You Have to Work for it

We’re just getting into the rhythm of the Great Fast, and I’m already struggling emotionally to find something to eat. My kitchen is filled with food, but still I look with agony at what I’m supposed to do for dinner. It might seem like ‘first world struggles’ but they are real, and I’m thankful for them.

Today is the feast of Saint Savinos the Martyr, who after being discovered by the pagans, was tortured, and drowned in a river. He had been living in secret with other Christians just outside the city. Today is also the feast of Saint Christodoulos of Patmos, a holy elder who built the monastery of Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos. Saint Christodoulos had to flee from Patmos when the island was attacked by Arabs. Both these saints are an inspiration to me today, because they loved God enough to put in the hard work needed for their salvation.

It isn’t easy living in secret I would suppose. I imagine the many Jews that lived in hiding during World War II, many being protected by local villagers who knew them personally. I suspect the same was true in the ancient world. That means, so long as these holy men were alive, they were being protected by someone who loved God, most likely secretly, but nonetheless, they loved God enough to protect them until it was no longer possible. That was not easy.

The Great Fast is not easy, albeit much easier than escaping invading tribes or evading murderous pagans. Despite the hard work, we put in the effort for the sake of our souls. Through the work of the Great Fast, and our entire Christian life, our soul grows closer to God and our hearts become more like His in love. If the Great Fast doesn’t lead to love and God, it is somehow mis-prioritized and needs to change.

In today’s reading from Proverbs below, we learn that when we put in the good work, we are a blessing those around us, just as Saints Savinos and Christodoulos were a blessing to those around them. We are also warned about what happens when we are lazy and wicked. “The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him…He dies for lack of discipline.”

The Great Fast might be difficult, but through this effort we learn discipline. We learn to depend upon the spring, which is the Holy Spirit. The easy way never results in good. That is the lesson learned by Adam and Eve in the Garden and the murder of Abel by Cain. Both resulted being removed from God’s direct protection, so now we work for it. God still blesses and protects us, but now we have to work for it.

Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely hind, a graceful doe. Let her affection fill you at all times with delight, be infatuated always with her love. Why should you be infatuated, my son, with a loose woman and embrace the bosom of an adventuress? For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he watches all his paths. The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is caught in the toils of his sin. He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is lost. My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger; if you are snared in the utterance of your lips, caught in the words of your mouth; then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into your neighbor’s power: go, hasten, and importune your neighbor. – Proverbs 5.15-6.3