DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Monday, December 10,
2007 Nativity Fast Angelina of
Kellia: Susanna 1-30
LXX
Epistle: Hebrews 3:5-11, 17-19
Gospel:
Death: Susanna
1-30 LXX, especially vs. 22: “Then Susanna sighed, and said, I
am straitened on every side: for if I do this thing, it is death unto me: and
if I do it not I cannot escape your hands.” Alexander Schmemann
illumines the truth that “the whole death is not the biological
phenomenon of death but the spiritual reality whose “sting...is
sin” - the rejection by man of the only true life give to him by
God.” Father Alexander
further delineates the confusion concerning death when he says, “what
modern man does not understand, that to which he has become blind and deaf, is
thus the fundamental Christian vision of death, in which the
‘biological’ or physical death is not the whole death, not even its
ultimate essence. For in this Christian
vision, death is above all a spiritual reality, of which one can partake while
being alive, from which one can be free while lying in the grave. Death here is man’s separation
from life, and this means from God Who is the only Giver of life, Who Himself
is Life.”
The insight that death is much more than the
termination of the physical processes can open your noetic
eye to see the great scope of death that weaves through this introduction to
the story of the God-fearing Susanna.
Well-considered reflection on what befell the wife of Joakim can lead you into an awareness of death in its many
guises around and within you.
Susanna’s account illuminates the role of setting,
predisposition, and dialog as they relate to death - all of them
vital matters in the struggle of maintaining oneself in the Life in Christ.
The setting is
Beware of acculturation to the uneasy, lawless, and
indulgent of the present
The two elders, as we have already seen, only
“seemed” honorable (vs. 5), but were, in fact, already immersed in
death, their eyes predisposed to turn their steps out of the way, and their
hearts to walking after their eyes (after Job 31:7). Lacking purity of heart, they had no
covenant with their eyes to restrain them from thinking “upon a
virgin” (Job. 31:1). It
follows that when they saw Susanna go “into her husband’s garden to
walk...everyday” (Sus. 7,8),
their lust was inflamed toward her” (vs. 8). Lacking purity of heart, lust easily was
ignited.
The dialog deep within each of these men is
especially noteworthy. Each one
could have turned back from lust, but failed to do so. First, “they
perverted their own mind” (vs. 9). Each one allowed the passion to overtake
him and insulate him from any sobering thought. Next, they “turned away their
eyes” (vs. 9). From what? Not
from looking at Susanna! Better
they had! In their mind's eye they
could see nothing else. Advancing
from attraction to obsession, they shut out other thoughts. They chose not to look “unto
heaven” nor remembered “just judgments” (vs. 9). They ignored the saving voice of Life,
and the spirit of lechery held them in its thrall(11).
O Master, Lord Jesus Christ. Thou givest
perception and understanding to Thy servants. Grant that we may
constantly struggle against our faults and repent and fall down before Thee.
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