Page 81 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 5

Church Traditions for a Christian Psychology

murders his shipmate to escape being killed by ring, and this includes mental illness, is always
the Nazis. Left for dead by his enemy, he is res- profoundly moral and spiritual and must be
cued by the monks from a nearby monastery. treated as such.
It is here that Anatolii struggles with the emo-
tional and spiritual consequences of killing his In a manner akin to Freudian psychoanalysis,
friend. When we meet Anatolii in the film, it’s the fool also reminds us of the folly of rooting
30 years after the war and he has come to embo- human identity in “the conventional standards
dy the words of the eighth century saint, Isaac and ideas of a world which measures the true
the Syrian: “Through the toil of prayer and the life and virtue of a man with the yardstick of
anguish of your heart commune with those who social decorum and deontology” rather than in
are grieved at heart, and the Source of mercy Christ crucified. At best the former “leads to
will be opened up to your petitions” (quoted in self-satisfaction” and so “separates man from
al-Miskīn, 2003, p. 152). his fellow-men” (Yannaras, p. 66). The neuro-
tic who strives to meet the superego’s demands
Life with a living saint is not easy for other (Freud 1936/1993) and the unrepentant sinner
monks; when the saint is also a fool makes it are both so lonely “because they dare not ex-
doubly hard. Not surprisingly, Anatolii’s radical pose to [others] their need and their weakness”
dependence on God is a source of frustration for (Yannaras, p. 66). But is it precisely this, the ex-
the other less spiritually committed monks and posure of my own failure and suffering to the
leads to tensions within the community. But gaze of a loving God in the presence of loving
slowly, over the course of years, even Anatolii’s human being, which is the real work of therapy.
harshest critic, the young and arrogant monk Fr And this is so in the clinic as well as the church.
Job (a man who—despite his name—knows litt- But this is also where clinic and church diver-
le of suffering or patience) comes to understand ge. It isn’t simply the exposure of vulnerability
that true and lasting peace comes not from mee- but, above all, the laying bare of my sinfulness
ting the expectations of others but only from a to God’s grace that transforms me and makes
single minded and wholehearted dependence me able to embrace my neighbor in love. It is
on the Most Holy Trinity. this transformation that allows me to become
the person God has called me to be and so in
The actions of Fr Anatolii—to say nothing of hi- turn makes me able to help others become who
storical examples like St. Basil— “always have a they are in God’s eyes.
deeper meaning.” Like the prophets of the Old
Testament, the fool “always aim[s] to uncover It is this deep, personal acceptance of divine
the reality and truth hidden behind the practi- mercy and forgiveness that gives the fool “the
ces of this world” (Yannaras, 1984/1996, p. 65). audacity to manifest openly the human fall and
To those of us who are comfortable and self- sin which is common to all.” The fool’s example
satisfied, “The fools come to remind us that the is not only a personal challenge but a professio-
Gospel message is ‘foolishness,’ and that salva- nal and pastoral one. My sin “is not cancelled
tion and sanctity cannot be reconciled with the out by individual cases of ‘improvement’” and
satisfaction that comes with society’s respect shame can’t be healed “by concealment behind
and objective recognition” (p. 66). social externals” (p. 129), no matter how well
adapted or “Christian.” The great, humbling gift
R. D. Laing (1967) and others (for example, the fool gives is this: He is a tangible reminder
Szasz 1974/2003) have argued that mental ill- that neither being mentally healthy nor social
ness is a political and social construct more adjusted undoes sin. My sin remains as an in-
than a matter of biology. This doesn’t mean the delible residue of Adam’s transgression and my
concept of mental illness is of no value. But we choices, and it always remains beyond the reach
are social beings and not atomistic individuals; of even the most sophisticated psychotherapy.
nor are we machines who function according
to the laws of biological determinism. All suffe-

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