THE EVILS BORN FROM “HEDONISTIC”
MELODIES
The second sense is that of hearing and
one must be careful to guard it from corrupt melodies, which are composed for
pleasure and which pour out the sweet honey of sound unto the ears. It seems to
me that there are three evils that come from such melodies. First, these
hedonistic and worldly songs tend to weaken the manly and proud bearing of the
soul so that it becomes effeminate and lethargic as it listens to these sweet
sounds. Secondly, these sensual songs tend to fill up the mind with the many
passionate images which they describe. Thirdly, let us suppose that even if the
persons doing the singing are not seen -- and especially when these may be women
-- nevertheless the songs themselves are capable of impressing the imagination,
moving the desire of the heart and drawing out an asset from the soul. This is
why St. Basil taught us: “Do not submit your souls to corrupt melodies that come
to us through the ears. Many passions that enslave us have been caused to grow
in our natures by this sort of music.” St. Gregory the Theologian in one of his
paschal homilies said: “Let us not have the flute played to our hearing.” And in
his Iambic Poetry he wrote, “Block your ears with wax, and foolish words hear
not, nor pleasant songs or thrilling melodies…”
THE PROBLEM OF SLANDER
You must definitely shut your ears to
slanderous remarks against other persons, as is commanded by God: “You shall not
utter a false report” (Exodus 23:1). You must be especially careful to oppose
the slanders leveled against the clergy. St. Paul when writing to Timothy said:
“Never admit any charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three
witnesses” (I Timothy 5:19). Open therefore only one of your ears to hear the
words of slander according to the example of Alexander the Macedonian. Do not by
any means allow yourself to open both ears to the slanderers and to draw your
conclusions and decisions on the basis of what they alone have to say, and
thereby judging the case “in absentia” without the presence of the person
slandered to defend himself.
Oftentimes many unjust and irrational
decisions have followed from slanderous accusations. St. Basil noted that each
slanderer is unjust to three different persons: to himself for lying, to the
hearers who may be misled and deceived, and to the person slandered for
destroying his good reputation and honor. “For this very reason then I beseech
your love in Christ not to accept the slanders presented onesidedly as at all
true. For, as it is written, the law does not judge anyone unless the judge
listens and finds out what indeed the defendant has done.
It is therefore necessary not to keep
silent before such slanders, not that we will avenge ourselves through
controversy, but rather because by not conceding (to the slanderer) we do not
promote falsehood and do not allow those deceived to fall into harm. He who
slanders does harm to three persons at the same time. First of all he is unjust
to the person he has slandered; he also harms those persons who have to listen
to his slander; finally the slanderer harms himself… “
It goes without saying, of course, that
while one must avoid the many abuses of hearing, one must also be more inclined
to utilize this important sense of hearing for the many positive ways available
to us in our Christian way of life; to listen to the word of God, to attend and
participate in the worship services of the Church, to sing hymns of praise and
thanksgiving to God, to listen with compassion and understanding to the concerns
of your fellow human beings, and to do so many other positive things with our
wonderful sense of hearing.
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