Lesson 11: Orthodox Way of Life

The Orthodox way of life embodies a world view that is Christ centered. Everything we do should be a living of His love and commandments. It is a life centered in His Church, a sacramental life. To follow Him and strive to become like Christ is a very difficult path. We all have inherited and developed many passions and desires that go against what He teaches us. Our current culture does not support our efforts. Therefore, we must develop great discipline. We must learn to become watchful to correct the thoughts that lead us astray. This effort involves what is called asceticism. The Church teaches us many practices for our benefit. First, there is our worship and participation in the Sacraments of Holy Communion and Holy Confession. We are expected to participate in this worship at least every Sunday. We are to have a prayer rule for our daily personal prayer. The church also prescribes fasting days and periods for this purpose. We must read Scripture and the writings of the Church fathers regularly. All of this is done out of our love for Christ so we can embody His love in our life and share this with others.

This view of life embodies a way of thinking, a world view, that goes beyond the activities of this world. We hold a view of a life that extends beyond this worldly life. Heaven is known as a reality, and we desire to be united with Him so we can have eternal life with Him. This way of thinking goes beyond our rational thought process. It is one that embraces the supernatural, the mystical nature of creation, and the infinite powers of our Triune God.

The Church guides us in this way of life. Once we know and accept the Church as the Body of Christ here on earth, then we can confidently surrender to her teachings and practices. Once we do this, we become free of our slavery to our ego-centric desires. Difficulties are transformed into joy and everything is accepted as belonging to the will of a loving God who is preparing us to return, like the Prodigal Son, to be reunited with Him in Paradise.

This lesson focuses on the nature of our passions and how we must struggle to tame them. This involves our personal efforts, but never without our cooperation with the Holy Spirit. This effort requires divine grace as well as our own efforts.

Read this section from the manual about the Orthodox Way of Life.

View the Video below.

 After you have viewed the video, answer briefly these questions: