by Archbishop Averky (Taushev) –
This means that everyone, without any exception whatsoever, is equally called to battle with sinful passions and evil habits in order to free themselves from the oppression of the power of evil reigning in the world and ruthlessly terrorizing everyone, as we observe so clearly in the present time. It is clear that everyone, if he desires to save himself from this oppressing power of evil, must enter the path of the spiritual life—that is, to become an ascetic struggler to some extent. One who avoids this is doomed to perdition.
Asceticism is for everyone, not for monks alone, for it is by no means in opposition to nature, as some think, or a kind of coercion thrust upon man. The opposite is the case: it is a natural requirement of the human spirit—which strives to free itself from the oppressing power of evil and to soar toward its First Cause, God—to find in Him the fullest satisfaction of all his inner strivings and needs and to obtain the happiness, peace, joy, and eternal rest so longed for by everyone.
Asceticism alone, which unites man with God, the Source and Giver of all good things, is the true path to that inviting beacon of happiness to which everyone living on this earth so impetuously strives. How often people, pursuing happiness, perish both in this earthly life and, what is particularly terrible, in the future, eternal life!
For happiness, as life experience demonstrates, is not outside man, where he mistakenly looks for it, but inside him: happiness is in the peaceful arrangement of the soul, in the serene inner peace that is the consequence of the deep inner satisfaction that comes as a result of conquering evil after uprooting the evil habits that tyrannize the soul.
No one can ever be happy when sinful passions and evil and depraved habits, which will always bring about confusion and chaos, reign in the soul. The only way to pacify the soul is to suppress and uproot evil habits—that is, through asceticism, the ascetic way of life.
This is why asceticism, to one degree or another, is without doubt essential for everyone without exception: it is a common good, a common property. One who shuns asceticism is his own enemy, depriving himself of the highest good: peace of conscience and blessed communion with God.
—————————————————
Excerpts from the book The Struggle for Virtue by Archbishop Averky (Taushev). (Minor organizational edits to optimize readability and emphasize key points made by Chris Banescu.)
