The Ability to Express One’s Emotions,
and be Empathetic to the Needs of Others
When we are in our head, we are more judgmental, yet when we are in our heart, we become non-judgmental. Being critical of others is not an Orthodox trait, for being critical, whether of other people, or even the way we approach our faith, can be a sign we are not centered in the heart. Holiness is about being made whole, and this wholeness depends on being centered in the heart, wherein we find the Kingdom of God.
In the world of psychology, emotional intelligence is the ability to be sensitive to the feelings, or to the view point, of others. Emotional intelligence helps us avoid hurting another person’s feelings, and allows us to be open to how they might feel. It helps us refrain from judging them, and even appreciate their point of view, even when we disagree with them. Emotional intelligence is the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.
Orthodoxy, because of the emphasis on the heart, opens us to possibilities that are often closed in other Christian traditions, for the image of the Church as a hospital of the soul allows us to see ourselves, and others, as needing the healing that comes with a relationship centered in the God Who loves us. It is a relationship with a God Who desires to transform us, and make us holy (whole). In this relationship, we see ourselves as ill, so we don’t judge others, for they are just like us, and in need of healing. We don’t even exclude those whose views are different from ours, even if they hold beliefs, be they political or religious, that seem in total opposition to the ideas we hold dear.
If the other person is an atheist or a believer, a Buddhist or a Muslim, a liberal or a conservative, they are not a threat to us, for we are secure, for we see ourselves, and everyone else, as a patient in need of healing. As an Orthodox Christian, we are able to see everyone, even unbelievers, as impacted by Jesus Christ, the Word of God, through Whom the cosmos itself came into being. We know this very Christ desires that all come to the knowledge of the true, and be saved. We judge no one, and make no distinction between those who are like us, and those who are different from us. We love everyone, because Christ loves everyone.
Emotional intelligence enables us to work together for the common good, while avoid self-serving power trips that serve us, but keep others from succeeding. Emotional intelligence enables us to see things through the eyes of others, and enables us to desire the best for them. It even enables us to further the salvific message of the Gospels, because we don’t get in the way of the message. Others can experience God’s love because the empathy we have for their feelings is imaged in how we interact with them, and how we demonstrate our respect for their life experiences, feelings, viewpoints, and beliefs.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Wednesday November 23, 2022 / November 10, 2022
24th Week after Pentecost. Tone six.
Fast. By Monastic Charter: Strict Fast (Bread, Vegetables, Fruits)
Apostles Erastus, Olympas, Herodion, Sosipater, Quartus, and Tertius of the Seventy (1st c.).
New Hieromartyr Niphont and Martyr Alexander (1931).
New Hieromartyrs Prokopius (Titov) archbishop of Odessa, Dionisius, John and Peter priests (1937).
New Hieromartyrs Augustine (Belyaev), archbishop of Kaluga (1937) and with him John priest, New Hieromartyrs Ioanicius, Martyr Alexis, Appolon, Michael (1937).
Martyr Nicholas and Virgin-martyr Anna and St. Boris deacon confessor (1930-1940).
Virgin-martyrs Olga (1941) and Theoctista (1942).
0Martyr Orestes of Cappadocia (304).
Hieromartyr Milos (Miles), bishop in Persia (341), and two disciples.
Venerable Theocteristus, abbot of Symbola on Mt. Olympus.
Martyr Constantine, grand prince of Kartli, Georgia (852).
Commemoration of the torture of Great-martyr George in 303. (Georgia).
St. Nonnus, bishop of Heliopolis (471).
Translation of the relics of St. Gregory, presbyter, in Assos of Lesbos (Greek).
St. Eucharius, first bishop of Trier (3rd c.).
The Scripture Readings
1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
Plea for Purity
4 Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; 2 for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. 7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. 8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who[a] has also given us His Holy Spirit.
A Brotherly and Orderly Life
9 But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; 10 and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; 11 that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, 12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.
Luke 12:48-59
48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
Christ Brings Division
49 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!51 Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. 52 For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
Discern the Time
54 Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. 55 And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is.56 Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?
Make Peace with Your Adversary
57 “Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right? 58 When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite.”