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A monk was once asked: What do you do there in the monastery? He replied: We fall and get up, fall and get up, fall and get up again.
(Tito Colliander, The Way of the Ascetics, 68)
A church member spoke to her Pastor, “Pastor, why do you teach us not to strive after perfection.” “I guess,” replied the Pastor, “I find some of the most intolerable folk those religious folk striving after perfection, and I find the most gracious folk those so in love with Christ that the thought of striving after perfection, or even the thought of perfection, never enters their mind.”
Wholeness arises, in the Christian Way, not from striving after perfection, but from falling more deeply in love with God in Christ, with the Holy Spirit. This is the only way to avoid self-righteousness, for any other way will be tainted with the self seeking perfection. Seek Christ, not perfection, and in Christ you will receive what seeking perfection will never procure. Employ means of Grace without intent to move toward perfection; rather, employ means of Grace as expressions of Love, and this itself will bring you closer to wholeness, by being drawn closer to the Word who is Wholeness.
In Spirit, our move toward perfection, or wholeness, is such a gracious act of Grace that we hardly or do not notice it, as long as we abide in Christ. In Christ the striving ceases. When I cease striving for perfection, I receive the gift of the movement toward perfection. To the extent that I remove all religious striving from my life, then, to that extent Grace has room to operate. Then, movement toward perfection is as natural as the master violinist who plays with ease, with expertise.
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Our rest in Christ, exemplified in Contemplative Prayer, even amidst labors and struggles, and temptations, brings pleasure to Christ, for we rest in Christ, in Love. Jesus is pleased to save us from the striving. Did Jesus not say, “Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light"? (Matthew 11.29-30, NLT)
Yes, as in the opening story, movement toward wholeness entails our participation. But, our participation, including our getting up again and again, derives from communion and union with Christ. And, that makes the movement toward perfection of a different order than the strivings of those whose action, even though religious, does not spring from the impetus of Grace.
Reflections
What does perfection mean in a Christian sense? What is the difference between “striving after” and “cooperating with” in spiritual growth? How does Grace subvert logical perceptions many bring to the religious and spiritual journey? What does it mean to say, “Grace has a logic all its own”? How did Jesus, in word and deed, present graciousness subversive and dissident in the sight of the religious of his day? Does the Church need subversives and dissidents in the eyes of the majority of the Church, today? Explain.
Prayer
O Christ, save me from the self that thinks that through itself it can please you. Amen.
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