Ortho-therapy: who needs a painkiller when they can get a cure??

በስመ አብ ወወልድ ወመንፈስ ቅዱስ አሐዱ አምላክ አሜን።

Ortho-therapy: who needs a painkiller when they can get a cure??

በቀደመው የዚህ ጽሑፍ ክፍል፦ በ1976 ዓ.ም በሀገራችን ተከስቶ በነበረው ረሃብ መነሾነት የዕርዳታ ገቢ ለማሰባሰብ የሆሊውድ ሙዚቀኞች ያቀነቀኑትን “We are the World” የተሰኘ ዘፈን በማንሳትና በተለየ መልኩም “As God has shown us by turning stone to bread” በሚለው የዘፈኑ የግጥም መስመር ላይ ልዩ ትኩረት በማድረግ የስንኙ ሀሳብ ከክርስትና አስተምህሮ ጋር ፈጽሞ የማይስማማ እንደሆነ ፡እኛ ክርስቲያኖች በጥበበ እግዚአብሔር የተዘጋጀውንና በሥጋ ሕይወታችን ላይ የሚሆንብንን ጉስቁልና ፡ ሕማምና መከራ በትዕግስትና በአኮቴት በመቀበል አጋጣሚውን  ለነፍሳችን ጥቅም እንዳናውለው የሳይንሱ አለም አቋራጭ “መፍትሄ ሆኖ” በመቅረብ ከእግዚአብሔር አንድነት እንደለየን ፡ …

በማያያዝም … የሰው ልጅ ተፈጥሮ በፈጣሪው አምሳል ለመሆኑ ዋቢ/አስረጅ የሆነችውን ለባዊት ነባቢትና መንፈሳዊት ነፍስ ዘንግቶ ሊለኩና ሊሰፈሩ በሚችሉ ጠባያት ላይ ብቻ መሰረቱን በማድረግ ፡ የሰውን ልጅ ስብዕና የሚያጠናው ሳይኮሎጅ … እንደ አንድ የጥናት ዘርፍ ያለበትን ውስንነት ፡ ከዚህም ውስንነቱ የተነሳ የሰውን ልጅ የሕይወት እንቆቅልሾች በበቂ ሁኔታ ለመመለስ አቅም አልባ የመሆኑን ሀቅ ፡ አልፎ ተርፎም የቆመባቸው/የሚያራምዳቸው ጽንሰ ሃሳቦች ከክርስትና አስተምህሮዎች ጋር አንዳችም ዝምድና እንደሌላቸው ለማሳየት ተሞክሯል። 

   

ከዚህ በመቀጠል ደግሞ ‘Orthodox Psychotherapy’  ከተሰኘ መጽሐፍ ያገኘነውንና ፡ የነፍስና የሥጋ ድኅነት ከኦርቶዶክሳዊት ቤተ ክርስቲያን አስተምህሮ አንጻር ምን እንደሚመስል የሚተነትነውን ክፍል እንደሚከተለው እናቀርብላችኋለን፦ (መልካም ንባብ)

ü  Christianity: as Introduction

ü  Orthodoxy: as Therapeutic Treatment

ü  The Priest: The Therapist

ü  Sickness/ Dying and Therapy of the Soul

ü How then is The Soul Cured?

Christianity: as Introduction

“በሥጋ የተገለጠ በመንፈስ የጸደቀ ለመላእክት የታየ በአሕዛብ የተሰበከ በዓለም የታመነ በክብር ያረገ” 1ጢሞ 3፦16

Many people interpreting the character of Christianity see it as one of the numerous philosophies and religions known from antiquity. Certainly Christianity is not a philosophy in the sense that prevails today. Philosophy sets up a system of thought which in most cases bears no relationship to life. The main difference between Christianity and philosophy is that the latter is human thinking, while Christianity is a revelation of God. It is not a discovery by man but a revelation by God Himself to man.

“በመሠረቱ ፍልስፍና እና ክርስትና በታሪክም ሆነ በዓላማ ምንም ግንኙነት የላቸውም። ፍልስፍና ማለት አንድን ሽፋን ነገር ፈልፍሎ ለማየት አይቶም ለማወቅ የሚረዳ የአእምሮ መሣሪያ መጽሔት ማለት ነው። ወይም የተደበቀ ምሥጢርን ፈልፍሎ የሚያወጣ የአእምሮ መንጠቆ ማለት ነው። … ፍልስፍና በሰው ጠባብ አእምሮና በሥነ-ፍጥረት ሕግ እንጅ ኃጢአቱ እንደ ግድግዳ ሆኖ ስለለየው የሰው ፍልስፍና እግዚአብሔር የሚያደርገውን ተአምራታዊ ድርጊት አያውቅም” አባ ጎርጎርዮስ (የቤተክርስቲያን ታሪክ በአለም መድረክ)

In the patristic writings, and especially in the teaching of St. Maximus, philosophy is referred to as the beginning of the spiritual life. However, he used the term `practical philosophy' to mean cleansing the heart from passions, which really is the first stage of the soul's journey towards God.

Yet Christianity cannot be regarded as a religion, at least not as religion presents itself today. God is usually visualized as dwelling in heaven and directing human history from there: He is extremely exacting, seeking satisfaction from man, who has fallen to earth in his sickness and weakness.

According to another view, man feels powerless in the universe and needs a mighty God to help him in his weakness. In this view God does not create man, but man creates God. Again, religion is conceived as man's relationship to the Absolute God, that is to say, the "relationship of the `I' to the Absolute Thou".

But Christianity is something higher than these interpretations and theories; it cannot be contained within the usual conception and definition of religion. God is not the Absolute Thou, but a living Person Who is in organic communion with man. Moreover Christianity does not simply transfer the problem to the future or await the delight of the kingdom of heaven after history and after the end of time. In Christianity the future is lived in the present and the kingdom of God begins in this life.

Where Orthodoxy is lived in the right way and in the Holy Spirit, it is a communion of God and men, of heavenly and earthly, of the living and the dead. In this communion all the problems which present themselves in our life are truly resolved.

Yet since the membership of the Church includes sick people and beginners in the spiritual life, it is to be expected that some of them understand Christianity as religion in the sense referred to above. Moreover, the spiritual life is a dynamic journey. It begins with baptism, which is purification of the `image', and continues through ascetic living aimed at attaining `likeness', which is to say communion with God. Anyway it must be made clear that even when we still speak of Christianity as a religion we must do it with certain necessary presuppositions.

The first is that Christianity is mainly a Church. `Church' means `Body of Christ'. There are many places in the New Testament where Christianity is called the Church. We shall only mention Christ's words: “አንተ አለት ነህ በዚያች አለት ላይም ቤተ ክርስቲያኔን እሠራታለሁ” ማቴ 16፦18 This means that Christ does not simply dwell in heaven and direct history and the lives of men from there, but He is united with us. He assumed human nature and deified it; thus in Christ deified human nature is at the right hand of the Father. So Christ is our life and we are `members of Christ'.

The second presupposition is that the aim of the Christian is to attain the blessed state of deification. Deification is identical with `likeness', that is, to be like God. However, in order to reach the likeness, to attain the vision of God, and for this vision not to be a consuming fire but a life-giving light, purification must previously have taken place. This purification and healing is the Church's work. When the Christian participates in worship without undergoing life-giving purification - and moreover these acts of worship also aim towards man's purification - then he is not really living within the Church.

This abstinence gives us the right to claim that Christianity is neither philosophy nor `natural' religion, but mainly healing. It is the healing of a person's passions so that he may attain communion and union with God.

Orthodoxy: as Therapeutic Treatment

In the parable of the Good Samaritan the Lord showed us several truths. As soon as the Samaritan saw the man who had fallen among thieves who had wounded him and left him half dead, “አይቶ አዘነለት ፡ ወደ እርሱም ቀረበ ፡ ቁስሉንም አጋጥሞ አሰረለት በቁስሉ ላይም ወይንና ዘይት ጨመረለት ፡ በአህያውም ላይ አስቀምጦ እንዲፈውሰው የእንግዶችን ቤት ወደሚጠብቀው ወሰደው” ሉቃ 10፦33  Christ treated the wounded man and brought him to the inn, to the Hospital which is the Church. Here Christ is presented as a physician who heals man's illnesses, and the Church as a Hospital.

It is very characteristic that in analyzing this parable St. John Chrysostom (the Gold Mouthed) presents the truths which we have just emphasized. Man went down from the heavenly state to the state of the devil's deception, and he fell among thieves, that is, the devil and the hostile powers. The wounds which he sustained are the various sins. As David says, "My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness" (Ps.38:5). For every sin brings bruises and wounds. The Samaritan is Christ Himself, who came down from heaven to earth to heal wounded man. He used wine and oil for the wounds. That is to say, by mixing the Holy Spirit with his blood, he brought life to man.

According to another interpretation, oil brings the comforting word; wine provides the astringent lotion, the instruction which brings concentration to the scattered mind. He set him upon his own animal: Taking flesh upon his own divine shoulders, he lifted it towards the Father in Heaven. Thereupon the Good Samaritan, Christ, led the man into the wonderful and spacious inn, this universal Church. He gave him to the innkeeper, who is the Apostle Paul and through Paul to the high priests and teachers and ministers of each church".

In St. John Chrysostom's interpretation of this parable it is clearly evident that the Church is a Hospital which heals those sick with sin, while the bishops and priests, like the Apostle Paul, are the healers of the people of God.

So the work of the Church is therapeutic. It seeks to heal men's sicknesses, mainly those of the soul, which torment them. This is the basic teaching of the New Testament and of the Fathers of the Church.

In the Church we are divided into the sick, those undergoing therapeutic treatment, and those - saints - who have already been healed. The Fathers do not categorize people as moral and immoral or good and bad on the basis of moral laws. This division is superficial. At depth humanity is differentiated into the sick in soul, those being healed and those healed. All who are not in a state of illumination are sick in soul...It is not only good will, good resolve, moral practice and devotion to the Orthodox Tradition which make an Orthodox, but also purification, illumination and deification. These stages of healing are the purpose of the mystical life of the Church, as the liturgical texts bear witness.

The Priest: The Therapist

“አብ እንደላከኝ እኔ ደግሞ እልካችኋለሁ … ኃጢአታቸውን ይቅር ያላችኋቸው ሁሉ ይቀርላቸዋል የያዛችሁባቸው ተይዞባቸዋል” ዮሐ 20፦21

It is the Holy Spirit and, in more general terms, the grace of the Holy Trinity which accomplishes the cure of sick Christians. The priest is a servant of this cure. The whole organization of the Church is divine-human. Moreover the grace of God works secretly in the priest.

However, in order for a person to be an Orthodox therapist and cure the spiritual ills of his spiritual children, he himself must previously have been healed as far as possible. How can one heal without having previously been healed or without having tasted the beginning of healing? St. Gregory the Theologian writes: "It is necessary first to be purified, then to purify; to be made wise, then to make wise; to become light, then to enlighten; to approach God, then to bring others to him; to be sanctified, then to sanctify...".

Sickness/ Dying and Therapy of the Soul:

“በደል ሁሉ ኃጢአት ናት ፡ ለሞት የሚያበቃ በደልም አለ” 1ኛ ዮሐ 5፦16

In church we often speak of the fall of man and the death which came as a result of the fall. Spiritual death came first, and bodily death followed. The soul lost the uncreated grace of God; the heart ceased to have a relationship with God and was darkened. It transmitted this darkening and dying to the body. According to St. Gregory of Sinai, man's body was created incorruptible and "such it will be resurrected” and the soul was created dispassionate. Since there was a very tenacious link between soul and body because of their interpenetration and communication, both were corrupted. "The soul acquired the qualities of the passions, or rather of the demons, and the body became like irrational beasts due to the condition into which it fell and the prevalence of corruption." Since the soul and body were corrupted, they formed "one animal being, unreasoning and senseless, subject to anger and lust". This is how, according to the Scriptures, man became "joined to the beasts and like them".

This sickness, bondage, impurity and dying of the soul is admirably described in the patristic works. Every sin is a repetition of Adam's sin, and with every sin we undergo the darkening and dying of the fallen soul.

በጥምቀት ከውሃና ከመንፈስ መወለድ አዲስ ሕይወት ያስገኝልናል ፡ በቅዱስ ቁርባንም መንፈሳዊውን ምግብ መብላት ወደ ሙሉ ክርስቲያናዊ ሕይወት እንድንደርስ ፡ ከፈጣሪያችንም መለኮታዊ ባሕርይና ክብር እንድንሳተፍ ያደርገናል። ዳሩ ግን በዚህ በክፋትና በበደል በተያዘ ዓለም ውስጥ የምንኖር ስለሆነ የተሰጠንን ጸጋ እንድንተውና ከብዙ መከራና ፈተና ውስጥ እንድንወድቅ የሚሆንበት ጊዜ አለ። ከሥጋዊ ፈቃዳችንና ከምድራዊ ኑሯችን ውሱኑነትና ደካማነት የተነሳ የሚያጋጥሙን የክፋት ኃይሎች መንፈሳዊና ሥጋዊ ሕይወታችንን በማጎስቆል ከእግዚአብሔር ፍቅር ይለዩናል ፡ ከባልንጀሮቻችንም ጋር በሰላም እንዳንኖር እንቅፋት ከመሆን ባሻገር ለልዩ ልዩ ሕማምና ደዌ ፡ ለጭንቀትና ለሥቃይ የተጋለጥን ያደርጉናል፡፡ ይህንንም የሚያውቅ ቸርና መሐሪ የሆነው አምላካችንና መድኃኒታችን ለነፍሳችንና ለሥጋችን ቁስል መጠገኛ የሚሆነውን የፈውስና የመዳን ምሥጢር አዘጋጅቶልናል። በመሆኑም ሰው ዕለት ዕለት በቤተክርስቲያን እየተገኘ ምሥጢራቱን ሊፈጽም ይገባዋል።(ትምህርተ ሃይማኖትና ክርስቲያናዊ ሕይወት)

St. Maximus teaches: "As the world of the body consists of things, so the world of the mind consists of conceptual images. And as the body fornicates with the body of a woman, so the mind, forming a picture of its own body, fornicates with the conceptual image of a woman". This is the darkness and fall of the mind/heart. Thus many problems which plague us come from this inner sickness. That is why the psychotherapists cannot help very much, since it is only Christ who can restore the heart deadened by passions.

So the mind/heart needs therapy, a therapy which the Fathers call quickening and purifying the mind/heart.

A great deal is said about purity of mind and heart in the teachings of the Lord and the Apostles. The Lord, referring to the Pharisees of his time who were careful of external purity and neglected inner purity, said: “እናንት ግብዞች ጻፎችና ፈሪሳውያን ፡ በውስጡ ቅሚያንና ስስትን ተሞልቶ ሳለ የጽዋውንና የወጭቱን ውጭ ስለምታጥቡ ወዮላችሁ!” ማቴ 23፦26

Actually when we speak of purifying the soul, we mean principally releasing it from the passions, or rather transforming the passions. Furthermore, purification is also the uniform development of the human being, which leads to illumination of the heart.

The heart is that which is in the image of God. We have defiled this image with sin and it must now be cleansed.

Briefly, we can affirm that man's cure is in fact purification of the mind, heart, and image, the restoration of the mind/heart to its primordial and original beauty, and something more: his communion with God. When he becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit, we say that the cure has succeeded. Those cured are the saints of God.

How then is The Soul Cured?

First we must emphasize right faith. We Orthodox attach great importance to preserving the faith, just because we know that when faith is distorted, the cure is automatically distorted. That is why we Orthodox give great weight to keeping the doctrine intact, not only because we fear the impairment of a teaching, but because we could lose the possibility of a cure and therefore of salvation. ንስሐ የሚገባ ሰው በቅድሚያ ንስሐ በመግባት ኃጢአት ሁሉ እንደሚሠረይና እንደሚደመሰስ ማመን አለበት!

Now in order to be cured it is essential to feel that one is ill. When a sick person is not aware of his illness, he cannot turn to a doctor. Self-knowledge is one of the first steps to a cure. Only when we know our state can we grieve about it.

It is an indisputable fact that most Christians today are unaware of their spiritual condition. We are dead in trespasses and not only do not perceive it but even have the feeling that we are filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, adorned with virtues. Unfortunately, this self-satisfaction which plagues us is destroying the work of salvation. How can Christ speak to a person who justifies himself? We are like the Pharisee in the time of the Lord who did not feel the need of a physician.

በነፍስ በሥጋ መጎዳትን ከማመን ጋራ ደግሞ ሰው ኃጢአቱን እያስታወሰ ሰውንና ፈጣሪውን መበደሉን እያሰበ በቁጭትና በቅንዓት መንፈስ ሊያዝን ይገባዋል። ይኸውም ከእንባ ጋራ የሚቀርብ እውነተኛ ሀዘን ተነሳሂውን ዳግመኛ እንዳይበድል የመንፈስ ቅዱስን ረድኤት የሚያስገኝለት አለኝታ ይሆነዋል። “አሁን ለንስሐ ስላዘናችሁ ደስ ብሎኛል እንጅ ስላዘናችሁ አይደለም … እንደ እግዚአብሔር ፈቃድ አዝናችኋልና … እንደ እግዚአብሔር ፈቃድ የሆነ ኀዘን ፀፀት የሌለበትን ወደ መዳንም የሚያደርሰውን ንስሐ ያደርጋል” እንደተባለ (2ኛ ቆሮ 7፦9) (ትምህርተ ሃይማኖትና ክርስቲያናዊ ሕይወት)

But the sense of being ill is not enough in itself. In any case a therapist is required as well. We have said before that this therapist is the priest, the spiritual father. He has first been cured of his own ailments or at least is struggling to be cured, and then he also cures his spiritual children. በሉቃስ 4፦23 “በውኑ ባለ መድኃኒት ራስህን አድን”  እንደተባለ.

እንዲህም ሲባል ደግሞ ኃጢአትን የማስተሰረይ ሥልጣን ለእነርሱ የተሰጠ ስለሆነ በሐዋርያት እግር ለተተኩት ለቤተ ክርስቲያን አገልጋዮች ለካህናት ኃጢአታችንን ከመናዘዝ ቸል ማለት አይገባንም። የአንዳንድ ችግረኞች ካህናትን ሁኔታ በማየትም ከአጓጉል ስሜታዊ አመለካከት (ከንቀት) ልንርቅና ይልቁንም ሥልጣንን የሰጣቸውን እግዚአብሔርን በማመን በትህትና መንፈስ ሆነን ኃጢአታችንን በመናዘዝ የኃጢአትን ሥርየት ልናገኝ ያስፈልጋል። “ኃጢአቱን የሚሰውር አይለማም ፡ የሚናዘዝባትና የሚተዋት ግን ምሕረትን ያገኛል” ተብሎ ተጽፏልና (ምሳ 28፦13)(ትምህርተ ሃይማኖትና ክርስቲያናዊ ሕይወት)

The therapist priest also recommends to his spiritual children an orthodox way, which is a way of orthodox devotion. Therefore in what follows we want to turn to that point, to describe the method which the sick person should follow under the guidance of his spiritual father in order to attain spiritual healing.

We want particularly to point to asceticism. The forceful practice of self control and love, patience and stillness, will destroy the passions hidden within us. St. Stethatos, disciple of St. Symeon the New Theologian, describes this ascetic practice: “Man has five senses, so the ascetic practices are five in number: vigils, study, prayer, self-control and hesychia¹. The ascetic should combine the five senses with these five practices: sight with vigils, hearing with study, smell with prayer, taste with self-control and touch with hesychia. When he succeeds in making these links, he quickly purifies the heart of his soul and by this refining makes it dispassionate and clear-sighted”.

1… HESYCHIA means stillness, and the practice of stillness in the presence of God is called HESYCHASM.

We can say briefly that to practice asceticism is to apply God's law, to keep His commandments. What is contained in Scripture is God's commandment, which must be kept by those who seek their salvation. This is seen clearly in the Beatitudes (ማቴ 5፦1).

“ትዕዛዙን እንጠብቅ ዘንድ የእግዚአብሔር ፍቅሩ ይህች ናትና” 1ኛ ዮሐ 5፦3

"Blessed are the poor in spirit" is the Lord's commandment that we should look for our spiritual poverty, that is, that we should experience our wretchedness. "Blessed are those who mourn" is the Lord's commandment to weep over the passions which we have in us, over our desolation. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness" is the Lord's commandment to hunger and thirst after communion with God. "Blessed are the pure in heart" is Christ's commandment to purify our hearts. When He says "blessed" it is as if He said: "Become poor, mournful, thirsting for righteousness", and so forth.

All these things show how essential the ascetic life is for healing and restoring the soul. And, የንስሐ ሕይወት ፡ ንስሐ በመግባትም የምንቀበለው ቀኖና ስለ ኃጢአታችን መከራን በፈቃዳችን መቀበልን የምንማርበት ዕድል ነው። ስለ እኛ ኃጢአትም ልዩ ልዩ ጸዋትወ መከራ የተቀበለውን ክርስቶስን ያሳስበናል። በኃጢአት በመሰነካከል በጥምቀት ያገኘነውን ጸጋ እንዳናጣ ንስሐ የጥምቀትን ጸጋ ያድስልናል ፡ ያጠነክርልናል። (ትምህርተ ሃይማኖትና ክርስቲያናዊ ሕይወት)

As we conclude this article, surely it has become evident to every reader who regards the Bible as a divine revelation, that there is a vast difference between modern psychology, and the wholesome principles of Christianity. Think about some of the vivid contrasts.

v Personhood: Psychology alleges that the personhood of man can be explained solely in terms of a materialistic substance. But both the Bible and common sense affirm that there is more to man than matter. His self-awareness, conscience, emotions, ability to reason, aesthetic sensitivity, etc., all argue that humanness is far more than mere molecules in motion.

v Human conduct: Modern psychology asserts that human conduct is the result of impersonal forces (environment) that have acted upon our species over eons of time. We are the products of time and chance. Ultimately, therefore, there is no such thing as ‘good’ or ‘evil’.
By way of vivid contrast, the Bible teaches that human conduct is the result of the exercise of man’s free will, and that bad choices, i.e., a violation of the law of God, as made known in the objective revelation of sacred scripture, have resulted in the numerous problems that afflict the human race today.

v Religious inclination: Psychology contends that man’s religious inclination (which, incidentally, is universal) is merely the result of an ignorant personification of the inexplicable forces of nature, endowing them with the “father” symbolism. But, the Bible teaches that there is a real Heavenly Father (ማቴ 6፦9), who genuinely cares for the human family, and who desires to rescue it from the consequences of its rebellion (ዮሐ 3፦16).

v Way of understanding human personality: Modern psychology declares that since man is an evolved animal, the key to understanding his personality is to be discovered in studying animal behavior. In opposition, the Bible affirms that mankind is separate entirely from the animal kingdom, and only humans possess personhood.

v Self love: Modern psychology teaches that we should love ourselves. Psychotherapists believe that getting a person to see the good things about themselves, or to like themselves better, would cure many self-destructive behaviors. The fact is that Jesus teaches us quite differently, in the Gospel of Matthew we read: “እኔን ሊከተል የሚወድ ራሱን ይካድ ፡ ጨክኖም የሞቱን መስቀል ተሸክሞ ይከተለኝ” ማቴ 16፦24 Paul actually condemned the love yourself mentality, he could not have said it any clearer: “ነገር ግን በኋላ ዘመን ክፉ ጊዜ እንደሚመጣ ይህን ዕወቅ ፡ ሰዎች ራሳቸውን የሚወዱ ፡ ገንዘብንም የሚወዱ ፡ … ከጽድቅም የወጡ ይሆናሉ” 2ኛ ጢሞ 3፦1

v  Self esteem: Psychology teaches that high self-esteem is essential to a healthy mind. But, the Gospels teach us the opposite of high self-esteem, humility. “እንዲሁ እናንተም ያዘዝኳችሁን ሁሉ አድርጋችሁ እኛ ሥራ ፈቶች ባሪያዎች ነን ፡ ለመሥራትም የሚገባንን ሠራን በሉ” ሉቃ 17፦10 “አቤቱ ከቤቴ ጣራ በታች ልትገባ አይገባኝም ነገር ግን በቃልህ እዘዝ ልጄም ይድናል” ማቴ 8፦8

Source Materials:

Ø Esther E. Cunningham Williams (2005). Orthodox Psychotherapy. Greece: Birth of Theotokos Monastery.

Ø ሊቀ ጉባኤ አባ አበራ በቀለ (1996 ዓ.ም). ትምህርተ ሃይማኖትና ክርስቲያናዊ ሕይወት አዲስ አባባ፡ ማኅበረ ቅዱሳን

ወስብሐት ለእግዚአብሔር።