The Focus of Heart & Mind
by Rev. Dr. Frank Uhlir - edited by D. Gander
"Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (Jn.2:15). I believe that these words should become the guiding and warning light in all our relationships to the world. It does not mean that we should "escape from the world". Before His crucifixion when our Lord prayed for His disciples, He said to the Father: "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil" (Jn.17:15).
What is the evil of the world? It is human society organized and living apart from God, when people behave and live as if there was no God; when the goal of their life is in things and pleasures of the world instead of in God; when they live for temporal, perishable, animal nature, and forget that they are made in the image of God and that they should manifest His glory.
St.John warns us that we should not "love" the world. What is love? Love is that which attaches our life completely to the object to which we dedicate ourselves, whether it be a living being or an inanimate thing. Love is that which directs all our thoughts, emotions, desires, will, in fact our whole being to a goal which we consider the most desirable and final one of our life. St.John says: Please do not make the world your goal! Do not dedicate your life to the world! Do not be irrationally governed by the lust of the flesh, by the lust of the eyes, by your self-centredness (1 Jn. 2:16), for this is the way leading to your destruction, not to your life. Stay in the world, but - for your own sake - do not love the world.
The main cause of tragedy for modern people is that they love the world, they live for the world, things of the world, pleasures of the world, and they dedicate themselves to that way of life from which the love of God is excluded. We have a special word for this way of life: secularism.
When people abandon God, they try to find an escape from burdens of life in temporal relief of sensual excitements, sexual adventures, commercial entertainments, in alcohol and drugs, and in seeking fullness of life apart from life itself in the external world, in things, environment, luxury, in speed and excitement of events. But all this is misleading and deceiving. Man seeks balance outside of himself when he loses his inner balance; when he grows more devoted to quantity than to quality, to measurement than to appreciation. Orientation towards matter is the main philosophy of non-religious and anti-religious secularism, and materialism is its definition.
Materialism is a "widely held system of thought which explains the nature of the world as entirely dependent on matter and motion. The fundamental and final reality is matter, beyond which nothing need be sought." A materialistic orientation is life from which God is completely excluded: what matters is money, things, technology, luxury, etc. A mere possession of things is not materialism, but to live for things, to see the goal of life in them or to believe that matter is the substance of everything, that there is therefore no spiritual realm, no God, no spirit: these beliefs and attitudes are materialism.
Secularism and materialism are based not in things but in man himself, just as religion is not within Church buildings and hymn books but in man's heart and mind. If a man's mind is secular he will live a non-religious secular life regardless of the type of religious community in which he lives. If, on the other hand, his mind and heart is religious, he will behave as a Christian even if he lives in the midst of atheists. ...to be continued...
"Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (Jn.2:15). I believe that these words should become the guiding and warning light in all our relationships to the world. It does not mean that we should "escape from the world". Before His crucifixion when our Lord prayed for His disciples, He said to the Father: "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil" (Jn.17:15).
What is the evil of the world? It is human society organized and living apart from God, when people behave and live as if there was no God; when the goal of their life is in things and pleasures of the world instead of in God; when they live for temporal, perishable, animal nature, and forget that they are made in the image of God and that they should manifest His glory.
St.John warns us that we should not "love" the world. What is love? Love is that which attaches our life completely to the object to which we dedicate ourselves, whether it be a living being or an inanimate thing. Love is that which directs all our thoughts, emotions, desires, will, in fact our whole being to a goal which we consider the most desirable and final one of our life. St.John says: Please do not make the world your goal! Do not dedicate your life to the world! Do not be irrationally governed by the lust of the flesh, by the lust of the eyes, by your self-centredness (1 Jn. 2:16), for this is the way leading to your destruction, not to your life. Stay in the world, but - for your own sake - do not love the world.
The main cause of tragedy for modern people is that they love the world, they live for the world, things of the world, pleasures of the world, and they dedicate themselves to that way of life from which the love of God is excluded. We have a special word for this way of life: secularism.
When people abandon God, they try to find an escape from burdens of life in temporal relief of sensual excitements, sexual adventures, commercial entertainments, in alcohol and drugs, and in seeking fullness of life apart from life itself in the external world, in things, environment, luxury, in speed and excitement of events. But all this is misleading and deceiving. Man seeks balance outside of himself when he loses his inner balance; when he grows more devoted to quantity than to quality, to measurement than to appreciation. Orientation towards matter is the main philosophy of non-religious and anti-religious secularism, and materialism is its definition.
Materialism is a "widely held system of thought which explains the nature of the world as entirely dependent on matter and motion. The fundamental and final reality is matter, beyond which nothing need be sought." A materialistic orientation is life from which God is completely excluded: what matters is money, things, technology, luxury, etc. A mere possession of things is not materialism, but to live for things, to see the goal of life in them or to believe that matter is the substance of everything, that there is therefore no spiritual realm, no God, no spirit: these beliefs and attitudes are materialism.
Secularism and materialism are based not in things but in man himself, just as religion is not within Church buildings and hymn books but in man's heart and mind. If a man's mind is secular he will live a non-religious secular life regardless of the type of religious community in which he lives. If, on the other hand, his mind and heart is religious, he will behave as a Christian even if he lives in the midst of atheists. ...to be continued...