Around us like bees

Let us scatter our love selflessly to all, without regard to the way they act towards us. When the grace of God enters us, we will not be concerned about whether they love us or not or whether they speak to us politely or not. We will feel the need to love all people. It’s egotism on our part to wish for others to speak to us politely. If they don’t, we shouldn’t be upset. Let them speak to us as they wish. We needn’t become beggars for love. Our aim should be to love them and pray for them with all our soul. Then we will become aware that all people love us without our seeking it and without our begging for their love. They will love us freely and sincerely from the depths of their heart without our blackmailing them. When we love without seeking to be loved, people will gather around us like bees. This is true for everyone.

Elder Porphyrios, Wounded by Love, pages 181-182

“Remember who your teachers were…”
2 Timothy 3:14

Walking

I am not going to read the rabbi's book, but there is a meaning to ‘You don't have to be wrong for me to be right.’ That meaning, though, comes from a location where right and wrong in the usual human sense simply don't exist. That location is the presence of God, before whom all our ideas, even all our beliefs, simply pale into insignificance. Did we love the ones God sent to us? or did we pester them to death with our probings?
I don't believe that all spiritual paths lead to God in an institutional sense. For example, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, even Judaism do not lead you to the living God, the only God there is, but then, neither does Christianity. All these ‘paths’ are only containers for our souls to keep us from spilling ourselves to death, but also from which we can offer ourselves as drink to others.

If that's not what we use our religion for, as Christians anyway, then we've got nothing to look forward to except staleness, and maybe evaporation. I believe what C. S. Lewis writes (quoting from memory), ‘All who persistently seek joy will find it,’ and that is what Christians mean by salvation, if they tear away all the fantasies they have about it. I also believe what he writes about knowing Jesus, that ‘no one can be saved without Him, but does one have to know Him to be saved by Him?’ (again, quoting from memory).

How many Christians really know Jesus? True, they may confess Him with their lips, even before men (I do the same), but do they, do I, really know Him? He’s not impressed even by the miracles we do in His name or by our calling to Him, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but He rewards those with ‘the joy of the Lord’, with salvation, if we have noticed Him walking among us, and done for Him what He does for us. Knowing about Jesus is not knowing Jesus.

Study and even confession is not doing what He does. To answer His call requires hands and feet, even if they must be pierced. The path of joy, of salvation, can only be walked. Heaven cannot be reached any other way. Yes, we must walk with Him, but like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we may not recognize who He is, yet we walk with Him just the same. The issue of who is right and wrong is meaningless in His presence.

The Lord is truly among us, alive, enlivening, walking with us, within us, among us, and we do not know Him, nor are we worthy to undo the straps of His sandals, but if He asks us, ‘Whom do you seek?’ let’s be bold enough to ask Him, ‘Rabbi, where do you live?’ and when He says, ‘Come and see,’ let’s not hesitate, but laying aside all earthly care, follow Him, so that He can teach us all things, how to do what He does, how to live the life of heaven on earth.

If we haven’t found the way here and now, we won’t find it anywhere or anywhen, because we will have let the Christ slip through our midst and disappear, because in truth we have sought to stone Him for His blasphemies. Sought to stone Him or throw Him off a cliff, the One who has come not to judge the world, but to offer the only life that is eternal to us, who can only receive it when we are willing to offer it to others, with whatever it takes.

Even

How ironic it is, that the Blessed Virgin Theotokos is the apostle and abbess of Mount Athos, an isolated peninsular republic composed only of male monastics! How she came into that inheritance, becoming the apostle of that ‘almost island’ of the Chalkidhikí is a little known story that I have recounted elsewhere.

My favorite ikon of the Theotokos as Abbess of Mount Athos is the one shown right, recently written in Byzantine style. It has replaced an older image that is still frequently found, painted in Western style.

One of the strangest but most potent proofs of the status of the Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of God is her constant, sometimes visible, presence on the Holy Mountain. At times the monks literally see her standing among them during services, or walking abroad on the mountain. True, she has reposed, yet her body has disappeared, and so her state resembles that of the ‘raptured’ (1 Thessalonians 4:17, ἁρπαγησόμεθα, ‘snatched away’), almost a sort of first fruits of the New Creation in a similar way to Christ being the First Fruits of the Resurrection. These facts, at least, should commend her to the attention of Christians, even if only as their model. The Virgin Mary is, after all, the first Christian, and everything that happened to her can and will happen to every follower of Jesus, if we only allow it.

Sometimes the Church’s use of the saints as our role models is totally off the mark! An example of this is the emphasis on the Virgin Mary as a role model only for women: this misrepresents both the Mother of God and the Christian woman. Though I am not sure that in Roman Catholic hagiography you ever hear women called ‘equal-to-the-apostles’ as in the Greek Church ‘isapóstolos’, yet not only the Theotokos, but Photini (the woman at the well) and Mary Magdalen among others have this distinction. Perhaps since the Virgin Mary never became a ‘priest’ it is safe to make her the role model for women, and bolster it with such images of her that conform to a mistaken ideal of feminine virtue and piety.

The fact that the Mother of God’s life ended in the extraordinary way that is recorded in the Orthodox Church points to the fact that her example and existence is for all Christians to imitate. She is the first Christian as well as the last faithful Jew, and so she retains her position among humanity—not just Christians, ‘all generations shall call me blessed’—as, if nothing else, at least our first and most transparent model of what a follower of Jesus is. Far from waiting on our prayers and devotions (though she is aware of them and offers them to God the Holy Triad) she is walking the world beside her Divine Son as He searches each one of us for hearts that can be saved—hearts, not just souls, for as the Desert Father says, ‘If you have a heart you can be saved.’

There are some Christians who simply don’t really believe in the communion of saints, that is, their living but invisible presence among us, because they haven’t really grasped the significance and power of the Resurrection—that is, Jesus Christ risen from the dead. The saints are only present because they are in paradise, and paradise is a Person not a place, it is Jesus. Lack of attention to Mary is part of this failure to appreciate what the Resurrection means. From their point of view, Jesus ‘ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father.’ They have grasped that but have neglected His words, ‘Lo, I am with you to the end of the age.’ They confine His real presence to the sacraments if they still accept these at all, and they make ‘Christ is in our midst’ into a mere metaphor, to be applied as a consolation for the aridity and sterility of their devotions.

At worst some of them don’t even have a clue as to what eternal life, even what salvation, is, or how it applies to our earthly life. This is where the atheist and agnostic find ample opportunity to mock what they think Christianity is, but which is only a ghost of it, an attenuated parody of authentic Christianity, which does not reside in mere systems or institutions, but in the arena of spiritual struggle in which the saints have toiled from the beginning till now. Yes, these things are understood and lionized in the traditional Church, Catholic and Orthodox, yet even there, they are often reduced to systems of self-serving spiritual materialism, and finally, church imperialism.

How deeply the true knowledge of the meaning and power of the Resurrection can transform our lives, if we only believe. ‘All things are possible, if you only believe.’ Yes, even the communion of saints. Yes, even Christ in our midst.

Follow Me

It seems to me that the divine gift of love as it issues forth divides into four streams: profound prayer, intimacy with Christ, trust in His will for us, assimilation to His love towards all.

Profound prayer both surrounds and permeates us at all times, so that without thinking about it or even noticing it, we are speaking to God and hearing His divine words without interruption. This is pure gift, cannot be attained by our efforts (work) but only by His grace. Those to whom this is granted do not think that they merit it or possess it, yet in a mysterious way, their calmness reveals it to themselves and to others.

Personal love of Jesus Christ arises simultaneously and in the same unknown and unknowing manner as does profound prayer. Intellectually we may know that Christ is risen and is in our midst, emotionally we may sometimes feel it, though we know that both thought and feeling can betray or be captive of fantasy. But the gift of this personal love, again bestowed without our knowledge but not without our consent, makes us 'see Jesus', we cannot imagine being out of His presence, and seeing Him refines our love for Him as Creator, Savior, and Lord.

Realistic knowledge of ourselves does not, I don't think, dwell upon our sinfulness or our righteousness, and does not really include these. Coexisting in the soul with the Holy Spirit who has granted these gifts, our self-awareness reflects not on what we have done or did not do, but on who we are in the light of His presence. It is the knowledge that comes of following Christ with our eyes, ears, hearts, and feet as we see Him walking in the world in front of us. Realistic knowledge of ourselves comes also in an unconscious way, but this is the foundation of our spiritual discernment: when, where and how we are to imitate Christ, and in what degree. Because of the first two gifts, we no longer have to muse, ponder and worry about our actions, but simply offer back to the Lord what He grants us, without thinking about it. Mother Teresa of Calcutta is an excellent example of this.

Devotedness towards those we serve, certainly this is by God's gift alone, as we have all discovered if we have ever tried to serve God by our good deeds, done out of a sense of duty or guilt. This kind of devotedness is instantly revealed to its recipients as a failure, not a fulfillment, of love. The gift that St Angela prays for is, I think, that power of love which is experienced as inevitable and gracious, felt as fulfilling from the moment of its inception to its perfection in a mission accomplished. This is the kind of devotedness—though I prefer to simply use the word 'love'—that makes one automatically love the person or even any creature that is placed before us, in our path. When we quiet ourselves for a moment and see Christ before us in human form, our souls clamor within us to satisfy His need. Yes, His need of us, for which He presents Himself, revealing that He is love, lover and beloved, and into that Triad of Divine Nature He invites us to enter.

Again, all of the good news of Jesus Christ leads us to these things, if only we have faith. And faith in what or whom? Of course, faith in Christ who says to us at every moment, 'Follow Me.'

Morning anaphora

I want to love you, Lord,
because You love me.
I want to find You, Lord,
because You found me.
I want to hear You, Lord,
because You hear me.
I want to know You, Lord,
because You know me.

How great You are
because You became small.
How strong You are
because You became weak.
How rich You are
because You became poor.
What a God You are
because You became man.

Without Your love
I could not live.
Without Your grace
I could not give.
I thank You, Lord,
with each beat of my heart.
Have mercy, Lord,
and never depart.

We give thanks to You, God,
we give thanks as we invoke Your name,
as we recount Your marvels.
Psalm 75
Psalms for the 15th Day
75 76 77 78

At His great mercy, recap

I was surprised to find my original post At His great mercy republished at Aunt Melanie's blog Desert Dimension, and very thankful for her insightful ‘notes’ which I want to share…

(At His great mercy)

I have said that doctrines don't matter at all when it comes right down to the salvation of the human race, giving some the impression that I have given up all notion of correct belief. This is not the case, otherwise I would not be an Orthodox Christian.

Of course, it is better to be correct than incorrect, and yes, the correct answers are to be found in scripture, but that is exactly where sectarians and makers of religions go to bolster their mistaken ideologies. If we are of the ancient faith, for us the orthodoxy of the historic Christian Church will keep us from wandering into lands from which there may be no return. I am not suggesting that doctrine doesn't matter, in spite of my use of rather strong language and what appear to be categorical imperatives. No, I am not speaking out of both corners of my mouth either. It's just that doctrinal belief or misbelief can in fact affect our relationship to God and our ultimate destiny with Him or without Him, and yet, His mercy can cover all offenses and in fact does, even taking to Himself those whose ideas about Him are either non-existent or very mistaken.

Our God is greater than anything we can say about Him, even greater than anything the Bible says about Him, and how can He not be? He is the author of all, and having written the only story that there is, He can direct its course, and ours, beyond anything we can do. Yes, we can be damned and separated from Him for ever, but only from our side. From His side, we are never out of His sight.

This is a very strange story He has written, our God, and we see neither the beginning or the end as we now are, mere characters on a page. But when the Lamb's book of life is finally open, we will find out whose names were written there from before the foundation of the world, and we will have cause to wonder at His great mercy, both to the saved, and to the lost.

(Aunt Melanie's notes)

If God is greater than anything we can say about Him, then what would be the opposite of that inability or impossibility? I think it would be fundamentalism in the worst sense of the word: meaning emphasis on just one or very few doctrinal points, and strictness regarding congregational inclusion based on those points. Not only does this affect one’s relationship with God, but with those who are different or who are yet unsaved. It means to reduce the Church to an elitist cult, and to damn those who are different and to regard with suspicion those who come seeking and knocking at the door. And if those doctrinal points are not entirely correct, if the cultural and devotional practices take the place of doctrine, then what should serve as enrichment decays into contamination of truth. Not only can such people not say or know everything there is to say and know about God, but even what is known is not said accurately or is cast with the unknowable or is denied access.

Why is truth so threatening to some people? Perhaps, because this is indeed the only story—and not their reductions or embellishments of it which would put them in the place of supreme author. Perhaps, they prefer to separate themselves if not from God, then from other people who would require them to teach and love, to forgive and uplift, and to include as equal to or better than themselves. If they can limit, confine, restrict, and control content and access, then they do not need to be at God’s great mercy. They have a system and it will support them. They are the authorities of their own system, and they rule.

What does that do to the rest of us? To those of us who inquire, who knock on the door and want in, or perhaps who want out? What happens to those of us who are forced out? Perhaps like Nicodemus, we must go to Christ in the night and ask our questions. Perhaps like St. John the Baptist, we must tell the truth and face the consequences. Perhaps like the Virgin Mary, we must keep all these things in our heart. With God’s great mercy, there are probably different ways of management—at different times and places and according to each individual’s capacity and situation.

To be at God’s great mercy is not a bad place to be—although it may not be how we imagined religion to be, or even the way it should be. Perhaps mercy is the only way it should be, within and without the walls of any church. To arrive at a total recognition of the need for that mercy—well, maybe we should thank the elitists who banished us to this great God.

Love, love, love

Above everything is love. The thing that must concern you, my children, is love for the other person, for his soul. Whatever we do, whether it is prayer or offering advice or pointing out some error, let us do it with love. Without love, prayer is of no benefit, advice is hurtful and pointing out errors is harmful and destructive to the other person who senses whether we love him or not and reacts accordingly. Love, love, love! Love for our brother prepares us to love Christ more. Isn't that perfect?

Elder Porphyrios, Wounded by Love, page 181

“Remember who your teachers were…”
2 Timothy 3:14

The peace of Christ

Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?
The Blood of Jesus whispers peace within.
—Edward Henry Bickersteth

Hymn writer

Peace, that which comes from above and is granted by God alone through Christ is not easy to define, but it definitely does not mean something like ‘all's well’ or ‘peace and quiet’ in the usual sense. Peace from God does not necessarily mean that there is no trouble anywhere in our life, nor that we are not faced with problems to which we cannot find a solution.

It's easier to talk about this peace that comes from God through Christ and is bestowed on us in prayer than it is to actually have it. Why? Because we usually talk about it when we are not in any great distress, emergency or need, but after we have been delivered from it. We look back in retrospect and thank God for the deliverance and find words of testimony to give about God's faithfulness.

What is the best definition of and the most convincing testimony to the ‘peace from above’?

When we are presently in distress, in danger, at risk, beset with problems we see no end of, when we are suffering persecutions, slander, unjust accusations, when no one believes us, when no one cares about us, and we are not sad, not unhappy, not anxious, not disturbed, not reproachful, uncomplaining, unmoved to anger or revenge, still hopeful, still forgiving, still loving our enemies, still seeking God’s Kingdom first and His righteousness, never giving in to despair or abandonment. When we are in this place, and can define ‘the peace of God which passeth all understanding’ not only by the word of our confession, but also by our passionlessness, then we have understood and accepted what that peace is. It's the same peace that Jesus knew when He was crucified and when He uttered with His last breath, ‘It is finished. Into your hands I commend my spirit.’ It is the same peace which Jesus gave to His disciples when He said, ‘My peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give.’

This is the peace of Christ.

Come home to reason, running

Sometimes we have to go off on a tangent for a very, very long time before we find we have lost touch with our origin altogether. We may wear our cross. We may even sport a komboskini on our wrists—and that’s more than a mere ‘friendship bracelet’—and still carry on with a lifestyle that is light years away from what we learned in Sunday School. All this we think worth it, in pursuit of a career or a reputation, items that will mean very little on the day we give back the talents to the Lord who gave them to us.

Friends get attracted to us, and we get attracted to friends. Again, pursuing our own desires, ambitions, we hurl ourselves forward to hit our target, to make our mark. Without thinking, really, we just aim and shoot. Sometimes we stretch the bowstring, sometimes others do, but it’s we ourselves who like arrows are shot. The speed of the moment makes us lose all sense of direction. We no longer even know if the target we find ourselves hitting is the right one. Did we ever know? I mean, who chooses the target?

Youth is a very dangerous time. Dangerous because in a sole season we are determining the trajectory of our life path. Dangerous because we are assailed on all sides by hawkers of wares and cares, a mad mixture of friends and enemies, and we haven’t learned yet to tell which is which. Dangerous because we don’t realize that the time of beginnings is brief and that after it passes we may find that we have begun precisely nothing, that though ‘life’ continues we have not begun to live at all. Yes, dangerous.

Years ago, I too was a youth. That short spell remains with me forty years later, shining in my memory as a golden age. Such it is for people and nations. The time of beginnings seems always bright, even when we have wasted it, and in fact, in retrospect, who hasn’t wasted it? Who has made best use of it, wisely taking aim in that moment so that they have hit the target? Very few, I think. Then, we spend the rest of our lives trying to correct, or cover up, or talk ourselves into believing that all is well, all as it must be.

As always, the scriptures speak now as on the day they first appeared, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. ‘Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them’ (Ecclesiastes 12:1 KJV), and we have no taste for them because we know that from the beginning they always spoke the truth, but we wanted to do things our way. Worse than a nagging parent is a God who, unnagging, is still always there.

Always there, waiting. Always there, patient. Always ready to receive. The source of hope because He hopes for us to be with Him, and His hopes are far larger than ours, not in order of magnitude but of degree. He wants us more than we want Him. That’s why He made us. That’s why He created us, not from clay as He did the first man, nor from a bone extracted in slumber as He did the first woman, but from a father and a mother, His right and left hands, who cherished us as He cherishes us, loves us.

Now that the smoke has cleared after a night of fire, pick through the charred ruins for that cross that fell from your neck. Its silver has not tarnished. It still gleams. There is still a little time left. Find your way back. Pick up your cross and return to the path. Youth has not yet abandoned you. Your feet have not yet been fettered, you are still free. Choose the right, choose well. You have only spent a few of the talents entrusted to you. There are more, hidden. Come home to reason, running. I will see you there.

Remembering

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
‘Come unto me and rest;
lay down, thou weary one, lay down
thy head upon my breast.’
I came to Jesus as I was,
weary, worn, and sad;
I found in him a resting-place,
and he has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
‘Behold, I freely give
the living water; thirsty one,
stoop down and drink, and live.’
I came to Jesus, and I drank
of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
and now I live in him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
‘I am this dark world's light;
look unto me, thy morn shall rise,
and all thy day be bright.’
I looked to Jesus, and I found
in him my Star, my Sun;
and in that light of life I'll walk
till traveling days are done.

The image above is my favorite picture of Jesus. I know that it's not an ikon, and it should be, because I'm a Greek Orthodox Christian, but so what? This is Jesus as I know Him visually, if I may be so presumptuous to say it that way. The lyric above is my favorite hymn. Same comment about it not being a Greek kontakion or whatever, and again, so what?

A very dear friend of mine who was a jazz pianist used to play Thomas Tallis’ third mode melody, very tenderly, and I would sing this hymn in an empty church that he was custodian of, when we would get together to study the Word in winter time in his unheated room in the parish house, snow falling outside, precious memories to me. That was when he was single.

Later, he got married to a woman from Hungary, and together they were involved in some kind of ministry involving children. I lost track of him, until one day I providentially found an obituary in the paper. (I almost never buy and read a newspaper.) My friend was killed in a so-called ‘accident’ in Saudi Arabia, along with his wife, in September, 2000. They were operating a preschool there, and they were both Christians. May their memory be eternal. Aiónia i mními aftón! Their two orphaned sons are growing up in their grandparents’ home.

I sometimes spend an evening looking through my copy of the 1940 Hymnal of the Episcopal Church, singing my favorite hymns softly to myself. How many of the traditional Protestant hymns are dreadful poetry, and even worse theology! But they meant well, the writers, and for several generations people found meaning in them. As I peruse, I mark the ones I want to keep, the ones I can still sing because of their realism, good theology and biblical integrity.

Surprisingly, some of the old favorites find themselves in the ‘keep’ group, but others wind up in the ‘discard’ pile. Number 266 (Nicaea) ‘Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee…’ is a keeper. Maybe I'd better not say which ones were in my discard pile. This post is not to be an exercise in alienating others.

I do, however, want to put on record that I think we Orthodox owe a debt of gratitude to our Anglican brethren who, in the Americas, have always lent us a helping hand in getting established. Someday, when the Orthodox are finally ready to evangelize the American people, we'll prove it by giving the greatest English hymns a place in worship, along with our ancient Greek praises. As much as I love and appreciate the beauty of our Greek hymns, they're really only accessible to those who take the trouble to learn evangelical, koiné Greek. To the rest, the hymns are beautiful but meaningless.

Could this be why a mother and unmarried daughter in our community for many years used to sing in the choir of 1st Presbyterian Church, downtown?

I remember Aretí, the mother, telling me that they liked to go and sing English language hymns at the Presbyterian church, because ‘back then’ only Greek hymns were chanted in ours. This was before my time. So, my appreciation goes out also to the Presbyterians, who were gracious and honored to have some Greeks singing with them. I know this, because I used to work with a member of that church who told me about Aretí and her daughter Vasi’s singing.

Again, I want to eulogize the Anglicans one more time.

My wife's grandmother Domka (Domnica), the daughter of Russian Orthodox presbyter, Father Theodosius, was given a Book of Common Prayer (of the Anglican Church of Canada) back in 1909. Inside it's inscribed ‘Lent 1909, from Daisy with love to Dorice.’ The BCP also includes the hymnal, and so there's some juicy antiquated lyrics there that antedate the 1940 Hymnal. I love looking at this family heirloom, and finding beautiful prayers and hymns. It's a relic of a different age, for sure!

But what it demonstrates is that the love of Jesus Christ, that knows no denominational walls, was at work in early 20th century western Canada. For friendship's sake, a ‘white’ girl gave a Ukrainian girl, the daughter of an Orthodox priest, a present, which was probably the best gift she could think of, that which was most precious to both of them, a gilt-edged leather-bound book that brought them close to Jesus, and to each other. God be praised! Slava Bohu!

I pray that the God of peace, who brought our Lord Jesus back from the dead to become the great Shepherd of the sheep by the blood that sealed an eternal covenant, may make you ready to do his will in any kind of good action; and turn us all into whatever is acceptable to himself through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20-21 Jerusalem Bible

Our words are powerless! Notice how, after reading my blog post, when you got to the scripture passage quoted at the end, your heart just leapt for joy at the simplicity and power of God's own Word? Nothing can hold a candle to the Light of God's Word.

Inside or outside

Yes, though we may loathe to admit it, there is a real insiders versus outsiders status in terms of Christianity. Not everyone, even very nice, or very smart people, or celebrities that we like, is a Christian, not even some very famous people who claim to be, or claim to have been, Christians.

No, just as Jesus had an inner circle, His disciples, apart from the outer circle of everyone else, ranging from those who hung on His words but were not prepared to follow, all the way to those who simply liked to be seen in His company, there are insiders and outsiders in Christianity.

The insiders know what the truth is when they read the Bible, know how to distinguish the authentic from the nonsensical in the tradition, and do not argue. The outsiders live by, in and for controversy, appearances and prestige. They gobble up or serve up ludicrous lies as food.

No, Jesus wasn't married to Mary Magdalene, but yes, He has a bride, as the Bible itself teaches. No, they never found His body, but yes, He has a body, and in that body He walks the earth from the day He disappeared in full view of His insiders. All myths and outsiders' gossip fall flat at His feet.

Papyrus fragments old or hot-off-the-presses new will never tell the insiders anything about the Lord that they don't already know. Bits of cloth or bone, or incised stones, even splinters of True Cross wood, cannot add to what insiders believe or who they know, but outsiders clamor for more.

Yes, everything we needed to know to start our following of the Lord was contained in His call, and following Him we never needed any proofs of this or that, nor had time to debate or even discuss the latest evidence pro or con. Inside or outside, where we stand, is shown by our walk, not our talk.

The Border

Power corrupts and, yes, absolute power corrupts absolutely. We have seen and we expect to see such abuse of position and power in the world, but when we see it within the Holy Church of Christ we are challenged, our faith feels betrayed, and we may feel disoriented and lost. The antichrist takes on the vestments of the Christ, and bats and moles come forth out of hiding disguised as angels because they carry aloft the Book and Cup, and hirelings scatter and even slaughter the Good Shepherd's little flock. When we see or experience such things, it is good to take refuge in the Word of God, where we meet the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are still in the City not made by hands. We are still surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses. The world still cannot grasp who or what we are. Only the Son of God who created and redeemed us knows. He knows us and leads us out, now and always…

Originally, the border between the Church and the world was put up, not by the Church, but by the world, which could find no use for, and would not tolerate, this indigestible people. The Church constituted something like an Indian reservation or a ghetto, or even worse, a leper colony within society, a social entity which should not be, but nonetheless was. It was an embarrassment for and accusation against the classes that ruled the world.

Among those untouchable and unmentionable people, leaders arose, chosen not for their excellence or eminence in any worldly endeavor, but for their abject surrender to the service of the others. The world looked on in wonder at these hopeless imbeciles following a crucified criminal, surprised that they could have so much love for one another, but even more stupefied at their lack of survival instinct—they didn’t fight back when attacked by the world, they prayed for, and even more incomprehensibly, thanked those who injured and killed them!

They would not contribute any more than was exacted from them for the maintenance of the world system. They didn’t stand up for their own rights. They didn’t agitate for social reforms or strive for the betterment of any society except their own. Only among themselves, by common and unwritten consent, did they abolish customs that the world regarded normal, but which they abhorred—infanticide, sexual license, slavery, the ‘festivals.’ In this regard, the world felt justified in labeling them ‘haters of humanity,’ in segregating and controlling them by an elaborate system of ‘tests,’ such as the performance of acts of public worship to the state deities.

The charge of atheism brought against them was designed to infuriate the working masses of the world, which by and large were ‘religious,’ and which could be depended upon to punish the Church at the slightest provocation, thereby freeing the world rulers from overt responsibility for the persecution of these deranged trouble makers, undeserving of the name ‘human.’

No, the world had no use for, and would not tolerate, this indigestible people. It would give them no avenue for worldly success or security—economic, educational, social—not unless they, individually, renounced their allegiance to their pathetic God by publicly conforming to the world system and taking what they called among themselves ‘the mark of the beast.’ If they did that, they were allowed the cross the border. They were free at last from the unreasonable restrictions placed upon them by their crazy beliefs.

After some time had passed, the Church, to the astonishment and discomfort of the world and its rulers, had grown much larger than had been anticipated. The elaborate system of tests and containment strategies that they devised could not keep the borders of this neglected area from expanding. The Church even crept into places it had never been seen before. It was to be expected that among the unschooled rabble, some would defect to this weird cult, lured by the rumors of ‘brotherly love’ and other such nonsense. Everyone knew that these were just cover-ups for their unnatural practices, hypocrites all of them.

But now, and with more and more regularity every day, it seemed that once responsible citizens of the world were becoming uncooperative and difficult, excusing themselves from participating in the rites and rituals, even refusing the world’s most reasonable demands. The infection had spread, from the mere denizens even to the rulers of the world order. What was to be done? How was the world to maintain the border between itself and the Church?

There was nothing else to do but, swallowing its pride (just for a moment), the world would have to ‘become’ the Church. It would have to get inside (disgusting!) the barricade where all that refuse and filth calling itself ‘human’ was holed up, and somehow harness that teeming multitude to a new ‘world machine’ under its benign and rational management.

Since the other side of the border was now larger than the world, there was nothing to do but jump the fence. Soon, ‘under new management’ the Church, having become the world, would be so universal, so thoroughly ecumenical, that to be a leader of it would be an even greater honor than it once was to be a world ruler in former times.

It didn’t matter, not really, that the world would have to let go its old props and proof texts and principles. The Church had a Book that it had gathered together from one of those barbaric, backward tribes, adding to it a few chapters of its own. These could be imbued with new meanings, this Book could be used as a kind of Trojan horse by the world rulers to bring their powerful premises into play, first blocking, then replacing the so-called ‘promises’ in that stupid Book.

‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.’ See? Their own Book is talking about us! Now, no one can oppose us! To make sure of this, all we have to do is establish ‘tests’ to qualify only those who agree with us, send them to school, and teach them to parrot our plans. As for those who won’t…

So a new border had to be put up.
Again, it was put up by the world, not by the Church.

It became difficult, sometimes and in some places, to distinguish just who was on this side of the border, and who was on the other. The world had learned how to juggle names, titles and powers in such a way that sometimes even it got confused about who was who and which was which. The new border, though, did work. The Church was contained, even though imperfectly. The world now had a free hand to save itself, to save the planet, to liberate all humanity from the darkness of ancient superstition—Imagine that! A dying and resurrecting God!—and from the ‘haters of humanity’ who think that they alone possess the truth, and that there is only one way!

‘The nerve of that bunch of fanatics who call themselves “the Church”—why, we can’t even see them! But we can hear them, and they trouble us still, even to this day.’

But, my brothers, let me remind you of these things…

There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the Kingdom.
Luke 12:32

You must not love this passing world
or anything that is in the world.
The love of the Father cannot be
in any man who loves the world.
1 John 2:15

If the world hates you,
remember that it hated Me before you.
If you belonged to the world,
the world would love you as its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
because My choice withdrew you from the world,
therefore the world hates you.
Remember the words I said to you:
A servant is not greater than his master.
If they persecuted Me,
they will persecute you too;
if they kept My word,
they will keep yours as well.
But it will be on My account that they will do all this,
because they do not know the One who sent Me.
John 15:18-21

I have told you all this
so that your faith may not be shaken.
They will expel you from the synagogues,
and indeed the hour is coming
when anyone who kills you will think he is doing a holy duty for God.
John 16:1-2

I have told you all this
so that you may find peace in Me.
In the world you will have trouble,
but be brave:
I have conquered the world.
John 16:33

Read the words aloud

Devote yourselves to the Scriptures. Love reading and studying them. The more I hear the Psalter and the poetic canons, the more I want to hear them. They are so close to life and engaging that I cannot have enough of them. Read clearly and distinctly, word by word. Read the words aloud and listen to them; that’s a great help. And where you come across a particularly meaty passage, read it again to understand it better. What can I say? I listen to the words again and again with an unquenchable thirst. They sweeten the soul. That is what is important.

And so since you will thirst for the words of the poetic canons, of the Psalter and of all the church service books and since you will desire to read, hear and take them to heart, as soon as the simantron sounds, you will run at once with love and eagerness to hear the first words of the daily cycle of prayer, ‘On rising from sleep, we fall down before You, Good Lord.’ That’s the way to achieve the object of your desire. The soul then reverts to its original luster, to its primeval state, to its ancient beauty. What does God say, On whom shall I look, if not on the meek and peaceful man who fears my words (Isaiah 66:2, LXX). Christ gives grace to the person who loves His words and all good things come easily to him.

Elder Porphyrios, Wounded by Love, pages 163-164

“Remember who your teachers were…”
2 Timothy 3:14

Mercy

Chaneyni, Adonay, chaneyni!
Have mercy on me, Lord, have mercy!

The cry goes up from all of God’s people,
from the most high king, David,
to the lowliest of his subjects,
from the fearsome prophet Elijah
to the honorable forerunner of the Ever-King of Israel,
from our first forefathers Adam and Eve,
down to the mother of our last Forefather
the New Adam,

all of them—except the New Adam—
sinners,
all of them hating the net in which they are caught,
all of them looking with unwearying eyes
for the redemption,
for the Redeemer,
not knowing, but only hoping,
in what they believe,
waiting and crying out,
endlessly falling like ripe wheat before the reaper, 

‘Chaneyni, Adonay, chaneyni! 
Have mercy on me, Lord, have mercy!’

And the Voice finds a body
and speaks the Answer to their cries: 
‘Blessed are the merciful, 
for mercy shall be shown to them!’

All generations waited for the mercy of the Being
and only the last,
and only a very few of them,
heard the Voice proclaim, ‘mercy is within your grasp, 
it has always been in your hands, 
what you asked for was always with you, 
not judgment and condemnation, but mercy. 
Blessed are the merciful…’

He has come to give back to us what we lost
by our betrayals,
by our unfaithfulness,
by our unmercy,
by our sins,
to give back to those who not only ask for it
but who also give it,
mercy.

All the islands have awaited His true Law,
and all generations,
and here we are,
we hear it from the ends of the earth,
His eternal gospel, angel-borne,
yet from His own lips,
endlessly.

We hear it, and we know it, 
but do we have hope, 
will He find faith on earth?

No question of right or righteousness,
for only One is without sin,
His righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
and His Word is Truth.

But will He find faith on earth 
among those who hear the Word awaited for ages, 
who speaks for ever now?

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted the prophets
who were before you.
Matthew 5:3-12

Chaneyni, Adonay, chaneyni!
Have mercy on me, Lord, have mercy!

Psalms for the 8th day

Yahweh, do not punish me in Your rage,
or reprove me in the heat of anger.
Your arrows have pierced deep,
Your hand has pressed down on me;
no soundness in my flesh now You are angry,
no health in my bones, because of my sin.
Psalm 38:1-3 Jerusalem Bible

Lord, all that I long for is known to You,
my sighing is no secret from You.
Psalm 38:9

I said, ‘I will watch how I behave,
and not let my tongue lead me into sin;
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth
as long as the wicked man is near me’.
I stayed dumb, silent, speechless,
though the sight of him thriving made torment increase.
Psalm 39:1-2

So tell me, Lord, what can I expect?
My hope is in You.
Free me from all my sins,
do not make me the butt of idiots.
I am dumb, I speak no more,
since You Yourself have been at work.
Psalm 39:7-9

Yahweh, hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for help,
do not stay deaf to my crying.
I am Your guest, and only for a time,
a nomad like all my ancestors.
Psalm 39:12

Happy the man who puts
his trust in Yahweh,
and does not side with rebels
who stray after false gods.
Psalm 40:4

How many wonders You have done for us,
Yahweh my God!
How many plans You have made for us;
You have no equal!
I want to proclaim them again and again,
but they are more than I can count.
Psalm 40:5

You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation
opened my ear,
You asked no holocaust or sacrifice for sin;
then I said, ‘Here I am! I am coming!’
In the scroll of the Book am I not commanded
to obey Your will?
My God, I have always loved Your Law
from the depths of my being.
I have always proclaimed the righteousness of Yahweh
in the Great Assembly;
nor do I mean to stop proclaiming,
as You know well.
I have never kept Your righteousness to myself,
but have spoken of Your faithfulness and saving help;
I have made no secret of Your love and faithfulness
in the Great Assembly.
Psalm 40:6-10

As a doe longs for running streams,
so longs my soul for You, my God.
My soul thirst for God, the God of life;
when shall I go to see the face of God?
I have no food but tears, day and night;
and all day long men say to me,
‘Where is your God?’
I remember,
and my soul melts within me:
I am on my way to the wonderful Tent,
to the house of God,
among cries of joy and praise
and an exultant throng.
Psalm 42:1-4

When my soul is downcast within me,
I think of you;
from the land of Jordan and Hermón,
of you, humble mountain!
Deep is calling to deep
as your cataracts roar;
all your waves, your breakers,
have rolled over me.
In the daytime may Yahweh
command His love to come,
and by night may His song be on my lips,
a prayer to the God of my life!
Psalm 42:6-8

Pelagia

And as we sat, certain of the bishops besought my master Nonnus [nobody] that they might have some instruction from his lips: and straightway the good bishop began to speak to the weal and health of all that heard him. And as we sat marvelling at the holy learning of him, lo! on a sudden she that was first of the actresses of Antioch passed by: first of the dancers was she, and riding on an ass… bare of head and shoulder and limb, in pomp so splendid, and not so much as a veil upon her head or about her shoulders. They [the bishops] groaned, and in silence turned away their heads as from great and grievous sin. But the most blessed Nonnus did long and most intently regard her: and after she had passed by still he gazed and still his eyes went after her. Then, turning his head, he looked upon the bishops sitting round him. “Did not,” said he, “the sight of her great beauty delight you?” They answered him nothing. And he sank his face upon his knees, and the holy Book that he held in his good hands, and his tears fell down upon his breast, and sighing heavily he said again to the bishops, “Did not the sight of her great beauty delight you?” More…. (Clicking the link will download a PDF booklet containing the whole story, which can be read on line, or downloaded to your PC, or printed.)

Gathered together some grumbling old men
warming the bleachers since Lord knows when
hawkers of halos and stoners of flesh
couldn’t distinguish the stale from the fresh
side-saddle straddling some bloody steps
crumbling old queens in their evening dress
cake-eaters all swathed in delicatesse
who wouldn’t know bread and who couldn’t bless
Though everyone saw her, nobody looked
as she rode among them, her whole body booked
decked out in pearls, the wages of fame
rage of the girls, her stage wasn’t tame
flaunting her curls, PELAGIA her name

Casting his eyes on the trespassing jewel
daring to question, nobody was fool
fearing no vision, he followed her down
letting her beauty delight like the dawn
sinking his face in the Word that he ate
nobody lamented their holiness’ fate
put under conviction their righteous hate
undraped their consciences, silenced debate
Though everyone saw her, nobody looked
as she rode among them, her whole body booked
decked out in pearls, the wages of fame
rage of the girls, her stage wasn’t tame
flaunting her curls, PELAGIA her name

Why did she wander, what led her inside
this room where the mirrors let nobody hide
where nobody speaking caught hold of her ears
kissed by her lovers and pierced by their jeers
Drawn by the bride-groom, suspended in praise
her heart came unraveled with one loving gaze
Where could she room now, her house all ablaze
Run to the wedding-feast and change her ways
Though everyone saw her, nobody looked
as she rode among them, her whole body booked
decked out in pearls, the wages of fame
rage of the girls, her stage wasn’t tame
flaunting her curls, PELAGIA her name

Bare head and shoulders and legs she ran
right into the bakery to look for a man
Pushing aside the grandmothers who swept
she found holy feet, hung on them, and wept
Oh, what a damaging love to display
scandal to snobbery, death to dismay
There nobody loved her but gave her away
in a font to her husband through the spray
Though everyone saw her, nobody looked
as she rode among them, her whole body booked
decked out in pearls, the wages of fame
rage of the girls, her stage wasn’t tame
flaunting her curls, PELAGIA her name

—Romanós

Be rocks

All the unpleasant things which are within your soul and cause you anxiety can become occasions for the glorification of God and cease to torment you. Have trust in God. Then you will forget your worries and become His instruments. Distress shows that we are not entrusting our life to Christ. Doesn’t St. Paul say, ‘We are afflicted on every side, but not distressed?’

Deal with everything with love, kindness, meekness, patience and humility. Be rocks. Let all the waves break over you and turn back leaving you untroubled. You’ll say, ‘That sounds fine, but is it possible?’ The answer is ‘Yes, always—with the grace of God.’ If we look at things in human terms, of course, it is impossible. But instead of affecting you adversely, all these things can be of benefit to you, increasing your patience and your faith. Because all the difficulties that surround us represent a kind of gymnastics for us. We exercise ourselves in patience and endurance.

Elder Porphyrios,Wounded by Love, page 145

“Remember who your teachers were…”
2 Timothy 3:14

In the night

Είδομεν το Φως το αληθινόν,
ελάβομεν Πνεύμα επουράνιον,
εύρομεν Πίστιν Αληθή
αδιαίρετον Τριάδα προσκυνούντες,
αυτή γάρ ημάς έσωσεν.

We have seen the Light the true,
we have received Spirit heavenly,
we have found Faith True,
undivided Triad worshiping,
for She us saved.

Literally, somewhat awkwardly in English translation, the sung testimony of my heart awakened me in the night, to heal the ligaments torn by the over-exercise of the will, the zeal of unwisdom, the factiousness of unfriendly friendship.

I now know for sure where the True Church lives, how it lives, why it is True, what Faith makes it true, what Light shines on it, in it, from it, and to it, Who it is I have believed in, what has been done to me and by Whom, and where my only Home is.

It is as the desert father has said, ‘Love is God.’ It is as the holy beloved evangelos of the Divine Word has proclaimed, ‘God is love.’ It is where, and only where, true peace and good will among men is, and can ever be, found. The True Church.

Of the Redeemed, of the Free, of those who do not eat the flesh of their brothers, whose fast is pure without fasting, whose wills are One, whose mind is One, in One, for One, to One, in perfect harmony, who do not rely on words written on paper, or unwritten.

The voice of strife does not disturb their rest, who have entered already into the peace of the Saints, who have paid the Cost of discipleship with acts and words of healing, whose Bread is to do the will of their Father who is in heaven, hidden from the world.

I thank you, Father, for hiding the True Church from the worldly wise, who rely on their own strength, their own wisdom, their pride of life, their standing on what they think is the Word of God but which is not the Foundation that no one can lay, because You have laid it.

I thank you, Christ, for You have saved us, beyond the works of men, for You have gone to prepare a place for us, You have returned with mansions, how deep, how broad, how high, in which we can dwell, whom the Father has drawn to You, the True Church, beyond war.

I thank You, Spirit, for where You are there is heaven, there is the paradise of the Saints, even now, where among us is the tabernacle of the Most High, where none can enter who have taken strong drink, but whose Drink You are, the True Light, the True Faith.

Now I know for sure, Holy, Unearthly, Divine Triad, where true Life alone is, true Fellowship, true Friendship, true Home, true Welcome and true Love, without name and number, beyond counting, weighing, beyond all human judgment.

Yes, Lord, and again I say ‘Yes,’ and I thank You, again and again, for Life Eternal, for the Light the True Light, for the Spirit the Heavenly Spirit, for the Faith the True Faith, for the Church the True Church, for that You, Undivided Triad, have saved us. We are Yours.

Miktam of David.

Look after me, God, I take shelter in You.

To Yahweh you say, ‘My Lord,
You are my fortune, nothing else but You,’
yet to those pagan deities in the land,
‘My princes, all my pleasure is in you.’

Their idols teem, after these they run:
shall I pour their blood libations?—not I!
Take their names on my lips?—never!

Yahweh, my heritage, my cup,
You, and You only, hold my lot secure;
the measuring line marks out delightful places for me,
for me the heritage is superb indeed.

I bless Yahweh, who is my counselor,
and in the night my inmost self instructs me…

Yes, in the night.

New and old

In our Christian life we have to strike a balance between following the tradition and creating it. Those who only follow tradition stifle the Spirit in them, pruning the buds and never harvesting the fruit. Those who only create tradition, uproot the tree altogether. But to follow tradition as well as create it is to be the ‘tree that is planted by water streams, yielding its fruit in season, its leaves never fading’ (Psalm 1:3). This is what Christ expects of us, what indeed happens to us as we follow Him. We are transformed into the steward ‘who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old’ (Matthew 13:32).

A Christian brother wrote, ‘Many years ago I was at a symposium on “Youth and the Church,” and a sociology professor had been asked to speak. He said that the church could play an important role in helping youth to adjust to the demands and values and mores of society. I asked him what if society’s values were wrong, and the youth were revolting against them. He got very emphatic, and said “Youth must adjust!” I almost expected him to throw up his right arm in a Nazi salute.’

I hope the professor's emphatic response was just a careless enthusiasm for his own ideas (such it often is), and that he did not intend to circumscribe so closely the idealism of youth. This is, unfortunately, how some in the Church feel, that youth (indeed anyone) must ‘adjust to the demands and values and mores of society.’ By this, of course, they mean the status quo of churchly life. These same people are adamant that one must consult one’s ‘spiritual father’ in everything, before making a single move in one’s life. For them, an act, even a thought, done without
‘authorization’ is at best foolish and at worst brazen pride. The independent spirit, to them, is pure sin. But I don’t think so.

Christ does not turn us into robots. He did not come to destroy tradition, but He frees us from its stranglehold. He calls us to follow Him, but that call always includes our free will and implies the right use of it—something that requires independence. If His call and our following does anything, it transforms us into creatures capable of, and desirous of, living for ever with Him. It charges us with an independence of spirit that even angels do not share.

Only the independent spirit can undo its will and enter into the life of the Holy Triad, where three wills are one will from eternity, without confusion, without disorder, but in total freedom. Often what shows as a submissive will is a mercenary subservience, brazen pride concealed under an outward humility in order to reign in splendor.

The Holy Tradition is the life of the Holy Triad as lived by the Church throughout the ages, and every cell in the Body of Christ is both nourished by it and nourishes it, every father is a son, every son a father, and like its outward sign, an Orthodox temple, the walls once white and empty fill up with ikons, generation after generation. To follow tradition as well as create it is to be the ‘tree that is planted by water streams, yielding its fruit in season, its leaves never fading’ (Psalm 1:3), and we can ‘know the tree by its fruit’ (Matthew 7:16).

Worship

This is an important topic, even today, even for people who are not religious, who don't even believe in God. The word itself is related to another word that people use a little more often—worthy. Worship has been explained as the movement of the mind, heart and will, the whole person really, to acknowledge something or someone as worthy. Is it an accident that the Greek words for ‘worthy’ and ‘holy’ are so similar? Axios, worthy, and Agios, holy. Perhaps not.

What we regard as worthy, we worship. Well, maybe not exactly, but almost. I remember as a young man, I was being trained in the operation of some sophisticated woodworking machinery—I was a cabinetmaker by trade—which my company had purchased in Germany at a trade show. The German company shipped the machines to us, and also a couple of men, one to install the machines for us, and later, another older man to train us in the operation of them.

Neither of these men spoke English, but I spoke German fluently, so it was my job to assist them and meanwhile learn from them all I could about the machines, in order to operate and maintain them, and teach others how to use them. The older of the two men was a very wise and intelligent mentor on many levels. I would bring him home with me to have supper with us each night. Before he left, I thanked him, and tried my best to let him know how much I appreciated him as a mentor.

‘Ich verehre Sie,’ I told him, using what I thought was the word for respect and honor. ‘Nee, nee, nee! Nicht verehren! Nur ehren, vielleicht!’ he responded emphatically but with a smile. ‘No, no, no, not adore, but maybe honor!’ Since that time my command of the language has improved, I know that adding ver- to a verb intensifies its meaning. How silly I felt at the time. I made a mistake out of ignorance, but many, including myself sometimes, make a similar mistake. We worship or adore what may only be honored or appreciated.

Here’s some Greek now. Eis Agios, eis Kyrios, Yisus Christos eis dhoxan Theou Patros. ‘One [is] Holy, One [is] Lord, Jesus Christ in [the] glory of God [the] Father.’ This is sung at every Orthodox liturgy, as a reminder to the faithful who or what is alone, not only Holy, but also worthy. Here's that similarity between the two words I pointed out earlier. We can speak of only One Holy, that is, God, and as for the rest of us, by His grace, we become worthy. He adds the ‘s’ from Sotiría, ‘salvation,’ to the word Agios, ‘holy,’ and calls us that, Axios, ‘worthy.’

Now here’s some Hebrew. Something like that happened to Abram and Sarai in the book of Genesis. After meeting with them, and blessing them with the promise of a child, the Lord changed their names, by adding a letter from the Divine Name YHWH to each of their names. Adding an ‘h’ to Abram, the name Abraham was formed. Adding an ‘h’ to Sarai, we have Sarah. The meaning of their new names? ‘Father of multitudes’ and ‘Princess.’ The Divine Nature never lets you go without taking away far more than you came with. Hence, we never approach without an offering.

That is worship.