Simeon the God-Receiver lives in each of us

Duccio. "Presentation of Jesus at the Temple", 1308–1311. Museum of the Opera del Duomo, Siena. Photo: wikipedia.org

For every believer, the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ is not only the bringing of the Christ Child to the temple and the meeting of Virgin Mary and Joseph the Betrothed with Saint Simeon the God-Receiver. It is also a reflection on the paths of our own encounter with God.

St Augustine is credited with these words: "I thought for a long time that God dwelt in Heaven, while He dwelt within my heart." Another variation states: "I thought that God was looking at me from the outside, while He looked at me from inside."

Be that as it may, the words of the Saviour that the Kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:20–21) have been confirmed in the life experience of many generations of saints. Indeed, as we gaze upon the images of the holy icons, those very images gaze back at us from within our own immortal spirit, for they dwell precisely there.

St Simeon the God-Receiver awaited his departure from earthly life for around three hundred years, according to tradition.

During that time, he saw and experienced much. Yet he neither grumbled nor despaired, for he had a purpose. The righteous man patiently awaited the moment when God would lead him to his ultimate goal.

If we compare the measured and quiet flow of that period of human history, in which Simeon the God-Receiver lived, with our own time, we will see that in our short lifetimes, modern people experience just as many, if not more, events than the Old Testament elder did in hundreds of years. The further we go, the more rapidly time speeds up, plunging us into a whirlwind of increasingly tragic events. Everything happening around us is so obviously insane that our mind refuses to believe in the reality of these events.

The more we struggle to get out of this swamp, the deeper it drags us in. What should we do, and how should we live, caught in the vortex of these difficult circumstances? First of all, as the spirit-bearing elders teach us, we must calm our panicky and hysterical mind. The only way to rein it in is through prayer. All our problems are not in the world, which boils like seething fiery lava, but within ourselves.

God is not outside; what is outside is the world, on every metre of which there are many enemy nets ready to catch and destroy our souls. Yet despite their great variety, these nets all rely on a single common principle: human selfishness. It is selfishness that divides the world into "I" and "others", dominates our souls, and creates divisions based on party, nationality, religion, language, and many other grounds.

Selfishness is the grey cardinal and tyrant of our soul. It sets people against each other with the rabid dogs of evil thoughts, teaching us to hate, judge, fear, and despair.

St Simeon the God-Receiver knew that at the end of his journey, Light awaited him – the Light that had come into the world. He would see the Sun of Righteousness and Love rising upon the human horizon. Having seen this Light, having embraced Him and held Him to his heart, he departed into the darkness of the night of death, carrying within his heart His radiance. He departed so that he might wait once again, in the gloom of death, for the hour when the Divine Logos would lead him and other righteous ones into the forecourt of the Kingdom of Heaven. Yet even after this, St Simeon would have to wait again for the end of the world, for the Second Coming of the Son of God to Earth, for the Last Judgement so that, together with all the saints who had pleased God throughout the ages, he might enter the Kingdom of God.

We find ourselves in a much better position than St Simeon the God-Receiver, for the Gospel has revealed to us what that righteous elder did not yet know. We know that our "self" is neither our body nor our soul. Within each person, there is a spirit – imperturbable, beautiful, and exalted. It burns like an inextinguishable candle within our spiritual heart, neither snuffed out nor swayed by any earthly storm. The Spirit of God, descending into the heart as the Quiet Light, unites with the human spirit and divinises it. Our misfortune is that our vain and restless mind obscures from us the radiance of this Spirit. The Spirit of God within us cannot be extinguished, but "you, not caring for the Spirit and not conforming your will to Him, are extinguished for Him" (St. Macarius the Great). "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25), exhorts the Apostle Paul.

Most people, as a rule, identify their selfishness with themselves and consider it their own "self". But this is not the case. True, genuine faith breaks the chains of selfishness and leads the soul into the freedom of the transfigured spirit, uniting it with Christ for eternity. If this does not happen, yet a person believes they are striving for salvation, it means that selfishness is imitating religiosity within them and playing the role of a spiritual actor in the drama of life.

This is a false religiosity in which, despite an abundance of church attributes, there is no place reserved for God.

But as soon as a person begins to take notice of their own egoism and undertakes the cleansing of their heart, glimmers of some other world gradually emerge within them – a radiance that does not descend from above but emanates from within.

Even living for a short time without harbouring ill will towards anyone brings inner clarity. When this feeling is sustained for a longer period, the light grows stronger. Then, through experience, one begins to understand that the less egoism there is within, the purer and freer the heart becomes.

The truth is, most people cannot imagine their lives without their personal ego. To them, the idea of living not by their own thoughts but by a blessed intuition, not by their own will but by the will of God, seems unattainable. Why should those who have dedicated their lives to sharpening and refining their intellect, possessed by demons and turned into a deity, struggle against their own thoughts?

If we look back on the years we have lived, we will see that they have all passed in an instant. And so too will our entire life. It is like a dream with eyes wide open. When we are caught up in the dream, we do not realise it is one; we perceive it as reality. Only when a nightmare comes do we wake up in a cold sweat, relieved that it was just a dream.

I hope that when we awaken from the nightmare of our earthly life, we will give a sigh of relief. It was only a temporary life. And thank God, it has passed.

But what are we to do now, while we are still asleep?

As long as the soul is immersed in the images and spectacles of this world, it struggles to remember God. Yet when a nightmare enters our lives, we begin to seek Him of our own accord. As if awakening from slumber, we try to offer prayers and search for the One and Only who can grant us great peace and consolation. Each day lived is a miniature life. At its end comes sleep, a likeness of death. Our whole life is made up of such small lives. That is why each evening should be spent in deep repentance, as if before death. We must recognize where and how our hearts strayed away from Christ, why our souls have immersed in vanity. Such repentance will keep us in humility and help us discern where we drift away from God and where we draw closer to Him.

There is no need to search for God outside when He is waiting for you inside. In the external world, despite its crowds, you are doomed to deep loneliness. But when you turn your gaze inward, you discover that in Christ, all people are one with you, and you are not alone, even in solitude. We think the world outside is vast and boundless, yet we find ourselves trapped within it like prisoners in a cage. Meanwhile, when we descend into the depths of our own souls, the world becomes an infinite universe, which is alive, profoundly beautiful, and filled with God.

We marvel at how hermits spent years confined within the narrow walls of underground cells. Yet we cannot even begin to imagine the vast realms through which their immortal souls roamed. What is there on the surface of the earth? The existence of the non-existent. You take some fleeting beauty of this world into your hands, and like ice, it begins to melt before your very eyes.

Look closely at yourself. Our body moves through space, our senses experience various sensations, and our mind is filled with ever-changing thoughts. Yet our spirit remains in place- it has nowhere to move. It was created infinite, eternal, and indestructible. Where could it possibly go? No matter how hard one tries, one cannot escape oneself. Our spirit is the only true and unshakable treasure; everything else is but a mirage of emptiness.

God is simple, and so too is the spiritual life. The path to salvation is just as simple.

It is not found by educated and well-read minds but by kind and humble hearts. There is no complexity here, no intellectual entanglements or logical chains. A simple God created a complex world so that we might learn to move from complexity to simplicity, not the other way around. There is no need to search for Christ in books. He does not dwell beyond the clouds. The Saviour has never left you. We do not see Him because of the clouds of our own thoughts, looking at the world from the summit of our mind, while Christ waits for us in our hearts. The moment we see Christ within ourselves, we begin to see Him in others as well.

The mind is a cunning creation. Woven from our thoughts, it is deceitfully governed by the great tempter of mankind. Some live for themselves, following the principle: "Anything is allowed as long as no one finds out." Others have noble intentions, seeking to make the world a better place. Yet neither group remembers their own salvation. No matter how much effort people make, the world remains a cunning and deceptive seducer. No matter how much you smooth the tail of a mongrel dog, it will never become straight. The same can be said of the world. It has been and will always be filled with pride and lust. And so is our selfishness no matter what we do with it, in the end, it will deceive us and corner us when our life draws to a close.

Everything we know about the world, the universe, ourselves, and others will never make us holy. Even if we were to read all the theological books in existence, we would not move one step closer to salvation. Knowledge will only lull us further into the sleep of this world, singing us a lullaby called "opinions about ourselves". If theological education were necessary for the salvation of the soul, we would have to erase at least ninety per cent of the saints from the Church's annals. Holiness is attained not through seminary education but through self-knowledge. When a person, through spiritual experience, grasps their own spirit and feels its blessed silence, even a single drop of such an experience is worth more than all the academic dissertations in the world.

The descent from the summit of the mind into the depths of the heart is a perilous and dangerous journey. It cannot take place without temptations. Where there is light, there will inevitably be shadow. Where there are joys, there will also be sorrows. Yet both are merely the world's hypnosis, built on falsehood. This falsehood has no power to break our spirit if it has found its support in Christ. Therefore, it is not our circumstances that must change but ourselves. We will only stand upon the rock of dispassion when we cease to be distracted by the world's vanity, with all its sinful pleasures and self-centred sorrows, which lead us away from God and break our focus on prayer.

Look closely at yourself. Our bodies move through space, our senses experience passing sensations, and our minds are filled with ever-changing thoughts. Yet our spirit remains in place – it has nowhere to go. It was created infinite, eternal, and indestructible. Where could it possibly travel? No matter how hard you try, you cannot escape yourself. Our spirit is the only true and unshakable treasure; everything else is but the mirage of emptiness.

Only a spirit transformed by grace begins to see great blessing in suffering, for only suffering destroys egoism, humbles the proud mind, and purifies the heart clouded by thoughts. A humbled soul turns away from this sorrowful world and wholeheartedly seeks Christ, finding refuge and salvation in repentance and contrition.

But if the soul, tossed upon the waves of life’s sea, has no faith, then the storms of suffering will sink it like a boat riddled with holes into the abyss of fear and doubt.

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