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

In working with catechumens and seekers, even old dogs willing to learn new tricks, it’s a good think to revisit the basics … such as basic Church Etiquette.

In this episode of the Orthodixie Podcast -- helped by everyone from The Rooftop Singers to Carole King; Debbie Boone to Aretha Franklin; Paul McCartney to Paul Stanly ...

(not to mention Bill Gaither Elvis and Willie Nelson!)

... we review a few of the dos and don'ts of temple worship.

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

Image: Copyright Gospel Communications International, Inc - www.reverendfun.com
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It's a justification commonly heard during the Great Fast: "What? Beer? Why, that's just liquid bread!" This is followed by a few chuckles -- maybe a judgmental glance at the speaker's bread belly.

But beer's status as "daily bread" may be getting an overhaul in Russia ...

The beverage is technically classified as a foodstuff for now, an anomaly that has allowed producers to avoid a sweeping new crackdown on alcohol advertising and night-time sales.

But a new Kremlin-backed bill that passed its first reading in the lower house of the Russian parliament on Tuesday will abolish beer's special status, dragging Russian alcohol regulation into the 21st century.

"Normalising the beer production market and classifying it as alcohol is totally ...

The whole story.
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As we prepare to enter "Cheese Week" progressing toward the Great Fast of the Church, here follows a repost from years past to aid in the struggle.

Here's some items that can help stock a Lenten Pantry ...

+ dried fruits (raisins, currants, apples, cranberries, apricots, prunes, coconut flakes)
+ fresh fruits and vegetables
+ candied peels, mixed
+ dried beans (black beans, soy beans, navy beans, red kidney beans, great northern beans, mung beans, etc)
+ dried legumes (red lentils, green lentils, brown lentils, chick peas, black eyed peas, split peas, etc)
+ seeds (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, poppy)
+ nuts (almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts)
+ herbs & spices (peppercorns, old bay seasoning, mint, others to your taste)
+ herbal teas
+ flavored coffees
+ frozen juice concentrates
+ carob (chips, chunks and powder)
+ nondairy creamers (liquid & dry)
+ nondairy whipped topping
+ rose water
+ baking cocoa
+ lenten flavored baking chips
+ non-alcoholic wines & sparkling waters
+ canned fruits and vegetables
+ tomato juice, sauce, paste (& V-8)
+ canned beans & legumes
+ a variety of pastas (check labels for content)
+ lenten breads (purchased or homemade)
+ soy products (soy milk, tofu, tempeh, soy sauce, etc)
+ lenten bouillon cubes (vegetable, mushroom, onion, etc)
+ vegetarian gravy mixes
+ curry powder
+ ketchup, mustards, pickles, relishes, chutneys
+ lenten mayonnaise (no eggs, no whey)
+ asian sauces (black bean, garlic, peanut, etc)
+ taco sauces and relishes
+ lenten margarine (no milk, no whey)
+ egg replacer (no whites!)
+ tahini (sesame seed paste), peanut butter
+ flavored vinegars (apple cider instead of alcohol)
+ vegetable oils (sunflower, soy, peanut, sesame, walnut, etc)
+ honeys, jams, maple syrups, corn syrup
+ barley, cornmeal, oats, wheat germ, wheat
+ rices (brown, cracked, whole, wild, etc)
+ flours (rice, bleached, wheat, all-purpose, etc)
+ vegetarian chili (canned)


Lenten Ingredient Concerns

Noodles ... Be careful of packaged noodles, most have part of egg or milk in them. Replace noodles with pastas or vegan noodles.

Mayonnaise ... Most brands have milk, egg, or both.

Margarines ... If you really want to fast, check your margarines for whey products. A soy margarine is always free of whey. Some vegetable oil margarines are also lacto-free.

Eggs ... If absolutely necessary, use an egg substitute. It tends to make recipes more difficult; you may wish to just get a better recipe rather than determine how much egg substitute it takes to make your recipe work.

Cheeses ... Placing a small bowl of shredded cheese on the table for the [pre-fasting aged] children is an acceptable way to make their meals more appealing to them; as well as adding to the lack of calcium that a vegan diet inherently has.

Broths ... Meat broths can be replaced with vegetable broths. If you use bouillon cubes, remember not to add any salt to your recipes, as the cubes are very salty.

Gelatin, Jello & Marshmallows ... While these products were once considered animal, the process to create these removes the finished product so far from the animal make-up that Orthodox Rabbi's consider it Kosher for non-meat uses. This seems good enough for most Orthodox Christians. (Vegetable based gelatins are also available.)

Peanut Butter & Tahini ... what can I say?

Chocolate ... is really Milk Chocolate and can be replaced with Cocoa or Carob (chocolate chips can be replaced with carob chips).

Alcohol ... Apple Cider is a great substitute for white wine, and sometimes sherry or red wine.

Desserts ... As a host during lent, remember that many people give up desserts and sweets. So keep fresh fruit in a decorative bowl or basket on your table for your guests. The diabetic guests will also appreciate this.


Lenten Breakfast Items
+ fruit kabobs
+ lenten waffles with jam or syrup
+ peanut butter & honey on bagels
+ fruit salad
+ applesauce cake
+ tahini & honey on toast
+ lenten pancakes
+ lenten muffins
+ fresh fruits
+ baked apples
+ baked grapefruit
+ cereal & vanilla soy milk
+ cinnamon toast
+ good morning cake
+ kasha (or, of course, Grits)
+ granola with applesauce
+ granola with pie filling
+ oatmeal with raisins & syrup or jam

Believe it or not, applesauce works great as a milk substitute on cereals ... and, equally hard to believe, OJ sometimes works just fine. (Really.)

Most all of the above suggestions come from St Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church, Wichita, Kansas.
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GREENSBORO, NC [OCA] -- His Grace, Bishop Mark will deliver a lecture titled "Stillness in a Frenzied World: Wisdom from the Ancient Church" at New Garden Friends Meeting, 801 New Garden Rd., Greensboro, on on Friday, February 25, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.

According to Priest Christopher Foley, rector of Holy Cross Church, High Point, NC, which is cosponsoring the lecture, the parish choir will also present a selection of Orthodox hymns in conjunction with the lecture.

On Saturday, February 26, Bishop Mark will lead a pre-lenten retreat, also open to the public, at Holy Cross Church, located at 645 Greensboro Rd., High Point.

Other lecture cosponsors include the Religious Department of Guilford College, Saint Mary's House Episcopal Campus Ministry, All Saints Episcopal Church, Saint Timothy's Episcopal Church, and Saint John's Anglican Church.

For further information, please call 336-688-9920 or visit www.holycrossoca.org.

Source
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“When are we going to stop making Christianity politically correct and all-inclusive?”

“Why do we insist on accommodating every possible alternative to the centuries-old Christian tradition? Where is the limit, or is there no limit at all?”

“Many Christians worldwide look to Christian leaders in the hope that they will defend Christianity against the challenges that it faces. … Our holy mission is to preach what Christ preached, to teach what the apostles taught, and to propagate what the holy Fathers propagated.”

Source

Image Source
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This video is worth your while ...



Source
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While working on a presentation for Illumination Learning titled Funny Moments Can be Teachable Things, I was also participating in the annual clergy retreat for the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America in Wichita, Kansas.

So, I recruited my brother clergy to help me with my "homework" -- as in this episode of the Orthodixie Podcast, which includes:

Fr Aidan Wilcoxson: sleepin', prayin', drinkin' poison, and manhandlin' serpents.

Fr John Bethancourt's young parishioner breeches the Church - State wall.

Hierodeacon Mark marches to a different drummer (or, at least, sings a different tune).

Fr Antony Bahou prefers Big Bread.

Fr Justin McFeeters phones in a baptism.

Fr Richard Petranek relates how not to comfort the sick.

Fr Constantine Nasr bangs his head over a girl.

Fr John Salem doesn't look the part.

And ...

Fr Symeon Kees is just itchin' for some kudzo.


The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

Images courtesy of Fr Mark Wallace.
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So says Mollie ...

For a religion reporter editor of a major magazine, Lisa Miller of Newsweek can be woefully undereducated about some religion basics. Such as the Old and New Testaments.

The unintentionally hilarious headline of her recent piece is “What the Bible Really Says About Sex.” In it she writes that the Bible is a jumbled mess of patriarchy and contradictions but that it approves of premarital sex and so you should feel free to engage in that. Or something. Anyway, she begins with a basic tale from the Song of Solomon and then informs us that, sit down, it’s from the Song of Solomon IN THE BIBLE. Really:

This ode to sexual consummation can be found in — of all places — the Bible.

In the Bible? Why mercy me! Who knew such things were in the Bible? When did this “Bible” book become available for public consumption? I wonder what other untold shockers are in it. And what do you have to do to gain access to these naughty bits? Miller lets fly with such nuggets of wisdom, available to every single young Christian who has gone through a basic catechism class, a weekend lock-in in the church basement, or, heck, a third-grade Sunday School class on the right week of the church year ...

* * *

I don’t know, maybe the Gospel of Matthew and the words of Jesus are too obscure for a piece on what the Bible “really” says about sex. Anyway, from there she lays out the arguments of two authors of recent books. As mentioned, if you were alive in the 1980, 1990s or thereabouts, you’re probably familiar with many of these arguments: The Bible is an ancient text, inapplicable in its particulars to the modern world. It’s patriarchal. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah had nothing at all to do with homosexuality. Some of it goes into territory that would get much higher marks for blasphemy than exegesis, such as one author’s assertion that Jesus had sex with the woman who washes his feet in the Gospel of Luke. The passage about Sodom and Gomorrah even explains that back “in the biblical world” people actually believed in angels? Can you imagine what silly people these folks were?

The piece ends with a quote from “eminent Bible historian” Elaine Pagels, as you probably could have predicted if I’d asked you “Guess who is quoted in the final paragraph of this piece.” But before that ...

Read it all -- HERE.

The image of George Clinton skiing on the dolphins has nothing to do with this article - source. (But it is cool.)
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Years ago, my spiritual father and I were leaving his cell, headed for the monastery’s chapel for confession, when his old rotary phone rang. Anyone who knew him knew this to be true: “Never stand between Archimandrite Damian and a ringing telephone.”

He answered: “He-ll-oooo … WHO? Oh no, he died! Uh-huh, you’re welcome … please do. Bye bye.”

As he hung up, I asked: “Who died?”

“I did,” he said, “it was some salesperson … now they’ll take my name off their list.”

Fr Damian died, for real, back in 2009 -- moving from the column of the Living to the column of the Deceased on my prayer list. The older a priest gets, the more such transitions occur, the moving of names from one side of the page to the other.

One of the last things I learned from him was this: “What the soul desires, the body fears.”

He said that in one of our final phone conversations; I said, “Did you just make that up?”

He said, “Wh-at? I guess. Well it’s true, Father.”

I said, “I believe you – I just want to quote you.”

What the soul desires the body fears. (And, in most cases, the saying would seem to hold true read the other way ‘round: What the body desires, the soul fears.)

Anyway, I got to thinking about all that when reflecting on death and obituaries. Why was I thinking of such morbid things? I dunno. Maybe ‘cause I’m getting older … I see loved ones, friends, family, and family's friends dying … maybe because I now serve a parish which recently lost its pastor … maybe it’s just because it’s winter!

But, one thing’s for sure, one has to be a bit careful when approaching the subject of death – especially when it comes to obituaries.

Once, back when I worked as a radio announcer, I had to fill in for an ailing DJ whose show included the reading of the daily obituaries from the local newspaper. (It was a small town radio station and, believe it or not, the time slot for the reading of the daily obituaries was very popular.)

I’d been taught in college to use the word “died” as in “John Doe died yesterday”, and to refrain from the more comforting terms: “passed away … slipped into eternal rest … breathed his last” etc.

So, I read the obituaries as I’d been taught.

By the end of the broadcast I came close to having to read my own obituary! The phone lines lighted up and...

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

Image - My family and Fr Damian, c. 2004.
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Just the other day,
on my way to work,
amid the wet and damp of Houston winter
Must have had my window cracked --
enough, that is, to hear

I thank God for them.
By the 20s, the 50s,
hundreds or more,
they sit on the power lines and

sing.


Image Source




To A Bird At Dawn

O bird that somewhere yonder sings,
In the dim hour 'twixt dreams and dawn,
Lone in the hush of sleeping things,
In some sky sanctuary withdrawn;
Your perfect song is too like pain,
And will not let me sleep again.

I think you must be more than bird,
A little creature of soft wings,
Not yours this deep and thrilling word --
Some morning planet 'tis that sings;
Surely from no small feathered throat
Wells that august, eternal note.

As some old language of the dead,
In one resounding syllable,
Says Rome and Greece and all is said --
A simple word a child may spell;
So in your liquid note impearled
Sings the long epic of the world.

Unfathomed sweetness of your song,
With ancient anguish at its core,
What womb of elemental wrong,
With shudder unimagined, bore
Peace so divine -- what hell hath trod
This voice that softly talks with God!

All silence in one silver flower
Of speech that speaks not, save as speaks
The moon in heaven, yet hath power
To tell the soul the thing it seeks,
And pack, as by some wizard's art,
The whole within the finite part.

To you, sweet bird, one well might feign --
With such authority you sing
So clear, yet so profound, a strain
Into the simple ear of spring --
Some secret understanding given
Of the hid purposes of Heaven.

And all my life until this day,
And all my life until I die,
All joy and sorrow of the way,
Seem calling yonder in the sky;
And there is something the song saith
That makes me afraid of death.

Now the slow light fills all the trees,
The world, before so still and strange,
With day's familiar presences,
Back to its common self must change,
And little gossip shapes of song
The porches of the morning throng.

Not yours with such as these to vie
That of the day's small business sing,
Voice of man's heart and of God's sky --
But O you make so deep a thing
Of joy, I dare not think of pain
Until I hear you sing again.


-- Richard Le Gallienne

The first offering is, I suppose, mine -- originally posted 1/18/10.

The second poem, taken from Great Poems of the English Language (New York: Tudor, 1927), reposted from 1/18/10 and 12/05.
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