Virtues are the fruits that everyone is required to put forth in his/her spiritual journey towards Christian perfection. “Every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” (Matt 3:10) That is what the Lord tells us about the importance of these fruits. However, before we proceed any further, let us listen to what the Lord further tells us, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:4_5)

So, the first rule of bringing fruit is this, “without me you can do nothing” No one can produce fruit by his/her effort only. It is God Who makes us fruitful.

God is like a farmer who owns a land and Who hires a servant to look after the land. The Land and the seeds are owned by God, even the fertilizer is owned by God. God sends the rain and the sunshine that are required for the cultivation. But the hired servant has to till the land, put the seeds, pull out the weeds and put the fertilizer then harvest the fruits of his labour. But, in spite of his work, the hired servant has no merit in what he does and so are we as the Lord tells us, “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” (Luke 17:10)

Virtues do not just happen, one has to train for them in the appropriate way. Virtues are often likened to a ladder with many steps that leads from earth to heaven. Some of the virtues are at the bottom of the ladder, others are at the top. The Fathers tell us that we cannot “skip” but rather shouldascend the ladder of virtues in an orderly fashion.

At the bottom of the ladder are the two basic virtues of obedience and patience. At the top of the ladder are the higher virtues of humility and love. Love is considered the highest of all virtues, it is often called, “the all- encompassing virtue” One that has love will have all the other virtue also.

In the training for virtues, we are advised to take them one at a time. Once we have finished our training in one we should start on the next step up the ladder.

Virtues are cumulative, training in one virtue make it easier to acquire the next one. For example, if you train yourself in obedience and patience, meekness will be at your grasp. And once you have mastered meekness, you are at the doorsteps of humility and so on.

Training needs a trainer or a coach. No one can make it in athletics without a coach, neither can one be a successful “athlete for Christ” without a coach. Your coach is your Father in confession. He should be in charge of your training program. If you have read and understood the last chapter, then you will surely have discovered the perils of trying to do it on your own.

Obedience and patience are considered pre-requisites for all the other virtues. You cannot have fruit in any other virtue if you have not mastered these basic virtues. The reasons given for this is that if you have no obedience, you will not follow the instructions given by the trainer! And, obviously, there will be no progress. Likewise, without patience you will not b able to persevere in your training until you bring forth fruit.

In the parable of the sower, our Lord tells us, “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:15)

In the remainder of this chapter we will be considering some practical “techniques” in the training for obedience and patience.

OBEDIENCE:

Obedience is subjecting your will to the will of another. The Fathers took great pains in training their novice disciples in this very important basic virtue. We are all familiar with Saint John Colobos (the short), who was told by his trainer to take a stick, put it in the ground and water it every day! Another abbot told a novice to stand at the door of the monastery and bow himself down to everyone entering through the door, begging him, “Please pray for me for I am a leper!” This may seem ludicrous to you and me, but that shows you how seriously those Fathers of the desert took training for virtues. And before passing judgment on their “techniques” please look at the results or the fruits. After years of toiling to water the stick, the stick budded and brought fruit, and the “master” took the fruits to the other monks telling them, “Come eat of the fruit of obedience.”

To be truly obedient, you do not have to agree with the request. And the more objectionable the request, the more reward you will get for your obedience. When God asked Abraham to offer his only son Isaac as a sacrifice, Abraham never stopped for a moment to inquire if this request was “reasonable”, he just did it. Of course God never intended to have Abraham slay his Son. God gave Abraham this seemingly “unreasonable” request to test his obedience, and he was generously rewarded for this obedience

In the same manner, you do not score points for being obedient in things that you like or agree with, you score points when you practice obedience in things that you disagree with or don’t like to do. For example, if your dad tells you, “Get dressed because we are going out to have dinner in your favourite restaurant” and you say “Yes sir!” I do not think that you will be rewarded by God for this kind of obedience! But if dad asks you to help him in shovelling the snow or mowing the grass, or mom asks you to help with the dishes and you say “Yes sir” or “Yes Mam” that is when you get rewarded.

One important aspect of obedience is that it should be “In the Lord” “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.” (Eph 6:1) The request has to be according to the teachings of the Bible, because, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29)

THE TRAINING FOR OBEDIENCE:

Having consulted with your Father in confession, and sincerely prayed to God to initiate you, and sustain you in this endeavour, you can now start the work of training. Start early in the morning, by reviewing all the chances that God gives you to practice this wonderful virtue. Start by making a resolve to be obedient throughout the day to your parents, your teacher, or your husband or wife. Say to yourself. “I am not doing this for them but for God’s sake” Once you have made this resolution, do it without hesitation. It may be hard in the beginning, especially if your dad or mom ask you to help in some errand during your favourite soap opera! Force yourself to do it for the sake of succeeding in your effort to implant this wonderful virtue in your soul.

If the errand is boring you to death, just try to entertain yourself by saying to yourself, “Hey, my parents think that I am being obedient to them, they don’t know that I am doing this for my own good!” And if the errand is very objectionable, console yourself by saying to yourself, “I am doing this to get a reward from God not from my parents (or my husband or wife).”

Do not ask yourself if the request is reasonable or not, just do it for the sake of acquiring the virtue of obedience. As a matter of fact, the more unreasonable the request, the more quickly you will acquire the virtue. A classical example given in the wonderful little book “The Way of the Ascetics” is this: Your wife tells you, “Take the umbrella for it is going to rain today” You look outside and it is sunshine, not a single cloud in the sky, and you tell yourself, “There is no way it is going to rain today!” well, maybe you are right, but this is a wonderful chance to practice obedience for obedience’ sake. And if people give you strange looks for carrying an umbrella on a day like this, smile and say to yourself , “They have no idea what I am doing this for!”

To be obedient is to be prompt in doing what you are asked to do. The two classical answers that young people give when asked to do something are these, “Do I have to?” and “In a minute!” Of course that minute takes forever. If you are serious about your training in the virtue of obedience, you have to force yourself to be prompt.

A story that illustrates this is the story of a monk called “Mark the Calligrapher” who lived in a monastery with other monks. The monks made a complaint to the Bishop that the Abbot of the monastery loves Mark more than the others! The Bishop came to investigate, and asked the Abbot about this, and he said, come and I will show you. The Abbot went knocking on the doors of the cells of the monks and each one of them said, “I am coming,” only to open the door minutes later. When he knocked on the door of Mark, the door was opened instantly. The abbot took the Bishop inside to where Mark was sitting to work. There was a manuscript that Mark was inscribing, and in it was an unfinished vowel. Mark heard the knock on the dear and did not wait to finish the vowel he was inscribing before opening the door. When the Bishop saw that he said, “Not only do I understand why you love him but now I love him too!”

How long should I do this? If you are sincere in doing these exercises in the way described, it will probably take you no more than two weeks to ingrain this wonderful virtue in your soul. It will be difficult in the beginning but later on, it will be effortless. Obedience will become a second nature to you!

PATIENCE:

The importance of patience is given to us by the Lord Himself. Speaking of the Great Tribulation that will come before His second coming, the Lord tells us, “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” (Matt 10:22) and again, “In your patience possess ye your souls.” (Luke 21:19)

In speaking of these last days that precede His second coming, the Lord tells us, “when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8) and again, “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” (Matt 24:12) What this means is that faith and love will be weakened in those perilous days, but “he that endureth (is patient) to the end shall be saved.” And by patience one can possess (or preserve) his soul. Patience may be the virtue that saves one in those last days.

The Book of Revelation, which speaks to us about the last days, again stresses the importance of patience in overcoming the difficulties of those last days. “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” (Rev 14:12)

But patience is not only important for survival in the last days, it is important for our spiritual survival period. “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” (Heb 10:36) Even after doing the will of God we still need patience in order to receive the promises of God. “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.” (James 5:7) Patience is what keeps us going, and struggling towards perfection, in the hope for the “precious fruit.” Again, “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” so tells us Saint Paul (Heb 12:1). Notice that St. Paul likens our spiritual struggle for perfection to an athletic race!

THE TRAINING FOR PATIENCE:

Like with any other virtue, ask the guidance of your Father in confession, then pray to God asking Him to guide you in using the many occasions that he grants you everyday in order to practice patience. Do not, however, imitate the person who prayed to God saying, “God please give me patience, and I want it right now!”

God, in His love towards us gives us plenty of chances to practice and acquire this important virtue of patience. Unfortunately, because we are not “tuned” towards God properly, we fail to realize these opportunities and most of the time we miss taking advantage of them.

For example, you are out of a job and it has been two month now. You have sent hundreds of resumes to various places, you have been praying fervently, but, alas, not a single response. You start blaming God and asking, “Why is God doing this to me?” The answer is this, God is giving you a golden opportunity to practice patience. It is the easiest thing for God to give you a job right away, but an instant job will not lead you into the Kingdom of Heaven, patience will. So, God gives you a chance to practice and acquire patience, and the sooner you do it, the sooner he will give you that job!

More often than not, we are absorbed in the problem, trying to find out why is God doing this, or trying to solve it on our own without ever realizing why God in His mercy is sending us this problem. Saint Paul tells us in Romans 8:28, “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” That means every thing that happens to us is for our own good, if we love God. A wise person then, as soon as something happens that he does not understand, should ask himself, what message is God sending me? What virtue does God want me to practice now?

Saint Paul again tells us in Hebrews 12:11, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” What this means is this, even though initially, the problem may not be something that brings joy to us, yet if we use it as an exercise in patience, the fruits will give us peace and joy.

“My kids are driving me crazy!” said a mother to me, and I told her, you are lucky! Your kids are the school of virtue which will lead you to eternal life, you should thank God for them!

The Bible tells us again and again that “problems” are good for us because they teach us patience. “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (James 1:3_4) That means, trials and tribulations create patience in us, but we are warned that this “work of patience” has to be perfected (through practice) before we ourselves reach our goal of Christian perfection.

Saint Paul tells us the same thing in Romans 5:3_4, “tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience.”

Once we get it into our heads that all difficulties that are sent our way are meant for our own good, that we may through them exercise ourselves and be experienced in patience, we will have no problem acquiring this saving virtue.

Having recognized the “problem” as an opportunity to practice patience, I have to prepare my mind for using this opportunity to its fullest potential, or “let the patience have its perfect work” as Saint James tells us.

If it has been two months without an interview, I should resolve within my mind, “Even if it takes two years without a job, in order to acquire perfect patience, I will endure it.” Comfort yourself by saying, “God loves me, and that is why he wants to give me the incorruptible instead of the corruptible, the heavenly instead of the earthly and the eternal instead of the temporal.”

Strengthen yourself by saying, “ The sooner I resolve within myself to ‘endure to the end’ the sooner will God solve the problem for me.”

One of the saints once said, “You cannot describe to someone the taste of honey, he has to taste it himself.” What this means is, you have to try this yourself. You have to exercise yourself in this virtue faithfully before you feel the sweet results of your exercise. And the results are worth it. For they will endure with you. Once you have completed this exercise successfully, the experience will remain with you till the end of your life. You will always go back to the same resolve that you initially showed and remember the sweet fruits of that resolve, how God after giving you the grace of patience throughout your tribulation, has lifted your tribulation and has given you more than you ever hoped or asked for. You are now well grounded in patience and ready to move on to the next step on the ladder that leads to Christian perfection.