Endurance: Tears and Hard Work that Lead to Ineffable Joy
The Fifth Sunday of Lent – March 22, 2015
Amma Syncletica: "In the beginning there are a great many battles and a good deal of suffering for those who are advancing towards God and afterwards, ineffable joy. It is like those who wish to light a fire; at first they are choked by the smoke and cry, and by this means obtain what they seek . . . : so we must kindle the divine fire in ourselves through tears and hard work."
[Benedicta Ward, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, pp. 230, 231]
This week, our readings from the Desert Fathers and Mothers illumine the spiritual discipline of endurance.
To be honest, endurance may not be as much of a spiritual practice as it is one fruit of ongoing spiritual practice. One doesn’t set out to become a person of endurance so much as one cultivates the soul in a way that allows endurance to be formed within us.
The Apostle Paul writes that endurance is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22 – 23). Fruit grows when we tend the roots and the tree itself, not when we try to force fruit to appear on the tree. In other words, we don’t seek out endurance as much as we become people who are able to persevere by attending to the spiritual dimension of life.
Of course, there are ways we can will ourselves to endure certain moments and experiences in life, but our will is not strong enough to maintain that endurance over a long period of time. We grow weary if endurance is only an act of the will. It is entirely different when endurance grows up within us, when it is part of our interior makeup. Then, we don’t have to will ourselves to endurance; rather, we endure because it is part of who we are.
Amma Syncletica, one of the most noted of the Desert Mothers, noticed that the spiritual journey entails battles and a good deal of suffering, especially in the early stages. Through the image of a divine fire, she encourages attending to this spiritual work through “tears and hard work.” (I know, friends . . . “tears and hard work” are not what we were hoping to hear!)
But lest we give in to despair or discouragement, our Amma says that the sufferings, battles, tears, and hard work are leading us to “ineffable joy.” We become people who persevere, who are not governed the daily whims of life, who find our contentment and joy not in circumstances, but from being tethered at our soul’s center to God.
Amma Syncletica: "In the beginning there are a great many battles and a good deal of suffering for those who are advancing towards God and afterwards, ineffable joy. It is like those who wish to light a fire; at first they are choked by the smoke and cry, and by this means obtain what they seek . . . : so we must kindle the divine fire in ourselves through tears and hard work."
[Benedicta Ward, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, pp. 230, 231]
This week, our readings from the Desert Fathers and Mothers illumine the spiritual discipline of endurance.
To be honest, endurance may not be as much of a spiritual practice as it is one fruit of ongoing spiritual practice. One doesn’t set out to become a person of endurance so much as one cultivates the soul in a way that allows endurance to be formed within us.
The Apostle Paul writes that endurance is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22 – 23). Fruit grows when we tend the roots and the tree itself, not when we try to force fruit to appear on the tree. In other words, we don’t seek out endurance as much as we become people who are able to persevere by attending to the spiritual dimension of life.
Of course, there are ways we can will ourselves to endure certain moments and experiences in life, but our will is not strong enough to maintain that endurance over a long period of time. We grow weary if endurance is only an act of the will. It is entirely different when endurance grows up within us, when it is part of our interior makeup. Then, we don’t have to will ourselves to endurance; rather, we endure because it is part of who we are.
Amma Syncletica, one of the most noted of the Desert Mothers, noticed that the spiritual journey entails battles and a good deal of suffering, especially in the early stages. Through the image of a divine fire, she encourages attending to this spiritual work through “tears and hard work.” (I know, friends . . . “tears and hard work” are not what we were hoping to hear!)
But lest we give in to despair or discouragement, our Amma says that the sufferings, battles, tears, and hard work are leading us to “ineffable joy.” We become people who persevere, who are not governed the daily whims of life, who find our contentment and joy not in circumstances, but from being tethered at our soul’s center to God.
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