Workin' it out

"Keep thy mind in hell, and despair not." 

The words of Fr. Sophrony have been rolling around in my spirit for a number of weeks. 

I've been trying to understand the connection that our repentance has to our becoming the image and likeness of God. 

Fr. Sophrony suggests that our repentance comes on two levels. In the first level we try, in our own strength, to change our thinking and actions and move toward the desires and character of God. This moves us in the right direction but as life will certainly manifest, sin continues to resurrect itself. 

The second level is the grace that God grants us to actually be transformed in the depth of our spirit. The latter provides the needed spiritual healing that brings us into a position of being like Him. 

The quote above is dealing with the first. It tells us to stay in the place where we are constantly being shown the darkness of our hearts. It is a place where not only the blackness of spirit is revealed but it is also the place where the beauty and light of God's holiness is revealed. The more we see and confess who we truly are the more God reveals who He truly is. This is the basis for our humility before God and before man. 

"Keep thy mind in hell and despair not" is a call to all of us who are fed up with this world, who are growing increasingly dissatisfied with what this world has to offer, and who long to be in the presence of God. It is not a morbid death wish. It is the appropriate yearning for a spiritual traveler looking to his final destination. It is a person who has introspectively seen the vileness of his nature and has lifted up his head toward the heavens to his great and wonderful salvation. 

May the present purging of that which is not of God be a reminder of the promise of ultimately being made in His likeness, not detached from this world but looking at it from the place of Jesus. When we finally get beyond our imperfections we begin to see the depravity of humanity from His perspective, and instead of desiring to escape it, we weep for it. We take on the true likeness of Jesus and commit to serving a humanity that needs to "keep their minds in hell, and yet not despair." 

In the words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, "...may God grant repentance [to all of us] leading [us] to a knowledge of the truth, and that [we] will come to [our] senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken [us]captive to do his will."