Father Gavril Galev: Regarding the Sin
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Sin is not a violation of any law and therefore will not have to be punished in accordance with the law. God is not a ruler or a policeman who punishes one who breaks the Law, but God is Love and Life. He is the source of life and He loves man. Thus, sin is hurting (causes a loss of) God’s love, turning one’s back to God’s face, breaking communion with God, and missing the purpose (aim, goal). It is existential failure and death.
Living in sin, we fail to live a proper way of life. We lose direction and sense of purpose in life. We lose ourselves. In this way our life becomes a waste of time and wandering.
Sin is also missing the truth. It is a life lived in darkness and lies. Deceived by our ego and trapped by senseless passions, we live in the darkness of a fallen mind, closed to truth and in delusion.
In conclusion, life in sin is death. By breaking communion with the life-giving God, we sever ties with the gracious energies of the life-giving sources through which we live. We turn life into poverty, hunger, and suffering, as in the parable of the prodigal son. Thus, living outside our home and cut off from the source of life, we become (spiritually) dead.
Everything outside of communion with God is wandering, delusion, and death.
When we miss God, we miss the way, the truth and the life. All we have to do in order to return is to repent. It means to change our mind, to change the state of our mind and to direct its energies to the essence, and that is through the heart in God. Let us return to the path, let us know the truth and let our life become illuminated and truly a life of living
Repentance is a return to the loving arms of God, our Father. That is why we need to get back on the path. And what should we do to recover ourselves when we wander and get lost and tangled in a labyrinth of paths, “in the offers of a solution”. Simply, we need to stop and with a sober thought to analyse where we are, as well as how and in which direction we have strayed, in order to get back on the right path. Even if we ask for help from a guiding source such as GPS or map, then we will surely find ourselves.
It is exactly the same in the spiritual life. We need to become aware of the situation we are in and remember our sin, the moment we have left God and gone far from the way, and then we need to seek help from a spiritual father. Until we return to that place, to the right path, and follow some detour, twisted and hidden paths, we will only wander and never reach the destination (goal).
When we return to the path, when we repent, God gives us light. He reveals the truth to us, to see how good God is, and to see for ourselves how fallen and sinful we are. (This is the essence of the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner”). For us to realise where we are and where we sin and to confess our sins and transgressions. To acknowledge that we have sinned, not to go around and say who has done wrong to us. Let us not justify ourselves by blaming the situation or someone else as the cause of our sin, of our fall. Simply, we should say to ourselves that the sin I committed is mine and I am the one who sinned. I departed from the path and missed the goal (destination) and I am the one who has to get back on the path. That is why I am the one who has to repent and free myself of the sin and I need to heal the consequences of it.
Remember, no side track will lead us to the final destination (goal), unless we get back on the true path. By returning to the path and accepting the truth, we again return to God and then our life will be joy and happiness and eternal life.
The state of sin
What should we do?
We need to accept God again. We need to accept God in our lives and to return to Him.
Then God gives us back the light so that we can recognise the truth. To recognise where we are, i.e. to recognise our fallen state.
Let us recognise our doom and misery without God, the same way as the prodigal son recognised (perceived) himself.
When we are with God again, God enlightens us , so we can know the truth. So we can see where we are.
And we can only do that if we get back on the path. From where ever we have sinned, we need to go back to the path.
When we go the wrong way, we will never reach the goal we set out to achieve.
Until we return from where we went wrong, our journey will be a loss.
Fr. Gavril (Galev)
Abbot of the monastery “St. Clement of Ohrid”,
Kinglake, Melbourne, Australia
07 / 03 / 2021
Photo by: Fr. Gavril Galev
