The Cure is Acesis

Just a quick comment. One of the most difficult issues that I have as a confessor, particularly with converts who have not been well catechized, is their sense that there must be a religious "silver bullet" or "magic prayer" that will make them want to be good, and/or give them a special "energy boost" that will make overcoming their passions and the damaged inclinations of their character easy and "natural." Very few seem to understand that they are at war with themselves - that the rational will, under the illumination of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God, must struggle to overcome the passions - the desires - physical and mental - to do that which the rational will recognizes to be, on the whole, that which is wrong to do. I get asked questions like "Father, how do I get myself to stop wanting to do X?" The answer, of course, is asceticism. We struggle to change who we are - from what we have become, to what God intended, by intentionally starving the passions of pleasure of reward, and by consciously willing to do that which we do not yet desire, but know that we should - and eventually must - if we are to be made citizens fit for heaven. I have them read the account of St. Mary of Egypt's description of her own struggles in the desert to overcome her passionate desire to sin - she makes no effort to hide the extremity of will involved, and the suffering that such an effort of will can cause in the body and mind of a human being whose passions are used to getting their own way. The Orthodox cure is ascesis - self-denial, fasting, obedience (to God's law, at least), mindfulness, dispossession (yup, one has to lighten the load), and prayer - conjoined with regular and honest confession, and reception of the Holy Mysteries. I constantly fight this hidden notion that becoming Christ-like should be easy, fun and painless, and that becoming Orthodox should, in some sense, simply deliver us from the tedious and difficult process of genuine character formation. If I could drill one thing into the minds of catechumens, it would be this: Christianity is a marathon, the goal of which is the Kingdom of Heaven, the shared life and joy of the Holy Trinity, which is worth anything you have to give up in order to attain, and whose doors are standing open for those who make it to the end. Start training now. Salvation is hard work, and it can take a while before you get your second wind and the running becomes joyful and natural.

 There is no escape from the burden - or the dignity - of freedom, and there is no secret way to salvation that will bypass the human will. One must choose to be saved - not once, but over, and over, and over again. And we have to choose it, not only when it is easy, but when it is hard as well. God will give you strength, and grace, but He will never give you (like manna to the children of Israel) more than you need. You cannot be saved against your will, and God cannot choose for you, because if he did, there would not longer be any "you" there to save. Buck up. Have courage. Be a man (or woman). Gird up your loins and say unto your soul: "I will arise, and return to my Father's house, where even the servants have enough to eat." It will be hard, traveling on an empty stomach. But hard, or not - and for those who have lived off of the left-over pig husks for too long, and are almost dead from malnutrition, it can be very hard indeed - one should still flee the land that is starving you.

A Facebook Comment from Fr. Cassian Sibley (all emphasis mine)

Quite apropos as we approach Great Lent. Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.

Relevant Reading

The Life of St Mary of Egypt

Philippians 2:12