perseverance required

i am about to embark on a monastary retreat of silence. in preparation, i read a writing by the Orthodox church bishop Kallistos Ware this morning that discussed inquiring after God through prayer. he described a three stage movement of the spiritual Way as praktiki or the practice of virtues, physiki or the contemplation of nature, and theologia or "theology" in the strict sense of the word, that is, the contemplation of God himself.

the section that struck me was his description of the active life in the first stage where he described the God's role and our role. may this excerpt awaken you like it awoke me this morning...

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As its title implies, the active life requires our side effort, struggle, the persistent exertion of our free will. "Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life.... Not everyone that says to me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of my Father" (Matt 7:14, 21). We are to hold in balance two complementary truths: without God's grace we can do nothing; but without our voluntary co-operation God will do nothing. "The will of man is an essential condition, for without God does nothing." (from The Homilies of St Macarius) Our salvation results from the convergence of two factors, unequal in value yet both indispensable: divine initiative and human response. What God does is incomparably the more important, but man's participation is also required.

In an unfallen world man's response to divine love would be altogether spontaneous and joyful. Even in a fallen world the element of spontaneity and joy remains, but there is also the need to fight resolutely against the deeply rooted habits and inclinations that are the result of sin, both original and personal. One of the most important qualities needed by the traveler on the Way is faithful perseverance. The endurance required from one who climbs a mountain physically is required likewise from those who would ascend the mountain of God.

Man must do violence to himself- to his fallen self, that is to say- for the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and it is men of violence who take it by force (Matt 11:12). This we are told repeatedly by our guides upon the Way; and they are speaking, it should be remembered, to married Christians as well as to monks and nuns. "God demands everything from a man - his mind, his reason, all his actions....Do you wish to be saved when you die? Go and exhaust yourself; go and labour; go, seek, and you shall find; watch and knock, and it shall be opened to you." (from The Sayings of the Desert Fathers) "The present age is not a time for rest and sleep, but it is a struggle, a combat, a market, a school, a voyage. Therefore you must exert yourself, and not be downcast and idle, but devote yourslef to holy actions." (From Starets, in Little Russian Philokalia) "Nothing comes without effort. The help of God is always ready and near, but is given only to those who seek and work, and only to those seekers who, after putting all their powers to the test, then cry out with their whole heart: Lord, help us." (from The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology) Peace is gained through tribulations". (from Seraphim de Sarov) "To rest is the same as to retreat." (from The Way of the Ascetics) Yet, lest we should be too much downcast by this severity, we are also told: "The whole of a man's life is but a single day, for those who labour with eagerness." (from The Sayings of the Desert Fathers)