Horizontal and Vertical (Life/Faith)
“One of the parishioners of my church is a man…I knew him for several years. He would come to confession about once a year, right before Lent, and his confession went something like this: “Father, I repent, I am a sinner, but I don’t have any major sins—I live like everyone else.” I tried to talk to him, asking if he read the Gospel or prayed at home. He would shrug and reply, “No time, father—work, family, this and that. But I try to be a good person.” And I could see he wasn’t being hypocritical. He truly tried to be good. But his “being good” was somehow… horizontal. He was nice to other people, but he lacked a vertical dimension—he had no heaven.” (Priest Leonid Bartkov)
“If there is no Christ, then there is no Heaven and no vertical of ascent to Him. If there is no Christ, then there is only a horizontal line ending in a chasm. Rather, in two terrible chasms: those of hypocrisy and of selfish introspection.” (Priest Tarasiy Borozenets)
“The primary vector in this complex of relationships [God and man] is vertical, that is, the relationship of man to God. Yet this vertical relationship with God is incomplete without the secondary, horizontal vector - the relationship of each human person to all other human persons. The bonding agent in this relationship of persons - God and humanity - is mutual love. The ultimate example is provided by the Holy Trinity, where the bond among the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is reciprocal love. Therefore, the bond among the persons who constitute humanity must also be reciprocal love. One person cannot love himself. To be an authentic human being one must be in communion with other persons "loving one another in reciprocal relationship. The Christian way is in communion, each person with each other and all with God. For "God wants all men (human beings) to be saved and receive His Truth" (1 Tim 2:4).” (Rev. Dr. George C. Papademetriou)
“So prayer is the greatest gift to man, not only because it connects man to God, but because it is also the need and the solution for all things that man faces. People imagine that their problems and worries can be solved on the horizontal level, through human capacities. No doubt something of this is necessary, but everything without exception, all the cares and difficulties should first be faced with prayer, that is on the vertical level, by casting them at the feet of Jesus. It is no surprise that the Lord said, "Come to me all who are burdened and heavy-laden and I will give you rest." Our rational solutions and initiatives are not always correct, but the Lord God knows exactly what we need. This is why through prayer, through putting the matter in God's hands, through giving oneself and one's concerns over, one finds the appropriate solution to all one's problems!” (Fr. Touma Bitar)
“Love is right at the top of the list in relating to God and to other people (1 John 4:7–21). Once again, the Lord is defining true religion. It is always horizontal (directed toward other people) as well as vertical (directed toward God). If we love God, we will be just and merciful to other people (Mic. 6:8; James 1:26–27)…if we believe in God’s love, we ought to love Him and one another. If we want to participate in God’s love, manifest fully on the Cross, then we should remember that the Cross formed with two bars—the vertical bar is our love for God, and the horizontal bar is love for man. If we are missing either one, then our love is no longer Christian love.” (Foundation Study Bible, Isaiah 58:6, Holy Cross Monastery)
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