St. Philaret of New York: “I mocked, and my spirit became faint…”

Source: Православная Русь, No. 18 (1519), 1994, pp. 4, 15.

 

I would like to say a few more words on the following matter. If one now looks at what is happening in the world, looks at how the utterly insane world is moving further and further away from the Gospel principles and is plunging into the abyss of materialism, depravity, malice, and falsehood—if one observes and reflects on all this, one can relate to it in two different ways—two impressions or moods can arise from such observation. And these two different moods are precisely indicated in one of the Psalms, which was read today during Matins at the kathismata, and in which it is said: “I remembered God, and was glad; I mocked, and my spirit became faint.” [1]

In Russian, "глумиться" means to mock someone, to ridicule. But the ancient meaning of this word, in which it is used in Church Slavonic, is entirely different. "Глумиться" means to contemplate, to examine, to delve into the meaning of something. Therefore, "поглумляхся, и малодушествоваше дух мой" means: I began to contemplate, and then my spirit fell into despondency.

And indeed, looking at what is taking place, a person who does not have firm trust in God’s providence can fall into complete faint-heartedness and despair. Falsehood and evil are so frequent everywhere. The world is utterly filled with lies. People lie to their neighbors, and they in turn lie as well; they do not believe one another, yet pretend to believe, and falsehood has simply flooded the world. Look, for example, at how much in recent years there has been shouting about “peace for the whole world.” And especially the so-called “most progressive country of the whole world,” which has shouted and continues to shout that it has freedom of conscience, while in reality there is freedom from conscience. This very country claims to be the herald of peace, yet we know that the lying, cruel, deceitful, blasphemous, and murderous power which never thinks of peace—even hides behind this in order to achieve its own goals. And yet it speaks of peace for the whole world. They signed some proclamations, gathered some assemblies, organized some peace commissions, and all of this is permeated with lies from beginning to end. In the Bible it speaks of such kinds of “peace-loving undertakings”: “There is no peace for the wicked,” [2] says the Lord—and there will not be. And all this lying, all this falsehood, can in the end bring about a kind of spiritual nausea, so loathsome is it all. And yet, all this is spoken of.

And in that very country—the Soviet Union—even the Church was forced to serve those deceitful aims, and it too joined this movement for peace for the whole world. First of all, the absence of peace is the sin of the whole world; even if peace were spoken of sincerely, it would still be an unattainable, empty dream—a utopia. In the present state of things, when various parts of humanity bare their teeth at one another like enraged dogs, what kind of peace can there be? How can principles that are irreconcilably hostile to one another and mutually exclusive be thrown into one heap? To impose such goals on the Church means to impose upon it something for which it does not exist. The Church is by no means indifferent to peace, but it fulfills its task when it raises its supplications before the dreadful throne of the Lord of Glory: “In peace let us pray to the Lord...,” “For the peace from above...,” “For the peace of the whole world...” [3] Throughout the services we constantly hear of this peace in prayer. And this is the truth—it is her voice. But to compel her to get involved in these deceitful undertakings is to impose upon her alien goals, with which she cannot agree, because a truly ecclesial person cannot but see how all this is steeped in falsehood.

And this very thing could truly lead a person into faint-heartedness, and if he forgets the one thing needful, then it is indeed understandable that he might lose heart and fall into despair. This is what “I mocked” means—that is, I reflected, observed what is happening in the world, and became faint-hearted. But “I remembered God and was glad,” because the believing soul, upon the mere remembrance that there is One Who governs the world, is immediately encouraged. A believer entrusts himself entirely into the loving hand of the Lord. And as for what is happening in the world—he is aware of it. The Lord, according to His wise purposes, sometimes allows evil to spread in the world, but first of all—only to the extent it is allotted and beyond which it shall not pass. And secondly—in a temporal order. This was already said by Father [St.] John of Kronstadt, encouraging pastors who were despondent at the seeming triumph of evil. He said: yes, of course, it is difficult for a pastor’s heart to witness what appears to be the triumph of this evil. But remember that this is only temporary and is allowed by the Lord according to His wise and incomprehensible purposes. A Christian always remembers that, no matter how difficult the conditions he may be in, no matter how violently the waves of the sea of life may rage—he who puts his trust in God shall rejoice.

I remember how my late father, Bishop Dimitry, used to like to say that a Christian who suddenly begins to fall into despondency—that is, loses trust in the Lord—offends his Lord by this. The Lord is grieved when people cease to trust in Him, because He is only waiting for a person to turn to Him, and immediately He takes him under His strong and mighty hand. It is not in vain that His Only-Begotten Son said that no one shall snatch His faithful ones out of the hand of His Father. [4] And when we remember that He Who is with us is greater than anyone in the world, then we will not fall into despondency. Of course, it is sorrowful what is happening, how human souls perish, especially those of the youth. But even so, a Christian will not fall into despair, for he knows that this is permitted by God for a certain time, for purposes that are incomprehensible to us. And so, when he could fall into faint-heartedness, he remembers God and is gladdened, because for a believer to remember God means already to rejoice—for how can a Christian not rejoice when he remembers Who defends him, under Whose hand, under Whose mighty protection he dwells. This is what I wanted to say to you today, when these verses were read: “I remembered God and was glad; I mocked, and my spirit became faint.”

 

1 Ps. 76:4.

2 Isaiah 48:22 (cf. Isaiah 57:21); according to the Synodal translation: “But the wicked have no peace, says the Lord”; however, the translation is not accurate, for in Church Slavonic it is: “There is no rejoicing for the wicked, says the Lord,” that is, “the wicked have no joy”—this is an exact translation from the Greek.

3 Petitions from the Great Litany.

4 Cf. John 10:27–29.