William Thompson
28-11-2006, 10:04 PM
In my experience with the Jesus Prayer, two problems have beset me.
First of all, I found it difficult to call myself a sinner. I was so blinded by pride that I considered myself "an OK guy," even humble and unassuming. But the Prayer stuck in my craw for a long time because my sins were deep, and I didn't want to admit that they were there. (One thing I love about the Prayer is that it wears one down, like waves wearing away at one's stony heart.)
The other problem, however, had to do with misunderstanding what the Prayer really means. Often, I would find myself quietly frustrated by what seemed to me the Prayer's incompleteness. "Why," I would ask myself, “does the Prayer seem to stop at ‘mercy’ without offering some sense of where to go next? It's like freeing a prisoner, giving him 50 bucks, and telling him good luck; the chances of recidivism are quite high for someone in that state."
Happily, I came across an explanation of the Prayer that cleared everything up. In the September/October 2006 issue of the OCA's publication The Orthodox Church, there is an excerpt from Metropolitan Anthony Bloom’s Living Prayer. I am so grateful for Metropolitan Anthony’s knowledge and wisdom that I thought I’d post here the passages I found most helpful:
These words—“have mercy”—are used in all the Christian Churches and, in Orthodoxy, they are the response of the people to all the petitions suggested by the priest. Our modern translation “have mercy” is a limited and insufficient one. The Greek word which we find in the Gospel and in the early liturgies is eleison. Eleison is of the same root as elaion, which means “olive tree and the oil from it” [. . . .]
In the New Testament, in the parable of the good Samaritan, olive oil is poured to soothe and to heal. In the anointing of the kings and priests in the Old Testament, it is again oil that is poured on the head as an image of the grace of God that comes down and flows on them, giving them new power to fulfill what is beyond human capabilities [my emphasis].
The oil speaks first of all of the end of the wrath of God, of the peace which God offers to the people who have offended against him; further, it speaks of God healing us in order that we should be able to live and become what we are called to be [my emphasis]; and as He knows that we are not capable with our own strength of fulfilling either His will or the laws of our own created nature, He pours His grace abundantly on us. He gives us power to do what we could not otherwise do. . . .
I hope this helps someone else as much as it helped me.
William.
First of all, I found it difficult to call myself a sinner. I was so blinded by pride that I considered myself "an OK guy," even humble and unassuming. But the Prayer stuck in my craw for a long time because my sins were deep, and I didn't want to admit that they were there. (One thing I love about the Prayer is that it wears one down, like waves wearing away at one's stony heart.)
The other problem, however, had to do with misunderstanding what the Prayer really means. Often, I would find myself quietly frustrated by what seemed to me the Prayer's incompleteness. "Why," I would ask myself, “does the Prayer seem to stop at ‘mercy’ without offering some sense of where to go next? It's like freeing a prisoner, giving him 50 bucks, and telling him good luck; the chances of recidivism are quite high for someone in that state."
Happily, I came across an explanation of the Prayer that cleared everything up. In the September/October 2006 issue of the OCA's publication The Orthodox Church, there is an excerpt from Metropolitan Anthony Bloom’s Living Prayer. I am so grateful for Metropolitan Anthony’s knowledge and wisdom that I thought I’d post here the passages I found most helpful:
These words—“have mercy”—are used in all the Christian Churches and, in Orthodoxy, they are the response of the people to all the petitions suggested by the priest. Our modern translation “have mercy” is a limited and insufficient one. The Greek word which we find in the Gospel and in the early liturgies is eleison. Eleison is of the same root as elaion, which means “olive tree and the oil from it” [. . . .]
In the New Testament, in the parable of the good Samaritan, olive oil is poured to soothe and to heal. In the anointing of the kings and priests in the Old Testament, it is again oil that is poured on the head as an image of the grace of God that comes down and flows on them, giving them new power to fulfill what is beyond human capabilities [my emphasis].
The oil speaks first of all of the end of the wrath of God, of the peace which God offers to the people who have offended against him; further, it speaks of God healing us in order that we should be able to live and become what we are called to be [my emphasis]; and as He knows that we are not capable with our own strength of fulfilling either His will or the laws of our own created nature, He pours His grace abundantly on us. He gives us power to do what we could not otherwise do. . . .
I hope this helps someone else as much as it helped me.
William.