Living in Christ: Essays on the Christian Life by an Orthodox Nun

Living in Christ: Essays on the Christian Life by an Orthodox Nun By: Mother Raphaela Wilkinson (SVS Press 575 Scarsdale Road Crestwood, New York 10707, 2000) ISBN 0-88141-199-XReviewed by Deborah Malacky Belonick It's a reality check. This collection of essays stuns the reader with an invitation to persevere without excuses for bad behavior. While the author paints a compelling image of abundant life in Jesus Christ, she also warns of the personal sacrifice and labor necessary to acquire this joyous communion with God. Such spiritual growth, she cautions, comes neither by magic, nor feigned piety, nor by laziness, but by a "proven ability to be responsible and willing to work, plus the inner resources to function even when there is not a great deal of external excitement or stimulation" plus, she adds, the acceptance of humiliation. Strong medicine, but Mother Raphaela, abbess of Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery in Otego, New York crosses the boundaries of the monastery fences with these practical reflections that are applicable to anyone trying to walk a Christian path. With titles like "Maturity," "Challenged by Freedom," "Work and Obedience," and "Human Love: a Trilogy," these pieces are brimming with remedies that may seem paradoxical to the modern humanist mind. Mother Raphaela encourages her readers to put aside their own ideas and opinions, in order to grow into greater freedom; to give up gods of their own making (even enshrined religious ones!), in order that the real God might act; to cultivate gratitude and count one's blessings before attempting ascetical efforts; and to learn the discipline of silence in a world surfeited with the noise of entertainment. These essays are not "chicken soup for the soul," intended to produce warm fuzzies. These are remedies for intransigent sin, cold showers for the hot passions that lead to anxiety, depression, power trips, and problems with relationships. Those beginning spirtual warfare will read Mother's exhortation to "practice giving up (your) attachment to resentments, bitterness, the taking of offense at any questioning of (your) words or behavior." Only then, she claims, can one begin to look at the harder disciplines of prayer, fasting, silence, solitude, and self-denial, which form the core remedies for the sick soul. Regarding those seeking the monastic life, she warns of the massive battle to remain celibate, but she also encourages those who are married to take seriously their own temptations and commitments to fidelity. As far as discerning a monastic vocation Mother Raphaela scorns a martyrdom of one's own making: "If a woman sees the monastic life as a `terrible sacrifice,' that is normally as sign that God is not calling her to it." She also concludes that wounded, fragile people generally are unfit for the rigors of monastic life and would be better healed in alternative settings. In a culture tha tole