The Fugitives from God¹

Tens and hundreds of millions believe in God, and they pray and fast. But many of these believers flee from God! That is, they flee from life with Him, from His love, from the spiritual life to which He calls them, or from certain tasks to which He calls them… So why do all these people flee? And how do they flee? And do they continue in their flight, or do they return?

There are people who flee from God because of their desires. They feel that their life with God will deprive them of desires they do not want to abandon. An example of this is the atheist existentialists, who see that the commandments of God prevent them from fulfilling their desires and fulfilling their existence through them. So the feeling of each one of them is: “It is better that God does not exist, so that I may exist!”

Or like a person who says: “If I walk with God, I will be divided against myself, and I will enter into a struggle between the spirit and the flesh, and a struggle between good and evil, and I do not want to enter into struggles! So it is better for me to stay away from this path of God and His commandments!”

These people are exhausted by their desires, not by the commandments of God, but they do not want to face this reality because they fear it. They are like a person suffering from a serious illness who flees from doctors, from examinations, X-rays, and tests, in order to rest—if only with an illusory rest—escaping from reality because reality exhausts him.

There are also people who see that those who are far from God are comfortable, and can manage their affairs in all sorts of ways: with a small lie that covers every mistake, with a forged medical report that justifies every absence, with bribery and favoritism every task is completed, with moral laxity many friends can be gained, with two flattering phrases leaders can be won over and deceived, with a bit of light hypocrisy one can obtain people’s respect and praise, and with a harsh blow and a hidden conspiracy all opponents can be eliminated… Whereas the path of the Lord is difficult and full of restrictions and obstacles! So why walk in it?! Therefore such people see that fleeing from God is better! Or some see that the way of God does not suit the age! It does not suit what civilization, modern ideas, and the nature of society have reached. They say that those who walk with God are “old-fashioned,” not yet civilized. So staying away from them and from the way of God is better, in order for a person to keep his reputation as a refined, civilized individual… They also see that modern society mocks these reserved people, and thus they flee from God.

Some people flee from God because of spiritual terms that trouble them: for the spiritual life involves self-examination, a life of repentance, and spiritual growth. All these matters are tiring in the eyes of such people. One of them says: What does it mean that I should sit and examine myself and discover that I have weaknesses and falls, and enter into the humiliation of regret and the feeling of guilt, and also into the fatigue of conscience and its rebuke! What have I to do with all this?

Fleeing from it is better, so that I may live comfortably. Such a person is like someone who has a boil or abscess and does not want to open it and clean what is inside. Rather, he thinks that he can leave it as it is and rest!… And repentance, for them, is abandoning a life that appears beautiful in their eyes. So what is the need to walk in repentance and lose the sinful life of pleasure?

Thus fleeing from all this is better, and consequently fleeing from God, who calls for repentance and a change of life. Such people live in a constant state of spiritual numbness, or in a state of unconsciousness in regard to their conscience. They flee from their reality and flee from God.

There are also those who flee from God because they have something they are keen to protect—and fear that God will take it from them. There are those who are keen on their money, or appearances of greatness, or a harshness by which they subdue people, or managing worldly entertainment, or fame in amusements, or wrongful means that bring them what they desire… If they walk in the way of God, He will deprive them of all that. So the ideal situation is to flee from God. Some flee from God because of despair, for they see that the walk in the way of God is long and its extent unknown. For God does not only want us in a life of repentance, but He also asks of us spiritual growth until we reach a life of holiness or possible perfection. Who can do all this?! And who can, in every virtue, progress until reaching its summit?! Thus fleeing from God is better.

And there are many other reasons for fleeing from God. Those who flee from Him also flee from everything related to God: they flee from places of worship, from reading the word of God and His commandments, from meditating on the life of virtue, from spiritual gatherings, from everyone who rebukes them for their wrong path, and from everyone who calls them to change their way of life.

And we say to all of these: No matter how much you flee from God, He will seek after you to draw you to Himself. And David the Prophet spoke truly when he said to God in the Psalm: “Where shall I go from Your Spirit, and where shall I flee from Your face?”

We also tell them that this flight is not for your benefit. You must face reality with courage and honesty. And the first reality you must face is your eternity—that is, your eternal destiny. To what end will the reality in which you live lead you? Therefore you must confront yourself. And you cannot numb your conscience forever. A day must come when it awakens. And then what will you do?

A great problem faces people, namely: How will a person leave his sin when he loves it?! As though the one who leaves sin will remain with the same heart that desires it! No: for when God brings the repentant back to Him, He grants him a new heart, different from the heart that used to desire sin. And He grants him a special grace that leads him in the new path. So do not give the devil a chance, he who tries to show you the difficulty of the road to God and convince you to flee from Him.

¹ An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, published in Al-Ahram Newspaper on 17-8-2008.

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