Before the Great and Holy Week, I began to share the thoughts of one of our Father among the saints, Theophan, as a means of sharing some insights into Eastern spirituality as it is experienced by Slavic peoples. He was Slavic.

In his writings he has much to say about the state of a sinner. It is very important that we hear what he has to say.

Theophan writes that the sinner who is to be renewed through repentance is often described in the Word of God as being submerged in a deep sleep. The distinctive feature of such persons is not necessarily their manifest depravity. It is rather the absence of an active, heart-felt, and selfless desire for pleasing God, together with a resolute aversion for everything that is sinful. Piety is not the primary object of their concern and labor. They are concerned about many other things, but are absolutely indifferent to the matter of their own salvation and are not aware of the danger they are in. They are neglectful of a good and righteous life and lead a life that is cold to faith, although this life may sometimes be outwardly irreproachable.

In many ways this gets at the heart of what Eastern spirituality sees as sin. Sin is a state of being unaware of the work that must be done during this lifetime – namely the work of making sure that our thinking, attitudes and behaviors are congruent with the teachings of Jesus. Many people fail to think about their attitudes which, most frequently, are formed by our society and not by the Gospel.

This is one reason why the Slavic Byzantine Church always talks about our voluntary and involuntary sins. Our sinful nature is not defined by the things we do but rather by our attitudes, thinking and lack of awareness about our spiritual life. Example: God doesn’t care that we lie 30 times. He cares that there is something within us that seems to require that we lie about things.                    Χριστός Ανέστη!