…the one bent down has many grains

Thanks to my dear friend Presbytera Candace for the following brief, and humble, saying of an anonymous elder, on humility…

The valleys below are nearly always fertile and fruitful, while the high mountains are for the most part dry and unsuitable for agriculture. Similarly, an ear of wheat which stands with its head up is always empty, whereas the one bent down has many grains. Have a humble heart, and you will be enriched with all that is needed for salvation.

— An Elder’s Counsels for Christians Living in the World

We die with gratitude

The two Christian girls waited in the Chinese prison yard for the announced execution. A fellow prisoner who watched the scene from his prison cell described their faces as pale but beautiful beyond belief; infinitely sad but sweet. Humanly speaking, they were fearful. But Chiu-Chin-Hsiu and Ho-Hsiu-Tzu had decided to submit to death without renouncing their faith.

Flanked by renegade guards, the executioner came with a revolver in his hand. It was their own pastor! He had been sentenced to die with the two girls. But, as on many other occasions in Church history, the persecutors worked on him, tempting him. They promised to release him if he would shoot the girls. He accepted.

The girls whispered to each other, then bowed respectfully before their pastor. One of them said, "Before you shoot us, we wish to thank you heartily for what you have meant to us. You baptized us, you taught us the ways of eternal life, you gave us holy communion with the same hand in which you now hold the gun.

"You also taught us that Christians are sometimes weak and commit terrible sins, but they can be forgiven again. When you regret what you are about to do to us, do not despair like Judas, but repent like Peter. God bless you, and remember that our last thought was not one of indignation against your failure. Everyone passes through hours of darkness.

"May God reward you for all the good you have done to us.
We die with gratitude."

They bowed again. The pastor's heart was hardened. He shot the girls. Afterwards, he was shot by the Communists.

—dc Talk, Jesus Freaks, Volume I, Martyrs, pp. 109-110.

And if we sinners… can love like this

Abbott Iscu lay quietly awaiting death in the Tirgul-Ocna prison as a result of the tortures he had endured at the hands of his Communist captors. He spoke very little and looked serene as he felt heaven draw closer. If he did speak, his words carried the weight of eternity, and all attention in the cellblock suddenly focused to listen to him. Yet each breath he took revealed the pain that wracked his body.

Across from him, horrified at the sight of the abbot, lay another prisoner near death. He was once a Communist officer, and it was at his hands that the abbot had been tortured to the point of death. He had been a faithful Communist, and for this he now shared the cell of those he had been told to make “recant the Christian superstition” for the sake of the party. As a result of something none of the other prisoners ever learned, he had been imprisoned as well and tortured by his own comrades.

Though he, too, was at the point of death, he could find no peace in death. He awoke in the middle of the night in a heavy sweat and grabbed the arm of the person nearest him. He knew most in the cellblock were Christians, so he begged prayer. “I have committed horrible crimes,” he said, “I can find no rest. Help me, please.”

Because of the damp cold and never really knowing when it was day or night, many in the cell were still awake. At the Communist torturer’s words, Abbott Iscu motioned for two other believers to come and help him. With their help, he was lifted from his bed and brought over to the officer, where he was set down on his bedside.

The Abbott reached out and laid a comforting hand on his torturer’s head. “You were young and did not know what you were doing. I forgive you and love you, as do all the other Christians you mistreated. And if we sinners who have been saved by Jesus can love like this, how much more is He himself ready to erase all the evil you have done, to cleanse you fully. Only repent.”

So in that common cell, others heard the confession of a murderer to one of the men he had murdered. They also heard the murdered absolving his murderer. They embraced at the end of their prayers and gave each other a holy kiss, as was the custom of Christians in Jesus’ time as well as those behind the Iron Curtain.

They both died that night and must have entered heaven together. It was Christmas Eve.

—dc Talk, Jesus Freaks, Volume II, Revolutionaries, pp. 122-123

If you haven’t got Christ

Excerpt from a talk given by Fr. Seraphim Rose at St. Herman's Women's' conference in Redding, California, in the summer of 1980. If things were bad back then, look at the world today!

All these signs of the times are very negative. They are signs that the world is collapsing, that the end of the world is at hand and that the Antichrist is about to come. It's very easy to look at all these negative signs of the times and get into such a mood that we look only for negative things. In fact, one can develop a whole personality—a negative kind of personality—based on this. Whenever some new news item comes in, one says, "Aha, yes of course, that's the way it is, and it's going to get worse." The next one comes in and one says, "Yes, yes, it's obvious that's what's going to happen, and now it's going to be worse than that." Everything one looks at is seen merely as a negative fulfillment of the horrible times.

It's true that we have to be aware of these things and not be unduly optimistic about contemporary events, because the news in our times is seldom good. At the same time, however, we have to keep in mind the whole purpose of our watching the signs of the times.

We watch the signs of the times not just so we can see about when Antichrist is going to come. That's rather a secondary thing.
We watch the signs of the times so we can know when Christ is going to come.

That is a very fundamental thing we have to keep in mind so we do not get overwhelmed by gloom, depression, or stay to ourselves, storing up food for the great calamity. That's not a very wise thing. We have to be, rather, all the more Christian, that is, thinking about other people, trying to help others. If we ourselves are cold and gloomy and pessimistic, we are participating in this coldness which is a sign of the end. We have to ourselves be warm and helping each other out. That's the sign of Christianity.

If you look at history (in fact, this is another good reason for reading Church history), you see that throughout the whole history of mankind, throughout the Old Testament, the New Testament and all the Christian kingdoms afterwards—and if you look at the pagan world, the same story—there's a continual time of sufferings. Where Christians are involved there are trials and persecutions, and through all of these Christians have attained the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, when the time of the persecutions come, we are supposed to rejoice.

[During Communist times] a woman in Russia was put in a psychiatric clinic for making the sign of the Cross in the wrong place or for wearing a cross, or something like that. Fr. Dimitry and his spiritual children traveled to Moscow, went to the clinic, made an appointment and talked to the doctor, and they finally persuaded him that she shouldn't be there. Fr. Dimitry says, "They're actually afraid of us, because when you press them about it, they say they haven't really got any law by which they can keep her there." So finally they agreed to let her go, after she had been there for a week.

When she was there they gave her various drugs and "inoculations," trying to break her down and get rid of her religion. When she came out she was a little shaken up. She sat down on a bench someplace outside the clinic and began to talk. "You know," she said, "when I was there and they were treating me so awful, I felt calm because I felt there was Someone there protecting me; but as soon as I got out here, all of a sudden I'm afraid. Now I'm all upset and scared that they are going to come after me again, that the secret police are looking right around the corner."

It's obvious why this is so.

When you're in conditions of persecution, Christ is with you because you're suffering for Him. And when you're outside, then there's the uncertainty of whether you might not get back into that condition. You begin to go back to your own human understanding. When you're there you have nothing else to rely on, so you have to have Christ.
If you haven't got Christ, you have nothing.
When you're outside, you begin to calculate and to trust yourself, and then you lose Christ.

Searching for… Love

I want to publish this poem by our young friend and brother in Indonesia. It moves me deeply whenever I read it. Many lines are whole poems of theology in themselves. Out of the mouths of babes might be a title for this post, but I have decided to use Yudhie's post title Searching for… and then adding Love, which he so ecstatically sings in this song.

O humans, how hungry and thirsty are you!
You seek, you weep and you well up,
Just right after the fall, O Adam,
You lost the priceless treasure you have.
What a lament you bring within you, O sons and grandsons!

In tears and sweat, in turmoil and drought
seeking your food among the thorns,
pain, pain, pain everywhere,
you meet even in the sweetest honey and brightest sun
you meet them there:
Hunger and thirst.

Where do they drive you, O sons and daughters?
You have that hunger and hurriedly satisfy it,
you even search for yourself in deceitfulness of this darkness,
or even in some kind of spiritual bliss you make up,
the temporary comfort zones.

Love, love!
Love conquers, Love fears not,
He heals, he restores.
Love has entered this world,
he is mighty and does never tire.

He is the source of the genuineness,
He transforms the bestial thirst into the compassion,
He tramples down the carnal desires into the sacred hunger of Love.

Love, love!
Comes in the true man and true God, in Christ,
Love in Triune, from eternity to eternity.
Come ye all nations and people, O Adam's race,
Let The King of Glory in.

Comfort is in the hands of Him,
and of course our hearts yearn for such comfort (Sergei wrote).

Seek ye first His Kingdom
and this will belong to you,
Whatever, wherever it brings.

—Yudi Kristanto

And what is mysticism?

You must live your whole life according to the Christ you have received—Jesus the Lord; you must be rooted in Him and built on Him and held firm by the faith you have been taught, and full of thanksgiving. Make sure no one traps you and deprives you of your freedom by some secondhand, empty, rational philosophy based on the principles of this world instead of on Christ.
Colossians 2:6-8 Jerusalem Bible

Do not be taken in by people who like grovelling to angels and worshipping them; people like that are always going on about some vision they have had, inflating themselves to a false importance with their worldly outlook.
Colossians 2:18 JB

Mysticism, what is it? People who are called mystical seem to be a kind of religious elite, whether Christian or non-Christian. They seem to be more in touch with God than the rest of us. Some of them actually claim to be. Some even claim that they are one with God. Can the term “mysticism” even have a legitimate meaning anymore, especially for Christians, when all this confusion abounds?

Perhaps the answer is yes. To grasp the true meaning of Christian mysticism, one must study the earliest Eastern Church mystics carefully, for it is in the light of their experience that later deviations can be properly evaluated. There were some aberrations among even them, of course, but nothing to be compared with the false and impious mixtures found in Europe during the Middle Ages (AD 700~1450).

The mystics of the Eastern Church included the Church Fathers, for in those days the theologians were among the most spiritual of Christians (unlike the case today), and the phenomena of mystical life was evident in all social strata—clergy, monastics, and ordinary believers of all classes.

Visions were practically non-existent in the mystical life of the early Orthodox Church. Distractions to prayer, whether voluntary or involuntary, were deplored and dismissed whenever possible. Visions and ecstasies were considered to be involuntary distractions to prayer. Those very experiences which later Christian “mystics” sought after and prized so highly were considered by the earlier Christians as little more than nuisances to be suspiciously examined and barely tolerated.

Contemplation consisted not merely in negation and renunciation (as in later Roman Catholicism), but in a deifying union with God’s Spirit in an experience of spiritual illumination after all intellectual activity had ceased. This deification, or in Greek, théosis, had many definite and practical applications in everyday life. “If it were possible for me to find a leper,” said Abba Agathon, “and to give him my body and to take his, I would gladly do it, for this is perfect love.” Such was the true nature of théosis, or deification.

All of the mystics of the Eastern Church believed that the supreme spiritual experience would be to see the Divine and Uncreated Light, which was identical to what the Jews call the Shekhináh—it is the light witnessed by the three disciples which surrounded Jesus on Mount Tabor at His Metamórphosis. Because “God is light” (1 John 1:5), the experience of His energies was said to take the form of light. This is not mere created light, but the Light of the Godhead Itself. Even though this Light is not a sensible or material light, it can be seen by a man whose senses as well as his soul have undergone a metamorphosis of their own.

The Platonic view of man as a soul imprisoned in a body was for a time incorporated into Christian thought, through the writings of Evagrios of Pontus, and Origen of Alexandria, but it was later rejected in favor of the Hebraic view of man as an animated body. The difference between considering man as an animated body (like Adam for whom God first created a body out of dust and then breathed life into him) or an imprisoned soul (as taught by the Greek philosophers who followed Plato) has a subtle but important influence on one's understanding of redemption, and even of prayer.

Abba Makarios of Egypt in his homilies reestablished the more biblical emphasis on the whole man. Whereas the Greek philosophical view made prayer an activity of the mind and the intellect, Hebrew tradition made prayer a function of the whole man—mind, emotions, will, and body. Whereas Evagrios and Origen used the word mind, Makarios used the word heart, which was not only more biblical but also more in keeping with a true understanding of the human being.

Bishop Basil of Καισάρεια/Kaisáreia wrote…

Silence is the beginning of the purification of the soul. A mind undistracted by external things and not dispersed through the senses among worldly things, returns to itself. As the Lord dwells not in temples built by human hands, neither does He dwell in any imaginings or mental structures, fantasies which present themselves to the attention and surround the corrupt soul like a wall, so that it is powerless to look at the Truth directly, but continues to cling to such things as mirrors and fortune-telling.

It seems to me that much of the so-called mysticism we find in the world and, alas, in the Church today is of the type warned against by the apostle Paul, “grovelling to angels and worshipping them,” and by Basil the Great, “powerless to look at the Truth directly,” and is a reversion to the superstitious attitudes of the Middle Ages, which for both Paul and Basil were far in the future, but for us a lingering and seductive past.

“Mirrors and fortune-telling” are Basil's words for what to us may take slightly different forms, cloaked under a pious disguise, but it is the same spiritual cheat nonetheless.

So, what is mysticism, then? Is it anything other than what happens to us when we give all for all, abandoning ourselves gladly to the Lord our God, our Savior, our Brother, our Lover and greatest Friend?

As the bride asks in the Song of Solomon, “Tell me then, You whom my heart loves: Where will You lead Your flock to graze, where will You rest it at noon? That I may no more wander like a vagabond beside the flocks of Your companions,” so comes the answer, “If you do not know this, O loveliest of women, follow the tracks of the flock, and take your kids to graze close by the shepherds’ tents.” (Song of Solomon 1:7-8 JB)

Lord of the storm

Psalms for the 5th Day
24 25 26 27 28 29

Psalm 29
Hymn to the Lord of the storm

Pay tribute to Yahweh, you sons of God,

tribute to Yahweh of glory and power,

tribute to Yaheweh of the glory of His name,

worship Yahweh in His sacred court.

The voice of Yahweh over the waters!

Yahweh over the multitudinous waters!

The voice of Yahweh in power!

The voice of Yahweh in splendour!

The voice of Yahweh shatters the cedars,

Yahweh shatters the cedars of Lebanon,

making Lebanon leap like a calf,

Sirion like a young wild bull.

The voice of Yahweh sharpens lightning shafts!

The voice of Yahweh sets the wilderness shaking.

Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of Yahweh sets the terebinths shuddering,

stripping the forests bare.

The God of glory thunders.

In His palace everything cries, ‘Glory!’

Yahweh sat enthroned for the Flood,

Yahweh sits enthroned as a king for ever.

Yahweh gives strength to His people,

Yahweh blesses His people with peace.

This psalm is one I love for its majesty and might. The Jerusalem Bible translation of the psalms is rhythmical, and this is an example of one of the best and tightest rhythms, almost rappable, although it doesn't have end rhymes as hip-hop poetry does. This psalm is very special to me, even as poetry, and so I am going to post the original Hebrew, for those who might like to read it.

הָבוּ לַיהוָה, בְּנֵי אֵלִים; הָבוּ לַיהוָה, כָּבוֹד וָעֹז

הָבוּ לַיהוָה, כְּבוֹד שְׁמוֹ; הִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לַיהוָה, בְּהַדְרַת-קֹדֶשׁ

קוֹל יְהוָה, עַל-הַמָּיִם

אֵל-הַכָּבוֹד הִרְעִים; יְהוָה, עַל-מַיִם רַבִּים

קוֹל-יְהוָה בַּכֹּחַ; קוֹל יְהוָה, בֶּהָדָר

קוֹל יְהוָה, שֹׁבֵר אֲרָזִים; וַיְשַׁבֵּר יְהוָה, אֶת-אַרְזֵי הַלְּבָנוֹן

וַיַּרְקִידֵם כְּמוֹ-עֵגֶל; לְבָנוֹן וְשִׂרְיֹן, כְּמוֹ בֶן-רְאֵמִים

קוֹל-יְהוָה חֹצֵב; לַהֲבוֹת אֵשׁ

קוֹל יְהוָה, יָחִיל מִדְבָּ; יָחִיל יְהוָה, מִדְבַּר קָדֵשׁ

קוֹל יְהוָה, יְחוֹלֵל אַיָּלוֹת--ַיֶּחֱשֹׂף יְעָרוֹת

וּבְהֵיכָלוֹ-- כֻּלּוֹ, אֹמֵר כָּבוֹד

יְהוָה, לַמַּבּוּל יָשָׁב; וַיֵּשֶׁב יְהוָה, מֶלֶךְ לְעוֹלָם

יְהוָה--עֹז, לְעַמּוֹ יִתֵּן; יְהוָה, יְבָרֵךְ אֶת-עַמּוֹ בַשָּׁלוֹם

Havú l’Adonáy, b’ney Elím

Havú l’Adonáy kavód va’óz

Havú l’Adonáy k’vod sh’mó

Hishtachavú l’Adonáy b’hadrát kódesh

Kol Adonáy al ha-máyim

Él ha-kavód hir’ím

Adonáy al máyim rabbím

Kol Adonáy bakóach

Kol Adonáy behadár

Kol Adonáy shovér arazím

Vay’shabér Adonáy et ar’zéy ha-Levanón

Vayar’kidém k’mo égel

Levanón v’Siryón k’mo ven re’emím

Kol Adonáy chotsév lahavót eysh

Kol Adonáy yachíl midbár

Yachíl Adonáy midbár Kadésh

Kol Adonáy y’cholél ayalót

Vayechesóf ye’arót

Uv’heykaló kulló omér kavód

Adonáy lammabbúl yasháv

Vayéshev Adonáy mèlech l’olám

Adonáy oz l’ammó yitén

Adonáy y’varéch et ammó bashalóm

No better than the rich young man

It’s 12:37 in the morning of July 5th. The night sky isn’t flashing as much with rockets as it was two hours ago, but the sound of small fireworks still fills the air. It’s another hot, windless night. Soon I will sleep for a few hours, and then up again and start another day, Sunday, so with church service. I have some thoughts.

I notice, when I am posting a new entry on this blog, that there are “followers.” There’s a little icon on the dashboard that says I now have nine people following, that is, subscribing, to Cost of Discipleship. I know what Blogspot means by “followers.” They just mean people who want to advertise that they keep coming back to your blog. There’s an option for me to display this in the sidebar, to acknowledge that these people are “followers,” but I choose not to do this. Why not? Well, I confess that there are taboos in my life, things that I just won’t do, or say. Why not? Well, I have reasons, though many people will disagree with or nor understand them.
What reasons?

Just an example. To me, as a word, “follower” is taken captive by Jesus Christ. In relation to anything to do with me personally, “follower” has only one meaning, that is, disciple, because Jesus says, “Follow me.” (Mark 10:21) Also I abide by what holy apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “…we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5) As a human individual I cannot have “followers,” I can only be a “follower,” and only of Jesus Christ. I don’t want to promote myself as one worthy of having followers, and so I have chosen not to use this blog mechanism. Why not blog anonymously? It’s possible. The reason is, my blog is part of my testimony, and one’s testimony can never be detached or anonymous. Jesus says, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33) I may be a sinner, a bad person, or simply an illiterate, but I must do what little good I can, and that is my testimony.

Earlier today I received a joking, or rather mocking, email.
Someone made up a parody of the Lord’s prayer, substituting “Obama” for “Our Father” and then changing the words of the prayer to show disapproval of his policies. I did not even finish reading past the first line, but instantly deleted the email, even though it was from a fellow Christian. (The person sending it to me did not write it; he was simply passing on something he thought I would agree with.) As a co-worker once said, “There are some things you just can’t unsee.” Unfortunately I saw too much, enough to know that this was something inadmissible, taboo, something you just don’t do. How a fellow Christian could be insensitive to taking the Word of God, spoken by Jesus Himself, and twist it for an unworthy purpose, to twist it at all, is incredible to me. But then, I feel the same way about bumper stickers with the name of God or Jesus on them, or for that matter, any symbol, even the ΙΧΘΥΣ Fish, being used as a subtle placard of Christian triumphalism. These things are not testimonies, because they are not personal. They are anonymous. Almost no one knows who’s driving that car, and they can’t be stopped to ask “What do you mean?”

Back to followers. I look at them sometimes, especially when a new one shows up, and I make a point of visiting their blog if they have one, to see what it’s about. The latest one was from someone who describes himself as a “gay nudist” Christian, and from looking at his blog, it appears he is a Methodist, and possibly even a clergyman. In the sidebar of his blog were links to gay porn sites. I reviewed a number of his posts (yes, there was a warning statement before I was even allowed to see his blog, that it might contain unsuitable or offensive content), and that is how I discovered he is a Christian. All of the posts I read were well written, mainline Protestant in content, and if I had not first read his profile, I would not have even suspected that he is a homosexual Christian. The topics were none of them to do with sexuality issues. The contrast between his blog post content and the familiarity with the bible and spiritual subjects it demonstrated contrasted sharply with the sidebar contents. Here was an even more extreme disconnect with what I have known and accepted about Christ and about concepts of right and wrong.

That made me think about my own life in Christ, shaped by the Law of Yahweh as Psalm 19 says, “…thus Your servant is formed by them,” and how different it could be from the life in Christ that other Christians lead. I’ve always been aware that there are differences, but I’ve usually considered them to be superficial. Now, I am not so sure. The three examples above are pieces of what is confusing me. It seems as we approach, or rather, as the Day approaches us, that everything that is hidden is being revealed, as Jesus teaches, “…for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” (Matthew 10:26) The seeds of sin that are planted in all of us are sprouting, growing, flowering and bearing fruit, evil fruit that leads to death. Yet God is faithful, and He is giving increase to the good seed that He has planted in us by His Word and Spirit. That much I am certain of.

One truth that I’ve tried to make part of me is, to always say ‘Yes’ to God, to whatever He places in my path, be it a person, an event, a thing to do or say, and to not resist His will, but to accept whatever it is He is leading me to do. This is not the same thing as saying ‘Yes’ to everything that presents itself to the mind. Discernment is the key here. Never to do or say anything one knows is wrong. The evil one, however, aping the words of Truth, has unleashed the demons in us to fulfill in our flesh all their fantasies, calling them ours. This he does, even on the church steps, even in the church itself, even sometimes at the pulpit and altar.

I see this ad when I use BibleGateway.com. It advertises that the NIV bible now comes in a multitude of versions, adapted to one’s personal situation. I’m sorry to have to say this, but even this is a ploy of the evil one. The Word of God is now tailored to fit us? Whatever happened to the idea that we are tailored to fit the Word of God? This is just the incredible outworking of sin in us, to place ourselves on the Throne, that God Himself may wait on us and our needs (or desires).

So, I aim to say ‘Yes’ to the Lord, whatever He proposes. That’s what I think, what I say, and what I try to do. Yet, part of me is also praying, “but please, not that,” to things and situations I don’t think I can handle. Though I’m a sinner and an unprofitable servant (and I know it), I still want to be able to say I did at least what little I could, and so I say ‘Yes’ to those easy requests that the Lord has made of me, things I can do and still maintain my ‘independence’ and ‘freedom.’ But every so often, as if to show Himself and me how closely or distantly I am following Him, He presents me with a situation that I cannot say ‘Yes’ to without forfeiting who I think I am or pretend to be.

It is at those moments—glory to God—that He gently lets me know that I am no better than the rich young man, and I must cry, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.” And even knowing this, still I follow Him.

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Mark 10:21

Freedom costs

Psalms for the 4th Day
19 20 21 22 23

Psalm 22
The sufferings and hope of the virtuous man

Elí, Elí, lamá azavtáni, rachók mishu’atí divréy sha’agatí…

My God, my God, why have You deserted me?

How far from saving me, the words I groan!

I call all day, my God, but You never answer,

all night long I call and cannot rest.

Yet, Holy One, You who make your home

in the praises of Israel,

in You our fathers put their trust,

they trusted and You rescued them;

they called to you for help and they were saved,

they never trusted You in vain.

Yet here am I, now more worm than man,

scorn of mankind, jest of the people,

all who see me jeer at me,

they toss their heathen heads and sneer,

‘He relied on Yahweh, let Yahweh save him!

If Yahweh is his friend, let Him rescue him!’

Yet You drew me out of the womb,

You entrusted me to my mother's breasts;

placed on your lap from my birth,

from my mother's womb You have been my God.

Do not stand aside: trouble is near,

I have no one to help me!

A herd of bulls surrounds me,

stong bulls of Bashan close in on me;

their jaws are agape for me,

like lions tearing and roaring.

I am like water draining away,

my bones are all disjointed,

my heart is like wax,

melting inside me;

my palate is drier than a potsherd

and my tongue is stuck to my jaw.

A pack of dogs surrounds me,

a gang of villains closes me in;

they tie me hand and foot

and leave me lying in the dust of death.

I can count every one of my bones,

and there they glare at me, gloating;

they divide my garments among them

and cast lots for my clothes.

Do not stand aside, Yahweh.

O my strength, come quickly to my help;

rescue my soul from the sword,

my dear life from the paw of the dog,

save me from the lion's mouth,

my poor soul from the wild bulls' horns!

Then I shall proclaim Your Name to my brothers,

praise You in full assembly:

you who fear Yahweh, praise Him!

Entire race of Jacob, glorify Him!

Entire race of Israel, revere Him!

For He has not despised

or disdained the poor man in his poverty,

has not hidden His face from him,

but has answered him when he called.

You are the theme of my praise in the Great Assembly,

I perform my vows in the presence of those who fear Him.

The poor will receive as much as they want to eat.

Those who seek Yahweh will praise Him.

Long life to their hearts!

The whole earth, from end to end,

will remember and come back to Yahweh;

all the families of the nations will bow down before Him.

For Yahweh reigns, the ruler of nations!

Before Him all the prosperous of the earth will bow down,

before Him will bow all who go down to the dust.

And my soul will live for Him,

my children will serve Him;

men will proclaim the Lord to generations still to come,

His righteousness to a people yet unborn.

All this He has done.

…Yavó’u v’yagídu tsidkató, l’am nolád ki asáh.

Today is not only the 4th day… it is the 4th of July.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well-educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward. Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton. At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.

So, pause a while, take selah, and silently thank these patriots. It's not too much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: Freedom is never free.

Is there any need to say more? … These were men who through faith conquered kingdoms, did what is right and earned the promises. They could keep a lion's mouth shut, put out blazing fires and emerge unscathed from battle. They were weak people who were given strength, to be brave in war and drive back foreign invaders. Some came back to their wives from the dead, by resurrection; and others submitted to torture, refusing release so that they would rise again to a better life. Some had to bear being pilloried and flogged, or even chained up in prison. They were stoned or sawn in half, or beheaded; they were homeless, and dressed in the skins of sheep and goats; they were penniless and were given nothing but ill-treatment…

These words from the letter to the Hebrews (ch. 11, vv. 32-37) are referring, of course, to the prophets and saints of old, to Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets. But as I was thinking of the heroic men who signed the Declaration of Independence, I was reminded of this passage.

I had never noticed, also, or made the connexion between our American revolutionary struggle and the psalm that Christ prayed from the cross, which was almost His last prayer to the Father. Most people read the words, ‘Elí, Elí, lamá sabachthaní…’ which Jesus spoke from the cross, the first line of Psalm 22 in Aramaic, and think that it represents somehow Christ's experience of utter abandonment by God, so deep was His self-emptying, His kénosis.

This may be a worthy interpretation. But according to the Jewish religion which Jesus practiced, He was praying the psalm, saying only the first line out loud, and the rest silently, which was how Jews prayed. Who knows if He had enough strength to finish the psalm right to the end. But it was significant that He prayed this psalm, because the psalm itself is a prophecy of the ultimate and eventual surrender of rebel man to his Creator God and Father.

‘The whole earth, from end to end,
will remember and come back to Yahweh;
all the families of the nations will bow down before Him.
For Yahweh reigns, the ruler of nations!’

And one more thing that I noticed. Who do you think these ‘people yet unborn’ are that the psalm prophesies?

‘…men will proclaim the Lord to generations still to come,
His righteousness to a people yet unborn.’

But Christ died on the cross uttering His total trust in the Father, and in the victory that was about to occur, praying…

‘All this He has done.’

“It is finished!”

Happy — Μακάριοι — אשרי

Psalms for the 2nd Day
9 10 11 12 13 14

Psalm 11

The confidence of the virtuous

B’Adonáy chasíti, eych tom’rú l’nafshí, ‘Núdi harchèm tsippór…’

In Yahweh I take shelter.

How can you say to me,

‘Bird, fly back to your mountain:

‘see how the wicked are bending their bows

and fitting their arrows to the string,

ready to shoot the upright from the shadows.

When foundations fall to ruin,

what can the virtuous do?’

Yahweh is in His holy Temple,

Yahweh whose throne is in heaven;

His eyes look down at the world,

His searching gaze scans all mankind.

The virtuous and the wicked are under Yahweh’s scrutiny,

and His soul hates anyone who loves brutality.

He rains coals of fire and brimstone on the wicked,

He serves them a scorching wind to swallow down.

Yahweh is righteous, He loves virtue,

upright men will contemplate His face.

…ki tsaddík Adonáy, ts’dakót ahév, yashár yechezú fanéymo.

μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι …

‘How happy are the poor in spirit:

theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Happy the gentle:

they shall have the earth for their heritage.

Happy those who mourn:

they shall be comforted.

Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right:

they shall be satisfied.

Happy the merciful:

they shall have mercy shown them.

Happy the pure in heart:

they shall see God.

Happy the peacemakers:

they shall be called sons of God.

Happy those who are perecuted in the cause of right:

theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Happy are you when people abuse you,

and persecute you,

and speak all kinds of calumny against you

on My account.

Rejoice and be glad,

for your reward will be great in heaven.

This is how they persecuted the prophets before you.

Matthew 5:3-12 Jerusalem Bible

Psalm 14

The godless men

Amár navál b‘libbó, ‘Eyn Elohím…’

The fool says in his heart,

‘There is no God!’

Their deeds are corrupt and vile,

there is not one good man left.

Yahweh is looking down from heaven

at the sons of men,

to see if a single one is wise,

if a single one is seeking God.

All have turned aside,

all alike are tainted;

there is not one good man left,

not a single one.

Are they so ignorant, all these evil men

who swallow My people

as though they were eating bread,

and never invoke Yahweh?

They will be struck with fear,

fear without reason,

since God takes the side of the virtuous:

deride as you may the poor man’s hopes,

Yahweh is his shelter.

Who will bring Israel salvation from Zion?

When Yahweh brings His people home,

what joy for Jacob, what happiness for Israel!

…B’shuv Adonáy sh’vut ammó, yagél Ya’akóv, yismách Yisra’él!

Psalms - תהילים

Psalms for the 1st Day
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Psalm 1
The two ways

Ashréy ha-ísh ashér lo halách ba’atzát resha’ím…

Happy the man
who never follows the advice of the wicked,
or loiters on the way that sinners take,
or sits about with scoffers,
but finds his pleasure in the law of Yahweh,
and murmurs His law day and night.

He is like a tree that is planted
by water streams,
yielding its fruit in season,
its leaves never fading;
success attends all he does.

It is nothing like this with the wicked,
nothing like this!

No, these are like chaff
blown away by the wind.

The wicked will not stand firm when Judgment comes,
nor sinners when the virtuous assemble.
For Yahweh takes care of the way the virtuous go,
but the way of the wicked is doomed.

…v’dérech resha’ím tovéd.

My most intense, and tender, connecting with God, is through my Bible, particularly the Psalms. When I lie down on my bed and have my old Jerusalem Bible beside me, and when my eyes see the words printed on the page, any page, and I start reading them, I just get an indescribable something, it's not even really a feeling. It's just a knowing that He is here with me, that the printed words I am reading are from Him directly, with nothing between Him and me except themselves, and even they are Him because they are His Word in the form of verbal icon, just as Jesus is His Word in the form of a Man. That Bible has been with me since I met the Lord, and I haven't parted from it all these years. It is my Rock of safety, the place where I meet God and He touches me, and feeds me.

Praying the Psalms, or even reading them, can seem irrelevant to some people, even to some Christians—they say that they cannot relate to what is contained in them. They see them as only historical documents arising out of specific events.
What has that to do with me?

Though it may be true that we are not bible characters, our lives can be found in the pages of scripture. My life-long love for and relationship with the Psalms had a beginning. It was when living in the world, I started being attacked for following Christ, and in turning to the Psalms I found their contents spoke to my condition and the situations I found myself in. That never stopped but has continued growing to the point where I can say that of all the books of scripture, the Psalms I read, and pray, the most.

The Psalms have this unique characteristic: They are like a revolving door with God. They both convey the prayer of our hearts to Him, and convey His response to our every prayer.

After reading and praying the Psalms for thirty-three years out of my Jerusalem Bible, I finally began reading and praying them from the Tehillim, the Hebrew version of the Psalms. Now, along with my Jerusalem Bible, a copy of the Tehillim rests with me on my prayer couch, and the blessing of reading and understanding the Hebrew cannot be adequately described.

Psalm 4

Evening prayer

B’kar’í anéyni Elohéy tsidkí…

God, guardian of my rights, You answer when I call,

when I am in trouble You come to my relief;

now be good to me and hear my prayer.

You men, why shut your hearts so long,

loving delusions, chasing after lies? Selah.

Know this, Yahweh works wonders for those He loves,
Yahweh hears me when I call to Him.

Tremble: give up sinning,

spend your night in quiet meditation. Selah.

Offer sacrifice in a right spirit,

and trust Yahweh.

“Who will give us sight of happiness?” many say.

Show us the light of Your face turned toward us!

Yahweh, You have given more joy to my heart

than others ever knew, for all their corn and wine.

In peace I lie down, and fall asleep at once,

since You alone, Yahweh, make me rest secure.

…ki attá Adonáy l’vadád lavétach toshivéni.

The utterly unlike

There’s lots of things, even persons, who are, or will soon be seen to be, utterly unlike what we have imagined them to be all our lives.

Firstly, of course, there’s God. Whatever you conceive Him or Her to be, and even if you have memorized and understood everything the bible and all theologians have said about Him, and even read what the pagans have said about Him, you still (I should say, we still) are going to find out that though in everything that really mattered we knew Him quite well, there will be a whole lot about Him that will just take us by surprise—mostly, things that we couldn’t have even begun to know about Him, due to our puny brains and sensory apparatus not having a way to process the information. Ants may know that we’re there, and they may even have a good idea that we’re big, clumsy, slow-moving and dangerous. In everything that really matters to them they know us quite well. They won’t understand why some of us avoid stepping on them. They won’t begin to suspect that we compose and listen to something we call music, even though they may have something analogous to it on a very minor scale. Unfortunately for them, one of us hasn’t been transformed into an ant like themselves, so as to give them a better idea of what those big shadow-casters are that pass over their trails.

Secondly, there’s our own human nature, that which we seem to be while we are alive “in the flesh.” As a young man, I spent many hours observing my body and my spirit in function, long hours lying quiet but wide awake in the night. The result of my observations was a gradually increasing awareness that “I am not that” in reference first to my body, then even to my spirit, even to my mind. Anything that I was able to observe, watch and study, was yet experience outside whatever it is that I am. All these observations and my non-verbal thinking about them only demonstrated to me what holy scripture teaches, “For that which is,” that which exists, the world of things in its essence and with its causes, “is far off,” far removed from the sight of man, “and it is deep, deep; who can discover it?” (Ecclesiastes 7:24) How ironic, that even our very own selves, that we (think we) can know first-hand, should still be beyond our ken! Most of us don’t want to put the label “utterly unlike” on our cache of life experience, but I think that what life really is is utterly unlike our perception. We only know what we need to know and can know, and that’s not much.

Thirdly, or maybe I should say lastly, there’s death. Whatever you conceive it to be, or not be, and even if you’ve had a near death experience, or even been dead and through miracle or modern science been resuscitated, you still can’t come closer to knowing or understanding what it is than the distance separating East from West. My youthful experiments in observation also impinged on death. I used to withdraw my energy from my bodily extremities to experience “this is a hand, not my hand” and even “this is a body, not my body.” I tried to observe what remains when all senses, sight, hearing, touch, and finally even all thought, become inaccessible to a mind. What is left? Locked in a realm of being which cannot exist, yet does, I imagined the body I once inhabited, breathless, unfeeling, unmoving, as a formless numbness, and the existence of the outer world (where life was still going on) as an inaccessible “it,” not a thing or a place, just a nothing that somehow is, and beyond my penetration. That was as close as I came to apprehending death. It was very unlike what my normal mind envisions when I think of death, but it was still not “utterly unlike.”

It is this kind of approach that brings us, I think, to the threshold of at least sensing that what awaits us after this (what we call) life is something and Someone “utterly unlike” everything we have ever seen, heard, felt or thought. It makes even spelling the Name with a capital letter pale as insolence and ignorance before the reality of Him Who Is, and of As It Must Be. Not even speaking of God or of what we know about Him and His plan of salvation as written in His Word, the scriptures, we can still know Him as He reveals Himself to us and through us without our help or our imagination, and knowing Him thus, the “utterly unlike” gradually dawns on us, and of that, no man living can speak.

Socrates and the Sophists

When I am home alone and having some lunch, I am in the habit of turning to an easily laid-open old book that was a textbook from my college days, The Western Heritage of Faith and Reason. After not looking at it for decades, I started reading it again this way since the month of March. It never ceases to amaze me how a secular textbook about philosophy can often say truer things about spiritual, even Christian, life than books that are dedicated to the subject. The passage I am quoting here is not exactly of this sort, but it is still very illuminating. As Qoheleth says, “What was will be again; what has been done will be done again; and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9 JB).

The passage reminds me of modern day conditions so much. I only wish we had someone like Socrates to add to today’s mix. I guess it’s up to each of us to be, perhaps not Socrates, but at least (as Jesus says) “the salt of the earth” (cf. Matthew 5:13), and as Martin Luther commented, “what is the good of salt if it does not bite?” I entitle this excerpt, Socrates and the Sophists.

Some of the Sophists were quick to point out that laws, in the legal sense, were human contrivances, frequently enacted in the interest of influential groups. They were not absolute things which represented absolute values, good for all men at all times. If this was true in the legal sense of the term, it might also apply to moral law. In short, some of the Sophists became complete individualists in their interpretation of laws, legal and moral. What men call justice may be merely a fiction to serve the interests of those in power. Even if there were such things as absolute justice and virtue and goodness, how should we ever be able to determine what they are? A thorough skepticism about man’s ability to answer such questions as these led many of the Sophists to reject any notion of absolute morality. Each man alone was to be the measure of what was and what was not good. Likewise, in metaphysics, each man was to be the measure of what was and what was not real, for why should any one man’s interpretation of such matters be any better than another’s? All this suggests some kind of intellectual and moral anarchy.

The threat to Greek life posed by the Sophists was far-reaching. Had they been content to challenge the metaphysical views of certain of their predecessors, it would not have been serious, for then new views might have been suggested in their place; but the Sophists challenged the very foundation of knowledge, even denying the possibility of knowing truth. When this is done the universe must remain a mystery to man, and, more important still, sincerity, integrity, honor, and all the other virtues that hold human society together are in danger of being undermined. How were these critics of the status quo to be answered? There was one man among the Greeks during the 5th century B.C. who, while not concerned with defending authority itself, was able and willing to attack the Sophists in the intellectual arena. That man was Socrates. He was the first Athenian philosopher of note, and his chief interest was in opposing relativism in ethics.

Like Jesus, Socrates wrote nothing, as far as we know. His personal impact was such that, again as with Jesus, many turned against him in bitter anger and eventually brought him to his death, while many others experienced a kind of “conversion” which made them look to him in memory as the greatest man they had known. He was a strange man, first of all in his personal appearance. He had a snub nose and strangely protruding eyes. His gait was peculiar, being likened to that of a waterfowl. He was compared in appearance to a silenus or a satyr. He always went barefoot. But far more striking than his physical appearance was his personality. In no sense was he an ordinary man, although he did marry and have children. He gave up his family profession of statue-making and spent his time in discussion, regarding it as his divine mission to seek for truth.

…He was admired by other men for his disregard of hardship, his self-control, and his ability to refrain from the use of wine, or, when joining in the drinking, to remain sober. But these personal characteristics are still not the basis of Socrates’ great reputation, even while they helped build it and manage to give some sense of the kind of man he was. More importantly, he has been designated a prophet and rationalist. He called men of his day to inner change, a kind of conversion to righteousness, and so reminds us of the great Hebrew prophets. In addition, he advised all men to follow reason, for it is reason that leads to truth and one must live by truth if he is to live well.

— The Western Heritage of Faith and Reason, pp. 264-267.

Fasting

Fasting is never a form of self-punishment.
Fasting is never a way to build our heavenly bank account.
Fasting is an act of worship, giving back what we always knew
never really belonged to us, so that God can bestow on us
something greater, Himself.
Fasting is an act of hospitality, cleaning out, emptying some organ or attribute of us, so that God can have more room during His visit.
Fasting is always a deliberate spending, even wasting, of our lives
on the slim chance that we might buy the world for God.
Fasting is always an act of abandonment, even of desertion,
of what we thought or have been told was our post or position in life,
in the hope that we will be proven wrong after all,
and find that God alone was right.
Fasting has little to do with food, but we do sometimes forget to eat while we're doing it.

Orthodoxy

Orthodoxy is knowing that love has entered the world in the man Jesus Christ, and living in that love no matter where it takes us.

He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
Matthew 10:37-39 NKJV

Orthodoxy is knowing that faith is not belief, but trust so certain that we know there is no loss with Jesus, and are fearless to do whatever He asks. It is knowing that obedience is love and draws us into the very life of God, where Father, Son and Holy Spirit all live together with us in one house. It is seeing with unveiled faces Him whom the world cannot see even through a veil. Yes, Orthodoxy is knowing that Love has entered the world and remains here among us, as long as we obey His teaching, no matter where it takes us.

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?" Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
John 14:12-23 NIV

Ikon of the Holy Triad

Andrey Rublev's ikon of the Holy Triad

Very soon I will be publishing in a special blog, Ikonostasis, downloadable images of Orthodox ikons that I have been collecting for more than twenty years from the weekly bulletins of my home parish, Aghía Triás (Holy Trinity), now the Greek Orthodox cathedral of Portland, Oregon. There are probably eight hundred ikons in all, of all subjects. This is something I've always meant to do, but now I have a reason: I want new Orthodox nations and interested non-Orthodox to have access to this material, because like the divine liturgy, ikons are the common inheritance of all followers of Jesus.

In this post, I want to publish a bit of commentary on a very special ikon, that of the Holy Trinity, or as the Greek has it, the Holy Triad. There is one depiction of God in Three Persons which has been common in Western art, and has even burrowed its way into Eastern Orthodoxy, but which is not in accord with the mind of the Church, which is in turn the mind of Christ as revealed in scripture. This is the depiction of the Trinity as "an old man and a young man seated on thrones, and a dove in the air between them." Though Western art can portray God in this way, for the Orthodox it is unbiblical and therefore not admissible as an icon. This is not mere fussyness, but faithfulness to the truth, in contrast to human sentiment.

The Russian Orthodox Church (synod of Moscow, 1667) framed the canon regulating the depiction of the Holy Triad in ikonography:

It is most absurd and improper to depict in icons the Lord Sabaoth (that is to say, God the Father) with a grey beard and the Only-Begotten Son in His bosom with a dove between them, because no-one has seen the Father according to His Divinity, and the Father has no flesh, nor was the Son born in the flesh from the Father before the ages. And though David the prophet says, "From the womb before the morning star have I begotten Thee" (Ps.109:3), that birth was not fleshly, but unspeakable and incomprehensible. For Christ Himself says in the holy Gospel, "No man hath seen the Father, save the Son" (cf. John 6:46). And Isaiah the prophet says in his fortieth chapter: "To whom have ye likened the Lord? and with what likeness have ye made a similitude of Him? Has not the artificier of wood made an image, or the goldsmiths, having melted gold, gilt it over, and made it a similitude?" (Isaiah 40:18-19). In like manner the Apostle Paul says (Acts 17:29), "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art of man's imagination." And John Damascene says: "But furthermore, who can make a similitude of the invisible, incorporeal, uncircumscribed and undepictable God? It is, then, uttermost insanity and impiety to give a form to the Godhead" (Orthodox Faith, 4:16). In like manner St. Gregory the Dialogist prohibits this. For this reason we should only form an understanding in the mind of Sabaoth, which is the Godhead, and of that birth before the ages of the Only-Begotten Son from the Father, but we should never, in any wise depict these in icons, for this, indeed, is impossible. And the Holy Spirit is not in essence a dove, but in essence he is God, and "No man hath seen God", as John the Theologian and Evangelist bears witness (John 1:18) and this is so even though, at the Jordan at Christ's holy Baptism the Holy Spirit appeared in the likeness of a dove. For this reason, it is fitting on this occasion only to depict the Holy Spirit in the likeness of a dove. But in any other place those who have intelligence will not depict the Holy Spirit in the likeness of a dove. For on Mount Tabor, He appeared as a cloud and, at another time, in other ways. Furthermore, Sabaoth is the name not only of the Father, but of the Holy Trinity. According to Dionysios the Areopagite, Lord Sabaoth, translated from the Jewish tongue, means "Lord of Hosts". This Lord of Hosts is the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And although Daniel the prophet says that he beheld the Ancient of Days sitting on a throne, this should not be understood to refer to the Father, but to the Son, Who at His second coming will judge every nation at the dreadful Judgment.

The fact is, many Orthodox churches still retain pictures of the Holy Triad in this unbiblical format, two seated men and a bird. All that this demonstrates is that Orthodoxy makes do with what is available. Many churches were built in a day when authentic ikons were not available, and they have never replaced them.

Nice people or new men

The title of this post is a well-known phrase to readers of C. S. Lewis, as it is a chapter in his book, Mere Christianity. At the end of this post is a comment I left on the blog whence my previous post Even now the axe… was taken.

They're worried about bad interpersonal behaviors among their ministry team members, apparently not a big issue to them, but just a minor detail that they think they can correct by exercising a little more self-discipline. While I don't disagree with that idea, it was clear to me that this group needs much more help than they can supply themselves. They are dealing in symptoms, but if they or anyone want to get to the root of the matter, one must use the axe of holy scripture to get at that root of sin and cut it out.

The classic Catholic/Protestant debate, indeed what got the crack in Western Christendom started, was the issue of how does one become a new creature, that is, how is one saved, and what does that salvation mean in daily life?

Catholicism was for confessing our total depravity, throwing ourselves in complete abandon upon God's mercy, and through a complex system of sacraments, pilgrimages, confessions, penances, and the excess merits of saints applied to one's load of sin, to escape hellfire and damnation. On earth, meanwhile, since people are sinners, they can more or less live as they always have, sinful, rebellious, greedy, lustful—in a word, barbaric—because if they play the game right and follow all the rules, their complete abandonment to God's mercy will save them.

Protestantism was for confessing our total depravity, throwing ourselves in complete abandon upon God's mercy, and through the possession of the correct doctrine of grace and works, by being one of the elect, and by prospering through industry and thrift, to escape hellfire and damnation. On earth, meanwhile, since people are sinners, they can more or less live as they always have, sinful, rebellious, greedy, lustful—in a word, barbaric—because if they play the game right and follow all the rules, their complete abandonment to God's mercy will save them.

Wait a minute! What's so different about these two views of salvation that would've caused a split?

Essentially the views are the same and differ only in minor details. This was noticed by Dietrich Bonhoeffer among others. He called both systems, "cheap grace."

Today, because church members and leaders are alike so unfamiliar with the bible except in knowing how to quote it to bolster their opinions and practices, we have situations like the one that prompted my post about the axe. Even after reading the testimony given there, it's as if nothing was testified and nothing heard. Instead, the discussion was diverted to a philosophical point, just as Photiní diverted attention from her sin when Jesus uncovered it, and posed a question about temple worship, thus diverting attention from the fact that she was wanton.

Listen! From the Lord's viewpoint, there's nothing immodest about looking closely at our sins, since He already knows everything about us, and because He is only looking at them closely as a doctor examines a diseased organ closely because his aim is to heal it.

Back to the original discussion, bad interpersonal behaviors, minor perhaps, but still annoying and unproductive.

The group is challenged to try to behave better. To justify what they are doing to remedy this situation from the bible, one of the team members bolsters their approach by quoting in full James 3:3-12, the passage about the evils of the tongue, overlooking completely the evangelical reason for this phenomenon. Jesus Himself says, "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him" (Matthew 12:35 NIV).

So I wrote back once more, asking…

What is going on here? Are you trying to be nice guys, or have you abandoned everything to become new men and women?

Reality cannot be chunked into tiny splinters, as you guys seem to be doing, and worked on, one splinter at a time. The fact is, it is not we, or rather you, who are to work on it, the problem of too casual, snappish, disrespectful, swaggering attitudes among yourselves. If you try with this approach, you will fail, because at best you will be nice. That splinter of reality will have gotten so polished, it may blind you to the fact that the plank is still there, as horny and rough as ever.

Do you know any people who live in the Word of God, who have made it their home, in such a manner that they don't even have to carry the book around with them everywhere (though they often do), and who don't think in terms of improving their behavior or self-image, because their trust in so unshakably in the truth of the Word, in Jesus, that they are content to just follow Him in everything, not looking at themselves or others (hence, not judging), but only at Jesus, who is the author and finisher?

These people are around in the Body of Christ, but not always in church, that is, they may be church members but their real life is lived in that hidden place, where the Father alone sees them, and their actions, speaking louder than words, are sometimes overlooked by others, because they do not preach themselves, but Christ.

When we are seeking Christ in everything, we notice these people, and little by little we join their number until we too "do good and disappear."