Fr. Maximos went on to emphasize that the lack of inner peace emanates from our egocentric passions and unbridled desires. Furthermore, he pointed out that all external wars, violence, and social and interpersonal conflicts spring from our inner states of disharmony. For him, therefore, achieving freedom and justice must begin with an arduous effort to attain inner peace. Revolutionaries who fight for justice do not understand that, no matter how noble their cause may be, if they don’t start by changing themselves, they will create worse conditions than what prevailed before.
“The Spirit of God always unites people, whereas the opposite of God divides and separates them,” Fr. Maximos added. “Conflict and disunity between people, separation, quarrels, wars, battles, and the like are not attributes of God’s Spirit. On the contrary, the Spirit of God assists a human being to be united with everybody.”
“Most people believe that it is external circumstances that do not allow people to be at peace with one another,” I painted out. “For example, in Cyprus the absence of real peace between the Greeks and the Turks is blamed on external forces. Elder Paisios used to say to Cypriots who visited him that if they wished to find peace with the Turks, they should start with themselves and not look for external enemies and other excuses.”
“Well, he was right, as you well know. This is the standard position of all the Fathers of the Ecclesia. The person who is united with God, who has peace within himself, is united with all of humanity, even those who dislike him. After all, there are people, rightly or wrongly, who do not like us for whatever reason. Likewise, there are people whom we may dislike ourselves, which of course damages us spiritually.”
“But is it really possible to be united in peace with such people?” Michael, the seminarian, asked.
“Absolutely!”
“How?”
“We can be united with all of humanity through prayer. The Christian hermits show us that this is possible. They are physically separated from everybody, and yet through Grace they are united with the world as a result of ceaseless prayer.”
“You mean we should imitate the hermits?” Eleni wondered.
“Yes, in terms of praying for others, particularly those whom we have difficulties with. Let’s say someone does not like us for this or that reason. Say we have done something to that person so that he or she, justifiably, does not wish to have anything to do with us. Or perhaps we are completely innocent. What do we do under these conditions? Consider it a given that the strongest bridge between us and the other person is prayer. Prayer is like those hooks that fishermen throw with ropes to pull boats to the dock. Even if the other person may profoundly hate us rather than simply dislike us, through our prayer his hatred may melt away.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we just left that problem to God and went about our business, avoiding contact with such a person?” Maria asked.
“That is not what Christ tells us to do,” Fr. Maximos replied. “It is possible, of course, that the problem may be exclusively with the other person and you may be completely innocent. Let us say that the other person, for some strange reason, has an issue with the sheer fact that you exist. Your mere presence irritates him. Can you then ignore him and feel comfortable with such a situation?”
“Well, what can you do?”
“Christ in the Gospel tells us what to do. When you are about to make an offering at the altar and you remember that a brother has something against you, you must first go and talk to him and only then return with your offering. If another person has something against you, even if you are completely innocent, you must cease your offering. You must first talk it over with the other person while keeping in mind that it is also your problem, your own wound. The other person is your brother, and by merely thinking of you he gets into turmoil. You cannot ignore it.”
“What can one do under such a condition besides pray?” Teresa asked.
“You must do everything possible to lift the burden off the chest of the other person, irrespective of whether you are totally innocent or not. It is understood, of course, that you need a lot of courage to do that. It is not easy.”
“Would you say that the prudent way should be to remain silent and avoid that person as much as possible?” Teresa asked.
“No. As I mentioned before, this is not the spiritual way of confronting such a problem. It is not the way of the Gospel. The way of the Gospel asks us to consider our brother’s or sister’s problem with us as our own challenge. It therefore asks us to become engaged in order to resolve the problem.
~Adapted from Kyriacos C. Markides, Inner River: A Pilgrimage to the Heart of Christian Spirituality
