It was past eight when we finished dinner. I was eager to resume our discussion because I wasn’t certain whether we would be able to go over the entire Pauline list of spiritual fruits before Fr. Maximos’s departure the next day. Playing the role of unofficial coordinator, I asked the guests to take their teacups and move back into the living room so that we could continue the conversation.
“The next fruit of the Spirit to discuss,” I said to Fr. Maximos as I looked at my notebook, “is peace, a very relevant topic given what is going on in the world!”
Fr. Maximos nodded. “Everybody talks about peace nowadays, everybody wants it, but where is this peace? At Jesus’ birth the angels promised ‘Peace on Earth,’ yet peace is yet to come. Were they lying to us?
“Jesus Himself,” Fr. Maximos continued, “made those cryptic remarks that have often confused us. I’m referring to his words ‘I did not come into the world to bring peace but the sword.’”
“He declared correctly,” I noted.
“It is quite clear, therefore, that when the Gospel speaks of peace, it should not be understood as the absence of war,” Fr. Maximos concluded. “What is implied here is inner peace.”
“I hope that’s not suggesting that we should not strive for world peace,” Emily interjected.
“Of course we must strive for world peace. This is a given,” Fr. Maximos clarified. “But before we can become real peacemakers, we must bring peace into our hearts. This is the meaning of peace according to the Gospel.”
“Christ did bless the peacemakers,” Emily said.
“True. But we need to ask what essentially is the nature of peace that Christ referred to, that the angels chanted, and that the evangelists wrote about.” Fr. Maximos sipped from his teacup. “Paul himself states clearly that Christ is our peace.”
“I suppose he made that statement based on his firsthand experience on the road to Damascus, a direct contact with Christ or the attainment of Christ consciousness,” I suggested.
“Yes, if you wish to put it in those terms. The opposite state of being is confusion. anxiety, fear, conflict. In such a state of mind, a person torments both himself and others. When Christ penetrates the heart, then we attain real peace within us.”
“Can you be more specific, Fr. Maxime?” Maria asked. “What exactly do you consider the key attributes of a peaceful human being?”
“A peaceful human being is someone for whom the parts of his inner world function in total and beautiful harmony. Everything works with marvelous precision in the same way that different instruments are harmonized in an orchestra to produce a magnificent symphony.”
“But what does it mean in practice?”
“As I have repeated many times, a human being is created as a harmonious whole because he is an icon of God. As the scriptures tell us, peace is the indwelling Spirit of God. Peace is an attribute of God, and a human being, made in the image and likeness of God, has the natural capacity to function in the same way. It is the Fall that has caused the disharmony which has been tormenting the human race. The challenge that confronts human beings is to reassemble their shattered divine image so that they can function harmoniously and peacefully once again.”
“Harmony between body, mind, and spirit leads to inner peace,” I interjected.
“Yes. This is the peace that human beings truly need, whether they realize it or not.”
“But how can we get to that kind of peace?” Eleni lamented. “That’s the troubling question.”
“It takes an ongoing, gradual effort for us to reassemble ourselves in that state of harmony. I have said many times that this, can only be achieved if we place at the foundation of this work our relationship with God. Otherwise, our labor most probably will be in vain.”
“Isn’t it possible for nonbelievers to attain this harmony within themselves through other means, such as humanistic psychotherapy?” Emily asked.
“If we take the teachings of the holy elders as our guide, the answer is no. When God is absent and everything is built on strictly human foundations, then, according to the elders, we are entering into delusion. According to them, the basis of plani, or delusion, is self-sufficiency, which breeds pride and egotism.”
“Is it delusional to have self-confidence?” Emily asked again.
“A healthy self-confidence is good. I am talking about the exclusive focus on oneself without any acknowledgment of our ultimate foundation in and dependence on God. It is like trying to attain Theosis, or union with God, without God.”
~Adapted from Kyriacos C. Markides, Inner River: A Pilgrimage to the Heart of Christian Spirituality
