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Story
A middle-aged man lived in a place where most religions were very similar. Many devotees of faiths taught the way to holiness was to make the body suffer. Most people thought the holiest persons were ones who tortured their bodies the most. Since everyone seemed to agree, the man decided his religious practice not adequate. Wanting to be holy, he decided to pursue the path of extreme asceticism.
The man gave up everything, even his clothes. He went nude, with his body covered with dust and dirt. So he would not be spoiled by the taste of good food, he forced himself to eat only filthy things, like dirt, ashes, urine, and cow dung. So he could read and meditate without interruption, he went to live in the most dangerous part of the wood. If he did see a human being, he ran away.
In the wintertime the man spent days under trees and nights in the open. So in the daytime the cold water dripping from the iceles hanging off tree branches soaked him. At night snow covered him. In this way, in winter he made his body suffer the most extreme cold.
In the summertime the man spent days in the open and nights under trees. So in the daytime the sun burned him. At night trees blocked from him the few cooling breezes of open air. In this way, in summer he made his body suffer the most extreme heat.
This was how he lived, trying to bring peace to his heart and mind. He was so determined he lived many years in this extreme asceticism.
When he was aged, the man had a vision of himself living in hell. Instantly, he knew all the ways he had caused his body suffering were useless to make him holy. And they had not brought peace of mind or heart. He repented and asked for forgiveness, and he returned to his former way of living, and upon death he entered heaven with all the other saints.
Comments
An ascetic is a person practicing asceticism, or ascesis. Ascetic, from the Greek "to train, exercise," applied to persons preparing for athletic competition. The Christian contemplative tradition, as all early Church Fathers and Desert Fathers, teaches asceticism is necessary to sanctification. The Desert Fathers teach us that ascesis is the means to loving and uniting with the Divine more wholly and leading us to Christian perfection. Both Protestants and Catholics embraced ascesis after the Reformation, also. Among Protestants the Puritans and Methodists are best known for teaching the need for ascesis.
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This teaching is in the New Testament. For example, Paul writes to the Corinthians, "So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control,lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified" (I Cor 9.26-27, ESV). And to Timothy, Paul writes, "... train yourself to be godly. 'Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.' This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it" (I Tim 4.7-9, NLT). And the Gospel teaches self-denial to follow Christ.
Asceticism is an essential practice to train our bodies to cooperate with the yearnings of the spirit. In this exercise, we seek, like all good training, moderation. Spiritual practice should challenge us, but we should not be abusive to ourselves, as in historical extremes of self-flagellation and damaging health due to extreme fasting. However, these are not major problems among us. Rather, we need a revival of the importance of asceticism in Christian discipleship, for Christianity is too often flabby, much like too many of our bodies, and shallow, much like too many of our minds.
Indeed, a spiritual leader can quickly get into trouble in the churches, if he or she calls for a serious consideration of Christian ascesis as essential for Christian holiness. Yet, the weight of Scripture, Church tradition, reason, and experience prove the role of ascesis in holy living. In a culture gorging itself on pleasure, this message of ascesis for the Church is necessary, for if we do not grow churches on the foundation of holy living, then, we build on straw that will not stand the test of time.
*OneLife writings are offered by Brian K. Wilcox, a United Methodist pastor serving in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. He writes in the spirit of John Wesley's focus on the priority of inner experience of the Triune God; scriptural holiness; ongoing sanctification; the goal of Christian perfection (or, wholeness). Brian seeks to integrate the best of the contemplative teachings of Christianity East and West, from the patristic Church to the present. Brian lives a vowed contemplative life with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis, in North Florida. OneLife writings are for anyone seeking to live and share love, joy, and peace in the world and in devotion to God as she or he best understands God.
*Brian's book An Ache for Union, a book of poems on mystical union with God through love, can be ordered through major on-line booksellers.
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