a blog in the wheel...

2011-02-03T11:31:00.000-08:00

2007-05-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

2007-05-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

2007-03-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

2007-03-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

it's me!!!

they disguise speakers to pump out cheesy music in these beautiful speakers. it make everything artificial seem real.

another favorite spot

one of my fequent places to sit when i talk to you

a view from zee lagoon

path from the beach to the resort

a pic from the beach

my pinnaple and coconut shindig. i was going to go with coffee, but decided i'd like something fruit and cold.

this is verrry scary to me.

this shall be my new catch phrase when talking to you :)

2007-02-22T18:21:00.000-08:00

2007-02-20T00:33:00.000-08:00

2007-02-20T00:20:00.000-08:00

2007-02-20T00:15:00.000-08:00

2007-02-20T00:12:00.000-08:00

2007-02-20T00:10:00.000-08:00

2007-02-19T22:30:00.000-08:00

2006-09-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

2006-08-24T19:21:00.000-07:00

2006-08-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

2006-08-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

2006-06-05T20:25:00.000-07:00

i'm moving!

2006-05-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

just to a different website. Inspired by josh and anna, i decided to move to a new host site. so i'm moving next door to anna. hopefully it's a nice suburb with identical houses throughout, a big pool, and no one talks to each other. my new address is http://sethearl.wordpress.com/. so update those bookmarks!

A New (old) Kind of Conservatism

2006-05-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

I am currently embroiled in five books right now. We Are All the Same, Praying with the Church, Radical Hospitality, Elder Porphyrios, and Crunchy Cons. It's this last book that I want to touch briefly on. Crunchy Cons is a book that calls for a better conservatism. one that isn't mired in the greed of the modern form of republicanism, but embraces community as it's core essence. i might write more on the subject, but probably not. my main purpose of even bringing it up is to address you to Dan Edelen's site Cerulean Sanctum. he's done a review of the book and is expanding on it with his own thoughts. if you've been dissatisified with modern politics and the way the republican party has gone, please check out this site, and if you can, pick up a copy of crunchy cons. it's definately worth reading.

Barnabas and Scot Mcknight

2006-05-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

I'd like to direct your attention to the new blog i have on my friend's list. barnabas is my godfather and i've known him for about three years and have always enjoyed what he has had to say. he currently the media director at "come recieve the light" in ft lauderdale, fl. suffice to say, i am looking forward to reading his comments and thoughts on a regular basis, and i encourage everyone who reads this to do so as well.

on a side note, i know that i haven't updated for a while and that some are impatient for an update (bill). i am currently reading scot mcknight's new book "praying with the church". it's basically a protestant defense for praying with the Church by using the written prayers from the Church's history. it's pretty good so far and i'm looking forward to reviewing it more fully here. as i'm reading i'll probably post some of my favorite parts to water your appetites. that's about it...

Holy Wednesday

2006-04-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

Matthew 26:6-16

6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, 7 There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. 8 But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? 9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. 10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. 11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. 12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. 13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. 14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, 15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

THE HARLOT CAME TO YOU, LOVER OF MANKIND,

POURING MYRRH AND TEARS ON YOUR FEET.

AT YOUR COMMAND SHE WAS DELIVERED FROM THE STENCH OF HER EVIL DEEDS,

BUT YOUR GRACELESS DISCIPLE, THOUGH BREATHING YOUR GRACE,

REJECTED IT AND WALLOWED IN FILTH,

SELLING YOU IN HIS LOVE OF MONEY.

GLORY, O CHRIST, TO YOUR COMPASSION!

Holy Tuesday Meditation

2006-04-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

Behold, a righteous king will reign, and princes will rule with justice. The only-begotten Word of God, together with God the Father, has always been king of the universe, and to him all creatures, visible and invisible, are subject. People on earth, having been caught in the snares of sin, were persuaded by the devil to reject his sovereignty and to despise his royal power, but the judge and dispenser of all justice brought them back under his own dominion.

All his ways are straight, says scripture, and by the ways of Christ we mean the divine precepts laid down in the gospel. By observing them we make progress in every virtue, do honor to ourselves by the moral beauty of our lives, and attain the heavenly reward to which we have been called. These are straight, not winding ways: they are direct and easily followed. As it is written, The way of the upright is straight; the road of the just is made smooth. Its many decrees make the law a rugged way and its difficulty intolerable, but the way of gospel commands is smooth, without any roughness or steep ascents.

The ways of Christ are straight, then, and as for the holy city, which is the Church, he himself was its builder and he makes it his own dwelling. In other words, he makes the saints his dwelling: sharing as we do in the Holy Spirit, we have Christ within us and have become temples of the living God. Christ is both the founder of the Church and its foundation, and upon this foundation we, like precious stones, are built into a holy temple to become, through the Spirit, a dwelling place for God.

Since it has in Christ such a firm foundation, the Church can never be shaken. Scripture says: I am laying the foundation stone of Zion, the cornerstone, chosen and precious. No one who believes in him will ever be put to shame. When he founded the Church, Christ delivered his people from bondage. He saved us from the power of Satan and of sin, freed us and subjected us to his own rule, but not by paying a ransom or by bribes. As one of his disciples wrote, We have been freed from the futile ways handed down to us by our ancestors, not by anything perishable like silver and gold, but by the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without mark or blemish. He gave his own blood for us, so that we no longer belong to ourselves, but to him who bought us and saved us. Those therefore who turn aside from the noble rule of the true faith are justly accused by all the saints of denying the Lord who redeemed them.

St Cyril of Alexandria

taken from the Pontificator's Holy Week Postings

An interesting article...

2006-04-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

Poverty-Stricken Africans Receive Desperately Needed Bibles

March 13, 2006 | Issue 42•11

MARADI, NIGER—More than 60,000 urgently needed Bibles arrived to allay suffering throughout the famine-stricken nation of Niger Friday, in one of the largest humanitarian-relief operations ever attempted by a Christian ministry.

"Come rejoice, and feast upon the word of Our Lord, Jesus Christ," said Christina Clarkson, executive director of the Living Light Ministries of Lubbock, TX. "Those who were hungry, hunger no more, for the Word brings life."

An exuberant Clarkson said the Bible drop was the culmination of one of the largest and most aggressive grassroots fundraising drives ever undertaken by the organization, which was able to fund the mission largely through local charitable events, such as bake-offs, barbecues, and pie-eating contests.

"We absolutely would not be here today if it were not for the amazing generosity of the people back home," Clarkson said. "People everywhere opened up their hearts and checkbooks to us and said, 'Dig in.'"

Niger, ranked as the second-poorest nation on Earth, is experiencing its worst famine in more than 20 years, as a brutal drought last year was followed by a plague of crop-destroying locusts. An estimated 3.5 million of Niger's 12 million people are currently at risk of starvation.

"That's why it was so important for this mission to happen right now," said Clarkson. "So many people here are suffering. Disease, starvation, and lack of shelter are day-to-day realities in Niger. But once they hear the Good News of Jesus Christ and accept Him as their Lord and Savior—once they really take Him into their hearts—then they will see what poor comforts are the things of this world."

Due to the tireless efforts of Clarkson and other members of the congregation, the ministry was able to provide the needy with Bibles superior to the ones they use in their own church services.

"Handcrafted, genuine leather—best money can buy," said 61-year-old missionary Don Kostic as he ran his hand along the book's ornately embossed spine. "It's like my wife back home says: Nothing is too good for people who are ready to receive the Living Word of Christ."

Although the fundraising efforts were unprecedented, congregation members said Living Light would never have succeeded had they not obtained the generous support of an array of corporate sponsors, including Applebee's and Church's Fried Chicken.

"We spent so much money just to get here," Kostic continued. "After we had all the Bibles engraved, we still had to charter the plane. When we landed in Niamey, we could barely even afford ground transportation."

Undaunted, the missionaries purchased the best vehicle they could find, which turned out to be a used bread truck. "That old thing!" recalled Kostic, laughing. "We must've scrubbed it down a hundred times. You couldn't get the smell of freshly baked, vitamin-fortified bread out of it if your life depended on it."

Reaction among Niger residents has been mixed.

Moussa Yaouli, a 35-year-old farmer, was particularly interested to learn more about the doctrine of transubstantiation, which Living Light personnel told him involved the eating of wafers. "It is said to be a big wafer. I am sure it will feed many of my children."

Though "spiritually gratified" by their work, many of the missionaries spoke about the difficulties of working in an impoverished country.

"It can be so hard being away from the comfort of our homes and our loving families," Clarkson confided. "I will admit, there have been times when I prayed, 'Lord, just help me get through this mission and get me back to Texas!' But when we rolled into town and people started running after the truck with those big smiles on their faces, I couldn't help but smile back."

Clarkson added: "And when we opened up the back of the truck and they saw that it was full of Bibles... Grown men and women wept in front of their children. That's how moved they were by the Holy Spirit. That's how I know it's all been worth it."

Clarkson said her mission will succeed in bringing the people of Niger "the spiritual sustenance they've been deprived of," despite such obstacles as the nation's 18 percent literacy rate.

"You say you're suffering. I say, let the good Lord do the suffering for you," she said. "You say you're exhibiting the deleterious effects of severe dehydration and chronic malnutrition. And I say that no matter what ails you, the Holy Bible is the best medicine there is."

The Onion is not intended for readers under 18 years of age.

***It's satire, yes. but it hits incredibly close to home. the gospel is for the whole person, both physical and spiritual. if we fail to minister to one part of the person, we fail to minister to the person.

Great Monday

2006-04-17T08:16:00.000-07:00

This is Holy Week for the Eastern Orthodox Church. Hopefully, I'll post different articles relating to each day of the week:

On Great Monday we commemorate Joseph the Patriarch, the beloved son of Jacob. A major figure of the Old Testament, Joseph's story is told in the final section of the Book of Genesis (chs. 37-50). Because of his exceptional qualities and remarkable life, our patristic and liturgical tradition portrays Joseph as tipos Christou, i.e., as a prototype, prefigurement or image of Christ. The story of Joseph illustrates the mystery of God's providence, promise and redemption. Innocent, chaste and righteous, his life bears witness to the power of God's love and promise. The lesson to be learned from Joseph's life, as it bears upon the ultimate redemption wrought by the death and resurrection of Christ, is summed up in the words he addressed to his brothers who had previously betrayed him, “’Fear not ... As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.’ Thus he reassured them and comforted them” (Gen 50.19-21). The commemoration of the noble, blessed and saintly Joseph reminds us that in the great events of the Old Testament, the Church recognizes the realities of the New Testament.

Also, on Great Monday the Church commemorates the event of the cursing of the fig tree (Mt 21.18-20). In the Gospel narrative this event is said to have occurred on the morrow of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem (Mt 21.18 and Mk 11. 12). For this reason it found its way into the liturgy of Great Monday. The episode is also quite relevant to Great Week. Together with the event of the cleansing of the Temple this episode is another manifestation of Jesus' divine power and authority and a revelation as well of God's judgment upon the faithlessness of the Jewish religious classes. The fig tree is symbolic of Israel become barren by her failure to recognize and receive Christ and His teachings. The cursing of the fig tree is a parable in action, a symbolic gesture. Its meaning should not be lost on any one in any generation. Christ's judgment on the faithless, unbelieving, unrepentant and unloving will be certain and decisive on the Last Day. This episode makes it clear that nominal Christianity is not only inadequate, it is also despicable and unworthy of God's kingdom. Genuine Christian faith is dynamic and fruitful. It permeates one's whole being and causes a change. Living, true and unadulterated faith makes the Christian conscious of the fact that he is already a citizen of heaven. Therefore, his way of thinking, feeling, acting and being must reflect this reality. Those who belong to Christ ought to live and walk in the Spirit; and the Spirit will bear fruit in them: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5.22-25).

2006-04-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

Calexico's New Album: Garden Ruin

"The More You Know..."

2006-04-10T15:15:00.000-07:00

Public Service Announcements from "the Office". Not to be missed...

Namaste to Casey

Orthodox Church Growth Strategies?

2006-04-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

I found an interesting post at Ponitifications. It seems that that OCA showed the most growth in Christian "denominations" last year. Orthodoxy has a lot of what people are looking for in Christianity, so I'm not too surprised. Check out the rest of the news:

Pontifications

2006-04-02T13:32:00.000-07:00

"It is not what we say, but what we live. It is not what we do, but what we are."

-Mother Gavrilia

2006-03-30T08:07:00.000-08:00

John Burnett (OCMC missionary to Uganda) has a nice photo essay of the recent visit from Pope Theodore II, the Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa. Check out the pictures as well as John's blog.

John Burnett

Orthodox Atonement and the Doctrine of Hell

2006-03-25T00:23:00.000-08:00

Some good conversation going on in regards to Hell, eternal punishment, and how it relates to the Atonement. I've enjoined evesdropping and hearing the different points being made. For some differing views check out the following:

The Pontificator discusses Frederica Matthewes-Greene's article of punshment in Hell here...

Scot McKnight and fellows discuss justification and the atonement here, with some contributions of an eastern orthodox perspective by Professor Bradley Nassif...

and finally Fr Patrick Henry has an article on the atonement at Orthodoxy Today...

Some Favorite CS Lewis Quotes

2006-03-25T00:13:00.000-08:00

"I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation."
--Reflections on the Psalms

"The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about."
--Reflections on the Psalms

"Nothing is yet in its true form."
--Till We Have Faces

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."
--Mere Christianity

"All joy...emphasizes our pilgrim status; always reminds, beckons, awakens desire. Our best havings are wantings."
--from an unknown letter

"Until you have given up your self to Him you will not have a real self..."
--Mere Christianity

"Poetry too is a little incarnation, giving body to what had been before invisible and inaudible."
--Reflections on the Psalms

"'Nothing, not even what is lowest and most bestial, will not be raised again if it submits to death.'"
--The Great Divorce

Sin on a Bun: the forgotten sin of gluttony

2006-03-23T06:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a good post that is especially good to remember during these days of Lent. evangelical outpost talks about how we attribute gluttony as merely a lack of a healthy lifestyle issue as opposed to it being what it actually is, a sign of something cookoo spiritually. i know in my own experience, when i tend to overeat, it's due to my lack of discipline, a problem that effects every aspect of my life. anywho, read the article at...

2006-03-21T08:20:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I visited Cambodia and absolutely fell in love with the country and it's people. I stumbled across the picture site that really captures the beauty of Cambodians from Siem Reap province . sigh... they really bring me back. i hope that you enjoy them as well..

"Siem Reap Photos"

The Spirit of Lent

2006-03-20T18:16:00.000-08:00

The Prayer of St. Ephrem
O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despondency, lust for power and idle talk.

(Prostration)
But grant unto me, Thy servant, a spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love.(Prostration)
Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see mine own faults and not to judge my brothers and sisters. For blessed art Thou unto ages of ages. Amen.(Prostration)
O God, cleanse Thou me a sinner

(12 times, with as many bows, and then again the whole prayer from the beginning throughout, and after that one great prostration)
--St Ephraim the Syrian

From Elder Porphyrios

2006-03-15T19:05:00.000-08:00

Ah, that's a real treasure. These words are very precious. Theophanes is a great poet. The 'height of virtue' is the love of God which is perfect and absolute. 'Punctured': when our soul is 'punctured', when she is wounded by divine longing, the susceptibility of the flesh to the passions withers away. Divine craving defeats every pain, and so every pain is transformed and becomes love of Christ. Love Christ and He will love you. All pains will pass away, they will be defeated and transformed. Then everything becomes Christ, Paradise. But in order to live in Paradise, we must first die — die to everything and be as if dead.

Then we will live truly; we will live in Paradise. If we do not first die to our old self nothing happens.

I'm very fond of the poem by Veritis called 'In company with Christ':

I longed to live in company with Christ,
His warming love enclosed within my breast, To open up the strictures of my heart, That loving more, it never love enough.*

That the heart may never love enough! The more wine you drink, the more you want to drink. The more you give yourself to the love of Christ, the more you want to give yourself. We must love Him with all our soul, heart, strength, power and mind. We must plug our heart into His love and be united with Him. That is what the Lord demands, not for Himself out of selfishness, but for us, so that He can give us everything — joy and happiness.

Saving the World through Beauty

2006-03-13T11:13:00.000-08:00

Fr Stephan Freeman has a great article on "Scripture as Icon". Check it out...

"Some years ago, within my thesis at Duke University, I wrote about the iconicity of language, meaning that language, especially Holy Scripture, functions in a manner similar to the Holy Icons. The Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council stated that “icons do with color what Scripture does with words.” I turned that succinct statement around to ask if Scripture does with words what icons do with color. It became the starting point for my thoughts on the iconicity of language...

“One enters in order to be changed”

2006-03-13T10:16:00.000-08:00

what i love about Orthodoxy is the fact that you don't enter the Church in order to change her. You enter into the Church to be changed. You allow the Church to judge you and your beliefs, and more importantly, your life. Genuine transformation and changed is something lost in today's evangelical world where we get caught in polemics and never just live as we're supposed to. Relationally with others and in constant repentence. here is a nice article from Pontifications on how we should allow the Church ( in this case Rome-but sure can be applied to Orthodox) to change us...

the evangelical outpost: Reading Between the Lines

2006-03-10T07:33:00.000-08:00

Here is some good information from the "evangelical outpost" on reading between the lines of what people say, and what people actually mean.

"Dear Joe,

My girlfriend is driving me nuts. She will never say directly what she means. Instead she beats around the bush and expects me to know what she meant rather than what she said. Why don’t women just say what is on their mind? Are they speaking some foreign language that I’m not aware of? I need some help.A.V.

Dear A.V.,

When asked to rate the qualities they admire most, women often claim to value honesty above all else. This is, of course, rather ironic since honesty is the trait they least tolerate in men. Admitting that, yeah, now that she’s mentioned it, she does look kind of chubby in that dress, will not win a man praise for his integrity. Most likely it will simply lead to a trip to the ER to have a size 8 stiletto removed from the side of his neck.

Women, of course, are smart enough to know that nothing is more detrimental to a relationship than being truthful. Watch them when they are talking to members of their own sex and you’ll see what I mean. Women can barely tolerate one another as it is; if they were to tell each other what they really thought (“Which dog groomer gave you that hairstyle?”) it would be the end of civilization as we know it.While you may not be able to read her mind, you do need to read in between the lines. Here is a brief guide to what people say and what it is they really mean:

“I don’t kiss up to anybody.” -- Translation: I’m a tactless jerk.

“I don’t care what anyone thinks.” -- Translation: I’m deeply insecure and constantly worry about what everyone thinks of me. ..."

YouTube - Bush discussing the iPod

2006-03-09T18:24:00.000-08:00

George W discussing his Ipod:

Bush discussing the iPod:

Bush : Beach Boys, Beatles, let's see, Alan Jackson, Alan Jackson, Alejandro, Alison Krauss, the Angels, the Archies, Aretha Franklin, the Beatles, Dan McLean. Remember him?

Hume: Don McLean.Bush: I mean, Don McLean.Hume: Does "American Pie," right?

Bush: Great song.

Hume: Yes, yes, great song.

Unidentified male: . . . which ones do you play?

Bush: All of these. I put it on shuffle. Dwight Yoakam. I've got the Shuffle, the, what is it called? The little.

Hume: Shuffle.

Bush: It looks like.

Hume: The Shuffle. That is the name of one of the models.

Bush: Yes, the Shuffle.

Hume: Called the Shuffle.

Bush: Lightweight, and crank it on, and you shuffle the Shuffle.

Hume: So you -- it plays . . .

Bush: Put it in my pocket, got the ear things on.

Hume: So it plays them in a random order.

Bush: Yes.

Hume: So you don't know what you're going to going to get.

Bush: No.

Hume: But you know --

Bush: And if you don't like it, you have got your little advance button. It's pretty high-tech stuff.

Hume: . . . be good to have one of those at home, wouldn't it?

Bush: Oh?

Hume: Yes, hit the button and whatever it is that's in your head -- gone.

Bush: . . . it's a bad day, just say, get out of here.

Hume: Well, that probably is pretty . . .

Bush: That works, too. ( Laughter )

Hume: Yes, right.

The Mark of Christian Community

2006-03-07T12:06:00.000-08:00

This is taken from Mathetes epistle to Diognetus. i thought that it was a good representation of how Christianity should look. The problem is that it hardly ever does. I wonder what it would take to get back to where the world sees us with these characteristics...

For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity.

The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life.

They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed.

They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life.

They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.

Loving the Storm-Drenched - Christianity Today Magazine

2006-03-06T06:46:00.000-08:00

Frederica has an excellent article on Christianity and Culture that is def. worth checking out. It speaks to the need for a different voice in culture than the one that everyone ussually hears.

Excerpts from Fr Schmemann's "Great Lent"

2006-03-03T07:04:00.000-08:00

Last night I attended a lecture at St John the Wonderworker where Fr Peter Smith shared with us from Fr Alexander Schmemann 's book, " Great Lent ". I highly recommend getting the book this year to read during Lent, and to water your appetitie here is an excerpt from the introduction ...

the New Pantagruel: Hymns in the Whorehouse

2006-02-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

A Short Creation Story

Elizabeth Bailie

I.
After she was fashioned,
He fell into her loveliness
Like a sun disappearing over the horizon.
He tipped the chalice of her lips
And drank from it. All limits vanished,

When she looked into the lake of his eyes
She saw reflected the goodness of all things,
And when they embraced,
The fire of their love warmed the earth.

Before the day passed, rising from their depths,
A fear reared its heavy darkness in their minds,
And a deafening cold wind began to scatter the landscape
Extinguishing their flame.
Blinded by the scarcity of fire,
They began to see in each other
Only their own reflections,
And for the first time
Their voices fell separately
Against the walls of their surroundings.

II
A new day dawned over the scattered landscape.
Light was external, but brilliant.
Storm clouds receded, and the heavens inhaled the winds.

Everything now touched the man and the woman separately:
Whenever the woman shone brightly, an obscure shade fell over
the man,
And whenever the man shone brightly, an obscure shade fell over
the woman.

When the night sky dipped its face
Into the silver palate of the moon,
They discovered their bodies
Cast no shadow.

Their tears ran red
And many of their offspring perished
In the violent force of their falling.

III
It was a day like any other.
It came and went
Like a flower that opens and closes.

On this particular day, however,
A new man and a new woman
Ran as rivers do to lose themselves in the sea.
They were like snow swept from windblown trees
Illuminating sunrays
That would have otherwise been invisible.
Soon, the deaf began to hear, and the blind began to see.

The first man and the first woman,
Hearing and seeing again,
egan once more to burn in an edgeless blaze.

The woman was the first to speak the man’s new name.
Together, they embodied their longings."

Peter's Evil Overlord List

2006-02-22T13:36:00.000-08:00

Here are some good things to remember when trying to take over the world. If all evil doers would listen to this sage advice...

Read the Church Fathers During Lent: Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan

2006-02-22T12:11:00.000-08:00

As Lent approaches many of us are looking for some good reading material. Here is a link for daily readings from the early church fathers for everyday of the week. Each days reading should only take 10-15 minutes. So here is a great chance to catch up on the Fathers that you always wanted to read, but never got around to it. Props go out to Pontifications for the link and idea...

Great Lenten Lecture

2006-02-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

Orthodox Christian Fellowship of Atlanta Presents
Great Lent &
Spiritual Transformation
in the Eastern Orthodox
Christian tradition

Fr. Cyprian DeRant

Thursday,March2,2006
8:00 p.m to 9:00 p.m.
St.John the Wonderworker
Orthodox Church
543 Cherokee Ave.(Grant Park),
Atlanta,30312
for more info: 404-432-4019
Cost is Free,Food Provided

DIRECTIONS TO THE LECTURE:
From north of Atlanta coming south: Take either I-85 or 75 South (they merge when you arrive in downtown Atlanta). Take
the Fulton Street Exit, which is the exit where the Turner Field (the Braves Stadium) is located. Make a left and stay right for 1
1/2 miles until you hit Grant Park.You cannot go any further. The street is Cherokee. Make a right and go down one block. Our
church has a large icon of Christ and a banner of St. John Maximovitch out front.
From south of Atlanta coming north: Take I-85 or 75 North until you exit at Fulton Street. Take a right and stay right for 1
1/2 miles until you hit Grant Park.You cannot go any further. The street is Cherokee. Make a right and go down one block. Our
church has a large icon of Christ and a banner of St. John Maximovitch out front.

Keeps ya entertained for Hours

2006-02-03T17:56:00.000-08:00

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The Jesus Prayer

2006-02-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

     This is a chapter from Frederica Matthews-Green’s book The Illumined Heart, on the Jesus Prayer.  It gives a nice summary of it and the best way to begin.

Theodore keeps reading over a letter he and Anna received last year from Anna’s brother, Timothy, who joined a group of monks on Mt Sinai a few years ago.  Timothy wrote that he was being taught to abide in prayer by repeating a short verse from Scripture over and over, whenever his mind would otherwise be idle- or not idle, since we all know how the restless nous seeks trouble.  He says that it is hard work, ascetic labor, to discipline the mind this way, but he is already finding growing peace.
     Theodore wishes he knew more about how to do this.  He tries it, but soon his mind is wandering to other things.  The verse he chose seemed fresh initially, but now he feels like he’s just going through the motions.  Still, it sounds like Timothy is being taught to stick with the same verse nevertheless.  Perhaps it gets better again after a while.  It would sure help if he had someone to explain this, face to face.  Sometimes Theodore wants to give up and just say, “Lord Jesus, help me,” and, at times like that, repeating that heartfelt plea seems to help.
     In the eighteenth century, St Macarius of Corinth and St Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain set about to make a collection of the many works Christians had written over the years about prayer of the heart.  They gathered texts ranging from the fourth to the fourteenth centuries into a collection known as the Philokelia, or “Love of the Beautiful.”  While the practice initially involved many different Bible verses and prayer formulas, one form eventually triumphed over all.
     St Nicodemus gave this description”  “Prayer of the heart…consists principally of a person placing his mind within the heart and, without speaking with his mouth, but only with inner words spoken in the heart, saying this brief and single prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”
     From the beginning Christians have wondered how to implement St Paul’s command to “pray without ceasing.”  It was of course impossible to speak verbal prayers without ceasing, day and night, not that some people didn’t try. The Messalians, for example, recruited other people to do the praying for them while they slept.
     The Jesus Prayer arose as a way to practice unceasing prayer.  It offered a short and simple form that can be repeated in an unhurried way no matter what else a person is doing.  Since the prayer is silent and interior, it can be kept going in all situations.  It can accompany the believer in the marketplace as well as in the church, in joy and sorrow and boredom, day after day and year after year.  Initially somewhat laborious, the prayer gradually becomes more automatic, and finally runs by itself while the mind listens in peace.  It drives out the aimless chatter that would otherwise occupy the nous, and as a result the passions are subdued.  It becomes the last thought at night and the first in the morning and the believer senses that it flows through sleep as well.
     Murmurings like a brook; the prayer becomes the background music of every other thought and deed in life.  It beats in the heart through long years, accompanying the believer at every moment.  As he approaches declining age and enfeeblement, it is still there; it is there even when consciousness grows dim and memories fade away.  The prayer beats inside until the last moment when the weary heart is stilled, and the believer steps through the veil to see the one he has loved so long, face to face.
     The words of this prayer distill the faith of the early church.  It begins with the “name of Jesus,” though that does not merely mean the five letter name itself, which was common enough at the time.  Early Christians did not address him by his first name alone.  To call upon the name of Jesus meant to call on his whole person as revealed in glory; it meant to own him as Lord and Christ.  Thus the first part of the prayer attributes titles of honor to the one on whom we call, and proclaims that we take him as Lord.  It is a profession of faith.
     What do we ask of him?  We imitate the blind man on the road how cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Or the publican in Jesus’ parable, who “would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, saying, “God me merciful to me, a sinner!”  This may sound a little craven to modern-day believers, for whom a healthy idea of repentance is still somewhat new.  Yet the discomfort we feel is based partly on misunderstanding.  This prayer doesn’t ask Jesus for forgiveness, it asks Him for mercy.  We don’t keep pestering Jesus to forgive us; if repentance is sincere, asking only once is enough, as was shown to the thief on the cross.
     But mercy is slightly different.  The Hebrew word is hesed, meaning “steadfast love,” a love that perseveres to save the beloved.  In Greek it’s eleos, and “Lord have mercy” is Kyrie, eleison.  In that language it resonates poetically with elaion, olive oil, the medium for medicinal balm.  The Good Samaritan bound the wounds of the beaten man with elaion.  This healing mercy is an inherent attribute of Jesus, and it is steadfast and constant, streaming toward us ceaselessly.  Some of Anna’s favorite hymns hail Jesus for “granting to the world great mercy.”
     The problem is not God’s willingness to have mercy, but in our forgetting that we need it.  We keep lapsing into ideas of self-sufficiency, or get impressed with our niceness, and so we lose our humility.  Asking for mercy reminds us that we are still poor and needy, and fall short of the glory of God.  Those who do not ask do not receive, because they don’t know their own need.
     The nineteenth century Russian monk St Theophan the Recluse responded to a letter from a spiritual child with these words:

It is essential to recognize ourselves as empty, an empty vessel containing nothing; to add to this the consciousness of our own powerlessness to fill this emptiness by any effort of our own; to crown this by the certitude that the Lord alone can do it, and not only can but wants to and knows how; and then, standing with the mind in the heart, to cry out: “Bring me into good order by the means that Thou knowest, O Lord.”

     As Theodore has found, getting started on this prayer can be daunting.  People need plain, practical advice, and the centuries of accumulated literature blessedly abound with it.  While the prayer can be said anywhere, anytime-the more, the better- the person who desires to acquire it permanently should set aside time to daily focus on it alone.  This might be only fifteen minutes at first, or even less if that length is unbearably fidgety.  The athlete must be humble about limitations and hope by diligence to grow stronger.
     The prayer is usually said seated, with the head bowed.  The body should be comfortably supported so that it does not become a distraction.  The eyes are closed, but their gaze is trained on the place of the heart, and there the mind is focused.  Those who are able to sense their own heart beating (this gets easier with practice) can accompany each beat with a word of the prayer.  Decide whether you’re going to repeat the prayer for an amount of time, or for an amount of repetitions.  The latter was f course the common method in the centuries in the centuries before wristwatches.  At a comfortable pace, one hundred repetitions take about 15 minutes.  A traditional way of keeping track of repetitions is to use a prayer rope, a length of black wool knotted in a symbolic way (each knot contains nine crosses), and then tied into a circle.  Such prayer ropes are available at Orthodox churches.  They are not necessary to the prayer, but some people find they can concentrate better when they have something to do with their hands.
     Decide as well, what form of the prayer you are going to use. Some add the words “a sinner” to the end; others omit “Son of God,” or vary it in other ways.  By experimenting you will find the length that works for you.  Then stick to it.  You are trying to habituate yourself to this prayer, and changing it repeatedly is like planting, digging up, and replanting a tree.  As you do further reading, you will find that some ancient writers discuss breathing techniques to accompany the prayer.  Don’t bother with these; they are not required, and without personal guidance from a spiritual teacher they can physically harmful.  Most of us have plenty to do just locating the nous without also fooling around with the autonomic nervous system.
     As you begin to pray, do not visualize anything.  This prayer is not “meditation,” in the sense of reflecting on ideas and images.  It is a straightforward plea addressed to Jesus, who is present in your spiritual heart.  Say it in poverty of spirit.  Say it simply.  Remember who He is, His unbearable glory and his astonishing nearness.  And so ask him for mercy.  If you’re like me, you will say it this way two or three times, then say it a dozen or more times while thinking about a phone call you have to make later on.  This is inevitable, especially at first.  However, do not accept this level of inattention.  This is why the prayer is called a struggle fit for a heroic athlete.  You are trying to capture that runaway nous and focus it on Jesus in your heart, and on nothing else, and that will take effort.
     The goal of the prayer, of course, is not to get good at saying the prayer.  The goal of the prayer is to encounter Jesus, to grow in theosis, to live “in Christ.”  The prayer is a means to this end, a way to discipline and quiet the mind and dispose it to receive God’s grace and presence.  So do not be deceived to think that the words have magic of their own, and of you just keep saying them while your mind wanders you will still reap the benefits.  That is the kind if thing Jesus meant by “vain repetition.”  Repeating prayers, for example the Lord’s Prayer, is not vain in itself, but you do it in vain if you don’t mean it.  In fact, you insult the Lord if you ask him for things, yet don’t even care enough to pay attention to your own request.
     Take care that, even if you are remembering God while you pray, you do not do so in a casual, chummy way.  St Theophan wrote, “Beware lest in ceaselessly remembering God you forget also to kindle fear, and awe, and the desire to fall as dust before the face of God…Frequent recollection of God without reverence blunts the feeling of the fear of God and thereby deprives us of its saving influence.”  Keep reminding yourself that “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner” is the truth, no matter how you feel.  It is, you know.  Anything else is a delusion.
     However, when you are plagued by distraction and run through a hundred prayers without awareness, when you keep spurning thoughts of Christ for amusing trivialities, when you feel dry and stupid and the words are sand in your mouth, pray them anyway.  Do not cease praying when prayer comes hard, for fear of doing it imperfectly.  If you cease praying when you can’t do it right, the devil gets a victory.  So keep offering broken prayer, and remember that you are only an unworthy servant, and yet Jesus wants you.
     And one day you will say, like the anonymous nineteenth-century author of The Way of the Pilgrim, “Early one morning the prayer woke me up, as it were…My whole desire was fixed on one thing only-to say the prayer of Jesus.

Final Countdown

2006-02-02T13:28:00.000-08:00

Let your support for Arrested Development be heard with the "Final Countdown" ringtone. You can find it here: Final Countdown

Black Horse and a Cherry Tree

2006-02-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

I've added a link to KT Tunstall's american import on my music. the only song on the album i've heard is "black horse and the cherry tree". but i do so love the song. she'll be in Atlanta in March. If you don't like anything else of hers, at least download this song. it will def. get you grooving. here's her site as well:

KT Tunstall

Pontifications: "Saving the Particular – Some Thoughts on Theosis"

2006-02-02T12:48:00.000-08:00

Fr. Stephen has some good thoughts on Theosis over at Pontifications. Here's a sampling:

"One of the stranger aspects of Old Testament stories, are the encounters of the Patriarchs with God (of course, any encounter with God has got to be a bit strange). It always struck me as odd that the Patriarchal encounters were so particular. Abraham never seems to have much to do with God in general. He meets God here or there, has a dream, hears a voice, obeys a command, and the result seems to be an inevitable building of an altar, making a sacrifice, and the sacrifice is offered to God. But here comes the rub – never just to God (El, YHVH, etc.) – but always to “El with a title,” or “YHVH” with a title. Thus there is “El Elyon,” God-Most-High (in the story of Melchisedec), and “YHVH-Jireh,” God-Who-Provides, in the story of the sacrifice of Isaac..."

Some Good Reading

2006-01-21T01:55:00.000-08:00

I’ve become a bit of a nutter for Fr Alvin Kimel’s writings over at the Pontificator weblog. Here’s an article on how we read the Scripture’s that I thought was just musical.

“Reading the Scriptures”

Read through the Bible

2006-01-06T08:13:00.000-08:00

I've posted a link to the side for the blog Scripturati. They have a nicely formatted system for reading through the Bible this year that includes the OT, NT, as well as the deuterocanonical texts. Will this be a resolution that I can actually see through? hmmm...

Christmas at St John's

2005-12-27T05:51:00.000-08:00

Chistmas day in Atlanta finds many of the Orthodox at St John the Wonderworker for the annual Christmas Dinner that is fed to the homeless of the city. Click here to view a slideshow. Merry Christmas!

Thoughts on Christmas

2005-12-22T13:45:00.000-08:00

I too will proclaim the greatness of this day: the Immaterial become incarnate, the Word is made flesh, the invisible makes itself seen, the intangible can be touched, the timeless has a beginning, the Son of God becomes the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, always the same, yesterday, today and forever. . This is the solemnity we are celebrating today: the arrival of God among us, so that we might go to God, or more precisely, return to Him. . Revere the nativity which releases you from the chains of evil. Honor this tiny Bethlehem which restores Paradise to you. Venerate this crib; because of it you who were deprived of meaning (logos) are fed by the divine Meaning, the divine Logos Himself.

-St. Gregory the Theologian, Oration 38, For Christmas (Patrologia Graeca, 36, 664-5) found in The Roots of Christian Mysticism by Olivier Clement, New City Press, NY, p. 41, 330-390

Monastic Advice

2005-12-17T23:42:00.000-08:00

Christian Spiritual Maturity: Beyond the Basics

Let us define maturity as open-ended, eternal growth into all the fullness of God. And let us say that the Church provides us with tools we need to nurture and encourage that growth. Today, in the Lord’s providence, we are familiar with many such tools: Many of us can pray in church as St. Paul recommended, understanding the words of Scripture, hymns and sermons in our own language. (I Cor. 14:15) Many of us can attend Christian education classes, retreats and study groups. All of us, if we so choose, can avail ourselves of the many books, periodicals, tape recordings and videos available today through mail order sources even if they are not available in our local parishes.

Yet I would submit that necessary as these tools are for us, especially today, they bring us only to the very beginning of our journey into Christian spiritual maturity.

What else is needed? The answer is simple: The desire, the will and the effort to encounter the living God in prayer.

How do we gain this desire, will and effort? We cannot gain them on our own. They are God’s gift. Yet He gives His gifts to all who ask (Luke 11:10-13), and normally through the regular give and take of life. We need only to respond to the slightest stirrings in our hearts.

And how do we respond? First of all, our fallen human nature is forgetful and we will need to remind ourselves that we are always in the presence of the God Who is everywhere and fills all things. For this we will need times of personal prayer, apart from the worship we offer God in church. In addition to praying with heartfelt desire and honesty during our crucial first moments of waking and final moments before sleep, we will need to seek out other times of silence when we “lay aside all earthly cares;” all external stimulation and noise. This is how Christians from all walks of life have taken seriously Christ’s call to “enter your closet and shut the door” (Matthew 6:6) for at least two obvious and important reasons: To clear away distractions so that we can attend to the “one thing needful” (Luke 10:42) and to stop running away from our own selves.

For much if not all of our human lives can be spent paying attention to everything and everyone except the one person we can do something about: our self. First, however, we need to place ourselves in God’s presence, for only as He allows us to see more clearly in His light and with the eyes of His love, can we safely begin to look at ourselves without either false vanity or shame and despair. And only then can we hope to begin to look at the people and situations around us without annoyance, offence, anger or perhaps lust or desire for control, for only then can we see how much God loves every one of us in complete freedom in spite of who we are.

A normal outgrowth of such quiet times of prayer, however briefly free from noise and distraction, is the desire for even more silence. It is usually possible to be creative and find times, ways and places to work, relax and re-create away from the world’s noise. When it is not, we can ask God for the grace to create and enter into a quiet space within ourselves. Daily burdens, stress, physical, mental and emotional illness can make even this difficult or at times impossible. Still, our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ has told us that His Father will always give the Holy Spirit to those who ask (Luke 11:13). There will always be some times when we can experience the inner peace that is God’s gift.

As we grow in familiarity with silence and the inner peace that comes from God, we will find ourselves with the ability to walk a bit faster along the path of life. For one thing, we will gradually discover a growing ability to listen, which is the basis of obedience, a virtue for all Christians, not just monastics. (Cf. Rom. 1:5, 5:19, 6:16, 16:26, Heb. 5:8, I Pet. 1:22.) We will discover that even conversations and meetings need not be exercises in noise and frustration when we take moments of silence to digest and reflect on what we have heard.

Yet when we are alone, we may at first find silence much more difficult than cultivating moments of quiet in conversation with others. We may discover that inwardly we are a crowd of people shouting a chorus of worries, cares and woes, making up scenarios for our next social encounters, rehearsing lines to rebut or entertain possible or imaginary audiences and so on. How do we live with this and still find real silence?

Experienced ascetics tell us that we will never get away from being bombarded by such inner noise from our own thoughts or those of the devil and the fallen world. Today that is especially true, when subliminal background noise is constantly being programmed into us. Nevertheless, we can use brief words of prayer to “shoot down” thoughts so that we don’t totally identify with them.

The saints of the Church tell us further that it is necessary at times to “shoot down” even our seemingly good thoughts as an important regular exercise: When we practice giving up our own thoughts and words, even as on occasion we lay aside our own way of doing a task, we become more able to hear clearly when others have different ways of thinking and of doing things. This is also a form of sacrifice: In the Biblical, Christian tradition, to sacrifice means (literally) to make something holy -- by giving it up. (We are also to give up things that are bad, not as sacrifice, but as common sense!) When we sacrifice and give up good things, God takes them and makes them holy, and in a mysterious way, returns them to us purified and stronger (Mat. 19:27-29). If He doesn’t send them back to us in that way, the wisdom and experience of the Church teaches us that they weren’t as good as we thought they were, and we are better off without them…. (Cf. 1 Cor. 3:13-15.)

Preachers, teachers, iconographers, writers, poets, musicians – indeed people from all walks of life – have told of preparing for their words or work with prayer and then discovering that their task “takes on a life of its own,” entirely different from their own original ideas. Some of this may be the simple mechanism that results from the deeper intuitions and thoughts of one’s subconscious surfacing as one puts aside one’s more conscious “bright ideas.” Yet the Lord has also told us that God’s Holy Spirit is able directly to inspire His creatures through this same process: “…do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10:19-20).

The next part of obedience that we will develop is the ability literally to be “response-able.” For in a sense, we all listen; we may just listen more to ourselves than to others and to the reality God sends our way. As we become better listeners to voices other than our own; as we become more aware of reality outside of our own selves, we can begin to respond to others and to our situation more appropriately.

As we find we are growing more comfortable with the ways of obedience, we may begin to want a spiritual guide, friend or mentor. And if God wants us to have such a person in our life, we can be sure he or she will appear. We must beware that we don’t miss the lessons we can learn from others, however, just because we don’t think they are as holy or advanced as we are. It has been pointed out that if God can speak through Balaam’s ass, He can speak through the most unlikely persons and situations, if we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear. If God wants us to learn obedience in the normal ways, putting aside our self will by being appropriately obedient to those around us such as our spouse or other family members, our parish priest, other members of our parish, those at our work or school and by prayerful reading and study of the Lord’s example and guidance in the Gospels, then it will be safest for us to follow that route rather than looking vainly for a relationship God may know would bring us only to vanity and delusion.

And if we continue humbly, accepting the obvious guides or lack of guides God allows us in His providence, we will slowly become more aware of ourselves as others see us. This can be devastating, and we ought not to seek such awareness, or force it on others, before the right time. All of us will have many “moments of truth” when we are confronted with the opinions of others, whether or not we want to be aware of them. Here again, our growing sense of God’s presence and love for us is crucial. Only He can look at our worst sins and corruption, our biggest mistakes, errors and self-imposed limitations with complete and unconditional love. When others see us, and when we see others, we are still too blinded by our own sins and fallen nature to see beyond these things (Mat. 7:1-5). If we could see clearly as God sees, we would find it impossible to dislike, judge or hate anyone, including ourselves (1 John 4:20). As it is, we humans find the total acceptance we need only from God, even though He may choose to show it through others.

Nevertheless, we know from the Lord’s own example that there are times when we ought not to trust ourselves to the opinions and manipulations of others. (Cf. John 2:24-25 and Luke 4:29-30.) We should learn not to take seriously the counsel and criticism of others, however helpfully intended, when they themselves are not open to counsel or criticism, lest as St. John Climacus points out, we “mistake the sick man for the doctor, the sailor for the ship’s captain and so bring our ship to wreck in the harbor….” This is a matter for great prayer and discernment, however, for there is also a saying that he who is guided only by his own advice is guided by a fool. Especially when we are not being asked to compromise either our Orthodox Faith or our morals and ethics, it is critical for us to hear what others have to tell us, even about ourselves, and to have the freedom to follow their directions. We can know we are growing when we can begin to face the facts and truth that others tell us and can at times do things their way without anger, frustration or discouragement.

Laziness, compulsive behaviors, addictions, bad habits of word and deed – we slowly begin to become aware of these and other faults in ourselves where before we had noticed them only in others.

When we are willing to persevere through this, after the first layer of unpleasant garbage has been washed away by the clear water of the Holy Spirit entering the stagnant cesspool of our lives, we may find ourselves on a very pleasant stretch of life for awhile. Those who know us may see that we have changed and that we are nicer to be around. This is normal. It is a sort of “honeymoon” that God may give us to encourage us at the beginning of our walk with Him. In ignorance, we may be tempted to think that we have reached full maturity.

Soon, however, we will discover that we have many more layers of dirt that missed that first washing. We may feel that we are never going to be clean. Then, again bit-by-bit, we may start feeling a little better: Our families and friends can see that we aren’t leaving such a muddy trail behind us. They know and understand how far we have come, and tend to be appreciative and supportive.

So another stage of our journey may coincide with a physical move to another place, making new friends, getting a new job, entering a monastery, or having another similar life change. Here no one knows our past; our good deeds and progress are not interesting. We have to start all over again to rebuild our good reputation. If we have gradually come to think of ourselves as nice people, we may startle even ourselves by the anger we feel when others do not recognize our spiritual worth. We may be tempted to think that they are bad people who cause this anger within us. The truth of the matter is no one can make us angry or behave badly unless we choose to let him or her do so. Anger can be accompanied by feelings of loneliness and discouragement, but these are simply natural parts of growing up.

Along with this growth in obedience and the humility of self-knowledge, God will allow our progress to be tested with some real misfortunes, tragedies and setbacks. If we are relying only on our selves and our own strength, we will be thrown back again and again into our feelings of despair and discouragement. When we finally learn our own limits and weaknesses from these experiences, and let them prompt us to turn more fervently to God in prayer, we will begin to gain strength even from adversity and the devil will not be able to rejoice twice. We will fear neither adversity nor fortune, for we will know that any virtue we may have comes not from our own efforts but from God alone.

The true Dark Night of the Soul, or final purgation mentioned in ascetical literature, is reserved for those who persevere, gaining love, joy, strength and stamina from their journey. Probably most of us will never really get to this point in our lives here on earth. If we have allowed God to fill our lives to the brim with His love; allowed the fire of His cleansing Spirit to burn out all our dross and temper our gold; faced the worst pain, terror and loss the world has to offer, then possibly if God so wills, we may be called on to enter in some way into the darkness Jesus Himself faced on the Cross, when having fulfilled all righteousness He yet found Himself crying out, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” This was not a cry of despair. It was the voice of God’s human experience, HHe entering the lowest depths of the fallen human state cut off from the Father, so that even in His presence we sense only abandonment. The writer of Hebrews (4:15) wrote: “For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

In His infinite wisdom, God perfects some people who seem to have spent their lives in sin, degradation and hurtful violence, by placing them at the moment of death in the presence of a forgiving love that transforms their end. Or at the end He may put them through all of these stages of Christian maturity including the dark night of the soul during one brief episode of illness, persecution, torture or other great suffering. Others who have lived good lives may be perfected through a long and lingering illness suffering from something like Alzheimer’s disease that strips them of any responsibility or virtue they seemed to have gained. God leads us each in a unique way. And what seems to be the end here is merely the door opening onto an eternity of growth into love and life.

If we do nothing else then, let us turn to God in love and trust, saying to Him with all the heartfelt sincerity we can muster: “Let Your will, not mine, be done.” Let us throw ourselves, like little children, into the arms of His mercy, there to find the true maturity, which alone can lead us into the Kingdom of Heaven (Mark 10:15).

-Anonymous

Central Questions

2005-12-17T20:34:00.000-08:00

The quest for authenticity in my life is one that I think I’m constantly searching for. I want genuine change that isn’t just talk. I not only want my sins forgiven, but I want to stop committing the sins that keep popping up in my life. But the temptation is also there to let things slide. To chalk my anger, selfishness, pride to just being a sinner. In the evangelical world I think the emphasis can lean to heavily toward a “once and for all” view of forgiveness. At the “point of salvation” Christ has forgiven all your sins, both past, present, and future. Though there might be some truth in this from an eternal viewpoint, it doesn’t negate the fact that I need forgiveness everyday for sins and attitudes that I have everyday, and that I need to ask for God to continually work in me to recognize my sin and give me the grace to change. Anyway this is an excerpt from chapter one of “the illumined heart” that is asking the questions of why don’t our lives look differently as followers of Christ?

From Chapter One: The Central Question (or questions)

“… In God’s presence we discover ourselves able to love one another, to be vessels of heroic love, even toward our enemies, even unto death. We find all creation in harmony around us, as responsive and fruitful as the Garden was to Adam and Eve. The peace that passes understanding informs our every thought.

All this sounds pretty good, right? So why are we doing such a crummy job of it? Why are Christians so undistinguishable from the world? Why are our rates of dysfunction and heartbreak just as high? Why don’t we stand out in virtue and joy? Does anyone ever say, “We know they are his disciples, because the love one another?”

How come Christians who loved in times of bloody persecution were so heroic, while we who live in safety are fretful and pudgy? How could the earlier saints “pray constantly,” while our minds dawdle over trivialities? How could they fast so valiantly, and we feel deprived if there’s no cookie at the end of the in-flight meal?

How could the martyrs forgive their torturers, but my friend’s success make me pouty? What did previous generations of Christians know that we don’t? That’s what this book is about.” (pgs. 4-5)

An Ancient Path

2005-12-16T07:46:00.001-08:00

Over the next fews weeks I'm going to be posting excerpts from Frederica Matthewes-Green's book "The Illumined Heart: The Ancient Christian Path of Transformation". Until then here is the publisher's blurb:

Why are modern Christians so indistinguishable from everyone else? Why don't they stand out in virtue and joy? How could the early saints pray constantly, fast valiantly, and love their enemies?

Today's Christianity has come untethered from its historic roots, says Frederica Mathewes-Green, yet we can recover its power by reviving this ancient, transcultural faith. Drawing on Christian writings throughout the early centuries, Mathewes-Green explores prayer, fasting, and alms-giving as aids to "theosis", total transformation in Christ.

An Interesting Perspective

2005-12-15T12:17:00.000-08:00

I'm posting a link today to a blog that has what seems to be a common take on church history these days. If you read the top left hand corner of the site you see the phrase "Examing the modern church in light of Christianity 2000 year history". Then if you click on the link for church history, something seems mysteriously lacking. 1500 years of that very church history! anyway it seems sometimes that some of the more vocal proponents of protecting the historic doctrines of the faith are guilty of the very thing they rail against. the church these days consist of historic orphans who have no idea who their real parents are. They were taken away 500 years ago by the reformers who raised them as their own. Thus our earliest childhood memories only go back as far as Pappa Luther and Uncle Calvin. thoughts?

Old Truth?

Apophatic theology

2005-12-13T09:43:00.000-08:00

i was surfing the web today and ran across a great post on apophatic theology by phil johnson (not of acclaimed "pyromania" fame). in it he seems to give a great understanding on the difference in eastern and western approaches to theology. this is one of the harder parts of dialogue between the west and east, partly because of different paradigms, as well as different definitions. anywho, read the article and post your thoughts...

http://circleofpneuma.blogspot.com/2005/06/apophatic-tradition.html

Jolly St Nick

2005-12-08T16:12:00.000-08:00

i thought it was a good time to learn a little more about the man behind the myth :)

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St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
Paul Fuller

Troparion (Hymn) of Saint Nicholas

The verity of your actions revealed you to your flock as a rule of faith, an icon of mildness, and a teacher of continence, O Father Bishop Nicholas; wherefore by humility you have achieved exaltation, and by poverty richness. Intercede with Christ to save our souls.

Coming to the city of Myra when the clergy and people of the province were in session to elect a new bishop, St. Nicholas was indicated by God as the man they should choose. This was at the time of the persecutions at the beginning of the fourth century. As he was the chief priest of the Christians of this town and preached the truths of the faith with a holy liberty, the divine Nicholas was seized by the magistrates. He was tortured, then chained and thrown into prison with many other Christians. But when the great and religious Constantine, chosen by God, assumed the imperial diadem of the Romans, the prisoners were released from their bonds and with them the illustrious Nicholas, who when he was set at liberty returned to Myra...(full article found here http://orthodoxytoday.org/articles5/FullerStNicholas.php )

The Saints on Relational Life

2005-12-07T10:41:00.000-08:00

Do you wish to honor the Body of the Savior? Do not despise it when it is naked. Do not honor it in church with silk vestments while outside it is naked and numb with cold. He who said, “This is my body,” and made it so by his word, is the same that said, “You saw me hungry and you gave me no food. As you did it not to the least of these, you did it not to me.” Honor him then by sharing your property with the poor. For what God needs is not golden chalices but golden souls.

–St. John Chrysostom / “On the Gospel of St. Matthew”, 50, iii (PG 58, 508)

Remembrance of wrongs is the consummation of anger, the keeper of sin, hatred of righteousness, ruin of virtues, poison of the soul, worm of the mind, shame of prayer… You will know that you have completely freed yourself of this rot, not when you pray for he person who has offended you, not when you exchange presents with him, not when you invite him to your table, but only when, on hearing that he has fallen into bodily or spiritual misfortune, you suffer and weep for him as for yourself.

– St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent