I liked this Serbian Orthodox poster so well, that I inset the English translation provided, along with the poster itself, by Fr Milovan, and I am posting it here. For the original, click here. The resolution isn't too good, but the poster will zoom a bit larger if you click on it.Looking at the poster again closely for the fifteenth time, I am simply struck by how typically Orthodox the mother's instructions are, especially the "…go immediately—now!" I have heard this most of my life, not only from mothers, but fathers and others as well. It's this "no nonsense, just do it" attitude that has sheared off for me the frills and thrills of false religion and pretended piety. Our God is too loving and too immanent for us to just ignore Him. And when we respond to Him, well, like the little boy says (through wrongly) in the second frame of the cartoon, "my whole life is before me." That is when real life begins.
Great stuff. I find myself wondering if one of the thing that we allow to work against us is the fact that God is open 24/7.
ReplyDeleteIt can be easy to think, "well, I can always attend to prayer, and this friend is only available now."
or "I can read scripture any time, but Lost is on now." or "There will be time for God later, but right now I have to eat because I'm hungry." The net result is that I don't attend to God at all, and of course I am the worse for it.
That poster speaks the truth.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to neglect the Lord -- a huge temptation as we get caught up so often in this temporary world.
Jeff, interesting concept, that God is available 24/7 — but wait a minute! I am also available 24/7 — if Christ calls me.
ReplyDeleteYour examples have various instructions.
"Well, I can always attend to prayer, and this friend is only available now."
Yes, the instruction in this situation is probably, "Go and be with this friend, and pray later, or better yet, let your visit with him include a word of prayer! That way God is not left out of the situation at all, and you fulfill two commandments, "Love the Lord your God, and your neighbor as yourself." After all, didn't Christ say, "for on these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets"?
Another example, "I can read scripture any time, but Lost is on now."
No, the instruction in this situation is slightly different. It begins with a question. If you know that Lost (I assume this is a television show) is going to be on at a certain time, did you move your bible reading to an earlier point in your day, or did you leave it till the last moment, so you could use the excuse of having to watch the TV series to relieve you of your bible reading? Wait a minute? Is reading the bible less interesting than watching a TV show? This is another question you must ask yourself.
You see, things start getting too close for comfort. This is why I, personally, have given up entertainment, except in those cases when watching entertainment together with others provides a sharing experience, which often becomes a time of fellowship or even witness. Solo entertainment, as I have found out, is almost a form of self-abuse. Altho we need to unwind sometimes, man-made amusements tend to turn into addictions when used solo. If you must recreate alone, use something that God has made instead. Example? Getting out into nature. Or read a book to unwind (and that is the only form of man-made amusement or entertainment which I think can be used safely—can be, I didn't say will be, you still must be vigilant).
Your other example is like the poster, so I needn't say anything about that; it's pretty obvious.
The poster is not meant to guilt trip people into loving God and wanting more and more of Him. It's meant to challenge us to ask ourselves some basic questions. God never bullies nor does He use enchantments or enticements to draw people to Himself. He is always reasonable, open, fatherly, just as we would expect Him to be. The problem is all on our side. We think we can get away with not responding, pretending that we don't hear because in our heart of hearts we really don't think He can see.
Thanks for the comment.
Oh, and Always On Watch, I am always happy to have a fellow Infidel of either sex, but especially believers, visit my blog and leave a word or two. The difficulty of having to be vigilant against the aggression of Islam and still keep our focus on the Lord, that is a real challenge, which is why my stance is more of personal witness than of polemics. But if you visit my blog often enough, I think you know where I stand when push comes to shove.