An Acolyte Thesis: On Stagnation in Faith

[Burnsider 4543]

On Stagnation in Faith

A thesis by Acolyte Ileana Sava Ursović

 

 

"Fear is the glue that keeps you stuck. Faith is the solvent that sets you free.”

~Shannon Adler

 

As I gaze into the fallout of the failed schism that is the Michaelite Heresy, I cannot help but reflect upon all of the Orenians and Savoyards who so quickly abandoned the One True Faith for heresy. It is no doubt that we live in easier times than the others of the faith that did so in the times of the Exalted, from Horen to Sigismund. In easier times, it is easier to find our spiritual growth halted and stalled. I reflect on these events and must imagine that it must have taken a certain amount of spiritual stagnation to so quickly follow the heresy of the Michaelites, abandoning our Spiritual Father for a more Temporal One in the rulers of their nations.

 

The number four is a holy number, seen time and again in the scrolls. There were four children of the First Man and Woman. There were four Prophets. Let us examine, now, four things that can stall our spiritual growth and four things GOD uses to grow our faith and free us from this spiritual stagnation.

 

The first, and most obvious, action that stalls our faith is sin. Sin is the method Iblees uses to distance ourselves from GOD. When Horen returned from the Grotto of Gamesh, he found the men of his camp fallen into iniquity by the words of Iblees spoken through Saul. It is, in many ways, the reason for Confession. For how can we walk hand-in-hand with GOD when our hands are stained with sin. When our souls are tarnished with sin, we are profane beings unworthy of the mercy and love of an all-powerful GOD. As long as we dwell in sin, we will be stuck.

 

This is a sin of remarkable folly, for there is no holiness in creation but with the Lord, and no profanity but for what is without Him. All things are the Lord’s creation, and what is profane cannot be holy.

Spirit 4:8-9

 

Yet even those granted ablution from their sins and cleansed in the Waters of Gamesh can find their faith becoming stagnant. The second thing that can cause stagnation is disobedience to the words of GOD. I separate this from sin because while sin is often a deliberate act against the MOST HOLY, disobedience is often done not from malice but from neglect or instinct. And no one is immune from this disobedience. Perhaps the greatest act of disobedience against GOD by the Exalted was when Owyn struck down his uncle, Harren, in a moment of wrath. Disobedience is dangerous because it can cause stagnation in your faith and the faith of others, as GOD told Owyn.

 

And GOD spoke again. “That which is done is not undone, for the lords of this land have seen your sin.”

Gospel 4:55

 

But let us imagine for a moment that we are a creature without sin, living in, what we feel, is perfect obedience to the LORD. Where else can stagnation rear its head? Well, in those easy times, when following the Scrolls is unchallenging, it is easy to find ourselves lax in our faith due simply through lack of effort. Yes, we are Canonists by our nature, we tell ourselves. Little more needs to be done, we convince others. But the LORD GOD speaks against this, warning the faithful that this is not true faith, but is another way for our faith to stagnate.

 

So I am the Most High, and in pursuit of My Virtue, I bid my faithful this: You shall not be idle, nor forget your duties in favor of sloth.

Virtue 4:8

 

There can be no laxity in faith for any reason, not war nor peace, not wealth nor poverty.

Spirit 2:13

 

But there is an even more insidious method of stagnation than even lack of effort, but simply complacency in the manner of your soul. You may tell yourself, “I’m basically a good person” or “I was baptized as a child, so I must be a Canonist.” This complacency is one that will inevitably send you to the Void, for in this complacency you believe yourself to be the judge of your actions and the jury that determines the weight of your soul. This is a folly that has led to the damnation of even the most seemingly virtuous of men, for their virtue was worldly and not that of GOD.

 

So I am the Most High, and in pursuit of My Virtue, I bid my faithful this: You shall keep fast to your word and station, and aspire not to greatness among men, but to My glory.

Virtue 6:8

 

So I am the Most High, and in pursuit of My Virtue, I bid my faithful this: You shall not judge your own virtue, be it great or small, for all fall short of Me.

Virtue 7:8

 

But fear not. GOD does not leave us to wallow in stagnation. HE works on us and in us to grow our faith, to pull ourselves from the muck that is our stagnation and leads us into a life following HIM.

 

Firstly, from the moments after our initial baptism into the faith, GOD is working in us, improving us, through the process of Sanctification, as he does to all the faithful.

 

And the prophet pours out the horn upon seekers of GOD, and they are inducted into the ranks of the faithful.

Gospel 7:49

 

And worry not about this process. Sanctification is not a heavy yoke, but a joyful liberation. GOD is changing our hearts so that we act closer and closer to his vision for all of us. HE is our FATHER, guiding us in all things, just like your earthly father does. When you teach a child writing, you hold its hand while it forms the letters: that is, it forms the letters because you are forming them. We love and reason because God loves and reasons and holds our hand while we do it.

 

And I have given you life: I am your father, and the father of all things. And so I shall guide you in a theater of virtue, and the virtuous shall not live except by My Word.

Virtue 1:6-7

 

And when HE is not working in us, HE is working around us. For the second and third way that GOD prevents our stagnation is by the things that happen to us and the things that happen to people we care about. It is the age-old canard: why do bad things happen to good people like us? But have we not learned from the above? To call yourself a good person is to judge your own virtue. Your sin is only cleansed by GOD through the Waters of Gamesh.

 

In response, I often hear people whisper to each other when the worst is happening, “do not worry for GOD will never give you more than you can handle.” This is patently wrong. GOD often gives us more than we can handle, for he wishes us to fall back into HIS arms and be caught by him, turning to HIM to help work through the greatest of tragedies. Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let that endurance take its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. In other words, our trials bring us closer to GOD and through those trials, we will see the enemy defeated.

 

And Horen did not admonish Krug, for the tribe of man was greatly diminished. The two went into the east, and were joined by Urguan and Malin, and the virtuous of their tribes. Many were slain in a state of iniquity, and their bodies littered the earth. Thus the plan of Iblees was foiled.

Gospel 2:52-55

 

While each of the above happens in seasons, there is one thing that GOD is always doing to keep our faith strong and moving towards virtue. GOD is always working through us to strengthen the faith of others, even leading wayward souls to HIM. There is great joy in this responsibility, one with infinite reward, raising those who pursue it fully to a higher place in their eternal life in the Skies. And it is fulfilling, for you can see the work GOD is doing in others, moving you even closer to HIM. It is the culmination of the above works, finding yourself in lockstep with the MOST HIGH, bringing others to HIM.

 

For I have placed into your heart a wealth of virtue, and I have created for you a garden of abundance. And you shall give your fellows the abundance of the spirit, which is My Word.

Virtue 2:7-8

 

I am the Lord GOD without peer, and My abundance is the holy abundance, and My wealth is the virtuous wealth, and all the blessings of the Virtue shall fall before the righteous who share it.

Virtue 2:11

[KaiserJacobII 1048]

To the devout Sister Ileana, @Burnsider

 

Your writings on the faith are deeply touching. I agree with you that stagnation in our faith is the greatest danger to the Faith, and I am glad to approve this Thesis. Please contact myself or another Clergyperson of some authority to be ordained, and begin your journey in our Holy Mother Church.

 

GOD bless,

Francis Cardinal Albarosa