Break a leg

Father Yakov Krotov left a post on his blog entitled Power and Personality, which was interesting, but the comment left by Argent Smith (pseudonym, "Agent" Smith, like in The Matrix?) was notorious. You can connect to the originals using the link above, but here's what these brothers in Russia wrote (slightly edited for English usage)…

Power and Personality

"Power corrupts," but what is corrupted by power, and what are the mechanisms of corruption?

When [Lord] Acton made this famous statement (describing the popes of the 16th century) there was no conception of feedback (or would another term is better?).

On the eve of human history lust for power corrupted a unique human quality: to live through mutuality, to put forth questions and receive answers.

There is a Russian expression "to tear out the legs" (nogi vyrvat'), meaning "to punish," or "to make one passive." Thus, the first and the last argument of power—tearing out legs of the disobedient.

To counterbalance this, man must wash the legs (or the feet) [nogi, same word in Russian] of one's own brother or sister, neighbor or enemy.

Some examples of such washing are known to historians.

Now here's what Argent Smith wrote…

This reminds me of a myth (?) very popular among charismatic legalists:

A true shepherd can break a leg of a sheep to prevent her from going the wrong way. And, of course, the shepherd then treats the poor, sick sheep, showing a true example of care and love.

Practical application of this myth:

1. "True pastors" would break all legs of all sheep to maintain control over them.

2. In Russia, this tradition is known as "kill the ram which thoughtfully watches the new gate—better you eat it than a wolf.

Where would we be without Judas?

I run the risk of alienating some with this title, though it is a 'matter of fact' question, and not intended to startle, shock or annoy. This question is not to be taken lightly either, because Judas Iscariot was, after all, one of Christ's disciples and, yes, even an apostle during His earthly ministry. Not only this, but Christ loved him as He loved His other followers, and He would lay down His life for him too, if he had only accepted it. "I have watched over them and not one is lost except the one who chose to be lost, and this was to fulfill the scriptures" (John 17:12 JB).

Yet, here's the mystery:
That someone whom Christ called, someone He loved, someone who loved (or thought he loved) Christ and even believed in Him, was capable of turning his back on the Light of the world, to go back to the darkness "spiritually called Sodom and Egypt" (Revelation 11:8), and sell the One he called his Master for a mere "30 shekels of silver" (Zechariah 11:12). How could anyone do such a thing, and why? The poetry of the Greek services blames it simply on avarice.
Could it be that simple, is it that simple, even today?

What I'm thinking about is this "spirit of Judas", if it can be named at all, and how it has followed us all through history since that Day like the proverbial Kartóphilos, the "wandering Jew," except that it's no Jew, but our Christian brother who sometimes worships with us one day and betrays us the other six.
Where would we be without him?

As a young man just born again in Christ, I was sent to work in a furniture factory where the conditions were extreme. (See Love without limits.) The man I worked under was a true Christian man and my first mentor, 32 years my senior. Working with him was an unlooked for blessing but, thank God, we worked together in an environment where co-worker abuse and even near homicidal violence often erupted. Thank God? Well, yes, thank God!

It was working there and living, sometimes, in fear of getting beaten up or ambushed on the way home (I rode the bus in those days), that began to draw my life into the Word of God, that filled the pages of the Book I carried with me everywhere every day with living words. It was living in "the world as a jungle" that opened the words of holy scripture to me, making me read about my own life in its pages so that, after so many years, I could honestly say, "my name is written on almost every page." Sometimes I still wonder, is that what is meant by saying our names are written in "the Lamb's Book of Life" (Revelation 13:8)?

Back to my question, where would we be without him?

I know a company where the good workers, the productive workers, are kept in subordinate positions and paid low wages. Periodically, they are called into closed door meetings by their supervisors, accused of misdemeanors (many of them unjustified or hearsay), and threatened with termination. Of course, these workers are never terminated, but they are bullied and humiliated so they don't dare to ask for raises or promotions, since they're conditioned by this treatment to consider themselves "lucky to have a job." This is, of course, criminal, but it's happening here in America and thoughout the world every day.

What really pains me is when it is managers who are or claim to be Christians, or who are non-practicing offspring of Christian parents, that do this bullying. I remember how disappointed I was the first time a Christian employee I had hired and mentored made a conscious choice to subordinate the Truth in a situation and fall in line with the corporate cult. I knew this happened to unbelievers, but I really had a hard time accepting that Christians could act this way. That incident happened years ago, and it's been repeated since then. I've historianed my memory, and I notice the pattern has always been there, in my lifetime, and throughout history. The "spirit of Judas" is still with us. But what for?

It squeezes us out of the world system, those of us who are trying "to keep our robes from being dirtied" (Revelation 3:4). It makes us "still hold firmly to Christ's name and not disown our faith in Him" (Revelation 2:13) even when we live or work "where Satan is enthroned". It gives us the opportunity to suffer with Christ, "to keep His commandment to endure trials" (Revelation 3:10), and thereby be kept "safe in the time of trial which is going to come for the whole world, to test the people of the world."

Right up to the end, to the last second of the last minute of the last day, the lure of riches will continue to seduce men, even those whom Christ has called.

"It is not those who say to me, 'Lord, Lord,' who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)

Church, where are you?

The title of this post is a question posed by a local Baptist pastor after returning from a trip to Israel. He asked it in a post entitled Some Final Thoughts Regarding My Journey. His question provoked a response that I'd like to share with you. The pastor may not have expected anyone to answer it, because it was probably rhetorical from his point of view. The answer he got to this question, whether he expected it or not, rings very true. What do you think?

Yes, amen! Church where are you?
But wait…which church are you talking about?

The Invisible Church has always believed, has always done the work of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, for the Three are in agreement.



The Invisible Church has NEVER CEASED to do that work.
Those of the body of the Invisible Church have maintained the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is the spirit of prophecy.

The Invisible Church encompasses that mighty construct, that institution, the Visible Church.
Is it just now that that institution is waking from its slumber?

The Institution turns to new movements, new strategies, calling them “emergent” and “missional” and “intentional” and “emertional”, when the whole time the Invisible Church has been quietly working.

You have not found something new, no; perhaps you have just now noticed what has been going on outside the worship centers since the time of the Apostles.

If the church has ever ceased to believe and do the will of the Father, then Christ has failed, which is impossible.


No, even if all the churches were dead organisms, Christ would still have two or three doing the work somewhere.
He wastes nothing.


If 500 are gathered, He uses it.
If one is testifying, presenting the gospel to another, He uses that.
He is never more present with the 500 than with the one, for the one is often the sole person in prison somewhere for their testimony, like Antipas, the faithful witness who was put to death in that city where Satan lived, Pergamum.

The one is often the elderly widow, who retires to her bedroom, shutting the door to pray alone, lifting up the saints everywhere in intercession.

The sole person is even the young spry man who helps the wheelchair-bound retrieve a pack of bottled water from the top shelf at “Freddies”.

The work of Christ is active, whether we see it or not.
Messiah, raised in power, never ceases to work through His Bride.
Whether we labor or sleep, planted seeds grow.

The goal is to plant the seed, and then God can work.
If no seed is sown, nothing is reaped.

Taking it further, it seems the Visible Church has plunged into social issues.

Is feeding the hungry a must?
Yes, but IT IS the by-product of living a Spirit-filled life.

Does the gospel take
the back seat?
What difference does it make if we feed bread to the starving today, so that they might live today, though die the next, the whole time withholding from them, today, the Bread of Life, the bread that satisfies eternal starvation?

Those good deeds are in vain.
Anyone can feed the poor, the poor we will have with us always.

But what is needed to present the Good news?
The Spirit-filled church.

Feed them both breads!
The Bread of Life first, even together!

The message must be presented, clearly and straight, so that others can make an intelligent decision. If they reject it, so be it. At least it was presented.

Let them eat the physical bread still, perhaps they’ll have a change of heart tomorrow and feast on the Bread of Life.


Is a life in Darfur, a poor, helpless child, any more valuable than the rich, retired neighbor next door, who has everything but salvation?

Does God see one as more valuable than the other? Should we?

Who ended up in the fire, Lazarus or the Rich man?
The beggar or Dives?

The testimonies for the Churches are contained in the first 3 chapters of the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ, the Revelation.
He, who has ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches.

My question is:
Institutional Church, where are you?

These associations cannot seem to leave the walls
they were created in.

No turning back

Who is this Man?

The discussion of Muslim versus Christian beliefs is irresolvable, because it demands that one side admit that the other is right and then cease to exist, like the meeting of matter and anti-matter.

If there were a real resolution other than mere peaceful co-existence between Islam and the faith of the Bible, I think we would have found it by now, after fourteen centuries. But this is simply not a resolvable issue. To bring up the differences at all is, I think, asking for trouble. One or the other faith is a fabrication. And if there is a place where being wrong is more dangerous than this one, tell me about it.

We can all start out being "nice" to each other, that is, to people of different faiths. We can call our viewpoints "faith traditions" as it is fashionable to do now in the ecumenical movement within Christianity. That's possibly very dangerous, even within Christianity, because we're using humanistic humdrum like "faith traditions" to cover up real differences that can come back and bite us.

But when we're dealing with any belief system that denies that Jesus is the Christ, it's best to just be honest and give our testimony. We can still be friends, and even brothers on the human level, and live in hope of the salvation of those who now deny Christ. But it's just 'soft soap and wishful thinking' and 'boys' philosophy,' as C.S. Lewis says, when we try to make people comfortable with things that should make them very un-comfortable.

If followers of Jesus were more willing to speak the Truth in love instead of abdicating and compromising with the world, maybe even suffering, maybe even dying for their truthful testimony, then maybe at least some of the Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Baha'is, Buddhists and others would see the suffering of Christ (in our suffering) and turn to Him and be saved.

This is the hard Rock of Truth.
Let's not be wishy-washy and make our home in a sand castle.

I don't go looking for opportunities to offend, as you should know, but if the Lord gives me a word for someone, I try not to hold back.
I spent the first 50-odd years of my life doing that. That's over and done with now, come what may, no turning back.

The bottom line is that it really is love for my brothers that forces me to speak, and not some dogmatic obsession or triumphal attitude. You should know that, if you know me at all from my testimonies.

Our First-Foremother Eve

"A picture is worth a thousand words," or so they say. It is well-known that the Orthodox are distinct from the rest of Christendom by our icons. These pictures are painted, I mean, written by artists who are fasting and praying and working with God to reveal in paint what God is speaking in His Word, the Bible. That is the standard, though it is not always the case. Many icons are simply painted by artists, who knows whether they're fasting and praying or not. Fortunately, though, as long as these are following the models provided by true writers of icons, their work will not deviate. So, that being said, I just wanted to share with my friends the icon above. If you click on it, it will enlarge and let you see the details. What was handed over to me regarding icons is, if the event didn't happen, the icon would not have been written. To some, this may seem to be putting the cart before the horse, to say that an icon portrays something, therefore it must be true. But that's what we believe. Most icons portray Bible events from Old and New Testaments, or historical events from the first Christian century onwards.

What can we tell from this icon?

Well, first off, Jesus Christ is the one who put Adam to sleep, so that Eve could be taken from his side. Although God the Father is the "Creator of heaven and earth," as we have it in the Symbol of Nicaea, it is "through Him [the Son, the divine Logos or Word of God] that all things were made." That's why you will always see Jesus in icons of the creation, and in the Garden of Eden. As the Bible says, "No one has ever seen God; it is the Only Son, who is nearest to the Father's heart, who has made Him known." (John 1:18, Jerusalem Bible).

In the exact center of the icon sits a naked man, Adam the First-Created. Notice, he looks just like Jesus! This is no coincidence. Adam was, before the fall, perfect Man, an undistorted image of the Father. (Notice the ray of light falling on him from the Father.) Since we have no other picture of what the Father looks like except Jesus (see John 14:9), iconographers (icon-writers) always paint Adam as they paint Jesus, who was and is perfect Man, though He is more than that, He is theánthropos, God-Man. It may seem a trivial detail to some, but to us, seeing Adam portrayed this way reminds us that as God created us, and as He wants us to be when we are restored to Him, is like Jesus. In the left panel of the icon, by the way, Adam is shown naming the creatures. (Notice the raptor on the far left!)

On the far right sits Jesus Christ on a throne. I hope I don't have to explain that there are imaginative and symbolic elements in icons. I mean, we don't think that there really was a throne that He sat on while He operated on the sleeping Adam. There is much in the Bible that cannot be depicted visually, except by resorting to symbolism. The symbolism, however, cannot contradict the plain words of scripture or the broad view provided by Orthodox theology. An intentional deviation in writing an icon is almost as perverse as intentionally mis-translating or mis-quoting the Bible. Why? Because the Orthodox regard icons as visual scripture. Not exactly of the same authority as the Bible, but (as we might call it) a paraphrase for the eyes. Are there "bad" icons? Well, uh, yes, but I don't want to get into that right now, other than to say, a bad icon is simply not an icon at all.

What about our First-Foremother Eve?

Well, back to the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words." This subject, too, is one which transcends the ability of mankind to visualise factually. We can do no better than the Word of God does, we can only write in an icon what we find written in the Bible, "So YHWH God made the man fall into a deep sleep. And while he slept, He took one of his ribs and enclosed it in flesh." (Genesis 2:21 JB) Admittedly, the iconographer has "smoothed over" the mechanical aspect of the operation, probably because it could not be shown that way. But if not factual, the icon portrays an actual truth—God took woman out of man. Beyond that we have no other knowledge.

This too belongs to the category we call the mystírion. And this is something not to be doubted, but accepted in simplicity. It is by our simple acceptance of the plain words of divine Scripture that we are instructed by the Holy Spirit in those matters that "no tongue can utter." We are allowed into the realm of the mystírion.

"The way into the Holy Scriptures is low and humble, but inside the vault is high and veiled in mysteries." (Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, Ch. 3)

By the way, where is this icon?

This icon is in Saint Basil's Greek Orthodox Church, Chicago, Illinois. It is literally wrapped around the curved front of the pulpit at the front of the sanctuary.

Saint Basil's is unusual in that it got its start in a synagogue. Built in 1911 as the Anshe Shalom Temple, it was originally a house of worship for Yiddish-speaking Polish Jews. In 1927 that congregation merged with another, and the Greek community purchased the building and consecrated it as an Orthodox Christian church. Though the iconography and furnishings are Orthodox Christian, there remain many reminders of its use as an Orthodox Jewish synagogue—the pews have seats that swing open to store prayer shawls and their ends are carved with replicas of the tablets of the Law, the balcony was constructed for the use of female worshippers (who worship separately from the males, as in some Orthodox Christian churches), and three hand-blown stained glass windows still adorn the balcony and are often visited by Orthodox Jews who want to see them. There are also the faint outlines of Hebrew inscriptions on the entablature below the central pediment. If you are in Chicago, go take a look!

Everything, except for true love, is an illusion…

Everything, except true love, is an illusion.

If a friend behaves coldly, rudely, spitefully, insolently to you, say: "This is an illusion from the enemy."

If a feeling of enmity, arising from your friend's coldness and insolence, disturbs you, say: "This is an illusion of mine, but the truth is, that I love my friend, in spite of everything, and I do not wish to see evil in him, which is an illusion of the demon, and which is in me also. I will be indulgent to his faults, for they are in me also. We have the same sinful nature."

Fr John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ

They looked up

Christian Orthodoxy can be annoyingly vital sometimes, especially in the context of worship. For all the ceremony, lightning flashes of Divinity, of God's audacious and holy Spirit, will keep touching down in our midst, unpredictably but consistently, when we least expect Him but need Him most, and anyone of us can be the conductor of that awesome and Divine power. Today it was Fr Jerry's turn. Not only in the sermon which is the meat of my post, but in his humble and Christ-loving prayer, this genuine follower of Jesus by the simplicity of his personal faith, truly mediated to us by his every action the mystírion of God in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

Fr Jerry's sermon might be too long for a post, but I want to share with my readers and visitors to my blog, the following passages that lit me up. In some of the things he says, he was drawing on the words of Fr Alexander Schmemann, an Orthodox theologian, but because of his heartfelt delivery, I would say that Fr Jerry has made all these words his own. Here they are…

Either Christ is risen or He is not risen, one or the other!
If He IS risen… this unheard of victory over death actually occurred… everything in the world truly has become different and new, whether people know it or not.
…We as believers …are responsible that others should know and believe that they should see, hear and enter into this victory and joy.

The first Christians called their faith not a religion, but the Good News, which it was their purpose in the world to spread and proclaim. They knew and believed that Christ's resurrection was not merely the occasion for an annual feast, but the source of powerful and transfigured life. What they heard whispered, they shouted from the housetops!

"Yes, but what can I do?" my sober and realistic reason responds. "How can I proclaim or shout or witness? I, who am just a powerless, little grain of sand lost among the masses?"

But this objection by reason and "sound mind" is a lie, perhaps the most terrible and demonic lie of today's world. This world has somehow convinced us that strength and significance come only through large numbers, multitudes, and the masses. What can one person do against everyone else?

Yet, it is right here…
Christianity affirms that one person can be stronger than everyone else, and this affirmation is precisely the Good News of Christ.

This is truly the image of Christ—
a man with no authority, no hostility, and no earthly power whatsoever.
One man! Forsaken, betrayed, cast aside by all, but—victorious!

What would happen if each of us… forgetting about… numbers, multitudes, and masses, were to transmit this joy and this faith to just one other person, were to touch just one other human soul? If this faith and joy were secretly present in every conversation, even the most unimportant, in the sober realities of our daily life, they would immediately begin, here and now, today to transfigure the world, and life.

Christ said, "The Kingdom of God is coming not with signs to be observed." (Luke 17:20 NASB)
The Kingdom of God comes with power, with light, with life, and with victory, each and every time I and every believer carry it with us from the church into the world, and begin to live by it in our own lives.

"Now when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salomé bought spices, that they might come and annoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, 'Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?' But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, for it was very large."
(Mark 16:1-4)

They looked up!
With the fear of God, with faith and love, they drew near
and they looked up!

The Gospel of the Myrrh-bearing Women is a great example of THIS reality—That despite how large the stone is, we need only to approach with the fear of God, with faith and love, and God will roll away the stone.

We can't resign and give in to the problems at hand and say, "It's too difficult!" because the reality is, God has made ready the way for us to travel. Invisibly present, He walks in front of us. If we follow Him… the moment will come when… we will attain an unshakeable certainty of His presence in our lives.

…We know and believe that there is more than suffering, there is more than sorrow and death.
There is God's grace.
There is God's love.
There is God's power.
There is God's eternal life.
There is God's victory over death in Jesus Christ.

Brothers, you should've been there! Fr Jerry ended his homily the same way John Chrysostom ended his homily on Pascha, with a shouting session! This is an example of what I meant when I wrote earlier that "Christian Orthodoxy can be annoyingly vital sometimes." With his last few words, Fr Jerry drew a shouted response from the hearers. This is how it went…

Christ is risen!
[The hearers shouted back, "He is truly risen!" each time.]
And we have the power to live Easter lives!
Christ is risen! [He is truly risen!]
And we can be transmitters of this joy to others!
Christ is risen! [He is truly risen!]
And we can touch the souls of others!
Christ is risen! [He is truly risen!]
And the Kingdom of God comes with power!
Christ is risen! [He is truly risen!]
And together we can transfigure the world and life!
Amen!

ο Ζων – The Living One

Click on this icon to mega-size it!

και ο ζων και εγενομην νεκρος και ιδου ζων ειμι εις τους αιωνας των αιωνων αμην και εχω τας κλεις του θανατου και του αδου

I am the Living One, I was dead and now I am to live for ever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and the underworld.

Αποκαλυψις / Revelation 1:18

It is the evening of Great Monday, and I will be leaving shortly to participate in the 2nd Nymphíos service, where we worship the Lord Jesus as Bridegroom of the Church. I was not intending to blog during this time, but I just follow the call day by day, my own ideas take second place. My testimony is about the Living One.

The resurrected Jesus is not a religious experience to me, nor is He an idea that I have to work hard to focus on. No, His presence as the Living One presses always on me, so it isn't a matter for belief or doubt. Sometimes, it's hard for me to focus on anything else.

Earlier today I read this phrase in a friend's blog, speaking of discipleship "how does this work in practice with a dead (excuse me: resurrected and metaphysically present, but undoubtedly not physically available) teacher?" I couldn't believe my eyes to read that Christ could be called a dead teacher. With all due respect to my friend, I think it was an awkward slip of the pen, perhaps. I don't think he meant to call Jesus a dead teacher. Call Jesus anything but that! But it made me wonder about other things I've seen, such as the WWJD bracelets. "What would Jesus do?" implies that He is seen only as a historical figure.

Christians! Jesus was dead, yes, as He Himself admits in the passage quoted above, but long before any of us reading this were born, He was already and for ever the Living One. If He doesn't appear to you that way, at least try to remember that it's true, else you may live your whole life as though His rising from the dead never happened.

But "Christ is risen from the dead, by death trampling down death, and to those in the tombs bestowing life!"

Kali anástasi! Beautiful resurrection!

This year in Jerusalem…

…I wish! At the end of the Passover Seder, we will pray, "O Pure One, Who dwells on high, raise up the countless congregation, soon—guide the offshoots of Your plants, redeemed, to Zion with glad song. Next year in Jerusalem!"

Tomorrow, Monday evening, they tell me, is the first evening of Pesach, the Jewish Passover. We used to observe Pesach with a Seder at our house while our four sons were growing up. Sometimes with guests, sometimes not, but an extra seat was always ready for the unexpected guest… may it be holy prophet Elijah! We haven't observed Pesach as a family for many years now. You see, we're Greek Orthodox, and we're not supposed to. Oh well, nobody said we couldn't! I miss it, nonetheless.

This year an unusual concurrence of Jewish Passover (starts Monday evening), Greek Pascha (the first Bridegroom service of Great Week was tonight, I just returned from it), and Latin Easter (what Roman Catholics and all other Christians observe) happens during the week between April 1st and 8th (or a few days later, because Jewish Passover lasts a bit longer). That's why I'm calling this article "This year in Jerusalem." Thinking about this made me wonder what it will be like in Jerusalem this year. I wonder how the holy fire will appear in the kouvouklion (tomb of Christ) inside the Anastasis (Resurrection) Church, what Latins call the "Church of the Holy Sepulchre." Who will get to go inside, when Greeks and Latins venerate the resurrection of Jesus on the same day? They must take turns. But, as for the holy fire…

In case any of my friends and readers in the Portland area find this post, I want to encourage them to experience at least some of the many daily services of Great and Holy Week. This invitation is to all, but particularly to my evangelical Christian friends. The service tonight, for example, was beautiful and edifying in every detail. We venerated Christ the Bridegroom, and we heard the gospel story of His withering of the fig tree. We also commemorated Joseph son of Jacob, called in Greek "pankalos", the "all-beautiful":

"Jacob lamented the loss of Joseph, but his noble son was seated in a chariot and honored as a king; for when he refused to be enslaved by the fascinations of the Egyptian woman, he was glorified by Him Who beholds the hearts of men and bestows an incorruptible crown." [Kontakion]

"Let us now add our lamentations to him who laments, and let us pour out our tears with those of Jacob bewailing his glorious and wise son. For Joseph, though enslaved in body, preserved his soul in freedom and became lord over all Egypt. For God prepares for His servants an incorruptible crown." [Ikos]

And as to us, we sang tonight these words paraphrasing the words of our Savior Jesus:

"All the powers of the hosts of the Gentiles shall be ranged against you, for My portion is not with the minds of rulers nor with their authority. He therefore who would be chief among you, let him be the servant of all; and knowing Me as your Lord, sing praises, and exalt unto all ages." [Troparion]

To everyone, I extend well wishes for a blessed Pascha, happy Pesach, and joyous Easter.
I think I won't be on the internet much this week, for obvious reasons.

"Let us sing unto the Lord, Who by His divine command dried up the impassable and foaming sea, and permitted the people of Israel to pass through on foot; for gloriously has He been glorified."
[1st Ode, 2nd Tone, Irmos, from the 1st Bridegroom service]

The Ten Plagues, the Annunciation, but what do You believe?

For my 56th birthday, I received a beautiful, leather-bound NIV study bible. After reading it here and there, checking the commentaries and notes, and finding them reasonably reliable, I settled down with a serious study of the book of Exodus/Shemoth. This book has always represented for me the beginning of my life in Christ. After youthful years of wandering, I was brought back to the Living God by reading this passage in the Jerusalem Bible:
Then Moses said to God, “I am to go, then, to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ But if they ask me what his name is, what am I to tell them?” And God said to Moses, “I Am who I Am. This,” he added, “is what you must say to the sons of Israel: ‘I Am has sent me to you.’” And God also said to Moses, “You are to say to the sons of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name for all time; by this name I shall be invoked for all generations to come.Exodus 3:13-15 JB

So, spiritually then, I had to become first a Jew, before I could fully return to Jesus the Jewish Messiah. Meeting Him first in YHWH, Yod-hey-vav-hey, Yahweh, Him who Is, the Living God of my fathers, it wasn’t lost on me that ‘the God of’ was repeated three times, nor that earlier, in Genesis/Bereshith, God as Elohim (the plural of El, “God”) spoke to someone, “Let us make man in our own image” (Genesis 1:26). I was ‘born a Christian, and I was going to die a Christian,’ I guessed. This was already decided, because ‘God is faithful’ (2 Timothy 2:13).

Back to the topic, so I’ve been studying Exodus, and when I came to the Ten Plagues which YHWH inflicted on Egypt to induce Pharaoh to ‘let His people go,’ and read the study notes, I was surprised to find this kind of commentary:

7:17 the water of the Nile… will be changed into blood. There is some reason to believe that the first nine plagues may have been a series of unprecedented intensifications of events that were part of the Egyptian experience, events that in their more usual form did not have anything like the catastrophic effects of the disasters God brought on Egypt… If that was the case, the first plague may have resulted from an unparalleled quantity of red sediment being washed down from Ethiopia during the annual flooding of the Nile in late summer…
Following this train of thought, similar explanations of ‘what may have been the case’ were presented in the notes as each of the Ten Plagues was recounted. I expected that a good commentary on scripture, especially when it’s published in the Bible, would leave alone this kind of speculation. If I were a new Christian, reading this kind of thing might prepare me to regard the Word of God as something to pick apart in the same way, instead of letting the Word pick me apart. In my case, by means of studying the Word and letting it interpret itself to me and mould my thinking for over 30 years of living within the Church enclosure, I am able to ‘pass over’ these glosses and accept them for what they’re worth. Still, they demonstrate ‘what’s out there,’ a culture of speculation and human thinking that is suffocating the Church.‘Miracles just don’t really happen.’
Today is Evangelismós, the annual commemoration of the Good News, the announcement to a virgin in Israel that YHWH the Holy One, blessed be He, had selected her to be the mother of the Messiah. (Happy name day, Evángelos!)
For us Orthodox Christians, understanding this historical event helps put Mary the Theotókos in right perspective—she is the first Christian, the first to hear the Good News and to receive it, “Let what you have said be done to me” (Luke 1:38 JB). Her cooperation ‘got the ball rolling.’ In the same way, according to Archimandrite Vasileios, by our cooperation with the Good News we also become theotókoi (God-bearers), incarnators of the Word. Anything beyond this becomes speculation. But one thing is for sure, it really happened! It was miracle, pure and simple. Thankfully, the comments in my new study bible were ‘orthodox,’ they did not introduce any speculation. It still leaves me wondering, why is an Old Testament miracle open to naturalistic explanation, and not this?
Why talk about the Ten Plagues and the Annunciation in the same breath? Are they related somehow?
Well, yes, they are. They are both instances of God’s direct intervention in human history, where He bypasses the zigzag of interlocking events and renews His creation through a rent in the curtain of existence ‘with the lightning flash of His divinity,’ tí astrapí tís theótitos (Resurrectional Apolytikion, 2nd Tone). They are both ‘miracle,’ and they are both liberating. The world system, the kósmos, has a hard time dealing with these. It neither wants nor needs them. It will do anything to explain them away.
But what do you believe?
At this time of the year we have a curious concurrence of the main holy days of two ancient faiths, Judaism and Christianity. For Jews, Pesach, Passover, the feast of freedom, the commemoration of their liberation from slavery and Egypt, the historical event that defines them as God’s people. For Christians, Pascha, Passover, the feast of freedom, the commemoration of their liberation from sin and death, the historical event that defines them as God’s people.
Wait a minute! What’s wrong with these statements? Why do they seem so similar? Is there some mistake, or are we really talking about the same thing? Didn’t you mean to say ‘Easter’ when you said ‘Pascha, Passover?’
No, not really. There’s only one Living God, the Holy One of Israel, blessed be He, and “He is the One who will justify the circumcised because of their faith and justify the uncircumcised through their faith” (Romans 3:30 JB). The Church was never intended to deviate from Judaism. At this point, I should probably just direct you back to the Word of God, to holy apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, particularly chapters 9, 10 and 11. Why have I written down these thoughts of mine at all?

Because, Israel the old and Israel the new, ‘the time is very close’ (Revelation 1:3). The time is very close for your coming back together again, where ‘there will be one flock and one shepherd’ (John 10:16). Messiah is coming. “The One who guarantees these revelations repeats His promise: I shall indeed be with you soon” (Revelation 22:20 JB).

But what do you believe?

What have you come for?

Let us look to ourselves and be sober, brothers.
Who will give us back this present time if we waste it?
If we actually had to seek these days we would not have found them.

Abba Arsenios was always saying to himself, "Arsenios, what have you come for?"

We are in such a negligent and ruinous condition that we don't know why we have come; we don't know even what we want and, therefore, we make no progress, but we are always distressed.

This comes about because we have no set purpose in our hearts and actually if we were to resolve to fight a little, in a short time we should not find life distressing or laborious.
For if from the beginning a man does violence to himself and struggles with himself a little in a short time he makes progress and afterwards he goes on peacefully, when God seeing that he does violence to himself, brings him help.

We must, then, do ourselves violence. Let us lay down a good foundation, let us meanwhile desire what is good.

—Abba Dorotheos of Gaza

The Lorica of Saint Patrick

Patrick made this hymn: in the time of Loegaire macNeill it was made, and the cause of its composition was for the protection of himself and his monks against the deadly enemies that lay in ambush for the clerics. And it is a lorica of faith for the protection of body and soul against demons and men and vices.

I arise today in vast might,
in vocation of the Trinity,
belief in a Threeness,
confession of Oneness,
towards the Creator.

I arise today
in the might of Christ’s Birth & His Baptism,
in the might of His Crucifixion & Burial,
in the might of His Resurrection & Ascension,
in the might of His Descent to the Judgment of Doom.

I arise today
in the might of the order of Cherubim,
in obedience of angels,
in ministrations of Archangels,
in hope of resurrection for the sake of reward;
in prayers of Patriarchs,
in predictions of Prophets,
in preachings of Apostles,
in faith of Confessors,
in innocence of Holy virgins,
in deeds of Righteous men.

I arise today
in the might of Heaven,
brightness of Sun,
whiteness of Snow,
splendor of Fire,
speed of Lightning,
swiftness of Wind,
depth of Sea,
stability of Earth,
firmness of Rock.

I arise today
in the Might of God for my piloting,
Power of God for my upholding,
Wisdom of God for my guidance,
Eye of God for my foresight,
Ear of God for my hearing,
Word of God for my utterance,
Hand of God for my guardianship,
Path of God for my precedence,
Shield of God for my protection,
Host of God for my salvation,
Against snares of demons!
Against allurement of vices!
Against solicitations of nature!
Against every person that wishes me ill,
far and near, alone and in a crowd!

I invoke therefore all these forces
against every fierce, merciless force
that may come against my body and my soul:
Against incantations of false prophets!
Against black laws of paganism!
Against false laws of heresy!
Against encompassment of idolatry!
Against spells of seductresses,
tinkers and druids!
Against all knowledge that is forbidden
the human soul!

Christ for my guardianship today
against poison,
against burning,
against drowning,
against wounding,
that there may come to me a multitude of rewards.
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ under me,
Christ over me,
Christ to right of me,
Christ to left of me,
Christ in lying down,
Christ in sitting,
Christ in rising up.
Christ in the heart of every person who may think of me,
Christ in the mouth of every person who may speak to me,
Christ in every eye which may look on me,
Christ in every ear which may hear me.

I arise today in vast might,
in vocation of the Trinity,
belief in a Threeness,
confession of Oneness,
meeting in the Creator.

Salvation is of the Lord,
Salvation is from the Lord,
Salvation is in Christ!
May we always remain in Your Salvation, O Lord!
Amen!

Click HERE for a PDF pamphlet of this powerful prayer.

Τον σταυρον σου προσκυνουμεν, Δεσποτα

Ton stavrón sou proskinoúmen, Dhéspota, "we venerate your cross, O Master," is the first line of one of the two hymns of this third kyriakí (Sunday) of the "forty days" fast before Pascha. The rest of the hymn, kai tín aghían sou anástasin dhoxazómen, "and we glorify your holy resurrection," reminds us of the inseparability of suffering and resurrection.

Notice, I didn't say "death and resurrection," because Christ our passover has been sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7), has tasted death for all mankind (Hebrews 2:9), He suffered and was buried, on the third day He rose from the dead (Symbol of Nicæa) and so His work is finished, for us. We may have to suffer, but He has taken our place by His death. Now, for us who keep His Word, we will not see death (John 8:51).

I've always considered the procession of the cross on this day visually anti-climactic. We Greeks place a small brass hand cross in the center of what looks like a pizza pan heaped with daffodils, with three white candles around the cross, dwarfing it. One of the priests carries this display aloft above his head, while the priests, deacons and servers process around the inside perimeter of the temple. Meanwhile, we are kneeling and singing, Aghios o Theós… (Holy God…). This time, the procession moved very quickly and arrived at the small table in front of the icon wall before I had time to even take 40 winks on my knees. When they laid the display on the table, the priests performed prostrations in front of it, while we sang the hymn that is the title of this post. These ceremonies are definitely out of the deep past. Somehow, the theme of the service was lost for me in the ceremony, swallowed up in floral irrelevance. Thankfully, Fr. Jerry preached a straight and strong word that cut through the spiritual materialism of the ritual.

The cross.
I used to wear a cross once.
All Orthodox are supposed to wear the cross they received at baptism.
That original cross of mine is packed away among my memorabilia, I hope.
I did wear a cross for at least 20 years of my adult Christian life—the cross of San Damiano, an ancient icon painted by Serbian Orthodox monks that found its way into a small church in central Italy, dating from the days when Italy was still an Orthodox land.
The cross of San Damiano was the icon from which Christ spoke to Francesco of Assisi, "Repair My Church which, as you can see, is lying in ruins."
I stopped wearing my cross because it was worn out, and because at some point, my cross changed from something metallic and detachable, to being a part of me, something others can't see, something I can never take off. When I knew that for sure, that I was bearing my cross, then I didn't have to wear it.

The cross is something you can't really talk about, when it's the reality of your life. All the jabber and blab about the cross, however eloquent, is still just words. To enter into the reality of the cross is a gift of God. When He grants it to you to suffer, and to suffer in ways you never knew existed, then there is no longer an image outside yourself that really stands for anything much. The whole panoply of Orthodox iconography, in fact, dies away into mere imagery, when the cross is your life. I know I wanted to communicate something in this post, but it isn't really possible, I know that now.

But crossbearers know each other.
Their sanctuary is the time and place where in this world they meet for even a moment, their communion is feeding each other with the broken fragments of their lives that Christ has taken to Himself and returned to them, "This is My Body broken for you."

So, the Greek service seems anti-climactic to me? What did I expect? Arthur Blessitt dragging a big wooden cross on wheels from city to city across the world, to drop by at my church this day?
No matter how big the visual cross, whether it's empty, plain wood, or has an icon of Jesus on it, whether the ceremony were slow and awe-inspiring, or the quick, efficient march that we actually experienced today, it would be the same. It can never compare to the reality of being pressed like raw dough with the seal of the true cross, so as to be baked in the oven of tribulations, to come out as pure communion bread. That's our life in Christ, broken but not divided, eaten but not consumed. Christ is in our midst. He is, and ever shall be.

Καλο Πασχα! Kaló Páscha! See you at Pascha!

Land of the Salt-Free God

Well, here it is, the first real Spring day for the year in Portland, and I, sitting on the front patio in an adirondack that has finally dried out after (it seems) weeks of mist and rain, am reading an ‘other book’ cover to cover (it's a short one, 119 pages without the appendix and index), with almost as much joy as I felt taking my daily dose of peppermint-flavoured cod-liver oil as a 6 year old child growing up in Chicago. Yes, I sometimes do read books other than the Bible, but not many.

This is a book I have been meaning to buy and read for maybe a year, One Flew Over the Onion Dome, by Fr. Joseph Huneycutt. The book is about American converts to Orthodox Christianity. While it's an easy read, there's much in it I don't agree with, don't understand, or don't find applicable to Orthodoxy where I live, but this one passage, I think, is worthy, and I'd like to share it. It's from Chapter 12, Land of the Salt-Free God.

The media is constantly bombarding us with a low salt version of God. This god requires nothing of followers and is not offended by any lack of morality. This god preserves nothing—not the faith, nor the faithful. This god is not the God of Revelation. Rather, this salt-free god is the god of human secularism. There is no Hell; Heaven is for everyone. All you have to do to be glorified by the salt-free god is to live and die. This is the god that the Culture of Death serves.

The salt-free god, who stands for nothing holy and heavenly, encourages you to live life as if there were no tomorrow. When, however, tomorrow arrives and you are in pain, this god will painlessly help you to end it all. Thus, having served this god fully all your days, spending your time in a stupor full of all the comforts of modern life, you pass quietly into the salt-free heaven (which is non-judgmental) full of even more joys than you saturated yourself with while on earth. All of this is painless, sacrifice-less, and salt-free. (It can even be seen in some churches where the culture—Greek, Russian, Arab, etc.—is preserved while the Orthodox Faith is sacrificed.)

The seduction of the false god is everywhere, as it has been since the Fall of Adam and Eve. Yet, this is not the God whom we serve. Rather, at the end of Vespers and Matins services, Orthodox Christians sing:

Preserve, O God, the Holy Orthodox Faith,
and all Orthodox Christians, unto ages of ages!

We are singing about salt. We are singing to the Almighty God and King who gives salt and light and all good things to preserve the hearts and minds of His most precious creation: you, me, all mankind. Preserve, preserve, preserve! God, how we need salt in America! Though it stings our wounds, it heals our infirmities. Though it restricts our hedonism, it preserves our godliness. It sweetens our speech and limits our gossip. It gladdens the heart of man and is pleasing to God. Without it we become lifeless, faithless—godless.

Americans are so concerned about physical diets. What about spiritual nutrients?

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

(Matthew 10:28)

No, it is not the salt-free god that we should fear. Rather, with fear of God and faith and love let us draw near to the God of salt. Let us cling to Him Who preserves us as His own. Let us live our lives as the salt of the earth—to the Glory of God—for our salvation and the sake of all mankind.

Fr. Joseph David Huneycutt

A true Christian

A true Christian is made by faith and love toward Christ. Our sins do not in the least hinder our Christianity according to the word of the Savior Himself. He deigned to say, Not the righteous have I come to call, but sinners to salvation; there is more joy in heaven over one who repents than over ninety righteous ones. Likewise, concerning the sinful woman who touched His feet, He deigned to say to the Pharisee, Simon, To one who has love, a great debt is forgiven, but from one who has no love, even a small debt will be demanded. From these judgments a Christian should bring himself to hope and joy, and not in the least accept an inflicted despair. Here one needs the shield of faith.

Sin, to one who loves God, is nothing other than an arrow from the enemy in battle. The true Christian is a warrior fighting his way through the regiments of the unseen enemy to his heavenly homeland. According to the word of the Apostle, our homeland is in heaven and about the warrior he says, our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spirits of wickedness under heaven, (Eph 6:12). The vain desires of this world separate us from our homeland; love of them, and habit, clothes our soul as if in a hideous garment. This is called by the Apostles, “the outward man.”

We, traveling on the journey of this life and calling on God to help us, ought to be divesting ourselves of this hideous garment and clothing ourselves in new desires, in a new love of the age to come, and thereby to receive knowledge of how near or how far we are from our heavenly homeland. But it is not possible to do this quickly; rather one must follow the example of sick people, who, wishing the desired health, do not leave off seeking means to cure themselves.

—Herman of Alaska

Patron saints of marriage

I realise that calling the 40 martyrs of Sebaste the "patron saints of marriage" might be stretching the case a bit—mainly because the concept of "patron saint" carries a lot of superstitious baggage with it—but these are the saints that are commemorated in the Orthodox marriage service.

Well, their annual commemoration, "feast-day" (I almost typed "feats-day", which in their case would be very appropriate) occurs on March 9th, and as they are my favorites among the martyrs, I couldn't pass up the chance to share their story with the brethren outside the Orthodox koinonía, who may not have heard it.

I published a 12-page booklet about the 40 martyrs, which you can download and read, by clicking here. Read it on line, or print it out. It's formatted to be printed as a 5½ x 8½" booklet, if you have the right kind of printer (one that prints in color, folds and staples).

Kalí sarakostí,
Romanós

Símandron Publications