Truth and Lies: About the Great Union – Father Theologos

One of the fundamental human problems is the definition of truth and, consequently, of lies.

What are these definitions? How can we find out the truth?

How are truth and lies related to the Great Union?

Watch this video to find out the truth.

Enjoy!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us! Amen.

To speak of the truth is like trying to speak of God, because Christ God said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Contrary to what is believed, Truth is a Person and not a philosophical idea. Some of you may say, “Truth is what is, what exists!” Yes, with a correction, with a small clarification: Truth is WHO is, the One who exists! For the Lord said on Mount Sinai to Moses: “I am the One who is!” Truth is a person – Self-Existence. Do you understand?

Satan – a Hebrew word that translates as “the opponent,” “the one who opposes” – so the devil and those under his influence, oppose the Truth. Satan opposes, brethren, he opposes existence, he opposes the right way to be. So, brethren, those who are against the Truth will have all creation against them. It won’t work out, brethren. They won’t succeed. They will torment themselves and those around them for a while, as long as the good God ordains for our sins, after which they will disappear like smoke, they will disintegrate.

Of course, sin, through its pseudo-attractiveness, remains like a worm that gnaws, like a corruption of existence, in the bosom of the global Adam, tormenting our being, through its power of attraction. Because of this, brethren, let us always ask ourselves if we are in God’s will in what we do, because if we are, all creation will help us – and even if the forces of evil are against us, we will have God’s peace within us. If, however, we are not in God’s will, then, as I said, all creation will be against us, nothing will turn out for us, and we will be troubled. Even if with the more or less obvious help of the devil we will think that we will succeed in something, we will not, brethren! This will be just smoke, distortion, turmoil – we will not rejoice in what we think we are able to gather, to acquire. It won’t last, brethren. Maybe God gives a small interval of repentance for those who sin, and that’s why people are attracted to lies, they are attracted to sin, but it won’t last, brethren.

God is the Truth and God is the perfect union of the Three Perfect Persons. The Great Union, brethren. Union is the Truth, Love is the Truth. God is the Holy Trinity, God is love, as St. John Theologian said. Lying, cognitive distortion, the egress from the truth, loneliness, is like a steel blade that someone bends. How long can you keep it there? How long are you going to press it? Whatever force you exert, at some point it will still return to normal, to reality and, if you are not careful, it will hit you in the face.

For example, I know people who are extremely afraid that I will write a book with my memoirs because they have bent this steel blade of reality very much over time. Of course, we do not want war and we do not want to embitter ourselves and people, but beyond our silence we see that reality, the Truth, the One Who Is – that is, God – does not validate them, brethren! Not at all! I don’t want to give names, so as not to harm them, they are still alive and, beyond that, you see that the good Lord has actually allowed that they themselves show that they are not in reality, in truth – in a very important problem that interests everyone, well… I will not give details.

Of course, if someone has great power, that is, a tyrant or a tyrannical, totalitarian system, they can bend the blade more intensely or, well, for a longer time, but brothers, the greater the bending action, the greater the reaction will be. It is a spiritual law, brethren, from which no one escapes. Even in physics we have the principle of action and reaction – a law of mechanics. Even more so on an existential level. And speaking of which, let me give you another example. Lying is like a ball that many try to keep underwater, to put under water and keep it there. Well, brethren, how long can they keep it there? At some point, it will still come out, brethren. The truth will still gush out, like the ball in water. The Lord said that nothing that is hidden will remain so—all things will be revealed; Everything will come to light. Of course, if a man repents, then it will not come out because it is extinguished through repentance. But repentance is necessary, brethren. Not that “I escaped.” You didn’t escape. No one escapes.

However, because of the tyranny of those who lie and do not repent, know that those who tell the truth live crucified and this happens because some use the darkness of lies, of anonymity, to kill in cold blood. They are “People of the lie,” as someone said.

Let me tell you a case: at one point someone who was very hunted for the truth stood and prayed, lamenting with his arms embraced, and said, “What will be, Lord, what will be?…” And as he was so embraced, he sees in his embrace a plank, a piece of wood. And he says: “What’s with this?” And when he looks up, he sees Christ crucified, very great, in light, and Christ looks towards him and says to him from above: “This is how those who tell the truth live!” Do you understand?

Why does this happen? Because, as someone said, “When a man lies, he murders a part of the world” – it refers to the verse of a German poet that someone put to music. It was his last song, before he died – the composer dying very young in a bus accident. It is his testament to humanity. The song is called “To Live Is to Die” and the one who composed it before dying is called Cliff. Cliff Burton. May God forgive him!

Remember that whoever tells the truth, even if he dies, will live. Whoever abides in Christ the Truth, even if he dies, will live. On the other hand, he who becomes a companion of the devil, does not stop until he reaches hell, brethren. Now, the lie is born from a lot of talk and foolish jokes. Since the lie is the detachment from the Truth, and the Truth is Christ, and God is love, it means that the lie is the detachment from love, the death of love, and the false oath is the denial of God, do you understand? The renunciation of God. So, if by what we do we validate aggression, this is not truth, brethren, but a lie, even if we say, apparently, that we are honest. You know, this validation of aggression i.e. lying through pseudo-sincerity – i.e. acceptance of aggression – can take many forms: once by being silent or accepting we validate this aggression and give the other who hides under the cloak of anonymity the opportunity to further attack a community – or ourselves and we can no longer stand it.

Of course, we should turn the other cheek, but know that only Christ can go all the way, till the end. This is a soft form of acceptance of lies. Brethren, if I say it’s a soft form, I’m not saying it’s any less dangerous – let’s be understood. Beyond that, there is also a strong, harsh form of pseudo-sincerity – for example, there was one who beat his wife and a confessor told him: “Man, why are you beating your wife?” and the man said: “Father, I am honest!” This is not sincerity, this is the outpouring of passions, distortion, lies, of the false thoughts in us upon the other, on her, in this case.

I also have experienced such cases when the other person violently pours out his thoughts on you, thoughts that have been smoldering for a long time, lies that at some point pour out on you. It is true that it is difficult at that moment and we have to humble ourselves, but it is possible that there is also a good thing that the lie, the hatred, the distortion in which the other lived is exposed. This does not mean at all, brethren, that we should boast about the lie and weave, through jokes and vain words, reasons to laugh, because people often brag about who they are and so on, under the guise of chasing away the tears of others, to get them out of depression. This is pitiful, brethren! It is not through lies that people’s problems are solved, but through the truth of love, through love, through truth!

If someone pressures us with something, let’s not lie out of a desire to be liked. This is hypocrisy, brethren! It’s not good. This is the other extreme of pleasure while aggression is the extreme of pain. Hypocrisy is mainly the lie in words that comes from the lie in thought – that is, from the suspicion that it is better this way, that the other will get upset or other such things. Brethren, if we do not stop lying in thought, we come to lying in word and then lying in deed, with our whole life – that is, complete hypocrisy. You see that Christ only said to the hypocritical Pharisees and to Judas, “Woe to you!” Do you understand? Otherwise, the Savior was very permissive.

For example, different people ask us to drive them through the Holy Mountain, to facilitate their entry with the car in the Holy Mountain and so on. Brethren, we must tell them the truth, that it is not possible. It cannot be! From a personal point of view, for us cars are strictly necessary because for us it is very difficult to repair them here and, in the Mountain, without a car you can’t do anything, actually, you know? On the other hand, from an institutional point of view, the law of Holy Mountain prohibits the entry of pilgrims’ cars that can be used for tourism. This is the law and we must tell the truth: The Holy Mountain is not for tourism, but a place of prayer and pilgrimage. These are the conditions and the truth must be told, regardless of the pressures.

Now, you must know that when the devils see that we are turning away like from the plague from the desire to become pleasing, from jokes and, in general, from lies, then they begin to tempt us with telling thoughts saying, “Do not grieve your neighbor!” or “Don’t show yourself to be more God-loving or smarter than the people present!” Brethren, then we must jump from there – let’s not delay! Let’s try to get out of that atmosphere quickly, from that environment, because if not, then the moment we pray all those lies will come to mind or those that cause laughter, and sometimes even those that make us cry – slander, brethren. And these are also a form of lies.

Beyond that, it is necessary not only to get out of that atmosphere, but even more – to think of the judgment of a just but loving God to dispel all these thoughts of laughter or despair that come to us. Brethren, when we come out of such environments that are spiritually toxic, let us not think too much about how others regard us; it is really worth it, as St. John the Ladder says, to be sprinkled with a little vainglory, and thus to become a cause of benefit to many. Not to mention that people will talk well about us, or even badmouth us, after we leave that place. Do you understand?

Of course, beyond the desire to be liked, people also lie for fear of punishment. Of course, in this case the Lord is more indulgent. This does not mean that we have to lie in these cases, but it is certainly a smaller mistake than if someone lies to hurt the other, or out of interest – even if that interest is to make others laugh. Of course, we are talking about selfish interest…

It’s something else when you want to rest the other and then it is always possible through the truth because God allows the truth. There is, of course, the rare case when we want to protect someone – when again the Lord is indulgent, but be very, very careful of what this protection consists of because that lie is like that bent steel blade that we were talking about at the beginning of our word. We must soften the hardness of the blade through tears and repentance, brethren. Let us repent, let us say, “Lord, forgive me!” Brethren, it is not good for the purity of the mind to be in a spiritually toxic atmosphere that pushes us to lie. Lies are very toxic, even if they present themselves as sweet.

Brethren, do not think that it is a small sin, because the Holy Spirit says through David, in the Psalter, God says: “I shall destroy those who speak falsehood;” Now you will say that some people run real campaigns based on more or less obvious lies, more or less distant from the truth to make people choose what they want – and here I am not necessarily referring to political elections, but also to all kinds of elections – for example, economic ones, cultural, that is, what we buy, what art, what music we like and so on. Yes, but know that they do it because they live in lies and the big lie in this case is not what they tell you, brethren. The big lie is that they think they will succeed by this method. They won’t succeed. They will end up in a place somewhere, but it is not theirs and they will torment both themselves and those around them who have contact with them.

Do you know what it’s like? Like a limb, like a member, which can be very good and be very good in another part of the body – that is, of the Church if we are to speak spiritually – but now it is in a position that is not his. Think about how good the hand is, right? Well, think about what happens if the man wanted to walk on his hands, for example. Do you understand? It doesn’t suit.

Now, in order to find the Truth, we must find Christ. Because Christ is the Truth, otherwise we will not know what the truth is, we will not know which is normal and which is not. We don’t find out the truth from the news, because we don’t find Christ from the news, but we find chaos from the news. Do you understand? At best there, in the news, there are fragments of truth, brethren.

You will tell me that sometimes others are not ready to know the Truth – for example in the case of a small child or – on a completely different level – in the case of state secrets. Here, again, there is a need for union with Christ to give us the discernment and illumination of the Truth necessary to know what to say to people because the Truth is, in fact, the Union between us – that we are all one in Christ; Or rather, that’s how we should be.

Rupture, division, sin is a lie, an existential blunting. Because of this, confession is secret. Because if it were public, it would push us into division, into the darkness of lies. The other would not withstand it when he would find out the truth and would break away from the love of Christ that ensures his state of loving Truth relative to all. Of course, the truth must be told at the moment when its concealment is dangerous for those who do not know the reality, even if there is division because we avoid a greater division, a greater sin. We always look for the smallest division relative to Christ in time and space.

You know how it is; Each their own, one flies straight, the other flies to the side; another flies over the cuckoo’s nest. The one who said this dedicated the book to someone who assured him that there are no devils and then took him to their lair – Ken Kesley, the one who wrote the famous book “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” You know, we can’t judge anyone, everyone flies where they can – but only in the normal of Christ relative to this abnormal world. He is the only benchmark of normality, of truth, especially today. Christ is the Truth.

What is the book about? In short, it is about a normal man who enters a hospital for the insane. The man is accused of corrupting a minor and, in order to escape, he pretends to be crazy and thus ends up in an asylum. There, however, he gradually finds that the head nurse is much more dangerous, crazier than the madmen there. Do you understand? In the end, you don’t know who is crazy: him, the doctors, the head nurse, the crazy people there… The book is very cool, especially because it is told from the perspective of one of the madmen there.

From a Christian perspective, within our theme, it is very clear that the drama of the book is resolved only through Christ. Christ is missing from there. Only Christ gives us the Truth and the right way to be in a world which, in the absence of Christ, turns into a hospital for the insane. And this is because Orthodoxy is not one of the religions, but it is the nature of man, as Father Rafail Noica says – the right way to be. You see that today a lot of people have problems with their nerves. Why? Because the tension, the dissonance between the voice of Truth, the voice of God that He has planted in us – in other words, our conscience, brethren – and the voice of lies that comes from the antichristian value system that we have in society, a system that we have accepted by force or accepted out of ignorance or even accepted willingly, is so great that the tension caused by this dissonance eventually breaks our nervous system and our nerves are shot. This is how we become lonely, brethren.

If we remain in the Truth, then we remain in the Union, in the Great Union, we remain in Christ. That’s the way. And the Lord said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Let’s not expect to find life in lies, brethren. Never. Life is in truth, in union. Don’t be afraid to unite, to be united! Because you are not united…

Of course we have to avoid distortion, avoid lying, avoid sin. Sin is loneliness, lies, selfishness, pride. [Saying,] “I know better!” What do you know? You don’t know anything. Only in union is the Truth revealed, because man, being in the image and likeness of the Communitarian, One Triune God, is an eminently communitarian being. The truth comes only in counsel, in “sin-odos.” Synod in Greek means “together-going.” The being of the Church is synodicity. The Church is synodal. The Church doesn’t “have” unity, the Church IS unity. The truth is found only in the holy synod, and when I say holy synod I do not mean only the assembly of bishops – of course, all my respect – but the holy synod is any community gathered in the fear and love of Christ. A family, for example. Let us never forget that the Holy Synod par excellence is the cooperation between God and man, and the highest icon of this truly Holy Synod is the icon of the Mother of God with the Child. This Holy Synod resulted in the descent of God to Earth and made Him man. It also resulted in man’s ascension to heaven and the making of man into god according to grace.

Heaven is the full Truth, the perfect Holy Synod, the perichoresis, the intertwining of persons. You know the other from the inside. You just know everything and don’t fumble in the world of suspicions and judgments about why he did it, what he wants to do, what he is after. It is shown that he who lies, he who is suspicious, is separate, is ignorant. The intertwining of persons in and through God, the great Union, is perfect knowledge. The perfect union. The Great Union. Heaven is the Great Union, brethren. We just have to accept it. Let’s accept the Truth about ourselves as it is and not as we would like it to be: God tells us, however, we do not receive into our hearts. How many times did He tell the apostles that they would crucify Him and He will rise! About the resurrection it was clear: they rejected it from the beginning; As for the crucifixion, that very evening He told them that “One of you will betray me!” – they were sad for the moment, but afterwards they still slept in Gethsemane. We do not accept the truth within us. The uncreated energy of the Truth as a person, the awakening – our watchfulness, depends on our spiritual measure that the apostles did not have then and we do not have today.

We do not learn the Truth from the news, but from asceticism, as I said. From the softening of the heart. From the enlightenment of the mind. Humility is exactly that: accepting the truth about yourself as it is and not as you would like others to think of you and as you would like to believe about you.

Brethren, it’s Christ or chaos. The devil is the father of lies. This is the truth. The Great Union. Thank you for staying united with me so far. Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us! Amen.

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