each of us to God. We are loved beyond our imagining and yet our hearts are often full of resentment and anger. This is the devil’s work who wants us to be miserable. We should resist the temptation to be downhearted because it is destructive and comes from evil.”