There was a boy named Joseph who was raised in an upstanding family, being taught to love and respect all of mankind and all of God's creation. He was taught to take the shirt off of his back to clothe the naked, to share his lunch with someone hungering, to help the elderly, and so on. He was taught from a young age to ignore insults aimed at him as much as possible, knowing that it was usually better to put up with having your name tarnished than to start a fight. He had immense love for his parents because they were able to guide him into the most beautiful way of living, free from enslavement to hatred and selfishness. One day at school, a very mean boy started to insult him and accuse him of all sorts of evil. Joseph was able to endure the insults and lies, and tried to find ways to stop the conflict, but the mean boy would not back down. Then the boy frustrated that he was not able to cause Joseph to stumble and retaliate, began to insult Joseph's dear Mother. He began to call her all kinds of names and accuse her of all sorts of sinful behavior. Here, Joseph could no longer let the insults and false accusations go without response. It was one thing to put up with attacks to himself, but another thing to publicly shame his Mother, who was the most important person to him. He now found himself willing to fight on behalf of someone he loved very much.
This fictitious story that is not at all too uncommon for many growing up only a few decades ago, illustrates the beautiful love ingrained in the human soul for those we know to be Holy. Much like how the Saints in the Old Testament were willing to endure fire, lions, and other forms of torture before they would ever dream of denouncing God or allowing His name to be disgraced, we likewise are willing to suffer harm to protect the name of our loved ones. Why is it that we can treat humans in a similar way in which we respect God? Could it be that these holy people that we respect and love really are icons, images of our God in their godly virtues? Could it be that the whole purpose of our lives is to grow together in this world recognizing the need to love one another as members of Christ, whether actual or potential? Is the everyday life we live really detached from the spiritual life that we think about when we ponder on "religion"? Wouldn't it make more sense that our life events and relationships are more important than just mundane happenstances that are completely unrelated to our spiritual life?
Many people outside of the Orthodox Church have developed the idea that it is wrong to pray to and venerate the Saints. They have been taught that when we die as Christians, we no longer have any concerns for our fellow man still struggling on the Earth, but are in Heaven experiencing some form of bliss. This mistaken view really undermines the whole Christian Faith. What is it to be in Heaven? What is the Kingdom of God? Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ clearly taught that the Church is Christ, and that each person in the Church is a member of the Body of Christ, with Christ as the head. We are interconnected and dependent on each other on this side of death and on the other side. We must become Holy as God is Holy and have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. The Orthodox Faith has always taught that the prayers of Holy men are powerful and able to make the seemingly impossible, possible. We even believe that we can pray to God for the forgiveness of our brothers' sins as taught by St. John the Theologian in his first general epistle. We also believe that our Lord calls Holy men His friends and that when they die in the flesh, He receives them into His heavenly mansions so that where Christ is, there they also may be. These ones receive the Glory of God and become one with God as mentioned by St. John in the 17th chapter of his Holy Gospel. If while on Earth, Holy members of Christ's Bride where able to peer into Heaven and read men's hearts and see invisible choirs of angels and other such mystical experiences, all the more when they are in Heaven are they capable of knowing what is happening on earth and hearing those who appeal to them. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, it is very clear that Abraham knows all of the dealings that were going on on Earth with the Jews, which occurred long after his death in the flesh. Our God is a God of the Living, not of the Dead. If while alive in the flesh as recorded in the Holy Book of Acts of the Apostles, Philip was able to be transported wherever Christ needed him to help bring others to the Church, imagine the power of the Saints when not limited by the heaviness of the mortal body.
From all of these examples it is clear that heavenly life right now consists in nothing else but fighting for the salvation of mankind that is still struggling against the demons, the world, and our passions. God has made man with the reality of living amongst others to teach us how to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of others, the most effective way to teach us to Love as God Loves. We failed at learning from lessons in the Garden and fell into darkness and death as a result, but God in His Providence knew that we would learn from experience once we experienced the harsh realities of sin and death. We now must die to the prideful rebellious man that we once were and live in Christ in humility, obedience, and Love. We must sacrifice ourselves for the betterment of others as Christ did for us. Our Loving God made salvation dependent on each other in a secondary way to his loving forgiveness. Without the Most Holy Mother of God, Christ could not destroy the power of death in the flesh. Without the Holy and Righteous Apostles, the Faith would not have been preached in all of the earth. Without the holy martyrs of the first few centuries, the Church would not have grown and developed such committed members. Without our parents or friends or family we would not have learned the beautiful truths of the glorious revelation of God to man. We are all indebted to many of mankind for being passed down the Faith of the Church. As icons of Christ, the Holy Saints are very worthy of our veneration. May we always remember the great cloud of witnesses that we have in Heaven that have gone before us and pray night and day for our salvation. May we be found worthy to join their ranks in this life and in the life to come.
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