ON FAITH, HOPE, AND AGAPE (LOVE)

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

ON FAITH, HOPE, AND AGAPE (LOVE)
By Saint John Climacus

And now at last, after all that has been said, there remains that TRIAD, FAITH, HOPE, AGAPE (LOVE), binding and securing the union of all. "But the greatest of these is AGAPE (LOVE) [1 Corinthians 3:13], since that is the very name of God Himself (cf. 1 John 4:8). To me they appear, one as a ray, one as light, andone as a disk, and all as A SINGLE RADIANCE AND A SINGLE SPLENDOR. The first can make and create all things, the mercy of God encircles the second and keeps it from confusion, while THE THIRD NEVER FAILS, NEVER HALTS ON ITS WAY, NEVER GIVES RESPITE TO THE MAN WOUNDED BY ITS BLESSED RAPTURE.

The man who wants to talk about agape (love) is undertaking to speak about God. But it is risky to talk about God and could even be dangerous for the unwary. Angels know how to speak about agape (love), but even they do so only in proportion TO THE LIGHT WITHIN THEM. "GOD IS AGAPE" (1 John 4:16). But someone eager to define this is blindly striving to measure the sand in the ocean.

AGAPE, by its nature, IS A RESEMBLANCE TO GOD, insofar as this is humanly possible. In its activity it is INEBRIATION OF THE SOUL. Its distinctive character is to be A FOUNTAIN OF FAITH, AN ABYSS OF PATIENCE, A SEA OF HUMILITY.

AGAPE IS THE BANISHMENT OF EVERY SORT OF CONTRARINESS, FOR AGAPE THINKS NO EVIL. AGAPE, DISPASSION, AND ADOPTION ARE DISTINGUISHED BY NAME, AND NAME ONLY. LIGHT, FIRE, AND FLAME JOIN TO FASHION ONE ACTIVITY. SO TOO WITH AGAPE, DISPASSION, AND ADOPTION.

Fear shows up if ever agape despairs, for the man with no fear is either filled with agape or is dead in spirit. There is nothing wrong about offering human analogies for longing, fear, concern, zeal, service, and agape of God. Lucky the man who loves and longs for God as a smitten lover does for his beloved. Lucky the man whose fear of God is in no way less than the fear of the accused in front of a judge. Lucky the man who is caught up with the zeal of loyal slaves toward their owner. Lucky the man who is as passionately concerned with the virtues as a jealous husband watching over his wife. Lucky the man who prays before God like a courtier before the king. Lucky the man who strives without end to please the Lord as other try to please men. Not even a mother clings to her nursing child as a son of love clings to the Lord at all times.

Someone truly in love keeps before his mind’s eye the face of the beloved and embraces it there tenderly. Even during sleep the longing continues unappeased, and he murmurs to his beloved. That is how it is for the body. And that is how it is for the spirit. A man wounded by love had this to say about himself–and it really amazes me–"I sleep (because nature commands this) but my heart is awake (because of the abundance of my love)" [Song of Songs 5:2]. You should take note, my brother, that the stag, which is the soul, destroys reptiles and then, inflamed by love, as if struck by an arrow, it longs and grows faint for the love of God (cf. Psalm 41:1).

The impact of hunger is not always obvious, but thirst has a definite and clear effect. It reveals to all the presence of a fever. Hence someone who years for God has this to say: "My soul is thirsty for God, for the mighty and living God" (cf. Psalm 41:3). If the sight of the one we love clearly makes us change completely, so that we turn cheerful, glad, and carefree, what will the face of the Lord Himself not do as He comes to dwell, invisibly, in a pure soul?

"…Holy love has a way of consuming some. This is what is meant by the one who said, "You have ravished our hearts, ravished them" [Song of Songs 4:9). And it makes others bright and overjoyed. In this regard it has been said: "My heart was full of trust and I was helped, and my flesh has revived" (Psalm 27:7). For when the heart is cheerful, the face beams" (Proverbs 15:13), and a man flooded with the love of God reveals in his body, as if in mirror, the splendor of his soul, a glory like that of Moses when he came face to face with God (cf. Exodus 34:29)

"…The growth of fear is the starting point of love, and total purity is the foundation for theology. When a man’s senses are perfectly united to God, then what God has said is somehow mysteriously clarified. But where there is no union of this kind, then it is extremely difficult to speak about God…He who loves the Lord has first loved his brother, for the latter is proof of the former. Someone who loves his neighbor will neve tolerate slanderers and will run from them as though from a fire. And this man who claims to love the Lord but is angry with his neighbor is like someone who dreams he is running.

HOPE IS THE POWER BEHIND LOVE. Hope is what causes us to look forward to the reward of love. Hope is an abundance of hidden treasure. It is the abundant assurance of the riches in store fo rus. It is a rest from labor, a doorway of love. It lifts despair and is the image of what is not yet present. When hope fails, so does love. Struggles are bound by it, labors depend on it, and mercy lies all around it. The hopeful monk slays despondency, kills it with his sword. Hope comes from the experience of the Lord’s gifts, and someone with no such experience must be ever in doubt. Hope is destroyed by anger, for hope does not disappoint and the angry man has no grace.

Saint John Climacus defines faith as the ultimate, crowning rung on the spiritual ladder of the Chrsitian life, viewing it not as mere intellectual certainty, but as complete placing oneself into God’s hands. Real faith moves past simply agreeing with abstract religious ideas or participating in routine group activities. It requires an active, living trust in God, mirroring the profound surrender seen in figures like Abraham. Faith is deeply intertwined with spiritual discipline, requiring active cooperation through prayer and fasting rather than passive or spontaneous belief. The Church presents faith in much deeper terms than we often admit. We lar by looking at how Abraham was faithful to God, while the disciples weren’t. Because real faith is about our complete trust and surrender to our Creator.

___________________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
+ Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in Christ’s Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George