From the blog of Abbot Tryphon of All-Merciful Saviour Monastery (http://morningoffering.blogspot.com/), specifically the March 9, 2012 post. The only things I edited were due to grammar, and, as always, are noted in brackets:
"God's Love Consumes All
"It is good to remember that in Orthodox teaching, heaven and hell are not about places, but about relationship. God is everywhere, and He did not create a heaven for some, and a hell for others. We choose how we will experience the presence of God in the afterlife. God can not be absent from [any place], and those who have chosen, in this life, to ignore God, will, nevertheless, be in His presence for all of eternity.
"At the age of sixty-six (I can't believe I'm this old), I'm beginning to see a thinning in the ranks of my friends. I've lost a number of close friends, a few younger than myself, as well as both my parents. I've also lost relatives whom I dearly loved, and although my faith has been a very important part of my life since early childhood, I'm aware that some of those whom I've lost to [death were] not people who placed any importance whatsoever [in] having a relationship with God.
"Although some of my Evangelical friends would hold to the view that anyone who has not committed their life to [Christ will] be damned, I am personally comforted with the knowledge that God is a loving, compassionate, and merciful God, and that He desires all [to] be saved. I rely on His mercy, and I trust in His [ever-abiding] love. There is comfort in knowing His mercy even extends to those who've ignored Him. I believe God will take into account the hearts of those who have not placed Him as the center of their lives, and that if they loved others, and put others before self, God will take that into account.
"God's love permeates the cosmos, and some experience His presence as blissful joy, while others experience His presence as a burning fire, and as emptiness. As to how we will feel about those whom we've loved in this life, but who have entered eternal life without a relationship with God, we can not know. We do know the prayers of the saints are heard by God, and and are a comfort and support to even those who've died in a state of estrangement. We also know that our loving God hears our prayers, and that our intercessory prayers bring comfort to even those who have pass[ed] this life without having developed a relationship with God. Our roll as intercessors is just as important as that of the saints, and if I must take my [neighbor's] salvation as seriously as my own.
"All this being said, I am not a proponent of the idea of universal salvation. I am simply sharing my heartfelt gratitude for a personal God Who has been merciful to me, a sinful and unworthy monk of almost thirty years.
"Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon"
"God's Love Consumes All
"It is good to remember that in Orthodox teaching, heaven and hell are not about places, but about relationship. God is everywhere, and He did not create a heaven for some, and a hell for others. We choose how we will experience the presence of God in the afterlife. God can not be absent from [any place], and those who have chosen, in this life, to ignore God, will, nevertheless, be in His presence for all of eternity.
"At the age of sixty-six (I can't believe I'm this old), I'm beginning to see a thinning in the ranks of my friends. I've lost a number of close friends, a few younger than myself, as well as both my parents. I've also lost relatives whom I dearly loved, and although my faith has been a very important part of my life since early childhood, I'm aware that some of those whom I've lost to [death were] not people who placed any importance whatsoever [in] having a relationship with God.
"Although some of my Evangelical friends would hold to the view that anyone who has not committed their life to [Christ will] be damned, I am personally comforted with the knowledge that God is a loving, compassionate, and merciful God, and that He desires all [to] be saved. I rely on His mercy, and I trust in His [ever-abiding] love. There is comfort in knowing His mercy even extends to those who've ignored Him. I believe God will take into account the hearts of those who have not placed Him as the center of their lives, and that if they loved others, and put others before self, God will take that into account.
"God's love permeates the cosmos, and some experience His presence as blissful joy, while others experience His presence as a burning fire, and as emptiness. As to how we will feel about those whom we've loved in this life, but who have entered eternal life without a relationship with God, we can not know. We do know the prayers of the saints are heard by God, and and are a comfort and support to even those who've died in a state of estrangement. We also know that our loving God hears our prayers, and that our intercessory prayers bring comfort to even those who have pass[ed] this life without having developed a relationship with God. Our roll as intercessors is just as important as that of the saints, and if I must take my [neighbor's] salvation as seriously as my own.
"All this being said, I am not a proponent of the idea of universal salvation. I am simply sharing my heartfelt gratitude for a personal God Who has been merciful to me, a sinful and unworthy monk of almost thirty years.
"Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon"
I should note that when talking about people who haven't made God or Christ an important part of their lives that there is a difference between (a) not making a named, personified God the center of our lives (whereas it is possible to still love Love Himself, Who is the same as that personified God of Christians, but not to understand that they are one and the same) and (b) not even making Love a part of our lives, which truly estranges us from everything that He is. If there is repentance, all is possible, even after death, and this is why we Orthodox never cease to pray for even those in the foretaste of hell. However, at the Second Coming, all is finished. There is limited time, and we know not when will come the cry saying "Behold the Bridegroom"--"the end is nearer than you think," and shall come as "a thief in the night," when no one is expecting it, save those who always expect it.
In Christ,
Teopile/Theophilos Porter
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.