Saturday, December 19, 2009

Illnesses of the heart - forgetfulness

"After ignorance as the primary illness of the heart," Father Maximos went on, "there is the related illness of forgetfulness. The heart does not remember God. It forgot how to be in a prayerful state."

The Mountain Of Silence, Kyriacos Markides, p. 55

With all the distractions of modern life: cell phones, DVDs, TV, radio, Internet, etc. it is so easy to forget God. The interesting thing is that God is always there. It is me who disconnects.

I remember seeing a saying on a church sign which said, "You too can hear the angels sing, if you tune into the right frequency."

I just finished the satirical novel, The Financial Lives of Poets, by Jess Walter. The main character, Matt Prior, has lost his job, his house is in foreclosure, his wife is having an affair, his elderly father is becoming increasingly forgetful due to his dementia, etc. This adolescent man, in his late 40s, regresses to his childhood and takes up using and selling pot as the answer to his stress. Walter's novel was on the Time Magazines top 10 books of fiction in 2009. What is troubling about this book is that it seems so accurate in its description of our modern society. Matt has no close friends and no spiritual life to help him in his times of trouble. He has forgotten God, if he ever knew him.

A daily spiritual practice will help us to remember God.

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