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Evagrius: Living a virtuous life – Today By Mindy Boeringa It’s been almost two years since I last posted anything on my blog. Since that time a lot of things have happened, one of those things being that I have now been married for a year and a half. Also, in less than 72 hours I will be graduating. (YES!) This means, that once again I’m in a time of transition, filled with lots of uncertainties and unknown. Once again though, as I struggle to prepare for the next stage of life, God is drawing me closer to himself, and reminding me that the question “How am I living?”(I.e. how’s my heart?), is more important than the question “What am I doing with my life?” (I.e. what job do I have?). This past semester, for one of my philosophy classes (I’m a philosophy minor) I had the opportunity to read Evagrius Ponticus’s The Praktikos & Chapters on Prayer. When I first read it, I was a bit discouraged. Evagrius writes a lot about monastic living (which makes sense because that’s what he was living in), and it started to feel like he was saying that the only hope for living a virtuous life was through a monastic lifestyle. However, on further examination, I discovered that even though he advocates for the monastic life, many of his principles can, and probably should, be applied to everyday life. It was quite challenging: some principles in his book I didn’t want to accept simply because I knew they weren’t things that I’d enjoy applying to my own life. However, the difficulty level of his ideas doesn’t disqualify what Evagrius had to say from being applicable… or valid. We live in a world of spiritual warfare, a war that Evagrius does not take lightly. In these two writings, he strives to unveil the reality of temptations and lay out a plan to counter them. All who wish to live virtuously can benefit from reading of his dealings with specific temptations, and from his general exhortation for people to cultivate a contemplative lifestyle. To begin with, Evagrius talks a lot about demons. Though it can be debated whether he is talking about literal demons or just trying to objectify temptation, all can agree that temptation is something we all face. Evagrius’s understanding of temptation is very biblical. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but when you are tempted, he will provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (NIV). Similarly, Evagrius thinks that temptation is a matter of when, not if, but he also has the hope of overcoming, and prevailing over evil. The Praktikos is the earliest known recording of “The Seven Deadly Sins”, though for Evagrius they are “The Eight kind of Evil Thoughts”. Evagrius uses most of the book to explain each Evil Thought, but doesn’t leave it there; he also gives a way of combating each Evil Thought. I have decided to focus on only two: Gluttony and Sadness. I will start with gluttony because, of the two, I find it more relatable to my personal life. For Evagrius, gluttony isn’t merely an unhealthy love of food, but a broader fear of harming one’s physical health to the point of placing one’s physical health as the number one priority in life. He says, “It brings to [the monk’s] mind concern for… scarcity of the commodities of life and finally of his edematous body and the lack of care by the physicians” (Praktikos pg 17). Gluttony is making physical health an idol, which seems to be a main issue in today’s society, not to mention my own life. Our culture is overflowing with advertisements for beauty and health products. There are, apparently, a million and a half ways to make you look younger, healthier, and better than you are right now; Just turn on the TV, almost every commercial appeals to the desire to look, or be seen a certain way. For example: All of the Maybelline commercials. Youth, beauty, and health are seductive ideals that people cling tightly to. In my own life, I often cherish sleep more than I should, and claim the need for more and more rest because I feel tired. The consequence for me “NEEDING sleep” is I neglect other things, such as waking up early and spending time with God, or spending more time with my husband, which negatively affects myself and others. Thankfully, Evagrius has a suggestion though for how to combat this unhealthy perspective of physical health. His suggestion (of course) is teaching oneself to be content. Paul, in Philippians 4:12b-13 writes, “…I have learned the secret to being content in any and every situation, whether well fed of hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (NIV). Paul puts the emphasis back where it belongs on Jesus, and I think Evagrius would agree. Evagrius suggestion is to limit the body to only its basic needs, in the smallest of portions, forcing the body to be grateful for the necessities. He says, “For satiety desires a variety of dishes but hunger thinks itself happy to get its fill of nothing more than bread” (Praktikos pg.21). So while I’m not certain if this means I should try to force myself to sleep only the minimum amount of hours a night, avoid drinking caffeine, and see if I can make myself content with just the bare essentials of sleep, it certainly is something I should be seriously praying about. Furthermore, I do know that I have a God who is faithful to provide “everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3 NIV). I am so thankful that I don’t have to figure it all out on my own. Now, on to the topic of Sadness, which is definitely something I struggle with. Life is full of choices and we have all at some point in time have played the “What If” game, but Evagrius warns that this can be dangerous. It is all too easy while reminiscing to start looking back with regret on the choices we made; all too often we begin to feel like a sacrifice we made out of obedience to God might not have been worth it. This regret is something I know I struggle with, and social media like Facebook certainly doesn’t help. (Can I get an Amen?) Often times, my biggest regrets are the people I feel like I have “left behind.” I miss the friendships, or in some cases, the opportunities I might have had if I had taken a different course in life. This type of train of thought quickly leads down a very slippery slope that takes whoever ends up on it to a place of ungratefulness. In the midst of their regrets, people fail to see the blessings around them in the lives they have. The coping strategy that Evagrius suggests is one that I struggled immensely with, yet, through scripture, I believe I see what he intended to convey. Evagrius thinks that as long as we take pleasure in the things of this world, we will always be at risk of being tempted by Sadness. I don’t like that idea, but perhaps he might be on to something. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (NIV). God is the only one who can truly satisfy our needs, and desires. When we get our priorities mixed up, we will always end up feeling disappointed, and often ungrateful. If we put God first, he will take care of the rest. Evagrius’s underlying strategy is the cultivation of a strong contemplative way of life. The main hint to this strategy comes from his use of the word “thoughts,” instead of using the word “sins” directly. His diction seems to indicate that Evagrius’s believes spiritual warfare doesn’t take place on the outside of a person, but that it goes on internally: in our minds, hearts and souls. He writes, “If there is any monk who wishes to take the measure of some of the more fierce demons… then let him keep careful watch over his thoughts. Let him observe their intensity, their periods of decline and follow them as they rise and fall. Let him note well the complexity of his thoughts, their periodicity, the demons which cause them, with the order of their succession and the nature of their associations. Then let him ask from Christ the explanations of these date he has observed. For the demons become thoroughly infuriated with those who practice active virtue in a manned that is increasingly contemplative.” (Praktikos pg.30) Our inner selves affect our outer selves. If the demons can get us to think the wrong things, or in the wrong way, they can indirectly cause us to act in ways that we shouldn’t. The key to living a virtuous life comes down to discipline, and more specifically a disciplined thought life. I think we can all relate to his description of being tempted by another thought that he calls Acedia. “First of all he makes it seem that the sun barely moves… then he constrains the monk to look constantly out the window… to look now this way and now that to see if perhaps…” (Praktikos 18-19). I think that if Evagrius was writing today the final sentence might have went more like this: “…to log on to Facebook to see if perhaps…” (Story of my life) Through all this Evagrius’s exhortation is to stand firm, and not “school the spirit in awkwardness, cowardice and fear” (Praktikos 24). Instead, we should “be self-controlled and alert. [For our] enemy the devil prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him…” (2 Peter 5:8-9a NIV). So what’s the best way to stand firm? Evagrius’s answer is through prayer. In his Chapters on Prayer, Evagrius lists 153 different tips and tricks on how best to pray, how to ward off distractions, and even some thoughts on what to pray. In the end, it seems like prayer is a believer’s best defense. If you want to protect your mind and cultivate that contemplative lifestyle, you must also learn to pray. He writes, “When you find yourself tempted… then is the time to put yourself in mind of prayer… you will find that the disordered movement will immediately be stilled” (COP 57). Prayer is a main discipline in a virtuous life, and I think that is very Biblical. We are told, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7 NIV). (Most of you know I can’t resist using this verse, and I know I’ve talked about the next part before too, but I can’t help it) The word guard in the original Greek literally means “to guard, protect by military guard, either to prevent hostile invasion, or to keep the inhabitants of a besieged city from flight”. How cool is that. We have a God who helps protect us from the hostile invasions of evil on our hearts and minds; all we have to do is ask. Evagrius has a lot to say about the monastic life because that was the culture he lived in. Despite the difference between his lifestyle and ours, many of his examples and strategies, especially his overall exhortation to cultivate a contemplative lifestyle, are applicable to us today. Above all, what he says does not contradict scripture. Rather, scripture supports much of what Evagrius has to say about adjustments we should make in our lifestyles today. I, for one, am not done gleaning good things from what he has to say, and I’d encourage anyone to check his writings out. It’s amazing how something so long ago, can still be relevant today. (Remind you of another book???) God is GOOD! ♥