Some words from Blessed Father Seraphim Rose on the occasion of the Feast of the Holy Cross:
“Let us not, who would be Christians, expect anything else from it than to be crucified. For to be a Christian is to be crucified, in this time and in any time since Christ came for the first time. His life is the example -– and warning -– to us all. We must be crucified personally, mystically; for through crucifixion is the only path to resurrection. If we would rise with Christ, we must first be humbled with Him -– even to the ultimate humiliation, being devoured and spat forth by the uncomprehending world.
“And we must be crucified outwardly, in the eyes of the world; for Christ’s Kingdom is not of this world, and the world cannot bear it, even in a single representation of it, even for a single moment. The world can only accept Antichrist, now or at anytime.
“No wonder, then, that it is so hard to be Christian -– it is not hard, it is impossible. No one can knowingly accept a way of life which, the more truly it is lived, leads more surely to one’s own destruction. And that is way we constantly rebel, try to make life easier, try to be half-Christian, try to make the best of both worlds. We must ultimately choose–our felicity lies in one world or the other, not in both.
“God give is the strength to pursue the path of crucifixion; there is no other way to be Christian.”
Hat tip to Thomas Richter
4 comments:
Father Seraphim says, in part, “No wonder, then, that it is so hard to be Christian -– it is not hard, it is impossible."
I should point out that I disagree with what he says here, though I believe he has said it for effect. It is not impossible to be a Christian, it is only impossible to be a perfect one.
I'm afraid I disagree with your disagreement. Our Lord Himself said, "No man cometh unto me, except the Father draw him." It is entirely impossible to become a Christian on one's own volition. Thanks be to God, He does call and draw us, but it is only by yielding to His intitiative that we can become anything other than a hypocritical pretender.
ed
Sorry, Ed, but you've lost me. You seem to be speaking to something else. I said nothing about how one becomes a Christian or how one grows in holiness; in that respect, what you say is entirely true.
Fr Seraphim says it is impossible to be a Christian; it is that with which I disagree.
"When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "The Cost of Discipleship"
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