My previous reflections have centred on the appreciation of the solitude in the midst of the current crisis. Jesus constantly speaks of the need for detachment, illustrated by various episodes where he seeks the stillness away from the thriving action in order to pray. The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople reminds us of the need to "be in the world but not of the world." The invitation to seek the desert in our hearts and to hear the voice of the Triune God speaking to us entails a detachment from this world.
But what exactly is this world we are talking about? Does this detachment entail disregarding the world? Does the search for solitude mean ignoring what is happening around us? That can easily be one of the dangers when the quest for stillness becomes a veneer for escapism from the circumstances we find ourselves in. Christ does the exact opposite. The examples of the desert mothers and fathers attest to this fact.
I want to provide a reflection on the notion of "world." What do we mean exactly by this word? We need to delineate the difference and the tension between the two concepts of "world." The desert mothers and fathers teach us a lot in this respect. The basic tension lies between "our basic 'fallenness' by which we tend toward self-centeredness and not toward God-centeredness, and what can be possible by grace and his co-operation." (Moloney, Prayer of the Heart) The human being must work towards shedding the vestiges of the self-worship towards becoming clothed with the grace of God. Only that gives us true dignity and freedom. Paul reminds us this in many of his letters, for example, those addressed to the Romans, the Galatians, and the Colossians.
The world is God's creation and it is good. Everything is very good, as we are reminded about that in Genesis. The existence of evil is another complex matter which merits various reflections and not a clear answer! So, we must live in the world insofar as we contribute to transfigure it by allowing the grace of God to work in us towards that end, and at the same time avoid the worldly trappings that threaten to immerse
us in the identification of our being with the objects around us.
I want to conclude this reflection with a sublime reflection about this explanation of the two concepts of "world" from St Isaac of Nineveh, also quoted in Prayer of the Heart:
"When you hear that it is necessary to withdraw from the world, to leave the world, to purify yourself from all that belongs to the world, you must first learn and understand the term world, not in its everyday meaning, but in its purely inward significance. When you understand what it means and the different things that this term includes, you will be able to learn about your soul - how far removed it is from the world and what is mixed with it that is of the world. "World" is a collective name, embracing what are called passions. when we want to speak of passions collectively, we call them "the world"; when we want to distinguish between them according to their different names, we call them passions."
Our relationship with God which flourishes in the stillness of our hearts infuses us with the creativity and energy to transform the world. Hence, as the God is Trinitarian, our relationship with God impels us to go forth and work towards the redemption of the world. Our personal transformation in the desert becomes also God's vehicle for the transformation of humanity at large and the whole cosmos. The mission entrusted to us by God through Christ is great and noble indeed!