SACRAMENTAL LIVING

For the Life of the World

Western modernity with its consumer market has become the dominant lifestyle today, spreading its tentacles across the globe and threatening to clone itself to the vast corners of the Earth. There can be no hiding from the obvious false type of life inherent in modernity where life becomes ever more threatened by self indulgent “progress" and cancerous form of “growth”, and where nothing is sacred, not even life itself.

Modernity is defined by individualism which ultimately deludes humanity into seeking its source and fulfillment in the Creation rather than the Creator through vain materialistic pursuit. The self indulgent basis of Western modernism, radical individualism and “pursuit of happiness” (happiness-seeking sickness), allows if not outright promotes the inflammation of human passions leading to vice and vicious ravaging of all Creation, human and non-human alike, for selfish individual human luxury and comfort. Such materialistic mammon worship is a counterfeit of true worship of the Creator of all, and as such is the root of addiction, codependency, abortion, affluenza and other ills and eccentricities of modern Western society, all of which are perversions of the Creator‘s original design, intent and purpose for human life, for humanity to unite with its Creator in a communion of love, and thereby become the Crown of Creation unifying all Creation with Divinity through humankind.

Intentional community, voluntary simplicity, cohousing, CSA and fair trade are examples of the uncoventional and uncommon in today’s modern Western consumer market culture. By utilizing means such as these, those who would attain to Ancient Faith can help create conditions that further a life of prayer conducive to Christian community (koinonia ) and culture (praxis), rather than simply resigning themselves to being embedded in modernity and to the goals of social engineering that have been thrust upon Western society. [See: The Story of Stuff]

Such historical goals have typically been fabricated philosphically under the auspice of wealthy modern Western industrialists for the proposed “betterment” of society and have been based in laissez-faire capitalism, not Christian wisdom, and in “natural law” and “law” of supply and demand, not the Law of God. Ultimately, such machinations only alter society by further destruction of community, the human person and all Creation, and serve only to create ever greater concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the few.

Unlike Hellenism which was clarified and transfigured by Ancient Faith to become the basis of Western civilization, Western modernism lacks reference point for Real Life, for re-Creation, transfiguration of all Creation. Modernity values and promotes self-service, self-fulfillment, and fast-paced busy-ness rather than self-emptying (kenosis), self-discipline (askesis), and stillness (hesychia) of human “being”. Kenosis, askesis, and hesychia are critical to Divine-human unity (theosis, or deification) and resultant formation of Christian fellowship and community (koinonia).

Without value and practice of self-emptiness, self-denial, and stillness as receptivity toward Divine-human unity, humans are inevitably left to deny their true nature of being created in communal Divine image , and to exist as if they are individuals, gods unto them-selves. Instead of persons created in Divine Image and interrelated with their Creator, all humanity and all Creation, individuals live by way of sensual desire (passions, materialism) as if they exist in a vacuum, thinking rationalistically in terms of separate "things", as if their thinking ability and ego self are above everything.

Since such individualistic way of life is counterproductive for the Life of the world, Christians cannot uncritically embrace modern living if they are to remain faithful and true to their Bridegroom, the Lord of all Creation. Thankfully, there are alternatives to modern living for those who would have the desire, determination, and dedication to serve only the one true master rather than be enslaved to their passions by the evil one.

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The Mosaic of the Transfiguration