It's been a good day today and the ice is thawing.
Yesterday was spent making fruitcake and having a good conversation with my mother. Today comes good news from the doctor regarding my cholesterol levels which have taken a dramatic decline (almost fifty points). The schedule is starting to get under control and the mandolin practice is starting to pay off as I practice carols for the folks where I work. A good sleep last night makes a difference as well.
I think everyone in our family knows this will be a hard Christmas. My brother's death will touch everything but that's not bad because it means he's missed and we're inconvenienced and lost in a certain way without his presence. It would be more frightening if all of this had happened and it meant nothing. The irony is that in some ways he will be more present to us in his absence then he was when he was with us and we sort of took things for granted. In the normal course of life we often are not truly present to each other because we never ponder that things can end. When they do we seem to value what, or who, was lost in a different way. Death and loss are a jolt that wakes us from the slumber of the everyday and teaches the value of what matters. But it does so at a horrific cost.
So Paul will be there in every gift, every thought, every moment of our time together in a way that he should have been, and each of us should have been to each other, had we not just made the assumption that everything will be as it is always has been world without end. Again that is as it should be because he mattered and still matters and will always matter. While the years may change the way we understand this the fact of it will remain.
The moral of this story? Whenever and however you and yours get together at Christmas go beyond the gifts and the food and the parties and be present with those who share your life and this moment. It goes by too fast to just put everything on autopilot and assume there will be some future time when you can put in the time and effort to bind your heart to those you love.
Now and only now is available. Always has been, always will be. World without end. Amen.
12/13/06
More defections from the Episcopal Church...
A link to a story about a larger Episcopal Church in Virginia that has voted overwhelmingly to leave that Church.
I spent several years recovering from life as a Baptist Pastor in a wonderful evangelical and charismatic Episcopal Church in St. Paul. Church of the Messiah was a healing place, a place that helped me understand liturgy and began the process that brought me to Orthodoxy and for which I will always be grateful.
And what has happened to ECUSA grieves me. The leaders and members of that once great body have traded thier inheritance for a bowl of pottage, or better said a thin watery soup that has no ability to nourish or sustain the soul. There are, of course, individual parishes where the lights are still on but they are like healthy tissue surviving in gangrene and every day the illness threatens to consume it.
I have acquaintances who are Priests in ECUSA and a sister who remains there and all I can do is hope for the best. God can do great things but in a church fascinated with baptizing whatever the culture sends and symptomatically celebrating anything, it appears, at variance with historic Christian faith it would seem to be an uphill thing. It is one thing to be a church that has struggled through persecution from without and another to be a body of people grossly deformed by choice.
My best hope is that this is a temporary thing and somehow something good and decent and dare we say even Christian emerges from the ashes. Some people gloat over what has happened to ECUSA and point fingers and say "See, I told you so..." In one sense they're right. Having left, for the most part, the historic faith or any pretense to it the church is in a death spiral and it may be only a few years before the numbers and the declining endowments mark the final fiery crash. But what joy could there possibly be in that? ECUSA's decline means that souls are being lost and faithful remnants stretched to the breaking. Taking a perverse pleasure in that is at least as bad as the heresies that made all of this happen.
Until then we can only pray.
I spent several years recovering from life as a Baptist Pastor in a wonderful evangelical and charismatic Episcopal Church in St. Paul. Church of the Messiah was a healing place, a place that helped me understand liturgy and began the process that brought me to Orthodoxy and for which I will always be grateful.
And what has happened to ECUSA grieves me. The leaders and members of that once great body have traded thier inheritance for a bowl of pottage, or better said a thin watery soup that has no ability to nourish or sustain the soul. There are, of course, individual parishes where the lights are still on but they are like healthy tissue surviving in gangrene and every day the illness threatens to consume it.
I have acquaintances who are Priests in ECUSA and a sister who remains there and all I can do is hope for the best. God can do great things but in a church fascinated with baptizing whatever the culture sends and symptomatically celebrating anything, it appears, at variance with historic Christian faith it would seem to be an uphill thing. It is one thing to be a church that has struggled through persecution from without and another to be a body of people grossly deformed by choice.
My best hope is that this is a temporary thing and somehow something good and decent and dare we say even Christian emerges from the ashes. Some people gloat over what has happened to ECUSA and point fingers and say "See, I told you so..." In one sense they're right. Having left, for the most part, the historic faith or any pretense to it the church is in a death spiral and it may be only a few years before the numbers and the declining endowments mark the final fiery crash. But what joy could there possibly be in that? ECUSA's decline means that souls are being lost and faithful remnants stretched to the breaking. Taking a perverse pleasure in that is at least as bad as the heresies that made all of this happen.
Until then we can only pray.
12/11/06
Still Waiting (Part 2)
The Christmas spirit hasn't hit yet, but at least there's a sense of hope.
Of course that hope isn't about the world, or at least the way it is at present. This "post Christian" era has become the era where things like common sense, decency, intellectual rigor, and civilization have joined faith as a thing of the past. And we're paying for it big time. Having cut ourselves from the moorings of that worldview (Christianity) which made us civil, prosperous, educated, and less prone to say, running into battle naked and painted blue, we now are what have conned ourselves into thinking is "free", that is we are adrift on an ocean of our own thoughts, emotions, hungers, and deficiencies in a rudderless ship with no sails. I sometimes wonder why God hasn't just taken a look at all of us and decided for the sake of mercy and the good of this planet to hit the "delete" button and send humanity back to wherever failed experiments go. That is if we don't do it ourselves first.
So I don't have much hope in people, myself included. We're just at a real stupid stage right now and the best I suppose we can hope for is getting out of it without a wholesale slaughter. And anyone who claims they can solve it only indicates thier delusion.
I have to throw my hope in with God. Although from my little world the current evidence for some sort of control in all of this is not at a high point I still believe. I still think that Jesus just plain makes sense and although I'm far from a perfect example of what that means I'll still give it my best shot. And as to Christmas, well, devils in human form visit us all the time and do thier worst so why couldn't God visit and give His best?
After all it would only take once...
Of course that hope isn't about the world, or at least the way it is at present. This "post Christian" era has become the era where things like common sense, decency, intellectual rigor, and civilization have joined faith as a thing of the past. And we're paying for it big time. Having cut ourselves from the moorings of that worldview (Christianity) which made us civil, prosperous, educated, and less prone to say, running into battle naked and painted blue, we now are what have conned ourselves into thinking is "free", that is we are adrift on an ocean of our own thoughts, emotions, hungers, and deficiencies in a rudderless ship with no sails. I sometimes wonder why God hasn't just taken a look at all of us and decided for the sake of mercy and the good of this planet to hit the "delete" button and send humanity back to wherever failed experiments go. That is if we don't do it ourselves first.
So I don't have much hope in people, myself included. We're just at a real stupid stage right now and the best I suppose we can hope for is getting out of it without a wholesale slaughter. And anyone who claims they can solve it only indicates thier delusion.
I have to throw my hope in with God. Although from my little world the current evidence for some sort of control in all of this is not at a high point I still believe. I still think that Jesus just plain makes sense and although I'm far from a perfect example of what that means I'll still give it my best shot. And as to Christmas, well, devils in human form visit us all the time and do thier worst so why couldn't God visit and give His best?
After all it would only take once...
12/8/06
To be who we are...
I must confess there is a part of me that sees the Middle East and the struggles of these times with a jaundiced eye. On the way to work today I said to my wife "Maybe what we should do is realize the Iraqi's are just not intellectually, socially, and emotionally capable of civil government and put Saddam back in power." Perhaps, I think in dark moments, they need to feel the iron fist and hear the sound of the chipper shredders at work again to realize that using thier freedom to settle centuries old grudges is just plain stupid.
And I think sometimes as well about what would happen if Christians stood up and administered the same kind of harsh justice and retribution that seems to be so much a part of the Islamic world these days. When the Pope is insulted by Turks just do what thier mob would do and rampage in the streets a while and burn the embassy to the ground. The truth is the Islamic fanatics are able to do what they can do because they have only felt the smallest edge of our power and truthfully have no idea what hell could be unleashed if were truly angry.
But therein lies the point, we are not called to anger, to destruction, or revenge. It is not our way and when we resort to it we degrade ourselves. Our Lord, our Prophet, our King calls us to a different way of life and it's not always an easy way because we must sift everything, even our thoughts and emotions, through His teachings. In a broken world this puts us at a short term tactical disadvantage against any agressor even as we hope for the salvation of the world and the Kingdom come. At times that Kingdom has come only through our own bodies being broken, like His, for those who hate us.
I will tell you that I do not always understand this. I know it in my brain as factual but it does not always touch my heart and certainly often misses influencing my attitudes. Can I truly, as Jesus asks, love someone like Osama Bin Laden and any number of those people in the angry mobs who really do want to hurt me and make my life a kind of slavery to thier warped vision? Can I pray for them? Will I be strong enough? And what happens when push becomes shove and they are not somewhere over there but right here and in my face?
I have no answers. I probably won't until the time comes. But faith is only true when its challenged and these are challenging times indeed.
And I think sometimes as well about what would happen if Christians stood up and administered the same kind of harsh justice and retribution that seems to be so much a part of the Islamic world these days. When the Pope is insulted by Turks just do what thier mob would do and rampage in the streets a while and burn the embassy to the ground. The truth is the Islamic fanatics are able to do what they can do because they have only felt the smallest edge of our power and truthfully have no idea what hell could be unleashed if were truly angry.
But therein lies the point, we are not called to anger, to destruction, or revenge. It is not our way and when we resort to it we degrade ourselves. Our Lord, our Prophet, our King calls us to a different way of life and it's not always an easy way because we must sift everything, even our thoughts and emotions, through His teachings. In a broken world this puts us at a short term tactical disadvantage against any agressor even as we hope for the salvation of the world and the Kingdom come. At times that Kingdom has come only through our own bodies being broken, like His, for those who hate us.
I will tell you that I do not always understand this. I know it in my brain as factual but it does not always touch my heart and certainly often misses influencing my attitudes. Can I truly, as Jesus asks, love someone like Osama Bin Laden and any number of those people in the angry mobs who really do want to hurt me and make my life a kind of slavery to thier warped vision? Can I pray for them? Will I be strong enough? And what happens when push becomes shove and they are not somewhere over there but right here and in my face?
I have no answers. I probably won't until the time comes. But faith is only true when its challenged and these are challenging times indeed.
12/7/06
For what it's worth...
12/6/06
Lost in the shuffle...
Lost in the shuffle of the press coverage of the Pope's visit to Turkey was the actual purpose of the visit, namely to meet with the Ecumenical Patriarch and continue dialogue aimed at healing the rifts between the Roman and Orthodox churches.
From the Orthodox side of the divide there are still issues of substance that need to be resolved in all of this, pesky things that can't simply be covered over by theo-speak papers and pronouncements. Ironically the very concept of what the Pope has become is one of those things. Yet pressed by secularism in the West and the rising tide of angry Islam in the East the divides are getting smaller, the inconsequential issues are losing thier power, and there may be some movement towards talking about and dealing with the major items like Creed and Papacy that won't be settled by "live and let live". We'll see.
And therein lies a related point. What crisis, what threatening horizon will finally force the various jurisdictions of Orthodox Christians in North America to return to unity? Its obvious that in peaceful times with the cash still flowing the people who can make a difference on this issue seem to be moving very slowly. Everyone agrees the current situation in North America is non-canonical, even sinful, hampers the work of the Church, and keeps us from having the resources, will, and voice to truly impact our culture but when push comes to shove there is neither.
They say these things take time and there is a truth in that but time for what? I don't believe its about the time needed to negotiate the merger of structures, the arrangements of dioceses, and the building of a cohesive national church. We could live with that. I think it's more about ethnic turf, hanging on to sentimental old world arrangements, money, and the fear of change even for the better.
The worse part about it may be that it will take some catastrophe, some threat, some real harm to provide the impetus to make unity happen. What could be done peacefully, deliberately, and with care may have to be put together at the last moment under the gun and at terms not nearly as favorable as those which presently exist.
Regardless I believe God will guide us and bring us together. It is His will that Christians be one. I just hope we are blended together by joyful obedience to His desire and not melted together in the furnace.
From the Orthodox side of the divide there are still issues of substance that need to be resolved in all of this, pesky things that can't simply be covered over by theo-speak papers and pronouncements. Ironically the very concept of what the Pope has become is one of those things. Yet pressed by secularism in the West and the rising tide of angry Islam in the East the divides are getting smaller, the inconsequential issues are losing thier power, and there may be some movement towards talking about and dealing with the major items like Creed and Papacy that won't be settled by "live and let live". We'll see.
And therein lies a related point. What crisis, what threatening horizon will finally force the various jurisdictions of Orthodox Christians in North America to return to unity? Its obvious that in peaceful times with the cash still flowing the people who can make a difference on this issue seem to be moving very slowly. Everyone agrees the current situation in North America is non-canonical, even sinful, hampers the work of the Church, and keeps us from having the resources, will, and voice to truly impact our culture but when push comes to shove there is neither.
They say these things take time and there is a truth in that but time for what? I don't believe its about the time needed to negotiate the merger of structures, the arrangements of dioceses, and the building of a cohesive national church. We could live with that. I think it's more about ethnic turf, hanging on to sentimental old world arrangements, money, and the fear of change even for the better.
The worse part about it may be that it will take some catastrophe, some threat, some real harm to provide the impetus to make unity happen. What could be done peacefully, deliberately, and with care may have to be put together at the last moment under the gun and at terms not nearly as favorable as those which presently exist.
Regardless I believe God will guide us and bring us together. It is His will that Christians be one. I just hope we are blended together by joyful obedience to His desire and not melted together in the furnace.
12/5/06
Still waiting...
It hasn't hit me yet. The Christmas spirit that is.
In the past few years I've just been a slow starter, a man going through the motions of preparing and doing this and that until one day it hits me. Until then it's just business, a kind of detached working through task upon task while the clock ticks away.
Now it's hard to say what will be the trigger this year. Sometimes its a song. Other times its something I see. Once in a while I will be just sitting there by myself and it arrives. Who knows? But one thing is certain. Right now there is nothing, like someone from Mars seeing everything for the first time and not having a clue as to what's happening and no particular curiousity about it at all.
The truth is right now I mostly want everything to get done and over with and the sooner the better. My day will be December 26th, the Feast of the Most Tranquil Sleep, when all that lies between me and my happiness is a pillow. That all being said it should be noted that I'm not some Scrooge with a primordial loathing of this time. I'm really a guy for whom this time is mostly about work and a kind of exhaustion based game of chicken with December 25th. The magic and holiness and grace of this time has not left but finds, over the years, more clever places to hide with a correspondingly harder task of seeking. Right now not even Nat King Cole's Christmas CD, usually a fairly effective unearther of the holiday spirit, works.
It'll come, though, maybe only when I'm driving back from LaCrosse on Christmas morning. Maybe sooner. I don't know. Until then I'll just work and wait.
12/4/06
A little something on the Packers...
I came home yesterday to find the house completey redone in Christmas style with my Green Bay Packer Santa hat on the bedpost. Tis the season.
It's been a very bad past few years for the Packers. Teams that aren't doing well on the field like to call these times "rebuilding years" as if they are in the process of making something better out of what they have but the truth is these are just plain lean years for the Packers and thier fans. With a quarterback who is sure to be in the Hall of Fame but whose best years are in the rear view mirror the Packers have eked out just four wins this year, flashes of sunshine in a two year long gray day.
But they have a part of my heart. Probably always will.
I'm certainly not as fervent as some fans. They do, after all, have Packers caskets available for the person who wants to declare thier loyalty for the ages and I have no intention of using one. There are those, too, who will go in to a real depression when the team loses and truthfully need to get a life. The fact is my work schedule (Sunday is a work day for Priests) gives me little time to actually watch a football game and the best I often do is get some snipits of action on the radio as I drive home.
Still there is a part of me that's a Packer at heart even when other teams with better uniforms and records come calling for my favors. It's a combination of things really, growing up in Wisconsin in the glory days of the Packers, the 1960's, when everybody played the season just for the priviledge of being beaten by Green Bay in the championship game, the happy memories of childhood pretending we were Packers, and the idea that real heroes with names like Bart Starr and Ray Nitschke still roamed the Earth. The truth is it might best be said I'm a fan of all of those memories and not so much any particular Packer's team on the field in the present. But fan I am regardless.
There is a malicious part in all of this as well, a kind of response to the snobbery of some Minnesotans, folks convinced after a lifetime of living here and going nowhere else that this place is somehow the kingdom to which we all aspire and citizens of lesser realms are at best objects of the kind of pity reserved for the savages in missionary slide shows. The walloping of Minnesota sports teams, which happens more often than not, is a painful reminder to such folks that life exists, thrives, and even conquers outside of this place and for those of us who have come from other places gives a silent pleasure in the misery of those who remain perplexed as to why such terrible things could happen to such sanctified folks.
But this is a waiting year, a year to grab for any sliver of hope and remember the great days past when we were kids and played schoolyard football and dreamt of great days to come. They will, always do, and until then I'll take out my stuff every once in a while and show the colors. Go Pack!!!
11/30/06
So this is Christmas...
Christmas is coming but it doesn't feel at all like that time of year, at least how I remember it. It's an angry time in the world, a time of power, of ambition, of people each seeking the most for themselves without regard for the other and no moral problem with the idea of violence as the means.
At times I feel the anger as well. I even participate in it. From the thoughts that run through my mind when I see crazy things and people on the TV to the words that sometimes slip out of my mouth when the traffic runs foul I swim in this crazed sea and find myself struggling just to stay afloat. There are moments when I would relish being dictator of the world for just one day with the power to set the world in my image and secure harsh justice by the power of my word.
Some of that is natural, the world seems crazy and sane people will think insane thoughts just to have some sense of order in their world, some sense of being secure and in control of the ride. People voted Hitler into power and there are still folks who have sentimental thoughts about Stalin. Although most of me is repulsed to the core by the thought of it I can see, in that dark angry part of me, why that would make sense to a generation feeling lost and out of control and willing to take the risk of totalitarian rule to make it all go away. I suppose it could happen here as well, why should we be immune to the seductions of such ideas?
And though I sometimes come close to the edge I do not want to give in to the will to power, the angry mind, the treating of the other as an object of my will, to hate, and the rampaging emotions of our times. I am aware of these days and part of me wants to run away and hide and another part wants to engage the game by the rules that seem to be presently in play but the end of both is futility.
There is another way, a way often drowned out by the voices of a sad and broken world but still the way things must be if we are not to extinguish ourselves. It is the way of the child of Bethlehem, the One who came into this world to bring light and peace and a taste of heaven here and its fullness in the time to come. Some feeble poor number of us have to hold out for it, as tainted as we are, and risk being called naive, idealistic, or insane. Some few lights need to shine like candles in a great dark wind and take the risk of being snuffed out as the cost of knowing what light is, even for a moment.
What a task for imperfect people, for sinners, to assume yet how much more is its undertaking required when the world seem so crazy and the order of things struggles like a wounded animal. But to know this is to understand Christmas, the time of nativity, in its most basic and primal truth and the hope of the angel's song on that long ago night.
At times I feel the anger as well. I even participate in it. From the thoughts that run through my mind when I see crazy things and people on the TV to the words that sometimes slip out of my mouth when the traffic runs foul I swim in this crazed sea and find myself struggling just to stay afloat. There are moments when I would relish being dictator of the world for just one day with the power to set the world in my image and secure harsh justice by the power of my word.
Some of that is natural, the world seems crazy and sane people will think insane thoughts just to have some sense of order in their world, some sense of being secure and in control of the ride. People voted Hitler into power and there are still folks who have sentimental thoughts about Stalin. Although most of me is repulsed to the core by the thought of it I can see, in that dark angry part of me, why that would make sense to a generation feeling lost and out of control and willing to take the risk of totalitarian rule to make it all go away. I suppose it could happen here as well, why should we be immune to the seductions of such ideas?
And though I sometimes come close to the edge I do not want to give in to the will to power, the angry mind, the treating of the other as an object of my will, to hate, and the rampaging emotions of our times. I am aware of these days and part of me wants to run away and hide and another part wants to engage the game by the rules that seem to be presently in play but the end of both is futility.
There is another way, a way often drowned out by the voices of a sad and broken world but still the way things must be if we are not to extinguish ourselves. It is the way of the child of Bethlehem, the One who came into this world to bring light and peace and a taste of heaven here and its fullness in the time to come. Some feeble poor number of us have to hold out for it, as tainted as we are, and risk being called naive, idealistic, or insane. Some few lights need to shine like candles in a great dark wind and take the risk of being snuffed out as the cost of knowing what light is, even for a moment.
What a task for imperfect people, for sinners, to assume yet how much more is its undertaking required when the world seem so crazy and the order of things struggles like a wounded animal. But to know this is to understand Christmas, the time of nativity, in its most basic and primal truth and the hope of the angel's song on that long ago night.
11/29/06
The offensive cross...
Here is the story of a judge's order to cover a cross deemed "offensive" (Christians know that the cross has always been "offensive in its own way 1 Corinthians 1:23-24) with a video about the action below.
Jesus said "I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33 RSV)
11/27/06
Kill your television....
This is why I don't believe I've watched a major network TV program, including news, start to finish in years.
The History Channel, of course, is another story. BTW Genghis Khan died on my birthday and knowing that makes me...what? I shudder to think.
The History Channel, of course, is another story. BTW Genghis Khan died on my birthday and knowing that makes me...what? I shudder to think.
Little losses...
My wife and I are contemplating travel to Canada this summer for the Archdiocesan Convention in Montreal and the topic of passports came up.
More than a decade ago I had family living in northern Minnesota minutes away from the border, so close, in fact that they often went to Winnipeg for shopping. In those days all you needed to do was hold up your bucket as you passed north and Canadian customs knew you were going to pick blueberries and waved you on through. You could wave "hi" on the way back as long as our customs didn't think you were smuggling in Cuban cigars.
That seems like a long time ago. Probably was.
Of all the things I miss about these times those kinds of things, a more trusting gentle way, seem to cause the most melancholy. Now we're screened in, screened through, screened out, and travel with documents and permits and the threat of search and detainment if we miss some detail. There will probably never again be a time when you can take a joy ride into Canada like I did when I was in college or be waved across any border with a berry bucket as your credentials.
I know its necessary. I know, too, that others (like the victims of 9-11) have been inconvenienced beyond my imagination and so I have little about which to complain. But the fact I can't hardly cash a check anymore, have to pre-pay for gasoline when the sun goes down, and now may need a passport just to cross into Canada, kills me not in one big fireball but rather by hundreds of little needles each taking a drop of blood. One by one they are inconsequential, together they can be fatal.
I guess if people don't have honesty in and of themselves they will make a law to enforce it. If people aren't going to allow morality, honesty, and trust be part of thier lives there will be a regulation to that effect. I've not changed but at least now I'll have the paperwork to prove it.
More than a decade ago I had family living in northern Minnesota minutes away from the border, so close, in fact that they often went to Winnipeg for shopping. In those days all you needed to do was hold up your bucket as you passed north and Canadian customs knew you were going to pick blueberries and waved you on through. You could wave "hi" on the way back as long as our customs didn't think you were smuggling in Cuban cigars.
That seems like a long time ago. Probably was.
Of all the things I miss about these times those kinds of things, a more trusting gentle way, seem to cause the most melancholy. Now we're screened in, screened through, screened out, and travel with documents and permits and the threat of search and detainment if we miss some detail. There will probably never again be a time when you can take a joy ride into Canada like I did when I was in college or be waved across any border with a berry bucket as your credentials.
I know its necessary. I know, too, that others (like the victims of 9-11) have been inconvenienced beyond my imagination and so I have little about which to complain. But the fact I can't hardly cash a check anymore, have to pre-pay for gasoline when the sun goes down, and now may need a passport just to cross into Canada, kills me not in one big fireball but rather by hundreds of little needles each taking a drop of blood. One by one they are inconsequential, together they can be fatal.
I guess if people don't have honesty in and of themselves they will make a law to enforce it. If people aren't going to allow morality, honesty, and trust be part of thier lives there will be a regulation to that effect. I've not changed but at least now I'll have the paperwork to prove it.
Hidden things...
For the most part this is a gloomy time of year but I do like it when the leaves fall and I can see where the birds nests have been hidden.
What can I say?
What can I say?
Solutions, solutions...
A quick trip around the blogosphere is all it takes to get a taste of the level of complaint around the world.
There can be a value to that. There are things that need to be exposed and the democratization of the media represented by the blogosphere means that people who are actually expert in thier fields, and not just pretty faces, get exposure for thier thoughts in a way the larger media would never allow. But sometimes its just about complaints.
At times I fall in to that trap. Something rubs me the wrong way and I want to gripe and have the tools to do it. Even if no one in particular is paying attention I still have the emotional satisfaction. There needs, though, to be more from me and from anyone else who occasionally taps out a paragraph or two on the web. We need solutions.
Part of what I hope to do (we have such grandiose plans when we start blogs!) is to point to one solution. I remain convinced over the years that the transformation of family, culture, and world, begins with the continuing transformation of the person. I believe, as well, that Jesus Christ presents the model to which humanity should aspire and if we wish to truly evolve as a species we have that example to measure our progress.
At times I have told my parish I would be a Christian even if there was no heaven, no life to come, simply because the way of life is one that makes for human contentment. And I think sometimes we in the Church speak too much about the life to come and too little about how following Christ makes for human happiness, a balanced life, even a physically healthier life. How many people have literally killed themselves in the endless chase for whatever the latest thing the world says is important when the rest they seek, for thier soul, thier body, thier mind, could be found in the way of Christ?
It's not about immunnity from the realities and problems of the world but perspective, a clear view even in our weaknesses of what really matters. A life with Jesus life and teachings at its core brings a kind of knowledge that allows all things to find thier true setting, thier optimal environment, thier real paradigm so the person who embraces them, embraces Him, becomes fully alive and as they grow in it all more and more human in the best sense of that word.
Therein lies, I believe, the single solution to the human question and I presume I will always struggle towards it.
There can be a value to that. There are things that need to be exposed and the democratization of the media represented by the blogosphere means that people who are actually expert in thier fields, and not just pretty faces, get exposure for thier thoughts in a way the larger media would never allow. But sometimes its just about complaints.
At times I fall in to that trap. Something rubs me the wrong way and I want to gripe and have the tools to do it. Even if no one in particular is paying attention I still have the emotional satisfaction. There needs, though, to be more from me and from anyone else who occasionally taps out a paragraph or two on the web. We need solutions.
Part of what I hope to do (we have such grandiose plans when we start blogs!) is to point to one solution. I remain convinced over the years that the transformation of family, culture, and world, begins with the continuing transformation of the person. I believe, as well, that Jesus Christ presents the model to which humanity should aspire and if we wish to truly evolve as a species we have that example to measure our progress.
At times I have told my parish I would be a Christian even if there was no heaven, no life to come, simply because the way of life is one that makes for human contentment. And I think sometimes we in the Church speak too much about the life to come and too little about how following Christ makes for human happiness, a balanced life, even a physically healthier life. How many people have literally killed themselves in the endless chase for whatever the latest thing the world says is important when the rest they seek, for thier soul, thier body, thier mind, could be found in the way of Christ?
It's not about immunnity from the realities and problems of the world but perspective, a clear view even in our weaknesses of what really matters. A life with Jesus life and teachings at its core brings a kind of knowledge that allows all things to find thier true setting, thier optimal environment, thier real paradigm so the person who embraces them, embraces Him, becomes fully alive and as they grow in it all more and more human in the best sense of that word.
Therein lies, I believe, the single solution to the human question and I presume I will always struggle towards it.
11/22/06
A note of thanks...
A note of thanks to the person who was visitor number 700 to this blog.
It's been a priviledge to write for you all.
It's been a priviledge to write for you all.
On the whole...
On the whole I am a grateful man, not necessarily for the specifics as this has been a tiring year with some very hard times, but, for the larger picture and greater graces that have carried me along and continue.
Coming to terms with the fact that much of what the world out there calls "success" will always elude us is part of the maturing process, the understanding of life in panorama and not just snapshot. And there is a bitterness to that, no, more of a melancholy. Even when we know for a fact the hype is just that and those who have attained heights we can only imagine still carry the primal human emptiness we remain creations of what our culture values and the message has been force fed on us for so long and with such passionate intensity that we still believe we'll be the exception to the rule, the one person who can truly have it all with no regrets, no empty spots, and no loss.
But sooner or later the thinning hair or sagging this or that and the ravages of time bear undeniable witness and we have to choose. Do we wish to be some kind of caricature like those sad old people whose faces have been lifted to the point of distortion and whose energy is spent throwing themselves against thier own mortality like a "Jackass the Movie" stuntman or do we come to some knowledge greater than ourselves that allows us to place all the events of our life, including the future, in a context that understands life but is never conquered by that reality?
If only for coming to ask that question at all I am grateful for this hard year. Because the correct answer to that question is precisely the place where grace can flow in to any life and transform what in a more hopeless moment would seem to be a relentless grind towards the cemetery into a journey of hope.
I'm holding out for that, thinning hair, sagging parts, and all.
Coming to terms with the fact that much of what the world out there calls "success" will always elude us is part of the maturing process, the understanding of life in panorama and not just snapshot. And there is a bitterness to that, no, more of a melancholy. Even when we know for a fact the hype is just that and those who have attained heights we can only imagine still carry the primal human emptiness we remain creations of what our culture values and the message has been force fed on us for so long and with such passionate intensity that we still believe we'll be the exception to the rule, the one person who can truly have it all with no regrets, no empty spots, and no loss.
But sooner or later the thinning hair or sagging this or that and the ravages of time bear undeniable witness and we have to choose. Do we wish to be some kind of caricature like those sad old people whose faces have been lifted to the point of distortion and whose energy is spent throwing themselves against thier own mortality like a "Jackass the Movie" stuntman or do we come to some knowledge greater than ourselves that allows us to place all the events of our life, including the future, in a context that understands life but is never conquered by that reality?
If only for coming to ask that question at all I am grateful for this hard year. Because the correct answer to that question is precisely the place where grace can flow in to any life and transform what in a more hopeless moment would seem to be a relentless grind towards the cemetery into a journey of hope.
I'm holding out for that, thinning hair, sagging parts, and all.
11/21/06
What's with the Muslim stuff?
From time to time in this blog you'll see references to sites or articles about the Muslim world, some of which have critique, all of which have been chosen for the purpose of illumination. After all what happens there matters and if all one has for information is the mainstream media much will be missed and important things will go unnoticed.
But let me state that there is no hate here for Muslims despite the efforts of some in that religion to portray any critique or analysis of Islam as "hate" or intolerance. I disagree with the understanding that Mohammed is a prophet of God or the Koran is the literal word of God. I believe the revelation of God found in Jesus Christ is true. True disagreement, as against unthinking bitterness, is part of the search for truth and when dissent is immediately labeled as "hate" and a topic off limits for reasonable discussion then all hope for discovering truth is killed and the world decends into night.
In that context I remain convinced people should always examine thier faith, know why they believe, understand the history of the outworking of their faith, warts and all, and come to a mature knowledge of thier religion. In the current times of turmoil such a mature understanding of religion matters more than ever and there are frankly too many people both in Islam and Christianity who have only emotional, cultural, or tribal understandings of what they believe, understandings that have become empty jars into which fanaticism can be poured. I am an Orthodox Christian not because Orthodox people, including myself, have always been shining examples of purity but rather because Orthodoxy calls me and the world to transcend brokenness and gives us an example in Jesus Christ of one who lived the fullest humanity to which we, despite our sometimes terrible deeds, aspire.
And quite frankly I believe that Muslims will find the rest they seek, the rest that has caused a number of them to resort to violence and fanaticism, in Jesus Christ. There is wisdom in Islam but it's fulfillment is in Christ who shines with such glory that even thier prophet revered Him. Christians have sometimes done terrible things to Muslims and Muslims to Christians and yet the light that is Christ, when allowed to shine freely, illumines all.
Ultimately that is what I wish. Light for me in my darkness and light for those in Islam as well.
So I speak and write and pray as a fellow traveler hoping for, as our Liturgy prays, the "union of all" in Christ.
But let me state that there is no hate here for Muslims despite the efforts of some in that religion to portray any critique or analysis of Islam as "hate" or intolerance. I disagree with the understanding that Mohammed is a prophet of God or the Koran is the literal word of God. I believe the revelation of God found in Jesus Christ is true. True disagreement, as against unthinking bitterness, is part of the search for truth and when dissent is immediately labeled as "hate" and a topic off limits for reasonable discussion then all hope for discovering truth is killed and the world decends into night.
In that context I remain convinced people should always examine thier faith, know why they believe, understand the history of the outworking of their faith, warts and all, and come to a mature knowledge of thier religion. In the current times of turmoil such a mature understanding of religion matters more than ever and there are frankly too many people both in Islam and Christianity who have only emotional, cultural, or tribal understandings of what they believe, understandings that have become empty jars into which fanaticism can be poured. I am an Orthodox Christian not because Orthodox people, including myself, have always been shining examples of purity but rather because Orthodoxy calls me and the world to transcend brokenness and gives us an example in Jesus Christ of one who lived the fullest humanity to which we, despite our sometimes terrible deeds, aspire.
And quite frankly I believe that Muslims will find the rest they seek, the rest that has caused a number of them to resort to violence and fanaticism, in Jesus Christ. There is wisdom in Islam but it's fulfillment is in Christ who shines with such glory that even thier prophet revered Him. Christians have sometimes done terrible things to Muslims and Muslims to Christians and yet the light that is Christ, when allowed to shine freely, illumines all.
Ultimately that is what I wish. Light for me in my darkness and light for those in Islam as well.
So I speak and write and pray as a fellow traveler hoping for, as our Liturgy prays, the "union of all" in Christ.
In hiding for his life because of this...
The English translation of an article published in France regarding Christianity, Islam, and Europe, and for which the author is now in hiding.
Sex and money and happiness...
Say it ain't so!The Democrats are actually the party of the rich. Conservatives are more generous with thier own money than liberals. Americans as a whole give more to the needy than Europeans. And the best sex is reported by...
Married, religious women, especially conservative Protestants...
11/20/06
More on happiness...
CNN takes on a story about happiness and among the happiest people are, you guessed it, the religious...
Oh, and the survey says more things have little effect on happiness. But Jesus could have told you that, oh say, 20 plus centuries ago.
Oh, and the survey says more things have little effect on happiness. But Jesus could have told you that, oh say, 20 plus centuries ago.
Global youth happiness survey...
See the bottom of the first page of this interesting story about young people and happiness.
Who are the happiest? Read the story and find out!
Who are the happiest? Read the story and find out!
Thoughts after the road...
Beautiful drive back from LaCrosse yesterday with plenty of sunshine, unseasonably warm weather, and little traffic now that the tourists have gone away for a while. The photo on the left is "Grandad Bluff" which is directly to the east of downtown LaCrosse, and the right is a view of downtown. The road back looks a lot like the bluffs you see on the left and only stops being that scenic at Red Wing, MN, on the edge of the Twin Cities Metro.
But that's not the story, the quiet is.
I normally have the radio on for the journey but this time decided not to use it at all but rather be alone with my thoughts as the miles passed. It worked out for the most part, at least for a while, and then the craving for the noise, the stimulation, set it. "Just push the button and find out what the Packer's score is..." "How about some music?" All these thoughts going through my head and I realized how much of a noise junkie I really was.
Silence can be frightening because there's no place to hide, nothing but you and your thoughts, and then what? I realized that much of what I consider "thought" may in fact be noise, outside stimuli that have been put into my head and which I think are my own thoughts. There are parts of me that may not be me at all but rather artificial constructs that have grown in place to the point where I assume they are, in fact, real.
Ouch, or rather yikes!
11/17/06
Stuff on the night before the road...
Tomorrow morning the road beckons again and there may be some snow. We've been blessed here these past weeks with very little snow and even a few peaks at sunshine. Next week it should get to be around 50 f which is very warm for this time of year. I remember Thanksgiving Days when we couldn't travel because of the snow.
The work continues at St. Elias as the Nativity Fast begins and end of year plans (that means stewardship drives) come in to play. It's actually good to be busy because it keeps my mind off from the encroaching darkness outside. The sun sets around 5 PM now and we're getting pretty close to the time when we drive to work and back in twilight.
The truth be told I'd kind of like 2006 to be over. It's not been the happiest year personally with death being the main culprit and a kind of fatigue the other. I could use a few days in LasVegas right now which is strange because casinos bore the life out of me. But the warm dry air is a tonic. I'll put up with the general nouveau riche sleaze of Vegas baby just to get a dose of a cool summer night when the winter sets in here.
The next week will be Liturgy central with three planned on Monday night for the Presentation, Wednesday for our local pan Orthodox Thanksgiving Divine Liturgy and Sunday. This may sound strange but sometimes the Liturgy is the only place I can get some rest! It's very peaceful to be tuned into the flow of those ancient rythms.
The fast, of course, is just starting and I'm actually looking forward to it. I'm grateful for the chance to get things back in order, take care of unfinished business, and prepare myself for Christmas. What a wonderful gift to have, these special times when the Church calls for a renewed closeness to God and greater diligence in faith. The neat thing is that when hearts, including mine, turn away from the world and towards God they're actually happier and although I know its going to be a struggle I already have a sense, like other fasts, that it will be worth it. On the practical side its nice to feel like I'm truly celebrating the season and with grace may be able to avoid the gluttony hangovers that seems to have become part of this time. But the fast is young and I am a sinner so we'll see.
BTW, I have a little black book now so I can remember prayer requests and if you would like to be in it you can just write at info@stelias-lacrosse.org . I'm no great saint, not even a little one for that matter, but I'll do what I can.
The work continues at St. Elias as the Nativity Fast begins and end of year plans (that means stewardship drives) come in to play. It's actually good to be busy because it keeps my mind off from the encroaching darkness outside. The sun sets around 5 PM now and we're getting pretty close to the time when we drive to work and back in twilight.
The truth be told I'd kind of like 2006 to be over. It's not been the happiest year personally with death being the main culprit and a kind of fatigue the other. I could use a few days in LasVegas right now which is strange because casinos bore the life out of me. But the warm dry air is a tonic. I'll put up with the general nouveau riche sleaze of Vegas baby just to get a dose of a cool summer night when the winter sets in here.
The next week will be Liturgy central with three planned on Monday night for the Presentation, Wednesday for our local pan Orthodox Thanksgiving Divine Liturgy and Sunday. This may sound strange but sometimes the Liturgy is the only place I can get some rest! It's very peaceful to be tuned into the flow of those ancient rythms.
The fast, of course, is just starting and I'm actually looking forward to it. I'm grateful for the chance to get things back in order, take care of unfinished business, and prepare myself for Christmas. What a wonderful gift to have, these special times when the Church calls for a renewed closeness to God and greater diligence in faith. The neat thing is that when hearts, including mine, turn away from the world and towards God they're actually happier and although I know its going to be a struggle I already have a sense, like other fasts, that it will be worth it. On the practical side its nice to feel like I'm truly celebrating the season and with grace may be able to avoid the gluttony hangovers that seems to have become part of this time. But the fast is young and I am a sinner so we'll see.
BTW, I have a little black book now so I can remember prayer requests and if you would like to be in it you can just write at info@stelias-lacrosse.org . I'm no great saint, not even a little one for that matter, but I'll do what I can.
The Thrill of the Chaste...
Here's a link to the www site of "The Thrill of the Chaste" a new book by a 30 something woman who converted both to Christian faith and a life of chastity and now speaks of her experiences as a refugee from the "Sex and the City" mentality.
As has been mentioned before in this blog there is always a certain amount of pain in speaking to the world about the health, life, and peace that comes from practicing a Christian sexual morality, a morality with both high standards and a place for self correction when sin fails the high calling. The pain comes from knowing there will be many people, not sleazes or whores, but people looking for meaning and love and touch and togetherness who will, in thier need, buy in to a values system that will hurt them and sometimes even take thier life. There are many of us who, by grace or just dumb luck, emerged on the other side in relative safety but many more who will still only come to see the value of the Christian sexual vision by virtue of traveling through some very dark valleys.
Read the book.
As has been mentioned before in this blog there is always a certain amount of pain in speaking to the world about the health, life, and peace that comes from practicing a Christian sexual morality, a morality with both high standards and a place for self correction when sin fails the high calling. The pain comes from knowing there will be many people, not sleazes or whores, but people looking for meaning and love and touch and togetherness who will, in thier need, buy in to a values system that will hurt them and sometimes even take thier life. There are many of us who, by grace or just dumb luck, emerged on the other side in relative safety but many more who will still only come to see the value of the Christian sexual vision by virtue of traveling through some very dark valleys.
Read the book.
11/15/06
See the post below this one...
A new study suggests religiously observant older people are healthier then thier non observant counterparts.
As I remember, Elton John is about to turn 60...
As I remember, Elton John is about to turn 60...
More signs of the times...
Elton John, nearing 60, and presumably in an activitist mood has called for banning organized religion and then for a conclave of the leaders of these banned religions to get together to address the world's problems. In addition he has blamed the Pope and the Catholic Church for AIDS and the death of his friends (apparently the Pope is running around the world forcing people to have sex with each other).
Of course, the first thing many critics will do is dismember the obvious illogic of this and expose Sir Elton's intellectual shortcomings. After all he's just one of a long list of entertainment celebrities who've bought into their own publicity and confused fame with depth.
But two things should be noted. First, there are more people than we know who share his thoughts despite thier obvious shallowness. Second, for Sir Elton and others to be able to believe and speak these things reveals a kind of something, or lack of it, in thier hearts which provides a rationale for irrationality. He himself may not even know what strange fire is burning inside.
But it's precisely for that dark and hidden recess in our souls, even the one that spews angry words to heaven, that Christ came and while there is life there is always hope, for you, me, and the "rocket man".
Signs of the times...
Went across the street from where I work to a Target store and saw a young man curled up in one of those 70's vintage wicker basket chairs with a sleeping bag around him.
Homeless? No. Just waiting for Friday so he can be the first in line to get one of this store's allotment of 8 PlayStation 3's.
Don't know whether to laugh, or cry, or shake my head in disbelief. Maybe God wants him to be the first person I pray for in Nativity Lent.
Homeless? No. Just waiting for Friday so he can be the first in line to get one of this store's allotment of 8 PlayStation 3's.
Don't know whether to laugh, or cry, or shake my head in disbelief. Maybe God wants him to be the first person I pray for in Nativity Lent.
11/14/06
Church marketing sucks...
The www site for Church Marketing Sucks, a group of passionate Christians looking for something better and a MUST READ for anyone in the Church.
The numbers game...
Invariably when a Priest is asked about his parish people say "And how many members does your parish have?"
Now people aren't looking for nuance in this, thoughts about faithfulness, the stage of life a parish is in, or the historical development of things. They want a number and the higher the better. Everything hangs on the number.
If the number is low it must be about the Priest not measuring up or the parish being dysfunctional or some other dark secret that keeps it from being higher. When Priests talk to Priests the issue is the same and even when we offer the nuances and they are listened to with the appropriate and well practiced techniques the one speaking and those listening know that only the number matters. The rest is small talk.
And there is a certain truth in numbers. Numerical growth is normal in the church and when it is not happening there really does need to be an analysis of the situation. Sometimes the answer is simple and there are conflicts or attitudes that have driven people away or closed the doors to people coming in. Language still is one of the largest and it remains an amazing fact that so many Orthodox parishes, even those that have been in this country for decades, still cling to languages and customs that they never use outside the walls of the Church. But there are more and sometimes its not about desire or struggles or ethnicity but about lack of support and direction for growth, the failure to plan that means the Parish has planned, sometimes without knowing it, to fail. Some parishes, too, need to die but no one has the desire to say that let alone act on it. Its never as simple, despite our wish, as the number.
Numerical success, too, has to be examined. Is it an accident of immigration where a large community of people was already present and the church simply filled? Has it been about the movement of converts from other Christian communities into the life of the Church? Is it a generational thing, a burst of fertility from years past that has now come to fruition? Success numbers are complex too and may not actually reflect a vital congregation but one that fate, rather than ministry, has favored with the numbers that shape our idea of success.
A few points here, for a digression regarding the growth of Orthodoxy.
First certain areas of Orthodoxy in the United States have experienced growth but the context has to be examined. Orthodoxy, when placed against its own context of ethnic isolation in this country is experiencing a growth and flowering, but when placed in the larger Christian context of this culture is still a minor player. We speak, for example, of the growth of 200 plus new parishes in the Antiochian Archdiocese in the past few decades which is admirable given the ethos of American Orthodoxy but miniscule in comparison to say, the Assemblies of God, who will probably put up 200 new parishes this year alone. Our will to evangelize and build is still in its infancy.
Second we have to understand that we still are not doing a substantial job of reaching the unchurched. So much of our "growth" is really a reshuffling of the deck as other Christians leave thier churches for ours. While that, from our point of view (and thiers) is a movement from something less to something more it hardly marks an actual growth in the Kingdom. We're just swapping folks around and frankly there are Orthodox who have left the Church for other Christian communities as well. There are few, to my knowledge, models where hard core unchurched are being brought in from the streets into the communicant life of the Church.
And although we have taken great strides, for us, in relearning and remphasizing evangelism and growth in our parishes and clergy we are still a long ways from recovering the Orthodox vision of proclaiming the Gospel in word and deed as an integral part of what it means to be a normal Parish and parishoner. Imagine where our churches would be if half the energy spent on festivals was spent on evangelism?
Where should this lead?
Perhaps the hope should be that one day numbers will matter as they truly should, within the actual history and life of the parish and as a tool to help us direct the life and ministry of our churches. Not numbers for the raw impact and idea that a lot means things are going well, but numbers that tell us where we are strong, where we are not so strong, and where God still wants us to change and become what He desires us to be.
In the end, after all, its the "why" of the numbers, that middle place between worshipping them as indicators of success and ignoring them in the pretense of piety, that matters most of all.
Now people aren't looking for nuance in this, thoughts about faithfulness, the stage of life a parish is in, or the historical development of things. They want a number and the higher the better. Everything hangs on the number.
If the number is low it must be about the Priest not measuring up or the parish being dysfunctional or some other dark secret that keeps it from being higher. When Priests talk to Priests the issue is the same and even when we offer the nuances and they are listened to with the appropriate and well practiced techniques the one speaking and those listening know that only the number matters. The rest is small talk.
And there is a certain truth in numbers. Numerical growth is normal in the church and when it is not happening there really does need to be an analysis of the situation. Sometimes the answer is simple and there are conflicts or attitudes that have driven people away or closed the doors to people coming in. Language still is one of the largest and it remains an amazing fact that so many Orthodox parishes, even those that have been in this country for decades, still cling to languages and customs that they never use outside the walls of the Church. But there are more and sometimes its not about desire or struggles or ethnicity but about lack of support and direction for growth, the failure to plan that means the Parish has planned, sometimes without knowing it, to fail. Some parishes, too, need to die but no one has the desire to say that let alone act on it. Its never as simple, despite our wish, as the number.
Numerical success, too, has to be examined. Is it an accident of immigration where a large community of people was already present and the church simply filled? Has it been about the movement of converts from other Christian communities into the life of the Church? Is it a generational thing, a burst of fertility from years past that has now come to fruition? Success numbers are complex too and may not actually reflect a vital congregation but one that fate, rather than ministry, has favored with the numbers that shape our idea of success.
A few points here, for a digression regarding the growth of Orthodoxy.
First certain areas of Orthodoxy in the United States have experienced growth but the context has to be examined. Orthodoxy, when placed against its own context of ethnic isolation in this country is experiencing a growth and flowering, but when placed in the larger Christian context of this culture is still a minor player. We speak, for example, of the growth of 200 plus new parishes in the Antiochian Archdiocese in the past few decades which is admirable given the ethos of American Orthodoxy but miniscule in comparison to say, the Assemblies of God, who will probably put up 200 new parishes this year alone. Our will to evangelize and build is still in its infancy.
Second we have to understand that we still are not doing a substantial job of reaching the unchurched. So much of our "growth" is really a reshuffling of the deck as other Christians leave thier churches for ours. While that, from our point of view (and thiers) is a movement from something less to something more it hardly marks an actual growth in the Kingdom. We're just swapping folks around and frankly there are Orthodox who have left the Church for other Christian communities as well. There are few, to my knowledge, models where hard core unchurched are being brought in from the streets into the communicant life of the Church.
And although we have taken great strides, for us, in relearning and remphasizing evangelism and growth in our parishes and clergy we are still a long ways from recovering the Orthodox vision of proclaiming the Gospel in word and deed as an integral part of what it means to be a normal Parish and parishoner. Imagine where our churches would be if half the energy spent on festivals was spent on evangelism?
Where should this lead?
Perhaps the hope should be that one day numbers will matter as they truly should, within the actual history and life of the parish and as a tool to help us direct the life and ministry of our churches. Not numbers for the raw impact and idea that a lot means things are going well, but numbers that tell us where we are strong, where we are not so strong, and where God still wants us to change and become what He desires us to be.
In the end, after all, its the "why" of the numbers, that middle place between worshipping them as indicators of success and ignoring them in the pretense of piety, that matters most of all.
11/13/06
Some wisdom from St. John...
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
1 John 5:4-5
11/9/06
Some thoughts...
The sun is shining this morning but they say that rain and snow are on the way. So I'll take advantage of the moments to write a bit about the days past and those to come.
On the longest scale of things I remain, like Christianity, optimistic. The shining city of God with the beauty and purity of a bride remains within my sight and the political junkie riding the emotional roller coaster with every newscast has long ago slipped away into the night. I slept well on November 7th and last night as well.
I'm not naive or locked in some pious delusion. I read the papers and know it's a troubled world. I'm tempted sometimes, like everyone else, to seek refuge, to hide away, to go to some far away place where the world can't get at me but I know it's no use. I feel bombarded sometimes and sometimes I even envy those who are already asleep in the Lord. But that never makes what is here and now less then what it is and somehow I and we have been providentially ordered to be in this time and place.
I know, too, that the world has always been troubled. It is our lot since the first broken day of exile from Eden and only the technology, and not the human propensities, have changed. The Romans would have used tanks if they had them and the Babylonians would've have had porno movies in hotels if they could. The biggest difference, I suppose, is that in our modern media age we are force fed a bigger portion of it all and find less and less of what is good and right and pure in the cultural hog wallow.
As the larger and superficial supports in this society that have propped our vision of the world up in at least some lip service sort of way are weakening and collapsing I wonder if God is asking us a simple but profound question in all of this. "Do you believe in me?"
Sometimes all the passing things in which we have placed our hope need to be taken away, or at least threatened, before we see what matters most. And in thier departure we see ourselves as we really are and whether what we claim to believe really matters or was all just fluff.
The ascetics knew this, those holy people of long ago who left the world to pursue God. And perhaps this time, this epoch of history, is a time of asceticism for the Church, a time when God is making for us the choice the desert fathers and mothers made for themselves, and bringing us into the wilderness so we, stripped of everything else, have only God and in realizing that come to understand that we have everything we need, aways did.
Just a thought from a sinner pondering things to vast for him to understand.
On the longest scale of things I remain, like Christianity, optimistic. The shining city of God with the beauty and purity of a bride remains within my sight and the political junkie riding the emotional roller coaster with every newscast has long ago slipped away into the night. I slept well on November 7th and last night as well.
I'm not naive or locked in some pious delusion. I read the papers and know it's a troubled world. I'm tempted sometimes, like everyone else, to seek refuge, to hide away, to go to some far away place where the world can't get at me but I know it's no use. I feel bombarded sometimes and sometimes I even envy those who are already asleep in the Lord. But that never makes what is here and now less then what it is and somehow I and we have been providentially ordered to be in this time and place.
I know, too, that the world has always been troubled. It is our lot since the first broken day of exile from Eden and only the technology, and not the human propensities, have changed. The Romans would have used tanks if they had them and the Babylonians would've have had porno movies in hotels if they could. The biggest difference, I suppose, is that in our modern media age we are force fed a bigger portion of it all and find less and less of what is good and right and pure in the cultural hog wallow.
As the larger and superficial supports in this society that have propped our vision of the world up in at least some lip service sort of way are weakening and collapsing I wonder if God is asking us a simple but profound question in all of this. "Do you believe in me?"
Sometimes all the passing things in which we have placed our hope need to be taken away, or at least threatened, before we see what matters most. And in thier departure we see ourselves as we really are and whether what we claim to believe really matters or was all just fluff.
The ascetics knew this, those holy people of long ago who left the world to pursue God. And perhaps this time, this epoch of history, is a time of asceticism for the Church, a time when God is making for us the choice the desert fathers and mothers made for themselves, and bringing us into the wilderness so we, stripped of everything else, have only God and in realizing that come to understand that we have everything we need, aways did.
Just a thought from a sinner pondering things to vast for him to understand.
11/8/06
Thoughts on the day gone by...
For the past day, and for many more to come we will hear pundits and pollsters, spin doctors and bureaucrats, politicians and columnists, experts and insiders, winners and losers, and a million more voices on every little piece of everything.
They don't matter.
What is God saying in all of this?
That's what matters.
They don't matter.
What is God saying in all of this?
That's what matters.
11/7/06
In a few hours...
In a few hours we here in the United States will know who we're referring to when we pray for the "President of the Unted States, all civil authorities, and our Armed Forces everywhere..."
And pray we will even as St. Paul admonished his fellow believers to do for people as dark, pagan, and corrupt, as the Roman aristocracy. We do this because we only see moments but God sees the whole span of history and so we believe.
Only those who have forgotten that our national motto is "In God We Trust" will succumb to fear today.
And pray we will even as St. Paul admonished his fellow believers to do for people as dark, pagan, and corrupt, as the Roman aristocracy. We do this because we only see moments but God sees the whole span of history and so we believe.
Only those who have forgotten that our national motto is "In God We Trust" will succumb to fear today.
11/3/06
Legends of the fall...
I'm suspicious of the timing, of course, but the news of the possible involvement of Rev. Ted Haggard, pastor of a large evangelical church in Colorado and a leader in the National Association of Evangelicals, with a male prostitute has been front and center in the news.
The media love this stuff and a lot of readers/listeners/watchers do as well. If a prominent person seeking to speak out on moral issues falls (and there is no final word yet on whether or to what extent this may have happened) it allows people to justify themselves and avoid answering the questions posed by those speaking out about the moral decay of our culture. If every accusation provided to date is 100% true how would that affect the truth of the problems associated with the "do everyone you want" sexual mores of this society? Would it make the disease and death go away? Would the broken homes vanish? Would it mean that somehow the attitgude and actions which are making this all a reality are now okay? Or would it mean that one more person, one more family, and a whole congregation are added to the long and growing list of those broken by the sexual sickness of our times and, in effect, prove the point at a terrible cost?
Of course those of us who are serving in ministry are painfully aware of the nature of these times. We bathe in the same cultural waters as everyone else and wearing a collar is hardly a protection from the darkness. We are humans and we make mistakes, sometimes terrible ones. Our hearts are broken when we see one of us fall and we pray to God that it won't happen to us and sometimes just hang on by our fingernails in the face of it all. We know that the standards in these things are at a different level for us and a plumber or business man accused of seeking out gay sex wouldn't even merit a single line of newspaper copy while the mere innuendo of clergy scandal ends up above the fold on the front page. We know there are people who delight in exposing us and relish the idea of tripping us up. And its all complicated by the reality that deep inside, behind the faces we present on Sunday morning, are the common struggles of all Christians against the darts of the Evil One and the power of our own brokenness.
My prayers go out to Pastor Haggard, his family, and his parish, and doubly so if these accusations are in fact not a political stunt and have some merit. I hope yours do too because there will be suffering either way and perhaps a long road home if they are true. How we treat this man, this pastor, in the coming months will reveal the reality of who we are and the Gospel we proclaim. How we treat his accuser will as well.
The media love this stuff and a lot of readers/listeners/watchers do as well. If a prominent person seeking to speak out on moral issues falls (and there is no final word yet on whether or to what extent this may have happened) it allows people to justify themselves and avoid answering the questions posed by those speaking out about the moral decay of our culture. If every accusation provided to date is 100% true how would that affect the truth of the problems associated with the "do everyone you want" sexual mores of this society? Would it make the disease and death go away? Would the broken homes vanish? Would it mean that somehow the attitgude and actions which are making this all a reality are now okay? Or would it mean that one more person, one more family, and a whole congregation are added to the long and growing list of those broken by the sexual sickness of our times and, in effect, prove the point at a terrible cost?
Of course those of us who are serving in ministry are painfully aware of the nature of these times. We bathe in the same cultural waters as everyone else and wearing a collar is hardly a protection from the darkness. We are humans and we make mistakes, sometimes terrible ones. Our hearts are broken when we see one of us fall and we pray to God that it won't happen to us and sometimes just hang on by our fingernails in the face of it all. We know that the standards in these things are at a different level for us and a plumber or business man accused of seeking out gay sex wouldn't even merit a single line of newspaper copy while the mere innuendo of clergy scandal ends up above the fold on the front page. We know there are people who delight in exposing us and relish the idea of tripping us up. And its all complicated by the reality that deep inside, behind the faces we present on Sunday morning, are the common struggles of all Christians against the darts of the Evil One and the power of our own brokenness.
My prayers go out to Pastor Haggard, his family, and his parish, and doubly so if these accusations are in fact not a political stunt and have some merit. I hope yours do too because there will be suffering either way and perhaps a long road home if they are true. How we treat this man, this pastor, in the coming months will reveal the reality of who we are and the Gospel we proclaim. How we treat his accuser will as well.
11/2/06
Next Sunday's Sermon in Advance...
In a few days millions of Americans will travel to their local polling place and vote for those they wish to lead them in these times. Orthodox Christians, too, will join their friends and neighbors, as they should, and make decisions with an impact that can reach forward for generations.
But for too long there seems to have been a silence from those who are trusted to teach the faith as to how to approach our role as citizens and live as Orthodox Christians in the civil environment. In this silence we have abdicated the development of attitudes about politics and the political aspects of culture to the whims of popular culture and their septic mouthpieces in the media, and not by our faith. The result has been a decided lack of understanding about how our Orthodox faith, a faith which claims to touch all of who we are, speaks to the political life.
And perhaps there is where we should start, the idea that Orthodoxy is not simply an addition to life or an accessory but a unified vision, a participation in a reality that touches all of who we are and reaches out to transform the culture as well. We have too often created neat little compartments in our lives, with names like politics, business, religion, and family, and put a wall between them as if they are unconnected from each other. But to be Orthodox is to have all those neat little compartments demolished in favor of a life where all is directed towards Christ and the reality of who he is transforms those parts into a new kind of wholeness. To refuse to talk about faith and politics is to say there are areas in our lives that are off limits to the power of the Gospel, that what we seek to know, proclaim, and live is only for certain small parts of us and not the whole, and that is a small and powerless Gospel.
As Orthodox Christians we live in the hope of a day, we seek the transformation of our selves and the world in the knowledge that all things will be changed. We believe that one day the humble Jesus who came to us as a child in Bethlehem will return as King of Kings and rule the world with perfect justice, peace, and harmony. We believe that one day the government, as the prophet Isaiah said will be “on his shoulders” and our Creed affirms that Jesus will be the one to “judge the living and the dead” the ruler of a Kingdom that will never end, one that even now exists wherever hearts are turned towards him and people worship in spirit and truth. We understand that this rule will be one in which even the natural order itself will be returned to its pristine state and the lion will lay down with the lamb and people will turn their hearts to God and each other and reshape weapons into peaceful implements of agriculture.
Until then we understand that civil government has been given by God to ensure, as best as is possible with fallen humans, the good of all, the restraint of evil, the stewardship of the earth, and as our Founding Fathers would say “the general welfare”. We are called, as Orthodox Christians, to render honor to the state and its officials and live by the laws of whatever land we find ourselves to the extent they do not conflict with the higher moral law of God. We are called, as well, to participate on those same terms in the greater civil life of our country as we can.
In that light we also understand that there is no one form of civil government that can lay exclusive claim to encompassing the fullness of the Kingdom of God. There are better or worse forms, and even evil ones, but they all are shadows and are good only to the extent they reflect the perfect Kingdom of God. We also understand that nations are not permanent entities, but human constructs necessary for civil order but not an end in themselves. Our passports as Orthodox Christians, come from many countries, but our final hope is still in that heavenly country, the new Jerusalem.
So knowing this how do we live and act as Orthodox Christians within the political processes of our times? Here are some practical thoughts.
First and foremost the greatest political act of all is to know and live our faith in the world. Too many Orthodox simply do not know the essentials of their faith or practice them on a continual basis. We are people who have often drunk too deeply at the wells of our culture and occasionally sipped the living waters of Christ and we cannot know what is good and right if we have not sought it out ourselves and the world will not see it if they have no examples to observe. Imagine how different the world would be if just the Orthodox actually practiced Orthodoxy!
We also need to understand that what matters is not so much power or the attaching of ourselves to a single person or party but a commitment to unchanging truths and values.
Political structures change, truth does not, and our involvement in the political process should first and foremost reflect our witness to truth. If we believe that the Christian vision is the first and best destiny for humanity it is to that vision we must be true and understand that political structures are means and not ends. We are to be salt and light seeking the best we can in a world of imperfect structures and people.
Our Orthodox faith also gives us the hope of the Kingdom that is with us and that which is to come and so we have, despite the often chaotic nature of the world, an unchanging hope that should color all we do as Christians in the political world. If one only has this day, this election, or the current politics to provide meaning for their lives a descent into bitterness, anger, and violence will almost always result in the hopeless void that occurs when an election is lost or a process fails. But we have an eternal hope and our welfare can be affected by, but is not forever dependent on, the changing political world. We always keep eternity in mind and if we truly believe that one day Christ will rule with perfection then the anxieties of any given time lose their ability to terrorize us.
Yet we should also be cautious about as people used to say “Being so heavenly minded as to be no earthly good…” It is no act of piety to see the pain and struggles of the world and do nothing, or as some who claim Christianity do even rejoice in the sufferings as some sign of Christ’s return. We must be involved in the world as a sacred duty to serve and heal and witness and call the world to something better. If we do not our Lord will ask us, some day, why we failed to be who we were meant to be and claiming a pious detachment won’t count as an answer to the one who has said “as you have done this to the least of these my brethren you have done it to me…”
So what do we value as Orthodox Christians called to be witnesses in the political arena?
We understand that government should reflect, as best as is possible, the desire of God for the human good, the restraint of evil, the welfare of all, the care of the earth, and the pursuit of justice. In that light we are called to involve ourselves to transform all government forms and structures to those ideals.
We value all of human life from natural conception to natural death and even beyond and have always seen abortion, war, degradation, murder, and the desire of the strong to be predators on the weak as grave moral errors. People are never to be means to an end, are never disposable, and always have a dignity by virtue of being God’s creation.
We see the Earth not as a thing to be exploited but as a gift to be managed. We are all tenants and responsible to preserve and maintain what God has given us to the greatest extent possible.
We desire justice, to see evil restrained, the good promoted, and the power of law used for the greater good and without partiality. We see wealth as a divine call to charity and great power as a call to responsibility.
Our hope is always, first and foremost, for peace and we are called to engage in the destructive use of force always and only as the final option and then and only then with good reason and with mercy always in mind.
We believe morality ensures the well-being of society and that there is a natural order of family that allows for health, stability, and the well being of children. Orthodoxy, despite its accommodation of some divorce as a necessity in a fallen world, affirms only the union of one man and one woman for one lifetime or chastity in singleness as that arrangement desired by God, beneficial to the order of society, and promoting physical health. Orthodoxy would stand against any attempt to experiment with or transform this arrangement as inconsistent with the divine and natural law and the greater good.
Finally we believe that our first and foremost allegiance is to Jesus Christ and that all of our involvement in every part of our culture must be for the purpose of His glory, the salvation of our souls, and the transformation of the world. Power is for service, the ability to rule for the benefit of all, and our involvement in the world as the desire to enter the imperfect and call it to greater things.
That being said I simply ask you to pray always for our leaders, as we do in every liturgy, regardless of their party or whether they reflect your values. I encourage you to be involved as you can in the processes of our civil society with an informed Orthodox Christian mind and the heart of Christ. I ask you to stand, even as imperfect people, for those things that are always good, right, holy and perfect, not in the expectation of never ending success but because it is the good, right, holy, and perfect thing to do.
And in all things may God be glorified.
But for too long there seems to have been a silence from those who are trusted to teach the faith as to how to approach our role as citizens and live as Orthodox Christians in the civil environment. In this silence we have abdicated the development of attitudes about politics and the political aspects of culture to the whims of popular culture and their septic mouthpieces in the media, and not by our faith. The result has been a decided lack of understanding about how our Orthodox faith, a faith which claims to touch all of who we are, speaks to the political life.
And perhaps there is where we should start, the idea that Orthodoxy is not simply an addition to life or an accessory but a unified vision, a participation in a reality that touches all of who we are and reaches out to transform the culture as well. We have too often created neat little compartments in our lives, with names like politics, business, religion, and family, and put a wall between them as if they are unconnected from each other. But to be Orthodox is to have all those neat little compartments demolished in favor of a life where all is directed towards Christ and the reality of who he is transforms those parts into a new kind of wholeness. To refuse to talk about faith and politics is to say there are areas in our lives that are off limits to the power of the Gospel, that what we seek to know, proclaim, and live is only for certain small parts of us and not the whole, and that is a small and powerless Gospel.
As Orthodox Christians we live in the hope of a day, we seek the transformation of our selves and the world in the knowledge that all things will be changed. We believe that one day the humble Jesus who came to us as a child in Bethlehem will return as King of Kings and rule the world with perfect justice, peace, and harmony. We believe that one day the government, as the prophet Isaiah said will be “on his shoulders” and our Creed affirms that Jesus will be the one to “judge the living and the dead” the ruler of a Kingdom that will never end, one that even now exists wherever hearts are turned towards him and people worship in spirit and truth. We understand that this rule will be one in which even the natural order itself will be returned to its pristine state and the lion will lay down with the lamb and people will turn their hearts to God and each other and reshape weapons into peaceful implements of agriculture.
Until then we understand that civil government has been given by God to ensure, as best as is possible with fallen humans, the good of all, the restraint of evil, the stewardship of the earth, and as our Founding Fathers would say “the general welfare”. We are called, as Orthodox Christians, to render honor to the state and its officials and live by the laws of whatever land we find ourselves to the extent they do not conflict with the higher moral law of God. We are called, as well, to participate on those same terms in the greater civil life of our country as we can.
In that light we also understand that there is no one form of civil government that can lay exclusive claim to encompassing the fullness of the Kingdom of God. There are better or worse forms, and even evil ones, but they all are shadows and are good only to the extent they reflect the perfect Kingdom of God. We also understand that nations are not permanent entities, but human constructs necessary for civil order but not an end in themselves. Our passports as Orthodox Christians, come from many countries, but our final hope is still in that heavenly country, the new Jerusalem.
So knowing this how do we live and act as Orthodox Christians within the political processes of our times? Here are some practical thoughts.
First and foremost the greatest political act of all is to know and live our faith in the world. Too many Orthodox simply do not know the essentials of their faith or practice them on a continual basis. We are people who have often drunk too deeply at the wells of our culture and occasionally sipped the living waters of Christ and we cannot know what is good and right if we have not sought it out ourselves and the world will not see it if they have no examples to observe. Imagine how different the world would be if just the Orthodox actually practiced Orthodoxy!
We also need to understand that what matters is not so much power or the attaching of ourselves to a single person or party but a commitment to unchanging truths and values.
Political structures change, truth does not, and our involvement in the political process should first and foremost reflect our witness to truth. If we believe that the Christian vision is the first and best destiny for humanity it is to that vision we must be true and understand that political structures are means and not ends. We are to be salt and light seeking the best we can in a world of imperfect structures and people.
Our Orthodox faith also gives us the hope of the Kingdom that is with us and that which is to come and so we have, despite the often chaotic nature of the world, an unchanging hope that should color all we do as Christians in the political world. If one only has this day, this election, or the current politics to provide meaning for their lives a descent into bitterness, anger, and violence will almost always result in the hopeless void that occurs when an election is lost or a process fails. But we have an eternal hope and our welfare can be affected by, but is not forever dependent on, the changing political world. We always keep eternity in mind and if we truly believe that one day Christ will rule with perfection then the anxieties of any given time lose their ability to terrorize us.
Yet we should also be cautious about as people used to say “Being so heavenly minded as to be no earthly good…” It is no act of piety to see the pain and struggles of the world and do nothing, or as some who claim Christianity do even rejoice in the sufferings as some sign of Christ’s return. We must be involved in the world as a sacred duty to serve and heal and witness and call the world to something better. If we do not our Lord will ask us, some day, why we failed to be who we were meant to be and claiming a pious detachment won’t count as an answer to the one who has said “as you have done this to the least of these my brethren you have done it to me…”
So what do we value as Orthodox Christians called to be witnesses in the political arena?
We understand that government should reflect, as best as is possible, the desire of God for the human good, the restraint of evil, the welfare of all, the care of the earth, and the pursuit of justice. In that light we are called to involve ourselves to transform all government forms and structures to those ideals.
We value all of human life from natural conception to natural death and even beyond and have always seen abortion, war, degradation, murder, and the desire of the strong to be predators on the weak as grave moral errors. People are never to be means to an end, are never disposable, and always have a dignity by virtue of being God’s creation.
We see the Earth not as a thing to be exploited but as a gift to be managed. We are all tenants and responsible to preserve and maintain what God has given us to the greatest extent possible.
We desire justice, to see evil restrained, the good promoted, and the power of law used for the greater good and without partiality. We see wealth as a divine call to charity and great power as a call to responsibility.
Our hope is always, first and foremost, for peace and we are called to engage in the destructive use of force always and only as the final option and then and only then with good reason and with mercy always in mind.
We believe morality ensures the well-being of society and that there is a natural order of family that allows for health, stability, and the well being of children. Orthodoxy, despite its accommodation of some divorce as a necessity in a fallen world, affirms only the union of one man and one woman for one lifetime or chastity in singleness as that arrangement desired by God, beneficial to the order of society, and promoting physical health. Orthodoxy would stand against any attempt to experiment with or transform this arrangement as inconsistent with the divine and natural law and the greater good.
Finally we believe that our first and foremost allegiance is to Jesus Christ and that all of our involvement in every part of our culture must be for the purpose of His glory, the salvation of our souls, and the transformation of the world. Power is for service, the ability to rule for the benefit of all, and our involvement in the world as the desire to enter the imperfect and call it to greater things.
That being said I simply ask you to pray always for our leaders, as we do in every liturgy, regardless of their party or whether they reflect your values. I encourage you to be involved as you can in the processes of our civil society with an informed Orthodox Christian mind and the heart of Christ. I ask you to stand, even as imperfect people, for those things that are always good, right, holy and perfect, not in the expectation of never ending success but because it is the good, right, holy, and perfect thing to do.
And in all things may God be glorified.
10/31/06
Some welcome news...
British scientists have created functioning liver cells from stem cells taken from umbilical cord blood. Once again the cures are to be found in science that respects life at all stages.
And therein lies a point. The promise of "embryonic" stem cells has been touted over and over again even though to date I am not aware of a single illness that has been helped, let alone cured, by thier use and there are already documented deadly side affects like cancers. Meanwhile people are being helped on a daily basis by the use of adult stem cells (bone marrow transplants) with other treatments already under way and further research showing real hope.
If this was actually about science the money, the research, and the flow of inquiry would have long ago left the moribund world of embryonic stem cell research to focus on that which has already proved itself, namely umbilical and adult stem cells. But it's not about that at all. There are political elites who fear the humanity of the embryo and fetus because it challenges their world view on so many levels. Many elites in science believe only in science, it is thier religion, and they wish to practice it without moral constraints put on them by people they feel are thier inferiors, especially those who continue to embrace traditional and orthodox faiths.
How ironic that actual science is arguing for morality and against scientists! But why should that be suprising to those who seek the Creator?
And therein lies a point. The promise of "embryonic" stem cells has been touted over and over again even though to date I am not aware of a single illness that has been helped, let alone cured, by thier use and there are already documented deadly side affects like cancers. Meanwhile people are being helped on a daily basis by the use of adult stem cells (bone marrow transplants) with other treatments already under way and further research showing real hope.
If this was actually about science the money, the research, and the flow of inquiry would have long ago left the moribund world of embryonic stem cell research to focus on that which has already proved itself, namely umbilical and adult stem cells. But it's not about that at all. There are political elites who fear the humanity of the embryo and fetus because it challenges their world view on so many levels. Many elites in science believe only in science, it is thier religion, and they wish to practice it without moral constraints put on them by people they feel are thier inferiors, especially those who continue to embrace traditional and orthodox faiths.
How ironic that actual science is arguing for morality and against scientists! But why should that be suprising to those who seek the Creator?
10/30/06
Something to look into...
A few days ago an Orthodox Christian at another parish was speaking about the murder of an Iraqi Christian Priest at the hands of Islamic radicals and wondered why this story hadn't made the major news outlets.
There are a number of reasons, some of which may be as basic as a fear among reporters over antagonizing people who really will cause mayhem and death if they feel insulted, for this lack of coverage but there are sources that do cover the news of the jihad (holy war) that is currently underway in many locations around the world and victimizing people of many religions, including Islam.
Perhaps the best is JihadWatch.org, whose director, Robert Spencer is a scholarly and courageous man committed to providing news, information, and insight on this very real but very under-covered and under-explored aspect of our times. Some caveats, though, are in order.
First while Mr. Spencer himself is very much committed to being scholarly and fair some of those who post comments can be thoughtless. Whatever jihad may mean for the rest of the world "*&%$ the Muslims.." and comments like it are never helpful and frankly give ammunition to those hate.
Second, because the sight focuses exclusively on jihad, the issues behind it, news of it, and examination of its sources one can get overwhelmed and microfocused on this aspect of Islam, which is real, but not the whole of Islam or the whole of Islamic reality. Mr. Spencer, I believe would be the first to admit that but again readers need to take that in to consideration.
Finally be prepared to have some very bright lights shown on the Islamic world and the role of Islam in the history of the world and how this affects the present. For many centuries the Islamic world, and indeed Islam itself, has lived in the West in a shadowy world of scholars and historians and the "laity" as it were have had little knowledge or insight into it all. A visit to JihadWatch.org will change all of that. You may be suprised at what you learn, angry at what has been covered up, and thankful for what you have, sometimes all at the same time.
Above all visit the site and others with the idea of learning, becoming aware, and using what you have come to know to make the world a better place. Knowledge is power.
There are a number of reasons, some of which may be as basic as a fear among reporters over antagonizing people who really will cause mayhem and death if they feel insulted, for this lack of coverage but there are sources that do cover the news of the jihad (holy war) that is currently underway in many locations around the world and victimizing people of many religions, including Islam.
Perhaps the best is JihadWatch.org, whose director, Robert Spencer is a scholarly and courageous man committed to providing news, information, and insight on this very real but very under-covered and under-explored aspect of our times. Some caveats, though, are in order.
First while Mr. Spencer himself is very much committed to being scholarly and fair some of those who post comments can be thoughtless. Whatever jihad may mean for the rest of the world "*&%$ the Muslims.." and comments like it are never helpful and frankly give ammunition to those hate.
Second, because the sight focuses exclusively on jihad, the issues behind it, news of it, and examination of its sources one can get overwhelmed and microfocused on this aspect of Islam, which is real, but not the whole of Islam or the whole of Islamic reality. Mr. Spencer, I believe would be the first to admit that but again readers need to take that in to consideration.
Finally be prepared to have some very bright lights shown on the Islamic world and the role of Islam in the history of the world and how this affects the present. For many centuries the Islamic world, and indeed Islam itself, has lived in the West in a shadowy world of scholars and historians and the "laity" as it were have had little knowledge or insight into it all. A visit to JihadWatch.org will change all of that. You may be suprised at what you learn, angry at what has been covered up, and thankful for what you have, sometimes all at the same time.
Above all visit the site and others with the idea of learning, becoming aware, and using what you have come to know to make the world a better place. Knowledge is power.
A blessed moment...
It's true that as a general rule people shouldn't base thier faith on mystic or emotional experiences. The potential for instability and deception is high and the desire for the experience itself can become a kind of addiction. There are millions of Christians who wander from parish to parish, from one "move of the spirit" to another, like spiritual frat boys seeking the perpetual buzz. When the thrill is gone little is left.
Yet submitted for your inspection is this past Sunday morning.
I woke from a pleasant sleep with a profound sense of the presence of God, a very sweet and restful thing, that brought me to tears. Heaven and earth seemed to be very close and there was a bouyancy in things that followed me all the way through Divine Liturgy and continues today. It's different then just feeling good (which has much to recommend it) because it feels holy as well.
Now I can only guess as to why this happened. But I'll try not to take it for granted. Spiritual and emotional dryness is an occupational hazard in ministry and moments like this are often hard to come by. And perhaps there is no purpose in this at all, just God blessing for its own sake and quite frankly over-analyzing it all would only ruin it. After all the best post mortems require something to die and I want to hang on to this for a while.
But one thing is certain. Even though the substance of faith doesn't lie in the journey from one ecstasy to another my prayer is that others who seek to follow Christ would have, at least once, a precious morning like this last Sunday when it felt like this world and the next had only a step between them and all of life was near to its Source.
Because its true when Jesus said "Come unto me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest..."
Yet submitted for your inspection is this past Sunday morning.
I woke from a pleasant sleep with a profound sense of the presence of God, a very sweet and restful thing, that brought me to tears. Heaven and earth seemed to be very close and there was a bouyancy in things that followed me all the way through Divine Liturgy and continues today. It's different then just feeling good (which has much to recommend it) because it feels holy as well.
Now I can only guess as to why this happened. But I'll try not to take it for granted. Spiritual and emotional dryness is an occupational hazard in ministry and moments like this are often hard to come by. And perhaps there is no purpose in this at all, just God blessing for its own sake and quite frankly over-analyzing it all would only ruin it. After all the best post mortems require something to die and I want to hang on to this for a while.
But one thing is certain. Even though the substance of faith doesn't lie in the journey from one ecstasy to another my prayer is that others who seek to follow Christ would have, at least once, a precious morning like this last Sunday when it felt like this world and the next had only a step between them and all of life was near to its Source.
Because its true when Jesus said "Come unto me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest..."
10/27/06
What can't be taught...
Saturday morning I'll be on the road again. Two days to take care of things and then back home.
I wish it wasn't this way, but the budget numbers don't lie. We've given somewhere just above half of what we need to survive as a parish and by the end of the year the trend should be confirmed. If I had come to live in LaCrosse would there have been enough to keep food on the table or would I be calling the Bishop even now asking for someplace, anyplace, so that my wife and I don't have to eat ramen noodles?
The people of St. Elias are good people, in fact very good people, who have had to endure thier parish being started, abandoned, restarted, and held together by the mighty efforts of a few. Those who desire convenience or need to be carried by others have long since faded away. Being a small parish, like being a family, is sometimes hard work and not for the timid.
So what we have on Sunday morning are the survivors and a few who, swimming against the tide, have made it to our shores. Again, good people all but probably very tired. Only a kind of love keeps them from going down the street to the more glamorous churches with beautiful facilities, hip music, and a ton of programs. My guess is that some of them are also just hanging on.
But I am waiting.
Because everything in the life of the church can be taught except for one thing. There is an intangible move of the Holy Spirit that cannot be finessed, coerced, or manipulated, a move that can only be caught and is essential if tiny churches are ever going to break out to become self-sustaining and then vibrant. If God does not stir hearts then all the programs and appeals and sermons in the world will mean nothing.
If just for one moment the Holy Spirit can find a crack in the accumulated debris of self-doubt, sadness, loss, futility, and struggle that cover the souls of these people and touch the tender part of them that still desires to hope and believe and want something better the world can change. If but for one moment they can have the eyes of faith and see themselves as God sees them and want to be what God wants them to be a fire will start and hell itself will not be able to put it out.
Oh God please...
And until then I will wait.
I wish it wasn't this way, but the budget numbers don't lie. We've given somewhere just above half of what we need to survive as a parish and by the end of the year the trend should be confirmed. If I had come to live in LaCrosse would there have been enough to keep food on the table or would I be calling the Bishop even now asking for someplace, anyplace, so that my wife and I don't have to eat ramen noodles?
The people of St. Elias are good people, in fact very good people, who have had to endure thier parish being started, abandoned, restarted, and held together by the mighty efforts of a few. Those who desire convenience or need to be carried by others have long since faded away. Being a small parish, like being a family, is sometimes hard work and not for the timid.
So what we have on Sunday morning are the survivors and a few who, swimming against the tide, have made it to our shores. Again, good people all but probably very tired. Only a kind of love keeps them from going down the street to the more glamorous churches with beautiful facilities, hip music, and a ton of programs. My guess is that some of them are also just hanging on.
But I am waiting.
Because everything in the life of the church can be taught except for one thing. There is an intangible move of the Holy Spirit that cannot be finessed, coerced, or manipulated, a move that can only be caught and is essential if tiny churches are ever going to break out to become self-sustaining and then vibrant. If God does not stir hearts then all the programs and appeals and sermons in the world will mean nothing.
If just for one moment the Holy Spirit can find a crack in the accumulated debris of self-doubt, sadness, loss, futility, and struggle that cover the souls of these people and touch the tender part of them that still desires to hope and believe and want something better the world can change. If but for one moment they can have the eyes of faith and see themselves as God sees them and want to be what God wants them to be a fire will start and hell itself will not be able to put it out.
Oh God please...
And until then I will wait.
10/26/06
A little stem cell wisdom from Michael J Embryo...
An interesting response to the controversial Michael J. Fox political ads...
10/25/06
10/24/06
I was in the Assembly of God once...
A Pew Forum survey of the growth of the Pentecostal / Charismatic movements discovered while reading GetReligion.org .
Bottom line? Pentecostal / Charismatic Christianity will remain a challenge for Orthodoxy to the extent we do not recover the biblical and personal nature of our Faith.
Bottom line? Pentecostal / Charismatic Christianity will remain a challenge for Orthodoxy to the extent we do not recover the biblical and personal nature of our Faith.
I presume there is a plan...
October 27th may be a very hard day.
It would have been my brother Paul's birthday, his 45th, but its been changed into just another painful milestone as we ponder his death and our loss.
I was in my car driving home when I heard that he had died. I had planned to go home, get the keys to St. George Church, and spend some time there in prayer for him (I only knew at the time that there had been an incident and the paramedics were with him). But time had run out. When I called from my car to check on things and all my mother could say was "Paul is with the Lord, and I need to be with his wife..." Then everything faded to black.
Since that time I have been mostly numb, focused on doing the right thing and helping where I could. There are moments, of course, but the whole thing still seems like an illusion. This Friday will remind us all, again, that it isn't so and nothing will be the same again.
And I will light a candle somewhere for him and for me. For Paul it's a sign of the light of Christ which never fades and a kind of existence we can only imagine, a freedom and rest from the struggle that marks this broken world. For me it is a light of hope, that somehow, somewhere this all makes some kind of sense.
I presume there is a plan to this all, that somehow in the eternal scheme of things this must happen and that its effects, so terrible and painful for us, are even now working out some greater but invisible good. But as to the specifics I remain totally and utterly without a clue and probably will for the rest of my life. There's not much I can do about that as I am me and God is God and there are things I will only know when I myself follow my brother.
Until then a candle will have to do.
It would have been my brother Paul's birthday, his 45th, but its been changed into just another painful milestone as we ponder his death and our loss.
I was in my car driving home when I heard that he had died. I had planned to go home, get the keys to St. George Church, and spend some time there in prayer for him (I only knew at the time that there had been an incident and the paramedics were with him). But time had run out. When I called from my car to check on things and all my mother could say was "Paul is with the Lord, and I need to be with his wife..." Then everything faded to black.
Since that time I have been mostly numb, focused on doing the right thing and helping where I could. There are moments, of course, but the whole thing still seems like an illusion. This Friday will remind us all, again, that it isn't so and nothing will be the same again.
And I will light a candle somewhere for him and for me. For Paul it's a sign of the light of Christ which never fades and a kind of existence we can only imagine, a freedom and rest from the struggle that marks this broken world. For me it is a light of hope, that somehow, somewhere this all makes some kind of sense.
I presume there is a plan to this all, that somehow in the eternal scheme of things this must happen and that its effects, so terrible and painful for us, are even now working out some greater but invisible good. But as to the specifics I remain totally and utterly without a clue and probably will for the rest of my life. There's not much I can do about that as I am me and God is God and there are things I will only know when I myself follow my brother.
Until then a candle will have to do.
10/23/06
Welcome news from the Islamic world...
An open letter from senior and prominent Islamic leaders across the world in response to Pope Benedict proclaiming, among other things, the incompatability of terrorism with Islam.
Worth the reading.
10/20/06
Not showing up is not an option...
There is a part of me that hates politics and what has become of the political system in the United States. But I also know that its not holy, or right, or good, to pretend to be above it all and not try to transform even a broken system with whatever goodness is at our command.
There is no political party that encapsulates the Christian vision of a just society, sadly often the Church itself fails to do that. Every politician will be a mixture of things good and bad as we all are and history fluctuates which means nothing human is forever written in stone. We will always be faced with imperfect choices but to not seek to be salt and light because of it is sin.
All across the political spectrum there are people who have good ideas, good positions, and even if they don't have everything we may want they will have some and perhaps more than thier opposition. We must, as people with Christian values, seek these people out and support them wherever we find them. Even if we are distressed at the shape of things we must still make every moral effort we can to make things better. Being sullen, angry, and uninvolved is not an option.
So vote, not as a beholden to one party or person, but as a thoughtful Christian soul seeking to bring out the best in this country even if the best is only a little nudge in the right direction. To despair and withdraw only ensures the triumph of lesser things.
There is no political party that encapsulates the Christian vision of a just society, sadly often the Church itself fails to do that. Every politician will be a mixture of things good and bad as we all are and history fluctuates which means nothing human is forever written in stone. We will always be faced with imperfect choices but to not seek to be salt and light because of it is sin.
All across the political spectrum there are people who have good ideas, good positions, and even if they don't have everything we may want they will have some and perhaps more than thier opposition. We must, as people with Christian values, seek these people out and support them wherever we find them. Even if we are distressed at the shape of things we must still make every moral effort we can to make things better. Being sullen, angry, and uninvolved is not an option.
So vote, not as a beholden to one party or person, but as a thoughtful Christian soul seeking to bring out the best in this country even if the best is only a little nudge in the right direction. To despair and withdraw only ensures the triumph of lesser things.
We are not our sins...
Part of the attraction of Orthodoxy, and why I remain Orthodox, lies in the very real and practical wisdom that flows through this faith like gold threads in a larger and beautiful tapestry. To the unaware all there is ritual and esoteric quotes and a strange attraction to beauty for its own sake that seems so out of sync in a culture which values function above all. But within is wisdom for the very real world of hard choices and human struggle.
These past days have focused my mind on that interweaving of faith, scripture, canon, council, liturgy and thought that is the Tradition and the anthropology of it all as it addresses the way we see ourselves, how we proclaim our identities to the world.
The spokesman for ex-congressman Foley stated what many feel when he identified his client as a gay man and an alcoholic. I'm sure some of it was to garner sympathy for a person disgraced by sending sexual messages to teenage boys, but within this lies a mania of our culture, the identifying of ourselves by our struggles, labeling ourselves by our sins.
To this the Orthodox Tradition points us in a radically different direction because it calls us to see ourselves as we were meant to be by God, not a wildly fluctuating mass of pathologies and misdirected passions but children of God designed for communion, even union, with our Creator. While we certainly acknowledge we sin, and sometimes often and with intent, we are never allowed in Orthodoxy to let those dark parts of us define us and doing that is in itself a kind of darkness. We identify our sins not because they define who we are but because we know what we should be and see our sins as things we must face and overcome to be what we truly are.
Orthodoxy is puzzled when someone would say "I am a gay man" as if that is the center or the focus of identity. There is no such thing as a fornicator among us, or a liar, or a violent man but rather a collection of people struggling to be as we are supposed to be who in our struggles have to face and put to flight enemies within us seeking to destroy the image of God even as we seek its restoration within us and the whole world. Our sins are that which is inauthentic within us, that which is contrary to God's design, that which diverts us and keeps us from fulfilling the destiny implanted in us when God breathed a unique kind of life into us at the dawn of time.
Our sins are never who we are or were meant to be unless we make that choice and its only when we finally and completely give in that we are lost. Until then there is hope.
These past days have focused my mind on that interweaving of faith, scripture, canon, council, liturgy and thought that is the Tradition and the anthropology of it all as it addresses the way we see ourselves, how we proclaim our identities to the world.
The spokesman for ex-congressman Foley stated what many feel when he identified his client as a gay man and an alcoholic. I'm sure some of it was to garner sympathy for a person disgraced by sending sexual messages to teenage boys, but within this lies a mania of our culture, the identifying of ourselves by our struggles, labeling ourselves by our sins.
To this the Orthodox Tradition points us in a radically different direction because it calls us to see ourselves as we were meant to be by God, not a wildly fluctuating mass of pathologies and misdirected passions but children of God designed for communion, even union, with our Creator. While we certainly acknowledge we sin, and sometimes often and with intent, we are never allowed in Orthodoxy to let those dark parts of us define us and doing that is in itself a kind of darkness. We identify our sins not because they define who we are but because we know what we should be and see our sins as things we must face and overcome to be what we truly are.
Orthodoxy is puzzled when someone would say "I am a gay man" as if that is the center or the focus of identity. There is no such thing as a fornicator among us, or a liar, or a violent man but rather a collection of people struggling to be as we are supposed to be who in our struggles have to face and put to flight enemies within us seeking to destroy the image of God even as we seek its restoration within us and the whole world. Our sins are that which is inauthentic within us, that which is contrary to God's design, that which diverts us and keeps us from fulfilling the destiny implanted in us when God breathed a unique kind of life into us at the dawn of time.
Our sins are never who we are or were meant to be unless we make that choice and its only when we finally and completely give in that we are lost. Until then there is hope.
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