By Michael Haldas
Thoughts on Spirituality and Psychology, June 21, 2016
“In a psychological culture, morality and psychology are the only human realities we acknowledge. We do not see nor understand the nature of spiritual things. We are locked in a world of cause and effect and presume that everything works in such a manner. The landscape of psychological causes (and effects) is the world as we choose to see it. But it does not see the landscape of the Kingdom of God – that which is birthed in believers in their Baptism. One of the great challenges…is making the transition from psychology to true spirituality. Some teachers suggest that many will fail to do so – and will thus fail to realize the reality of their birthright in Christ.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“Modern psychology has told us we must feel good about ourselves and has instructed us to reject the idea of guilt and sin. The idea of sin is seen as religion’s instrument for keeping people in line, making them dependent on an institution that should be relegated to the Dark Ages. In an age where humans are elevated to being their own gods, religion is seen as a sort of enslavement.” (Abbott Tryphon)
“While the last couple of decades have seen the field of psychology discovering all kinds of new addictions (sex, gaming, the Internet, and so on), the Bible has recognized the phenomenon of addiction for centuries, but under another name: slavery.” (Richard A. Grumberg)
“When God delivers us, we are no longer slaves to sin or victims of our passions, contrary to what pop psychology suggest. We are no longer compelled by a traumatic past, nor by our nature, nor by any force beyond our control, for we have given all to Christ…However, we must apply the power that God extends to us in Christ in order to be truly dead to sin. As with all authentic relationships, there is nothing magical about our oneness with God. He bestows this gift on us in baptism, chrismation, and communion. We must then use the gift to resist, reject, and oppose the reign of sin within us (Romans 6:12).” (Dynamis 6/27/2015)
“One of the primary reasons for psychological and emotional problems in our life today is that we do not know in our heart how truly valuable we are in the eyes of our Creator.” (Father David L. Fontes, PsyD)
Thoughts on Sacred and Secular, June 22, 2016
“The modern notion of the secular, a sphere of life in which religion need play no part, is the ground on which the concept of normal was constructed. That ground itself is false, for there is no realm or space within all of creation that is not utterly dependent upon God and permeated with His life and presence. Sacred and secular are false distinctions. “The whole earth is full of Your glory.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“…sacramentality implies a particular view of nature which is radically at odds with the secular, materialist view of modern western culture – a view that holds creation to be graced, sacred and full of meaning. The sacredness of nature thus lies at the very heart of Christianity and it is vital, when our relationship with nature is looming as one of the great moral questions of our time, that we understand how fundamental the sacredness of nature is to the sacramental life of the Church.” (Archpriest Lawrence Cross)
“The operative agnosticism or atheism of the majority of professional, corporate, intellectual, and artistic elite in our country has decisively penetrated mainstream media, political, educational and cultural institutions and shaped popular opinion. Our contemporary popular culture…trivializes religion, makes the spiritual a commodity, confuses accidents for substance, absorbs potentially subversive ideologies, promotes a consumerism approach to traditions of wisdom, glamorizes the expedient, scorns self-denial, creates needs and exploits desire, celebrates superficiality, and courts violence.” (Father John Zeyack)
“From the early heresy of Pelagianism to modern day secular heresies, such as Nietzscheanism, it has been a recurring error to believe that the human will acting alone and without divine assistance (grace) can overcome the power of evil.” (Joseph Pearce)
“When our heart is reunited to our Creator by means of a personal relationship and faith in Jesus Christ, who is the way to God the Father, we do not get mere words of encouragement that we are valuable, such as a secular therapist or motivational speaker might give, but instead we gain a spiritual awakening, an intuitive noetic knowing that comes from a direct experiential relationship with God Himself through the Holy Spirit in our heart.” (Father David L. Fontes, PsyD)
~Michael Haldas, https://www.ancientfaith.com/contributors/michael_haldas.
Michael Haldas is an author, a religious educator and a speaker. He wrote Sacramental Living: Understanding Christianity as a Way of Life (published by Eastern Christian Publications), a book which he presented special editions of as gifts to Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in private audiences. Michael is also published monthly in Theosis Magazine and he has authored several Orthodox Christian themed articles for various publications. Additionally, he has recorded and contributed to multiple YouTube, DVD and CD educational projects. He teaches adult religious education and high school Sunday school at the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Bethesda, Maryland and has worked with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Religious Education Department to create educational lessons and materials.
