Photo: Pinterest Christ is in our midst, my dear readers!
How many different definitions there of what it means to be human. “Man is a social animal”, said Aristotle. Man is “rational”, “creative”, “religious”, and even “implementing”, say the scholars. “Implementing” means someone who is able to realize his fantasies in various spheres: law, philosophy, art, war… Franz Nietzsche called man a “sick animal”. But the apostle Paul gave the only correct and true definition of man, which we heard today [at the Sunday Liturgy, October 9, 2022]. Man is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Pontius Pilate pointed at Christ and said, without even understanding it himself, what is absolutely precise: “Behold the Man.” This is truly Man as he is meant to be. And we are human to the degree in which we are like This Man.
Right now, a war of worlds is afoot. The world of the devil is warring against the world of God, and what Dostoevsky said is true: “The field of battle is the hearts of men.” God wants through His grace to make us vessels of His Holy Spirit, so that the eternal seal of His likeness would live in our souls. But the devil, to the contrary, wants through his evil to make us become demonic temples, so that our hearts would become altars upon which would be killed all that is holy and good: faith, hope, love, and purity. So that instead of exuding the sweetness of wisdom and grace, our tongues would spout curses and foul-smelling hatred; so that the eternal fire of demonic evil would burn in man’s soul.
War is going on not only around us but within our own selves. Do people understand or know what is really happening now in the world? Do they protect themselves from the devil’s attacks, or do they fight together with him against God? Let each decide what side he’s on. And the end result of this battle will be pronounced at God’s Judgment.
