Some pictures:

Do not trust in rulers and in the sons of men,
In whom there is no salvation.
His breath shall go out of him,
and he shall return to his earth;
On that day all his thoughts shall perish.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob;
His hope is in the Lord his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
The sea and everything in them,
Who keeps truth forever,
Who executes justice for the wronged,
Who provides food for the hungry.

Ps. 145:3-7 (LXX)

But that is beside the point. I am writing now of the spiritual dimension of SOPA and PIPA, and the Christian ramifications of what just happened.

SOPA and PIPA were the fruits of the massive lobbying power of the RIAA, the MPAA, the cable networks, and related entities. Many today decry the power wielded by these groups. Yet these groups only possess this power because we have given it them. We have become a society whose primary aim is to be entertained and humored at every turn. Our lives are filled, from waking until sleeping, with music, movies, television, video games, etc. With our iPads and iPhones, we can carry these entertainments with us wherever we go. God forbid that entertainment ever be more than a click or a tap away. If a device isn’t capable of streaming Netflix to us wherever we are, it is useless.

Every dollar we spend on these activities – Netflix subscriptions, movie tickets, DVD box sets, MP3 purchases, video games, cable television charges, etc. – fuels the beasts that are the RIAA, the MPAA, and their doppelgängers.  We could shut them all down in a month if we threw bricks through our televisions, flushed our iPhones down the toilet, and kicked our Wii’s to the curb.

Constant dawn-to-dusk entertainment is inherently opposed to a life in Christ:

Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. (Luke 6:25, NKJV)

And I [the rich man] will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry” But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you…” (Luke 12:18-20, NKJV)

But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day [of Judgment] come on you unexpectedly. (Luke 21:34, NKJV)

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten… You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. (James 5:1-2, 5, NKJV)

After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” (Apoc. 18:1-3, NKJV)

St. John Chrysostom in particular repeatedly cautioned about excesses of entertainment, luxury, laughter, and frivolity:

There is no harm in laughter; the harm is when it is beyond measure, and out of season. Laughter has been implanted in us, that when we see our friends after a long time, we may laugh; that when we see any persons downcast and fearful, we may relieve them by our smile; not that we should burst out violently and be always laughing. Laughter has been implanted in our soul, that the soul may sometimes be refreshed, not that it may be quite relaxed. For carnal desire also is implanted in us, and yet it is not by any means necessary that because it is implanted in us, therefore we should use it, or use it immoderately: but we should hold it in subjection, and not say, Because it is implanted in us, let us use it. (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Hebrews, Homily XV)

Shall I say also how many pains and displeasures they have who wait upon luxury? I could not enumerate them all, but by a single principal point I will make the whole clear. At a table such as I speak of, that is, a sumptuous one, men never eat with pleasure; for abstinence is the mother of pleasure as well as health, while repletion is the source and root not only of diseases, but of displeasure. For where there is satiety there desire cannot be, and where there is no desire, how can there be pleasure? And therefore we should find that the poor are not only of better understanding and healthier than the rich, but also that they enjoy a greater degree of pleasure. Let us, when we reflect on this, flee drunkenness and luxury, not that of the table alone, but all other which is found in the things of this life, and let us take in exchange for it the pleasure arising from spiritual things, and, as the Prophet says, delight ourselves in the Lord; “Delight thyself in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on John, Homily XX, quoting Ps. 36:4, LXX).

So too in the case of the soul, that which leads an easy, luxurious life, has its impulses quickly swayed to sin: for such a soul is next neighbor to folly, to pleasure, to vainglory also, and envy, and plottings, and slanderings. Behold this great city of ours [Constantinople], what a size it is! Whence arise the evils? is it not from those who are rich? is it not from those who are in enjoyment? Who are they that “drag” men “before the tribunals?” Who, that dissipate properties? (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Acts, Homily XLII)

We should call our addiction to pleasure what it is: gluttony and idolatry. Our minds are so stuffed with entertainment, our modern “American Idol,” that we have no room left for God, no capacity to grasp our total emptiness. How can we learn the Scriptures, and the Fathers, and be enriched by the lives of the holy Saints if our minds are lost in Angry Birds, or can’t be bothered to miss an episode of Top Chef, or are waiting on a line for a ticket to the latest Twilight premiere?

How can we even hear God, with all that racket from the TV blaring? What better way for the devil to keep us distracted from our neighbors in need, our sick, our families, our communities, and our starving souls, than to heap upon us the distractions and enticements of a life of luxurious entertainment?

Is it any wonder why the author of Ecclesiastes said, concerning “merriment”, that it, too, was mere “vanity”:

I said concerning laughter, “This is madness,” and concerning merriment, “What does this accomplish?”  I searched in my heart that I might excite my flesh as with wine. And my heart guided me with wisdom to grasp what is foolishness, until I might see what is good for the sons of men, that which they should do under the sun all the days of their life. …

I … gathered silver and gold for myself and the abundant treasures of kings and countries. I provided male and female singers for myself, the delights of the sons of men, and male and female cupbearers. So I became great and advanced beyond all before me in Jerusalem; my wisdom established me.

Whatever my eyes desired,
I did not keep from them.
I did not withhold my heart from any merriment,
For my heart was made glad in all my labor.
And this was my portion from all my labor.
Then I looked on all the works my hands had done
And on the labor in which I had toiled,
And indeed all is vanity
And is the choice of one’s spirit.
There was no profit under the sun.  (Eccl. 2:2-3, 8-11)

Amazingly, it is a movie – WALL-E, specifically – that gives the most vivid visual depiction I have ever seen of this gluttony and idolatry. Anyone who has seen the movie will know what I am talking about. The faux-human characters in WALL-E had become so overfed, so lazy, so addicted to TV and entertainment, that they became physically (and disgustingly) transformed. They were each morbidly obese, and floated about in special mobile-recliners, complete with a video screen with TV always in sight, food always within easy reach, totally oblivious to the truth of the world around them. They were so engrossed in their own entertainments that ultimately lost complete track of where they were supposed to be and what they were supposed to be doing. When their bubble was burst in the movie, these faux-humans literally had no idea what to do with themselves, and they very nearly all died.

Who, in their right minds, would want to live in that world? Yet viewed against the backdrop of our actual culture of endless entertainment, how different are we really from that depiction?

I agree completely with those who perceived SOPA and PIPA as the means of creation of a tool that could have oppressed and trampled upon the rights of many. But our own gluttony and idolatry, our own refusal to put down the remote and pick up the Scriptures, has brought us here – and I do mean us.  I include myself squarely in that camp, since I am as guilty as anyone in this regard: just ask anyone who knew me when Lost was still on television.

It should be little wonder that our addiction to excess brought us so close to this precipice. What else would we expect? “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23). God has blessed us with a temporary respite from SOPA and PIPA, and at least a few more years of the open internet before the copyright police arrive. This is not, as some say, a moment of triumph for those who want more “enlightened” or “disruptive” ways of delivering these same entertainments. Rather, let us not waste this chance to turn from the excesses of entertainment and turn instead to the cultivation of a broken and contrite heart, which God will not despise (Ps. 50:19, LXX).

I’ll end my little rant with this:

And at midnight, a cry was heard: Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the wise answered, saying, “No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.” And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut.

Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us!” But he answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.”

Let us pray, for our own sake, that, when the Bridegroom — our wonderful Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ – truly does come, it’s not in the middle of NCIS.

Sometimes, sitting here in suburban Cleveland, I look around and wonder where I’d even begin if such a desire ever overwhelmed me. I’m sure the Holy Spirit would answer that particular question should it arise. This video (shot in the late 1990′s in eastern Europe) gives a fair idea of how the Holy Spirit has continued to guide today’s hermits.

On March 19, Euphrosynus warned all of the monks at the monastery, as well as all of the villagers who were hiding there, that a band of invaders was rapidly approaching, and those who wished to escape death should flee the monastery at once. Many fled. Euphrosynus himself remained, proclaiming to those present that he had come to the monastery in the first instance “in order to die for Christ.”

One of the monks, who was named Jonah, was fearful of Euphrosynus’ prophecy and wanted to flee with the others. These were Euphrosynus’ words to him:

Brother Jonah, why do you allow faint-hearted fear into your soul? When there is to be a battle, then is the time when one must show manliness. If God is with us, who is against us? And who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature. [Rom. 8:35, 38-39]. None of these things can do this.

Why have you become frightened, brother? There is nothing frightful in that which threatens us. Death? But it is not frightful, since by its means we are departing for the harbor. Robbery? But naked I came, naked I will depart [Job 1:21]. Confinement? But the earth is the Lord’s, and all the fulness thereof [Ps. 23:1]. Should we fear slander? But when men shall say all manner of evil against you … great is your reward in heaven [Mt. 5;11, 12].

I saw a sword, and the heaven covered with lightning; I expected death, and thought on what is mortal; I contemplated the sufferings of earth, and thought of the honors above and the crown on high as the end of labors, and for me this was sufficient consolation and contrition. May the will of God be done! Let us not be afraid of some passing fear, for the sake of Christ’s love. It is for this that we were called and offered our vows to the Lord, in order to die in this place for the sake of His Holy Name. With laymen it is something else; they are not bound by a voew. They must preserve themselves also for their children.

Jonah remained at the monastery with the blessed Euphrosynus. They were both martyred the next day.

Source: The Northern Thebaid, pp. 176-180.

The movie “Step to the Skies,” which is available in seven parts on YouTube, chronicles the lives of monks living at Valaam.  The movie is in Russian, but with (occasional) English subtitles; the subtitles do not appear to catch all of the text, but enough of it to get a fair idea of what is being said.

Each of these seven parts is linked below.

Part 1 of 7:

Part 2 of 7:

Part 3 of 7:

Part 4 of 7:

Part 5 of 7:

Part 6 of 7:

Part 7 of 7:

Image credit: Pauk

Part 1 of 2:

Part 2 of 2:

A certain Theodore, attracted by the news of the Saint’s holy life, desired to enter the brotherhood, but after some time the enemy of mankind instilled in him such hatred for St. Cyril that not only could he not look at him, but he could not even listen to his voice. Disconcerted by his thoughts, he came to the strict Elder Ignatius the silent to confess his oppressed state of soul and the fact that, because of his hatred for Cyril, he wished to leave the monastery. Ignatius consoled him somewhat, strengthened him with prayer, and convinced him to stay on trial one year more; but the year passed and his hatred did not abate. Theodore decided to reveal his secret thought to Cyril himself, but upon entering his cell he became ashamed before the Elder’s gray hairs and could not pronounce anything. He wanted to leave the cell, but then the foreseeing Elder, understanding what was hidden in his soul, began himself to speak of hatred such as that which Theodore nourished for him. Torn by conscience, the monk fell to the Elder’s feet and prayed for forgiveness of his sin; but the Saint answered meekly:

Do not sorrow, by brother. All have been in error about me; you alone understand the truth and all my unworthiness, for who am I, sinful and unworthy?

He sent him away in peace, promising that in future such temptation would not befall him, and from that time on Theodore remained in perfect love toward the great Abba.

Source: The Northern Thebaid, pp. 61-62.

This week, multiple news outlets reported that the National Transportation Safety Board is now recommending that each state enact a law banning the use of mobile phones by drivers.

As someone born and raised in the United States, I reflexively cringe when someone wags their finger in my face and tells me not to do something that I might want to do. I especially cringe when that “someone” is from the government. And I cringe even if what is being forbidden is something that I know that I shouldn’t be doing. It’s not the healthiest of reactions, but it’s a product of the culture in which I’ve been raised.

Once I settled down, I began thinking about what the proper Christian response should be to the whole texting-while-driving phenomenon. On the surface, it seemed obvious: the government should butt out, but on the other hand, we shouldn’t need the government to proscribe something as manifestly foolish and dangerous as using mobile phones in the car.

Full disclosure: this is a subject that I struggle with myself. I am constantly fussing with my phone in the car, and constantly having to swat my own hand down away from my HTC Trophy and back onto the steering wheel. I struggle with this, sometimes mightily. I know better, and yet I keep failing.

But the more I reflected on this, the more I see that this problem – my problem – of texting while driving is evidence of several larger spiritual problems at work in our culture, and that not only endanger our cars, but our souls.

Materialism

This life has been given to you for repentance; do not waste it on other things.

- St Isaac of Syria

Earth you are, and to earth you shall return.

- Gen. 3:19 (LXX)

That we so willingly endanger our lives to update our Facebook status illustrates the relative importance of Facebook compared to our own physical safety. We have become immersed in a culture of materialism, defined – and mastered – by the toys and technologies around us. We can’t put this stuff down, no matter the cost. And we hardly give it a second thought.

I see this as a natural extension of our materialistic culture. Our culture has become founded upon raw consumption. From the endless barrage of advertisements, to politicians, to the encouragement of our friends and family, we are nudged at every turn to buy and use more crap than we could possibly need.  Crap to fill our houses, crap to fill our faces, crap to fill our computers, crap to fill our brains. In theory, the steady stream of dollars from the purchase of all this crap keeps the jobs growing, the wages flowing, and the engine of society humming. Of course, we have to use this crap.  As a result, devices are constantly at our fingertips. Spotify, Facebook, a music library, Angry Birds, and a thousand friends just a few fingertaps away. We cannot separate ourselves from them.

The old joke is that you never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul. But you never see its occupant updating his Facebook status, either. As St Isaac noted above, this life was given to us for repentance, not the pointless acquisition of stuff. A life of repentance and a life of materialism are mutually exclusive. Focusing our attention on “stuff” diverts our attention from Christ. If we are so engrossed in our devices and toys that we’re not even willing to be bothered with our own physical safety, then our spiritual safety is not even on our radar screen. If our hands are full of toys, we have no hands free to offer up to God:

We cannot live a life of prayer, we cannot go ahead Godwards, unless we are free from possession in order to have two hands to offer and a heart absolutely open…

- Met Anthony (Bloom), Beginning to Pray, p. 43

Pride

Every time I use my cell phone in the car, I not only put myself in danger, but I emperil everyone around me. Even worse, I risk causing serious emotional trauma to the families and friends of those other drivers, each of whom would be devastated if their loved one became killed or grievously injured as a result of my mobile phone use.

Yet I do it anyway. Why? Because I have decided that what I’m doing is important – evidently more important than the safety of those around me. My Facebook friends, my Spotify playlist, and my conference call are far more important than your life.

Each of those other drivers and their families are, like all others on earth, living Icons of Christ. By endangering them, I am endangering Christ. By disregarding their safety and comfort, I am disregarding Christ:

“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’” And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life.

- Mt. 25:44-45 (NKJV)

Noise

Then there’s the noise. Our inability to put down the mobile devices in the car is a symptom of our need to be constantly entertained wherever we go. The tweets, status updates, text messages, and whatnot that pour in through those devices are merely a form of entertainment, and add to the cacophany of “noise” that surrounds us wherever we go. There must be music playing (preferably our own music from our own collection or playlist), or a TV in the background, or a video game within easy reach. Every device must have Angry Birds and Netflix inside. Every office PC has a Facebook page open in some browser window. The car stereo occupies the place of honor in the center of every car’s console. Many people cannot even fall asleep without a TV or music droning on “white noise” in the background.

Smartphones and other mobile devices merely fuel our need for “noise” – both audible and visual.  But with all of this noise – with all of these status updates, tweets, games, and garbage flying past our faces – how are we going to actually hear anything? How are we going to hear God? How are we going to pray?

Be still, and know that I am God.

- Ps. 45:10 (LXX)

More than all things love silence: it brings you a fruit that tongue cannot describe. In the beginning we have to force ourselves to be silent. But then there is born something that draws us to silence. May God give you an experience of this “something” that is born of silence. If only you practice this, untold light will dawn on you in consequence … after a while a certain sweetness is born in the heart of this exercise and the body is drawn almost by force to remain in silence.

- St. Isaac of Syria

It is not out of words that prayer is born: prayer is not merely the sum of our requests addressed to God. Before being pronounced, prayer must be heard within one’s heart. All true masterpieces of music and poetry were not simply composed out of disconnected letters or sounds: they were first born in the depths of their authors’ heart, and were then incarnate in words or musical tones. Prayer is also creative work, born out of a deep stillness, out of concentrated and devoted silence. Before embarking upon the path of prayer, one must inwardly fall silent and renounce human words and thoughts.

- Met. Hilarion

Inattention

Lastly, there is the spiritual danger of inattention. When I’m driving my car with a cell phone in one hand, and a cup of coffee in the other, and try to pretend that it does not impair my driving, I am fooling myself. By trying to do so many things at once, I do none of them well. My attentiveness and focus with respect to both tasks is diminished.

This sort of multitasking isn’t limited to the car. At home, we carry on conversations with our spouses with a dinner plate in front of us, the TV blaring, and an iPad our laps. At work, we plod through our tasks on our office PC’s with Twitter and Facebook running in the background and earbuds dangling around our neck.

In other words, we have come to have our mind in so many places at once, that we don’t know how to keep it in just once place. We don’t know how to pay attention anymore.

This is spiritually dangerous, because meaningful prayer requires attentiveness, or else it’s just empty words:

Prayer requires the inseparable presence and cooperation of the attention. With attention prayer becomes the inalienable proeprty of the person praying; in the absence of attention it is extraneous to the person praying. With attention, it bears abundant fruit; without attention it produces thorns and thistles.

- St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, The Arena, p. 70

If you cannot be attentive to the words you say, why should God?

- Met. Anthony (Bloom), Beginning to Pray, pp. 49-50

In Closing

Pray for me, please – as I noted, this is something I struggle with. At the end of the day, the issue of whether or not an actual legal prohibition on using a mobile phone in a car is wise is really besides the point. As a Christian, I shouldn’t be doing it. And that’s where it has to start.

Tagged: Christian, Driving, Texting ]]> http://jasonrossiter.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/a-christian-reflection-on-texting-while-driving/feed/ 1 jasonrossiter My Copilot