I’ve been reading the modern spiritual elders of Orthodoxy, of Russia and Romania especially, who lived lives of suffering and torture under Communism. Christians have been persecuted for ages, but in our time it’s amazing that we can see video of these extraordinary people who survived, and hear their personal experiences in depth.
Over the years I have heard various people’s personal experiences of coping with trials and tribulations within the atmosphere of their spiritual understanding. But never have I heard anyone speak of any path through suffering that goes so far as to welcome even the greatest suffering as a gift from God.
You just don’t hear people speaking like that.. except in the Orthodox tradition.
There’s a Christian idea of “salvific suffering” that purifies the soul and is healing like bitter medicine. There’s an idea of endurance and patience through difficulties, all based in Scripture.
But I never heard of anyone in our day being absolutely joyous in the face of torture, who could then teach us that this is what we can all aspire to.
We may not all be called to such a path, but maybe ultimately we all are saints in the making. Maybe it’s not for us to judge but just to accept gratefully what we are given to work with. We are in good company, even when no one we know personally can relate to what we’re going through.
It used to be easier to fall back into the illusion of “it’s only natural to be despondent under these conditions – everyone I know certainly would”..
Well, now “everyone I know” includes these great spiritual elders who show me otherwise. Glory to God.
May it Be Blessed: An Orthodox journal 