Monday
Gal. 4:28-5:10; Mark 6:54-7:8
The Lord rebels the Pharisees not for their outward observances and rules of conduct, but for their passionate attachment to them-for limiting themselves to the external worship of God with no concern for what was in their heart. It is impossible to be without externals. The highest internal things require the external as the expression and garment. In reality, internal things are never alone, but are always united with the outer; only in false theories are they separated. But again, it is obvious that externals alone are nothing; their worth comes from the presence of the internal things contained within them. Thus, once the inward ceases to be, the outward might as well not be there. Meanwhile, we have a weakness for outward and visible things, in which the internal is depicted and takes a definite form. And we do so to such an extent that, having fulfilled that which is external, we remain at peace without even thinking that there might be internal things. And since the inward is harder to attain than the outward, it is quite natural to get stuck on the latter, without striving for the former. What can we do? We must govern ourselves and keep the internal things in mind, always pushing ourselves toward them through the externals, only considering a work to be real when the internal and external are united in it. There is no other way. Attentiveness toward oneself, sobriety, and vigilance are the only levers for raising up our nature, which is corpulent and has a penchant for lowly things. Notice that those who possess the internal never abandon the external, although they attach no special value to it.
-From St. Theophan the Recluse
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