"I would only point to the spiritual abuse found on any number of “Orthodox” websites in which serious matters, originally written for monastics or for the guidance of clergy are tossed about for even the non-Orthodox to read. As if the canons of the Church were meant for mass consumption!...It’s not that Scripture or Canons or books of doctrine are to be avoided or forbidden – rather, that we should learn to read with wisdom in an effort to grow spiritually and not in an effort simply to gain knowledge of a questionable sort.... Only someone who is not himself ruled by the passions is ready to safely guide someone else beyond those same rocks. Anger and condemnation, pride and superiority are marks of the passions. The passions cannot read the Scriptures and the Traditions rightly, nor offer them to others without doing harm. The same can be said about most argumentation. Reading for the sake of feeding our opinions is actually spiritually harmful...We are a culture that values opinion, and opinion as entertainment (God save us from the pundits!). Dilettantism plagues us. If we want to be Christians, we must start with the small things and the practices that make for proper discipleship and “let not many of us become teachers.” Let many of us become those who pray, who fast, who repent, who forgive even their enemies and through the grace of God come to know the stillness within which God may be known."
+ Fr Stephen Freeman
Forgive me and pray for me a sinner. Forgive me for feeding my passions, for feeding yours, and if I've only shared opinion instead of Truth and Life. I pray that anything written in this blog or the words you may hear me speak in person are always of sound doctrine...but forgive me for speaking, writing and doing anything as a result of my fallen passions. Forgive me and pray for me a sinner.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!
Nowadays people often say that our world is fragile and could easily perish; perhaps that is what will happen and you and I will witness the end of the world. The forces of nature, which the Lord created, are surely blind forces, indifferent to good or evil. If they are allowed to get out of control, they could sweep away all living things. Before life or mankind appeared, these elemental forces had already come into being. They have no pity. When lava flows down a hill, it can crush a village or a town - together with their people and the buildings those people have constructed so diligently and over such a long period. A hurricane, as it comes in from the sea, can destroy hundreds and thousands of lives.
Religion in America: Ancient and Modern By David Bentley Hart
All culture arises out of religion. When religious faith decays, culture must decline, though often seeming to flourish for a space after the religion which has nourished it has sunk into disbelief ... no cultured person should remain indifferent to erosion of apprehension of the transcendent.
Orthodox worship involves the whole body and all its senses. One quote from an Orthodox website says, “Orthodox Church art and music has a very functional role in the liturgical life and helps even the bodily senses to feel the spiritual grandeur of the Lord’s mysteries.” In many Orthodox worship settings throughout the world, there are literally almost no spoken words. All words are chanted (sung). In fact, chanting styles have developed to try to guarantee that what is said is understood.
The Coptic Liturgy according to Saint Basil is maide available on Copt-Net Archives through St Mary Coptic Orthodox Church in Seattle, Washington, USA.
Again with the recent violence in Egypt, I'm reminded of the difficulty of praying for those who persecute Christians and also for those who would use politics to suppress Love and Truth both in the middle east (ie. under the inflexibility of Sharia laws) and in the secular West (under the veil of 'neutrality' and 'pluralism' which is often neither neutral or conducive to dialogue).
All three: Islamification, Christian fundamentalism and militant Atheism are rooted in the presuppositions of sacred vs profane and tend to suppress or privatize expressions of love and mercy which are within the Christian vision and ethos. All three involve reductions and deny the revelatory and healing witness of Orthodox Liturgical life. All three appeal to moralism and a universe of duality.
Even so, we who have put on the Robe of Glory, are called to pray for all, including and especially our 'enemies'. Perhaps as we continue to live out our Baptismal crowning, our encounter and becoming Love will shine Light on the forces and passions that drive people to commit such evils.
"Saints do not solve problems; they take them away, making obvious that the problem itself is from the devil."
+ Fr Alexander Schmemann, Tuesday December 11, 1979, Journals
Praying for our percieved enemies is a difficult thing, but we are reminded of the lives of the Fathers, the monks, nuns, the saints and martyrs who take the Kingdom by force of their prayers and put on Christ, shining the Light of Love and Truth on all things, for all and behalf of all.
Christians in martyrdom shed the Divine Light of the Holy Trinity. Christians who are martyred shed Light and not blood. Their blood reveals and blesses, their blood becomes prayer, calling all to witness the Incarnation, Cross and Resurrection. Their life is light, their love is incarnate and pierces far more effectively than any spear. Such life and such prayer is difficult. As we ask for strength to pray these difficult prayers for our enemies. Let us remember that "Saints do not solve problems; they take them away, making obvious that the problem itself is from the devil."
Lord have mercy and forgive us our sins.
Je Nai Nan.
"In order for a Christian to accomplish his mission inside society, he needs first to accept and love this society, even if it contains dangerous trends, even if it is corrupt and evil, and even if its values conflict with the Christian conscience...We should affirm our identity within many identities, and we should raise our voice in the midst of many voices. The Holy Spirit dwells in the Church according to the Promise of Christ (John 14: 17), and works continuously in it, giving its members the gifts of Pentecost and its experiences. Therefore, we have to offer the experiences of sanctity and knowledge together without conflict or separation, in order for the Church to achieve its educational and informative role for the service of the believers and their spiritual growth.... This spiritual renewal leads us not to undermine the value of science, arts, literature, and all cultural aspects; we believe that the spiritual experience takes all knowledge to its sublime end in order to achieve its ultimate good. For God has loved the world, He loved it as it was, and will love it as it is now. We, as children of God, should love the world and take care of it, and perform our ministry of the Word by using all tools at our disposal."
" “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord” (Eph 5 19).
Liturgy, as the address of the created to the Creator; is the domain in which our Holy Fathers expressed the special relationship of the children with their heavenly Father; and the uprightness of their faith. They have lived this experience and expressed it in words cast in poems imbued with ascetic terms, resulting in prayers. These prayers reflect the life of the Church historically and theologically, the more we repeat them, the more we understand their depth and appreciate their sweetness.
However liturgy is not a rigid thing to be repeated unconsciously. It is an expression of the human need to talk to the Lord, and to thank Him for His grace. Liturgy is spirit and life running through the veins of the body of the Church, and nurturing all its members. It revives the Church, the community and the individuals with the grace that is bestowed upon it. Hence, we are here before a precious gem. We should polish it and reveal its glorious face, stressing the essence of the liturgical practice which leads the believer to grow in Christ. It is therefore important to resort to all tools that enable the people to reach the depth of this inspiring liturgy, that they may take from it that which will help them attain salvation and understanding of the mystery of God.
We are aware of the fact that ritual services and sacramental life are important in our parishes. Performing these services, unifying the forms and developing chanting play a special and basic role in harmonizing between the liturgical practice and the pastoral reality. Activating the pastoral aspect of Liturgy can increase the religious awareness and deepen the relationship between the created beings and the Creator. This is realized by making the language understandable to the people, and by restoring the pastoral liturgical order which takes into consideration the particular needs of parishes and the necessity of sanctifying time in a world of drastic changes. We should also restore the pastoral dimension of all sacramental practices in order that these practices may become the center of the life of the believing community, not merely as passing practices of individuals."
At that time, Jesus wished to go to Galilee; he found Philip and said to him: “Follow me”. Now Philip was from Bethsaida, from the town of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him: “We’ve found him about whom Moses wrote in the law, as did the prophets: Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth”. And Nathaniel said to him: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”. Philip said to him: “Come and see”. Jesus saw Nathaniel coming towards him and said of him: “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit”. Nathaniel said to him: “Where do you know me from?”. Jesus answered and said to him: “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree”. Nathaniel answered and said to him: “Rabbi, you’re the son of God, you’re the king of Israel”. Jesus answered and said to him: “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, you believe? You will see greater things than this”. And he said to him, “Very truly I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man”.
