Spiritual Maturity II

The individual also needs to develop a sense of inner identity that
demonstrates the uniqueness of his/ her qualities as a creation. We all
desire a personal connection of our essence with that of the divine. St.
Gregory Palamas speaks of the power of the Eucharist to connect each one of
us personally to the Holy Trinity. All the sacraments of the church are
gifts of the Holy Spirit that bring us up close and personal with the Holy
Trinity. St. Gregory says, "At the reception of the Eucharist our minds
become the minds of Christ. St. Nilus of Sinai says every "Prayer is an
ascent of the mind to God." Within the witness and spiritual practices of
our church we possess the integrated path and expression to personally
access God.

Spiritual identity is the basis and core principal that provides us the
meaning of why we are Orthodox Christians. It directs a system of
orientation that guides our soul and spirit energy. Jung views the search
for the path of identity as "The center to possessing a complete integration and individuation of our selfhood." C.S. Lewis said, "Developing these qualities of Divine Love...transform our hearts." St. Augustine in his City of God defines this further. "Thy has made us, for thyself and our hearts have no rest till it comes to thee."

Why with all of the resources we possess as a well-established institution
can we not achieve these objectives? Gordon Allport of Harvard defined the
process of faith development with a level of deep spiritual insight. A
growing knowledge of self and an awareness of its place in the cosmos begins our path to spiritual wholeness. Likening to the words of St. Peter he assumes the call to the royal priesthood and the level of responsibility for us all to possess within the priesthood of all believers. This begins the path toward union with the Divine. Within Orthodoxy we would call this theosis and this is preconditioned on possessing metanoia, which is repentance. This path of union is all included in our interior cross to God in the form of askesis; which is that struggle to possess control of our passions and thoughts. As we acquire acceptance and trust in the spirit, we discover that synergeia with the Divine.

In synergeia, there is personal growth from an immature religion to mature
religion. Religion in its immaturity is a narcissistic pursuit of self-love. With maturity, religion is "not directed by impulse and fear. It tends to be rather control and direct toward a goal that is no longer determined by mere self-interest."


From:
"Developing the qualities and identity of spiritual maturity in Orthodoxy"
Hon. Dr. Robert Scott, D.MIN (The Hellenic Chronicle, March 2000)
Keynote address: Twelfth Annual Meeting of Orthodox Clergy and Laity (OCL):
Berkeley, California, Radisson Hotel, Berkeley Marina, November 12-14, 1999.