Basil Spirituality 5: Remembering God's Abode and Calling on the Lord

See the original text

Praise said:

The heart is driven away, the world is prosperous

Return to God's house, enter the house and close the door

Calling on the Lord and never forgetting

Reminiscing God, God Showing Body and Soul

Remembering the origin of God

In the last article, we talked about the more people remember God, the more they love him and obey his commandments; in this article, we talk about the origin of the practice of "remembering God" recommended by Basil and its What is the effect. As a means of spiritual practice, Basil should not be unfamiliar with it, or at least have heard of it. Scholar Augustine Holmes has speculated that the practice of "remembering God" may have been inspired by Platonism, because in Epistle 2 Basil says: "When the mind is no longer distracted from the external world, no longer follows Feeling dissipated in the world, it returns to itself, from which it rises to contemplation of the gods." But Basil, although well versed in Platonism, laughed at everything he had learned in Athens, so it is difficult to say whether he was deeply influenced by Platonism. (See Epistle 1).

Another possibility is the monastic tradition that originated in places like Egypt and Syria, long before Basil, by reciting scriptures (especially the Psalms) and remembering God (especially calling on the holy name of Jesus) to drive away evil thoughts It's not a little-known secret. In Basil's letter to his early mentor Eustathius (300-?), he mentioned that he had followed Eustatius' footsteps to Syria and Egypt and other holy places of monasticism. You must understand the grand occasion of monasticism.

However, the author believes that these two traditions are only incentives for Basil to advocate the memory of God, and the most direct reason is to Matthew 6:8: "When you pray, go into your inner room and close the door, Pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will surely repay you.” Here "door" refers to the lips, and "inner room" refers to the heart, so this kind of prayer Jesus said was a silent prayer, that is, a prayer in which the tongue does not utter a sound, but the heart speaks. This is how Aphrahat, the Syrian godfather of Basil's time, explained this passage. Basil, who traveled through monastic places such as Egypt and Syria, should have known this explanation.

Therefore, Basil emphasizes that the memory of God is based on his interpretation and understanding of the Bible, and tries to practice it. Many modern scholars ignore this. For the Greek Fathers, practicing the words of the Bible is spiritual practice, and the words of the Bible are the supreme authority of their thinking, and only on the basis of practicing the words of God can people have a correct understanding of God. In short, for them, theology and spirituality are one thing, not two, which is why Evagrios, who was influenced by the Cappadocian Fathers, said that the true prayer is the theologian, the theological Home is the true prayer. (See Elvagra's On Prayer). Basil's work in particular highlights this.

Why Basil Emphasizes Remembering God

I give three reasons:

First, the scriptures are confirmed. In Article 6 of the Presbyterian Statute (the theme is "The Benefits of Being a Monk"), Basil exhorts to "continue to pray," then teaches that the remembrance of God must not be interrupted by other affairs, and he then quotes two verses The text attests to the benefits of remembrance of God: "I rejoice in remembrance of God" (Psalm 76:4). "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth." (Psalm 119:103) Obviously, the former refers to the remembrance of God's holy name or ideas; the latter is to maintain the memory of his wonders, which can be understood as meditating on the word of God.

Second, in order to obey the commandment to "pray without ceasing". In On Renunciation of The World, he says "Pray in secret without ceasing, so that the God who observes secretly will reward you openly". In Articles 2 and 5 of Herewith Begins the Morals, he exhorts to "pray always," and quotes Paul's words "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17); in the same work In the 22nd article, the remembrance of Jesus for a long time is a sign of Christians: he says: "They keep in continual remembrance of him who rose from the dead for us." Clearly, for Basil, the constant remembrance of God is the discipline to live the commandment to "pray without ceasing."

Third, the Lord's commandment requires people to remember God ceaselessly in order to maintain God's presence and blind date. In Rule 5, he uses the parable of cast iron to teach Christians to keep God's commandments at all times by remembering God. Just like a blacksmith casting an axe, he has to calculate its shape and size in his mind in advance, and concentrate on forging.

He goes on to say: "Therefore, the Christian should direct all his words and deeds, whether great or small, according to the will of God, and at the same time regulate them precisely, and keep in memory the God who gave him his commandments. Thus, he Practiced this saying 'I set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be moved.' (Psalm 16:8) He also obeyed this teaching: 'Eat or drink, or whatever you do and do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).”

He also taught: "All our actions must be as if we were walking under the eyes of the Lord, and every thought that moves must be as if under the watchful eye of God." Obviously, if one cannot remember God at all times, it will be as if the Lord is right in front of him. Generally, this is not possible.

Therefore, the author believes that the memory of God is likely to have been formed since the apostolic period. It is a combination of "love God", "watchful prayer" and "pray without ceasing". To flourish is another way of saying inner prayer. (The author will discuss the tradition of inner prayer in another article, so I won’t go into details here.)

Remembering God, God lives, calling on the Lord, and the Lord walks

For Basil, the remembrance of God enables one to become a temple of God and one with the Lord. In Epistle 2, he said: "When the cares of the world cease to interrupt our unceasing remembrance of God, we shall become the temple of God." He also said, "God dwells by remembrance to hold God, so that God It is formed in us, and we become the temple of God." In Article 5 of the Statute of the Presidency, he even maintains that we are united with God by remembrance. "By doing God's will with fiery hearts, we will be united with God through remembrance," he said.

How to practice remembering God?

The state of remembrance of God without interruption is not within the reach of man, but by the grace of God. Yet all man can do is to keep the first commandment by remembering him. However, in modern society, with material prosperity, advanced technology, and convenient life, the human heart is increasingly restless, because it wanders in the external splendor and has no time to rest.

Our hearts need rest, and God is the home of our hearts. Remembering God is the movement of closing our hearts to God, allowing our minds to retreat from the external clutter and come to the Lord. For believing and baptized Christians, it is really a way to practice loving God anytime, anywhere. If feasible, the author recommends the following three exercises.

1. Every day after waking up and before going to bed, take five to ten minutes to remember God saying, "Lord Jesus, have mercy on me", which also helps to develop a good habit of remembering God.
2. For brothers and sisters who are physically inconvenient, unable to read the Bible or do things, they can spend all their time remembering God. I once heard of a sister who was suffering from an illness. Because of the pain, she could only lie down and could not move, and it was really painful. In this case, she could at least gain peace of mind by remembering God. Therefore, for brothers and sisters who are in pain or in prison, the author recommends the practice of meditating on God without rest.
3. Remembering God in everything is walking with God. Whatever we do, we can do our best to remember God at the beginning, the interval, and the end. Because you call on God, and God comes. In this way, everything we do with our hands is holy, spiritual, and blessed by God. Because, as long as it is serious business, serious occupation can be holy and spiritual. Whoever loves God and loves others is spiritual and holy, and whoever does not love God and loves others is carnal and filthy.

In addition, regular participation in the sacrament is essential as an important way to receive divine grace. Like sailing a long distance, with the help of the wind of the Holy Spirit, it is extremely beneficial to the practice of remembering God, and the two are inseparable from each other.

Finally, Basil warns us that the motive for obeying the commandments is simply to please God, and not for other reasons. He said, "Besides, I think it must be added that <we> cannot keep the commandments of the Lord for the sake of pleasing people." Then he added: "Because of the certainty that God is with us, a truly alert and sound soul will not ignore it. Doing what pleases God will not turn away to seek the glory of man, nor forget the commandments of God, nor obey the customs of man, nor be swayed by public prejudice, nor be affected by dignity and honor.”

bibliography

Augustine Holmes, A Life Pleasing to God: The Spirituality of the Rules of St Basil (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Studies, 2000)