Metropolitan Naum: A House without foundations
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“But why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ and not do things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings, and does them, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man building a house, who dug deep, and laid the foundation on rock; and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house and could not move it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard, and did nothing, is like a man who built a house on the earth without foundation; and when the stream beat vehemently against that house, immediately it fell: and the ruin of that house was great (Luke 6: 46–49).”
“He who hears and does not fulfil” is the one who has no experience of spiritual struggle (fight). The experience in the spiritual struggle enables us to know ourselves and to know the demonic tricks and traps. The experience of the spiritual struggle in the Church makes us partakers in the catholic (congregational) experience of all Saints; that is why the demon, although much older and more experienced than us, can do nothing to us.
The experience of the spiritual struggle cannot be obtained by worldly knowledge. Spiritual experience and knowledge are acquired by harmonizing our lives with the level of spiritual development we are at, as well as with the place and role we have in the Church.
In short: spiritual experience is acquired in the spiritual struggle in which we participate, only after we have put the mind in the process of healing, spiritually led by a spiritual father, in the Church. Harmonising at the beginning is nothing else but obedience (to the spiritual father).
So, with worldly knowledge and experience, one can establish a home, business, political career, gain human fame, but without spiritual experience even at the first encounter with more serious tribulations (temptations), all of them are in great danger of falling apart.
Especially “the one who listens and does not fulfil”, and built a house – which means success in whichever area, during the first demonic attack, everything falls, because he has no experience of spiritual struggle, he has no scan for spiritual events, he has no prediction of movement of things, simply – he is not a prophet, and he could have been.
That is how it is when a person has a worldly knowledge but no spiritual knowledge. He may have knowledge and skills in various fields such as business, economics, politics, and who knows in what else…, in construction, agriculture, icon painting, informatics, etc., but that knowledge is not combined with spiritual knowledge, and therefore does not save us from fall, because it is only partial knowledge.
Strive to gain both spiritual experience and knowledge.
Most-Holy Bogorodica (Mother of God), save us!
Metropolitan Naum of Strumica
(21.10.2020 16:35)
(Aforementioned is according to the sisters’ notes)
