Conference yukon::christian_v7

As I read through the base note, that question hit me - which two 
commandments would you dismiss...  

My immediate reaction was that those pertaining to God are inviolable - a
foundation which speaks of His character.  Take any of them away, and you 
take away God himself.  The world crumbles...

Those pertaining to mankind are the ones *I* need.  To say that any one is
removed makes it an area of fear, because it is out of control.  Somewhere
I dare not live.  If I do wrong, I need to know that it is wrong, so that I
can repent, and not be left isolated from the God Who designed this world -
and us - to work and live in a certain way.  If I chose to leave aside two 
I felt did not affect me - were not an effective temptation - what would 
the rest of the world become?

In any area of weakness, I need those rules the most, to guide me and keep 
me on the rails ...  

1 Timothy 1:9 :
 "We know that the law is not made for the righteous, but for lawbreakers
  and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those
  who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulteres and
  perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers - and for whatever 
  else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious 
  gospel of the blessed God..." 

Thanks Mark.  Most helpful.

							Andrew

To make .0 easier (from Exodus 20:3-17):

  1.  Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.

  2.  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of 
      any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, 
      or that is in the water under the earth.  Thou shalt not bow down 
      thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous 
      God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the 
      third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy 
      unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
  
  3.  Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord
      will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

  4.  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days shalt thou labour, 
      and do all thy work:  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord 
      thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy 
      daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy 
      stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven 
      and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: 
      wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

  5.  Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the
      land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
 
  6.  Thou shalt not kill.
 
  7.  Thou shalt not commit adultery.
 
  8.  Thou shalt not steal.
 
  9.  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

 10.  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours house, thou shalt not covet thy
      neighbours wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, 
      nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbours.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Catholic distinctions of the Ten Commandments combine the thoughts of 
1 and 2 and separate number 10 into two parts.  But the text, of course,
is left in tact for anyone who might wonder.)

Re: -.1 Thanks Andrew

I also hope others may come up with areas of identification, fortification, 
and sanctification.

Mark

On the subject of guarding your soul, how well do we protect ourselves
from temptations?  How often do we flirt with how far we can get to
the edge; how far we can go without sinning?  And after doing so, we
kick ourselves are failing and falling, when in fact we should not
have been anywhere near the precipice.  How many times have we set
ourselves up to fail?  Telling ourselves that we can withstand
temptation and the flatterer's tongue?  We've matured and can handle
the heat of temptation.

How do you guard your soul?
How do you improve your walk with God?

Mark

 Mark, brother, this is far too convicting...





 Thank you..



 
Jim

    I have an accountability partner to whom I confess all such
    transgressions.  We are learning about how to go about this.  It's a
    little slower as he's in Pittsburgh, and I'm in MA, but we send email
    frequently and call every so often.
    This relationship deals mostly with one area of temptation that we both
    struggle with, so we understand and can't condem with condeming
    ourselves also.  It has expanded to include in general our walk with
    God.
    We're learning to affirm each other when we do well and seek God, which
    I think will help a lot.
    I think if I can see the prepice, I learned that that is too close.  In
    other words, I can't allow any steps towards facing temptation and
    thinking I can stand against it.  If the temptation comes, I have to
    reject immediately and not give it any toe holds.
    This involves a lot of prayers like "Lord, help!" and requests for
    protection from Satan's tempters.
    I don't have this perfect by any stretch, but I think this has helped
    me.

    Could it be...
    
    Trust, and obey?
    
    Trusting God, our Father, with the trust of a little child,
    Obey, all that God has commanded, in the NT version of the 10,
    
    Matthew 22:37-40
    
    Jesus said to him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
    and all thy soul, and all thy mind. This is the first and great
    commandment. And the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
    thyself. On these two commandments hang all the laws and the prophets.
    
    I can't help but obey the first, knowing it was God the Father who sent
    Jesus the Son, for me (and you) to save me from such a horrible
    eternity, that I was headed for.
    
    The second is a little more difficult for me, as the love I have for
    myself isn't what I think it should be, but this too, shall pass, by
    the grace of God, and as He continues to show me His love, and thus,
    making me realize, who am I not to love God's creation, who God loved
    enough to send His Son to die for.
    
    Very good topic, Mark, God bless you!
    
    Bob
    

Too true, Mark.

The temptation to not fully reject temptation just quite yet is one of the
worst of temptations, but we usually don't recognize it as a separate
temptation.  But that temptation to "indulge" yourself for just a bit really
is a temptation in and of itself.  "Yes, yes, I'm not going to actually give
in to temptation, but I'll just think about it for a second and THEN I'll
reject it - in just a minute" : "No, of course I would never hit that person
in anger, but I'll just contemplate for a second how good it would feel to
paste him one, if I were allowed, THEN I'll pray for him " (picking a safe
one :-)

This temptation to put off - for even an instant - resisting and rejecting
the whisperings of our flesh or of Satan gets us into huge trouble, as Mark
said, because sometimes as a result of edging up to the precipice we fall
over.  But the frightening thing to think about is that giving in to the
temptation to not resist just yet - to inch closer to the precipice - is in
itself turning our back on God and is sinful, even if we never do fall to the
original temptation.  (Did anyone follow that?)

When you start to recognize that things like this can be classified as sins,
the concept of "all have sinned, and fall short of the Glory of God" becomes
more and more clear.

Paul

There is an old axiom that says, "you can't stop the birds from flying
over your head, but you don't have to let them make a nest in your hair."

Thoughts will enter your mind - you cannot stop them.  But you can shoo
them away.  And it may take effort, like Elijah keeping the buzzards off
his sacrifice in that dread darkness.

I have begged the Lord to remind me when I have a lustful thought (picking
a not-so-safe example).  Note that i say "when" and not "if."  Who is 
impervious?

I have begged the Lord to remind me of my dear and lovely wife of 15 years 
and my four children, and all the things I would destroy over foolishness
whenever I am accosted by such thoughts (and it is an accosting!).  I have 
begged Him to turn all my sexual focus to my wife (the wife of my youth; 
cf. Proverbs; see also note 286.*).

Lust is a mental ownership of another.  It is not mere and natural attraction
to another person.  It is a dwelling upon another as if she were your own.

We live in a world of attractive people.  Guard your soul against the 
folly of allowing your eye to "own" someone else.  Guard your marriage
with fierce jealousy and consider anything that diminished your love for
your husband or wife an enemy to be vanquished, (and more often than
not it is our own selves and thoughts that have diminished our love;
not another person).  Do not compare your mate to another in any way.
Your mate has no comparison: she was made for you!  He was made for you!

Yes, there are other things against which we must guard against our souls.
And please, let us also identify them to purge us from uncleanliness.  But
I want to also ensure that this one is mentioned, even though it isn't as
safe to mention.  (But that's a ploy of Satan; to hide things.)

1Corinthians 6:18  Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without
the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
 19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which
is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
 20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and
in your spirit, which are God's.

Mark

I've learned a great deal of spiritual warfare over the years -- with respect
to overcoming what the Eastern Desert Fathers call "the passions of the flesh"
and the influence of the demons who exacerbate the passions.  (Debates over the
influence Satan has over Christians are referred to the appropriate notes; I
simply present my experience.)

I've learned a number of principles which I have found of great help.

1) Dismissing temptations as they come, and learning to dismiss them. This
takes a great deal of practice I've found.  One of the greatest pits one can
fall into is permitting oneself to think on a sin, reasoning that it's only a
sin to do it and thinking about it will do no harm.  Far from it --
entertaining sins in the mind only incites the flesh all the more to desire it.
I've learned that the earlier and faster I dismiss temptations, the better off
I am.  Indeed it takes some skill to even recognize the temptations in their
formative stages to be able to nip them in the bud.

In my own personal life I've found that there is a certain point where once I
entertain sinful thoughts to a certain degree, it's like quicksand: the pull of
the flesh grows stronger and stronger until, like a black hole, I am unable to
escape and I end up committing the sin I'm trying to avoid.

This also means avoiding whatever situations might lead you into temptation. It
means not rehashing in your mind potential situations or actual situations
which incite the passion you're resisting, for example, nursing a grudge.

Re: .7 -- PERFECT, Paul!! EXACTLY true. This was my greatest struggle in
learning how to control the passions -- not only was the sin delicious, but
so was entertaining the temptation, and as you do you are blinded more and
more and you lose more and more of your will to resist, until BOOM, you've
fallen.

2) Prayer in time of temptation.  Obviously, avoiding sin is not something we
can do by our own power; we have to realize that and couple our attempts in #1
with prayer at the crucial time.  Not only at the beginning of the day (which
is a good idea to get the habit of doing) or occasionally, but at the time of
need, especially when you feel yourself losing control over the passions. A
good prayer is this ancient one called the Jesus Prayer, based on the example
of the tax collector in the parable of Jesus: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the
Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner."  Or, simply, "Lord, have mercy."
Abandon yourself to God at this moment.  Mentally throw yourself at His feet in
surrender; recommit yourself to a renunciation of sin, confess your weakness,
and pray for deliverance from the enemy (or from the flesh, if you feel more
comfortable with that).  Recall that "I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me," and that he will never permit us to be tempted beyond our
ability to resist.  And, "resist the devil, and he must flee." You might want
to think of the painful passion that Christ endured so that this very sin which
you struggle with might be forgiven.

If necessary to keep tempting thoughts at bay as they attack, repeat the above
Jesus Prayer over and over.  This will keep your mind on Jesus and focused on
His mercy and your desire to obey Him.

Sometimes it may be necessary to drop whatever you're doing and literally fall
on your knees.  Do it, if it helps! 

Incidentally, I've found something interesting, and that is that a number of
the Psalms which on the surface appear to be (to some very unchristian)
pleas to God against David's enemies are actually quite appropriate when we
apply them as our pleas to God against our Enemy, Satan.

"The enemy compassed me, they compassed me about; in the Lord's name I crushed
them."

"Save me, O Lord, from my enemy who seeks to destroy me." 

etc. (don't have the references handy with me)

3) Repelling the Enemy's attack: if you feel comfortable with this kind of
spiritual warfare, I was taught by a holy priest-monk to rebuke the particular
demon that is bothering me, by name ("demon of anger", "demon of lust", etc.),
command it to leave me in the name of Jesus, to go to go Jesus, and do whatever
He tells it to do -- and to do it in silence, without informing his friends of
an open target (he must go, but nothing says he can't tell his friends to take
his place unless you forbid him to) -- in the name of Jesus Christ and by the
power of His blood.  If you find this too cheesy, that's fine too, it's advice
for those who are interested; I've found that it often works immediately, even
to the extent that my heart slows down and I breathe easily as soon as I say
it.

Also, if you believe in such things, you might ask for the protection of your
guardian angel or the angels in general.

4) Pray on the full armor of God -- Ephesians 6.  I try to do this at least
twice a day -- once in the morning, for the daytime hours, and once in the
evening, before bed, when I believe the demons are most active (or at least,
that's when they come against me the strongest), under the cover of darkness
while our minds are weakened by sleep.

5) Occasionally I find the following imagery helpful.  I think of Jesus 
locking me behind a wall impenetrable by the demons, or embraced in His arms
while the demons helplessly watch from afar.  This helps me to remember that
when I trust completely in Christ and withdrawn in Him, I am secure from all 
that could harm me.  I am cognizant of the fact that Satan has power over me
only insofar as I permit him to -- if I reach out to him, or unlock the door,
Christ is helpless to protect me because I have willed to communion with the
enemy.  But if I renounce him, and submit my will to Christ, trusting in His
grace and protection, the enemy has no more power over me.

6) Learn how the flesh works and how Satan works and how they work together.  
Realize that once you conquer one area, the attack -- or weakness -- will move
to another area.  Once you decide to renounce sin and work to resist it,
then the temptations come on stronger and force their way into your mind. Once
you learn to resist temptation and put it off, doubt and despair arrive to
try to break down your resistance to temptation. Or pride will come -- "isn't
this great, I've conquered sin, I'm living a holy life now!" -- which takes 
you off guard and makes you incautious.

I've learned my flesh is very tricky and tries to get what it wants in the
most ingenious ways. I had to learn how it worked in order to hold victory
against it.

Well it's time to go home, enough for now.

Eric

    .8
    
    Mr. Metcalfe, thank you for restoring my belief that there are
    honorable men in this life. :-)
    
    Nancy

  We're told to crucify or mortify the flesh.
  Not much specific instruction as to how to accomplish that.
  I have found that the sin itself is not the problem,

  "and this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world and
   men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil 
   for everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the 
   light lest his deeds be exposed, but he who does the truth comes to
   the light..." john 3 19-21

  but my love of it. Any problem ive had has been after a long interlude
  of not acknowledging my evil deeds and thoughts. Ive found that when i 
  acknowledge the sins of my mind,  they dont work their way out into my life.

  If we confess (homolegeo-acknowledge) our sins He is faithful and just to
  forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9.
  
                     Hank
 

    The Philokalia Vol I, has a chapter written about temptation and it
    says that the three greatest temptations to overcome where those that Satan
    tempted Christ with in the desert. All other temptations come from
    those three. Lust and gluttony (which are basically the same), pride,
    and greed for money, fame and power. 

    Read the temptations of Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11), and you'll see that they 
    are the foundation for every temptation that we have ever experienced.
    
    The means for overcoming temptation are the same as Jesus used, they are
    prayer, and fasting.

    Peace
    Jim

Some very good stuff here...  thanks folks.  That 'lingering look on the 
verge', where we should avoid every appearance, flee from the enemy's 
subversion ... in .7, Paul, right on...  Playing with danger.

It comes down to 2 Corinthians 10:5 - "Take captive every thought to make it 
obedient to Christ."  I always seem to come back to that one.  Then the 
temptation itself is shown up in its true light.  But I think that's how we 
crucify the flesh, Hank.  let Him live through it instead of our material 
physical desires and appetites.

The theory is simple.  The practise is impossible alone.  Difficult with
Him - but always the practise and learning helps as we approach His 
likeness....  Ever feel it's out of reach?

Philippians 1:6 
	"He Who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until 
	 the day of Jesus Christ"

1 John 3:2 
	"When we see Him we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He 
	 is."  

 - to be used to encourage and spur on; not to sit back and give up...  But 
we need these when we realise we've lingered too near the edge, to get up 
and stand again.


							Andrew

�    <<< Note 392.12 by PCCAD::RICHARDJ "Pretty Good At Barely Getting By" >>>

�    ...the three greatest temptations to overcome where those that Satan
�    tempted Christ with in the desert. All other temptations come from
�    those three. Lust and gluttony (which are basically the same), pride,
�    and greed for money, fame and power. 

See also 1 John 2:16, and compare the approach of satan to Eve in Genesis 
3:1-6.  

�    The means for overcoming temptation are the same as Jesus used, they are
�    prayer, and fasting.

But not omitting to apply the will.  It's our choice when it comes to the 
crunch.

							Andrew

    
    
    Galatians puts it in the proper association:
    
      " Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust
        of the flesh."
    
    First, walk in the Spirit and dwell upon that, then the promise will be
    fulfilled, ...and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  Too many
    times we reverse the action, we strive not to fulfill the lusts of the
    flesh so that we may be Spirit filled.  
    
    
    Dan

    Excellent answers! These do help in my own life, in fortifying things
    God has taught me in the past. I've found the methods in .12 very
    effective. There have been times when it was like I was skipping along
    on the mountain tops, and even the fiery darts shot from "below" me
    didn't even touch the bottoms of my feet! A very wonderful excercise.
    
    Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the spirit, ye are not under the
    law.
    
    Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not
    under the law, but under grace.
    
    Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no more of works, otherwise
    grace is no more grace. But if of works, then is it no more grace;
    otherwise work is no more work. (huh?) 8^)
    
    Romans 8:2 For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made
    me free from the law of sin and death.
    
    Micah 7:19 He will turn again, and will have compassion on us; he will
    subdue our iniquities, and thou wilt cast all their sins into the
    depths of the sea.
    
    Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not
    I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh
    *I live by the faith of the Son of God,* who loved me, and gave himself
    for me.
    
    As far as Satan is concerned, it was explained to me years ago, that,
    yes, he is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, BUT! Praise God!
    Jesus kicked his teeth out! If we just could acknowledge he is a
    defeated foe, and a liar to boot, and walk in the victory provided to
    us by Our Lord and Saviour, we could spend more time singing unto God,
    as He really likes that.
    
    Bob

1 Cor 9:24: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one 
gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes 
in the games goes into strict training.  They do it to get a crown that will 
not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  Therefore I do 
not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the 
air.  No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to 
others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."

Here is the basis for practicing asceticism: especially fasting.  Fasting is
not common in today's Christian world, but not only did Jesus say that certain
kinds of demons can only be cast out by prayer and fasting, but when he said,
"When you fast, do not do it like the hypocrites do," he implied that there was
no question that his followers would fast!  So, too, he predicted that his
followers would fast when the Bridegroom was taken away.

Through fasting, we beat our flesh into submission, taking control over our
bodies and disciplining them.  The Desert Fathers taught, and I can confirm this
through experience, that there is a link between the passions, such that if we
indulge the passion of eating, that the other passions, such as lust, will be
harder to control; but if through fasting we reign in the passion of eating,
so, too, will we better control the other passions. Controlling our desire to
eat also serves as practice for resisting other desires: it is a kind of 
spiritual exercise that builds up our spiritual strength.

From Evagrios the Solitary +399, On Asceticism and Stillness; quoted from the
Philokalia volume 1:

Fast before the Lord according to your strength, for to do this will purge you
of your iniquities and sins; it exalts the soul, sanctifies the mind, drives
away the demons, and prepares you for God's presence.  Having already eaten
once, try not to eat a second time in the same day, in case you become
extravagant and disturb your mind.  In this way you will have the means for
helping others and for mortifying the passions of your body.  But if there is a
meeting of the brethren, and you have to eat a second and third time, do not be
disgruntled and surley.  On the contrary, do gladly what you have to do, and
when you have eaten a second or a third time, thank God that you have fulfilled
the law of love and that He himself is providing for you. Also, there are
occasions when, because of a bodily sickness, you have to eat a second and a
third time or more often.  Do not be sad about this; when you are ill you
should modify your ascetic labors for the time being, so that you may regain
the strength to take them up once more. 

From Evagrios the Solitary +399, On Discrimination, #15; quoted from the
Philokalia volume 1:

I cannot write about all the villainies of the demons; and I feel ashamed to
speak about them at length and in detail, for fear of harming the more
simple-minded among my readers. But let me tell you about the cunning of the
demon of unchastity.  When a man has acquired dispassion in the appetitive
[desiring] part of his soul and shameful thoughts cool down within him, this
demon at once suggests images of men and women playing with one another, and
makes the solitary [Christian] a spectator of shameful acts and gestures.  But
this temptation need not be permanent; for intense prayer, a very frugal diet,
together with vigils and the development of spiritual contemplation, drive it
away like a light cloud.  There are times when this cunning demon even touches
the flesh, inflaming it to uncontrolled desire; and it devices endless other
tricks which need not be described.
  Our incensive power [vehement or angry feelings] is also a good defense
against this demon.  When it is directed against evil thoughts of this kind,
such power fills the demon with fear and destroys his designs. And this is the
meaning of the statement: `Be angry, and do not sin' (Ps 4:4).  Such anger is a
useful medicine for the soul at times of temptation.
  The demon of anger employs tactics resembling those of the demon of
unchastity.  For he suggests images of our parents, friends, or kinsmen being
gratuitously insulted; and in this way he excites our incensive power, making
us say or do something vicious to those who appear in our minds.  We must be on
our guard against these fantasies and expel them quickly from our mind, for if
we dally with them, they will prove a blazing firebrand to us during prayer.
People prone to anger are specially liable to fall into this temptations; and
if they do, then they are far from pure prayer and from the knowledge of our
Savior Jesus Christ.

Thanks, Eric, for bringing fasting up again.  I sometimes wonder about my
fast but find them at least beneficial for discipline.  Your next note
was also well-appreciated.  The not-so-safe subject of this string
has prompted the reply in the next note which is over 300 lines long.
Please forgive me for its length, and hit next unseen if you avoid such 
long notes.

Mark

[N.B. -- the reader should understand the context of this work and the
preceding works I quoted.  All are written by (celibate) monks, and all are
primarily directed to monks; but there is much within them useful for lay
people, especially single ones.]

From St. John Cassian +435, On the Eight Vices/On the Demon of Unchastity and
the Desire of the Flesh:

Our second struggle is against the demon of unchastity and the desire of the
flesh, a desire which begins to trouble man from the time of his youth.  This
harsh struggle has to be fought in both soul and body, and not simply in the
soul, as is the case with other faults.  We therefore have to fight it on two
fronts.
   Bodily fasting alone is not enough to bring about perfect self-restraint and
true purity; it must be accompanied by contrition of heart, intense prayer to
God, frequent meditation on the Scriptures, toil and manual labor. These are
able to check the restless impulses of the soul and to recall it from its
shameful fantasies. Humility of soul helps more than everything else, however,
and without it no one can overcome unchastity or any other sin.  In the first
place, then, we must take the utmost care to guard the heart from base
thoughts, for, according to the Lord, `out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, unchastity' and so on (Matt 15:19)
   We are told to fast not only to mortify our body, but also to keep our
intellect watchful, so that it will not be obscured because of the amount of
food we have eaten and thus be unable to guard its thoughts.  We must not
therefore expend all our effort in bodily fasting; we must also give attention
to our thoughts and to spiritual meditation, since otherwise will not be able
to advance to the heights of true purity and chastity.  As our Lord has said,
we should `cleanse first the inside of the cup and plate, so that their outside
may also be clean' (Matt 23:36).
   If we are really eager, as the Apostle puts it, to `struggle lawfully' and
to `be crowned' (2 Tim 2:5) for overcoming the impure spirit of unchastity, we
should not trust in our own strength and ascetic practice, but in the help of
our Master, God.  No one ceases to be attacked by this demon until he truly
believes that he will be healed and reach the heights of purity not through his
own effort and labor, but through the aid and protection of God.   For such a
victory is beyond man's natural powers.  Indeed, he who has trampled down the
pleasures and provocations of the flesh is in a certain sense outside the
body.  Thus, no one can soar to this high and heavenly prize of holiness on his
own wings and learn to imitate the angels, unless the grace of God leads him
upwards from this earthly mire. 
   No virtue makes flesh-bound man so like a spiritual angel as does
self-restraint, for it enables those still living on earth to become, as the
Apostle says, `citizens of heaven' (cf. Phil. 3:20).  A sign that we have
acquired this virtue perfectly is that our soul ignores those images which the
defiled fantasy produces during sleep; for even if the production of such
images is not a sin, nevertheless it is a sign of that the soul is ill and has
not been freed from passion.  We should therefore regard the defiled fantasies
that arise in us during sleep as the proof of previous indolence and weakness
still existing in us, since the emission which takes place while we are relaxed
in sleep reveals the sickness that lies hidden in our souls.  Because of this
the Doctor of our souls has also placed the remedy in the hidden regions of the
soul, recognizing that the cause of our sickness lies in there when he says:
`Whoever looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in
his heart' (Matt 5:28). He seeks to correct not so much our inquisitive and
unchaste eyes as the soul which has its seat within and makes bad use of the
eyes which God gave it for good purposes.  That is why the Book of Proverbs in
its wisdom does not say: `Guard your eyes with all diligence' but `Guard your
heart with all diligence' (Prov. 4:23), imposing the remedy of diligence in the
first instance upon that which makes use of the eyes for whatever purpose it
desires.
   The way to keep guard over our heart is immediately to expel from the mind
every demon-inspired recollection of women ... lest by dwelling on it for too
long the mind is thrown headlong by the deceiver into debased and pernicious
thoughts.  The commandment given by God to the first man, Adam, told him to
keep watch over the head of the serpent (cf. Gen 3:15 LXX), that is, over the
first inklings of the pernicious thoughts by means of which the serpent tries
to creep into our souls.  If we do not admit the serpent's head, which is the
provocation of the thought, we will not admit the res of its body -- that is,
the assent to the sensual pleasure which the thought suggests - and so debased
the mind towards the illicit act itself.
   As it is written, we should `early in the morning destory all the wicked of
the earth' (Ps 101:8), distinguishing in the light of divine knowledge our
sinful thoughts and then eradicating them completely from the earth -- our
hearts -- in accordance with the teaching of the Lord.  While the children of
Babylon -- by which I mean our wicked thoughts -- are still young, we should
dash them to the ground and crush them against the rock, which is Christ (cf.
Ps. 137:9, 1 Cor 10:4).  If these thoughts grow stronger because we assent to
them, we will not be able to overcome them without much pain and labor.
   It is good to remember the sayings of the Fathers as well as the passages
from Holy Scripture cited above.  For example, St. Basil, Bishop of Caesarea in
Cappadocia, said, `I have not known a woman and yet I am not a virgin.'  He
recognized that the gift of virginity is achieved not so much by abstaining
from intercourse with woman as by holiness and purity of soul, which in its
turn is achieved through fear of God.  The Fathers also say that we cannot
fully acquire the virtue of purity unless we have first acquired real humility
of heart.  And we will not be granted true spiritual knowledge so long as the
passion of unchastity lies hidden in the depths of our souls.
   To bring this section of our treatise to a close, let us recall one of the
Apostle's sayings which further illustrates his teaching on how to acquire
self-restraint.  He says: `Pursue peace with all men and the holiness without
which no one will see the Lord' (Heb 12:14).  It is clear that he is talking
about self-restraint from what follows: `Lest there be any unchaste or profane
person, such as Esau' (Heb 12:16).  The more heavenly and angelic the degree of
holiness, the heavier are the enemies' attacks to which it is subjected.  We
should therefore try to achieve not only bodily control, but also contrition of
heart with frequent prayers of repentance, so that with the dew of the Holy
Spirit we may extinguish the furnace of our flesh, kindled daily by the king of
Babylon with the bellows of desire (Cf. Dan 3:19).  In addition, a great weapon
has been given us in the form of sacred vigils; for just as the watch we keep
over our thoughts by day brings us holiness at night, so vigil at night brings
purity to the soul by day.

    .20
    
    Mark in the future could you please break up your note in to
    approximately 100 lines per note.
    
    Thanks,
    Nancy

    I am aware of the guideline, but wanted to keep the topic in tact.
    I'll try to be a bit more, um, segmented (although I did post the 
    requisite warning in .19 - did you notice?).
    
    MM

    (Yup, posting big-un's is fine by the rules if you post a warning first...)

   
   Re .20 Mark
  
   Quite a note Mark, lots of good insight. Concerning the male objectification
   of women. It works the other way also. Women will objectify men, but in
   a different manner. It has been my observation that women will view men
   as social fulfilment and security provision objects. Well , we might say
   thats the way God made me. So also did Our Father provide the male libido.
   What a combination of causes and effects just to insure the propogation
   of the human race! I wonder what it would be like if it were not for 
   testosteron (sp) and estrogen. I guess we wouldnt be here or we  would
   be like children. One of the worst things that can happen to a 10 year
   old boy (in his estimation) is to be kissed by a 10 year old girl. YUK!

   Is this kind of objectification also sinful?  It leads to the dehuminization
   of men and is just as harmful as sexual objectifying when it is finished. 
   And yes, men can quite often "sense" this  attitude in the women in their 
   lives . I believe this objectification and dehuminization of men and women 
   that Mark is addressing is part of the end-time prophetic statement "and 
   the love of many will grow cold".

    Quite often Men react and lash back physically when they are dehumanized
    whereas, women will often throw "psychic" punches... "if you were more
    of a man", etc. causing psychic damage.

    I'm not trying to shift or re-assign blame. We need to see the whole
    picture. we are all sinners, no? "we all stumble in many things...".

                       Hank    
      

  I want to continue to address a not-so-safe subject where it regards more
  men than I care to think about: lust and pornography.  First, let me
  start with the end and then go to it from the beginning:  God can deliver
  a man from pornography without taking away his sexuality.  

  There are few men that I know who don't appreciate beauty; and fewer who
  don't express their attractions to beauty.  In some cases, with all of at
  times in varying degrees of intensity, appreciation and attraction
  becomes acquisition.

  Dobson was asked about this and he told the story of taking an early
  evening stroll when he passed by a neighbors house with lovely blooming
  roses.  He said that he can admire the roses without jumping into the
  neighbor's yard to pluck the roses.

  I said earlier that lust is a mental possession of another; mental
  ownership.  One does not have to "pluck the rose" as it were.  Jesus said
  that if a person lusts (owns someone in their mind) he has committed
  adultery in his heart.  I want to take care to make this distinction;
  to show that there is a distinction between attraction, appreciation, 
  and possessing another in the mind.  Asking at what point attraction
  turns to lust is another matter that deals with blurred lines, and speaks
  to how close you are willing to get to the precipice.  Those of us who
  can make such distinctions with clear conscience are all the happier,
  not having to self-flagellate ourselves with the cat-o-nine tails for
  being attracted.  It is what you do with it.

  Remember that goodness is defined as using things properly, for their
  intended use; and badness is defined as misusing (or abusing) things, or
  using them improperly against their intended use. Men and women were both
  made sexual beings with attractions.  So there is a proper context in
  which this sexuality is expressed, as there is an improper context.

  Allow me to hone my focus a little more regarding relations between a
  husband and wife.  The world has bought into the consensus that a couple
  gets married, has passionate sex at the beginning, but soon the frequency
  falls off and both husband and wife complain that it isn't as exciting as
  it used to be. 

  I am convinced that couples today have sex more often than a loving
  sexual experience.  And because of having sex instead of that loving
  sexual intimacy, (please listen here), couples' sexual lives diminish and
  sex becomes less frequent and less exciting.  

  Sex needs to be seen for what it is, and then for what it can add to the
  context of a loving relationship.   Sex is fun and nice to be involved
  in, but for those of us who have lost something in marriage, it can take
  on the same traits as drinking coffee in the morning for that caffeine
  jump start.  

  Now please allow me to focus a little closer.  Looking at pornography
  does "jump start the engine."  It *is* erotic and causes sexual stirrings
  within.  Acknowledging the effect of erotica is important because it
  strips away the veneer and helps one to also see what ELSE erotica is.

  Pornography (erotica) places unreasonable demands on both husband and
  wife.  Soon, "ordinary" sex is no longer sufficient and someone addicted
  to pornography is always looking for that higher high, like a drug
  addict.  All too soon, even erotic pictures do not jump start the engine
  and one needs a stronger spark of electricity.

    Small divergence (to identifying some male and female differences): 
    males are primarily visually stimulated; women are more verbally
    stimulated.  A man values more that his wife respects him than that she
    loves him.  He'll go and do great things if he knows he is respected,
    even when love isn't as strong. A woman values more that her husband loves
    her.  She'll go almost anywhere and do anything if she knows he loves
    her.  Keep this in mind when dealing with your husband.

  Women's groups have complained that pornography objectifies women.  As a
  man, and having heard other men voice such things, I thought that these
  women who participate willingly objectify themselves; and we are
  exonerated from blame.  It was a rationalization, I know, and not the
  entirety of the truth.  Rationalizations are difficult to see in
  objective light.  But if it is possible, we are able to see the entirety
  of the truth.

  Men do objectify these women who have chosen to objectify themselves.In
  fact, it is much safer for the male who is "morally sensitive" to admit
  that he is not viewing these women as real people but only as fantasies,
  without substance and therefore not affecting or hurting anyone. "I'm not
  as bad as most and by comparison, I'm actually quite nice.  I don't go
  for hard-core pornography, and I haven't seen barely any of the nude
  magazines."   Men like this do not treat "those women" as real, but only
  as images; images to enhance sexual feelings.  This is another truth, but
  not the entirety of the truth because if a man thought about these women
  being people who shop for groceries, whine and complain, sit on the
  toilet grunting, and other things that humans do that are not part of the
  fantasy (the object), then they can no longer rationalize that they are
  "just looking" at images.  

    About objectifying women:  I know a man whom I have counseled who has
    suffered under addiction to pornographic materials.  He had gone past
    magazines (which are rationalized as providing a private audience) to
    video images and the like; maybe even to live shows, I'm not certain. 
    I was able to tell him that the people on the videos were not much
    older than his teen-age daughter who, by the way, was blossoming into a
    [voluptuous] young woman; very attractive indeed.   He is rather
    protective of his daughter, so I asked if he wanted people to look at
    his daughter the way he was looking at "strangers" (objects).  Of
    course he wouldn't.  But he contended that there was a difference
    between his daughter and the people who are in the pornography.  I
    countered, and preached to myself at the same time because I have a
    teen-age daughter and two to follow, that there was NO difference
    between those who looked at his daughter in a lustful way and the way
    he looked at someone else's naked, photographed daughter.  My daughter
    and someone else's daughter may act and [not] dress differently, but
    THE WATCHERS DID THE SAME THING.  

  But another rationalization is that these people (no longer objects) did
  what they did for the purpose of raising sexual feelings.  "It's their
  fault for doing these sinful things, not mine.  I'm not acting out any
  sexual fantasy with anyone... except perhaps with my wife.  And besides, 
  she receives the benefit of my sexual energy."  True because erotica
  "jump starts" sexual appetites, but this is not the entirety of the
  truth.

  When sexual frequency in a marriage diminishes, because it is largely sex
  (not love) that a couple has (not participates in), the husband (male)
  especially wants the sexual gratification to continue but is often
  unaware as to why sexual frequency has diminished.  He lays the blame at
  any number of doorsteps, but the deeper issue is founded on the fact that
  sex was merely a physical act of stimulation - and this is not all that
  God intended by making us sexual beings.

  The problem goes deeper into how the husband and wife should be treating
  each other, as one-flesh, as Christ loved the church, and as unto the
  Lord.  Without the Lord, sexual gratification is an urge that is
  diminishingly satisfied with evermore graphic sexual stimuli.  There is
  joyful sex, with and by God's grace and work in our lives, and I'll speak
  to this a little later.

  Wanting sexual gratification to continue is not a bad thing.  Improper
  use or expression of sexual gratification is the bad thing.  So, the goal
  is not to remove sex and make one an asexual eunuch.   There is a balance
  and a sexual outlet, though keeping this balance is a continued effort,
  just as much as praying daily, being filled with the Spirit is another
  continual activity, or other devotional activity is a continual thing.

  Pornography is a stimulus.  It fills a void.  But you can fill the void
  of your drinking glass with poison, which is what pornography does. The
  question about pornography is not whether it satisfies a sexual desire,
  but whether it was proper or improper use of sex.  Men like to
  rationalize that it is neither.  However, this comes out of a
  self-centered attitude that "I" consider it neither proper nor improper,
  but consider it merely gratifying a desire, urge, need.  What it fails to
  address, among other things, is how this might make the wife feel -
  feelings of not being good enough to satisfy, failing to provide, being
  unable to compete with the chiseled features of some bodies, being
  uncomfortable with some sexual fantasies or practices. 

  This rationalization leads to "shielding" the wife from these hurts by 
  hiding pornography from her; the wife is never intended to find out and
  therefore these feelings the wife has would never have come up if the
  sexual material isn't discovered.  The point remains that discovered OR
  NOT, it is NOT an act of love to do something that would cause these
  feelings in the wife.  (I can debate how things seen and unseen affect us
  all anyway, but I don't want to stray too far from the points.)

  Assume that hidden pornography is never discovered, so your wife doesn't
  know and is prevented from these negative feelings.  The fact that it
  affects the husband towards greater sexual stimuli, pressure to act out
  fantasies, etc., will still impact the wife and the marriage.  

  Assume an actual physical sexual affair with someone: is it okay if the
  wife never discovers it, as long as her feelings are protected?  So you
  see, that consideration of your wife is more than simply guarding against
  her feeling badly.  The act of love considers things seen and unseen in
  the same light as if the mate was always present.  One flesh has
  something to do with this attitude. 

  (There is one other alternative: both husband and wife participate in
  viewing porn.  In this they are at least in agreement, even though they
  still WILL SUFFER the effects of the addiction to greater thrills, and
  the objectifying of each other, leading to simple sex, which can often
  leave one feeling empty in only moments after orgasm.)

  Now we are beginning to take a closer look (no pun intended) at the real
  effects of porn.  It is a stimulus.  It is exciting.  I breaks down trust
  between mates.  It tends towards the seeking of greater gratification
  (often without finding it!). It places undue pressure on both sexual
  partners to perform as well as the "pros" are supposedly performing,
  pressure to do things the "pros" do because it is supposed to be a
  greater thrill.  It can diminish self-esteem when comparing oneself's
  sexuality to another, untouchable, unattainable "ideal."  All the classic
  markings of the Eden story.  ("Eat of this and God knows you will be like
  him.")

  But be encouraged that there is a proper sexual experience, which we can
  also identify so that a person can begin to redirect improper sexual
  energies in the right direction. 

  First, as you know, love is the base.  Ground Zero.  Love is a word that
  is so overused, it is difficult to communicate the level to which I am
  speaking, but it is such a love that empties our being for the benefit of
  the other.  This is the love in Ephesians 5 that husbands are called to:
  "...as Christ loved the church..."

  The goal of the proper sexual experience is not better sex.  The goal is
  not correcting a flaw, or error in one's self or in one's mate.  The goal
  is love (understood) between husband and wife, as it should be (as God
  intended it "from the beginning") and not as the world thinks it ought to
  be and has warped the idea of the ideal marriage.  I know this is made
  more difficult if one person is not as committed or interested in
  changing things for the better, but let's leave this aside for the time
  being to address what ought to be.

  In a loving relationship, you wouldn't think twice about scratching your
  husband's back if he wanted his back scratched.  And a husband would also
  rub a wife's shoulders if she was up tight.  A kiss here and there, while
  doing the dishes, while watching TV.  Even groping is part of the
  physical expressions that says, "I love you.  I value you above all other
  humans" WHEN LOVE IS THE BASE.  

  Sex is then "just" another extension of this base, similar to back
  scratching, kissing, and groping, even though we know that the sexual
  experience has a much more powerful kick to it.  What I mean by just
  another extension is that sex should be a free flowing between partners
  as those kisses and scratches.  Again, because it is sex in [God's] love, 
  not merely physical sex.  

  It means that sometimes when he wants his back scratched and she is busy
  or are just too pooped out, he doesn't get his back scratched but he
  understands BECAUSE OF LOVE.  He understands about the difficulty
  presented to her in delivering that back scratch.  But just as easily, is
  the sex that happens when one has the desire but the other is not as
  sexually "up" but the closeness experienced and the LOVE AS THE BASE
  says, "I love you and value you more than any other human being.  Come
  and take me because I am yours."  The invitation is to take me because I
  have given myself to you out of love.  The reality of one partner being
  interested while another is moderated by the foundation of love. Not
  having sex when you want it can be tolerated out of love and deference
  for your mate in understanding the feelings of another.  Also, having sex
  when you are not particularly in the mood can be tolerated because of
  love and the desire to please your mate in understanding the feeling of
  another.  However a couple resolves the issue of whether to have sex or
  not when desires are not equal, it is free flowing because of the base:
  love.

  In this context, what kinds of sexual experiences can a person have? The
  context that God sets up is marriage.  The subcontext is your partner.
  The comfort level of your partner is very important.  Out of love, one
  mate does not push the other into sexual activities in which he or she
  may be uncomfortable.  Sexual intercourse is when a couple is most open,
  and most vulnerable to each other and absolute trust is encouraged and
  nurtured from that base of love.  If a mate is comfortable with sexual
  practices, then the only other context is within the marriage - it is
  forbidden to participate in sexual activity with a person who is not your
  mate, even (God forbid) should both mates consent to such.  (I have
  deliberately not mentioned the kinds of sexual experiences, but they do
  have a variety beyond the male-superior (or "missionary") position.) 

  Within the context of marriage and mate, sexual expression is to be
  delivered and received with love.  One exercise that is, I think, good
  for a couple is to determine that the primary goal in this sexual
  experience is to sexually please the other; attempting as much as
  possible to not regard one's own gratification as something to be
  attained.  In other words, give yourself totally to providing your mate
  with the best feelings your mate is able to receive (and not what you
  think your mate wants).  In denying or postponing self-gratification, 
  there is a greater sexual experience, far surpassing the stimulus of
  erotic images which artificially gratify desires; these cheap
  gratifications become transcendent _because it now exists in the proper
  contexts_. 

  When a couple understand the context of the one flesh marriage, sex is
  more often an expression of communion between soul mates, and not merely
  the physically gratifying union of sexual beings.  It really does have a
  spiritual side to it.  Spiritual?  Not in the sense of "doing it in
  church" which some people think when the spiritual experience is
  associated with something as physical and fleshly as sexual activity.
  That's where the world has corrupted sex.  The communion between mates is
  something that *is* spiritual, and the sexual experience *during* this
  communion is the consummation of body, soul, and spirit of two becoming
  one.  The physical is wrapped inside the spiritual and NOT the other way
  around; the spiritual is not wrapped up inside the physical.  As
  one-flesh couples, we MUST always lead with love, "as Christ loved the
  church," and "as unto the Lord" and OUT OF THIS comes a transcendent
  physical experience where body, soul, and spirit are joined by God as
  one.

  Now getting back to dealing with lust and pornography.


  To summarize: 

  (1) Identify pornography for what it is.  Acknowledge its power of
      attraction.

  (2) Identify pornography for what it is, again!  Show how both the 
      seen and unseen things affect self, your mate, and others to dispel 
      the LIE that says you're not hurting anyone else.

      Don't be lulled by the half-truth that sexual stimulation is not 
      a bad thing in and of itself, which it isn't.  Understand the 
      entirety of the truth that sexual stimulation HAS ITS PROPER CONTEXT.
      And outside of that proper context, it will ADVERSLY AFFECT YOU
      and your marriage.

  (3) Identify how to put sexual stimulation into the proper context.
      This is done by understanding the context in which sex is not only 
      permissible, but encouraged and can flourish and even transcend
      what pornography impotently promises; by understanding that love
      frees up sexual expression because of trust, and communion of
      spirits; that outside of the parameters of the context, negative
      effects destroys this freedom, vulnerability, and truth in each
      other.

  (4) Identify anything that comes between you as husband and wife and
      understand it as an enemy to be neutralized.  This takes a bit
      of openness and vulnerability on both sides.  (If one says that
      God is "between" you, then one does not understand how only
      God can make two people one; further only God can enable a couple
      to combat those enemies from within and without the marriage.)

  (5) Take the advice of these godly men in this note string to pray
      for yourself when you are in temptation.  Pray for yourself before
      temptation besets you.  Pray that you will not be led into
      temptation.  Come away from the edge of the precipice and take the 
      courage to give filth over to God, daily or momentarily, if need be,

  (6) Seek what it means when "two become one."  Look at how Christ loved
      the church and emulate it with your wife.  I am living proof that
      when a husband loves his wife with everything, she find submission
      is never an _issue_ but so natural that it is invisible; seamless,
      if you will; after all how can one flesh have a seam?

  Mark

The monster note that occupied this space has been segmented into more 
managable bits of information.  See notes 392.26 through 392.30, 
then return to this note to see the replies.

Mark

From .12 (Richard J)

>    The Philokalia Vol I, has a chapter written about temptation and it
>    says that the three greatest temptations to overcome where those that Satan
>    tempted Christ with in the desert. All other temptations come from
>    those three. Lust and gluttony (which are basically the same), pride,
>    and greed for money, fame and power. 

We have identified one area where Satan tempts us and attempts (often succeeding)
in keeping secret in lust.  I would also like some of these other issues 
brought into the light to help each us to guard our souls from the wiles
of the devil and improve our walk with the Lord.

Almost in every case of sin, people either ignore the warning signs,
or perhaps are truly ingorant of them.  For the ignorant, God forgives
and is patient, but is He so understanding to the foolish?  Now, I
mean me, folks - you can take your conviction wherever you get them.
I have already written about Christians who think that they are mature
enough to handle the early warning signs that you're getting too close 
to the precipice.  There is a concerted attack by the forces of evil on
the leaders of the church.  We all know the glorified stories of the
televangelists and local minister or priest who has scandalized his 
profession and given Christianity a black eye.  These are people who 
should know better; people who should have seen the warning signs and
employed their knowledge of Scripture to combat the foe.  But they
didn't and the result is not only their own downfall but the scattering
of the flocks.

But before we point a finger saying that *they* should have known better,
let us instead acknowledge that we do know better right now, and if
we are ignorant, we want to know how to identify the early warning
signs so that we neither fall into the pit by ignorance nor foolishness.

Mark

The grip of things is a subtle one at first.  Materialism.  Consumerism.
The love of money... and what it can do and buy.

The end of it is that it creates a false sense of security in the person
who wields it.  Note that I do not say owns it.  Consider the following 
scripture from Luke 12:

 15  And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a
man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
 16  And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich
man brought forth plentifully:
 17  And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have
no room where to bestow my fruits?
 18  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build
greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
 19  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many
years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
 20  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required
of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
 21  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward
God.

You have heard the expression that one should "Use things and love people,
and do not use people and love things."  There is nothing wrong with having
things, nor even having much, as the Lord gives as He pleases.  Things
and money are neutral; using money properly is good; misusing money - 
using money improperly is evil.  So it isn't how much or how little you have 
but how you use what you have.

What are the warning signs?  Like who you have in a wife, do NOT compare
what you have to another.  If and when you do, you set yourself up for
jealousy and coveteousness.  It is another lust of the eye; a mental ownership
of property (instead of another person).

"Oh, I don't want what the Jones' have. I want something *like* the Jones'
so technically I'm not coveting."  True, but this is not the entirety of
the truth.  This is an early warning sign that you are dissatisfied with
what you have.  We all have been given talents that we are to invest
and return a profit to our Master, and this can include financial
gain and endeavors, being careful that we understand that we are
not in it for ourselves, but that we are in it for the Master.  

But even this can be a fuzzy line if we only tell ourselves that 
certain financial or material acquisitions are for the Lord's benefit.
"If I win this lottery, Lord, you can have half."  I've joked like
this myself over the mail in sweepstakes that my wife sends in.  (We
have never bought a lottery ticket.)  Or, "God wouldn't want me to 
deny my family by taking their milk money for tithes and offerings"
while someone is paying for premium cable TV channels and other choices
that have come before acknowledging the Lord as the provider of everything
we earn and own.

I'm not saying you shouldn't enjoy what life has to offer, but I am saying
that if the priority is not in the proper order, you may find yourself
in the same position as this man with the barns.  The Christian who
one day finds himself secure and settled may have aenesthetized himself
to deadly sleep.  When God is first, first, first and foremost in our
financial decisions, "the things of earth will go strangely dim in 
the light of His glory and grace."  Then we will find happiness
whether we are in the richest of circumstances, like Job was, or
in the most destitute of circumstances, like Job was.

Perspective and priorities make all the difference in recognizing the 
warning signs.

Mark

Recently I heard for the first time what I regard as the true interpretation of
the words "Blessed are the poor in spirit."

I always thought this referred to those who are lacking spiritual consolations.
Rather, it means someone who behaves as if he were poor even if he isn't.

Scripture often has very good things to say about the poor, and how God loves
the poor, and how wonderful the poor are, and so forth. I used to wonder, you
know, how fair is it that God loves the poor, but I through no fault of my own,
am not poor!  But those of us who are not poor in reality _can_ be poor in
spirit, and it is both those who are poor in material means and poor in spirit
that God loves.

The Desert Fathers I think allude to this, because they say that the one who is
poor is the one who has freed himself from all attachment to worldly and
material things, and from all desire for what is not God, not necessarily the 
one who lacks money.  The one who is poor in spirit is the one who would not be
affected spiritually if everything material he had were at once taken away.
Oh, the Desert Fathers have such wonderful things to say on this topic; if only
I had the time to search diligently for their words and type them in!

We can live as those "poor in spirit" by eschewing luxury, eating simple food
and on occasion fasting, denying ourselves from time to time of things that
we desire (rather than giving in to every desire that comes to our mind), 
learning to be satisfied with what we have rather than being disturbed that we
lack what we desire, giving alms, and so forth.  Living such a life is a joy,
especially when you realize that a significant source of unhappiness is not
in lacking material things in themselves but in never being able to obtain
that which will satisfy our desires.  By conquering our desires, and being
satisfied with what is simple, we will be happy, and we will much better be able
to control the passions and live in purity and virtue.

Eric