Finding Our Quiet Place in the World
And what of those of us who are not monastics, those not only married, but living far from solitude in the this busy and loud world? We would do well to remember Basil’s principle behind the need for silence, "More than anything, 'school' to the soul is the gracious granting of nightly hesychia (silence)." With that in mind, he has this to say about those married and living in the world:
"Do not relax your efforts, therefore, you who have chosen the companionship of a wife, as if you were at liberty to embrace worldliness. Indeed, you have need of greater labors and vigilance for the gaining of your salvation, inasmuch as you have elected to dwell in the midst of the toils and in the very stronghold of rebellious powers, and night and day all your senses are impelled toward desire of the allurements to sin which are before your eyes."
That phrase is packed with good advice, though it may not look like it at first. This is just a general statement, but he is, in essence, saying that we apply the same rules, guidelines, comments, and practice he has described in his volumes on the topic, to our life in the world. “Do not relax your efforts...as if you were at liberty to embrace worldliness.” Paraphrasing, "You may be in the world and cannot live out a life of hesychastic prayer exactly like one in a monastic environment, but don’t use that as an excuse to not make every effort to apply all the same guidelines to your situation in whatever way you can."
And then, in the spirit of encouragement, he tells us that we must realize that we are living in a context in which there is greater temptation, more toils, and within the “very stronghold of rebellious powers”. As such, we will have to redouble our efforts to make it to “school”, to our quiet place, or as the Lord says, enter into your closet, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. It is here, in this isolated place, in this hesychastic silence, in this “school” of the soul, that “alone with itself, the heart communes with God” (heart or nous).
And those very words of our Lord are exactly what we need to round off this look into Basil’s guidance for a life of prayer. All that Basil says is based on experience: what he learned visiting hermits, what he learned setting up a monastery and struggling to establish a set of guidelines for that common life together as a group of monks, and above all, what Basil has learned in the experience of living out Christ’s words. This life of prayer he describes is not for monastics only; it is for Christians.
"Do not relax your efforts, therefore, you who have chosen the companionship of a wife, as if you were at liberty to embrace worldliness. Indeed, you have need of greater labors and vigilance for the gaining of your salvation, inasmuch as you have elected to dwell in the midst of the toils and in the very stronghold of rebellious powers, and night and day all your senses are impelled toward desire of the allurements to sin which are before your eyes."
That phrase is packed with good advice, though it may not look like it at first. This is just a general statement, but he is, in essence, saying that we apply the same rules, guidelines, comments, and practice he has described in his volumes on the topic, to our life in the world. “Do not relax your efforts...as if you were at liberty to embrace worldliness.” Paraphrasing, "You may be in the world and cannot live out a life of hesychastic prayer exactly like one in a monastic environment, but don’t use that as an excuse to not make every effort to apply all the same guidelines to your situation in whatever way you can."
And then, in the spirit of encouragement, he tells us that we must realize that we are living in a context in which there is greater temptation, more toils, and within the “very stronghold of rebellious powers”. As such, we will have to redouble our efforts to make it to “school”, to our quiet place, or as the Lord says, enter into your closet, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. It is here, in this isolated place, in this hesychastic silence, in this “school” of the soul, that “alone with itself, the heart communes with God” (heart or nous).
And those very words of our Lord are exactly what we need to round off this look into Basil’s guidance for a life of prayer. All that Basil says is based on experience: what he learned visiting hermits, what he learned setting up a monastery and struggling to establish a set of guidelines for that common life together as a group of monks, and above all, what Basil has learned in the experience of living out Christ’s words. This life of prayer he describes is not for monastics only; it is for Christians.
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