Schizoid Soul

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A few days ago, I was persuaded to join a Yahoo! Groups mailing list ostensibly dedicated to “free and open discussion of jurisdictional issues facing the Orthodox Church.” Upon joining, I read through some of the archives, and I was struck by the bitter, factious, and divisive tone of most of the emails. My immediate response was, “Thanks, but no, thanks. I have enough sin in my own life to deal with; I don’t need to feed myself on bitterness, factiousness, and divisiveness.”

We have all been exposed to this spirit at some time or another, and its fruit never gives life. The fruit of this attitude is always schism: first from the holy Trinity, then from our spiritual fathers, then from our brothers and sisters. Finally, if in God’s mercy we come to our senses, we find ourselves deeply alienated. A great chasm stands between us and those we have claimed to love. And, primarily, we find that the chasm between us and Christ, the only true lover of our souls, is the deepest wound we have inflicted upon ourselves.

The Great Fast is approaching; it is only weeks away. May God be merciful to all of us and in his kindness shake us from our deadly slumber. May he reveal to each of us how we have embraced schism within our own souls and show us again the path to repentance and communion with him and his Church.

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