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

I am away from my computer for a few days; updates & comments temporarily suspended.

The following is stolen from the Archives; 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; 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 fears from the day before. He'd tried his psycho-babble best to flesh out his son's 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 me 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 makes 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, friendships lost, death. Nope, those were just things that bumped into beauty yet weren'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! A 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 drag 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 -- at least in his mind and that of his friends -- as one of the greatest skiers on the lake. He stared at his own son; wondered what he would 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 dad swooped into the cove and 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 -- 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, "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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So I’m riding down the road … on my way to work … when suddenly I hear this awful noise … a sort of humming sound that – hey, I’m no mechanic – but this sound just can’t be good. I’d just ended a cell phone conversation with my wife about paying bills – which account to use for this and that … how to rob Peter, pay Paul … and now this!

Then, thank Goodness, the noise went away.

Hmmph. Well, that was odd. Wonder what it could have been? Maybe it was something else – not my car.

Yikes!

There it was again … a humming sound like the engine was preparing to get really angry … hummm. hummm. hummm … hummm.

My mind started to wonder …

Okay, great. Car troubles. I wonder how much this will cost … 300 … 500 … 800 dollars?

Then, between the hums, I started AWFULIZING …

You know, when you start fantasizing about ALL the bad things getting ready to happen -- all at once!

The car’s going to break down … the kids need new shoes … we need new tires on the van … college is only a few years off … my knee’s been aching …

I think, yes it’s probably true … I’m dying …

I’ll get back to that car noise in a moment but, speaking of kicking the can ...

Listen to the Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

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Okay, so I stole this to make my blog look good -- Kudos to Joe Long.Go HERE for more!

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of Godself -
Emanating from penumbras there wherein the Godself dwellth -
S/he is sending forth suggestions we should socialize the wealth -

Godself is marching on!

She, he, it, they, you and meeeeee!
She, he, it, they, you and meeeeee!
She, he, it, they, you and meeeeee!
Godself is all of us!

I have seen Godself's reflection in Mohammed's Thousand Names,
And the Buddhist and the Hindu Godselves really are the same -
So don't try to be Godselfish and put down your old King James -
Godself is marching on...
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Sung to the tune of "The Church's [sic] One [sic] Foundation [sic]"

Our community's stated purpose
Is gracious mass-appeal,
It's in our Mission Statement
Reflecting how we feel:
No "lifestyle choice" appalls us,
C'mon you're welcome here!
Throw out that moral compass,
There's no one here to steer.

What's this all about?

Go HERE!
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This sermon was originally preached on Sunday, August 4, 1996.

Gospel Text
“Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out for fear. But immediately he spoke to them, saying, ‘Take heart, it is I; have no fear’.

And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water’. He said, ‘Come’. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me’. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘O man of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God’.” (Matthew 14:22-33)

* * *

I have a few announcements to make before today’s sermon.

First of all, if you see my daughter, or any child for that matter, acting up in church, teach her – them – how to pray. We come to church on the Lord’s Day to pray. There’s a whole week in between to learn behavior and behave. Here, let’s pray. (The same thing goes for adults.)

If you see me with a frown on my face, forgive me. It speaks more of my sins than it does our relationship. If you’ve time, help me out. A smile alleviates a frown every time.

If you want more things in church: more activities, more fellowship, church school supplies, carpet – whatever it may be – give more money. That’s just the way it works.

Want more people in church? Invite them.

If you see me sinning, don’t encourage me. Like a child in need of attention, I’ll often show off in a rather ill manner. Perhaps your loving me, in spite of myself, will help to exorcise the demons with whom I’m all too familiar. Besides, if you join me in sin, we’ll be doubly miserable.

If you catch me entering gossip, stop me. For I pray each day "forgive me, O Lord, the same way I forgive others.” You’d be a great help to me, yourself, and everyone if you’d lovingly hush me up.

If you see me feasting on Wednesday, Friday, or during Seasonal Fasts ... forgive and reprove me with love. For in so doing, I show my kinship with Judas and those who crucified the Lord Jesus. Yet, with your help, I can repent and experience the God of Resurrection and Light.

Please don’t sit throughout the Liturgy unless you have a physical ailment that requires it. We’re a lazy people in this modern age, but true prayer has always been hard work. All able bodies should stand in remembrance of the Resurrection & the Day of Judgment. Let us attend.

By all means, if you hear me speaking heresy – please, quail my tongue with love. For the Saviour has sacrificed too much for me and my salvation for me to forfeit the Kingdom with lying lips. God forbid that I should drag you with me.

If you observe me being patient in a time of trial, give thanks to God for it is His Spirit that guides me.

If, however, you see me being impatient, forgive me. I come by it naturally, even from Adam and Eve.

If my way of life is not the same as yours, it does not mean that we are not of the same Christian family. It just means that God in His wisdom has fashioned us in a unique manner – yet, with the same Lord as God and Father of all.

If you know that I’m in need, help me. For God surely will bless those who bless Him.

If you find my attitude, my words, my every way of life leaves you cold, please don’t abandon me. I’m lonely. Perhaps your presence, love, forgiveness, and long-suffering will help to melt my frozen heart.

If you think you have sacrificed enough, it is often at that very moment that God asks the most of you.

If you’re not tithing to the church [giving at least 10% of your income], please don’t complain. Because God Himself answers our plea with a challenge “Give me 10%, and I’ll fill your storehouses.” (By the way, for some reason, those who tithe complain less.)

If you make a mess, clean it up. Otherwise you manufacture enemies as well.

If you notice someone absent from church, call them. They may need you.

Most of all, if you see me walking on water, help me back into the boat. For, by myself, I shall perish.


In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The boat represents the Church, the disciples represent all Christians. The stormy sea is our life. We are in the Church, the boat, because Christ commands us to be there. Disciples are obedient. Christ comes to us in times of danger. Notice that Christ did not command Peter to come to him. Rather he permitted the act. Peter was not acting out of obedience, but boldness. Peter became frightened, his faith was shaken. Why? Chiefly because of his foolishness in leaving the boat, the Church. Thus, our first lesson here is do not leave the safety of the boat, the Church. Christ commands them to get into the boat! When we do find ourselves outside the ark of our salvation (boat/Church), we must, like Peter, cry out “Lord, save me!” And He will. Christ not only commands us to enter the Church, He also has mercy upon us when we are disobedient, leading us back to the calm haven of our salvation the Church. It is in the confines of the Church that we [like Thomas] recognize Jesus as our Lord and God. It is in the Church that we, like the disciples in the boat, worship Him.

So, I repeat:

If you see me walking on water, help me back into the boat.

For, by myself, I shall perish.

Even if my sins and pleas are seemingly self-centered,
do not be as I ... reach out and grab hold of my hand.

For this, Christ died ... we live.

Help me, my brothers and sisters in Christ,
for I need you -- we need each other -- in this storm tossed sea.

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Ancient Faith Radio is in Montreal this week covering the 48th biannual Antiochian Archdiocesan Convention.

Here's the host parish site.

Also, the Antiochian webpage is undergoing a make-over.
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In other news, I read Fr Joseph Huneycutt's One Flew Over the Onion Dome this week. I'm planning on doing a "Book Review" for my Religion in America class. Very funny stuff. Unfortunately for us, it is very true to life. There are some particularly funny stories in it which had me laughing outloud. Anyways, anyone who is Orthodox, converted to Orthodoxy or thinking about converting to Orthodoxy should read this. It hints at a beneficial moderate path in the conversion from heterodox groups to the Orthodox Church.

Bumped into the above quote thanks to Google Alerts. If you haven't already, I'd recommend going ahead and buying a copy or two. :) -- See side margin.

The next book is done, edited, collecting endorsements and, God willing, off to the publisher by week's end.

Prayers coveted.

Pic from Fr John Whiteford's website.
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This, from Matushka Anne Mancuso ...

Well, tonight is the night. The final HP book comes out. Rose is at Nell's house drinking butterbeer and making predictions about the next book. I am so grateful that I was influenced to read these books by someone whose taste I trust. I am grateful that I didn't dismiss them because I sometimes like listening to Christian radio. I think now that there has been so much talk among the Christian talkers about the fact that the plot of these books might be Christian that they've come out with a new tactic: Why read Harry Potter when you can read C.S. Lewis or Tolkien--or the Bible?

I remember talking to my mom about HP a couple books ago. I mentioned the blatant Christian symbolism--the phoenix, the stag, etc (all pointed out by my husband and John Granger--I wouldn't have gotten much of it on my own). I suggested that she (and no doubt many of the casual readers of modern fiction) will shamelessly read books filled with cuss words, sex scenes, and brutality, but will recoil when a fictional teenager wields a wand and recites a Latin derivation which sounds magical. It seems almost too made-to-order: like the WWJD bracelets and the fish bumperstickers, and all of the other various consumerist evangelical plastic muck that they have to put on their car, refrigerator or wrist to prove to everyone that they are the real Christians ...

Read the rest, all the way to the end ... priceless.
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These days, having achieved middle age, I’ve resorted to telling tales to my kids that all boil down to: One Way, Up Hill, In the Snow, Barefooted. Yep, that’s the way it was … back in the day.

Recently, back in my hometown waiting on my wife to return to the car, my teenaged daughter spotted some older teens just hanging out in the Walmart parking lot on a weekday summer’s night – as if they had nothing better to do.

“So … Dad. Is that what you did growing up? Hang out in the Walmart parking lot?”

“No, sweetie, believe it or not, when I was a kid there was no Walmart.”

“Dad?”

"Okay, so yes, the kids used to cruise around the McDonald’s endlessly … that is if they didn’t have to work a second shift job like I did to pay …"

“Dad!”

“All I’m saying is: No, I never hung out in a Walmart parking lot.”

She crossed her arms … smiled at me kinda sideways … I couldn’t tell if she wanted to hang out in the Walmart parking lot … or she thought I did – or once did. (If, of course, there had been a such a thing.)

Growing up ...

Listen to the Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.
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Thanks to FWD from Tim Gibson.
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We have met Big Brother and he is us.
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Today, the 18th of July, is believed to be the anniversary of the fire that burned Rome in 64 AD, while the emperor Nero supposedly played his fiddle. In fact, he wasn't in Rome. He was away at his holiday villa on the coast, and when he heard about the fire, he rushed back to the capital and took charge of the operations.

The rumors about his playing his fiddle probably came from people in the Roman military who did not approve of Nero's artistic leanings. He'd come to power at the age of 16. He was the youngest ruler in the history of Rome. He was more interested in music and poetry than in battling the barbarians. And he didn't play the fiddle; he did play the lyre. But his real passion was singing. He was also known to be a transvestite, which did not endear him to the soldiers.

One of the rumors being spread at the time was that Nero had himself started the fire because he was disgusted by the architecture in Rome and wanted to rebuild the city. And to bolster his own image against these rumors, Nero decided that the fire needed to be blamed on someone else, and he picked out the Christians who were generally loathed by Romans.

The religion of Christianity was only a few decades old when Nero singled it out. Nero rounded up Christians; they were covered in the skins of wild animals, torn to death by dogs, crucified, or they were burned at the stake.

Most Romans at the time despised Christians, but Nero's program of persecution went further than the people wanted. It had the unintended effect of making people sympathize with Christians. And a little more than 200 years later, the emperor of the Roman Empire himself converted to Christianity, and it became the dominant religion of Europe.

Stolen from The Writer's Almanac.

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Hey Great Pearl whatchya doin' out there
Prayin' alone with such might while I pray here above you
[Protestant] I can hear your music playin'
[Orthodox] I can see your censers swayin'
Although you're below me you don't even know me
I love you

Refrain
Oh, my darling, knock three times on the ceiling if you want me
Twice -- I'm the Pope -- if the answer is no, oh, my sweetness
(Knock, knock, knock!) Means you'll meet me, oh say, halfway
Mmm -- yes, I'm the Pope -- (clink, clink) means you ain't gonna show

If you look in your Bible tonight
Turn to the page with the note that's attached to my heart [Matthew 16:18]
[Dialogue] O how many times I saw you
[Heretics] How in silence I abhorred you
And only in your dreams will that wall between us come apart

Refrain
Oh, my darling, knock three times on the ceiling if you want me
Twice -- I'm the Pope -- if the answer is no, oh, my sweetness
(Knock, knock, knock!) Means you'll meet me, oh say, halfway
Mmm -- yes, I'm the Pope -- (clink, clink) means you ain't gonna show

[Charismatic] I can hear your music playin'
[High Church] I can see your censers swayin'
Although you're below me you don't even know me
I love you

Tony Orlando & Dawn original lyrics here.
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Here's some quotes of note from a recent interview with Terry Mattingly. There's more where these came from; click the link below.

In the West the forms of church life that were most compatible with Orthodoxy were killed off. I believe it’s Fr. Michael Keiser who has the wonderful quote, "People need to remember that Orthodoxy in the West didn’t die, it was murdered."

The heart of the Anglican compromise boils down to putting St. John Chrysostom and John Calvin in the same pew. But neither one of those men want to be there. There are things on which they do not agree with each other, and they would not compromise. And yet the Anglican compromise tried to have both sides of a Protestant and ancient equation be equal. You simply can’t pull that off.

Anglicans are highly skilled and genuinely talented in compromise. When you say that Anglicanism is the church of the via media—the middle way—that implies a kind of compromise position between two camps that often don’t want to compromise. And on moral and social issues, what you have ended up with is a never-ending march to the left—because you’re constantly compromising on the church traditions of the ages. This steadily, slowly but surely, pulls you to the theological left on critical issues. . . .

There are still conservative Anglo-Catholics, but not as many. The most vital and alive conservative elements in modern Anglicanism are charismatic or evangelical low-church Anglicans. There are still some very high-church, fully Catholic Anglicans. But I find it very interesting that modern liberal Anglicanism tends to identify much more with a high-church, liturgical smells-and-bells approach to Anglicanism.

This makes many Orthodox confused, because they see these people and they say, gosh, they even have icons in their church. We have a lot in common with them. When theologically, you may have almost nothing in common with them.

Read the whole interview H E R E.
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Matins begins with the reading of the "Six Psalms," i.e. Psalms 3, 37, 62, 87, 102, and 142, read in that order, and combined into a single whole.

The faithful should be aware of the fact that the reading of the "Six Psalms" is one of the most important points in [Matins or] the All-night Vigil, a time when all should put aside other thoughts, stand quietly, and concentrate on these penitential prayers.

The Six Psalms comprise an entire scale of experiences which illumine the Christian life of the New Testament - not merely its overall joyous mood, but also the sorrowful path to that joy.

This is why according to the rubrics of the Church, the candles in the church are to be extinguished. The falling darkness symbolizes that dead of night during which Christ, praised in the angelic song "Glory to God in the Highest," came to earth. The semi-darkness of the church facilitates great prayerful concentration. [Esp. Russian practice at All-Night Vigil.]

Midway through the Six Psalms, at the beginning of the 4th of the psalms, the one most filled with sorrow and extreme bitterness, the priest leaves the Altar and, standing before the [icon of Christ or] Royal Doors, continues to quietly read the 12 appointed «morning» prayers. At that point, the priest symbolizes Christ, who, having heard the sorrow of fallen mankind, not only descended, but to the very end also shared in the suffering of which Psalm 87 speaks.

The morning prayers quietly read by the priest include prayers for the Christians standing in the church, with requests that they be forgiven their sins, that they be given true faith and sincere love, that all of their works be blessed, and that they be made worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.

-- Excerpted from the website of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Washington, DC.
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In response to the recent document from the Vatican, here's an Orthodox view of "Unity" which, although fashioned 50 years ago, warrants a reading ...

Statement of the Representatives of the Orthodox Church at the North American Faith and Order Study Conference,Oberlin, Ohio, September 3-10, 1957

As delegates to the North American Faith and Order Study Conference we want to make the following preliminary statements.

We are glad to take part in a study-conference, devoted to such a basic need of the Christian World as Unity. All Christians should seek Unity. On the other hand, we feel that the whole program of the forthcoming discussion has been framed from a point of view which we cannot conscientiously admit. "The Unity we seek" is for us a given Unity which has never been lost, and, as a Divine gift and an essential mark of Christian existence, could not have been lost. This unity in the Church of Christ is for us a Unity in the Historical Church, in the fullness of faith, in the fullness of continuous sacramental life. For us, this Unity is embodied in the Orthodox Church, which kept, catholikos and anelleipos, both the integrity of the Apostolic Faith and the integrity of the Apostolic Order.

Our share in the study of Christian Unity is determined by our firm conviction that this Unity can be found only in the fellowship of the Historical Church, preserving faithfully the catholic tradition, both in doctrine and in order. We cannot commit ourselves to any discussion of these basic assumptions, as if they were but hypothetical or problematic. We begin with a clear conception of the Church’s Unity, which we believe has been embodied and realized in the age-long history of the Orthodox Church, without any change or break since the times when the visible Unity of Christendom was an obvious fact and was attested and witnessed to by an ecumenical unanimity, in the age of the Ecumenical Councils.

We admit, of course, that the Unity of Christendom has been disrupted, that the unity of faith and the integrity of order have been sorely broken. But we do not admit that the Unity of the Church, and precisely of the "visible" and historical Church, has ever been broken or lost, so as to now be a problem of search and discovery. The problem of Unity is for us, therefore, the problem of the return to the fullness of Faith and Order, in full faithfulness to the message of Scripture and Tradition and in the obedience to the will of God: "that all may be one".

Long before the breakup of the unity of Western Christendom, the Orthodox Church has had a keen sense of the essential importance of the oneness of Christian believers and from her very inception she has deplored divisions within the Christian world. As in the past, so in the present, she laments disunity among those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ Whose purpose in the world was to unite all believers into one body. The Orthodox Church feels that, since she has been unassociated with the events related to the breakdown of religious unity in the West, she bears a special responsibility to contribute toward the restoration of the Christian unity which alone can render the message of the Gospel effective in a world troubled by threats of world conflict and general uncertainty over the future.

It is with humility that we voice the conviction that the Orthodox Church can make a special contribution to the cause of Christian unity, because since Pentecost she has possessed the true unity intended by Christ. It is with this conviction that the Orthodox Church is always prepared to meet with Christians of other communions in inter-confessional deliberations. She rejoices over the fact that she is able to join those of other denominations in ecumenical conversations that aim at removing the barriers to Christian unity. However, we feel compelled in all honesty, as representatives of the Orthodox Church, to confess that we must qualify our participation, as necessitated by the historic faith and practice of our Church, and also state the general position that must be taken at this interdenominational conference.

In considering firstly "the nature of the unity we seek," we wish to begin by making clear that our approach is at variance with that usually advocated and ordinarily expected by participating representatives. The Orthodox Church teaches that the unity of the Church has not been lost, because she is the Body of Christ, and, as such, can never be divided. It is Christ as her head and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that secure the unity of the Church throughout the ages.

The presence of human imperfection among her members is powerless to obliterate the unity, for Christ Himself promised that the "gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church." Satan has always sown tares in the field of the Lord and the forces of disunity have often threatened but have never actually succeeded in dividing the Church. No power can be mightier than the omnipotent will of Christ Who founded one Church only in order to bring men into unity with God. Oneness is an essential mark of the Church.

If it be true that Christ founded the Church as a means of unifying men divided by sin, then it must naturally follow that the unity of the Church was preserved by His divine omnipotence. Unity, therefore, is not just a promise, or a potentiality, but belongs to the very nature of the Church. It is not something which has been lost and which should be recovered, but rather it is a permanent character of the structure of the Church.

Christian love impels us to speak candidly of our conviction that the Orthodox Church has not lost the unity of the Church intended by Christ, for she represents the oneness which in Western Christendom has only been a potentiality. The Orthodox Church teaches that she has no need to search for a "lost unity," because her historic consciousness dictates that she is the Una Sancta and that all Christian groups outside the Orthodox Church can recover their unity only by entering into the bosom of that Church which preserved its identity with early Christianity.

These are claims that arise not from presumptuousness, but from an inner historical awareness of the Orthodox Church. Indeed, this is the special message of Eastern Orthodoxy to a divided Western Christendom.

The Orthodox Church true to her historical consciousness declares that she has maintained an unbroken continuity with the Church of Pentecost by preserving the Apostolic faith and polity unadulterated. She has kept the "faith once delivered unto the saints" free from the distortions of human innovations. Man-made doctrines have never found their way into the Orthodox Church, since she has no necessary association in history with the name of one single father or theologian. She owes the fullness and the guarantee of unity and infallibility to the operation of the Holy Spirit and not to the service of one individual. It is for this reason that she has never felt the need for what is known as "a return to the purity of the Apostolic faith." She maintains the necessary balance between freedom and authority and thus avoids the extremes of absolutism and individualism both of which have done violence to Christian unity.

We re-assert what was declared at Evanston and what has been made known in the past at all interdenominational conferences attended by delegates of the Orthodox Church. It is not due to our personal merit, but to divine condescension that we represent the Orthodox Church and are able to give expression to her claims. We are bound in conscience to state explicitly what is logically inferred; that all other bodies have been directly or indirectly separated from the Orthodox Church. Unity from the Orthodox standpoint means a return of the separated bodies to the historical Orthodox, One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

The unity which Orthodoxy represents rests on identity of faith, order, and worship. All three aspects of the life of the Church are outwardly safeguarded by the reality of the unbroken succession of bishops which is the assurance of the Church's uninterrupted continuity with apostolic origins. This means that the uncompromised fullness of the Church requires the preservation of both its episcopal structure and sacramental life. Adhering tenaciously to her Apostolic heritage, the Orthodox Church holds that no true unity is possible where episcopacy and sacraments are absent, and grieves over the fact that both institutions have either been discarded or distorted in certain quarters of Christendom. Any agreement on faith must rest on the authority of the enactments of the seven Ecumenical Councils which represent the mind of the one undivided Church of antiquity and the subsequent tradition as safeguarded in the life of the Orthodox Church.

We regret that the most vital problem of Ministry and that of the Apostolic Succession, without which to our mind there is neither unity, nor church, were not included in the program of the Conference. All problems of Order seem to be missing in the program. These, in our opinion, are basic for any study of Unity.

Visible unity expressed in organizational union does not destroy the centrality of the spirit among believers, but rather testifies to the reality of the oneness of the Spirit. Where there is the fullness of the Spirit, there too will outward amity be found. From Apostolic times the unity of Christian believers was manifested by a visible, organizational structure. It is the unity in the Holy Spirit that is expressed in a unified visible organization.

The Holy Eucharist, as the chief act of worship, is the outward affirmation of the inner relation rising from unity in the Holy Spirit. But this unity involves a consensus of faith among those participating. Intercommunion, therefore, is possible only when there is agreement of faith. Common worship in every case must presuppose a common faith. The Orthodox Church maintains that worship of any nature cannot be sincere unless there is oneness of faith among those participating. It is with this belief that the Orthodox hesitate to share in Joint prayer services and strictly refrain from attending interdenominational Communion Services.

A common faith and a common worship are inseparable in the historical continuity of the Orthodox Church. However, in isolation neither can be preserved integral and intact. Both must be kept in organic and inner relationship with each other. It is for this reason that Christian unity cannot be realized merely by determining what articles of faith or what creed should be regarded as constituting the basis of unity. In addition to subscribing to certain doctrines of faith, it is necessary to achieve the experience of a common tradition or communis sensus fidelium preserved through common worship within the historic framework of the Orthodox Church. There can be no true unanimity of faith unless that faith remains within the life and sacred tradition of the Church which is identical throughout the ages. It is in the experience of worship that we affirm the true faith, and conversely, it is in the recognition of a common faith that we secure the reality of worship in spirit and in truth.

Thus the Orthodox Church in each locality insists on agreement of faith and worship before it will consider sharing in any interdenominational activity. Doctrinal differences constitute an obstacle in the way of unrestricted participation in such activities. In order to safeguard the purity of the faith and the integrity of the liturgical and spiritual life of the Orthodox Church, abstinence from interdenominational activities is encouraged on a local level. There is no phase of the Church’s life unrelated to her faith. Intercommunion with another church must be grounded on a consensus of faith and a common understanding of the sacramental life. The Holy Eucharist especially must be the liturgical demonstration of the unity of faith.

We are fully aware of deep divergences which separate Christian denominations from each other, in all fields of Christian life and existence, in the understanding of faith, in the shaping of life, in the habits of worship. We are seeking, accordingly, an unanimity in faith, an identity of order, a fellowship in prayer. But for us all the three are organically linked together. Communion in worship is only possible in the unity of faiths. Communion presupposes Unity. Therefore, the term "Intercommunion" seems to us an epitome of that conception which we are compelled to reject. An "intercommunion" presupposes the existence of several separate and separated denominations, which join occasionally in certain common acts or actions. In the true Unity of Christ’s Church there is no room for several "denominations." There is, therefore, no room for "'intercommunion." When all are truly united in the Apostolic Faith and Order, there will be all-inclusive Communion and Fellowship in all things.

It has been stated by the Orthodox delegates already in Edinburgh, in 1937, that many problems are presented at Faith and Order Conferences in a manner and in a setting which are utterly uncongenial to the Orthodox. We again must repeat the same statement now. But again, as years ago in Edinburgh, we want to testify our readiness and willingness to participate in study, in order that the Truth of the Gospel and the fullness of the Apostolic Tradition may be brought to the knowledge of all who, truly, unselfishly, and devoutly seek Unity in Our Blessed Lord and His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Bishop Athenagoras Kokkinakis, Chairman
Very Rev Georges Florovsky
Very Rev Eusebius A. Stephanou
Rev George Tsoumas
Rev John A. Poulos
Rev John Hondras
Rev George P. Gallos

Taken from an email (7/12/07) for the St Raphael Clergy Brotherhood of the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America.
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LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches.

The document said Orthodox churches were indeed “churches” because they have apostolic succession and that they enjoyed “many elements of sanctification and of truth.” But it said they lack something because they do not recognize the primacy of the pope — a defect, or a “wound” that harmed them, it said.

More.

I respect this statement by the Pope. I mean, why would he be what he is if he believed differently? Unlike when he recently hid his cross and bowed toward Mecca in a Mosque -- though we're often an unruly bunch -- the Orthodox are probably not going to put out a contract on him for this diss.
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Imagine, if you will, a parish that is fairly new, one that is struggling to define itself. It is a parish that is located in an environment where most of the people around it do not understand what the parish believes or how it worships. This small parish does not have a building of its own. Usually it meets in borrowed space or in the home of one of its members. Its members sometimes face hostility from their own family members. At other times, conflict within the parish itself causes people to leave, or even to fall away from the faith entirely. But most of the Christians in this parish remain devout and dedicated, and strive to live a Christian life, following after Christ Himself.

When I describe that parish, you may think that I am describing our Mission, and ...

Musing on Mission work with St Paul and Deacon James ... HERE.

NOTE: Still on the road in North Cackalacky; will update when able.

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Here's an update on that story of the priestess who "converted" to Islam ...

The Rev. Ann Holmes Redding, a local Episcopal priest who announced she is both Muslim and Christian, will not be able to serve as a priest for a year, according to her bishop.

During that year, Redding is expected to "reflect on the doctrines of the Christian faith, her vocation as a priest, and what I see as the conflicts inherent in professing both Christianity and Islam ..."

Redding says she understands that "the last thing the church needs to deal with at this time is this type of doctrinal dispute. I wish it could've been at a more convenient time. But as far as I know, I am responding to God's will and God's timing."

For her part, Redding said she didn't feel a need to reconcile all the differences between the two faiths but felt that at the most basic level, they are compatible.

She believes she has not violated any of her baptismal or ordination vows. And "since entering Islam," she said, "I have been, by my own estimation, a better teacher, a better preacher and a better Christian."

The whole story.

Thanks to FWD from blog reader, Callie.
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Then suddenly, my eyes glimpsed someone I knew -- a sinner from earth! I said to the angel “Surely you must be mistaken. I am not in heaven -- for look there, that man is a sinner! I knew him. I doubt he believed in Jesus Christ ... and, as far as I know, he never went to church a day in his life! What is he doing here?”

“He was invited,” said the guide. “He came.”

For a brief horrifying moment, I saw my own reflection in his beautiful face.

As we traveled along, I saw others that I knew -- both sinners and saints. I was very confused -- and yet, at the same time, quite overwhelmed. I asked my guide many questions. But his answers all had something to do with “they were invited,” “accepted our invitation,” or, “because God wills it to be so.”

Suddenly, I stopped dead in my tracks. There stood Jack Tyndall. I despised him! Oh, how I hated him!

I turned to the light-filled being and said, “I can’t believe he is here! I cannot stand him!”

“But, remember,” said the angel, “remember ... once, twice -- you prayed for him.”

He’s right. Although it almost killed me, I did make it a habit to pray for my enemies.

“Is that why he’s here?!” I whined ...


The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

PS - I'm on the road all week; blogging & comment moderation may be sporadic. Prayers coveted.

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During a recent workshop, the question was asked:

What does America need most when it comes to Evangelism?

My immediate response:

MONASTICISM.

By that I don't mean a group of cloistered church geeks who can't wait to tell you how bad your local congregation, priest, bishop, spouse, or jurisdiction is. For whatever it's worth, that "vocation" is already filled.

Rather, what's needed are more places of prayer -- first and foremost for Monastics who are praying for their own salvation and the world; a place where visitors are welcomed, as long as they don't interfere with the God-pleasing purpose of the monastery: Prayer & the Work of Salvation.

Another American Orthodox need?

GODLY GODPARENTS.

A priest once told me of a baptism where when the Godmother-to-be arrived he asked, "What church do you go to?" She replied, "This one." Having served there for 8 years and never having met her, he asked: "When was the last time you went to Confession?" She said, "I've never been to Confession." "Well, my dear, you will today," he said (as he led her toward the icon).

Too often's the case where the Sponsors for Baptism/Chrismation are extended family members or close friends who may not be close to the Church Family. Asking them to fill this role is seen as an honour ... That is until those being "honoured" need help crossing themselves or saying the Creed.

True, if it's all a "family thing" the child may never stray. Yet, he or she may never grow in the Faith either. Then there are those who end up wandering away from the Church because they never learned anything and found more "fulfilment" in a mega-setting or with a rock band disguised as religion.

Besides, Godly Godparents are needed to help raise up God-pleasing Monastics (not to mention priests, bishops, spouses, and future Godparents).

Just a couple thoughts, your own are welcomed.

Image of St John - Source


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Considering the Patriarch of Antioch has been living in Damascus for centuries, what's the inherent problem with moving another patriarch?

Now my suggestion, which is guaranteed to irritate everyone, is this: from what I understand (though I haven't looked up the numbers) a majority of Constantinople's flock is in the US.

So move the EP to America. That way, we get undisputed autocephaly, and even a patriarch of our own. That, and everyone is mad, so by the Calvin and Hobbes definition, it is a Good Compromise.

Not my words, but those of a Comment by Peter Gardner taken from HERE.
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The following story is from Space Dot Com. The further I read, the greater my joy. My totally neanderthal comments are in italics.

It may be possible to glimpse before the supposed beginning of time into the universe prior to the Big Bang, researchers now say.

A man I met in El Paso last summer, John, had a "theory" about the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise -- especially its connection to evolutionary theory. That is, that what we call home, the Earth, was part of the Big Expulsion (or Bang). In other words (my words), subjects such as the fossil record, man's co-existence with dinosaurs, etc, were/are affected by the Fall or Expulsion. Thus, any "missing link" is linked to the Fall -- that's where one finds the major hiccup (or, I guess, bang).

Unfortunately, any such picture will always be fuzzy at best due to a kind of "cosmic forgetfulness."

The Big Bang is often thought as the start of everything, including time, making any questions about what happened during it or beforehand nonsensical. Recently scientists have instead suggested the Big Bang might have just been the explosive beginning of the current era of the universe, hinting at a mysterious past.

Like, say, a war in heaven perhaps.

To see how far into history one might gaze, theoretical physicist Martin Bojowald at Pennsylvania State University ran calculations based on loop quantum gravity, one of a number of competing theories seeking to explain how the underlying structure of the universe works.

Past research suggested the Big Bang was preceded by infinite energies and space-time warping where existing scientific theories break down, making it impossible to peer beforehand. The new findings suggest that although the levels of energy and space-time warping before the Big Bang were both incredibly high, they were finite.

Forgive me this silly suggestion, but you can read the above paragraph and have a notion that the Creation in Seven Day Thing might actually have a hint of truth to it.

Scientists could spot clues in the present day of what the cosmos looked like previously. If evidence of the past persisted after the Big Bang, its influence could be spotted in astronomical observations and computational models, Bojowald explained.

However, Bojowald also figures some knowledge of the past was irrevocably lost. For instance, the sheer size of the present universe would suppress precise knowledge of how the universe changed in size before the Big Bang, he said.

Kind of like an Angel with a flaming sword? Especially if the sword was similar to the Memory Pens in Men in Black ...

"It came as a big surprise that some properties of the universe before the Big Bang may have only such a weak influence on current observations that they are practically undetermined," Bojowald said of findings detailed online July 1 in the journal Nature Physics.

One implication of this "cosmic forgetfulness," as Bojowald calls it, is that history does not repeat itself-the fundamental properties of the current era of the universe are different from the last, Bojowald explained. "It's as if the universe forgot some of its properties and acquired new properties independent of what it had before," he told SPACE.com.

I keep thinking ... The Fall. Then I keep forgetting ... The Fall. Then I keep thinking ... The Fall.

"The eternal recurrence of absolutely identical universes would seem to be prevented by the apparent existence of an intrinsic cosmic forgetfulness," he added.

These findings differ from a cyclic model of the cosmos from cosmologist Paul Steinhardt at Princeton and theoretical physicist Neil Turok at Cambridge, which envisions an infinite series of Big Bangs preceding our universe caused by additional membranes or "branes" of reality perpetually colliding and bouncing off each other. Steinhardt said he felt Bojowald's calculations were concrete, but needed further elaboration to include the interplay of different kinds of matter and radiation.

"Branes of Reality colliding" ... now that's the coolest thing I've read all day!

Cosmologist Carlo Rovelli at the Center of Theoretical Physics in Marseilles, France, found it "remarkable" that the new work could delve past the Big Bang. He added the work had to lead to predictions that could be compared to cosmological observations "in order to become credible."

Here's a handful of other instances (there's more in the Archives, if you care to poke around) of neanderthal reactions to the Theory of Evolution Religion That Must Be Believed:

Darwin's Extinction

Ain't Nuthin Divides Christians Like Darwin

Here They Come, Walking Down the Street

In a related note, the following is stolen from yesterday's edition of The Writer's Almanac (noting the anniversary of the introduction of Darwin's Theory):

It was on this day [July 1st] in 1858 that a paper by Charles Darwin about his theory of evolution was first presented to a public audience. Darwin had actually come up with the theory twenty years before that, in 1837. Back then, he drafted a thirty-five page sketch of his ideas and arranged with his wife to publish the sketch after his death. Then, for the next twenty years, he told almost no one about the theory. He practically went into hiding, moving to a small town and living like a monk, with specific times each day for walking, napping, reading, and backgammon. He was so reclusive that he even had the road lowered outside his house, to prevent passersby from looking in the window.

He was reluctant to publish his ideas, because he didn't want to create a controversy by offending anyone's religious beliefs. Atheism was a crime punishable by prison at the time, and Darwin feared that people would object to the idea that God hadn't created each creature individually. When he finally told one of his friends about his theory of evolution, he said it was like confessing a murder.

But then after his daughter died of typhoid, Darwin began to worry that his children might not be able to provide for themselves. So, to help assure his children's well-being, he began writing a book about evolution, which he hoped would become a scientific classic. He worked on the book seven days a week. He had struggled to complete a quarter of a million words when, on June 18, 1858, he learned that a man named Alfred Russel Wallace was about to publish a paper about a similar theory. In order to get credit, Darwin had to present an extract of his work to a scientific society in two weeks.

Almost the same day he received that news, his household was struck by an epidemic of scarlet fever. His children and several nursery maids came down with the disease. Most everyone recovered, but Darwin's youngest son, Charles, died. And so it was that Charles Darwin wasn't even in attendance when his theory of evolution was first presented to a public audience on this day in 1858. He was at home, grieving the death of his son.

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A few adults and some wee volunteers were busy stuffing plastic Easter Eggs with candy and goodies. Most of them were. One creatively naughty little boy was stuffing them with something else. That would be shrimp tails. And that would be, ahem … my boy.

It was the Wednesday before Lazarus Saturday – the day on which the annual Egg Hunt is held at St George. Following the Presanctified Liturgy, some folks helped to stuff the eggs for the following Saturday; it was after the Lenten Potluck (hence, the shrimp). Dead shrimp … dead shrimp tails … stuffed in plastic eggs … to sit for 3 days … hidden and undiscovered … until found by some unsuspecting happy children.

Heh heh. Priceless.

Oh don’t get me wrong. He was wrong! But I was so proud of him.

I remember when my oldest was about, oh, 3-ish. It was after church one day, the kids were running around the yard, climbing trees, and creating mayhem. I was talking with some parishioners when I happened to look off in the distance to see a boy, about the same age, holding my daughter down and … gasp … kissing her!

I walked out and called his name, yelling: “Hey! Get off of her!”

Almost at the same time could be heard the voice of the other’s Dad, yelling: “That’s my boy! Heh heh, Yep! That’s my boy!”

For him, priceless. For me, not so much.

It’s all in perception. And when perception is viewed through the favoring eyes of love, it looks a whole shade different.

Love of my daughter led me to yell one thing; his hopes and love for his son caused an entirely different reaction.

Love.

It definitely complicates things … and you just can’t simplify without it.

St Paul writes:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

… For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

Now, back to my boy; boy, being the operative word here … You gotta admit, that was a great trick! Stinky ol’ shrimp tails inside of hidden plastic eggs.

When I found out, he was scared. He thought I’d be mad at him. When I brought it up, he started to cry. He was shocked, I’m not sure he yet understands, when I held out my hand and said, “Give me five!” Laughter through young tears is, well … Priceless.

(The tails were discovered and discarded long before the cherished children’s event.)

And so it goes. When we don’t love someone, we find no joy in anything they say or do. Yet love … Love covers a multitude of sin.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Love, thanks God, never ends.

Yesterday, the kids returned from Camp St Raphael; a 10 hour bus trip. My son had fallen asleep and -- welcome to kid camp travel -- some kids had drawn on his face with markers. (Aren't you glad you're grown?) Anyway, when he awoke to find out, he was mad. He stayed mad, even telling me about it, until he discovered that the markings were not the work of a suspected little boy, but of his own sister and her girl friends.

Again, it’s all in perception. And when perception is viewed through the favoring eyes of love, it looks a whole shade different.

Truth be known, though ... there's times when I wonder if those two even love each other.

Boys ...

"Watch over your child, O Lord, as his days increase; bless and guide him wherever he may be, keeping him unspotted from the world. Strengthen him when he stands, comfort him when discouraged or sorrowful, raise him up if he fall; and in his heart may your peace which passes understanding abide all the days of his life ..."

Love never ends.

Amen.

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