Thoughts on the Fullness of Life, Part Two
~By Metropolitan Saba (Isper)
A famous saying of the blessed Augustine is true of man, in every place and time. It has an influential and profound impact on today’s man who is tormented and spiritually besieged from all sides. The blessed one says, addressing God: “You created us to turn to you, O Lord, and our hearts will not find rest unless they rest in you.” Augustine reflects the words of Christ: “I have come that you may have life, and that it may be more abundantly” (John 10:10). Perhaps the most beautiful meaning that the Greek original of this verse carries is the following: “I came that you may have life, and that you may have the fullness of life.”
Many people searched for and found in the person of Christ the meaning the meaning of life in general, and for their own lives in particular. Some of them, such as the great novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky, made this discovery, saying, “If anyone could prove to me that Christ is outside the truth, and if the truth really did exclude Christ, I should prefer to stay with Christ and not with truth.” Not all these people are monks and hermits. The history of the Church is full of saints and lovers of God and His gospel from all categories: married and celibate, high and simple in education, men and women, the elderly and children, kings and rulers, free and slaves, rich and poor.
Why don’t all human beings believe in this truth? Why don’t they search for it, especially all Christians? One contemporary theologian says: “The problem isn’t that there are few saints, but that not all Christians are saints!” I wonder if the reason lies in humans’ fear of facing what they can’t handle or comprehend, so they prefer to stay in the shallows rather than soar? Could it be the pride rooted within them, a product of subconscious fear, the barrier preventing them from liberating themselves from their constraints and embarking on the vastness of life to which they are inherently called? Or is it the economic consumerist grind that absorbs their energy, potential, and all that’s beautiful in them, making them chase after requirements the current media falsely portrays as essential, causing further estranging from themselves?
These and other reasons often play a role in depriving humans of discovering true life and realizing their true calling.
But there is no doubt among all who have experienced this divine life that inner pride and self-love are the roots of all evils that manifest themselves in countless forms of vices, defects, and shortcomings, to the point that they blind people from seeing the light of God and the truth. Thus, humans will destroy their great dream of achieving the true meaning and fulness of their life.
Do not be fooled by the glamorous lifestyle of so-called stars, and the screens on which they appear in order to invade your imagination. For in the last days, you will discover a completely different side to them: “The world will fade, and so will its lusts” (1 John 2:17). One thing that remains is the face of your loving Lord, from which the light never fades.
Can you replace the morning sun with a candle?
