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

The following two snippets, the words of Mother Mary and Metropolitan (then Archimandrite) Kallistos Ware, come from Fr Josiah Trenham's site, The Arena.

The Meaning of the Great Fast: How the West Changed the Fast

“The second tendency [viewing the fasting rules as outdated] is doubtless the more prevalent in our own day, especially in the West. Until the fourteenth century, most Western Christians, in common with their brethren in the Orthodox East, abstained during Lent not only from meat but from animal products, such as eggs, milk, butter and cheese. In East and West alike, the Lenten fast involved a severe physical effort. But in Western Christendom over the past five hundred year, the physical requirements of fasting have been steadily reduced, until by now they are little more than symbolic. How many, one wonders, of those who eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday are aware of the original reason for this custom- to use up any remaining eggs and butter before the Lenten fast begins? Exposed as it is to Western secularism, the Orthodox world in our own time is also beginning to follow the same path of laxity.”

The Meaning of the Great Fast: Firm Resolve and the Reasons for Contemporary Man’s Weak Fasting

“One reason for this decline in fasting is surely a heretical attitude towards human nature, a false ‘spiritualism’ which rejects or ignores the body, viewing man solely in terms of his reasoning brain. As a result, many contemporary Christians have lost a true vision of man as an integral unity of the visible and invisible; they neglect the positive role played by the body in the spiritual life…Another reason for the decline in fasting among Orthodox is the argument, commonly advanced in our times, that the traditional rules are no longer possible today…it needs to be said that fasting, as traditionally practiced in the Church, has always been difficult and always involved hardship. Many of our contemporaries are willing to fast for reasons of health or beauty, in order to lose weight; cannot we Christians do as much for the sake of the heavenly Kingdom? Why should the self-denial gladly accepted by previous generations of Orthodox prove such an intolerable burden to their successors today? Once St. Seraphim of Sarov was asked why the miracles of grace, so abundantly manifest in the past, were no longer apparent in his own day, and to this he replied: ‘Only one thing is lacking- a firm resolve.’”

Fr Josiah notes: In coming issues of the ARENA you will excerpts like this above from the classic article written by Mother Mary and Metropolitan (then Archimandrite) Kallistos Ware introducing The Lenten Triodion published originally in 1978 by Faber and Faber Limited, reprinted by St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press in 1994.

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So we're getting in the car, my son and I, to go to the church for the Friday night Akathist Hymn. My girls, mom to boot, were headed to Huntsville for DOWAMA Winter Camp (Texas Style).

Before he goes to close and lock the gate, my son throws into the car his DSI and one cowboy boot.

I back the car up; he shuts, locks, and joins me in the car. Knowing he was probably planning to serve as altar boy, and noticing his feet sported Converse sneakers, I assumed he planned to change into his black boots at church.

I said, "Son, you only brought one boot."

"I know," he said, "I only need one."

I looked at him and, with the skill of a father, raised one eyebrow.

"Dad! I'm not going to wear it," he said.

I raised the other brow.

"I'm going to have a drawing contest ... it costs one dollar to enter and the person who draws the best boot wins all the money."

I said, "Son ... ain't nobody gonna give you a dollar to draw a boot."

He said, "Okay, fifty cents."

"Ain't nobody gonna give you fifty cents!"

He smiled and said, "Okay ... okay!"

We'd gotten about a half mile down the road and he said: "One penny?"

:)


Penny Loafers I've heard of, but Penny Boots?
(As far as I could tell, the boot spent the night in the car, no portraits, no pennies.)

Oh, by the way ... save your pennies: the Rodeo is comin'.
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In my daydreaming I saw myself walking down a long white hallway and asking a doctor if he’d be willing to give me a tour of the facility ...

“Sure,” he said, “this way.”

Our first stop was at the room of a man who was obviously suffering some sort of mouth wound. The doctor motioned for me to enter and, as I did so, I said: “Hello, I’m Fr Joseph …”

“Kleesed to eat you; ny nay’yin is k-hjon.”

“Hi, John,” I replied, “what happened to ya?”

“Gjaoghoamboenvofnbod. Fnofenvefkojnvdjkoafnvkdfajnvdfk. Jvnvdfjkfnvdfaoknvnknvfdonvdafon …”

I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. In my fantasy, I looked back toward the door and the Doc was gone.

“Keese a kayker, kleese …”

“A piece of paper? Sure – here ya go” I handed him a pencil and a piece of paper and he scribbled:

Pew. Prostration. Pow!

“Yikes!” I said. “So you went to do a prostration during a Lenten service and forgot there was a pew back in front of you?”

He nodded.

In my fantasy, the doctor reappeared and said: “It’s a common injury this time of year, especially following the Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers where folks visit other parishes that may be appointed differently than their own.”

My host, Nick, returned to the table and ...

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

(Don't forget: Next week, the Orthodixie Podcast is on The Tonight Show!)
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His Grace, MARK, Bishop of the Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest (Antiochian Archdiocese), was in Houston for the First Sunday of the Great Fast.


My plan was to feature many pics from the day's events; I had all the women in my house bring their cameras ...


As it turned out, a new computer program (which, I might add, stinks) and I did not play well together. Which leaves only the three shots seen here ...


... even a profile of the soon-to-be-8 photographer!

Anyway ...

You can access Sayidna MARK's Sunday of Orthodoxy sermon at St George Antiochian Orthodox Church -- HERE.

The homily during the Pan-Orthodox Vespers for the Sunday of Orthodoxy, hosted by Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, may be heard HERE.

All podcasts of the Orthodox Clergy Association of Southeast Texas - HERE.
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I've posted this before, but the wife brought the dish to last week's Post-Pre-Sanctified-Potluck and it was, as usual, a hit. Enjoy!

2 lbs. shrimp (raw)
worcestershire sauce
2 c. chopped celery
1 c. chopped green onion, stems and all
1 c. green pepper, optional
2 c. uncooked rice
add black pepper to taste
2 packets Goya Ham flavored concentrate (Lenten)
or crumbled bacon when not fasting

Peel shrimp and soak in worcestershire sauce (enough to cover) for 1-3 hours
Cook 2 c. rice in 4 c. water until done. Move to large bowl

Sauté vegetables in vegetable oil until soft. Move to bowl with rice.
Drain excess sauce off shrimp, coat shrimp in self rising flour and brown in oil in same pan in batches adding oil as needed to prevent sticking and burning.
Drain on paper towels and add to rice & vegetables with a generous amount of margarine (about a stick) and ham seasoning.

Mix gently but well.
Put into a 9x13 greased dish.
Heat until warmed through (about 20-30 min. at 350) when ready to eat.

(My wife adds: I have cooked the shrimp in my Fry Daddy before, instead of in the pan, and it works fine.)

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Recipe courtesy of Mary Deane of Pawleys Island.
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At the invitation of the Orthodox Clergy Association of Southeast Texas and with the blessing of Bishop BASIL of the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America ... His Grace, MARK, Bishop of the Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest will be in Houston February 19-21, 2010.

SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, Feb 19 - Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos at St George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church, 6:30 PM; His Grace will speak following the service.

SATURDAY, Feb 20 - Soul Saturday Liturgy at St George, 9:00 AM; Great Vespers, 6:30 PM.

SUNDAY, Feb 21 - Hierarchical Liturgy at St George, 10:00 AM.

Sunday evening, February 21st, Triumph of Orthodoxy Vespers at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 5:00 PM; Bishop MARK, preacher; reception to follow.

Clergy - GOLD vestments.

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One of my youngest daughter's chores on Thursday is gathering all the individual trash bags from the bedrooms and bathrooms and depositing them in a larger bag to be carted down to the curb.

This morning, bearing a half dozen plump former grocery bags, she came over to me and whispered: "Dad, look what I found on the top of the trash in one of the waste baskets."

I looked down to see her holding up a candy wrapper and, in that parental so what way, said: "Mmmm-hmmm."

She said, "Dad ... look at it: 'Milk Chocolate with Almonds' ... we're not supposed to be eating milk chocolate!"

Assuming the offender was an older sibling, one with whom she never ceases to tempt, argue, and play (see the pic above), I said: "Was it you?"

She said, emphatically: "No-o-o!"

I said, "Well, good. Just worry about yourself during the Fast, Sweetie. Just work on yourself."

As her Dad is wont to say: You preach most what you most need to learn. :)

UPDATE: Further investigation has revealed that the offending wrapper was found on the floor a few days ago -- hence, before the Fast -- and was just recently thrown in the trash. (No charges have been filed.)


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On Clean Monday, I noted in my morning journal:

“I can’t believe it’s finally here. Lent. Lent 2010. Fifty days for me to torment myself with discipline and guilt. I usually have little problem with the food fast part – but the struggle toward dispassion, repentance and alms giving … that’s where I fall. I not only fall, I then judge myself harshly; would that I judged myself lovingly toward repentance, confession, and amendment of life! But, oftentimes I just build a big ol’ ball of weighty guilt and carry it around with me as if that was a necessary Lenten exercise.

Lord have mercy."

I had planned to "live pod" Clean Monday ... but, instead, wound up singing duo with my teen aged daughter (at 6:30 AM on Pure Tuesday!) a parody of the Green Acres TV show theme song.

Anyway, it's all here:

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

Oh ... and stick around for the "outtakes" which follow the podcast's outro.

(Forgive me.)
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Just as a reminder [in other words, there's no need to stone the messenger in the ComBox (hence, the cartoon at left)], here's “The Rules of Fasting” -- beginning with the first day of the Fast, Clean Monday -- from The Lenten Triodion, translated by Mother Mary and Bishop Kallistos (Ware).

On weekdays (Monday to Friday inclusive) during the seven weeks of Lent, there are restrictions both on the number of meals taken daily and on the types of food permitted; but when a meal is allowed, there is no fixed limitation on the quantity of food to be eaten.

a) On weekdays in the first week, fasting is particularly severe. According to strict observance,in the course of the five initial days of Lent, only two meals are eaten, one on Wednesday and the other on Friday, in both cases after the Liturgy of the Presanctified. On the other three days, those who have the strength are encouraged to keep an absolute fast; those for whom this proves impracticable may eat on Tuesday and Thursday (but not, if possible, on Monday), in the evening after Vespers, when they may take bread and water, or perhaps tea or fruit-juice, but not a cooked meal. It should be added at once that in practice today these rules are commonly relaxed. At the meals on Wednesday and Friday xerophagy is prescribed. Literally, this means, “dry eating.” Strictly interpreted, it signifies that we may eat only vegetables cooked with water and salt, and also such things as fruit, nuts, bread and honey. In practice, octopus and shellfish are also allowed on days of xerophagy; likewise vegetable margarine and corn or other vegetable oil, not made from olives. But the following categories of food are definitely excluded:

1. Meat
2. Animal products (cheese, milk, butter, eggs, lard,drippings)
3. Fish (i.e., fish with backbones)
4. Oil (i.e., olive oil) and wine

b) On weekdays (Monday to Friday inclusive) in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth weeks, one meal a day is permitted, to be taken in the afternoon following Vespers, and at this one meal xerophagy is to be observed.

c) Holy Week. On the first three days there is one meal each day, with xerophagy; but some try to keep a complete fast on these days, or else they eat only uncooked food, as on the opening days of the first week.

On Holy Thursday one meal is eaten, with wine and oil (i.e., olive oil). On Great Friday those who have the strength follow the practice of the early Church and keep a total fast. Those unable to do this may eat bread, with a little water, tea or fruit-juice, but not until sunset, or at any rate not until after the veneration of the Winding-Sheet at Vespers.

On Holy Saturday there is in principle no meal, since according to the ancient practice after the end of the Liturgy of St. Basil the faithful remained in church for the reading of the Acts of the Apostles, and for their sustenance were given a little bread and dried fruit, with a cup of wine. If, as usually happens now, they return home for a meal, they may use wine but not oil; for on this one Saturday, alone among Saturdays of the year, olive oil is not permitted.

The rule of xerophagy is relaxed on the following days:

1) On Saturdays and Sundays in Lent, with the exception of Holy Saturday, two main meals may be taken in the usual way, around mid¬day and in the evening, with wine and olive oil; but meat, animal products and fish are not allowed.

2) On the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25) and Palm Sunday fish is permitted as well as wine and oil, but meat and animal products are not allowed …

3) Wine and oil are permitted on the following days,if they fall on a weekday in the second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth week:

• First & Second Finding of Head of St. John the Baptist (Feb. 24)
• Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (Mar. 9)
• Fore-feast of the Annunciation (Mar. 24)
• Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel (Mar. 26)
• Holy Great martyr and Victory bearer George (April 23)
• Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark (April 25)
• Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian (May 8)
• Patronal Feast of the Church or Monastery

4) Wine and oil are also allowed on Wednesday and Thursday in the fifth week, because of the vigil for the Great Canon. Wine is allowed —and, according to some authorities, oil as well — on Friday in the same week, because of the vigil of the Akathist Hymn.

It has always been held that these rules of fasting should be relaxed in the case of anyone elderly or in poor health. In present-day practice, even for those in good health, the full strictness of the fast is usually mitigated. Only a few Orthodox today attempt to keep a total fast on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday in the first week, or on the first three days of Holy Week. On weekdays — except, perhaps, during the first week of Holy Week—it is now common to eat two cooked meals daily instead of one. From the second until the sixth week, many Orthodox use wine, and perhaps oil also, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and less commonly on Mondays as well. Permission is often given to eat fish in these weeks. Personal factors need to be taken into account, as for example the situation of an isolated Orthodox living in the same household as non-Orthodox, or obliged to take meals in a factory or school. In cases of uncertainty each should seek the advice of his or her spiritual father. At all times it is essential to bear in mind that “you are not under the law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14), and that “the letter kills, but the spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). The rules of fasting, while they need to be taken seriously, are not to be interpreted with dour and pedantic legalism; “for the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17).

Thanks to an annual FWD from Fr Mark Mancuso.
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On this Sunday of Forgiveness, I beg you -- faithful readers, lurkers, and surfers -- to forgive my many sins, failings, and shortcomings. Prayers coveted and assured, for you and yours, as we prepare, during this holy season of the Great Fast, to meet the Lord in the Bright and Glorious Day of Resurrection (Pascha - April 4, 2010).

-- Unworthy Priest Joseph

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Q: What do grits, Greeks, and Elvis have in common?

A: Fr. Joseph Huneycutt and his new book We Came, We Saw, We Converted.

Fr. Huneycutt has filled this book with humorous observations on Eastern Orthodoxy and Southern living, often combining and interweaving the two in a way that makes one think he was raised Southern Orthodox instead of Southern Baptist. Taken from his weekly podcast Orthodixie on Ancient Faith Radio, this light-hearted priest pokes fun at US southern culture as well as the 2000 year old faith and traditions of the Orthodox Church the way only a loving son of both can. However, the message of this book is clear: Live faithfully, love fully, and above all else ... keep a sense of humor.

-- Doug Burns

Order from Conciliar Press; order from Amazon.

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Links from 2007 retreat found here; most recent retreat -- Parts One, Two, Three, Four. Let me say, once again, these are my notes, filtered through my slowly moving hand and weak mind.

Continuing from the previous posting (concluding Stage Two) ...

As Man's divine experiences proceed, he experiences his own kenosis.

This elevated spiritual stage is reflected in his prayer for the whole world -- which he would not have been able to bear before he was filled with Christ.


Stage Three

Stability: Man's total receptivity of God's Divine Will.

Not even death can separate (for man has tasted death in the Second Stage).

The presence of the Grace of the Holy Spirit is so prominent that he is void of all passion and filled with the universality of His Love. Man is, thus, liberated from every inner battle with the Passions.

In this stage, Man attains personhood = a divine human being.

St Silouan: "Man is only able to enjoy such a state for the briefest period."


More later ...
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How My Karma Ran Over Your Dogma*

The humor that I tried to make
Has caused the heads of some to ache,
The Lord, they say, not once did smile,
Lenten humor doth God revile.

The views of holy men I praise,
Though not them all to dogma raise.
If Christ on earth was somber e're,
The yoke he broke did clear the air.

As sons and daughters, we are free,
To celebrate this liberty.
My karma's triumph e'er the tomb,
Has just run o'er your dogma's gloom.

In words of Germans born of old,
To harmless humor's joy I hold.
Wes Brot ich ess, des Lied ich sing:
Whose bread I eat, his song I sing,

The Bread of Life's a tender glee
From which a laugh need never flee.
Eternal life we seek with care
Yet e're with cheer this duty bear!


*A poem, written in reaction to the humorless, by Archbishop Chrysostomos of Etna; used by permission.


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You can back up to the last part for previous links.

"The Stages a Christian goes through to realize hypostatic nature -- to come to the mystery of the Christ"

Man is called by God.

There is a specific calling for every person.

This calling is implanted in created nature; it is the hope of the hypostatic principle.

God seeks man at every stage of his life, wherever he may be.

And man only has to open to Him and He will begin the process of rejuvenation.

The heart may also be moved by the loving prayers of the Saints.

The First Stage is accomplished by feelings and experiences in the heart:

-- undertakes every good work with ease
-- knows sweet peace of reconciliation with God
-- "Personal Pascha" (from death to life)
-- initial grace similar to the perfect; the grace of the Saints

Second Stage:

-- withdrawal of grace (if not schooled in this withdrawal, man may be akin to an unbeliever)
-- God allows the temptations that follow to be for our regeneration
-- man undergoes chastening as a son
-- unless the Lord teaches us, we cannot see that we are immature
-- God, in His providence, chastises us in His absence (to prove His perfect will)
-- the most obvious result of God's withdrawal is our own pride. God cannot tolerate it; He must abandon so as to allow Man the perfect freedom
-- man can no longer return to the blissful ignorance he knew before grace
-- eternal life has been revealed to him as the only [goal] of this temporal life
-- suffering is the sign of election.

-- God never ceases calling Man into His heavenly kingdom
-- the final stage of Man's spiritual struggle is Christ Himself
-- it is through grace that deification is accomplished

This second stage teaches us that salvation is a gift from God, we cannot attain it on our own.

-- when Christ is within us it is easy to pray
-- when He withdraws, if you continue blessing and glorifying Him, even unto threats of death, this shows that our life is one that overthrows death


More later ...
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I've been meaning to give a shout out to some folks working diligently to make the Orthodox Blogosphere safe and sane.

FIRST ... Prudence True: A little esoteric, but chock full of thought provoking insight.

NEXT ... She's not new, but I've been slothful in mentioning: Matushka's Blog, where you'll find perspective and humor from a Homeschooling-Orthodox-Mission-Minded-Matushka in South Carolina.

THEN THERE'S ... Orthodox Healing, from Subdeacon Symeon Kees -- who is no stranger to the 'sphere.

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Click here for part one, part two; here for past retreat notes ('07) -- and remember, these notes are filtered through a slow moving hand and noggin:

On the manifestation of the hypostasis – both in God and Man -- in the teaching of Elder Sophrony ...

1) Christ is a true person revealed to Moses
2) Man – a person created in the Image and Likeness
3) The hypostasis of the Son of God was manifest by his love to the end (KENOSIS)
4) In man, the hypostasis is manifest when he acquires love for God and self-hatred

KENOSIS – the expression of God’s Love to the end

The Lord’s prayer in Gethsemane incorporates all Mankind – as does the high priestly prayer in John's Gospel. In Gethsemane, Christ's prayer makes manifest the perfection of human will in uniting with Divine will.

Just as in the Incarnation (Kenosis), Christ empties himself to become Man, in Gethsemane, as perfect Man, He offers himself to God for all humanity.

Final stage of Christ's Kenosis … His descent into Hell.

To live a Christian life is impossible – to live a Christian life is to die ... daily.

Detest yourself because of love for God, and you will embrace all that exists in your love.

More later ...
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Down in Louisiana, there's Mardis Gras; in other places, there's Fat Tuesday with Pancakes; here at St George Orthodox Church, just before we give up meat for Lent, there's the annual Country Western BBQ & Dance!


That's DJ Lisa warming up the crowd for ...


This guy and his band.


Can your priest do this?


The stunned crowd struggles to keep up with Fr John's hand jive.


It was a rousing performance, which just tuckered some fellers out:



But the young and young at heart got their boots scootin' ...




Dummy.


"Hey! Who you callin' dummy?"


"Y'all have a happy Meatfare Sunday and Cheese Week, ya hear?!"


Nice looking pics - thanks to Greg Quartaro; pics that look like they were taken by a priest who forgot his camera (but had his phone) ... by me.

The annual Country Western BBQ & Dance is an event hosted by the Fellowship of St John the Divine.

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Click here for part one; here for past retreat notes -- and remember, these notes are filtered through a slow moving hand and noggin:

If we are worshiping a loving God, we need a sensation of this life in our deep heart.

The reason Christ did not answer Pilate: "What is truth?" -- Had he asked "Who is truth?," he would have received the answer Christ gave to his disciples at the Supper: "I am the Truth and the Life ..."

Man was created by the Divine Energies as a pure potential -- or as Elder Sophrony says: "a tabula rasa".

We are created in the image of God's Energies.

The Holy Spirit forms Christ in the heart of man.

That all be saved -- that is where hypostatic prayer begins; the hope that all men be saved.

The "goal" of every priest ... to be a vessel of incorruptible consolation, without sins or passions, to the faithful.

First the person, then the Rule.

St Silouan: "By God's grace, I am."


More later ...
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A personal note & request: Of your charity, I beg your prayers for my father-in-law, Rodney Byard, who passed away yesterday -- his wife, Nancy; his daughters Becky, Jenny, and Amy Elizabeth (my wife) & their families. Thank you -- and may God grant you and yours long life.


The Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America was blessed to have Archimandrite Zacharias of St John the Baptist Monastery, Essex - England, as our clergy retreat speaker again this year.

This year's topic: "Fulfillment of Personhood according to Elder Sophrony of Essex"

Here's some quotes -- at least as I heard them (there was so much info it was hard to make the pen keep track; forgive me):

We have to be strong in our relationship with God in order to be strong in all our relationships.

Every person is created in a unique way and has his own unrepeatable path to salvation.

One should not look at what a person is, but what he can become by God's grace.

In the Liturgy, we exchange our small life for God's great life.

In the Liturgy, we are given a taste of personhood.

We must come to the Liturgy with some contribution from our heart.

By bringing our small gift we enter the communion of the gifts of the others of the Church -- the stronger members -- both on heaven and on earth.


More later ...
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This week's episode of the Orthodixie Podcast is an interview with John Maddex of Ancient Faith Radio concerning my new book We Came, We Saw, We Converted.

Click here to listen.

UPDATE ... The following note is from a WC,WS,WC reader ...

I scanned the book and I am reading it as a devotional, a chapter or two a day. You should advertise it as a "devotional with humor". You have the knack for conveying wisdom with wit.
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It has ever been so. We all get our chance -- some more than others -- and it's what we do with our time that matters.

I've been thinking lately: You make time, it is not found.

Time is made, not found.

The question is often asked, Where do you find the time?

Rather, answer this: When are you going to make the time?

Time, though a mystery, is a creature.

But it can be harnessed.

It is this harnessing of time that drives creative output.
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Members of Russian National
Olympic team pose for a picture
with Russian Orthodox Church
Patriarch Kirill, center, at Christ
the Savior Cathedral after a
blessing ceremony in Moscow,
Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010.

Stolen from here.
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An industrious blog reader sent the following regarding a portion of this post which referenced this link:

Hi, Fr. Huneycutt—

I enjoy your blog and wanted to respond to one of the posts, but, alas, didn’t have an “account” and not sure how to do that. Anyway, re. the Patriarch Kyrill comments about Haiti. I looked at the speech and didn’t see how the news accounts could twist his words that way. Even with my poor Google translation, it doesn’t seem to lend itself to the interpretation given in the Media. Here’s an excerpt. I found the entire speech on the Patriarch’s website:

“. . .Today, as perhaps never before, people from different countries, different nations, different religions need to find a common language to unite their efforts. An unbiased look at what is happening today testifies to the emergence of human civilization dangerous challenges: the human race is faced with such challenges, what has never encountered before. Indeed, man can not be calm when informed that a terrorist act, that poverty and hunger are destroying people.

The whole world stirred tragedy of Haiti. The country plight. At one time, when she was a French colony, there were prisons where people were sent from France to life imprisonment. It was a terrible corner of the world. Then the country was liberated from colonial rule, but unfortunately, unlike its neighbor - Dominican Republic - was unable to establish a life and get on the path of development that would lead people to prosperity. I have been on this island, divided between the two countries: the Dominican Republic and Haiti are seen as two of the world. One part of the island flourishes, the other reigning crime and political instability.

Now, however, serious problems of this part of the island many times compounded by a catastrophic earthquake. TV screens we see the abyss of human suffering.

Kazakhstan, like other countries, no stranger to know what an earthquake. Usually in the case of serious natural disasters, people are organized, are beginning to help each other, create conditions for the implementation of external assistance. In Haiti, we are now seeing the opposite: people die from hunger, thirst, disease, and the hands of criminals, and you can imagine in what the hell are now residents of Haiti.

In poverty, hunger, crime, drugs, corruption, against which the evolving human tragedy of the earthquake that devastated the country, many historical, economic, political, social and climatic reasons, finally, the role of personality in history. But we must not forget that it is a profound state of the human spirit is at the heart of many problems of modern society - from drug abuse and crime to environmental pollution.

God saw fit to lay in our moral sense, which is known voice of conscience. It is this feeling, in the first place, people and different from all the animal world, because the mind in some degree peculiar to animals. So, watching the dogs, sometimes amazed at their intelligence, diplomacy, cunning.

However, in human nature, in addition to the instincts and intelligence, there is a moral feeling. This is a very important feature of rights, which distinguishes it from other living beings of our world. This is the secret heart of human nature, in that secret place of the soul and is all - as the Scripture says, from the human heart come evil thoughts (Mark 7, 21). And if these thoughts, we are putting into evil deeds, it is the second area in which they are carried out: whether in politics, in economics there, whether we are mindlessly wasting natural resources that God gave us, and pollute the environment, or create unfair relations, causing famine, social upheaval and drug use, in which some try to escape from the onerous conditions of earthly existence, to relax in the virtual world of dreams. . ."

Thanks to FWD from Geri F.
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