On the Fall and the tyranny of thoughts

The Holy Fathers say that the Lord has permitted mankind to be born of woman and to multiply on the earth in this manner because of the Fall of our forebears.  God had ordered everything perfectly, and He is the Father of all.  However, after the Fall this harmony was disturbed.  Our very nature became corrupt, for our forebears were created immortal.  When man fell, death came and the order of the universe was disturbed, for Adam had been created as the crown of the universe and the master of all created things.  In every man can be found the entire material world of the universe and all the noetic powers.  This is why it has been said that man is a microcosm.  We must return to the bosom of our Heavenly Father and our faith must grow stronger in order that we might get strength from Him, and we shall see His Kingdom. 

 

After the Fall, everything fell apart.  God, being Love, knew that created beings would not be able to remain in the state they were created in, and so He gave them all the time from the Creation to the Dread Judgment to come to their senses and return to the bosom of their Heavenly Father, to become one with Absolute Good and Absolute Love.

 

 Mankind, however, prefers evil to good.  Such is the result of our fallen nature!  It is easier for us to think evil than good.  But when we think evil, we have no peace or rest from such thoughts.  How great is our fall!  It is a strange thing indeed…We cannot seem to come to our senses, neither can we do good of our own selves.  We have no idea how very much our thoughts are tyrannized by the fallen spirits.  We think those are our thoughts.  We are tormented by hatred, envy, and malice.  Unsurpassed tyranny!  Our soul does not want this, but it cannot free itself.  It becomes accustomed to this tyranny from a very early age, so that is has become rooted firmly in the soul.  One must strive to conquer this tyranny of thoughts!  We must be transformed into love and acquire peace.  It is not easy, for our fall is very great. 

 

Man cannot do this without God’s help.  Man thinks very highly of himself.  But everything that is revealed to him comes from eternity.  We are surrounded by God’s mysteries.  We ourselves are the greatest mystery.  We don’t even know who we are, where we came from, and where we are going.  What sort of a being is this that thinks, moves and talks without knowing how or why?  What a great mystery this is!  How is it possible that our internal organs function without our will—and they function perfectly at that?  And how is it that we can disturb this perfect harmony with our thoughts? 



 



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