What exactly does the symbolism of the “plank in the eye” mean?
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The symbolism of the “plank in the eye” (Matthew 7, 3-5) is the most striking and best description of demon-possession that can be found in the Holy Gospel. We are talking here about the most terrible, and at the same time the most subtle form of demon-possession, and here is why…
At the beginning of our church life, first, the energy of our mind begins to be cleansed, and we experience the first “seeing” of the Divine light. It is not a true seeing, but only an intellectual, mental seeing – as a basic knowledge to distinguish between what is good and what is bad; and this knowledge is a “light” to us in order to perceive only our own shortcomings and sins; and to correct ourselves. This is the most crucial moment for our further spiritual development. If we start using the “first light” to judge and condemn the actions of others, from that moment on our “spiritual life”, under our own guidance, is taken over by the demon. This kind of “knowledge” only increases with the reading of spiritual literature and with life experience – over the years, and the result is a nourished with knowledge and filled with high-mindedness, demon-possessed reason.
And in short: judging and condemning others is always connected with self-justification; that, in turn, is connected with some kind of satisfaction with our own “spiritual” state, and that, in turn, is connected with insensitivity to our apostasy from God. In addition to this, let us remember, judging and condemning others is an indicator of our energy disorder – that, in turn, is indicator of our mental disorder, and that, in turn, of the disorder of our persona. A person whose persona is disordered, that is, who is in religious sociopathy/psychopathy, does not feel the need for spiritual guidance, repentance, or confession. There is no greater external indicator of subtle demon-possession than self-guidance in “spiritual life”!
I use the word “subtle”, because such a person is not even aware of his demon-possession, it is even invisible to the eye of the inexperienced, to the eyes of most people; and this is the greatest success of the demons – their actions to remain imperceptible to us, to convince us that they do not exist, to make us insensitive to the need to free ourselves from them, to not see our fall and apostasy from God; to remain unaware of our stay in a “foreign land” and of spiritual hunger and emptiness. And for a person not to see all this is really not to see the “plank in his own eye”, and at the same time, to notice every imperfection in his neighbour, i.e. the “speak in the eye of another”.
With the previously described condition, i.e. chained in the chains of our passions and high opinion of ourselves, or the ordinary pride of the simple people, the demon keeps us under his control from afar, and only, from time to time, monitors whether we are counted in his “herd of goats”. Finding ourselves in such a state of mind, we may never face him, except at the very end of our life – when it will already be too late.
But the one who puts his mind into the process of healing – through obedience to the spiritual father, and who correctly walks the path of cleansing his heart from passions, through prayerfully directing the energy of his mind towards his heart and the Kingdom of Heaven, and God – within us, he will immediately face the demon; and only such a one will see how difficult the fight with him is: to see the guilt for every evil in yourself; to let the pain of the injustice suffered and the compassion for the suffering of others be a constant incentive for prayer towards the heart; to be dead to the glory, wealth and delights of this world – to live in alienation and anonymity, until the heart is opened to mind-and-heart prayer. There is no greater internal indicator of subtle demon-possession than the absence of the struggle of prayerfully directing the energy of our mind towards our heart.
I know that I am writing in vain on this topic, the main characteristic of demon-possession is blindness to it in oneself. But let it remain written…
Most Holy Theotokos, save us!
Metropolitan of Strumica Mr. Nahum
21 / 10 / 2025
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Today, when the Church celebrates the Venerable Pelagia, Venerable Thaisa and Saint Pelagia The Martyr, with the blessing of Metropolitan Hilarion of Bregalnica, Metropolitan Nahum of Strumica celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Monastery of “Saint Archangel Michael” in Lesnovo.
