ORTHODIXIE ... Southern, Orthodox, Convert, Etc.

I heard this rumour last week on a nationally broadcast radio program. I googled it and found no stories on the Net. The radio show, Coast-to-Coast AM, was interviewing a priest about some nuttiness or other and he made the claim that the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria was assasinated (helicopter tragedy) by Muslim terrorists because he had refused to remove his missionaries from West Africa.

Now another rumour surfaces, this time in the blogosphere:

NEWEST ON PETROS VII: According to one of my professors, who just returned from Greece, the press in Greece is saying that new evidence has been recovered about the helicopter accident that killed Petros VII,the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria, along with others on Sept 11, 2004 (the date sets off a number of bells, no?).

The crash site has been examined and the evidence investigators expected to find is not there: the propellers were intact. Thus, the current theory is that the "accident" was indeed caused by a bomb.

As you may know, Vladimir Putin was scheduled to be on that helicopter but changed his plans so that Petros VII could travel to the Holy Mountain.

We may never know the cause of this tragedy. But if any of you find news stories with an "explanation" I'd appreciate notice.

May their memory be eternal!


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I despise politics wholeheartedly: thus I am neither a Bolshevik, nor a National Socialist, nor an anti-Semite. I am a neutral Swiss and even in my own country I am uninterested in politics because I am convinced that 99% of politics are mere symptoms and anything but a cure for social evils. About 50% of politics is definitely obnoxious inasmuch as it poisons the utterly incompetent mind of the masses.

A statement by Carl Jung when visiting the United States in 1936

While reading the latest Jung biography, the above quote leapt out at me (especially in light of Huw's recent comment ).
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Why do they put rubber tires with inner tubes on cars? So that they give in, to collapse a little with every little stone or pothole on the road, and in this way they pass obstacles. If the wheels were firm and unyielding, the car wouldn't be able to move forward. It would fall apart after a short distance because of the vibration from the small inconsistencies of terrain. The same things happens with yielding to others in the family. In this way many problems are surpassed and continuous spiritual progress is assured.

Elder Epiphanios of Athens

(Stolen from Fr Josiah Trenham's Daily Devotional)

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... than to be in Carolina in the morning" (as the song goes).

"Be prepared." I used to be a Boy Scout. My family went camping Sunday afternoon through Tuesday afternoon at a place called Bear Den in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. We usually camp in a tent. But since the forecast, thanks to Hurricane Jeanne, was calling for rain on Monday and Tuesday, we opted for a little rustic cabin. It was basically two rooms, with a full sized bed in the front room and a set of bunks in the back. No facilities/utilities -- save it did have electricity! Being a camping purist, I was a little disappointed with the electricity part, but I acquiesced.

Sunday was beautiful and the camping grounds were basically deserted except for a family from Raleigh with kids the same ages as our own. We grilled out BBQ chicken on the Coleman, as the fire pit was not suited for cooking. Enjoyed watching the clouds race past an almost full moon as the effects of the tropical storm headed our way. It was supposed to begin raining on Sunday evening.

Nope.

When I awoke to the quiet sounds of no rain, again being a camping purist, I told my wife, "Now that we're in this cabin ... it had better rain!" We cooked bacon, eggs, grits, and toast on the Coleman. It was sprinkling during meal prep -- which allowed me to play chef in my new poncho. After breakfast it began to rain in earnest. Yeah!

We headed toward Linville Caverns only to find the road was washed out and impassable thanks to the past couple hurricanes. Turned back and our alternative route was also impassable. Called the Caverns and they got us there via another way. The kids really enjoyed being in the caverns. Thanks to the road mess, we were the only folks there and got our own private tour! We'd also hoped to visit Linville Falls or Linville Gorge, but road blockage would have made for long detours.

After grabbing lunch in downtown Spruce Pine and grocery shopping, we headed back to our cabin in the rain. (Purist or no, it sure is nice to walk into a dry cabin versus a damp tent on such a rainy day!) We had a few hours before dinner and Helen, the two year old, was napping in the back. What to do? Well, twelve years ago, my wife and I went to Paris. We'd heard there were McDonald's restaurants in Paris and, perish the thought, had vowed not to eat there! We did ... on three different occasions. In the same vein, I never thought I'd do this, I popped a DVD into my laptop for the two older kids to watch ... and me and the missuz retired to the porch to read and enjoy the rain in the forest.

Thank God for Coleman burners & stoves! Hotdogs for dinner. We'd actually planned to have Brats -- which, like they do in Wisconsin, we prep by simmering in beer with onions. Guess what? The counties we were in were dry (no alcohol). Being a Nashotah grad and thus Brat purists, we opted for hotdogs. With it pouring rain, we were all in bed by 9:30 pm.

On Tuesday morning the sky cleared up and it was beautiful and windy. Plan A had been to visit & hike around Grandfather Mountain. The rain invited Plan B: To travel to Blowing Rock and eat at Woodlands BBQ & Picking Parlor. This was a favorite restaurant of ours when my wife and I were dating. In fact, they catered our rehearsal dinner. From there, we'd planned to go to the Candy Barrel -- which is near the original Mast General Store in Valle Crucis.

The Northern Mountains are stunning this time of year -- even when rainy, windy, and foggy. But we got to the Candy Barrel ... and it was closed. The parking lot was nothing but mud and debris. The sign said, "Closed due to flooding. Hope to reopen Oct 1st" -- seems the damage from hurricanes is omnipresent in Western North Carolina. The kids, especially Mary Catherine (age 10), were very disappointed. We rode by the church where we were married (Nov.28.1997), Holy Cross Episcopal, and headed out of Valle Crucis toward home.

Thanks be to God -- safe travel (and no news anchors)!
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Over on Catechumen's Walk there's been a discussion of the nature of the Holy Trinity (Inner-Trinitarian Relationships, 9/22/04). Here follows St Basil the Great, whose treatise "On the Holy Spirit" is a classic exposition of trinitarian doctrine:

When the Lord taught us the doctrine of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, He did not make arithmetic a part of this gift! He did not say, "In the first, the second, and the third," or "In one, two, and three." He blessed us with the knowledge given us by faith, by means of holy Names. We are saved through faith; numbers have been invented as symbols of quantity. These men bring ruin on themselves through every possible source; they have even turned man's ability to count against the faith! Numbers cannot change the nature of anything, yet these men honor arithmetic more than the divine nature, lest they give the Paraclete more honor than He is due! But the Unapproachable One is beyond numbers, wisest sirs; imitate the reverence shown by the Hebrews of old to the unutterable name of God. Count if you must, but do not malign the truth. Either honor Him Who cannot be described with your silence, or number holy things in accord with true religion. There is one God and Father, one Only-Begotten Son, and one Holy Spirit. We declare each Person to be unique, and if we must use numbers, we will not let stupid arithmetic lead us astray to the idea of many gods.

If we count, we do not add, increasing from one to many. We do not say, "one, two, three," or "first, second, and third." God says, "I am the first and I am the last." We have never to the present day heard of a second God. We worship God from God, confessing the uniqueness of the persons, while maintaining the unity of the Monarchy. We do not divide divine knowledge and scatter the pieces to the winds; we behold one Form (so to speak) united by the invariableness of the Godhead, present in God the Father and God the Only-Begotten. The Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son; what the Father is, the Son is likewise and vice-versa -- such is the unity. As unique Persons, they are one and one; as sharing a common nature, both are one. How does one and one not equal two Gods? Because we speak of the emperor, and the emperor's image -- but not two emperors. The power is not divided, nor the glory separated. One is the dominion and authority over us; we do not send up glories to God, but glory; the honor given the image passes to the prototype. The image of the emperor is an image by imitation, but the Son is a natural image; in works of art the likeness is dependent on its original form, and since the divine nature is not composed of parts, the union of the persons is accomplished by partaking of the whole. The Holy Spirit is one, and we speak of Him as unique, since through the one Son He is joined to the Father. He completes the all-praised and blessed Trinity. He is not ranked with the plurality of creation, but is described in the singular; this is sufficient evidence of His intimacy with the Father and the Son. He is not one of many but one only: just as there is one Father and one Son, there is one Holy Spirit. Reason demands that the singular is separated from the plural or compound; therefore He does not share created nature. He is united to the Father and the Son as unit dwells with unit.

There's more where that came from. It's a wonderful study in theological debate of the time -- its lessons for all time.
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Well by now you all know that I'm going camping with Hurricane Jeanne ... and, of course, Dan Rather ... for the next few days. Do not believe whatever he says or does not say regarding my participation in the camping trip on the Evening News. I'll have a full report upon returning. Probably singing a new song to an old tune: "Camping in the Rain!"

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One of my favorite stories ...

During a press conference, the pious Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, was once asked how long he prayed each day.

"About one minute," he replied.

Those gathered were aghast! He continued ...

"But it takes about two hours to do it."

Sounds pretty Orthodox to me.

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This is making its way around the Net. I stole it from World. All I know is, I better not dream about it! (Oh, and uh, pardon the "french".)

Sung to the tune from the Beverly Hillbillies:

Come and listen to my story 'bout a man named Dan,
The documents were fake and he didn't give a damn;
He put 'em on the air, an' he thought he'd done the job,
But up from the web come a howlin' mob.
Blogs, that is.
Web logs.
Checkin' facts.

Well, the first thing you know ol' Dan's a-runnin' fast; Made a
false report an' it bit him in the ass; He said 'dog-gonnit, I done
thought I'd get away!' But it turned out to be his a-reckonin' day.
Busted, that is.
Red-faced.
Mud in the eye.

Well, now it's time to say goodbye to Dan and all his men; And they
would like to shoot you folks for turnin' them in; You're all
invited back next week to watch the Evening News, And see which
correspondent's picked to fill Dan's empty shoes.
Y'all come back, now, hear?

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Okay, so I had this dream. In my dream, my wife had invited Dan Rather to go camping with us. Really!

(We are going on a camping trip next week.)

Anyway, I'm having this dream in which, a day or two before the camping trip, I discover that -- without asking my opinion -- she has invited Dan Rather to go with us.

So I called Dan.

I asked if he were bringing his own tent. He replied "No" that my wife had assured him we'd have enough room. Room, I say! We have three kids and a six man tent.

(Those of you who camp know that a six man tent is just big enough for four people.)

I imagined, while dreaming, canoeing with Dan Rather. I wondered if he visited my Blog site. Did you hear me? I wondered if Dan Rather, CBS news anchor, had visited Orthodixie! In my dream I thought:

Of course not, you moron!

That's probably about the time I realized that he wasn't in my canoe and I didn't have to worry about him sharing our tent. In other words, I woke up.

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So you heard the news about the Artist Formerly Known as Cat Stevens being denied entry into the US? Stephen Shwartz of the Weekly Standard explains why in an article entitled Is Cat Stevens a Terrorist?

In response to my article -- What's Good About the Priesthood -- I received an email asking about discernment. Lacking in that department -- discernment -- but full of stories, here is my edited reply:

Greetings XX!

I hope this finds you well. Thanks for your note.

I dunno. My track record in this area is limited and frustrating.

As to discernment, if you don't have one already -- find a good spiritual father who will help you in the discernment process. I was first ordained Episcopalian and my mentor prior to seminary was a great help.

I remember the first time I went to an Episcopal priest about my "call" -- I asked: "How did you wind up in those clothes?" Without blinking an eye he said, "Got tired of running from it." I knew right then and there that I was a goner. That was exactly what I'd been doing for years. He then went on to say that the first time he went to a bishop to discern the "call" -- the crotchety ol' bishop said, "Son, do you pray?" The man said he did. The bishop, rather sternly replied: "Pray to God you don't have this curse!"

[Recently, a fellow priest and I were talking] and, at the tail-end of a discussion, I said: "Well isn't that why we got into this 'business' in the first place?" He said, "No, I've finally come to figure it out. I became a priest out of arrogance ... God allows me to serve as a priest as a penance."

I think there's truth to all of the above.

Finally ... Now that a touch of fall is in the air, many of you may be thinking "naked yoga" -- am I right? If so, San Francisco is

the place to go.

(Lord have mercy)


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Thanks to Brad,

here's another humorous look at the Rather Mess.

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Dennis at Vita Mea does a good job at deciphering Mr Kerry's position on abortion; Thanks to Dawn.

James at Paradosis talks about the Ol' Time Religion.

In other news ... A preschool teacher told me today of a child whose parents are New Agers. They send the child to daycare every day telling her that if she wants to talk to them ... just talk to the crystal. Did you hear me? These parents send their kid to daycare with a rock, which they encourage their child to talk to. Gosh. In my day we thought Roman Catholics were weird.

Next thing you know Halloween will be the only religious holiday allowed to be celebrated at school.
Oh wait, that's already the case.

Can you hear me now?

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"A novice should first of all study the Lord's commandments in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. From the study of the commandments in these Evangelists combined with the actual practice of the commandments, the other Scriptures which constitute the New Testament also become more easily understandable. Moreover, the rules of the Church require that Scripture should be understood as the Holy Fathers explain it, and not at all arbirtrarily. By being guided in our understanding of the Gospel by the explanation of the Holy Fathers, by the explanation received and used by the Church, we keep the tradition of Holy Church."

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, THE ARENA

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As an update to last week's posts on the Dan Rather mess, here's an entertaining read. Props to Red.

Reader beware.

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“Okay, you’ve told us about the ‘bad’ in regards to the priesthood. Surely there’s something ‘good’ about being a priest ... right? What’s good about the priesthood?” This from the wife of a man who was flirting with a vocation. What did I say? I laughed. I had no answer. I asked the question of several colleagues -- they howled. What’s the “good” in priesthood?

More billows toss the priest’s soul than the gales which trouble the sea. - St. John Chrysostom, 4th c.

The trials of this world are not a stumbling block for the good; be just, and they will exercise you in virtue. When tribulation comes, it will be for you precisely, what you desire to make of it -- either a test or a damnation. Tribulation is a fire; has it found for you gold? If so, remove the dross. Has it found for you straw? If so, it will turn you to ashes. - St. Augustine, 5th c.

On the way home the other day I heard Ira Glass plugging his NPR radio show. In the ad, he spoke of a man who, even though Jesse Helms tried to persuade him, would not change the way he voted. When asked why, the man replied, “Jesse Helms just doesn’t understand the Conservative movement.” The next sound heard in the ad was hysterical laughter! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Believe me, that’s how my question was received. “What’s good about the priesthood?”

It is difficult to speak of the “good” in priesthood chiefly because a “good” is something we normally take pride in. Yet, pride is the sin that wipes away humility which is the very ministry to which priests are called. One thing must be said at the outset, by “good” we are not referring to “happy”. In other words, this good is not an emotion or a possession. For most, the priesthood will not provide earthly riches.

However, as with any vocation or profession, the priesthood does provide happy moments. There’s plenty of parties and celebrations, births, weddings, and social events included within the life of a priest. Yet the good in the priesthood may not resemble the happy things of life in the least. For a good is often something we glory in. “But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world”, writes St. Paul to the Galations (6:14).

Trying to grasp the good in priesthood -- using the common worldly understanding of good -- is like trying to hold onto smoke. Perhaps this is because our view of what is good and our experience of the priesthood seemingly have little in common. Why is this? Maybe God’s definition of good differs from ours? This is certainly the case.

I believe that unless one is actually called by the Providence of God to the Holy Priesthood, he will fail. Fr Alexander Schmemann wrote:

No one can take it upon himself to become a priest, to decide on the basis of his own qualifications, preparation and predispositions. The vocation always comes from above -- from God’s ordination and order. It is not ‘priesthood’ that the priest receives in his ordination, but the gift of Christ’s love, that love which made Christ the only Priest and which fills with this unique priesthood, the ministry of those whom He sends to His people.

Obedience to the call from God is inherently good. The Theotokos is our model in this call of obedience. By saying “yes” to God she bore the Salvation of the world which is Christ. In the same manner, a priest is called to be a type of God-bearer by his obedience. Then again, what was prophesied of Mary can be said of priests: “a sword will pierce through your own soul also”.
St. Gregory of Nazianzus teaches us:

The responsibility of pastoral office is great indeed, and no one ought to enter who has not deeply examined motive and ability, who has not struggled against call in the face of the Godly demands of office and the frailty of mere humanity, and for whom obedience alone is the yield of faithfulness.

Obedience is an intrinsic good. If a priest is obedient to the will and call of God -- that constitutes a good in itself. Without this good any fruit borne of his ministry will be dark and bitter. Soon the disobedient priest shall be but a barren and withered fig tree. Such is not the will and call of God.

Perhaps this is why we laugh without a ready answer to the question, “What’s good about the priesthood?” We laugh because, the truth is, we know all the wrong answers to the question. For there is nothing inherently good in JUST being a priest. God forbid that we should teach our children, female and male, that the most superior way to serve God is by being up front, in some “official” capacity. If we do, we’ve educated them in a falsehood.

Sacrifice is the essence of the priesthood. The priesthood of all believers (laity) the ordained priesthood (clergy) is filled with sacrifice. We betray this truth when we view participation around the altar, in front of the iconostasis -- up front -- as somehow superior to the indispensable ministry of the faithful as the sacrificing community of God.

Once a man has obeyed the call for ordination, he shall soon become acquainted with the essence of the priestly ministry: sacrifice. How can sacrifice be seen as a good? The same way “Good Friday” is good! That is, in sacrificing himself for others, the priest models Him Whom he re-presents. Sacrificing is life giving. The devil, though often disguised as an angel of light, refuses to sacrifice. Self-indulgence, i.e. not sacrificing, leads to death. Sacrifice differentiates good from evil. Sacrifice is inherently good. Sacrifice is to be offered on behalf of all and for all to the Triune God and Creator of all. Gregory of Nazianzus writes of the priest:

For he seeks not his own interests, but those of his children, whom he has begotten in Christ by the gospel. This is the aim of all his spiritual authority, in everything to neglect his own in comparison with the advantage of others.

When, in St. Matthew’s gospel, the rich young ruler approaches Christ and asks how to inherit eternal life, the query is prefaced by the salutation “Good Teacher”. “Why do you call Me good?” replies Christ, “No one is good but One, that is, God.” Herein lies the answer to our question. What is good about the priesthood? God. The immeasurable joy that one experiences when he and others are drawn into the never ending Mystery which is God is truly the good that fuels one’s priestly ministry.

The faith of the priest is continually enhanced by the faith of the flock. This faith understands its creator as a God of Mercy, Compassion, and Love for mankind. God works through people and the experience of this, sinful though we be, is a good that passes human understanding. The sacrificing priest reveals God to his flock and reconciles the people to God. This is the ministry of Christ which is made manifest in His priests. For it is not our ministry but God’s. It is not our priesthood, but Christ’s. George Florovsky says of priests:

They are acting primarily in persona Christi. They are representatives of Christ himself, not of believers; and in them and through them the head of the Body, the only High Priest of the New Covenant, is preforming, continuing and accomplishing his eternal pastoral and priestly office. He is himself the only true minister of the Church.

This ministry of obedience, sacrifice, revelation, and reconciliation is improbable -- nay impossible -- void of a special grace from God. Before a man can serve the priestly office he must be given a special charism, or gift, from God the Holy Spirit. This gift -- the grace of the priesthood -- is necessary for any and all good to come from this sacred ministry. During the ordination rite the Bishops prays:

O God great in might and inscrutable in wisdom, marvelous in counsel above the sons of men Do thou, the same Lord, fill with the gift of the Holy Spirit this man whom it hath pleased thee to advance to the degree of Priest; that he may be worthy to stand in innocency before thine Altar; to proclaim the Gospel of thy kingdom; to minister the word of thy truth; to offer unto thee spiritual gifts and sacrifices; to renew thy people through the laver of regeneration. That when he shall go to meet thee, at the Second Coming of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, thine Only-begotten Son, he may receive the reward of a good steward in the degree committed unto him through the plenitude of thy goodness.

The Holy Spirit is invoked upon the candidate in order for him to proclaim the Gospel, minister the word of truth, offer spiritual gifts and sacrifices, and to renew the people of God. Then, and only then, are the true good things of God bestowed upon him -- and that at the Last Day! Yet, the good that is found in between this life and the next is in being obedient to the call and charism. It is the struggle, the spiritual warfare, the unceasing love of God, and the promise of His Kingdom that are the good things this side of the grave. Without any of these, we have only Satan, sin, and death.

In obedience to God, the priest leads his flock toward their eternal reward with the Triune God. Again, St. Gregory writes:

But the scope of our art is to provide the soul with wings, to rescue it from the world and give it to God, and to watch over that which is in His image, if it abides, to take it by the hand, if it is in danger, or restore it, if ruined, to make Christ to dwell in the heart by the Spirit; and, in short, to deify, and bestow heavenly bliss upon, one who belongs to the heavenly host.

This shepherd will ‘take a stand with angels, and give glory with archangels, and cause the sacrifice to ascend to the altar on high, and share the priesthood of Christ, and renew the creature, and set forth the image, and create inhabitants for the world above, aye and, greatest of all, be God, and make others to be God.

The good in the priesthood is the Priesthood of Christ. The good in the priesthood is the “already and not yet” of the Kingdom of God. The priest re-presents the great High Priest, Jesus Christ, Who is the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of the world and its salvation. This same Christ, Who is God, is the Good of the priesthood. The priest must be ever mindful of this in order to faithfully serve his ministry in Christ.

However, in the process of re-presenting and sacrificing, the priest shall experience his own pain and suffering on behalf of all and for all to the glory of God.

He needs, therefore, a heroic spirit, not to grow despondent or neglect the salvation of the wanderers, but to keep on thinking and saying‘Peradventure God may give them the knowledge of the truth and they may be freed from the snare of the devil’ (St John Chrsostom).

Like Christ, the same people whom the priest serves shall crucify him. A parishioner once told me that each parish is every priest’s own personal Golgotha. Is this bad? No more than “Good Friday” is bad. For in dying to self, the priest is alive to others in Christ. This is not to say that crucifixion is inherently good. For the sacrifice pleasing to God is a contrite spirit and a humble heart. Again, St John Chrsostom:

The priest must be armed with weapons of steel -- intense earnestness and constant sobriety of life -- and he must keep watch in every direction, in case anyone should find a naked and unguarded spot and strike him a mortal blow. For everyone stands round him ready to wound him and strike him down, not only his enemies and foes, but many of those who pretend to love him.

What is good in this? Salvation. In the struggle of spiritual warfare, both within the priest and among his flock, the good fight is fought amid pain and suffering with the constant remembrance that God is with us. God’s presence does not always feel warm and fuzzy. Sometimes God is presented on the Cross. Sometimes the priest is made the “sacrificial lamb” by his peers -- even his own flock. At other times, the weight of suffering, both his own and that of others’, hones his ministry. This is a good which leads to compassion.

It is quite dizzying for the modern, materialistic, secularist mind to comprehend suffering as a good. Yet if we read Church History and the lives of the saints, we see that suffering is necessary for salvation in much the same way that death is necessary for eternal life. This is the ministry of the Compassionate One -- Who leads us toward compassion.

Compassion is the good fruit born of a faithful ministry to God and His people. This ministry begs us to recognize Christ in others. As God is compassionate, so are we to be. The priestly ministry is permeated with love and forgiveness. For there is no other way for us to reside in the will of God than to be living, loving, and forgiving. We either come by this willingly -- or through hard knocks. Either way, it is the will of God and shall be done, often in spite of ourselves.

The glory of the priesthood is the glory of the Cross. The good in priesthood does not belong to the priest -- nor to this earth. What is good about the priesthood is the recurring insight, provided by God’s grace, that one is doing the will of God. The good of the priesthood is in continually realizing that God is Good. The good of the priesthood is in sharing the goodness of God -- even His precious Body and Blood -- with others who, along with the priest, are unworthy of this great good. “No one is good but One, that is, God.” St. Gregory of Nazianzus states:

Yesterday I was crucified with Him; today I am glorified with Him, yesterday I died with Him; today I am quickened with Him; yesterday I was buried with Him; today I rise with Him. But let us offer to Him Who suffered and rose again for us ourselves, the possession most precious to God, and most fitting; let us give back to the Image what is made after the Image. Let us give all, offer all, to Him Who gave Himself a Ransom and a Reconciliation for us.

Thus, the glory which is to come fortifies the present ministry of the sacrificing priest. This is not only good -- but necessary for his salvation. Over and over again, the question, “What’s good in the priesthood?” is answered by one word: Christ. For in this ministry, over and over again, “We recognize that apart from him we can do nothing.” If we as priests are faithful in imparting this wisdom to those in our charge we shall receive the reward of a good steward at the Second Coming of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.


* The above paper was originally written for clergy and edited (unfortunately losing the footnotes) for this blog.

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Unexpectedly, several days earlier than predicted, Glory to God, we have power. It came back on yesterday afternoon. Others in our community are still without power and other utilities. Continued prayers coveted.

Mind you, I was (in many ways) enjoying the living with no power thing. But in other ways, I felt powerless.


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Quite a sight. Having lived in the South most of my life and in these Southern Mountains for the past 12 years -- I've never seen anything quite like the artistry left behind by Tropical Storm Ivan. Many businesses, particularly around the Biltmore area (near Asheville), are still closed due to flood damage from last week's storm, Frances. Frances pales in comparison to the work done by Ivan.

The county where I live has been without power for over 30 hours and, according to one radio report, we may not have power for several days. There's trees, limbs, and power lines down all around. Many roads, this morning they said over 150, are washed out and impassable. A portion of Interstate 40 (I-40), two east bound lanes, fell into the Pisgah River gorge yesterday. So that portion of a main artery to the West is closed.

I'm thankful that our family has accumulated quite a bit of camping gear over the past few years -- especially Coleman burner, grill, and lantern. To date, we're fine (thanks God).

I worry about the less fortunate and elderly (this area is a haven for retirees).

Continued prayers coveted.

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By Dr. Peter C. Bouteneff

Americans are approaching an important election this fall. All presidential elections are important, but few have been this close or this polarized. Those of us who seek to live and act in a way that is consistent with the life and theology of the Orthodox Church do well to reflect upon how we will act on November 2. Some Orthodox I know believe that the only way an Orthodox Christian could possibly vote is Republican/Conservative. Others whom I know have exactly the opposite impression. Where do we find ourselves in the political landscape today? There may not be a single answer for all Orthodox Christians, but we can at least clarify the questions.

1. Church and State
The relationship between Church and State has always been a delicate matter. History has seen experimentation with many possibilities, and the truth is that none have really worked. There is too great a variety of religious views among the governed and the governing. Looking at our own faith, Christ never set up a system of governance, but rather acknowledged that there is Caesar and there is God, and that we owe a different kind of obedience to each.

Neither is there any one system of governance, be it monarchy, democracy, plutocracy, or theocracy, which the Church would sanction as such to be the Christian way of establishing and maintaining a state. It is also quite evident that, given history, geography, and culture, different kinds of government are appropriate in different places. The Church isn't non-committal in this sphere; it has taken stands against forms of government, such as totalitarian dictatorship or anarchy, which are unacceptable to Christianity.

But Christians are not ipso facto socialists, capitalists, or monarchists. And much as we Americans are accustomed to the logic of democracy, democracy is neither the way in which the Church governs itself, nor is it the only or the obvious Christian kind of state government. Christians are Christians, and that makes us people who have to decide in each particular case what best meets the criteria of Christian life.

2. To Vote or Stay Home?
The canons which forbid an ordained person from holding public office indicate the Church's ambivalent relationship to government. The Church is aware of the inevitable conflicts of interest that arise when a visible representative of the Church is asked to represent an electorate of diverse religious and moral principles. But does this ambivalence mean that we should keep out of the process entirely?

The answer to that question will not be the same for everyone. All of us are called to be "not of this world" and yet also to be "in the world," and the way in which those two are balanced in our own lives will vary. Monastics have a particular vocation, a particular way of consecrating their lives, and a particular kind of obedience which will in most cases lead them away from voting, even if they may be very much involved in other aspects of contemporary life and society.

Some outside the monastic life opt out of the process as well, either because they feel the candidates are unacceptable, or out of principle. Whether we vote or not, our decision must be conscious and deliberate, and the result of prayerful consideration. Orthodox Christians are called to take a stand on matters that affect how people live and how they are treated, and on how the natural world is treated. We are called to care about, to arrive at, and defend principles in terms of our fundamental beliefs.

3. How to Vote?
The question of whether to vote is much easier to address than the question of how to vote. Part of our problem here is the nature of the options before us.

a. Liberal and Conservative
Politically as well as theologically, many conservatives will use "liberal" as a swear-word, and many liberals return the favor. We Orthodox Christians often consider ourselves to be a conservative church - and so we are, when we compare some of our theological and ethical principles to others. Our key doctrines about God and about Christ, as well as our positions on human life and human sexuality, are based on principles whose absolute and unchanging character are repulsive to some other Christians.

On the other hand, Orthodox theology and ethics admit a freedom that can seem downright liberal. I recall a conversation with a certain Presbyterian whose positions on matters of church and ethics alike were far more "liberal" than I as an Orthodox could accept. But when she started talking about her belief in the "total depravity" of the human person, our Orthodox voice began sounding to her like the more open, the more joyous, the more free. More generally, our approach to ethics and the canons provides a unique blending of absolute principles with particular, personal applications which can never be branded as sheer conservatism.

The terms "liberal" and "conservative" have only a limited use. Orthodox Christians should not let themselves be pigeonholed into either category, either within Orthodoxy, with regard to the wider Christian landscape, or politically. Our province is not conservatism or liberalism, but truth.

b. Republican and Democrat
This still leaves the question of how we are to position ourselves politically. And here we are placed in a serious bind for two reasons. One is that there are some questions for which Orthodox Christians are so far unable to identify a single right answer. For example, we have been divided as to how to approach the war on Iraq, and both sides have offered sound theological arguments. We do not often take two sides of the same fence, but the living character of our Church does allow it to happen.

The bigger reason for our difficulty in siding with one or another political party is that the parties today each advocate unacceptable positions alongside admirable ones. Considering the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person, it is not at all clear which party has a better platform. We must consider their positions not only on abortion, but also on capital punishment, war, and human rights. We need to look at each party's position on education and the environment. Each party must be examined in terms of how wealth is distributed, especially in terms of what effects will be felt by the nation's poor. We need to examine the candidates' views on ethical and bioethical issues such as stem-cell research, euthanasia, HIV/AIDS, and same-sex marriage.

Neither party has a monopoly on life and family values: both parties are inconsistent in both areas.

The voting Orthodox Christian today is effectively stuck being either a "Reluctant Republican" or a "Reluctant Democrat." We are, as is often the case, left with a choice between the lesser of two evils. This doesn't take us off the hook, for we must choose. We have a compass to guide us in our choice and that compass is our understanding of Christ's Gospel and how it is lived in the world.

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Greetings from rain drenched, flood ridden, limbs a fallin' ... power's out ... Western North Carolina. I've never seen anything quite like it. Radio says we might be without power for days. We'll see ...

Will update when able.

Prayers coveted.


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This is another one to file under the Etc Column (i.e., not about Orthodoxy) ...

Red stick, frayed paper, floating down the river. America's birthday, day after. The spent rocket launcher passes by the pier as he drifts into memories.

Remembering the days of his youth, many ill spent, he realizes that when he was younger he never saw the beauty. He saw dirty water, red mud, mosquitoes, water moccasins, mom and dad. It wasn't all bad, it just wasn't as pretty as it seems now.

Yesterday, his six year old son had been afraid to jump off the pier even though he sported a life vest. As a help, as his dad, he'd thrown him in. Thank God it had worked. The young'un had spent the next three hours plunging in solo.

This morning his son had come to him and related a dream: "Dad, I had a bad dream. I dreamed I was in the water, at the deep end of the pier, and I couldn't get up, and I kept saying, 'Dad! Dad!' and you couldn't hear me."

He'd told his son that his dream had probably been due to his fears from the day before. He'd tried his psycho-babble best to flesh out his fears, his dream. When quizzed later, his son's answer was a sufficient echo of what he'd told him. He would eventually forget that stuff and probably look back in 30 years or so on red mud, dirty water, water moccasins ... daddy threw him in the water.

It's all good, sooner or later. Every now and then, in some psychological, metaphysical, mundane way, it all comes together. For brief moments, occasionally, life made sense.

When the planets aligned and he held his mouth just right, like an autobiographical decoder ring, he could see clearly into the past. The beauty of it all. With proper understanding, once in a blue moon, even bad was beautiful. Not necessarily bad stuff like divorce, drinking and drugging, friendship lost, death. Nope, those were just things that bumped into beauty yet were't a part of. Rather, it was the memories which had been sanitized and prettified by his mind that took on a hue quite unlike ugly. What else would you call it?

Not many ripples in today's waves. The red stick had moved only about three feet down the river over the past hour. Often, if you sat on the porch long enough, you could see a water moccasin swim past. Beautiful. Terror and beauty blended in a sidewinder.

A flutter and a splash! Two duck swam up into flight and soon disappeared. The morning sun was beginning to burn off the cool mist. A fisherman's bass boat sped past. Soon the haze of a 93 degree day would manifest itself. For now it was birds, bugs ... beauty.

Yesterday, the Fourth, as he'd sat listening to his grandmother, he was plunged thirty-eight years into the past. Having learned to water ski on two skis at the age of six, his father was determined that he was going to learn to slalom at the age of seven: that very day, the Fourth of July. There was a whole gaggle of folks down at the lake house. They were on the pier, the deck, in the yard, the water. His father was showing off his boy. Yes, today -- that day -- his boy would do it.

By the time he did do it, it had only been his grandmother and grandfather left on the pier. Dusk had settled in. He had literally cried a river. His angry father had lost all patience. It was going badly. He remembered his father saying, "Son, I tell you what, if you don't get up this time, I'm going to carry you across the lake and make you swim home." It didn't seem factual, but at age seven anything was possible. Even coming out of the water on one foot and skiing in fear and triumph around the lake at dusk in front of your grandmother was possible. So that's what he'd done. Thanks be to God.

His father had done him a great favor, making him slalom at the age of seven. All through adolescence he was known -- in his mind and those of his friends -- as one of the greatest skiers on the lake. He stared at his own son; wondered what he'd become.

His uncle's pier was adjacent to theirs. It was his father's habit to speed into the cove and turn the Glastron at such an angle that he, the skier, could land between both piers spraying a fifteen foot high water rooster tail. An impressive end to a solo water show.

He was fifteen years old when he'd met the water moccasin. He never skied unless there was an audience, and that day had been no different. His girlfriend was in the boat as his dad swooped into the cove. As he did his trademarked water spout, there, looking down -- in an instant -- he saw that he was circling a snake.

One of the truisms of water skiing, gravity being what it is and all, is: When you let go of the rope, you're going down. God! How he'd wished he could grab the towline back! A snake!

As he'd come up from the splash, the snake was swimming -- with his mouth open -- right toward his head, eye level. Without thinking, he threw his right hand up through the water, connected with the belly of the serpent, and sent him up about two feet in the air. Then, turning toward his uncle's pier, he'd tried to swim.

He'd been swimming since he was five. With a good ten years under his belt, he’d finally failed. Like a gossip rendered speechless, he'd flailed about in the water. He became a madman.

From a distance, in the boat, his dad heard his calls: "Help! Snake! Help, help! Snake! Snake!" He'd later learned that his dad had said to his sweetheart, "I wish he wouldn't do that. One day there's really going to be a snake."

Unbeknownst to dear old dad, that day had arrived.

He kept slashing like a retard, gurgling screams, eyes wild with fear. He remembers even trying to swim underwater. Opening his eyes in the muddy vortex, what had he seen? Snakes! He'd entered that part of fear where anything's possible: mad dad making you swim home, skiing on one foot, death by a thousand moccasins.

One thing was for certain: He couldn't swim. Yet he'd somehow made it to his uncle's pier. He climbed the ladder and -- though at that moment, looking at his uncle, he'd never been so happy to see someone is all his life -- he'd said: "Dammit! There's a snake in there! Why didn't you help me!"

Reality, oftentimes being stranger than fiction, saw his uncle laughing. It was a friendly laugh, but just before he was about to show his uncle the appreciation of a punch in the nose, he'd heard: "Look ... that snake ain't after you. You scared him off!"

He looked back toward his parents' pier. The snake was a good swimmer. Fear had not slowed the sidewinder's skill. He was going, going. Gone.

His eyes searched for the spent firework. The waves had picked up over the past twenty minutes. He couldn't see it. He wondered if, by some sort of cosmic kismet, it was now between those same two piers. Nope. Being a stick, having no water skills, it had obviously sunk.

Between two trees he spotted a massive spider web, its spirals leading to its owner and creator. There's a sinkhole by the seawall. Big water rats and snakes used those tunnels. There were bubbles at the pier's edge. Probably a turtle.

Though it wasn't yet hot he could see three or four small Brim under the shade of the pier. Later in the day, he was planning to swim with his kids. But now it was time to head into town to visit his father. Dying of cancer.

Red stick, frayed paper, floating down the river.


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I'm reluctant to post the following link for several reasons:

1) I've never liked Dan Rather as a newsman. I find his speech patterns choppy and affected.

2) I'm not so sure, politics being what it is and all, that the Bush campaign didn't plant -- or at least encourage -- the "forged" documents.

3) I have a general distrust of the mainstream media.

4) I don't want this Blog to become polemical, political, agenda laden, in this election (i.e., hyper-sensational) season.

So, forgive me ... I've disabled the Comments on this post.

But, if you want to see how Mr Rather's been biased & deceptive (at least sloppy) before, go here: The First Rathergate

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People concern themselves with Christian upbringing but leave it incomplete. They neglect the most essential and most difficult side of the Christian life, and dwell on what is easiest, the visible and external.

This imperfect or misdirected upbringing produces people who observe with the utmost correctness all the formal and outward rules for devout conduct, but who pay little or no attention to the inward movements of the heart and to true improvement of the inner spiritual life. They are strangers to mortal sins, but they do not heed the play of thoughts in the heart. Accordingly they sometimes pass judgments, give way to boastfulness or pride, sometimes get angry (as if this feeling were justified by the rightness of their cause), are sometimes distracted by beauty and pleasure, sometimes offend others in fits of irritation, are sometimes too lazy to pray, or lose themselves in useless thoughts while at prayer. They are not upset about doing these things, but regard them as without significance. They have been to church, or prayed at home according to the established rule, and carried out their usual business, and so they are quite content and at peace. But they have little concern for what is happening in the heart. In the meantime it may be forging evil, thereby taking away the whole value of their correct and pious life.

The Art of Prayer - An Orthodox Anthology, pp.164-165.

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I tried to say something similar to this in my remarks on Sunday. A caveat to the following article: The author seems to use the words Arab and Muslim interchangeably. However, there are many faithful Arab Christians who, needless to say, do not support the actions of their radical Muslim brethren.

By Nonie Darwish
FrontPageMagazine.com September 14, 2004

Several Arabs were among the terrorists who recently murdered over 350 people in a Russian school. I'm not surprised. But how many Arabs in the Middle East even try to connect the dots that link their current radical culture of Islam to these unspeakable deeds around the world? They simply do not see the connection, and unfortunately the world media are not doing their job of informing the Arab world. CNN clearly believes that being "objective" means never blaming Arab culture --and supporting Arab views in its delivery of Mid-East news.

Until age 30, I lived as a Muslim in the Middle East. Horrible news such as that from Russia and other incidents in the Philippines, India, the Sudan or Pakistan was always covered up and twisted to portray Muslim terrorists around the world as victims of terrible discrimination. They were always portrayed as "freedom fighters" in the minority who needed to rise against the majority Christian or non-Muslim populations in their midst. The larger picture in these countries and the reasons behind the turmoil were never explained in any other way. I will never forget the prayers that many gave in support of minority Muslims all over the world who were believed to be the frontier for Jihad in spreading Islam to the "lost" world around them, Dar-el-Harb -- the land of war, to be conquered by the sword.

I once had a guest from Egypt in my home. He was the kindest, most wonderful man you will ever meet. While watching Chechnyan rebels on TV, I saw him cry and pray for their success against the Soviet Union. Praying for killing has never seemed holy to me.

The world has been watching Arab terrorism grow with little international outcry for half a century. I saw many men and women in my culture of origin turned into robotic monsters with a wish to destroy life on Earth to get into heaven. Many believed their hatred was against only Israel and its interests and therefore ignored it.

The world and its lazy media continue, like ostriches, to stick their heads in the sand, and even after 9/11, the U.N. and many in the West still find excuses for terrorism. The Arabs' best friends, the French, even thought they would get special treatment from terrorists by selling out the U.S. and supporting Saddam Hussein. But to the terrorists the French were just temporary friends until the right time came to strike. One enemy at a time.

Where are Muslim demonstrations against terror? All I noticed in the Arab world after 9/11 were celebrations. The very few courageous Arab writers who think and speak independently are often attacked and terrorized for their views, accused of being puppets of the Zionists. Apparently, standing strong against terrorism and for reformations in the Muslim world is viewed as a "Zionist" conspiracy no matter how heinous the murders carried out by militant Islamists.

Since 1967 there have been thousands of Arab terrorist attacks. There has been only one Israeli terrorist attack against Arabs, by a crazy man who was condemned by almost all Israeli citizens, and the Israeli government never tried the Arabs who beat the attacker to death after he surrendered. Yet I hear apologists for terrorism here cite that one incident as justification for the thousands of terrorist attacks against Israel and the U.S. over the years.

Even worse, how many resolutions by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights condemning an Arab country for human rights violations have ever been proposed or passed? The answer is zero. But the number of Human Rights Commission resolutions condemning Israel for human rights violations is 26. Imagine that.

Is there any doubt that the state-sponsored and culturally encouraged terrorism all over the Middle East perpetrated by the Arab states is not a violation of human rights? Could it be that the U.N. is contributing to the problem? When I saw the horror on the faces of the Russian children, I decided to take a stand against the Islamic culture of terror I grew up in and the madness resulting from its teachings. The intense and repetitive teaching of hate produces inhuman robots. Make no mistake about it: My motivation is out of love for the goodness that I know exists in the Muslim world and a fervent desire for this goodness to prevail.

It is time for the world media and the U.N. to take a serious stand against Islamic terrorism. The U.N. should immediately issue a strong resolution condemning Muslim terror, with serious consequences to oil-rich Arab countries that finance terrorism or teach that terrorists are heroes going to heaven. There must be no "ifs," "ands" or "buts" and no diluted language by the international media. The out-of-control culture in the Middle East needs a wake-up call and a dose of reality.

I cannot defend the cruel teachings and hate speech of my culture of origin, and no other Arab with any integrity should. There is no cause in the world that can justify this insanity. I lived within it and know what will end it. What is needed immediately is a united world stand against the Arabs' stagnant and barbaric view of the world and of themselves. The world must no longer stand by, confused and equivocal about 9/11 and Islamic terrorism.

Please, America and the good people of the world, save my Arab culture from itself.

Please.


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Ms. Darwish is an American of Arab/Moslem origin and a former editor and translator. Her e-mail is noniedarwish@hotmail.com

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Last weekend we have collected US $ 4,678.00 for the victims of the terrorists' attack in Beslan. US $1,290.00 came from the mail campaign and US $3,388.00 came from the parishioners during Saturday/Sunday services, Sept. 11/12, 2004. We will continue our collection for one more week.

In XC,
Fr. Victor Potapov

Checks can be made out to
" St. John R.O. Church" with the memo: "For Beslan"
and sent to:

St. John R.O. Church,
4001 17th St. NW
Washington, DC 20011 USA

Also, International Orthodox Christian Charities is collecting donations for IOCC’s ongoing relief efforts in the Russian Federation may be sent to IOCC, P.O. Box 630225, Baltimore, MD 21263-0225. Donations may also be made online at www.iocc.org or by calling toll-free 1-877-803-IOCC (4622).


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The Antiochian Archdiocesan website has a Glossary of Orthodox Terminology.

The AA site is also offering daily meditations. Scroll down, left center column.

Those interested in parenting issues -- especially the campaign of Planned Parenthood to sexualize our children -- should check out the Dawn Patrol.

Looking for Orthodox prayers? Go here.

New Blog: Church Planting Through the Eyes of a Matushka.


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Those who would like to make a donation for the assistance of the victims of the terrorist attack at the school in Beslan should send their contributions to:

St. John Russian Orthodox Church
4001 17th St. NW
Washington, DC 20011
(In the memo section of the check, please note, "Beslan.")

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September 4, 2004 -- THE mass murder of children
revolts the human psyche. Herod sending his henchmen
to massacre the infants of Bethlehem haunts the
Gospels. Nothing in our time was crueler than what
the Germans did to children during the Holocaust.
Slaughtering the innocents violates a universal
human taboo. Or a nearly universal one. Those
Muslims who preach Jihad against the West decided
years ago that killing Jewish or Christian children
is not only acceptable, but pleasing to their god
when done by "martyrs."

It isn't politically correct to say this, of course.
We're supposed to pretend that Islam is a "religion
of peace." All right, then: It's time for Muslims to
stand up for the once-noble, nearly lost traditions
of their faith and condemn what Arab and Chechen
terrorists and blasphemers did in the Russian town
of Beslan.

If Muslim religious leaders around the world will
not publicly condemn the taking of children as
hostages and their subsequent slaughter — if those
"men of faith" will not issue a condemnation without
reservations or caveats — then no one need pretend
any longer that all religions are equally sound and
moral.

Islam has been a great and humane faith in the past.
Now far too many of its adherents condone, actively
or passively, the mass murder of school kids.
Instead of condemnations of the Muslim "Jihadis"
responsible for butchering more than 200 women and
children in cold blood, we will hear spiteful
counter-accusations about imaginary atrocities
supposedly committed by Western militaries.

Well, the cold fact is that Western soldiers,
whether Americans, Brits, Russians or Israelis, do
not take hundreds of children hostage, then shoot
them in cold blood while detonating bombs in their
midst. The Muslim world can lie to itself, but we
need lie no longer.

The tragedy in southern Russia occurred thousands of
miles from the United States, but, in essence, that
massacre happened next door. The parents, teachers
and students kept for days without water or food in
a sweltering school building before being butchered
were our children, our sisters, our wives, our
parents.

The mass hostage situation wasn't about Chechen
rebels (and at least 10 Arabs) opposing the Russian
government. It was a continuation of the universal
struggle between good and evil. And there is no
doubt which side is evil, scorned though the word
may be by our own elite.

How can any human being with a shred of conscience
dismiss what occurred in that school as anything
less than evil?

The attack in Beslan wasn't about Russia's brutal
incompetence in Chechnya — as counter-productive as
Moscow's grim heavy-handedness may have been. It was
about religious bigotry so profound that the
believer can hold a gun to a child's head, pull the
trigger and term the act "divine justice."

We will hear complaints that the Russian special
forces should have waited — even after the
terrorists began shooting children. Negotiations are
the heroin of Westerners addicted to self-delusion.
Who among us would have waited when he or she saw
fleeing children cut down by automatic weapons? The
urge to protect children is as primal as any impulse
we ever feel.

Make no mistake: No blame attaches to the Russians
for the massacre at that school. The guilt is
entirely upon the Islamic extremists who have led
the religion they claim to cherish into the realms
of nightmare.

There will be repercussions. Having suffered the
hijacking and destruction of two passenger jets, a
deadly bombing at a Moscow subway station and a
massacre in a primary school all in less than two
weeks, the Kremlin will have learned to rue the day
it imagined that there was anything to gain by
opposing American efforts against terrorists,
whether Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein.

As they inevitably do, the terrorists reminded the
world of their heartless barbarism. Even if France
manages to beg the release of its kidnapped
journalists in Iraq, it has begun to sense its
vulnerability. And all Europeans with a vestige of
sense will recognize that the school seizure in
Russia could easily repeat itself in Languedoc or
Umbria, Bavaria or Kent.

An attack on children is an attack on all of
humanity.

No matter what differences Western states discover
to divide them, the terrorists will bring us
together in the end. Their atrocities expose all
wishful thinking for what it is.

A final thought: Did any of those protesters who
came to Manhattan to denounce our liberation of 50
million Muslims stay an extra day to protest the
massacre in Russia? Of course not.

The protesters no more care for dead Russian
children than they care for dead Kurds or for the
hundreds of thousands of Arabs that Saddam Hussein
executed. Or for the ongoing Arab-Muslim slaughter
of blacks in Sudan. Nothing's a crime to those
protesters unless the deed was committed by America.

The butchery in Russia was a crime against humanity.
In every respect. Was any war ever more necessary or
just than the War on Terror?

And what will terror's apologists say when the
killers come for their own children?

From a NY Times Article
BY RALPH PETERS
Ralph Peters is the author of "Beyond Terror:
Strategy in a Changing World."

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Do you, dear reader, know of anyone working through Julia Cameron’s stuff – The Artist’s Way or Vein of Gold? I would like to meet some Orthodox folks who are doing it or have done it. Reply to my email: orthodixie at aol dot com


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During my summer vacation, I reread, for the first time since college (25 years ago), Marcus Aurelius's MEDITATIONS. Marcus was emperor of Rome from 161 - 180 A.D. He was not a Christian, but he was wise. Here's just a sampling ...


When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this because they can't tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own -- not of the same blood or birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine. And so none of them can hurt me. No one can implicate me in ugliness. Nor can I feel angry at my relative, or hate him. We were born to work together like feet, hands, and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on him: these are obstructions.

Don't waste the rest of your time here worrying about other people -- unless it affects the common good. It will keep you from doing anything useful. You'll be too preoccupied with what so-and-so is doing, and why, and what they're saying, and what they're thinking, and what they're up to, and all the other things that throw you off and keep you from focusing on your own mind.

You're better off not giving the small things more time than they deserve.

Constant awareness that everything is born from change. The knowledge that there is nothing nature loves more than to alter what exists and make new things like it. All that exists is the seed of will emerge from it. You think the only seeds are the ones that make plants or children? Go deeper.

Nothing that goes on in anyone else's mind can harm you. Nor can the shifts and changes in the world around you. Then where is the harm to be found?

Suppose that [God] announced that you were going to die tomorrow,or the day after. Unless you were a complete coward you wouldn't kick up a fuss about which day it was: what difference could it make? Now recognize that the difference between years from now and tomorrow is just as small.

The best revenge is not to be like that.

Not to assume it's impossible because you find it hard. But to recognize that if it's humanly possible, you can do it too.

Care for other human beings. Follow God.

It's quite possible to be a good man without anyone realizing it. Remember that.

It's silly to try to escape other people's faults. The are inescapable. Just try to escape your own.

Give yourself a gift: the present moment.

It doesn't matter how good a life you've led. There'll still be people standing around the bed who will welcome the sad event.


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Fr John McCuen presents the dilemma de jure. Worth a read and/or comment.
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The vale of humility is indeed dark and gloomy in appearance. But no sooner do you step into that holy vale than you are met by the guards of the heavenly watchtower. They come running to your aid to wash the wounds that have torn your soul or body when you ventured suddenly from the false mountains of this world down the dreadful scarp of humility. They take you to have a little rest, after which they invite you to tour the watchtower. This watchtower stands at the top of the long vale. You can survey all the details of this holy vale through a telescope given by the guards. On its slopes there are honeycombs for passers-by to eat. Meanwhile, Grace watches them all the time to rest assured that their wounds are healed. Her bandages absorb pain and turn wounds into brilliant marks.

Wonder fills you: How does this valley look so dark and depressing without the heavenly telescope, as if death and ruin fill every corner of it? At close inspection it is full of honeycomb and of merciful healing. There is in this vale a hidden light, which illumines the interior before the exterior of man. You marvel at the mystery of this vale!

The guards ask you to lift the telescope a bit. You see what lies beyond the vale and what awaits you there at the end of the journey. When you raise the telescope you see the Mount of Transfiguration far off with its transcendent light. There the Lord opens his arms to embrace those who reach the end of the vale. On his hands, the blood shines with a resplendent light that illuminates the whole mount. Its light is mystically reflected upon the dark vale, and when that light falls upon the wounds of those walking along, they also shine as the moon reflects the rays of the sun across the darkness of space.

Now joy and peace overtake you. Now you burn with desire to storm the darkness of this holy vale. The secret of this joyful contrition, the brilliant wounds and the bitterness that hides the honeycomb have all been unveiled to you.

The truth is that the location of this holy vale – the vale of contrition, wounds, and bitterness – is nowhere else than in the heart of man. The guards of the watchtower that stands at the beginning of the vale are none other than the fathers. They have experienced contrition with its bitterness. They have described its ruggedness as well as its worth. The telescope is nothing other that the proper, practical discipline of humility offered in love and honor of the Crucified. The honeycomb is the pleasure gleaned from partaking of the Lord’s sufferings. The bleeding wounds are hurt feelings of indignity, and these fall into three types: the superficial, which man enacts upon himself; the deeper wounds and bruises caused by other people; and the deadly fissures in the walls of the heart caused by the chastisement of God. These fissures are made to bleed out all the selfish, earthly blood that superficial or deep wounds cannot draw out of us.

As for the divine rays shining from the wounds of the Lord and reflected upon the wounds and fractures of humility, they are the partial communion in the glory of God that is promised in surety. They shall reach their highest brilliance when our Lord appears “as he is” (1 Jn 3.2).

– Matthew the Poor, Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way, pp 149-150.

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Huw’s got a nice intro to Church New Year.

The Antiochian Archdiocesan website has a new feature: a Daily Devotional. These are written by priests of the Archdiocese and are intended to be “Orthodox Lite” and non-Orthodox friendly. The site gets many hits each day. No doubt, some of these are from seekers. These daily meditations are intended to be familiar and welcoming. Should the seeker wish to go deeper, of course, there are other resources available. And, let's face it, not everyone's into the deep stuff. Anyway, check it out!


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