In beloved memory of Saint Nikolai Velimirovich and Patera Archbishop Chrysostomos
STARTED 9/28/2019
IN MEMORY OF: Art Demel (pic); Walter Wilson; John Kum; John (pic) and Genevieve Stanek; Neil; Albert and Charles Alnutt and their mother; Don Handel (pic); Ernie and Ruth Lane; Whitey Smittcamp, Goldy; Mildred Tiefel and Al Rohmer; Russel Wright; Bob Moore (pic); Dick Wise; Bob Whitters (pic); Carol Shartak (pic); Joe Drahos (pic), Harry Blackcloud, the Blackhawk family and many others from our neighborhood.
THIEVES
Was life given when you came into this world or did you take it? I think you'll agree that we were given life. Subsequently, if we take life for granted and aren’t grateful to God, then we are thieves as the holy fathers say.
We take for granted or do we realize how mutual we are with each other.
NEVER THIRST AGAIN - HARD-WIRED
When joy comes through a material object or an attachment, we must thirst. But when we die, we are left with a thirst that cannot be quenched. But when joy comes from Christ, it is eternally given, eternally received and increases eternally.
THE DEPTH OF GOD’S LOVE
Adam and Eve only had one rule while in Paradise: Do not expose yourselves to good and evil. Having broken God's rule, Adam and Eve were cast out of Paradise. But, consider and contemplate the kind of place he sent us to serve our time in. To Him, only a speck but to us, the Universe.
OLD?
I have asked several gray, wrinkled and bent men their age. The replies varied from the late 70’s to the mid 80’s. My next question was, but how old is the person inside? All replied that they were in their teens. Just this morning I considered that many do not grow old, although their bodies are in the gray stage; but rather it is the “world” i.e.that grows old.
CONSOLED:
I am but clay but clay that is quickened by the breath of God himself. I am grateful that I do not know when I will be called because I feel consoled with love to know our Father Who is Lord over life and death, Who watches over us all, determines it
OFF WORLD
If you think the earth is beautiful from space you should see it from down here.
GOD’S VOICE
Once we know God’s voice, all others are exposed and identified. (used May13 2023)
Ornate?
I, like many others, have heard much negative criticism of iconography and the lavish decoration of Orthodox Churches. Carry that kind of criticism of the Church to the extreme and the result is the horror of the Iconoclasm. Frankly, I don’t see extravagance but simply love for the Church.
GLORIFY
Glorify God until there isn't one atom left to offer and He will show you his Glory as much as you can take.
ROTTEN FRUIT
It's not hard to recognize a piece of rotten fruit in a bushel. It can stink, it can look like it's already been masticated and rejected or it can display that puzzlingly interesting velvet blue gray landscape of mold.
It's not so easy with a human being however because the aforementioned signs are masked much like the rot of yolk robed in its shapely shell. Rather than look for visible decay, look instead for that which is missing, for the opposite such as the healthy shiny red glow that one finds in a Delicious fresh apple or better yet the effortlessly offered countenance of a child's innocence.
THE MAIDEN ROSE
Does the rose know its fragrance?
Beloved, Divine maiden, O how God graced the flesh from which you came.
With it you bestow love, tenderness, calm, caresses, embraces and all selflessly
And most uniquely, much like a rose whose fragrance pleases and is known to all but itself.
O man, unlike the maiden you must often measure every offering, every expression.
And yet man is the recipient of the maiden's effused fragrance.
But maiden remain still, your fragrance becomes known to you from him to whom you've given.
BEFOREHAND:
The depth of God's love permitted and endured His creation’s betrayal.
C
TO THE ATHEIST:
God must exist in order to restore all the beauty men destroy through evil acts. Due to the incomprehensible and ineffable nature of Life, it is beyond the scope of man to create from nothing or to destroy anything for eternity.
HEART IN THE PALM
Approach our Father with an upturned hands, holding in them your heart and through humility expecting from Him restitution. He who is closer than your eyes although he allows our eyes to touch the clouds and the stars.
PARADISE was already given but it included a caution which one could call preventative medication.
FANTASY AND CONSEQUENCES This brief fantasy called life contains reality but also its consequences. If one creates a fantasy within it he ignores its reality and suffers its consequences.
Adam and Eve opened the world of consequences and here it is.
SALVATION If you don't know that you need saving, then you don't know who you are.
HAPPY TO BE A MAN INSTEAD OF A WOMAN
Does the rose know its fragrance? Does a woman know hers?.
As a man I know it. It requires no effort.
WHEN HIS EMBRACE IS GIVEN
Suffer with infinite patience and extreme gratitude whatever God expects from you in this life because when His reward comes, and it will come, it is an embrace and if even no more than a mustard seed, it will be greater than a mountain.
WORK, FIGHT, ENDURE, ENJOY
One day He says work, the next He says fight, the next day He says endure, the next day He sends an embrace from His Mother. Great art Thou O Lord.....
THE GOLD OF VICTORY If you're not feeling Christ’s Gold of Victory, you repeatedly walk away from the battle too early.
LOVE The journey into Thy Love there are no expressions, no words, no images, no miracles; only love, only ever expanding love.
A priest should follow the examples set by his hierarchy.
SURROUNDED
Christ gave us two Commandments and you can't be obedient to one without being obedient to the other and if you love your neighbor as yourself you're surrounded with love.
Reminder to priests: A priest who only tells the sheep where fresh grass is and doesn't take them there, doesn't love them.
Gracious art Thou O Master. From ant to elephant, from sands to stars, without You we are nothing yet because of Your love we know Thee as Father.
Knowing how loved we are should tell us who we are. Our Creator, Who called us into being, became one of us to convince us.
First sight, forms. Then vision more clearly, His hand.
Radiance followed by wrinkles. The eyes of the radiant see themselves. Wrinkled eyes look for the Maker.
Just be still and you will have spoken volumes
THE EYE OF A GNAT If you don't feel anything while you're praying genuinely don't be concerned but have faith that the reward is accumulating. When it comes out of a sudden, and it will, it may be as infinitesimal as the eye of gnat, but it will change your entire universe.
One day He says work, the next He says fight, the next day He says endure, the next day He sends an embrace from His Mother. Great art Thou O Lord and marvelous are Thy works
Nature is so beautiful, but it could never create anything so beautiful as itself.
He Who shares Himself with all, even His clay children, cannot be shared but must be pleased by each of us in order to know Him
If we do not see Woman's Divinity, we only see the mere shadow of her attraction which we often disfigure.
Faceless Flesh
Billions upon billions, all with faces but each one unique.
Infinity is incomprehensible and cannot be apprehended but is revealed by the One.
If God expects nothing from us in return He is nothing but a zoo keeper. Adam and Eve were slightly restricted and other than that nothing was expected from them because it was a gift from their Creator to be made in His image and likeness and share in it.
MEN WITH MEN, WOMEN WITH WOMEN, MEN WITH WOMEN
I don't think there's a question that genetically some men are by nature effeminate and some women masculine. Nevertheless, both are blessed by God in it but responsible to bear their lot in accordance with their gender. Men with men, women with women and including married men and women who lust after the flesh are shameful to God.
WITHOUT ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING ST JOHN 15:5
In fact we are nothing but God, in His love for all in His creation, puts it more tenderly and says “Without me you can do nothing”.
FOR EVERY OPPORTUNITY
Thank God at all times, for all things, and you'll be thankful for every opportunity to be thankful.
THE HUMAN WORLD OR THE DIVINE WORLD - THE CHOICE IS YOURS
Infinitely beautiful Creation perceived by the senses limits one to the human world. One must reach with all one’s being to know the Divine World. It is beyond the senses.
PARADISE NOW
What does it matter where they went, what does it matter with whom? Our Forefather Adam and mother Eve left Christ.
Paradise isn't a place but it is Christ. Without Christ, there is no Paradise.
Return to Christ and where will you find yourself?
NEVER SEE DEATH
St. John 58:51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
If only for the sake of others, why would anyone who believes in Paradise and is faithful to the scripture above, want to remain in this world?
ALL I SEE
You told me that You quicken all things now that's all I see.
DID OUR CREATOR STOP TALKING TO US?
We were made in the image and likeness of our Creator Who spoke to us. Did He stop because we sin? Not likely, I think. Rather, I think we stopped listening. Those who have ears….St. Matthew 11:15
BEYOND THE GRAVE
Only one thing in this life and in this world that offers any promise beyond the grave and that is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Creator or creation?
Why would we want creation when we can have the Creator?
LAZARUS (8/6/2021)
Father, allow Lazarus to dip his finger in Thy Eternal Divine World and relieve me of the temporal human world, now, before the time. Saint Matthew 8:28-9:1 (KJV
28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? [Satan and devils have no need of faith or belief for they KNOW God. art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And they know their time will come, they know God the Father and that Christ is His Son, and thereby Lord over them and all things, do they not?]
30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding
31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
32 And he said unto them, Go.
[Satan and the devils hate God and yet in the midst of their hatred, our loving and merciful God, who created them, shows compassion on them and grants their request, does He not?]
And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
33 And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was
befallen to the possessed of the devils.
I IN THEM AND THOU IN ME
Can we say that faith is the belief and confidence that our efforts and struggle to do the will of the Father earns interest in a mansion in Paradise as promised by Christ Himself?
And what better proof of our stature and oneness with the Holy Trinity, having chosen with all our strength to lose one lifetime for Christ than His most valuable very own words from Holy Scripture below:
Saint John 17:23 (KJV) 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
‘I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.
PRAYER
How can my prayer to You continue when I am overwhelmed and speechless in Your presence?
CREATOR
You are greater than Your Name: Creator
MIRACLE
It is common to refer to Life as miraculous but shouldn’t we stop and consider the criterion by which we liberally make the claim, i.e. the 5 senses, which we, who possess them all are well acquainted but also by something called the “mind” - of which we know so little? Even with the limitations of senses and mind, Life’s ineffable nature communicates, if we listen, to infer that a greater faculty is required to encompass it, let alone comprehend it?
SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND
Look for Christ everywhere and that's where you'll see Him.
HOW WIDE
How wide is a smile? Wider than the universe
HE WHO QUICKENS
He Who quickens all things Is but a delicate small pink flower
HOW CAN I
How can I continue with words of prayer when my ears are filled with the joy of your sweet song of joy and love. And I am humbled exceedingly that amidst the glory offered from an incalculable number of angels, saints, martyrs, the sweet voices martyred young women and children that is so beautiful it makes mute all the magnificence of created things You hear and attend to me.
HAVE YOU NOT BEEN TOLD ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES
In God’s incomprehensible but infinite love, we are forewarned not to be like the foolish Virgins whose lamps were void of oil (the oil=virtue acquired in exclusive, unshared and undivided love for Christ and neighbor - St Seraphim of Sarov) that we may never hear:
11 “Later the others (virgins) also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Do not be misdirected. God is omniscient and beyond omniscience. We are known by Him by our deeds, by virtues, especially love for God and neighbor - not by what we look like or by name.
HELL DEFINED
To be a stranger to Christ is this life means to remain a stranger to Him in the next.
THE VORTEX
The stone that is thrown into the air does not stand still but either goes up or down. ST PHILARET OF NY
Similarly, we either spiral inwardly or we spiral outwardly.
The Kingdom of Heaven is within.
The choice is ours.
Need direction? Ask and it will come from Saint Dorotheos
BEAUTY
Beautiful, yes, given. Handsome, yes, given. Its divinity is Mine however for you to acquire.
OR Beauty already given; Divinity must be won/revealed.
Can it be said that self-love, not love of the Self, makes us quite vulnerable to temptation? For an unmarried individual there may be a concern of being alone in old age. In fact, however, no one who keeps vigil with God is ever alone. These are not merely words but a oneness and love of father and mother and child is but a reflection. ----to be continued
The touch of flesh is not in the flesh itself since it is little more than dust. Subsequently, the gift, the joy, is not dependent on the flesh and is experienced beyond it.
IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE OR EDGE OF DESTRUCTION
In a weakened state we face a foe and adversary far, far more powerful than we are. And we are either in the heat of battle or on the edge of destruction and annihilation by the enemy, an enemy that many of us are unaware of, an enemy who remains invisible but becomes instantly seen the moment we turn to God's will. There is no greater enemy in creation. God however is infinitely more powerful even beyond power itself but He's not our enemy.
IGNORING THE RECALL or WHY WE ATTACH OURSELVES TO THINGS WITH AN INEVITABLE OBSOLESCENCE
The Choir of the Saints has found the Fountain of Life, and the Door of Paradise. May I also find the way through repentance: the sheep that was lost am I; call me back, O Savior, and save me. Evlogetaria For the Dead.
Can we say that having been cast from Paradise into a temporal world or rather having been the cause of it, a recall was inherent and probably a facet of Conscience? Having become gross physically, spiritually, mentally, and the nous impaired, awareness of the recall became like a voice crying in the wilderness - faint, almost incomprehensible - and attainable but requiring sincere desire and some struggle? Nevertheless, with the faculties disfigured from the expulsion and aided by powerful malicious earlier offenders of God, the recall isn’t that hard to ignore and substituted by the ease of acquiring the things that please the senses although mundane and mortal.
THE GIFT OF FREE WILL
Free will is a gift that allows us to define and temporarily design ourselves but being flawed we most often don’t realize that free will gives us the freedom to ask God to define us. (to be continued)
WOMAN
Oh beautiful creation man. Home of flesh for the infinite soul. How could the magnificent creator make man more beautiful? From your fair side, from your very ches, He took that portion, that most beautiful portion, He adorned her so fair, so supple, so serene, so much the same and yet so much more different and called her woman.
CONFIRMATION
It is one thing to deeply feel and experience love for Christ and all things but another to have it confirmed by Him. [posted on The Treasure May 25, 2021]
LOVE
Love runs so, so infinitely deep that even in its shallows, the senses, although by no means lost, become mere flickering reflections.
QUICKENED
All things are being quickened by Christ. What a sight!, what light!
THE GREAT GIVER
Recalling the love and the beauty of treasured gifts is a most wonderful thing but of no comparison at all once the Great Giver reveals Himself as the source of all.
THE KISS
Father! You called earth into being, as male and female. You kissed them and the beauty of youth dazzles. And why does it fade from the face, and seep into the heart? To draw your creation into longing for it to be restored but is not a kiss from them both required?
PATRISTICS
Involuntarily contemplating the lack of interest in patristics among Orthodox Christians and other Christians for that matter, I couldn't help but feel that once a person experiences the reflections within themselves of the teachings of the holy Fathers then they will find themselves much more inclined but one must first “get the ball rolling”.
ESCAPE TIME?
One may not know the future but one may live it. The world after this one is available can be revealed and thereby eliminating the so-called “now”, past, present and future for the kingdom of heaven is neither here nor there BUT “at hand”.
EVEN GREATER?
Can such magnificent gift in temporary flesh, endowed with life in the image of it's Creator that will corrupt, possibly be an indication of something even greater? No question.
FATHER AND SON
Father I know you are my Father and that You love us. Don't spare the rod that through it I may become your obedient and loving son.
YOUR SERVANTS
I dare to call myself your son when I am nothing more than the dust that clings to the feet of you true servants.
MUSIC
Seeing the Gift given is greater than the music.
FAITH AND THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE
Be firm and resolute in faith so that when the Pearl of Great Price is given you may hear the words: You fought the good fight.
WHAT MORE
What more could one want than to be with God at all times? Actually, since God is everything, there is nothing more to want. In fact, there is nothing else, especially since what we consider as “something” is nothing more than a dream.
OMNISCIENCE
A friend once told me that he knows nothing. I think I know what he meant in that he knew nothing about God. My silent response was the following. The fact is you do know something and that's what separates us from acquiring Christ who is omniscient, and expects us if we are willing, to know only Him.
THE WEDDING (to be edited)
The following occurred when I was approximately 25 years old. I was waiting to go to work. I had a job at a local state run store. I was not accustomed to getting up late nor staying up late. I cannot say whether it was a dream or a vision but it was morning and I wasn’t tired. Either way my eyes were shut.
I found myself at a wedding at the time of Christ. Many people were there including Christ. I was conversing with a fellow next to me and although we moved about and so did Christ, He always remained far from us and facing away so we never saw His face. I turned to the fellow next to me and I said how can this be. He replied what are you saying? He's far from us but yet he's right here His body is there but he himself is here and then feeling it one becomes aware that he is everywhere here simultaneously. Although whether a dream or a vision which is questionable is all pervading presence is without question and indelibly and printed on my mind and soul. I am now 75 years old.
ZAKIYAT
Don't make yourself ugly (not physical reference)
Don’t just look at the dog, look at how he or she looks at you.
When are you going to wake up?
Never do anything for anyone from the back of your hand
Take this food to the man in #3.
CALENDAR
No calendar created by man within time can be absolutely accurate. The only truly accurate calendar is that which is in Christ for He is timeless. The calendar at the time when Christ became man was the Julian calendar. It has been proven to be inaccurate. Did Christ not know this? Did He correct it? The Traditional Orthodox Christian Church uses the calendar that was used at the time Christ on the earth. Call it what you like.
YOU MAY ASK
You may ask what love from a saint feels like? We know what love feels like, don’t we?
QUALIFICATION 11/1/20
Love, although only a taste and limited, is a gift from God. Love for God only is ineffable and eternal.
PRAYER OF JESUS
Christ blesses and gives His grace to our heart and mind unceasingly. He gives pulse and breath without fail until he calls them from us and us to Him. Thousands of things can reduce our conscience (His voice within) to a whisper – ambition, fantasy, hatred, greed, and so on - even a single thought. We cannot stop the thoughts but we can dismiss them with his holy name which he expects us to do and in doing so the prayer of Jesus soon says itself.
I THANK THEE
I thank Thee that in calling you Father I am your son. Forgive you son whose mind in disobedience swirls about with carnal thoughts like insects around a dunghill, insects that often land upon and take residence and consume my heart.
I thank Thee Father for Thy gifts. What wonder when a mere glance at another's face brings a vision of ecstasy - a galaxy of shooting stars racing around the moon.
Thy Name
The senses quelled and supplanted by Thy Name ,,, all things now bear Thy signature.
Why we were made
The Father loved us before He made us and He made us so that we could love Him and each other. Needless to say, it is greater to give than receive.
Father
Lord Jesus Christ, You have permitted our defiled lips to call upon Your Father as our Father in prayer. Yet as a child calls upon his or her father feeling forsaken and with utmost urgency of heart, I have not. You gave us free will, but also offered us the Will of Your Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, make me a child again that I may prefer our Father’s Will or that the hand of Your Will rest on my head and heart at all times that I may receive the inheritance you once again made available to me through your love.
Why Get High
Drugs aren’t the only source of “getting high” or let us say to feel variations of joy. Yes many “get high” on drugs, some on objects, some on endeavors, some on power, some on possessions, and so on. The question one may ask is why is there a need? For me the answer is: because we don’t have it. {St John 4:5-15}. Our Father gave us Paradise with His Son Jesus which we lost. How can our hearts not want it back even in our dark state of not knowing or realizing it.
Father
Your interruption of the desire in my carnal eye brings with it your love. How can I not weep at the sight of such inexpressible joy?
Father
You have said, Ask and you shall receive. I ask to love all things corporeal and incorporeal, as You do, so that I may know that my obedience to your two commandments.
Ever-Virgin Mary
Created from Adam and instilled by God with breathtaking beauty, virtue, inexplicable allure and grace is womankind. What then shall we, knowing the Archangel Gabriel who stands in the presence and command of God, finds not only breathtaking, but is left in doubt, without speech, at May’s purity and He Who is within her?
Freedom From Thirst, Desire
Desire and acquisition have nothing to do with LIFE. Jesus Christ IS LIFE and therefore desires nothing. He did not come to know the Father. The Father was not revealed to Him but only He can reveal the Father to others.
The Book of Revelation
Is not the key word simply revelation? To know the book of revelation and its full meaning requires that it be revealed, correct? Does revelation have an apex? Or, at what point does revelation cease?
It is better to give than receive. Why?
God the Great Giver and needs nothing in return. I feel it’s not the same with us. In fact, in giving, we lose that part of our self-centered, selfish self and God in His benevolence replaces it with His goodness and grace, and by which we therefore profit.
Well, what is your response?
If you are a follower of Christ then you know His two commandments. If this life is given with all its gifts can be enjoyed even in a disobedient world,, need we imagine LIFE in obedience? (St Matthew 19:17)
Why look
Why look to the universe when it, and more, is found within?
Know Christ
When you know Christ, you know everyone, yes everyone. Then know Christ and nothing else. You cannot know it all unless you know Christ.
Don’t Hide
Once Christ is revealed, Who is and was always with you, it is also revealed what it was like when you hid from Him.
Experience LIFE
What we experience as life, is but a cobweb (St John of Kronstadt) compared to LIFE, given by Christ the Savior, once we abandon this one entirely for Him. To gain it, one must literally die (the circumcision of the heart ) not bodily unless martyred for Him,
From the Earth
I made you from Earth because I knew you would listen to Lucifer and I became part Earth myself so that I could come and save you.
The Inheritance
How does one feel about his inheritance after he has received it? The answer is to become meek and humble and find out.
Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself
When asked by one faithful individual how the command of Christ could be accomplished, it was found to be followed in making a request from Christ. The intended request would be to ask Christ for the gift of seeing one’s neighbor in the same fashion as Christ sees him or her. On hearing this, the individual followed with another request, that is, how does Christ see others? The response: He sees him or her as someone, regardless of sin or sanctity that He would give His Very Life for.
Tell the Father
Confess that you cannot see or feel your Father’s love, although the ‘energy’ displayed in giving life and movement to all things, at all times, throughout the entire Universe, is but a cobweb (St. John of Kronstadt) compared to it.
Circumcision of the Heart
Open your chest my son so Christ can circumcise your heart and confirm for you that you truly love Him.
Your love for all things
Father, I asked to know your love for all things and you moistened my tongue. I didn't know however that it would include the broken heart you have over your souls that are lost.
The 2nd is like the 1st
Once you acquire the second commandment you will see the first commandment in everyone and everything.
Now and Later
If you exclude yourself from loving God and neighbor in a single lifetime you will exclude yourself from loving God and neighbor for eternity in the next life
Devotion
Devote all that you are to Christ Who will return Devotion’s gifts to you 100 fold.
The Two Great Commandments
“All the law and the prophets hang on the two great commandments”. Are they not the means by which we avoid judging and sentencing ourselves (which we experience and suffer) here in this life and worse in the beyond?
Gratitude to God
The eyes can be open and the mind attentive and yet the heart remain void of the treasure that gives and receives simultaneously - Gratitude to God
A know-it-all
A know-it-all may not know couple of things.
1. He most likely doesn't know he is a know-it-all
2. To actually know-it-all one must un-know literally everything, and become completely void, so that he can know Christ Who indeed knows all things.
3. In other words, one can indeed know all things but only when he knows nothing (extreme humility) and at which point the Knower reveals Himself.
Thy Cup, how excellent it is
By the love and the subsequent grace of God I no longer see only individuals (all things) but rather my Father ceaselessly blessing the housing and the spirit within in all its beauty, glory, radiance and love. It brings such Joy I cannot withhold sweet tears of gratitude and love.
My soul examine yourself
If Christ is not the master of my life, then another from among the fallen from God, most often my own self (a pretentious, haughty, prideful, gregarious know-it-all) is my master. Pretentious in that the image I see of myself is betrayed by my fruits. Servants of Christ are meek and lowly in nature like their creator Christ, Whose image is virtue and likeness incorruption.
Forgive me Father Christ Paradise
Forgive me Father for oftentimes I want my body to fail because it distracts me from Thee, O Christ Paradise.
Glory to Thee Father
Glory to Thee Father glory to Thee, for a silent and imageless voice whispers to me and I see Adam called from the earth by Thy Will and Eve being called forth from Adam by Thy Love. Great art Thou and marvelous are Thy works and words cannot suffice to sing the praise of Thy wonders (from the service of Holy Baptism).
From a fallen point of view (edit)
From our fallen perspective, our Creator could have said the following: You've left me for a false god, or rather a wannabe god, a former great angel that I also created, but because I love all of you infinitely and want your return, I will allow a kingdom for man called life and a kingdom for Lucifer called hell to exist temporarily. Although temporary, it will provide ample opportunity for you to repent and return to me. The same goes for the angel but his kingdom is far worse than yours. In your temporary world you will experience estrangement from me and you won’t be entirely cognizant of it until you repent and at which time I reveal Myself to you or when you die. Although I made you in my likeness (virtue, according to St. John Chrysostomos & St. Theophylact) and image (incorruptible, St John and St Theophylact) in your kingdom you will experience what it is like without me as your Father. You won’t understand or appreciate this until you return to Me and I reveal to you what I am, what you had lost and that without Me, you are nothing. The revelation that I give however will fill you with profuse tears of joy and immeasurable compassion for all things, yes all things, at all times, in all places and you will understand the meaning of why things were the way they were while away from the Creator.
Inherit it all
Take on meekness and inherit all things.
The Virgin and the Great Martyr George …. edit
Not a day in her life did my mother forget to call on the Virgin or the Great Martyr from the heart and although he called out to me all my life, I didn’t know it was he until I was 70. While standing in the church, he called out to me saying in his imageless, soundless voice: ‘It was me’ and I instantly knew it was St. George but what it meant was immediately whelmed by the image of when I was 23 and in utter despair, anguish and abandonment like I had never known in my life. Suddenly, like a gentle breeze that clears a room, I was restored and more. Astonished and marveled but befuddled I was instantly filled with peace and enormous well-being. Almost 50 years late, I know.
Possibly a month later, again while standing church, another imageless, soundless voice: ‘I sent him’. I knew it was our holy mother and she referred to St. George.
Do you not have ears?
God speaks to all but not all hear Him. Those who have ears let them hear
Criteria
If I have a choice to serve a God or not, I require that He love me so much that he would suffer for me even unto death. I would want no less.
Father, wash my eyes
Father, you have washed my eyes and now I see
Impossible
I once heard, no, I have heard it more than once. It was an individual made by God Himself, made in God’s own image and likeness, say, ‘I don’t believe in God’. It was strange, very strange. It was far stranger than a dog, not only speaking, but saying ‘I am not a dog’. Would I say this from faith?
Clod of Earth
Only God can make a clod of earth into flesh, bone, mind, voice, movement, and on and on. When one clod of earth falls in love with another clod of earth, at first neither see the truth, i.e. that the spirit dwelling within each is the real person. Sadly, some never see it until death…..
Without Me you can do nothing
An individual was asked to lift his hand from the table. He complied and lifted it up. How did you do it? Again he responded by explaining that he sent the command to his brain and in turn his brain sent the message to the arm. And how did you send the message to the brain? He couldn’t answer.
How to tell
The 2nd Commandment: Love thy neighbor as thyself. If you say you love your neighbor, are you convinced? If you truly love your neighbor, you will suffer him. If you truly suffer him, possibly God will reveal to you that you do indeed love your neighbor.
Desire
If one possesses all things, then where desire?
Comments
A young man, delivering soda to a grocery store, approached me without notice and said, 'I am saved' - a somewhat common statement made these days and of which many are familiar with. I responded with Glory to God and then asked when it occurred. Last week he replied. How long before had you believed in God? He replied, 'Just then'.
On another encounter, an older man made the same statement. I asked if he had been saved today. He said no, it was some time ago. So, you haven't been saved today? What? he replied. I explained that I personally needed saving every day, often several times a day in order to endure to the end. (St. Matt. 24:13). I believe the Savior is always with us and we find Him so I would prefer to say, if necessary and not as an advertisement, that I have found the Savior. Indeed when one finds the Savior, he is saved but it comes with a requirement, i.e. to endure for a lifetime temptations, and confessing sins, that draw us away from the two Great Commandments.
Deep down
Down deep everyone wants the Lord but few are willing to give up everything for Him.
Great art Thou and marvelous are Thy works
Most everyone can appreciate how great the world and the universe is but until true humility is acquired no one can know the greatness of God Himself the Creator for it must be revealed.
The Son of Man
If the Virgin Mary is more honorable than the cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim (the angels who chant the thrice holy hymn around the throne of God and have done so eternally) then what does that say of the Son she contained within her Who we call the Savior of Mankind?
Love for God and neighbor
Obedience to the second commandment of Christ makes the first commandment of Christ visible in everyone and accompanied by love, forgiveness, understanding, patience, compassion…..
Knowledge
While cleaning house, that is the memory of certain unfriendly comments, we as self-disfigured individuals, there laid, under its dust, the following:
There are some who have acquired considered knowledge and may offer it with discretion. If however they come across as a ‘know-it-all’, they confirm that they actually know very little.
The “Big” Bang?
Speaking metaphorically, if one attributes ‘The Big Bang’ to God as its source, then the descriptions of God made by the Bible and the saints, could mean that it was a mere whisper, metaphorically speaking that is.
Cosmic Dust
It seems to me that our immense attachment and adoration of the body and mind can only be attributed to an intrinsic or subconscious knowing that it was created and formed by a god, or rather by God. Knowing the brevity of youth and degree of deterioration that old age brings followed by death and so called non-existence, I cannot help but feel that to believe that an accumulation of cosmic dust as a source of our existence its totally unfounded.
Regret
Don’t make for yourself regret and when you do, repent and request the Prayer of Forgiveness immediately.
Separation
If we separate ourselves from Christ and His Joy, the Joy which requires no form, we separate ourselves from it in the other world. He will be known to us face to face but there will be separation, made by our own hand.
A brother
I have a friend, a brother all but 3-4 years of life - gift of love, innocence and sensibility from God I did not nor do I possess. He became a military man, a pilot, a Navy man, but never did he lose his innocence and sensibility.
How to hate sin
The more one loves God, the more he or she hates to be drawn away from Him by anything.
The Hem
Bend to the hem for the Gift. (St Mark 5)
Birds of a feather
If you don’t love others in the life, then you will be with people like you in the next. To make matters worse, you will also be with people who loved…..
The greatest gift of free will
It appears to me is that free will’s greatest gift is the freedom to exchange it for the Giver’s Will.
His arm
His arm lies across the back of my shoulders; I have no requests
What value?
Which one is filler, the time you spend with God in prayer, loving and glorifying Him in all things, especially your neighbor….or the time you spend chasing and acquiring transient things?
Father!
When we call “Father” we call on the Mother of God and all the saints for all of them are in Him.
The Fountain
One who drinks ceaselessly from the fountain is no longer concerned with thirst or being refreshed.
Only One Name
The heart beats out only one name and that is Jesus Christ and those who love him are included in it
Glorify
We have a tendency to glorify (mostly each other) and if we would stop for a moment from glorifying some thing we would find ourselves glorifying God in all things tangible, intangible, visible, invisible …..
Reminder of Christ
If each time you were reminded of Christ you were filled with ineffable joy and cried at the glory of the Father, how often would you seek Him?
The nature (dimension, etc.) of the universe has been discovered!
It’s right where you are standing.
Unintelligent
Low intelligence has its reward. When a dummy says something profound or even possibly enlightening, he knows it didn’t come from him and he is spared pride. On the other hand, thinking he has become intelligent, he falls into the same pit as the so called intellectuals.
It’s No Miracle
It’s no miracle for Jesus Christ to die and resurrect. He is God. His resurrection confirms for us His gift to us, should we receive it, of our resurrection.
I WEEP over sin and joy
I weep and I weep. I have displeased my Creator, I have abused His creation. I have abused the identity He gave me and its life. My sins He forgives but I continue to weep for having separated and continue to separate myself from His inexhaustible Fountain of Life/Joy. I weep with joy because the Creator has allowed me to know Him and I am no longer simply an inhabitant. I weep with joy in Thee.
THAT THEY MAY KNOW THEE
We are in Him and He in us. We can hear this and think we understand it but we cannot know it until it is revealed to us and when He does, it is Eternal Life.
Al Masseeh
Thy voice, heard by ears and heard without ears …. so sweet
INFINITY
Admit it! Infinity on its own testifies for God. How many varieties of insects, birds…let’s just say creatures, stars…each day, a new discovery. Who said creation had to stop? The Great Basil says it hasn’t.
IS GOD INVISIBLE?
We are dazzled and we glorify with the senses, with the mind and with the spirit the universe and all that it is. Its Creator however is also present yet we neither perceive Him nor glorify Him.
CONTEMPLATION
St John 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
If we are Gods, having taken on Christ through Baptism, and Christ grants divinity as He pleases, why aren’t we divine? In my understanding, we are, in fact, divine but it is not granted and it cannot be seen or experienced because of the veil of sin. At the same time one could say since Christ is everywhere present filling all things, then why can we not see Him. Again, in my understanding, we are indeed seeing Him but we don’t know it, again because of sin. And when occasionally He makes Himself somewhat more apparent, we may feel it but attribute it to something else.
GOD’S VOICE
I've never heard God's voice but he lets me know that he hears me
TAKE EAT
Many times I have heard and as a priest have said during the Divine Liturgy the words; Take eat....All of ye drink... but today on Great Thursday morning 2018, our Savior said to me, not with the ears, Take eat..... I wept deeply
FINALLY HEARD
I heard Thy call O Lord to Come Take and Eat and I did. And now I pray Thee, exhaust my interest in all things that I may never leave Thy side but remain close to Thee my love my Lord my Creator
OH GOD BEAUTIFUL
When I see in my mind the Archangel standing in awe and about to make the announcement to the Virgin Mother, I weep deeply
When our Christ said to His mother, 'My time has not yet come' the entirety of the Will of the Father overwhelms me, I weep deeply.
When I hear the hymn describe our Christ walking with Eve in the cool of the night, I am there and I weep deeply.
LETTER TO JOHN AND REBECCA DAVIS (concerning their relationship with each other)
Dear +++ and +++
Through the intercessions of St. John and St Rebecca, may our Savior strengthen you to endure as He endured the Cross for us.
You are not monastics so what I suggest is NOT an obedience. But first, we should have affixed in our hearts the words of our Lord when He says that if we should follow Him we must take up our Cross and in doing so we imitate Christ on Whose Cross He suffered all the sins of the world.
Below is a prime example of bearing one’s Cross and it is given to us by a saint, a holy one, yet who in genuine love for God practiced it.
Here is my suggestion: First contemplate the saint’s advice so it too can affixed into your minds, hearts and, put into practice in your daily prayer morning or evening but remembering it throughout the day because one never knows when the compulsion to listen to the wrong thing attacks:
St. John of Kronstadt
"Glory, O Lord, to the power of Thy Cross, which never fails! When the enemy oppresses me with a sinful thought or feeling*, and I, lacking freedom in my heart, make the sign of the Cross several times with faith**, suddenly my sin falls away from me, the compulsion*** vanishes, and I find myself free… For the faithful the Cross is a mighty power which delivers from all evils, from the malice of the invisible foe."
*Each of you know well what thoughts and feelings you deal with that causes strife between you. I need not name them!
**How many times have you heard during the services the words of our Lord …“Thy faith has made thee whole” You MUST have faith in your heart when you ask of Christ, either in word or in the sign of the Cross, if you expect results.
*** Is there a better word to describe it other than a compulsion? Each of you have your particular compulsions and when you give into them you make Satan happy and our Lord, St John and St Rebecca sad.
When you practice what St John practiced and find that it works, it will do so every time. Maybe not instantly and maybe not in the moment because sometimes you will be tested with patience so never, never walk away mumbling that it doesn’t work!
You are under no obligation to do this and I will not be offended if you choose not to. Understood?
Your fellow servant in Christ
+Father Raphael
ALREADY IN CHRIST
We are already with Christ having been baptized but He is meek and lowly in nature and therefore cannot be seen or known nor can His gifts be revealed to their fullest because of the passions and materialism we prefer over Him.
REMAIN HIDDEN
If you wish to keep your offences, faults and errors hidden, never blame or accuse yourself of anything. On the other hand, if you want faults, even those you may not have known to exist but wish to be revealed, blame and accuse yourself instead of others.
HOW I SEE IT
Meditation is but the fragrance of the meat, making the meat recognizable and granting faith, love and hope. Once we partake of that on which we meditate however, which is our Savior Jesus Christ, not Christ-Consciousness, we become restored and filled, making meditation no longer a practice.
NOT IN CHARGE
Thursday January 25 2018 ns I met with Patera concerning an individual who I have been praying for (and worrying). My concerns were quickly resolved but followed by a reminder of all the faults I have committed against my family but with a shocking new one that I resent no longer being in charge . I was not conscious of it and find very hard to believe because I have always encouraged Fr. John to do so even before he was fully ready with certain things. ....... God forgive me
NOT ONLY FRIENDS AND ENEMIES ON EARTH BUT FRIEND OF A FRIEND OF GOD NO LONGER ON EARTH PHYSICALLY
We love our friends, some more than others. Nevertheless, may God be glorified. We know God is glorified when we love our enemies and people He refers to as the least among us. But we are not limited to only those above. We can be friends, yes, have a mutual relationship with people who were friends with God while yet on earth and are now friends with Him in Paradise. There is nothing imaginary or fantastic about it but actually a more real, a more intimate relationship and one possessing all the attributes of love we are accustomed to. You say you don’t know what I am talking about. I understand, but that is remedied by working toward a relationship with a saint. You can take my word for it because I took it from the saints.
AROUND EVERY TURN
Dying daily (remembrance of death) brings the Beyond closer than this life can begin to offer.
DON'T WORRY
What does it matter at what point in time during your life that you find LIFE; for you have found eternity.
FATHER!
In my childishness, I often run after things and soon find myself alone in despair and tears. As my Father, You always call me home.
THE GIVING OF THE GREAT GIVER
Beauty in various forms and in various degrees has been before my eyes as it presents itself to everyone else but one day beauty appeared, as usual, and yet, in an instant, it was supplanted and replaced by the act of 'giving' by the Great Giver in progress. I would have exclaimed 'What a delight!' but even that was supplanted by the 'giving'.
FIRST THE GIFTS, THEN...
First the gifts of God are perceived in all ways and in all things but later they are eclipsed by the Giver and His act of giving.
WARM TEARS
I often wondered why the saints weep warm tears. Having submitted all of their life to God what grievous sins do the saints commit to weep over? Granted, one can weep for an entire lifetime over past sins but I remained unfulfilled with that as an answer. Sometime later I found myself weeping more and more frequently at the mere remembrance of the ineffable beauty that is Christ, sometimes through sensible objects, sometimes from thoughts, from a leaf, from a cloud, etc. but understand, not in the beauty of the thing itself. Competing in unseen warfare (although most worthlessly), I experienced the grace of God and at other times, the opposite, the torment and shackles of the Devil. Gradually realizing that while I remained by Christ, Who is constantly at our side, I experienced nothing but His love for all things and far above, the inexplicable, immeasurable love that He simply is. Although He never leaves me for a moment, like a child I get drawn or enticed away from Him by a passion, a sweet passion but whose aftertaste leaves nothing less than warm tears of sorrow for having distanced myself from Paradise, our Lord Jesus Christ.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE?
The question is: Do you want to continue seeing people the way you usually do (i.e. their faults, sins, their abilities, etc.) or do you want to see them the way Christ sees them? How does Christ see them you may ask? He sees them as someone He loves and would give His life for.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE 2?
When Christ reveals and confirms that you indeed love Him, regardless though you be of the lowest, He reveals in turn not only His love for all creatures, but He reveals to you and blesses you through them, unbeknownst to them, with the love He planted in them.
REGRET?
I could say that I regret not having ventured, in my youth, even farther around the world to experience its wonders while the revelation that the Source of all things perceptible still remained concealed within me. But having now that it has been revealed, what is there to regret?
PITFALL
There are praiseworthy and skillful people whose arrogance is often interpreted as though they think they are smarter than everyone else. I am inclined to think not but rather that they think most everyone else is stupid.
PRAYER TO GRANDCHILDREN FROM THE CHIEF OF SINNERS
And.....So you see my sweet, I pray for your understanding. Although I have confessed all my sins and know I have been forgiven, memory remains, a memory possessed of regret. But in Paradise, all things that have been forgiven are washed away leaving love between all that are there.
So you see when I have been so protective there is a reason. My love and hope is to keep all of my children and grandchildren and those to whom God allows me to offer His Precious Body and Blood from regret. A life of avoiding, at all costs, that which displeases God and harms our souls and bodies is the key to humility and through humility we attain the grace to love God and others with a new strength, the grace that lit the lamps of the virgins (St Seraphim Sarov), for whom Christ held open the door to the Feast in Paradise.
WORDS WITHOUT MEANING
The words of our Lord and His saints have no meaning to the elements and your body is made up of elements. They only have meaning to the heart that is pure and open to them.
HOW TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
Ask our Savior Jesus Christ for some of His.
UNADULTERATED JOY
All of us indulge in adulterated joy, that is, joy through something perceptible (St. Maximos); some of them God-pleasing, some offensive to God. If in excess, none are God-pleasing. Blessed is one whose faith offers a whole heart request for joy to come independent of perceptible things – from Christ directly.
WITHOUT HIM
Having been created by Him, in His own likeness, we must be infinitely deeply in love with Christ, otherwise why would being without Him be such hell?
ODE TO GARRISON KEILLOR'S COUNTERFIT PERSONA
I am heartened by Garrison Keillor’s God-given semblance but regarding the veneer that is so well known and by which he has characterized himself, but let me say . . .
It is an ultra-pasteurized visage
It is layer upon layer of shades and colors
Yet nearly mummied, peat bound, pillowed words
Mimic of a scratchy bow forced on string.
Forsake now Garrison
Your fashioned patina
Grown in a petri that rapt so many, so long
Find and rejoin
To what once was birthed
You've pushed it beneath
yet it looks down
at your wardrobe
Forsake now, before age brings the composition’s finale.
PARADISE
It has been said in most profound ways, thank God, yet I still want to say it again. They were in Paradise with Christ but Paradise isn’t Paradise, Christ is Paradise. When they left Him, it was Paradise no longer.
PRAY FOR PEACE?
I pray for peace, permanent peace for everyone. What society calls peace is always temporary. I want the Prince of Peace, He is eternal.
FROM MOZART
“My subject enlarges itself, becomes methodized and defined, and the whole, though it be long, stands almost complete and finished in my mind, so that I can survey it, like a fine picture or a beautiful statue, at a glance. Nor do I hear in my imagination the parts successively, but I hear them, as it were, all at once. What a delight this is! All this inventing, this producing, takes place in a pleasing, lively dream”.
Mozart says it himself. '... I hear them (compositions), as it were, all at once.'
Unless otherwise known, what Mozart claims was unique to him but it is old and common among the melodists of Orthodoxy. Not only is the music granted as a packaged gift from God, as it did with Mozart, but even more unique. The gift given to Mozart is primarily the composition. But as concerns the ancient melodies, not only does the listener receive the music and words that transcend but along with the music, they gain the Giver of the music Himself.
A MANSION FOR YOU IN PARADISE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Aspirant! Know this. Every fruit you bear for Christ and neighbor, every day fasting, praying, attending services, receiving Holy Communion and all the Holy Mysteries, each time you repent and confess, each time you set aside time, play and work to attend a feast day during the week, each time you call on our holy Virgin Mother, each you suffer the sins of others, each time you do good for the sake of goodness, not as a slave or as a hireling........is another stone for the mansion the Son of God is building for you, a son of God, in the Father's kingdom.
CALIFORNIA DREAMERS
A response to Iowans who complain about Iowa and think the grass is so much greener in California.
Iowa ~ tough ~ yes, humidity unwelcomed, hot-whipped storms unexpected, and yes, her icy gusts pierce and numb the cheek more than bitter bites the tongue.
She restrains and binds, gloves our fingers - big coats that struggle against ease ~ yes, all this and more.
And, predictably, saddled to discomfort’s complaint, comes figment California ~ California ~ gracious, alluring, venerated ~ indisputably America’s queen!
Oh how she pipes her wealth of treasures to entice and draw us to touch her coast.
Yet home does not loose, rather she knows when to caress and when to gently grant her embrace, and she does so, it seems, always unexpectedly. In the midst of summer’s muggy mantle, she unveils her rare but ever-treasured, ever-memorable, balmy breeze that sweeps and swells the field but also softly and delightfully grants kiss after kiss across the brow - and on its tail, the cool, sleepy glowing memory of autumn soon to come.
Iowa, where as equals, big brother trees stand shoulder to shoulder and whose branches cuddle little brother bushes below as they silently in winter night’s stillness, while we sleep, delicately dress themselves in flocks of weightless snow.
Come morning - a daydream - courses of specular rain necklaces the branches with clear-silver-white ice ~ a gift of beauty that otherwise could not be conceived!
And yet, ever so softly, spring’s unhurried warmth beckons, freeing her wintered creations to the creeks as a welcome to the coming seasons.
And the dream, California, thumped by Iowa, her enchantment to nap.
NO LONGER IN MOTION
I used to see things in motion. Now I possess them.
WITH YOU
When that revealed Yourself, I see love hand-in-hand, everywhere and in everything.
PRAYER?
Prayers become still when the Father's arms are around me, rather prayer is replaced by tears of joy from His embrace.
THE PURPOSE OF A CONSCIENCE
Adam and Eve learned about good and evil before the time by turning from Christ to Satan. Did this not bring the conscience into being? If they had consciences beforehand, would they not also be aware of good and evil? Can we therefore assume that there was no need for consciences, especially since they dwelt in Paradise with God Himself. Subsequently, their choice was unconscionable.....
If Adam and Eve had not known good or evil, then is it correct to assume they had no conscience yet? It appears to me that God in His love gave us a conscience so we could transcend the conscience.
TEMPORARY HAPPINESS IS JUST THAT
There is no lasting happiness except that which only Jesus Christ can give.
It is an uninterrupted sovereign happiness, independent of the senses.
This gift is given freely to everyone but must be won.
KNOWING IS ENOUGH
Knowing what one is capable of is enough. He or she no longer has the need or desire to prove it to himself or others.
Evlogeite Patera
I am tired and weak. I will call it the eventide gift of old age but I feel it to be beyond even that, and yet, in an instant, even without enticement, I am snared and bitten, by the Snake and it matters not the species nor its camouflage. My prayer must then be subsequent with: Get thee behind me and then the deeply drawn constant call to Christ to come, spoil and vanquish. I am tired of fighting, tired, yet my cry to be removed once and for all from the Field to that place of permanent eventide and bliss, according to my wish, is not granted. Forgive me, I am guilty in my request knowing so many, so many who have battled longer and harder seeking liberty and solace yet I cannot help the longing, smitten by a dew of Christ's love.
ZEUS? NO, BUT....
You are made by God, subsequently you are a little God who has fallen away from the fullness of grace and power. As a result an immortal being becomes attached to mortal things which force the immortal being to experience death. Think about it. Being attached to a desire or an object that lacks immortality causes you to thirst for it over and over and over again until it becomes you or you break free.
Reference: The Woman at the Well. Had you asked, I would have broken your attachment of going from one husband to the next and actually all attachments. In other words He would restore her completely and He did at the end because she did her part.
The inappropriate thoughts knock on the door of your mind and you recognize them for what they are, but, it is YOU who lets them. They cannot pass through Christ unless you push Him aside so you can enjoy the pleasure they stole from God but claim as their own, once they have perverted them.
INTELLIGENCE
There's one thing about not being so intelligent. When something profound comes from your lips, you know its not you.
VISAGE
My prayer becomes absorbed by Thy visage Father.
HIS CARESS
His caress is unending and it tells you its Him
POSSESS THE PLANET
It is clear that you cannot make a possession out of this life so why would you want to make a possession out of anything in it?
HOW BEAUTIFUL IS LIFE?
Life is immensely beautiful but it little more than a cobweb (St John of Kronstadt) compared to the beauty it promises.
Life is obviously now but is also blest with the future.
HIS FACE
Once you have given all of your heart to Christ only, He will reveal gifts to you that you've never seen or experienced and He will also reveal past gifts from earlier in life were also from Him. Then ask to see his beautiful face.
CONFINEMENT
Deserting God and allying ourselves with the Dissenter, confined us to the planet. Thousands of years later we were permitted on the moon.
BEAUTY FULFILLED
When beauty comes before me and I suddenly see its beauty fulfilled, it makes me weep. Other times, beauty fulfilled arrives and again I cry.
HOPSCOTCH
Basically almost everything in this life is a postponement to reality. And we go from one thing to another until we finally realize we have done little more than play hopscotch, we've arrived at reality.
PRAYER TO MY ANGEL
Sing to me my angel with your most sweet voice; words I can offer in prayer to your Master that I also may please Him.
THANK YOU GOD, THANK YOU
By the most tender grace of the Lover of Mankind, the many mumbo-jumbo religions don't always affect one's love for God nor God’s reward for our gratitude that He is our God.
THE KINGDOM OF ADAM
This earth and universe is but a grain of sand in Christ's hand. But Satan and man, in their diminutive state, perceive it in a distorted way. He holds it, and you in His hand until He calls you from it. In the meantime, He waits for you to tire of this, the kingdom of Satan, a fallen angel, and those with him, a kingdom for which Adam and Eve, in their folly, left their home in Paradise. Like the prodigal, may we tire of it and return to our Father Christ, before it is too late.
I HATE SEPARATION
On a personal note, what I hate most about this world, beyond man's inhumanity to man, is separation. Lucifer separated himself from His Lord and Heaven, Adam and Eve separated themselves from their Father and Paradise, we separate ourselves from Christ and His grace, from each other's love and company because of sin, and even if only briefly, death separates us, a separation that was never part of creation or necessary. I hate separation. We should pray that we all repent before death so no separation between sheep and goats exists in Paradise.
LIFE AND RESURRECTION
I read the scripture where Christ told me that he was my life and Resurrection. Faith in His words brought me to His glory and now I know it to be true.
INHERIT THE EARTH
Why should a desire or be attached to anything, such a car, home, money, and so when in Christ I have inherited the earth.
TASTE AND SEE
I’ve never had ice cream but I can say with confidence that it must be delicious, confidence that comes from so many testimonies.
That being said,
Psalm 34:8 King James Version (KJV) 8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Two things: There are many who know the goodness of God but have not tasted otherwise they would know it’s a lingering taste that never ends. So, if you have not tasted, think about your trust and pray for increase and thereby be motived to know what it really means to “taste”.
LOOK FORWARD
I don't look forward to seeing Christ face to face one day, I look forward to seeing Jesus Christ.
True repentance brings humility but it is not necessary. To taste and see that the Lord is good, is to taste humility of Christ.
Body and Spirit
My body wishes to take its ease, tired and distended from gluttony of the senses but the spirit never tires of the life-giving love of Christ won by the saints and granted to us by their precious words and lives.
CHRIST OFFERS THE PRAYER
Follower of Christ, know that God can directly grant you prayer to offer to Him, not only the prayers of your prayer book, not only the prayers said and heard in the Church, but prayers coming forth from Him and given to you so you may witness them being offered to Him but, rewarding you. If desire abides in the heart it can come forth 'then it will inevitably appear outwardly...' as St Tikhon tell us below. Speak to God from your heart on your bed, expecting Him to grace you with words profound in honor of Him. Consider the Psalmist and the beauty of his prayer, how it comes forth like a gushing spring and as effectual to the soul and Spirit as spring water refreshes the body.
SPIRIT NONETHELESS
Whether granted to the incorporeal or to those in earthen vessels, nonetheless infused with God’s own spirit.
ADMIT DISFIGUREMENTHow can we not admit our disfigurement when God has to tell us to love each other?
HATE OUT OF EXISTENCEAllow hate to do its work and root itself out of your love.
PRAY, DON'T READ
Once you’ve prayed, you will more easily recognize when you are simply reading.
YOU ARE AN ATHLETE
Just because you didn’t have a good coach and didn’t learn as much as you could have, doesn’t mean you aren’t an athlete.
LOVE
What virtue is most easily granted yet most easily abused = love.
GREATER THAN THE GIFT
You may count the aspects of love but at the top place the Giver
NO LONGER ALONE
Thank you Father, I am no longer alone.
TEMPORAL/ETERNAL
Father! Now that You have shown me the eternal I can now better see the limitations of the temporal.
FOLLOWER OF CHRIST
Christ asks that if you wish to be a follower, you must love Him above all others, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, friend … if you indeed have become a follower, you no longer thirst
Mr. X: I don’t believe God exists.
You need not believe that He exists. If indeed He does not exist, then there would be no harm in you trying something.
Mr. X: Try what?
Repeat the name of Christ continually.
Mr. X: For how long?
Continuously
Mr. X: Impossible!
It’s not impossible.
Mr. X: If I do, what will happen?
Try it and see.
BLIND TO GOD AND SELF
A self-centered person sees only what he (or she) imagines himself to be. He cannot see God and therefore cannot see himself and worse yet is blind to his own separation. On the other hand, one who looks for God in all things, not only sees Him, but in doing so joins company with Him.
CONFIRMATION
Yesterday was a new day but not in the characteristic way was it experienced. Yesterday I said, Father. Yesterday He let me know that He heard me.
BEAUTY
Don't let fault throw you to and fro. Gods pervading beauty overshadows all things. See it.
How can I not love them Father, they are citizens in Thy garden.
Father, you have given us everything . . . even your Son also.
I loved and admired my brothers Phil and Joe. Phil’s love was generous. Joe’s beauty made it very easy to admit you weren’t handsome. I loved Philip but it took most of my life to know how much more he loved me. Too long did it take me to realize my brothers inherited the rewards of Ibraheem and Zakat. Philip was actually baptized Nicholas (St. Nicholas the Wonderworker) but referred to by mom as Saleem after grandfather Saleem, by others as Phil. Joseph was probably named after St. Joseph the Betrothed. I was baptized after the GM George
Father I am anxious because I yet have learned to believe and trust in the perfection of Your judgement. When there is suffering or pain Lord, let me no longer ask how long.
Definition of Paradise=Spirits at play. When Christ was present in Paradise with Adam and Eve, did they pray together? Did they talk or speculate philosophy or seek enlightenment?
The meek shall inherit the earth. Having denied all things, one becomes meek and thereby in position to inherit the earth (not only the earth but all things since he has inherited Christ the Creator). Subsequently, accusations of possessions have no meaning. How is this known by the individual? By a soundless whisper.
Inadequate in so many ways, vocabulary being one, I will say, it blows my mind how human beings can be so utterly nonchalant about not knowing. At least the blind know they are blind. But a spiritually (what other word can I use?) blind person, is not only blind but doesn’t know he is blind. For a brief few minutes, I watched and listened to a young woman on stage. Here before me was exquisite physical and mental being, regardless of so called flaws. Hair, eyes, eyebrows, mouth, face, head, etc., superb, not because of exceptional beauty but simply because its existence. The sound it was making, called a song, was no more than screeching. I thought, We are so, so blind. Disfigured. The creature does not look at itself and say, I am overwhelmed that I inhabit this exquisite organism of whom I know so very, very little. Actually, compared to a fraction of what it is visually, mentally, and emotionally, I know nothing about it. Why, would I use it to produce such a sound. Well, there is nothing really wrong if one uses it to make a strange sound or noise or whatever for some purpose but to do so and award it a title of beauty or pleasurable, is strange. OK, the reality is, most everyone cares only about what additional pleasure one can gain but the use of the creature they inhabit.
Dear Lord, thank you for the love and joy I receive from your created things, people, friends, objects experienced through the senses, which you give in abundance, but knowing that You are the source, I no longer want your love and joy only through your creation but directly from You, knowing created things are nothing in themselves. It is You we are experiencing. Knowing that You are the Source, You ARE the Life. Dependence on things created by You are no longer necessary nor desirable but rather become obstacles between You and me. The objects in Paradise were secondary to You. You are Paradise. Like Adam and Eve, we are deceived.
The small calm smile granted by the Father to the human face is a most beautiful sight.
If you wonder if your love for Christ is genuine, the proof is easily found. When one loves Christ, he forsakes all for the path that leads directly to Him.
Beauty delivered me to Christ where it was lost in His presence.
I heard a wonderful sound today from the lips of Elder Joseph the Hesychast of the Holy Mountain. He told me that Satan does everything he can to keep us from discovering who we really are. I was so excited I could have burst! Christ is so meek, more meek than the breath of a newborn. So meek that we barely hear Him above the howl of desires, telling us who we really are.
The glory of Your creation dizzies me Father but your love blinds me to all of it.
Because of his attachment to the world, a fallen God cannot tolerate being with the God all the time until it becomes one with him and in doing so he finds out that the fallen God was a false god AND actually not a god at all. So you see God cannot reveal himself to you before the time when you are willing to reject your fallen god.
If you listen only for the voice of our Lord, that is all you will hear and you do what you should. Doing the wrong thing will no longer be a choice.
Dear Patera
Evlogeite
It grieves me when people miss the Salutations and I would like to write something and send it to everyone, although most of them were present. Are they waiting for her to appear? Have they not at least experienced the fragrance (not necessarily with the nose) she grants anyone who calls her from the heart? At the very least, have they not heard the praises offered her throughout the year to draw them to her presence.
St. Peter of Damaskos: As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart . . .
“In the words of the psalmist, ‘As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart’ (Ps. 4:4 LXX), that is, repent in the stillness of the night, remembering the lapses that occurred in the confusion of the day and disciplining yourself in hymns and spiritual songs (cf. Col. 3:16) – in other words, teaching yourself to persist in prayer and psalmody through attentive meditation on what you read. For the practice of the moral virtues is effectuated by meditating on what has happened during the day, so that during the stillness of the night we can become aware of the sins we have committed and can grieve over them.”
Why should you do what St. Peter suggests?
Although you may not know it your creator couldn’t be any closer to you. Why then do you feel distanced from Him or possibly don’t feel Him at all? Don’t allow any opinions to impress your mind about this but relate to Christ’s response at the wedding in Cana when he said to the most pure Virgin, My hour has not yet come St. John 2:4. On the other hand, were there periods in your past that you felt closer than you do today?
As we all know, it is sometimes hard to get out of bed but commitments make it necessary to force ourselves. Make no mistake! It also takes force to resist that which draws us away from Christ. Short term desires, loves, pleasures, etc. are easily taken but have preset termination date. They are present everywhere and draw us away with great force, until we break free. Once that occurs, we are in charge and only one thing can break us free and that is Jesus Christ.
The woman from Canaan didn’t know it was time for her Gift when she asked Christ to heal her daughter, not for herself. Yet, Christ not only granted her request, He praised her great faith. Imagine God praising you? He need not appear or whisper in your ear - you only need to know it.
And the Centurion, who asked Christ to heal one of his soldiers, also gained the Great Treasure. He heart was filled with faith the Christ would grant his request. He wasn’t expecting Treasure for Himself.
Did the holy apostles get notification that at the celebration of Pentecost they would be so transfigured by the descent of the Holy Spirit into completely new creatures with power from God?
If your mind convinces you that you are far from this Gift, then you have distanced yourself from Christ Who couldn’t possibly be any closer.
Check your heart. Where is it most often? When you are honest enough to admit to yourself its location and if you find it on a sensible object or desire, then you have found your treasure. Bob didn’t have to think hard about the question above and without hesitation replied that he loves hanging out with his buddies. The majority of his time while at work or at home, etc. he finds himself focused on his desire to hang out. The object of his affection brings him joy and he is satisfied as long as it lasts each time. Subsequently, when he isn’t hanging out, he is hungry because his heart craves its treasure.
While we study the universe and the nature of things, looking for ‘treasure’, “the” treasure closer to us than sin. As the psalmist says: My sin is ever before me.
Although I remain outside I have seen the joy the bridal chamber and thus having seen, I hate this world’s pitfalls both in the mind and in the heart wherein lies temptations and sin.
FAITH IS THE VEHICLE THAT TAKES YOU FROM BELIEVING IN GOD TO THE GIFT OF KNOWING HIM.
Would you describe this world as a beautiful, exciting and wonderful place? Yes! So can you say you love it? No, I hate it. Is there something wrong with you? How can you say that? I can say it because it has one huge, intolerable flaw! What is that? It is temporary.
I see. So although you have a reason to hate it, you’ve decided to enjoy it until its over? Actually, no. Within it is a portal to one of two other worlds, one far greater than this since it is Paradise Eternal and the other, far worse than this.So when this one ends since, as you say, it is temporary, you simply go to one of the other worlds. True.
What determines one’s destination? For the most part each individual determines his or her own fate. So it is a matter of choice. Yes. However, admission to Eternal Paradise requires a ticket. Can you explain “ticket”? It is best understood by reading the book, “Do You Have a Ticket”
“Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all “fullness of blessing,” both in this world and in the world to come, of all the good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment.” + St. Basil the Great, “On the Holy Spirit”
The tender voice of the Mourning Dove…
I love to hear the tender and sweet voice of the Mourning Dove, in the morning and at any time.
When I young, I felt the same way but unfortunately didn’t know it because the voice of my youth knew little quiet. Now that age, by nature, brings some stillness from passionate youth, memory revisits, uncluttered, revealing what I could not then distinguish.
Our Father Who knows all things, made provision for all things. Because of His love He does not punish our neglect forever but tenderly remains faithful with His infinite gifts until the end.
I have long felt that while men were fabricating Communism, women prayed. In utter ignorance, the Communists demolished thousands of Churches, not realizing that the more they destroyed the more glorious and loved the Church became in the heart, especially women. I think this can be seen in Valentina. She isn’t simply a smiling sweet old lady who can neither understand nor speak English. As expected from right-believing Christians, she represents the Church. When the light of Christ shines on the heart, sins invisible to some become visible. From translations I have received, Valentina is aware of, brands and weeps over the slightest offense against Christ. A heart that loves God and others, has no room for grumbling or complaint.
1. Angry brothers throughout the world, for every drop of innocent blood you’ve shed, a sea of blood has been shed for your restoration.
2. He who humbles himself to the King, makes visible the King before the time.
3. A bad attitude exposes ingratitude
4. Once I came to know that You are in all things, all the time, I now see you everywhere and at all times, which leaves me in tears of joy.
5. Oh Death, better to have never met. Yet, as an acquaintance in life you become a friend and an antidote to your own poison. Released by our ancient mother and father but forced to assist them by our true Father and Mother. When tasted from within life, you pull aside the veil from eyes and lift burden from heart and the heart exposes the mind to its inner vision. What a sight! What Light! Treasure made to sparkle before its time, to those who weep. Since all things must one day past, death’s treasure is contained in all and can, for at least a moment, be seen in all things.
6. Forgive me Father, although You were ever before me, I didn’t know it was You, It took me 68 years to recognize You.
PEOPLE ARE SO MUCH LIKE EGGS
You need not be an artist to admire the simple yet elegant shape, beauty and art of the modest egg.
It reminds me of how many of us, who admire ourselves, who have it good in this life, (not everyone does however) love our life, our hobbies, our interests, our good fortune, our good looks (if so endowed) our abilities our talents, etc.
The reality however is that our life, whether good or bad, distinguished or dim, is nothing more than the shell of the egg, if it remains un-cracked.
If one never cracks the egg how can its inner beauty, far surpassing its outer beauty, be known?
When the egg is cracked, which, relative to its size requires some force, a completely new reality, a new identity is revealed.
An identity that not only pleases the eye as did the shell but all the senses and even more. And seemingly infinite possibilities are found. How many of its uses and rewards can you name? The shell is not without value of course but what is it compared to the treasure within?
Moreover, its consumption sustains life like no shell can ever do.
To reveal that which is within the egg, a force is required. So it is with that which lies within each one of us. But with man however the force needed may be either as slight as a single breath or, sadly, greater than splitting an atom. Wonderfully, that force is nothing more than sincere desire.
Not one of us is an empty shell but no matter how illustrious or lowly our shell may be, few of us find the treasure within.
But wait! There is even more to the lowly egg, to what is within ……………………scroll down..
There is a new creature, waiting to get out! Within us, Who is Christ Himself.
Get crackin’!!!
Abraham and Zakat; Sam and Mabel
What is treasure? Although they too were subjected to temptations, their treasure superseded everything in their lives. I am not alone as a witness.
My mother and father, your grandparents and your great grandparents, needed God. They lived, not only as believers in God’s existence, but that Life and God are one and the same.
As a family we continue in their footsteps. Who can deny we have not been immeasurably rewarded by our attempt at becoming Disciples of Christ. At the same time, let us be aware that we have reaped where we have not sown. With any insight at all, one must admit the foundation was laid for us.
Dear Faithful
The Blessing of the Lord and His Mercy!
Yesterday I was asked if wine and olive oil were permitted. Although I responded affirmatively, it reminded me of †Mr. Michael Maamari, one of the faithful of St. John’s some years ago. Having previously been engulfed and affected somewhat by modernism, etc. he was, nonetheless, in many, many ways, a living example of an Orthodox mindset. For example, Michael had so familiarized himself with the saints that at the mere mention of a name (not simply his favorite saints), he could state the month of that particular saint’s commemoration. Also, each time Holy Tradition was referenced, Michael would quickly affirm: ‘Of course’. The Church was ever fresh in his mind. Granted there are many facets to remember but after a few years, the more obvious ones begin to stick. Such as, from Pascha until Pentecost, all Wednesdays and Fridays permit wine and olive oil. It even stuck with me. I learned many things from Michael and remember them, especially things like:
Michael walked everywhere. The walk from work was approximately 3 miles yet he very rarely missed evening or morning services. When he did, it was due to working overtime. After services, I would ask: Would you like a ride home Michael? Unfailingly he would say, ‘I am home’. When he accepted a ride, he almost always had a trick up his sleeve. On the way home he would ask to stop at the grocery store, sometimes two. There are many stories to tell but not now. Finally, however, I must say that regardless of his health he never failed to say, Thank God or rather in his broken English, Thanks God. Occasionally he would also say: Oh I am fine, ‘Thank God, or rarely a one word complaint but ALWAYS followed with, Thank God. Withholding the name, Michael was regularly mistreated by someone close to him. I came to know this in an indirect way and when I would ask, he would volunteer details. On hearing, I was sometimes shocked, to which he would smile slightly and say, Thank God.
Valentina: Not a single sparrow falls from a tree without our Father knowing. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (St. Matthew 10:29-31). If Michael were yet here, he would say that God sent Valentina, regardless of how long she may be with us. I must say, the affection and attention paid her by so many in our Church brings great joy. Nevertheless, the reason I speak of Valentina is her relationship with Christ or her Orthodox mindset – much the same as Michael’s. Fr. John told me a couple of days ago that she arrived at the Church unexpectedly. Father determined that she was here for the Translation of the Relics of St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker. She needed no calendar. Valentina doesn’t get the blog and it wasn’t listed anyway. St. Nicholas’s love is and always has been unquestionably felt by people and especially Orthodox all around the world.
We claim to have ‘taken up the Cross’ by calling ourselves Christians. When we love something in or of the world, we know it inside out. Those hearts that rest in Church, are pillars for us. Their very lives, respond to the holy apostle Peter’s accusers saying, Yes, I not only know Him, I belong to Him. I am ashamed to be more familiar with the seasons of the year than the seasons of the Church.
+Father Raphael
Learn: When you finally begin to love the holy ones, they don’t begin to love you in return but instead you become aware of their love for you that was already there. As a result you experience what love truly is.
The Face: If you look for handsome or homely, you’ll miss the soul which is seen in the face’s design and also its temper.
5 Senses: No one knows the hour when the Judge comes but when it happens I am prepared to say: I saw, I tasted, I touched, I smelled and I heard. Was there something else?
Do you know that you can look ahead to the coming Sunday and familiarize yourself with the commemoration? But why would one want to do that?
Ahhh the value of anticipation! Anticipation accomplishes 3 things. 1. It initiates the experience before the event occurs. 2. The event is enhanced because anticipation gave you a head start. 3. The increased saturation in experience gained from #1 and #2 Are you are content with this world, old age, sickness, separation from others through death, ignorant of your origin, what is there to anticipate except those things you can acquire.
We are strange sometimes.
What does God expect when He tells you to be reborn?
He expects you to remake yourself.
Why?
Because you were made and are sustained by a Divine Being and you don’t act like it.
You have put on your own attributes and characteristic like ego, thinking you are a hot shot, self-centered, a know-it-all, etc. none of which is in Him or in the way He made you. Moreover, when He shows you your divinity, you block it because by its nature, it forces your false self to flee and you don’t want to give it up.
ALREADY IN CHRIST
We are already with Christ having been baptized but He is meek and lowly in nature and therefore cannot be seen or experienced nor can His gifts be revealed through the passions and materialism we cover Him with.
REMAIN HIDDEN
If you wish to keep your offences, faults and errors hidden, never blame or accuse yourself of anything. On the other hand, if you want faults you may not have known to exist and wish to be revealed, blame and accuse yourself instead of others.
HOW I SEE IT
Meditation is but the fragrance of the meat, making the meat recognizable and granting faith, love and hope. Once we partake of that on which we meditate however, which is our Savior Jesus Christ, not Christ-Consciousness, filled and restored, meditation is no longer a practice.
NOT IN CHARGE
Thursday January 25 2018 ns I met with Patera concerning an individual who I have been praying for (and worrying). My concerns were quickly resolved but followed by a reminder of all the faults I have committed against my family but with a shocking new one that I was not conscious of - that I resent no longer being in charge. ....... God forgive me
FRIEND OF A FRIEND OF GOD
We love our friends, some more than others. Nevertheless, may God be glorified. We know God is glorified when we love our enemies and people He refers to as the least among us. But we are not limited to only those above. We can be friends, yes, have a mutual relationship with people who were friends with God while yet on earth and are now friends with Him in Paradise. There is nothing imaginary or fantastic about it but actually a more real, a more intimate relationship and one possessing all the attributes of love we are accustomed to. You say you don’t know what I am talking about. I understand, but that is remedied by working toward a relationship with a saint. You can take my word for it because I took it from the saints.
AROUND EVERY TURN
Dying daily (remembrance of death) brings the Beyond closer than this life can begin to offer.
DON'T WORRY
It doesn't matter at what point in time during your life that you find LIFE for you have found eternity.
FATHER!
In my childishness, I often run after things and soon find myself alone in despair and tears. As my Father, You always call me home.
THE GIVING OF THE GREAT GIVER
Beauty in various forms and in various degrees has been before my eyes as it presents itself to everyone else but one day beauty appeared, as usual, and yet, in an instant, it was supplanted and replaced by the 'giving' of the Great Giver. I would have exclaimed 'What a delight!' but even that was supplanted by the 'giving'.
FIRST THE GIFTS, THEN...
First the gifts of God are perceived in all ways and in all things but later they are eclipsed by the Giver and His act of giving.
WARM TEARS
I often wondered why the saints weep warm tears. Having submitted all of their life to God what grievous sins do the saints commit to weep over? Granted, one can weep for an entire lifetime over past sins but I remained unfulfilled with that as an answer. Some time later I found myself weeping more and more frequently at the mere remembrance of the ineffable beauty that is Christ, sometimes through sensible objects, sometimes from thoughts, from a leaf, from a cloud, etc. Competing in unseen warfare (although most worthlessly), I experienced the grace of God and at other times, the opposite, the torment and shackles of the Devil. Gradually realizing that while I remained by Christ, Who is constantly at our side, I experienced nothing but His love for all things and far above, the inexplicable, immeasurable love that He simply is. Although He never leaves me for a moment, like a child I get drawn or enticed away from Him by a passion, a sweet passion but whose aftertaste leaves nothing less than warm tears of sorrow for having distanced myself from Paradise, our Lord Jesus Christ.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE?
The question is: Do you want to continue seeing people the way you usually do (i.e. their faults, sins, their abilities, etc.) or do you want to see them the way Christ sees them? How does Christ see them you may ask? He sees them as someone He loves and would give His life for.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE 2?
When Christ reveals and confirms that you indeed love Him, regardless though you be of the lowest, He reveals in turn not only His love for all creatures, but He reveals to you and blesses you through them, unbeknownst to them, with the love He planted in them.
REGRET?
I could say that I regret not having ventured, in my youth, even farther around the world to experience its wonders while the revelation that the Source of all things perceptible still remained concealed within me. But having now that it has been revealed, what is there to regret?
PITFALL
There are praiseworthy and skillful people whose arrogance is often interpreted as though they think they are smarter than everyone else. I am inclined to think not but rather that they think most everyone else is stupid.
PRAYER TO GRANDCHILDREN
And.....So you see my sweet, I pray for your understanding. Although I have confessed all my sins and know I have been forgiven, memory remains, a memory possessed of regret. But in Paradise, all things that have been forgiven are washed away leaving love between all that are there.
So you see when I have been so protective there is a reason. My love and hope is to keep all of my children and grandchildren and those to whom God allows me to offer His Precious Body and Blood from regret. A life of avoiding, at all costs, that which displeases God and harms our souls and bodies is the key to humility and through humility we attain the grace to love God and others with a new strength, the grace that lit the lamps of the virgins (St Serpahim Sarov), for whom Christ held open the door to the Feast in Paradise.
WORDS WITHOUT MEANING
The words of our Lord and His saints have no meaning to the elements and your body is made up of elements. They only have meaning to the heart that is pure and open to them.
HOW TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
Ask our Savior Jesus Christ for some of His.
UNADULTERATED JOY
All of us indulge in adulterated joy, that is, joy through something perceptible (St. Maximos); some of them God-pleasing, some offensive to God. If in excess, none are God-pleasing. Blessed is one whose faith offers a whole heart request for joy to come independent of perceptible things – from Christ directly.
WITHOUT HIM
Having been created by Him, in His own likeness, we must be infinitely deeply in love with Christ, otherwise why would being without Him be such hell?
ODE TO GARRISON KEILLOR'S COUNTERFIT PERSONA
I am heartened by Garrison Keillor'S God-given semblance but regarding the veneer that is so well known and by which he has characterized himself, let me say . . .
Ultra-pasteurized visage
layer upon layer of shades and colors
Yet nearly mummied, Peat bound, pillowed words
Mimic of a scraty bow embracing string.
Forsake now Garrison
A patina grown in a petri that rapt so many, so long
Find and rejoin
to what once was birthed
You've pushed it beneath
yet it looks down
at your wardrobe
Forsake now, before age brings the composition’s finale.
PARADISE
It has been said in most profound ways, thank God, yet I still want to say it again. They were in Paradise with Christ but Paradise isn’t Paradise, Christ is Paradise. When they left Him, it was Paradise no longer.
PRAY FOR PEACE?
I don't pray for peace. What society calls peace is always temporary. I want the Prince of Peace, He is eternal.
MOZART
“My subject enlarges itself, becomes methodized and defined, and the whole, though it be long, stands almost complete and finished in my mind, so that I can survey it, like a fine picture or a beautiful statue, at a glance. Nor do I hear in my imagination the parts successively, but I hear them, as it were, all at once. What a delight this is! All this inventing, this producing, takes place in a pleasing, lively dream”.
Mozart says it himself. '... I hear them (compositions), as it were, all at once.'
Unless otherwise known, what Mozart claims was unique to him but it is old and common among the melodists of Orthodoxy. Not only is the music granted as a packaged gift from God, as it did with Mozart, but even more unique. The gift given to Mozart is primarily the composition. But as concerns the ancient melodies, not only does the listener receive the music and words that transcend but along with the music, they gain the Giver of the music Himself.
A MANSION FOR YOU IN PARADISE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Aspirant! Know this. Every fruit you bear for Christ and neighbor, every day fasting, praying, attending services, receiving Holy Communion and all the Holy Mysteries, each time you repent and confess, each time you set aside time, play and work to attend a feast day during the week, each time you call on our holy Virgin Mother, each you suffer the sins of others, each time you do good for the sake of goodness, not as a slave or as a hierling........is another stone for the mansion the Son of God is building for you, a son of God, in the Father's kingdom.
CALIFORNIA DREAMERS
A response to Iowans who complain about Iowa and think the grass is so much greener in California.
Iowa ~ tough ~ yes, humidity unwelcomed, hot-whipped storms unexpected, and yes, her icy gusts pierce and numb the cheek more than bitter bites the tongue.
She restrains and shackles, gloves our fingers and big coats that struggle against ease ~ yes, all this and more.
And, predictably, saddled to discomfort’s complaint, comes figment California ~ California ~ gracious, alluring, venerated ~ indisputably America’s queen!
Oh how she pipes her wealth of treasures to entice and draw us to her coast.
Yet home does not loose, rather she knows when to caress and when to gently grant her embrace, and she does so it seems, always unexpectedly. In the midst of summer’s muggy mantle, she unveils her rare but ever-treasured, ever-memorable, balmy breeze that sweeps the field and delightfully kisses the brow ~ on its wing, the cool, sleepy glowing memory of autumn soon to come.
Iowa, where as equals big brother trees stand shoulder to shoulder and with branches that cuddle little brother bushes below as they wait in quiet and stillness of winter night, while we sleep, to delicately dress themselves in flocks of weightless snow.
Come morning - a daydream - courses of specular rain necklaces the branches with clear-silver-white ice ~ a gift of unimaginable beauty!
And yet, ever so softly, spring’s unhurried warmth beckons, freeing her wintered creations to the creeks as a welcome to the coming seasons.
And the dream, California, thumped by Iowa, her enchantment to nap.
NO LONGER IN MOTION
I used to see things in motion. Now I possess them.
WITH YOU
When I am with you I see love hand-in-hand, everywhere and in everything.
PRAYER?
Prayers become still when the Father's arms are around me, rather prayer is replaced by tears of joy from His embrace.
THE PURPOSE OF A CONSCIENCE
Adam and Eve learned about good and evil before the time by turning from Christ to Satan. Did this not bring the conscience into being? If they had consciences beforehand, would they not also be aware of good and evil? Can we therefore assume that there was no need for consciences, especially since they dwelt in Paradise with God Himself. Subsequently, their choice was unconscionable.....
If Adam and Eve had not known good or evil, then is it correct to assume they had no conscience yet? It appears to me that God in His love gave us a conscience so we could transcend the conscience.
TEMPORARY HAPPINESS IS JUST THAT
There is no lasting happiness except that which only Jesus Christ can give.
It is an uninterrupted sovereign happiness, independent of the senses.
This gift is given freely to everyone but must be won.
KNOWING IS ENOUGH
Knowing what one is capable of is enough. He or she no longer has the need or desire to prove it to himself or others.
Evlogeite Patera
I am tired and weak. I will call it the eventide gift of old age but I feel it to be beyond even that, and yet, in an instant, even without enticement, I am snared and bitten, by the Snake and it matters not the species nor its camouflage. My prayer must then be subsequent with: Get thee behind me and then the deeply drawn constant call to Christ to come, spoil and vanquish. I am tired of fighting, tired, yet my cry to be removed once and for all from the Field to that place of permanent eventide and bliss, according to my wish, is not granted. Forgive me, I am guilty in my request knowing so many, so many who have battled longer and harder seeking liberty and solace yet I cannot help the longing, smitten by a dew of Christ's love.
ZEUS? NO, BUT....
You are made by God, subsequently you are a little God who has fallen away from the fullness of grace and power. As a result an immortal being becomes attached to mortal things which force the immortal being to experience death. Think about it. Being attached to a desire or an object that lacks immortality causes you to thirst for it over and over and over again until it becomes you or you break free.
Reference: The Woman at the Well. Had you asked, I would have broken your attachment of going from one husband to the next and actually all attachments. In other words He would restore her completely and He did at the end because she did her part.
The inappropriate thoughts knock on the door of your mind and you recognize them for what they are, but, it is YOU who lets them. They cannot pass through Christ unless you push Him aside so you can enjoy the pleasure they stole from God but claim as their own, once they have perverted them.
INTELLIGENCE
There's one thing about not being so intelligent. When something profound comes from your lips, you know its not you.
VISAGE
My prayer becomes absorbed by Thy visage Father.
HIS CARESS
His caress is unending and it tells you its Him
POSSESS THE PLANET
It is clear that you cannot make a possession out of this life so why would you want to make a possession out of anything in it?
HOW BEAUTIFUL IS LIFE?
Life is immensely beautiful but it little more than a cobweb (St John of Kronstadt) compared to the beauty it promises.
Life is obviously now but is also blest with the future.
HIS FACE
Once you have given all of your heart to Christ only, He will reveal gifts to you that you've never seen or experienced and He will also reveal past gifts from earlier in life were also from Him. Then ask to see his beautiful face.
CONFINEMENT
Deserting God and allying ourselves with the Dissenter, confined us to the planet. Thousands of years later we were permitted on the moon.
BEAUTY FULFILLED
When beauty comes before me and I suddenly see its beauty fulfilled, it makes me weep. Other times, beauty fulfilled arrives and again I cry.
HOPSCOTCH
Basically almost everything in this life is a postponement to reality. And we go from one thing to another until we finally realize we have done little more than play hopscotch, we've arrived at reality.
PRAYER TO MY ANGEL
Sing to me my angel with your most sweet voice; words I can offer in prayer to your Master that I also may please Him.
THANK YOU GOD, THANK YOU
By the most tender grace of the Lover of Mankind, the many mumbo-jumbo religions don't always affect one's love for God nor God’s reward for our gratitude that He is our God.
THE KINGDOM OF ADAM
This earth and universe is but a grain of sand in Christ's hand. But Satan and man, in their diminutive state, perceive it in a distorted way. He holds it, and you in His hand until He calls you from it. In the meantime, He waits for you to tire of this, the kingdom of Satan, a fallen angel, and those with him, a kingdom for which Adam and Eve, in their folly, left their home in Paradise. Like the prodigal, may we tire of it and return to our Father Christ, before it is too late.
I HATE SEPARATION
On a personal note, what I hate most about this world, beyond man's inhumanity to man, is separation. Lucifer separated himself from His Lord and Heaven, Adam and Eve separated themselves from their Father and Paradise, we separate ourselves from Christ and His grace, from each other's love and company because of sin, and even if only briefly, death separates us, a separation that was never part of creation or necessary. I hate separation. We should pray that we all repent before death so no separation between sheep and goats exists in Paradise.
LIFE AND RESURRECTION
I read the scripture where Christ told me that he was my life and Resurrection. Faith in His words brought me to His glory and now I know it to be true.
INHERIT THE EARTH
Why should a desire or be attached to anything, such a car, home, money, and so when in Christ I have inherited the earth.
TASTE AND SEE
I’ve never had ice cream but I can say with confidence that it must be delicious, confidence that comes from so many testimonies.
That being said,
Psalm 34:8 King James Version (KJV) 8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Two things: There are many who know the goodness of God but have not tasted otherwise they would know it’s a lingering taste that never ends. So, if you have not tasted, think about your trust and pray for increase and thereby be motived to know what it really means to “taste”.
LOOK FORWARD
I don't look forward to seeing Christ face to face one day, I look forward to seeing Jesus Christ.
True repentance brings humility but it is not necessary. To taste and see that the Lord is good, is to taste humility of Christ.
Body and Spirit
My body wishes to take its ease, tired and distended from gluttony of the senses but the spirit never tires of the life-giving love of Christ won by the saints and granted to us by their precious words and lives.
CHRIST OFFERS THE PRAYER
Follower of Christ, know that God can directly grant you prayer to offer to Him, not only the prayers of your prayer book, not only the prayers said and heard in the Church, but prayers coming forth from Him and given to you so you may witness them being offered to Him but, rewarding you. If desire abides in the heart it can come forth 'then it will inevitably appear outwardly...' as St Tikhon tell us below. Speak to God from your heart on your bed, expecting Him to grace you with words profound in honor of Him. Consider the Psalmist and the beauty of his prayer, how it comes forth like a gushing spring and as effectual to the soul and Spirit as spring water refreshes the body.
SPIRIT NONETHELESS
Whether granted to the incorporeal or to those in earthen vessels, nonetheless infused with God’s own spirit.
ADMIT DISFIGUREMENTHow can we not admit our disfigurement when God has to tell us to love each other?
HATE OUT OF EXISTENCEAllow hate to do its work and root itself out of your love.
PRAY, DON'T READ
Once you’ve prayed, you will more easily recognize when you are simply reading.
YOU ARE AN ATHLETE
Just because you didn’t have a good coach and didn’t learn as much as you could have, doesn’t mean you aren’t an athlete.
LOVE
What virtue is most easily granted yet most easily abused = love.
GREATER THAN THE GIFT
You may count the aspects of love but at the top place the Giver
NO LONGER ALONE
Thank you Father, I am no longer alone.
TEMPORAL/ETERNAL
Father! Now that You have shown me the eternal I can now better see the limitations of the temporal.
FOLLOWER OF CHRIST
Christ asks that if you wish to be a follower, you must love Him above all others, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, friend … if you indeed have become a follower, you no longer thirst
Mr. X: I don’t believe God exists.
You need not believe that He exists. If indeed He does not exist, then there would be no harm in you trying something.
Mr. X: Try what?
Repeat the name of Christ continually.
Mr. X: For how long?
Continuously
Mr. X: Impossible!
It’s not impossible.
Mr. X: If I do, what will happen?
Try it and see.
BLIND TO GOD AND SELF
A self-centered person sees only what he (or she) imagines himself to be. He cannot see God and therefore cannot see himself and worse yet is blind to his own separation. On the other hand, one who looks for God in all things, not only sees Him, but in doing so joins company with Him.
CONFIRMATION
Yesterday was a new day but not in the characteristic way was it experienced. Yesterday I said, Father. Yesterday He let me know that He heard me.
BEAUTY
Don't let fault throw you to and fro. Gods pervading beauty overshadows all things. See it.
How can I not love them Father, they are citizens in Thy garden.
Father, you have given us everything . . . even your Son also.
I loved and admired my brothers Phil and Joe. Phil’s love was generous. Joe’s beauty made it very easy to admit you weren’t handsome. I loved Philip but it took most of my life to know how much more he loved me. Too long did it take me to realize my brothers inherited the rewards of Ibraheem and Zakat. Philip was actually baptized Nicholas (St. Nicholas the Wonderworker) but referred to by mom as Saleem after grandfather Saleem, by others as Phil. Joseph was probably named after St. Joseph the Betrothed. I was baptized after the GM George
Father I am anxious because I yet have learned to believe and trust in the perfection of Your judgement. When there is suffering or pain Lord, let me no longer ask how long.
Definition of Paradise=Spirits at play. When Christ was present in Paradise with Adam and Eve, did they pray together? Did they talk or speculate philosophy or seek enlightenment?
The meek shall inherit the earth. Having denied all things, one becomes meek and thereby in position to inherit the earth (not only the earth but all things since he has inherited Christ the Creator). Subsequently, accusations of possessions have no meaning. How is this known by the individual? By a soundless whisper.
Inadequate in so many ways, vocabulary being one, I will say, it blows my mind how human beings can be so utterly nonchalant about not knowing. At least the blind know they are blind. But a spiritually (what other word can I use?) blind person, is not only blind but doesn’t know he is blind. For a brief few minutes, I watched and listened to a young woman on stage. Here before me was exquisite physical and mental being, regardless of so called flaws. Hair, eyes, eyebrows, mouth, face, head, etc., superb, not because of exceptional beauty but simply because its existence. The sound it was making, called a song, was no more than screeching. I thought, We are so, so blind. Disfigured. The creature does not look at itself and say, I am overwhelmed that I inhabit this exquisite organism of whom I know so very, very little. Actually, compared to a fraction of what it is visually, mentally, and emotionally, I know nothing about it. Why, would I use it to produce such a sound. Well, there is nothing really wrong if one uses it to make a strange sound or noise or whatever for some purpose but to do so and award it a title of beauty or pleasurable, is strange. OK, the reality is, most everyone cares only about what additional pleasure one can gain but the use of the creature they inhabit.
Dear Lord, thank you for the love and joy I receive from your created things, people, friends, objects experienced through the senses, which you give in abundance, but knowing that You are the source, I no longer want your love and joy only through your creation but directly from You, knowing created things are nothing in themselves. It is You we are experiencing. Knowing that You are the Source, You ARE the Life. Dependence on things created by You are no longer necessary nor desirable but rather become obstacles between You and me. The objects in Paradise were secondary to You. You are Paradise. Like Adam and Eve, we are deceived.
The small calm smile granted by the Father to the human face is a most beautiful sight.
If you wonder if your love for Christ is genuine, the proof is easily found. When one loves Christ, he forsakes all for the path that leads directly to Him.
Beauty delivered me to Christ where it was lost in His presence.
I heard a wonderful sound today from the lips of Elder Joseph the Hesychast of the Holy Mountain. He told me that Satan does everything he can to keep us from discovering who we really are. I was so excited I could have burst! Christ is so meek, more meek than the breath of a newborn. So meek that we barely hear Him above the howl of desires, telling us who we really are.
The glory of Your creation dizzies me Father but your love blinds me to all of it.
Because of his attachment to the world, a fallen God cannot tolerate being with the God all the time until it becomes one with him and in doing so he finds out that the fallen God was a false god AND actually not a god at all. So you see God cannot reveal himself to you before the time when you are willing to reject your fallen god.
If you listen only for the voice of our Lord, that is all you will hear and you do what you should. Doing the wrong thing will no longer be a choice.
Dear Patera
Evlogeite
It grieves me when people miss the Salutations and I would like to write something and send it to everyone, although most of them were present. Are they waiting for her to appear? Have they not at least experienced the fragrance (not necessarily with the nose) she grants anyone who calls her from the heart? At the very least, have they not heard the praises offered her throughout the year to draw them to her presence.
St. Peter of Damaskos: As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart . . .
“In the words of the psalmist, ‘As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart’ (Ps. 4:4 LXX), that is, repent in the stillness of the night, remembering the lapses that occurred in the confusion of the day and disciplining yourself in hymns and spiritual songs (cf. Col. 3:16) – in other words, teaching yourself to persist in prayer and psalmody through attentive meditation on what you read. For the practice of the moral virtues is effectuated by meditating on what has happened during the day, so that during the stillness of the night we can become aware of the sins we have committed and can grieve over them.”
Why should you do what St. Peter suggests?
Although you may not know it your creator couldn’t be any closer to you. Why then do you feel distanced from Him or possibly don’t feel Him at all? Don’t allow any opinions to impress your mind about this but relate to Christ’s response at the wedding in Cana when he said to the most pure Virgin, My hour has not yet come St. John 2:4. On the other hand, were there periods in your past that you felt closer than you do today?
As we all know, it is sometimes hard to get out of bed but commitments make it necessary to force ourselves. Make no mistake! It also takes force to resist that which draws us away from Christ. Short term desires, loves, pleasures, etc. are easily taken but have preset termination date. They are present everywhere and draw us away with great force, until we break free. Once that occurs, we are in charge and only one thing can break us free and that is Jesus Christ.
The woman from Canaan didn’t know it was time for her Gift when she asked Christ to heal her daughter, not for herself. Yet, Christ not only granted her request, He praised her great faith. Imagine God praising you? He need not appear or whisper in your ear - you only need to know it.
And the Centurion, who asked Christ to heal one of his soldiers, also gained the Great Treasure. He heart was filled with faith the Christ would grant his request. He wasn’t expecting Treasure for Himself.
Did the holy apostles get notification that at the celebration of Pentecost they would be so transfigured by the descent of the Holy Spirit into completely new creatures with power from God?
If your mind convinces you that you are far from this Gift, then you have distanced yourself from Christ Who couldn’t possibly be any closer.
Check your heart. Where is it most often? When you are honest enough to admit to yourself its location and if you find it on a sensible object or desire, then you have found your treasure. Bob didn’t have to think hard about the question above and without hesitation replied that he loves hanging out with his buddies. The majority of his time while at work or at home, etc. he finds himself focused on his desire to hang out. The object of his affection brings him joy and he is satisfied as long as it lasts each time. Subsequently, when he isn’t hanging out, he is hungry because his heart craves its treasure.
While we study the universe and the nature of things, looking for ‘treasure’, “the” treasure closer to us than sin. As the psalmist says: My sin is ever before me.
Although I remain outside I have seen the joy the bridal chamber and thus having seen, I hate this world’s pitfalls both in the mind and in the heart wherein lies temptations and sin.
FAITH IS THE VEHICLE THAT TAKES YOU FROM BELIEVING IN GOD TO THE GIFT OF KNOWING HIM.
Would you describe this world as a beautiful, exciting and wonderful place? Yes! So can you say you love it? No, I hate it. Is there something wrong with you? How can you say that? I can say it because it has one huge, intolerable flaw! What is that? It is temporary.
I see. So although you have a reason to hate it, you’ve decided to enjoy it until its over? Actually, no. Within it is a portal to one of two other worlds, one far greater than this since it is Paradise Eternal and the other, far worse than this.So when this one ends since, as you say, it is temporary, you simply go to one of the other worlds. True.
What determines one’s destination? For the most part each individual determines his or her own fate. So it is a matter of choice. Yes. However, admission to Eternal Paradise requires a ticket. Can you explain “ticket”? It is best understood by reading the book, “Do You Have a Ticket”
“Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all “fullness of blessing,” both in this world and in the world to come, of all the good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment.” + St. Basil the Great, “On the Holy Spirit”
The tender voice of the Mourning Dove…
I love to hear the tender and sweet voice of the Mourning Dove, in the morning and at any time.
When I young, I felt the same way but unfortunately didn’t know it because the voice of my youth knew little quiet. Now that age, by nature, brings some stillness from passionate youth, memory revisits, uncluttered, revealing what I could not then distinguish.
Our Father Who knows all things, made provision for all things. Because of His love He does not punish our neglect forever but tenderly remains faithful with His infinite gifts until the end.
I have long felt that while men were fabricating Communism, women prayed. In utter ignorance, the Communists demolished thousands of Churches, not realizing that the more they destroyed the more glorious and loved the Church became in the heart, especially women. I think this can be seen in Valentina. She isn’t simply a smiling sweet old lady who can neither understand nor speak English. As expected from right-believing Christians, she represents the Church. When the light of Christ shines on the heart, sins invisible to some become visible. From translations I have received, Valentina is aware of, brands and weeps over the slightest offense against Christ. A heart that loves God and others, has no room for grumbling or complaint.
1. Angry brothers throughout the world, for every drop of innocent blood you’ve shed, a sea of blood has been shed for your restoration.
2. He who humbles himself to the King, makes visible the King before the time.
3. A bad attitude exposes ingratitude
4. Once I came to know that You are in all things, all the time, I now see you everywhere and at all times, which leaves me in tears of joy.
5. Oh Death, better to have never met. Yet, as an acquaintance in life you become a friend and an antidote to your own poison. Released by our ancient mother and father but forced to assist them by our true Father and Mother. When tasted from within life, you pull aside the veil from eyes and lift burden from heart and the heart exposes the mind to its inner vision. What a sight! What Light! Treasure made to sparkle before its time, to those who weep. Since all things must one day past, death’s treasure is contained in all and can, for at least a moment, be seen in all things.
6. Forgive me Father, although You were ever before me, I didn’t know it was You, It took me 68 years to recognize You.
PEOPLE ARE SO MUCH LIKE EGGS
You need not be an artist to admire the simple yet elegant shape, beauty and art of the modest egg.
It reminds me of how many of us, who admire ourselves, who have it good in this life, (not everyone does however) love our life, our hobbies, our interests, our good fortune, our good looks (if so endowed) our abilities our talents, etc.
The reality however is that our life, whether good or bad, distinguished or dim, is nothing more than the shell of the egg, if it remains un-cracked.
If one never cracks the egg how can its inner beauty, far surpassing its outer beauty, be known?
When the egg is cracked, which, relative to its size requires some force, a completely new reality, a new identity is revealed.
An identity that not only pleases the eye as did the shell but all the senses and even more. And seemingly infinite possibilities are found. How many of its uses and rewards can you name? The shell is not without value of course but what is it compared to the treasure within?
Moreover, its consumption sustains life like no shell can ever do.
To reveal that which is within the egg, a force is required. So it is with that which lies within each one of us. But with man however the force needed may be either as slight as a single breath or, sadly, greater than splitting an atom. Wonderfully, that force is nothing more than sincere desire.
Not one of us is an empty shell but no matter how illustrious or lowly our shell may be, few of us find the treasure within.
But wait! There is even more to the lowly egg, to what is within ……………………scroll down..
There is a new creature, waiting to get out! Within us, Who is Christ Himself.
Get crackin’!!!
Abraham and Zakat; Sam and Mabel
What is treasure? Although they too were subjected to temptations, their treasure superseded everything in their lives. I am not alone as a witness.
My mother and father, your grandparents and your great grandparents, needed God. They lived, not only as believers in God’s existence, but that Life and God are one and the same.
As a family we continue in their footsteps. Who can deny we have not been immeasurably rewarded by our attempt at becoming Disciples of Christ. At the same time, let us be aware that we have reaped where we have not sown. With any insight at all, one must admit the foundation was laid for us.
Dear Faithful
The Blessing of the Lord and His Mercy!
Yesterday I was asked if wine and olive oil were permitted. Although I responded affirmatively, it reminded me of †Mr. Michael Maamari, one of the faithful of St. John’s some years ago. Having previously been engulfed and affected somewhat by modernism, etc. he was, nonetheless, in many, many ways, a living example of an Orthodox mindset. For example, Michael had so familiarized himself with the saints that at the mere mention of a name (not simply his favorite saints), he could state the month of that particular saint’s commemoration. Also, each time Holy Tradition was referenced, Michael would quickly affirm: ‘Of course’. The Church was ever fresh in his mind. Granted there are many facets to remember but after a few years, the more obvious ones begin to stick. Such as, from Pascha until Pentecost, all Wednesdays and Fridays permit wine and olive oil. It even stuck with me. I learned many things from Michael and remember them, especially things like:
Michael walked everywhere. The walk from work was approximately 3 miles yet he very rarely missed evening or morning services. When he did, it was due to working overtime. After services, I would ask: Would you like a ride home Michael? Unfailingly he would say, ‘I am home’. When he accepted a ride, he almost always had a trick up his sleeve. On the way home he would ask to stop at the grocery store, sometimes two. There are many stories to tell but not now. Finally, however, I must say that regardless of his health he never failed to say, Thank God or rather in his broken English, Thanks God. Occasionally he would also say: Oh I am fine, ‘Thank God, or rarely a one word complaint but ALWAYS followed with, Thank God. Withholding the name, Michael was regularly mistreated by someone close to him. I came to know this in an indirect way and when I would ask, he would volunteer details. On hearing, I was sometimes shocked, to which he would smile slightly and say, Thank God.
Valentina: Not a single sparrow falls from a tree without our Father knowing. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (St. Matthew 10:29-31). If Michael were yet here, he would say that God sent Valentina, regardless of how long she may be with us. I must say, the affection and attention paid her by so many in our Church brings great joy. Nevertheless, the reason I speak of Valentina is her relationship with Christ or her Orthodox mindset – much the same as Michael’s. Fr. John told me a couple of days ago that she arrived at the Church unexpectedly. Father determined that she was here for the Translation of the Relics of St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker. She needed no calendar. Valentina doesn’t get the blog and it wasn’t listed anyway. St. Nicholas’s love is and always has been unquestionably felt by people and especially Orthodox all around the world.
We claim to have ‘taken up the Cross’ by calling ourselves Christians. When we love something in or of the world, we know it inside out. Those hearts that rest in Church, are pillars for us. Their very lives, respond to the holy apostle Peter’s accusers saying, Yes, I not only know Him, I belong to Him. I am ashamed to be more familiar with the seasons of the year than the seasons of the Church.
+Father Raphael
Learn: When you finally begin to love the holy ones, they don’t begin to love you in return but instead you become aware of their love for you that was already there. As a result you experience what love truly is.
The Face: If you look for handsome or homely, you’ll miss the soul which is seen in the face’s design and also its temper.
5 Senses: No one knows the hour when the Judge comes but when it happens I am prepared to say: I saw, I tasted, I touched, I smelled and I heard. Was there something else?
Do you know that you can look ahead to the coming Sunday and familiarize yourself with the commemoration? But why would one want to do that?
Ahhh the value of anticipation! Anticipation accomplishes 3 things. 1. It initiates the experience before the event occurs. 2. The event is enhanced because anticipation gave you a head start. 3. The increased saturation in experience gained from #1 and #2 Are you are content with this world, old age, sickness, separation from others through death, ignorant of your origin, what is there to anticipate except those things you can acquire.
We are strange sometimes.
What does God expect when He tells you to be reborn?
He expects you to remake yourself.
Why?
Because you were made and are sustained by a Divine Being and you don’t act like it.
You have put on your own attributes and characteristic like ego, thinking you are a hot shot, self-centered, a know-it-all, etc. none of which is in Him or in the way He made you. Moreover, when He shows you your divinity, you block it because by its nature, it forces your false self to flee and you don’t want to give it up.
ALREADY IN CHRIST
We are already with Christ having been baptized but He is meek and lowly in nature and therefore cannot be seen or experienced nor can His gifts be revealed through the passions and materialism we cover Him with.
REMAIN HIDDEN
If you wish to keep your offences, faults and errors hidden, never blame or accuse yourself of anything. On the other hand, if you want faults you may not have known to exist and wish to be revealed, blame and accuse yourself instead of others.
HOW I SEE IT
Meditation is but the fragrance of the meat, making the meat recognizable and granting faith, love and hope. Once we partake of that on which we meditate however, which is our Savior Jesus Christ, not Christ-Consciousness, filled and restored, meditation is no longer a practice.
NOT IN CHARGE
Thursday January 25 2018 ns I met with Patera concerning an individual who I have been praying for (and worrying). My concerns were quickly resolved but followed by a reminder of all the faults I have committed against my family but with a shocking new one that I was not conscious of - that I resent no longer being in charge. ....... God forgive me
FRIEND OF A FRIEND OF GOD
We love our friends, some more than others. Nevertheless, may God be glorified. We know God is glorified when we love our enemies and people He refers to as the least among us. But we are not limited to only those above. We can be friends, yes, have a mutual relationship with people who were friends with God while yet on earth and are now friends with Him in Paradise. There is nothing imaginary or fantastic about it but actually a more real, a more intimate relationship and one possessing all the attributes of love we are accustomed to. You say you don’t know what I am talking about. I understand, but that is remedied by working toward a relationship with a saint. You can take my word for it because I took it from the saints.
AROUND EVERY TURN
Dying daily (remembrance of death) brings the Beyond closer than this life can begin to offer.
DON'T WORRY
It doesn't matter at what point in time during your life that you find LIFE for you have found eternity.
FATHER!
In my childishness, I often run after things and soon find myself alone in despair and tears. As my Father, You always call me home.
THE GIVING OF THE GREAT GIVER
Beauty in various forms and in various degrees has been before my eyes as it presents itself to everyone else but one day beauty appeared, as usual, and yet, in an instant, it was supplanted and replaced by the 'giving' of the Great Giver. I would have exclaimed 'What a delight!' but even that was supplanted by the 'giving'.
FIRST THE GIFTS, THEN...
First the gifts of God are perceived in all ways and in all things but later they are eclipsed by the Giver and His act of giving.
WARM TEARS
I often wondered why the saints weep warm tears. Having submitted all of their life to God what grievous sins do the saints commit to weep over? Granted, one can weep for an entire lifetime over past sins but I remained unfulfilled with that as an answer. Some time later I found myself weeping more and more frequently at the mere remembrance of the ineffable beauty that is Christ, sometimes through sensible objects, sometimes from thoughts, from a leaf, from a cloud, etc. Competing in unseen warfare (although most worthlessly), I experienced the grace of God and at other times, the opposite, the torment and shackles of the Devil. Gradually realizing that while I remained by Christ, Who is constantly at our side, I experienced nothing but His love for all things and far above, the inexplicable, immeasurable love that He simply is. Although He never leaves me for a moment, like a child I get drawn or enticed away from Him by a passion, a sweet passion but whose aftertaste leaves nothing less than warm tears of sorrow for having distanced myself from Paradise, our Lord Jesus Christ.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE?
The question is: Do you want to continue seeing people the way you usually do (i.e. their faults, sins, their abilities, etc.) or do you want to see them the way Christ sees them? How does Christ see them you may ask? He sees them as someone He loves and would give His life for.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE 2?
When Christ reveals and confirms that you indeed love Him, regardless though you be of the lowest, He reveals in turn not only His love for all creatures, but He reveals to you and blesses you through them, unbeknownst to them, with the love He planted in them.
REGRET?
I could say that I regret not having ventured, in my youth, even farther around the world to experience its wonders while the revelation that the Source of all things perceptible still remained concealed within me. But having now that it has been revealed, what is there to regret?
PITFALL
There are praiseworthy and skillful people whose arrogance is often interpreted as though they think they are smarter than everyone else. I am inclined to think not but rather that they think most everyone else is stupid.
PRAYER TO GRANDCHILDREN
And.....So you see my sweet, I pray for your understanding. Although I have confessed all my sins and know I have been forgiven, memory remains, a memory possessed of regret. But in Paradise, all things that have been forgiven are washed away leaving love between all that are there.
So you see when I have been so protective there is a reason. My love and hope is to keep all of my children and grandchildren and those to whom God allows me to offer His Precious Body and Blood from regret. A life of avoiding, at all costs, that which displeases God and harms our souls and bodies is the key to humility and through humility we attain the grace to love God and others with a new strength, the grace that lit the lamps of the virgins (St Serpahim Sarov), for whom Christ held open the door to the Feast in Paradise.
WORDS WITHOUT MEANING
The words of our Lord and His saints have no meaning to the elements and your body is made up of elements. They only have meaning to the heart that is pure and open to them.
HOW TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
Ask our Savior Jesus Christ for some of His.
UNADULTERATED JOY
All of us indulge in adulterated joy, that is, joy through something perceptible (St. Maximos); some of them God-pleasing, some offensive to God. If in excess, none are God-pleasing. Blessed is one whose faith offers a whole heart request for joy to come independent of perceptible things – from Christ directly.
WITHOUT HIM
Having been created by Him, in His own likeness, we must be infinitely deeply in love with Christ, otherwise why would being without Him be such hell?
ODE TO GARRISON KEILLOR'S COUNTERFIT PERSONA
I am heartened by Garrison Keillor'S God-given semblance but regarding the veneer that is so well known and by which he has characterized himself, let me say . . .
Ultra-pasteurized visage
layer upon layer of shades and colors
Yet nearly mummied, Peat bound, pillowed words
Mimic of a scraty bow embracing string.
Forsake now Garrison
A patina grown in a petri that rapt so many, so long
Find and rejoin
to what once was birthed
You've pushed it beneath
yet it looks down
at your wardrobe
Forsake now, before age brings the composition’s finale.
PARADISE
It has been said in most profound ways, thank God, yet I still want to say it again. They were in Paradise with Christ but Paradise isn’t Paradise, Christ is Paradise. When they left Him, it was Paradise no longer.
PRAY FOR PEACE?
I don't pray for peace. What society calls peace is always temporary. I want the Prince of Peace, He is eternal.
MOZART
“My subject enlarges itself, becomes methodized and defined, and the whole, though it be long, stands almost complete and finished in my mind, so that I can survey it, like a fine picture or a beautiful statue, at a glance. Nor do I hear in my imagination the parts successively, but I hear them, as it were, all at once. What a delight this is! All this inventing, this producing, takes place in a pleasing, lively dream”.
Mozart says it himself. '... I hear them (compositions), as it were, all at once.'
Unless otherwise known, what Mozart claims was unique to him but it is old and common among the melodists of Orthodoxy. Not only is the music granted as a packaged gift from God, as it did with Mozart, but even more unique. The gift given to Mozart is primarily the composition. But as concerns the ancient melodies, not only does the listener receive the music and words that transcend but along with the music, they gain the Giver of the music Himself.
A MANSION FOR YOU IN PARADISE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Aspirant! Know this. Every fruit you bear for Christ and neighbor, every day fasting, praying, attending services, receiving Holy Communion and all the Holy Mysteries, each time you repent and confess, each time you set aside time, play and work to attend a feast day during the week, each time you call on our holy Virgin Mother, each you suffer the sins of others, each time you do good for the sake of goodness, not as a slave or as a hierling........is another stone for the mansion the Son of God is building for you, a son of God, in the Father's kingdom.
CALIFORNIA DREAMERS
A response to Iowans who complain about Iowa and think the grass is so much greener in California.
Iowa ~ tough ~ yes, humidity unwelcomed, hot-whipped storms unexpected, and yes, her icy gusts pierce and numb the cheek more than bitter bites the tongue.
She restrains and shackles, gloves our fingers and big coats that struggle against ease ~ yes, all this and more.
And, predictably, saddled to discomfort’s complaint, comes figment California ~ California ~ gracious, alluring, venerated ~ indisputably America’s queen!
Oh how she pipes her wealth of treasures to entice and draw us to her coast.
Yet home does not loose, rather she knows when to caress and when to gently grant her embrace, and she does so it seems, always unexpectedly. In the midst of summer’s muggy mantle, she unveils her rare but ever-treasured, ever-memorable, balmy breeze that sweeps the field and delightfully kisses the brow ~ on its wing, the cool, sleepy glowing memory of autumn soon to come.
Iowa, where as equals big brother trees stand shoulder to shoulder and with branches that cuddle little brother bushes below as they wait in quiet and stillness of winter night, while we sleep, to delicately dress themselves in flocks of weightless snow.
Come morning - a daydream - courses of specular rain necklaces the branches with clear-silver-white ice ~ a gift of unimaginable beauty!
And yet, ever so softly, spring’s unhurried warmth beckons, freeing her wintered creations to the creeks as a welcome to the coming seasons.
And the dream, California, thumped by Iowa, her enchantment to nap.
NO LONGER IN MOTION
I used to see things in motion. Now I possess them.
WITH YOU
When I am with you I see love hand-in-hand, everywhere and in everything.
PRAYER?
Prayers become still when the Father's arms are around me, rather prayer is replaced by tears of joy from His embrace.
THE PURPOSE OF A CONSCIENCE
Adam and Eve learned about good and evil before the time by turning from Christ to Satan. Did this not bring the conscience into being? If they had consciences beforehand, would they not also be aware of good and evil? Can we therefore assume that there was no need for consciences, especially since they dwelt in Paradise with God Himself. Subsequently, their choice was unconscionable.....
If Adam and Eve had not known good or evil, then is it correct to assume they had no conscience yet? It appears to me that God in His love gave us a conscience so we could transcend the conscience.
TEMPORARY HAPPINESS IS JUST THAT
There is no lasting happiness except that which only Jesus Christ can give.
It is an uninterrupted sovereign happiness, independent of the senses.
This gift is given freely to everyone but must be won.
KNOWING IS ENOUGH
Knowing what one is capable of is enough. He or she no longer has the need or desire to prove it to himself or others.
Evlogeite Patera
I am tired and weak. I will call it the eventide gift of old age but I feel it to be beyond even that, and yet, in an instant, even without enticement, I am snared and bitten, by the Snake and it matters not the species nor its camouflage. My prayer must then be subsequent with: Get thee behind me and then the deeply drawn constant call to Christ to come, spoil and vanquish. I am tired of fighting, tired, yet my cry to be removed once and for all from the Field to that place of permanent eventide and bliss, according to my wish, is not granted. Forgive me, I am guilty in my request knowing so many, so many who have battled longer and harder seeking liberty and solace yet I cannot help the longing, smitten by a dew of Christ's love.
ZEUS? NO, BUT....
You are made by God, subsequently you are a little God who has fallen away from the fullness of grace and power. As a result an immortal being becomes attached to mortal things which force the immortal being to experience death. Think about it. Being attached to a desire or an object that lacks immortality causes you to thirst for it over and over and over again until it becomes you or you break free.
Reference: The Woman at the Well. Had you asked, I would have broken your attachment of going from one husband to the next and actually all attachments. In other words He would restore her completely and He did at the end because she did her part.
The inappropriate thoughts knock on the door of your mind and you recognize them for what they are, but, it is YOU who lets them. They cannot pass through Christ unless you push Him aside so you can enjoy the pleasure they stole from God but claim as their own, once they have perverted them.
INTELLIGENCE
There's one thing about not being so intelligent. When something profound comes from your lips, you know its not you.
VISAGE
My prayer becomes absorbed by Thy visage Father.
HIS CARESS
His caress is unending and it tells you its Him
POSSESS THE PLANET
It is clear that you cannot make a possession out of this life so why would you want to make a possession out of anything in it?
HOW BEAUTIFUL IS LIFE?
Life is immensely beautiful but it little more than a cobweb (St John of Kronstadt) compared to the beauty it promises.
Life is obviously now but is also blest with the future.
HIS FACE
Once you have given all of your heart to Christ only, He will reveal gifts to you that you've never seen or experienced and He will also reveal past gifts from earlier in life were also from Him. Then ask to see his beautiful face.
CONFINEMENT
Deserting God and allying ourselves with the Dissenter, confined us to the planet. Thousands of years later we were permitted on the moon.
BEAUTY FULFILLED
When beauty comes before me and I suddenly see its beauty fulfilled, it makes me weep. Other times, beauty fulfilled arrives and again I cry.
HOPSCOTCH
Basically almost everything in this life is a postponement to reality. And we go from one thing to another until we finally realize we have done little more than play hopscotch, we've arrived at reality.
PRAYER TO MY ANGEL
Sing to me my angel with your most sweet voice; words I can offer in prayer to your Master that I also may please Him.
THANK YOU GOD, THANK YOU
By the most tender grace of the Lover of Mankind, the many mumbo-jumbo religions don't always affect one's love for God nor God’s reward for our gratitude that He is our God.
THE KINGDOM OF ADAM
This earth and universe is but a grain of sand in Christ's hand. But Satan and man, in their diminutive state, perceive it in a distorted way. He holds it, and you in His hand until He calls you from it. In the meantime, He waits for you to tire of this, the kingdom of Satan, a fallen angel, and those with him, a kingdom for which Adam and Eve, in their folly, left their home in Paradise. Like the prodigal, may we tire of it and return to our Father Christ, before it is too late.
I HATE SEPARATION
On a personal note, what I hate most about this world, beyond man's inhumanity to man, is separation. Lucifer separated himself from His Lord and Heaven, Adam and Eve separated themselves from their Father and Paradise, we separate ourselves from Christ and His grace, from each other's love and company because of sin, and even if only briefly, death separates us, a separation that was never part of creation or necessary. I hate separation. We should pray that we all repent before death so no separation between sheep and goats exists in Paradise.
LIFE AND RESURRECTION
I read the scripture where Christ told me that he was my life and Resurrection. Faith in His words brought me to His glory and now I know it to be true.
INHERIT THE EARTH
Why should a desire or be attached to anything, such a car, home, money, and so when in Christ I have inherited the earth.
TASTE AND SEE
I’ve never had ice cream but I can say with confidence that it must be delicious, confidence that comes from so many testimonies.
That being said,
Psalm 34:8 King James Version (KJV) 8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Two things: There are many who know the goodness of God but have not tasted otherwise they would know it’s a lingering taste that never ends. So, if you have not tasted, think about your trust and pray for increase and thereby be motived to know what it really means to “taste”.
LOOK FORWARD
I don't look forward to seeing Christ face to face one day, I look forward to seeing Jesus Christ.
True repentance brings humility but it is not necessary. To taste and see that the Lord is good, is to taste humility of Christ.
Body and Spirit
My body wishes to take its ease, tired and distended from gluttony of the senses but the spirit never tires of the life-giving love of Christ won by the saints and granted to us by their precious words and lives.
CHRIST OFFERS THE PRAYER
Follower of Christ, know that God can directly grant you prayer to offer to Him, not only the prayers of your prayer book, not only the prayers said and heard in the Church, but prayers coming forth from Him and given to you so you may witness them being offered to Him but, rewarding you. If desire abides in the heart it can come forth 'then it will inevitably appear outwardly...' as St Tikhon tell us below. Speak to God from your heart on your bed, expecting Him to grace you with words profound in honor of Him. Consider the Psalmist and the beauty of his prayer, how it comes forth like a gushing spring and as effectual to the soul and Spirit as spring water refreshes the body.
SPIRIT NONETHELESS
Whether granted to the incorporeal or to those in earthen vessels, nonetheless infused with God’s own spirit.
ADMIT DISFIGUREMENTHow can we not admit our disfigurement when God has to tell us to love each other?
HATE OUT OF EXISTENCEAllow hate to do its work and root itself out of your love.
PRAY, DON'T READ
Once you’ve prayed, you will more easily recognize when you are simply reading.
YOU ARE AN ATHLETE
Just because you didn’t have a good coach and didn’t learn as much as you could have, doesn’t mean you aren’t an athlete.
LOVE
What virtue is most easily granted yet most easily abused = love.
GREATER THAN THE GIFT
You may count the aspects of love but at the top place the Giver
NO LONGER ALONE
Thank you Father, I am no longer alone.
TEMPORAL/ETERNAL
Father! Now that You have shown me the eternal I can now better see the limitations of the temporal.
FOLLOWER OF CHRIST
Christ asks that if you wish to be a follower, you must love Him above all others, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, friend … if you indeed have become a follower, you no longer thirst
Mr. X: I don’t believe God exists.
You need not believe that He exists. If indeed He does not exist, then there would be no harm in you trying something.
Mr. X: Try what?
Repeat the name of Christ continually.
Mr. X: For how long?
Continuously
Mr. X: Impossible!
It’s not impossible.
Mr. X: If I do, what will happen?
Try it and see.
BLIND TO GOD AND SELF
A self-centered person sees only what he (or she) imagines himself to be. He cannot see God and therefore cannot see himself and worse yet is blind to his own separation. On the other hand, one who looks for God in all things, not only sees Him, but in doing so joins company with Him.
CONFIRMATION
Yesterday was a new day but not in the characteristic way was it experienced. Yesterday I said, Father. Yesterday He let me know that He heard me.
BEAUTY
Don't let fault throw you to and fro. Gods pervading beauty overshadows all things. See it.
How can I not love them Father, they are citizens in Thy garden.
Father, you have given us everything . . . even your Son also.
I loved and admired my brothers Phil and Joe. Phil’s love was generous. Joe’s beauty made it very easy to admit you weren’t handsome. I loved Philip but it took most of my life to know how much more he loved me. Too long did it take me to realize my brothers inherited the rewards of Ibraheem and Zakat. Philip was actually baptized Nicholas (St. Nicholas the Wonderworker) but referred to by mom as Saleem after grandfather Saleem, by others as Phil. Joseph was probably named after St. Joseph the Betrothed. I was baptized after the GM George
Father I am anxious because I yet have learned to believe and trust in the perfection of Your judgement. When there is suffering or pain Lord, let me no longer ask how long.
Definition of Paradise=Spirits at play. When Christ was present in Paradise with Adam and Eve, did they pray together? Did they talk or speculate philosophy or seek enlightenment?
The meek shall inherit the earth. Having denied all things, one becomes meek and thereby in position to inherit the earth (not only the earth but all things since he has inherited Christ the Creator). Subsequently, accusations of possessions have no meaning. How is this known by the individual? By a soundless whisper.
Inadequate in so many ways, vocabulary being one, I will say, it blows my mind how human beings can be so utterly nonchalant about not knowing. At least the blind know they are blind. But a spiritually (what other word can I use?) blind person, is not only blind but doesn’t know he is blind. For a brief few minutes, I watched and listened to a young woman on stage. Here before me was exquisite physical and mental being, regardless of so called flaws. Hair, eyes, eyebrows, mouth, face, head, etc., superb, not because of exceptional beauty but simply because its existence. The sound it was making, called a song, was no more than screeching. I thought, We are so, so blind. Disfigured. The creature does not look at itself and say, I am overwhelmed that I inhabit this exquisite organism of whom I know so very, very little. Actually, compared to a fraction of what it is visually, mentally, and emotionally, I know nothing about it. Why, would I use it to produce such a sound. Well, there is nothing really wrong if one uses it to make a strange sound or noise or whatever for some purpose but to do so and award it a title of beauty or pleasurable, is strange. OK, the reality is, most everyone cares only about what additional pleasure one can gain but the use of the creature they inhabit.
Dear Lord, thank you for the love and joy I receive from your created things, people, friends, objects experienced through the senses, which you give in abundance, but knowing that You are the source, I no longer want your love and joy only through your creation but directly from You, knowing created things are nothing in themselves. It is You we are experiencing. Knowing that You are the Source, You ARE the Life. Dependence on things created by You are no longer necessary nor desirable but rather become obstacles between You and me. The objects in Paradise were secondary to You. You are Paradise. Like Adam and Eve, we are deceived.
The small calm smile granted by the Father to the human face is a most beautiful sight.
If you wonder if your love for Christ is genuine, the proof is easily found. When one loves Christ, he forsakes all for the path that leads directly to Him.
Beauty delivered me to Christ where it was lost in His presence.
I heard a wonderful sound today from the lips of Elder Joseph the Hesychast of the Holy Mountain. He told me that Satan does everything he can to keep us from discovering who we really are. I was so excited I could have burst! Christ is so meek, more meek than the breath of a newborn. So meek that we barely hear Him above the howl of desires, telling us who we really are.
The glory of Your creation dizzies me Father but your love blinds me to all of it.
Because of his attachment to the world, a fallen God cannot tolerate being with the God all the time until it becomes one with him and in doing so he finds out that the fallen God was a false god AND actually not a god at all. So you see God cannot reveal himself to you before the time when you are willing to reject your fallen god.
If you listen only for the voice of our Lord, that is all you will hear and you do what you should. Doing the wrong thing will no longer be a choice.
Dear Patera
Evlogeite
It grieves me when people miss the Salutations and I would like to write something and send it to everyone, although most of them were present. Are they waiting for her to appear? Have they not at least experienced the fragrance (not necessarily with the nose) she grants anyone who calls her from the heart? At the very least, have they not heard the praises offered her throughout the year to draw them to her presence.
St. Peter of Damaskos: As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart . . .
“In the words of the psalmist, ‘As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart’ (Ps. 4:4 LXX), that is, repent in the stillness of the night, remembering the lapses that occurred in the confusion of the day and disciplining yourself in hymns and spiritual songs (cf. Col. 3:16) – in other words, teaching yourself to persist in prayer and psalmody through attentive meditation on what you read. For the practice of the moral virtues is effectuated by meditating on what has happened during the day, so that during the stillness of the night we can become aware of the sins we have committed and can grieve over them.”
Why should you do what St. Peter suggests?
Although you may not know it your creator couldn’t be any closer to you. Why then do you feel distanced from Him or possibly don’t feel Him at all? Don’t allow any opinions to impress your mind about this but relate to Christ’s response at the wedding in Cana when he said to the most pure Virgin, My hour has not yet come St. John 2:4. On the other hand, were there periods in your past that you felt closer than you do today?
As we all know, it is sometimes hard to get out of bed but commitments make it necessary to force ourselves. Make no mistake! It also takes force to resist that which draws us away from Christ. Short term desires, loves, pleasures, etc. are easily taken but have preset termination date. They are present everywhere and draw us away with great force, until we break free. Once that occurs, we are in charge and only one thing can break us free and that is Jesus Christ.
The woman from Canaan didn’t know it was time for her Gift when she asked Christ to heal her daughter, not for herself. Yet, Christ not only granted her request, He praised her great faith. Imagine God praising you? He need not appear or whisper in your ear - you only need to know it.
And the Centurion, who asked Christ to heal one of his soldiers, also gained the Great Treasure. He heart was filled with faith the Christ would grant his request. He wasn’t expecting Treasure for Himself.
Did the holy apostles get notification that at the celebration of Pentecost they would be so transfigured by the descent of the Holy Spirit into completely new creatures with power from God?
If your mind convinces you that you are far from this Gift, then you have distanced yourself from Christ Who couldn’t possibly be any closer.
Check your heart. Where is it most often? When you are honest enough to admit to yourself its location and if you find it on a sensible object or desire, then you have found your treasure. Bob didn’t have to think hard about the question above and without hesitation replied that he loves hanging out with his buddies. The majority of his time while at work or at home, etc. he finds himself focused on his desire to hang out. The object of his affection brings him joy and he is satisfied as long as it lasts each time. Subsequently, when he isn’t hanging out, he is hungry because his heart craves its treasure.
While we study the universe and the nature of things, looking for ‘treasure’, “the” treasure closer to us than sin. As the psalmist says: My sin is ever before me.
Although I remain outside I have seen the joy the bridal chamber and thus having seen, I hate this world’s pitfalls both in the mind and in the heart wherein lies temptations and sin.
FAITH IS THE VEHICLE THAT TAKES YOU FROM BELIEVING IN GOD TO THE GIFT OF KNOWING HIM.
Would you describe this world as a beautiful, exciting and wonderful place? Yes! So can you say you love it? No, I hate it. Is there something wrong with you? How can you say that? I can say it because it has one huge, intolerable flaw! What is that? It is temporary.
I see. So although you have a reason to hate it, you’ve decided to enjoy it until its over? Actually, no. Within it is a portal to one of two other worlds, one far greater than this since it is Paradise Eternal and the other, far worse than this.So when this one ends since, as you say, it is temporary, you simply go to one of the other worlds. True.
What determines one’s destination? For the most part each individual determines his or her own fate. So it is a matter of choice. Yes. However, admission to Eternal Paradise requires a ticket. Can you explain “ticket”? It is best understood by reading the book, “Do You Have a Ticket”
“Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all “fullness of blessing,” both in this world and in the world to come, of all the good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment.” + St. Basil the Great, “On the Holy Spirit”
The tender voice of the Mourning Dove…
I love to hear the tender and sweet voice of the Mourning Dove, in the morning and at any time.
When I young, I felt the same way but unfortunately didn’t know it because the voice of my youth knew little quiet. Now that age, by nature, brings some stillness from passionate youth, memory revisits, uncluttered, revealing what I could not then distinguish.
Our Father Who knows all things, made provision for all things. Because of His love He does not punish our neglect forever but tenderly remains faithful with His infinite gifts until the end.
I have long felt that while men were fabricating Communism, women prayed. In utter ignorance, the Communists demolished thousands of Churches, not realizing that the more they destroyed the more glorious and loved the Church became in the heart, especially women. I think this can be seen in Valentina. She isn’t simply a smiling sweet old lady who can neither understand nor speak English. As expected from right-believing Christians, she represents the Church. When the light of Christ shines on the heart, sins invisible to some become visible. From translations I have received, Valentina is aware of, brands and weeps over the slightest offense against Christ. A heart that loves God and others, has no room for grumbling or complaint.
1. Angry brothers throughout the world, for every drop of innocent blood you’ve shed, a sea of blood has been shed for your restoration.
2. He who humbles himself to the King, makes visible the King before the time.
3. A bad attitude exposes ingratitude
4. Once I came to know that You are in all things, all the time, I now see you everywhere and at all times, which leaves me in tears of joy.
5. Oh Death, better to have never met. Yet, as an acquaintance in life you become a friend and an antidote to your own poison. Released by our ancient mother and father but forced to assist them by our true Father and Mother. When tasted from within life, you pull aside the veil from eyes and lift burden from heart and the heart exposes the mind to its inner vision. What a sight! What Light! Treasure made to sparkle before its time, to those who weep. Since all things must one day past, death’s treasure is contained in all and can, for at least a moment, be seen in all things.
6. Forgive me Father, although You were ever before me, I didn’t know it was You, It took me 68 years to recognize You.
PEOPLE ARE SO MUCH LIKE EGGS
You need not be an artist to admire the simple yet elegant shape, beauty and art of the modest egg.
It reminds me of how many of us, who admire ourselves, who have it good in this life, (not everyone does however) love our life, our hobbies, our interests, our good fortune, our good looks (if so endowed) our abilities our talents, etc.
The reality however is that our life, whether good or bad, distinguished or dim, is nothing more than the shell of the egg, if it remains un-cracked.
If one never cracks the egg how can its inner beauty, far surpassing its outer beauty, be known?
When the egg is cracked, which, relative to its size requires some force, a completely new reality, a new identity is revealed.
An identity that not only pleases the eye as did the shell but all the senses and even more. And seemingly infinite possibilities are found. How many of its uses and rewards can you name? The shell is not without value of course but what is it compared to the treasure within?
Moreover, its consumption sustains life like no shell can ever do.
To reveal that which is within the egg, a force is required. So it is with that which lies within each one of us. But with man however the force needed may be either as slight as a single breath or, sadly, greater than splitting an atom. Wonderfully, that force is nothing more than sincere desire.
Not one of us is an empty shell but no matter how illustrious or lowly our shell may be, few of us find the treasure within.
But wait! There is even more to the lowly egg, to what is within ……………………scroll down..
There is a new creature, waiting to get out! Within us, Who is Christ Himself.
Get crackin’!!!
Abraham and Zakat; Sam and Mabel
What is treasure? Although they too were subjected to temptations, their treasure superseded everything in their lives. I am not alone as a witness.
My mother and father, your grandparents and your great grandparents, needed God. They lived, not only as believers in God’s existence, but that Life and God are one and the same.
As a family we continue in their footsteps. Who can deny we have not been immeasurably rewarded by our attempt at becoming Disciples of Christ. At the same time, let us be aware that we have reaped where we have not sown. With any insight at all, one must admit the foundation was laid for us.
Dear Faithful
The Blessing of the Lord and His Mercy!
Yesterday I was asked if wine and olive oil were permitted. Although I responded affirmatively, it reminded me of †Mr. Michael Maamari, one of the faithful of St. John’s some years ago. Having previously been engulfed and affected somewhat by modernism, etc. he was, nonetheless, in many, many ways, a living example of an Orthodox mindset. For example, Michael had so familiarized himself with the saints that at the mere mention of a name (not simply his favorite saints), he could state the month of that particular saint’s commemoration. Also, each time Holy Tradition was referenced, Michael would quickly affirm: ‘Of course’. The Church was ever fresh in his mind. Granted there are many facets to remember but after a few years, the more obvious ones begin to stick. Such as, from Pascha until Pentecost, all Wednesdays and Fridays permit wine and olive oil. It even stuck with me. I learned many things from Michael and remember them, especially things like:
Michael walked everywhere. The walk from work was approximately 3 miles yet he very rarely missed evening or morning services. When he did, it was due to working overtime. After services, I would ask: Would you like a ride home Michael? Unfailingly he would say, ‘I am home’. When he accepted a ride, he almost always had a trick up his sleeve. On the way home he would ask to stop at the grocery store, sometimes two. There are many stories to tell but not now. Finally, however, I must say that regardless of his health he never failed to say, Thank God or rather in his broken English, Thanks God. Occasionally he would also say: Oh I am fine, ‘Thank God, or rarely a one word complaint but ALWAYS followed with, Thank God. Withholding the name, Michael was regularly mistreated by someone close to him. I came to know this in an indirect way and when I would ask, he would volunteer details. On hearing, I was sometimes shocked, to which he would smile slightly and say, Thank God.
Valentina: Not a single sparrow falls from a tree without our Father knowing. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (St. Matthew 10:29-31). If Michael were yet here, he would say that God sent Valentina, regardless of how long she may be with us. I must say, the affection and attention paid her by so many in our Church brings great joy. Nevertheless, the reason I speak of Valentina is her relationship with Christ or her Orthodox mindset – much the same as Michael’s. Fr. John told me a couple of days ago that she arrived at the Church unexpectedly. Father determined that she was here for the Translation of the Relics of St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker. She needed no calendar. Valentina doesn’t get the blog and it wasn’t listed anyway. St. Nicholas’s love is and always has been unquestionably felt by people and especially Orthodox all around the world.
We claim to have ‘taken up the Cross’ by calling ourselves Christians. When we love something in or of the world, we know it inside out. Those hearts that rest in Church, are pillars for us. Their very lives, respond to the holy apostle Peter’s accusers saying, Yes, I not only know Him, I belong to Him. I am ashamed to be more familiar with the seasons of the year than the seasons of the Church.
+Father Raphael
Learn: When you finally begin to love the holy ones, they don’t begin to love you in return but instead you become aware of their love for you that was already there. As a result you experience what love truly is.
The Face: If you look for handsome or homely, you’ll miss the soul which is seen in the face’s design and also its temper.
5 Senses: No one knows the hour when the Judge comes but when it happens I am prepared to say: I saw, I tasted, I touched, I smelled and I heard. Was there something else?
Do you know that you can look ahead to the coming Sunday and familiarize yourself with the commemoration? But why would one want to do that?
Ahhh the value of anticipation! Anticipation accomplishes 3 things. 1. It initiates the experience before the event occurs. 2. The event is enhanced because anticipation gave you a head start. 3. The increased saturation in experience gained from #1 and #2 Are you are content with this world, old age, sickness, separation from others through death, ignorant of your origin, what is there to anticipate except those things you can acquire.
We are strange sometimes.
What does God expect when He tells you to be reborn?
He expects you to remake yourself.
Why?
Because you were made and are sustained by a Divine Being and you don’t act like it.
You have put on your own attributes and characteristic like ego, thinking you are a hot shot, self-centered, a know-it-all, etc. none of which is in Him or in the way He made you. Moreover, when He shows you your divinity, you block it because by its nature, it forces your false self to flee and you don’t want to give it up.
REMAIN HIDDEN
If you wish to keep your offences, faults and errors hidden, never blame or accuse yourself of anything. On the other hand, if you want faults to be revealed, blame and accuse yourself instead of others.
HOW I SEE IT
Meditation is but the fragrance of the meat, making the meat recognizable and granting faith, love and hope. Once we partake of that on which we meditate however, which is our Savior Jesus Christ, not Christ-Consciousness, filled and restored, meditation is no longer a practice.
NOT IN CHARGE
Thursday January 25 2018 ns I met with Patera concerning an individual who I have been praying for (and worrying). My concerns were quickly resolved but followed by a reminder of all the faults I have committed against my family but with a shocking new one that I was not conscious of - that I resent no longer being in charge. ....... God forgive me
FRIEND OF A FRIEND OF GOD
We love our friends, some more than others. Nevertheless, may God be glorified. We know God is glorified when we love our enemies and people He refers to as the least among us.But we are not limited to only those above.We can be friends, yes, have a mutual relationship with people who were friends with God while yet on earth and are now friends with Him in Paradise. There is nothing imaginary or fantastic about it but actually a more real, a more intimate relationship and one possessing all the attributes of love we are accustomed to. You say you don’t know what I am talking about. I understand, but that is remedied by working toward a relationship with a saint. You can take my word for it because I took it from the saints.
AROUND EVERY TURN
Dying daily (remembrance of death) brings the Beyond closer than this life can begin to offer.
DON'T WORRY
It doesn't matter at what point in time during your life that you find LIFE for you have found eternity.
FATHER!
In my childishness, I often run after things and soon find myself alone in despair and tears. As my Father, You always call me home.
THE GIVING OF THE GREAT GIVER
Beauty in various forms and in various degrees has been before my eyes as it presents itself to everyone else but one day beauty appeared, as usual, and yet, in an instant, it was supplanted and replaced by the 'giving' of the Great Giver. I would have exclaimed 'What a delight!' but even that was supplanted by the 'giving'.
FIRST THE GIFTS, THEN...
First the gifts of God are perceived in all ways and in all things but later they are eclipsed by the Giver and His act of giving.
WARM TEARS
I often wondered why the saints weep warm tears. Having submitted all of their life to God what grievous sins do the saints commit to weep over? Granted, one can weep for an entire lifetime over past sins but I remained unfulfilled with that as an answer. Some time later I found myself weeping more and more frequently at the mere remembrance of the ineffable beauty that is Christ, sometimes through sensible objects, sometimes from thoughts, from a leaf, from a cloud, etc. Competing in unseen warfare (although most worthlessly), I experienced the grace of God and at other times, the opposite, the torment and shackles of the Devil. Gradually realizing that while I remained by Christ, Who is constantly at our side, I experienced nothing but His love for all things and far above, the inexplicable, immeasurable love that He simply is. Although He never leaves me for a moment, like a child I get drawn or enticed away from Him by a passion, a sweet passion but whose aftertaste leaves nothing less than warm tears of sorrow for having distanced myself from Paradise, our Lord Jesus Christ.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE?
The question is: Do you want to continue seeing people the way you usually do (i.e. their faults, sins, their abilities, etc.) or do you want to see them the way Christ sees them? How does Christ see them you may ask? He sees them as someone He loves and would give His life for.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE 2?
When Christ reveals and confirms that you indeed love Him, regardless though you be of the lowest, He reveals in turn not only His love for all creatures, but He reveals to you and blesses you through them, unbeknownst to them, with the love He planted in them.
REGRET?
I could say that I regret not having ventured, in my youth, even farther around the world to experience its wonders while the revelation that the Source of all things perceptible still remained concealed within me. But having now that it has been revealed, what is there to regret?
PITFALL
There are praiseworthy and skillful people whose arrogance is often interpreted as though they think they are smarter than everyone else. I am inclined to think not but rather that they think most everyone else is stupid.
PRAYER TO GRANDCHILDREN
And.....So you see my sweet, I pray for your understanding. Although I have confessed all my sins and know I have been forgiven, memory remains, a memory possessed of regret. But in Paradise, all things that have been forgiven are washed away leaving love between all that are there.
So you see when I have been so protective there is a reason. My love and hope is to keep all of my children and grandchildren and those to whom God allows me to offer His Precious Body and Blood from regret. A life of avoiding, at all costs, that which displeases God and harms our souls and bodies is the key to humility and through humility we attain the grace to love God and others with a new strength, the grace that lit the lamps of the virgins (St Serpahim Sarov), for whom Christ held open the door to the Feast in Paradise.
WORDS WITHOUT MEANING
The words of our Lord and His saints have no meaning to the elements and your body is made up of elements. They only have meaning to the heart that is pure and open to them.
HOW TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
Ask our Savior Jesus Christ for some of His.
UNADULTERATED JOY
All of us indulge in adulterated joy, that is, joy through something perceptible (St. Maximos); some of them God-pleasing, some offensive to God. If in excess, none are God-pleasing. Blessed is one whose faith offers a whole heart request for joy to come independent of perceptible things – from Christ directly.
WITHOUT HIM
Having been created by Him, in His own likeness, we must be infinitely deeply in love with Christ, otherwise why would being without Him be such hell?
ODE TO GARRISON KEILLOR'S COUNTERFIT PERSONA
I am heartened by Garrison Keillor'S God-given semblance but regarding the veneer that is so well known and by which he has characterized himself, let me say . . .
Ultra-pasteurized visage
layer upon layer of shades and colors
Yet nearly mummied, Peat bound, pillowed words
Mimic of a scraty bow embracing string.
Forsake now Garrison
A patina grown in a petri that rapt so many, so long
Find and rejoin
to what once was birthed
You've pushed it beneath
yet it looks down
at your wardrobe
Forsake now, before age brings the composition’s finale.
PARADISE
It has been said in most profound ways, thank God, yet I still want to say it again. They were in Paradise with Christ but Paradise isn’t Paradise, Christ is Paradise. When they left Him, it was Paradise no longer.
PRAY FOR PEACE?
I don't pray for peace. What society calls peace is always temporary. I want the Prince of Peace, He is eternal.
MOZART
“My subject enlarges itself, becomes methodized and defined, and the whole, though it be long, stands almost complete and finished in my mind, so that I can survey it, like a fine picture or a beautiful statue, at a glance. Nor do I hear in my imagination the parts successively, but I hear them, as it were, all at once. What a delight this is! All this inventing, this producing, takes place in a pleasing, lively dream”.
Mozart says it himself. '... I hear them (compositions), as it were, all at once.'
Unless otherwise known, what Mozart claims was unique to him but it is old and common among the melodists of Orthodoxy. Not only is the music granted as a packaged gift from God, as it did with Mozart, but even more unique. The gift given to Mozart is primarily the composition. But as concerns the ancient melodies, not only does the listener receive the music and words that transcend but along with the music, they gain the Giver of the music Himself.
A MANSION FOR YOU IN PARADISE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Aspirant! Know this. Every fruit you bear for Christ and neighbor, every day fasting, praying, attending services, receiving Holy Communion and all the Holy Mysteries, each time you repent and confess, each time you set aside time, play and work to attend a feast day during the week, each time you call on our holy Virgin Mother, each you suffer the sins of others, each time you do good for the sake of goodness, not as a slave or as a hierling........is another stone for the mansion the Son of God is building for you, a son of God, in the Father's kingdom.
Stopped edit here January 1, 2017
California Dreaming
A response to Iowans who complain about Iowa and think the grass is so much greener in California.
Iowa ~ tough ~ yes, humidity unwelcomed, hot-whipped storms unexpected, and yes, her icy gusts pierce and numb the cheek more than bitter bites the tongue.
She restrains and shackles with gloved fingers and big coats that struggle against ease ~ yes, all this and more.
And, predictably, saddled to discomfort’s complaint, comes figment California ~ California ~ gracious, alluring, venerated ~ indisputably America’s queen!
Oh how she pipes her wealth of treasures to entice and draw us to her coast.
Yet home does not loose, rather she knows when to caress and when to gently tense her embrace, and she does it unexpectedly. In the midst of summer’s muggy anvil, she unveils her rare but ever-treasured, ever-memorable, most balmy breeze that sweeps the field and delightfully kisses the brow ~ on its wing, the cool, sleepy glowing memory of autumn soon to come.
Iowa, where as equals big brother trees stand shoulder to shoulder, whose branches cuddle little brother bushes below as they wait in quiet and stillness of winter night, while we sleep, to delicately dress themselves in flocks of weightless snow.
Come morning - a daydream - courses of specular rain necklaces the branches with clear-silver-white ice ~ a gift of unimaginable beauty!
And yet, ever so softly, spring’s unhurried warmth beckons, freeing her wintered creations to the creeks as a welcome to the coming seasons.
And the dream, California, thumped by Iowa, her enchantment to nap.
NO LONGER IN MOTION
I used to see things in motion. Now I possess them.
WITH YOU
When I am with you I see love hand-in-hand, everywhere and in everything.
PRAYER?
Prayers become still when the Father's arms are around me, rather prayer is replaced by tears of joy from His embrace.
THE PURPOSE OF A CONSCIENCE
Adam and Eve learned about good and evil before the time by turning from Christ to Satan. Did this not bring the conscience into being? If they had consciences beforehand, would they not also be aware of good and evil? Can we therefore assume that there was no need for consciences, especially since they dwelt in Paradise with God Himself. Subsequently, their choice was unconscionable.....
If Adam and Eve had not known good or evil, then is it correct to assume they had no conscience yet? It appears to me that God in His love gave us a conscience so we could transcend the conscience.
TEMPORARY HAPPINESS IS JUST THAT
There is no lasting happiness except that which only Jesus Christ can give.
It is an uninterrupted sovereign happiness, independent of the senses.
This gift is given freely to everyone but must be won.
KNOWING IS ENOUGH
Knowing what one is capable of is enough. He or she no longer has the need or desire to prove it to himself or others.
Evlogeite Patera
I am tired and weak. I will call it the eventide gift of old age but I feel it to be beyond even that, and yet, in an instant, even without enticement, I am snared and bitten, by the Snake and it matters not the species nor its camouflage. My prayer must then be subsequent with: Get thee behind me and then the deeply drawn constant call to Christ to come, spoil and vanquish. I am tired of fighting, tired, yet my cry to be removed once and for all from the Field to that place of permanent eventide and bliss, according to my wish, is not granted. Forgive me, I am guilty in my request knowing so many, so many who have battled longer and harder seeking liberty and solace yet I cannot help the longing, smitten by a dew of Christ's love.
ZEUS? NO, BUT....
You are made by God, subsequently you are a little God who has fallen away from the fullness of grace and power. As a result an immortal being becomes attached to mortal things which force the immortal being to experience death. Think about it. Being attached to a desire or an object that lacks immortality causes you to thirst for it over and over and over again until it becomes you or you break free.
Reference: The Woman at the Well. Had you asked, I would have broken your attachment of going from one husband to the next and actually all attachments. In other words He would restore her completely and He did at the end because she did her part.
The inappropriate thoughts knock on the door of your mind and you recognize them for what they are, but, it is YOU who lets them. They cannot pass through Christ unless you push Him aside so you can enjoy the pleasure they stole from God but claim as their own, once they have perverted them.
INTELLIGENCE
There's one thing about not being so intelligent. When something profound comes from your lips, you know its not you.
VISAGE
My prayer becomes absorbed by Thy visage Father.
HIS CARESS
His caress is unending and it tells you its Him
POSSESS THE PLANET
It is clear that you cannot make a possession out of this life so why would you want to make a possession out of anything in it?
HOW BEAUTIFUL IS LIFE?
Life is immensely beautiful but it little more than a cobweb (St John of Kronstadt) compared to the beauty it promises.
Life is obviously now but is also blest with the future.
HIS FACE
Once you have given all of your heart to Christ only, He will reveal gifts to you that you've never seen or experienced and He will also reveal past gifts from earlier in life were also from Him. Then ask to see his beautiful face.
CONFINEMENT
Deserting God and allying ourselves with the Dissenter, confined us to the planet. Thousands of years later we were permitted on the moon.
BEAUTY FULFILLED
When beauty comes before me and I suddenly see its beauty fulfilled, it makes me weep. Other times, beauty fulfilled arrives and again I cry.
HOPSCOTCH
Basically almost everything in this life is a postponement to reality. And we go from one thing to another until we finally realize we have done little more than play hopscotch, we've arrived at reality.
PRAYER TO MY ANGEL
Sing to me my angel with your most sweet voice; words I can offer in prayer to your Master that I also may please Him.
THANK YOU GOD, THANK YOU
By the most tender grace of the Lover of Mankind, the many mumbo-jumbo religions don't always affect one's love for God nor God’s reward for our gratitude that He is our God.
THE KINGDOM OF ADAM
This earth and universe is but a grain of sand in Christ's hand. But Satan and man, in their diminutive state, perceive it in a distorted way. He holds it, and you in His hand until He calls you from it. In the meantime, He waits for you to tire of this, the kingdom of Satan, a fallen angel, and those with him, a kingdom for which Adam and Eve, in their folly, left their home in Paradise. Like the prodigal, may we tire of it and return to our Father Christ, before it is too late.
I HATE SEPARATION
On a personal note, what I hate most about this world, beyond man's inhumanity to man, is separation. Lucifer separated himself from His Lord and Heaven, Adam and Eve separated themselves from their Father and Paradise, we separate ourselves from Christ and His grace, from each other's love and company because of sin, and even if only briefly, death separates us, a separation that was never part of creation or necessary. I hate separation. We should pray that we all repent before death so no separation between sheep and goats exists in Paradise.
LIFE AND RESURRECTION
I read the scripture where Christ told me that he was my life and Resurrection. Faith in His words brought me to His glory and now I know it to be true.
INHERIT THE EARTH
Why should a desire or be attached to anything, such a car, home, money, and so when in Christ I have inherited the earth.
TASTE AND SEE
I’ve never had ice cream but I can say with confidence that it must be delicious, confidence that comes from so many testimonies.
That being said,
Psalm 34:8 King James Version (KJV) 8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Two things: There are many who know the goodness of God but have not tasted otherwise they would know it’s a lingering taste that never ends. So, if you have not tasted, think about your trust and pray for increase and thereby be motived to know what it really means to “taste”.
LOOK FORWARD
I don't look forward to seeing Christ face to face one day, I look forward to seeing Jesus Christ.
True repentance brings humility but it is not necessary. To taste and see that the Lord is good, is to taste humility of Christ.
Body and Spirit
My body wishes to take its ease, tired and distended from gluttony of the senses but the spirit never tires of the life-giving love of Christ won by the saints and granted to us by their precious words and lives.
CHRIST OFFERS THE PRAYER
Follower of Christ, know that God can directly grant you prayer to offer to Him, not only the prayers of your prayer book, not only the prayers said and heard in the Church, but prayers coming forth from Him and given to you so you may witness them being offered to Him but, rewarding you. If desire abides in the heart it can come forth 'then it will inevitably appear outwardly...' as St Tikhon tell us below. Speak to God from your heart on your bed, expecting Him to grace you with words profound in honor of Him. Consider the Psalmist and the beauty of his prayer, how it comes forth like a gushing spring and as effectual to the soul and Spirit as spring water refreshes the body.
SPIRIT NONETHELESS
Whether granted to the incorporeal or to those in earthen vessels, nonetheless infused with God’s own spirit.
ADMIT DISFIGUREMENTHow can we not admit our disfigurement when God has to tell us to love each other?
HATE OUT OF EXISTENCEAllow hate to do its work and root itself out of your love.
PRAY, DON'T READ
Once you’ve prayed, you will more easily recognize when you are simply reading.
YOU ARE AN ATHLETE
Just because you didn’t have a good coach and didn’t learn as much as you could have, doesn’t mean you aren’t an athlete.
LOVE
What virtue is most easily granted yet most easily abused = love.
GREATER THAN THE GIFT
You may count the aspects of love but at the top place the Giver
NO LONGER ALONE
Thank you Father, I am no longer alone.
TEMPORAL/ETERNAL
Father! Now that You have shown me the eternal I can now better see the limitations of the temporal.
FOLLOWER OF CHRIST
Christ asks that if you wish to be a follower, you must love Him above all others, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, friend … if you indeed have become a follower, you no longer thirst
Mr. X: I don’t believe God exists.
You need not believe that He exists. If indeed He does not exist, then there would be no harm in you trying something.
Mr. X: Try what?
Repeat the name of Christ continually.
Mr. X: For how long?
Continuously
Mr. X: Impossible!
It’s not impossible.
Mr. X: If I do, what will happen?
Try it and see.
BLIND TO GOD AND SELF
A self-centered person sees only what he (or she) imagines himself to be. He cannot see God and therefore cannot see himself and worse yet is blind to his own separation. On the other hand, one who looks for God in all things, not only sees Him, but in doing so joins company with Him.
CONFIRMATION
Yesterday was a new day but not in the characteristic way was it experienced. Yesterday I said, Father. Yesterday He let me know that He heard me.
BEAUTY
Don't let fault throw you to and fro. Gods pervading beauty overshadows all things. See it.
How can I not love them Father, they are citizens in Thy garden.
Father, you have given us everything . . . even your Son also.
I loved and admired my brothers Phil and Joe. Phil’s love was generous. Joe’s beauty made it very easy to admit you weren’t handsome. I loved Philip but it took most of my life to know how much more he loved me. Too long did it take me to realize my brothers inherited the rewards of Ibraheem and Zakat. Philip was actually baptized Nicholas (St. Nicholas the Wonderworker) but referred to by mom as Saleem after grandfather Saleem, by others as Phil. Joseph was probably named after St. Joseph the Betrothed. I was baptized after the GM George
Father I am anxious because I yet have learned to believe and trust in the perfection of Your judgement. When there is suffering or pain Lord, let me no longer ask how long.
Definition of Paradise=Spirits at play. When Christ was present in Paradise with Adam and Eve, did they pray together? Did they talk or speculate philosophy or seek enlightenment?
The meek shall inherit the earth. Having denied all things, one becomes meek and thereby in position to inherit the earth (not only the earth but all things since he has inherited Christ the Creator). Subsequently, accusations of possessions have no meaning. How is this known by the individual? By a soundless whisper.
Inadequate in so many ways, vocabulary being one, I will say, it blows my mind how human beings can be so utterly nonchalant about not knowing. At least the blind know they are blind. But a spiritually (what other word can I use?) blind person, is not only blind but doesn’t know he is blind. For a brief few minutes, I watched and listened to a young woman on stage. Here before me was exquisite physical and mental being, regardless of so called flaws. Hair, eyes, eyebrows, mouth, face, head, etc., superb, not because of exceptional beauty but simply because its existence. The sound it was making, called a song, was no more than screeching. I thought, We are so, so blind. Disfigured. The creature does not look at itself and say, I am overwhelmed that I inhabit this exquisite organism of whom I know so very, very little. Actually, compared to a fraction of what it is visually, mentally, and emotionally, I know nothing about it. Why, would I use it to produce such a sound. Well, there is nothing really wrong if one uses it to make a strange sound or noise or whatever for some purpose but to do so and award it a title of beauty or pleasurable, is strange. OK, the reality is, most everyone cares only about what additional pleasure one can gain but the use of the creature they inhabit.
Dear Lord, thank you for the love and joy I receive from your created things, people, friends, objects experienced through the senses, which you give in abundance, but knowing that You are the source, I no longer want your love and joy only through your creation but directly from You, knowing created things are nothing in themselves. It is You we are experiencing. Knowing that You are the Source, You ARE the Life. Dependence on things created by You are no longer necessary nor desirable but rather become obstacles between You and me. The objects in Paradise were secondary to You. You are Paradise. Like Adam and Eve, we are deceived.
The small calm smile granted by the Father to the human face is a most beautiful sight.
If you wonder if your love for Christ is genuine, the proof is easily found. When one loves Christ, he forsakes all for the path that leads directly to Him.
Beauty delivered me to Christ where it was lost in His presence.
I heard a wonderful sound today from the lips of Elder Joseph the Hesychast of the Holy Mountain. He told me that Satan does everything he can to keep us from discovering who we really are. I was so excited I could have burst! Christ is so meek, more meek than the breath of a newborn. So meek that we barely hear Him above the howl of desires, telling us who we really are.
The glory of Your creation dizzies me Father but your love blinds me to all of it.
Because of his attachment to the world, a fallen God cannot tolerate being with the God all the time until it becomes one with him and in doing so he finds out that the fallen God was a false god AND actually not a god at all. So you see God cannot reveal himself to you before the time when you are willing to reject your fallen god.
If you listen only for the voice of our Lord, that is all you will hear and you do what you should. Doing the wrong thing will no longer be a choice.
Dear Patera
Evlogeite
It grieves me when people miss the Salutations and I would like to write something and send it to everyone, although most of them were present. Are they waiting for her to appear? Have they not at least experienced the fragrance (not necessarily with the nose) she grants anyone who calls her from the heart? At the very least, have they not heard the praises offered her throughout the year to draw them to her presence.
St. Peter of Damaskos: As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart . . .
“In the words of the psalmist, ‘As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart’ (Ps. 4:4 LXX), that is, repent in the stillness of the night, remembering the lapses that occurred in the confusion of the day and disciplining yourself in hymns and spiritual songs (cf. Col. 3:16) – in other words, teaching yourself to persist in prayer and psalmody through attentive meditation on what you read. For the practice of the moral virtues is effectuated by meditating on what has happened during the day, so that during the stillness of the night we can become aware of the sins we have committed and can grieve over them.”
Why should you do what St. Peter suggests?
Although you may not know it your creator couldn’t be any closer to you. Why then do you feel distanced from Him or possibly don’t feel Him at all? Don’t allow any opinions to impress your mind about this but relate to Christ’s response at the wedding in Cana when he said to the most pure Virgin, My hour has not yet come St. John 2:4. On the other hand, were there periods in your past that you felt closer than you do today?
As we all know, it is sometimes hard to get out of bed but commitments make it necessary to force ourselves. Make no mistake! It also takes force to resist that which draws us away from Christ. Short term desires, loves, pleasures, etc. are easily taken but have preset termination date. They are present everywhere and draw us away with great force, until we break free. Once that occurs, we are in charge and only one thing can break us free and that is Jesus Christ.
The woman from Canaan didn’t know it was time for her Gift when she asked Christ to heal her daughter, not for herself. Yet, Christ not only granted her request, He praised her great faith. Imagine God praising you? He need not appear or whisper in your ear - you only need to know it.
And the Centurion, who asked Christ to heal one of his soldiers, also gained the Great Treasure. He heart was filled with faith the Christ would grant his request. He wasn’t expecting Treasure for Himself.
Did the holy apostles get notification that at the celebration of Pentecost they would be so transfigured by the descent of the Holy Spirit into completely new creatures with power from God?
If your mind convinces you that you are far from this Gift, then you have distanced yourself from Christ Who couldn’t possibly be any closer.
Check your heart. Where is it most often? When you are honest enough to admit to yourself its location and if you find it on a sensible object or desire, then you have found your treasure. Bob didn’t have to think hard about the question above and without hesitation replied that he loves hanging out with his buddies. The majority of his time while at work or at home, etc. he finds himself focused on his desire to hang out. The object of his affection brings him joy and he is satisfied as long as it lasts each time. Subsequently, when he isn’t hanging out, he is hungry because his heart craves its treasure.
While we study the universe and the nature of things, looking for ‘treasure’, “the” treasure closer to us than sin. As the psalmist says: My sin is ever before me.
Although I remain outside I have seen the joy the bridal chamber and thus having seen, I hate this world’s pitfalls both in the mind and in the heart wherein lies temptations and sin.
FAITH IS THE VEHICLE THAT TAKES YOU FROM BELIEVING IN GOD TO THE GIFT OF KNOWING HIM.
Would you describe this world as a beautiful, exciting and wonderful place? Yes! So can you say you love it? No, I hate it. Is there something wrong with you? How can you say that? I can say it because it has one huge, intolerable flaw! What is that? It is temporary.
I see. So although you have a reason to hate it, you’ve decided to enjoy it until its over? Actually, no. Within it is a portal to one of two other worlds, one far greater than this since it is Paradise Eternal and the other, far worse than this.So when this one ends since, as you say, it is temporary, you simply go to one of the other worlds. True.
What determines one’s destination? For the most part each individual determines his or her own fate. So it is a matter of choice. Yes. However, admission to Eternal Paradise requires a ticket. Can you explain “ticket”? It is best understood by reading the book, “Do You Have a Ticket”
“Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all “fullness of blessing,” both in this world and in the world to come, of all the good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment.” + St. Basil the Great, “On the Holy Spirit”
The tender voice of the Mourning Dove…
I love to hear the tender and sweet voice of the Mourning Dove, in the morning and at any time.
When I young, I felt the same way but unfortunately didn’t know it because the voice of my youth knew little quiet. Now that age, by nature, brings some stillness from passionate youth, memory revisits, uncluttered, revealing what I could not then distinguish.
Our Father Who knows all things, made provision for all things. Because of His love He does not allow our neglect forever but tenderly remains faithful with His infinite gifts until the end.
I have long felt that while men were fabricating Communism, women prayed. In utter ignorance, the Communists demolished thousands of Churches, not realizing that the more they destroyed the more glorious and loved the Church became in the heart, especially that of women. I think this can be seen in Valentina. She isn’t simply a smiling sweet old lady who can neither understand nor speak English. As expected from right-believing Christians, she represents the Church. When the light of Christ shines on the heart, sins invisible to some become visible. From translations I have received, Valentina is aware of, brands and weeps over the slightest offense against Christ. A heart that loves God and others, has no room for grumbling or complaint.
1. Angry brothers throughout the world, for every drop of innocent blood you’ve shed, a sea of blood has been shed for your restoration.
2. He who humbles himself to the King, makes visible the King before the time.
3. A bad attitude exposes ingratitude
4. Once I came to know that You are in all things, all the time, I now see you everywhere and at all times, which leaves me in tears of joy.
5. Oh Death, better to have never met. Yet, as an acquaintance in life you become a friend and an antidote to your own poison. Released by our ancient mother and father but forced to assist them by our true Father and Mother. When tasted from within life, you pull aside the veil from eyes and lift burden from heart and the heart exposes the mind to its inner vision. What a sight! What Light! Treasure made to sparkle before its time, to those who weep. Since all things must one day past, death’s treasure is contained in all and can, for at least a moment, be seen in all things.
6. Forgive me Father, although You were ever before me, I didn’t know it was You, It took me 68 years to recognize You.
PEOPLE ARE SO MUCH LIKE EGGS
You need not be an artist to admire the simple yet elegant shape, beauty and art of the modest egg.
It reminds me of how many of us, who admire ourselves, who have it good in this life, (not everyone does however) love our life, our hobbies, our interests, our good fortune, our good looks (if so endowed) our abilities our talents, etc.
The reality however is that our life, whether good or bad, distinguished or dim, is nothing more than the shell of the egg, if it remains un-cracked.
If one never cracks the egg how can its inner beauty, far surpassing its outer beauty, be known?
When the egg is cracked, which, relative to its size requires some force, a completely new reality, a new identity is revealed.
An identity that not only pleases the eye as did the shell but all the senses and even more. And seemingly infinite possibilities are found. How many of its uses and rewards can you name? The shell is not without value of course but what is it compared to the treasure within?
Moreover, its consumption sustains life like no shell can ever do.
To reveal that which is within the egg, a force is required. So it is with that which lies within each one of us. But with man however the force needed may be either as slight as a single breath or, sadly, greater than splitting an atom. Wonderfully, that force is nothing more than sincere desire.
Not one of us is an empty shell but no matter how illustrious or lowly our shell may be, few of us find the treasure within.
But wait! There is even more to the lowly egg, to what is within ……………………scroll down..
There is a new creature, waiting to get out! Within us, Who is Christ Himself.
Get crackin’!!!
Abraham and Zakat; Sam and Mabel
What is treasure? Although they too were subjected to temptations, their treasure superseded everything in their lives. I am not alone as a witness.
My mother and father, your grandparents and your great grandparents, needed God. They lived, not only as believers in God’s existence, but that Life and God are one and the same.
As a family we continue in their footsteps. Who can deny we have not been immeasurably rewarded by our attempt at becoming Disciples of Christ. At the same time, let us be aware that we have reaped where we have not sown. With any insight at all, one must admit the foundation was laid for us.
Dear Faithful
The Blessing of the Lord and His Mercy!
Yesterday I was asked if wine and olive oil were permitted. Although I responded affirmatively, it reminded me of †Mr. Michael Maamari, one of the faithful of St. John’s some years ago. Having previously been engulfed and affected somewhat by modernism, etc. he was, nonetheless, in many, many ways, a living example of an Orthodox mindset. For example, Michael had so familiarized himself with the saints that at the mere mention of a name (not simply his favorite saints), he could state the month of that particular saint’s commemoration. Also, each time Holy Tradition was referenced, Michael would quickly affirm: ‘Of course’. The Church was ever fresh in his mind. Granted there are many facets to remember but after a few years, the more obvious ones begin to stick. Such as, from Pascha until Pentecost, all Wednesdays and Fridays permit wine and olive oil. It even stuck with me. I learned many things from Michael and remember them, especially things like:
Michael walked everywhere. The walk from work was approximately 3 miles yet he very rarely missed evening or morning services. When he did, it was due to working overtime. After services, I would ask: Would you like a ride home Michael? Unfailingly he would say, ‘I am home’. When he accepted a ride, he almost always had a trick up his sleeve. On the way home he would ask to stop at the grocery store, sometimes two. There are many stories to tell but not now. Finally, however, I must say that regardless of his health he never failed to say, Thank God or rather in his broken English, Thanks God. Occasionally he would also say: Oh I am fine, ‘Thank God, or rarely a one word complaint but ALWAYS followed with, Thank God. Withholding the name, Michael was regularly mistreated by someone close to him. I came to know this in an indirect way and when I would ask, he would volunteer details. On hearing, I was sometimes shocked, to which he would smile slightly and say, Thank God.
Valentina: Not a single sparrow falls from a tree without our Father knowing. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (St. Matthew 10:29-31). If Michael were yet here, he would say that God sent Valentina, regardless of how long she may be with us. I must say, the affection and attention paid her by so many in our Church brings great joy. Nevertheless, the reason I speak of Valentina is her relationship with Christ or her Orthodox mindset – much the same as Michael’s. Fr. John told me a couple of days ago that she arrived at the Church unexpectedly. Father determined that she was here for the Translation of the Relics of St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker. She needed no calendar. Valentina doesn’t get the blog and it wasn’t listed anyway. St. Nicholas’s love is and always has been unquestionably felt by people and especially Orthodox all around the world.
We claim to have ‘taken up the Cross’ by calling ourselves Christians. When we love something in or of the world, we know it inside out. Those hearts that rest in Church, are pillars for us. Their very lives, respond to the holy apostle Peter’s accusers saying, Yes, I not only know Him, I belong to Him. I am ashamed to be more familiar with the seasons of the year than the seasons of the Church.
+Father Raphael
Learn: When you finally begin to love the holy ones, they don’t begin to love you in return but instead you become aware of their love for you that was already there. As a result you experience what love truly is.
The Face: If you look for handsome or homely, you’ll miss the soul which is seen in the face’s design and also its temper.
5 Senses: No one knows the hour when the Judge comes but when it happens I am prepared to say: I saw, I tasted, I touched, I smelled and I heard. Was there something else?
Do you know that you can look ahead to the coming Sunday and familiarize yourself with the commemoration? But why would one want to do that?
Ahhh the value of anticipation! Anticipation accomplishes 3 things. 1. It initiates the experience before the event occurs. 2. The event is enhanced because anticipation gave you a head start. 3. The increased saturation in experience gained from #1 and #2 Are you are content with this world, old age, sickness, separation from others through death, ignorant of your origin, what is there to anticipate except those things you can acquire.
We are strange sometimes.
What does God expect when He tells you to be reborn?
He expects you to remake yourself.
Why?
Because you were made and are sustained by a Divine Being and you don’t act like it.
You have put on your own attributes and characteristic like ego, thinking you are a hot shot, self-centered, a know-it-all, etc. none of which is in Him or in the way He made you. Moreover, when He shows you your divinity, you block it because by its nature, it forces your false self to flee and you don’t want to give it up.
CONTEMPLATION
LEARNED
I have learned from everyone I’ve known but most often I wasn’t aware of it at the time.
PASSIONS
Stop the world (passions) to remove judgement from your love.
PRAYER OF JESUS
When we become one with the Prayer of Jesus we no longer need to hear that our Lord is everywhere present.
ALREADY IN CHRIST
We are already with Christ having been baptized but He is meek and lowly in nature and therefore cannot be seen or experienced nor can His gifts be revealed through the passions and materialism that covers the eyes of the spirit.
REMAIN HIDDEN
If you wish to keep your offences, faults and errors hidden, never blame or accuse yourself of anything. On the other hand, if you want faults even those hidden and wish to be revealed, blame and accuse yourself instead of others.
HOW I SEE IT
Meditation is but the fragrance of the meat, making the meat recognizable and granting faith, love and hope. Once we partake of that on which we meditate however, which is our Savior Jesus Christ, not Christ-Consciousness, filled and restored, meditation is no longer a practice.
FRIEND OF A FRIEND OF GOD
We love our friends, some more than others. Nevertheless, may God be glorified. We know God is glorified when we love our enemies and people He refers to as the least among us. But we are not limited to only those above. We can be friends, yes, have a mutual relationship with people who were friends with God while yet on earth and are now friends with Him in Paradise. There is nothing imaginary or fantastic about it but actually a more real, a more intimate relationship and one possessing all the attributes of love we are accustomed to. You say you don’t know what I am talking about. I understand, but that is remedied by working toward a relationship with a saint. You can take my word for it because I took it from the saints.
AROUND EVERY TURN
Dying daily (remembrance of death) brings the Beyond closer than this life can begin to offer.
DON'T WORRY
It doesn't matter at what point in time during your life that you find LIFE for you have found eternity.
FATHER!
In my childishness, I often run after things and soon find myself alone in despair and tears. As my Father, You always call me home.
THE GIVING OF THE GREAT GIVER
Beauty in various forms and in various degrees has been before my eyes as it presents itself to everyone else but one day beauty appeared, as usual, and yet, in an instant, it was supplanted and replaced by the 'giving' of the Great Giver. I would have exclaimed 'What a delight!' but even that was supplanted by the 'giving'.
FIRST THE GIFTS, THEN...
First the gifts of God are perceived in all ways and in all things but later they are eclipsed by the Giver and His act of giving.
WARM TEARS
I often wondered why the saints weep warm tears. Having submitted all of their life to God what grievous sins do the saints commit to weep over? Granted, one can weep for an entire lifetime over past sins but I remained unfulfilled with that as an answer. Some time later I found myself weeping more and more frequently at the mere remembrance of the ineffable beauty that is Christ, sometimes through sensible objects, sometimes from thoughts, from a leaf, from a cloud, etc. Competing in unseen warfare (although most worthlessly), I experienced the grace of God and at other times, the opposite, the torment and shackles of the Devil. Gradually realizing that while I remained by Christ, Who is constantly at our side, I experienced nothing but His love for all things and far above, the inexplicable, immeasurable love that He simply is. Although He never leaves me for a moment, like a child I get drawn or enticed away from Him by a passion, a sweet passion but whose aftertaste leaves nothing less than warm tears of sorrow for having distanced myself from Paradise, our Lord Jesus Christ.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE?
The question is: Do you want to continue seeing people the way you usually do (i.e. their faults, sins, their abilities, etc.) or do you want to see them the way Christ sees them? How does Christ see them you may ask? He sees them as someone He loves and would give His life for.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE 2?
When Christ reveals and confirms that you indeed love Him, regardless though you be of the lowest, He reveals in turn not only His love for all creatures, but He reveals to you and blesses you through them, unbeknownst to them, with the love He planted in them.
REGRET?
I could say that I regret not having ventured, in my youth, even farther around the world to experience its wonders while the revelation that the Source of all things perceptible still remained concealed within me. But now that it has been revealed, what is there to regret?
PITFALL
There are praiseworthy and skillful people whose arrogance is often interpreted as though they think they are smarter than everyone else. I am inclined to think not but rather that they think most everyone else is stupid.
PRAYER TO GRANDCHILDREN
And.....So you see my sweet, I pray for your understanding. Although I have confessed all my sins and know I have been forgiven, memory remains, a memory possessed of regret. But in Paradise, all things that have been forgiven are washed away leaving love between all that are there.
So you see when I have been so protective there is a reason. My love and hope is to keep all of my children and grandchildren and those to whom God allows me to offer His Precious Body and Blood from regret. A life of avoiding, at all costs, that which displeases God and harms our souls and bodies is the key to humility and through humility we attain the grace to love God and others with a new strength, the grace that lit the lamps of the virgins (St Serpahim Sarov), for whom Christ held open the door to the Feast in Paradise.
WORDS WITHOUT MEANING
The words of our Lord and His saints have no meaning to the elements and your body is made up of elements. They only have meaning to the heart that is pure and open to them.
HOW TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
Ask our Savior Jesus Christ for some of His.
UNADULTERATED JOY
All of us indulge in adulterated joy, that is, joy through something perceptible (St. Maximos); some of them God-pleasing, some offensive to God. If in excess, none are God-pleasing. Blessed is one whose faith offers a whole heart request for joy to come independent of perceptible things – from Christ directly.
WITHOUT HIM
Having been created by Him, in His own likeness, we must be infinitely deeply in love with Christ, otherwise why would being without Him be such hell?
ODE TO GARRISON KEILLOR'S COUNTERFIT PERSONA
I am heartened by Garrison Keillor'S God-given semblance but regarding the veneer that is so well known and by which he has characterized himself, let me say . . .
Ultra-pasteurized visage
layer upon layer of shades and colors
Yet nearly mummied, Peat bound, pillowed words
Mimic of a scraty bow embracing string.
Forsake now Garrison
A patina grown in a petri that rapt so many, so long
Find and rejoin
to what once was birthed
You've pushed it beneath
yet it looks down
at your wardrobe
Forsake now, before age brings the composition’s finale.
PARADISE
It has been said in most profound ways, thank God, yet I still want to say it again. They were in Paradise with Christ but Paradise isn’t Paradise, Christ is Paradise. When they left Him, it was Paradise no longer.
PRAY FOR PEACE?
I don't pray for peace. What society calls peace is always temporary. I want the Prince of Peace, He is eternal.
MOZART
“My subject enlarges itself, becomes methodized and defined, and the whole, though it be long, stands almost complete and finished in my mind, so that I can survey it, like a fine picture or a beautiful statue, at a glance. Nor do I hear in my imagination the parts successively, but I hear them, as it were, all at once. What a delight this is! All this inventing, this producing, takes place in a pleasing, lively dream”.
Mozart says it himself. '... I hear them (compositions), as it were, all at once.'
Unless otherwise known, what Mozart claims was unique to him but it is old and common among the melodists of Orthodoxy. Not only is the music granted as a packaged gift from God, as it did with Mozart, but even more unique. The gift given to Mozart is primarily the composition. But as concerns the ancient melodies, not only does the listener receive the music and words that transcend but along with the music, they gain the Giver of the music Himself.
A MANSION FOR YOU IN PARADISE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Aspirant! Know this. Every fruit you bear for Christ and neighbor, every day fasting, praying, attending services, receiving Holy Communion and all the Holy Mysteries, each time you repent and confess, each time you set aside time, play and work to attend a feast day during the week, each time you call on our holy Virgin Mother, each you suffer the sins of others, each time you do good for the sake of goodness, not as a slave or as a hierling........is another stone for the mansion the Son of God is building for you, a son of God, in the Father's kingdom.
CALIFORNIA DREAMERS
A response to Iowans who complain about Iowa and think the grass is so much greener in California.
Iowa ~ tough ~ yes, humidity unwelcomed, hot-whipped storms unexpected, and yes, her icy gusts pierce and numb the cheek more than bitter bites the tongue.
She restrains and shackles, gloves our fingers and big coats that struggle against ease ~ yes, all this and more.
And, predictably, saddled to discomfort’s complaint, comes figment California ~ California ~ gracious, alluring, venerated ~ indisputably America’s queen!
Oh how she pipes her wealth of treasures to entice and draw us to her coast.
Yet home does not loose, rather she knows when to caress and when to gently grant her embrace, and she does so it seems, always unexpectedly. In the midst of summer’s muggy mantle, she unveils her rare but ever-treasured, ever-memorable, balmy breeze that sweeps the field and delightfully kisses the brow ~ on its wing, the cool, sleepy glowing memory of autumn soon to come.
Iowa, where as equals big brother trees stand shoulder to shoulder and with branches that cuddle little brother bushes below as they wait in quiet and stillness of winter night, while we sleep, to delicately dress themselves in flocks of weightless snow.
Come morning - a daydream - courses of specular rain necklaces the branches with clear-silver-white ice ~ a gift of unimaginable beauty!
And yet, ever so softly, spring’s unhurried warmth beckons, freeing her wintered creations to the creeks as a welcome to the coming seasons.
And the dream, California, thumped by Iowa, her enchantment to nap.
NO LONGER IN MOTION
I used to see things in motion. Now I possess them.
WITH YOU
When I am with you I see love hand-in-hand, everywhere and in everything.
PRAYER?
Prayers become still when the Father's arms are around me, rather prayer is replaced by tears of joy from His embrace.
THE PURPOSE OF A CONSCIENCE
Adam and Eve learned about good and evil before the time by turning from Christ to Satan. Did this not bring the conscience into being? If they had consciences beforehand, would they not also be aware of good and evil? Can we therefore assume that there was no need for consciences, especially since they dwelt in Paradise with God Himself. Subsequently, their choice was unconscionable.....
If Adam and Eve had not known good or evil, then is it correct to assume they had no conscience yet? It appears to me that God in His love gave us a conscience so we could transcend the conscience.
TEMPORARY HAPPINESS IS JUST THAT
There is no lasting happiness except that which only Jesus Christ can give.
It is an uninterrupted sovereign happiness, independent of the senses.
This gift is given freely to everyone but must be won.
KNOWING IS ENOUGH
Knowing what one is capable of is enough. He or she no longer has the need or desire to prove it to himself or others.
Evlogeite Patera
I am tired and weak. I will call it the eventide gift of old age but I feel it to be beyond even that, and yet, in an instant, even without enticement, I am snared and bitten, by the Snake and it matters not the species nor its camouflage. My prayer must then be subsequent with: Get thee behind me and then the deeply drawn constant call to Christ to come, spoil and vanquish. I am tired of fighting, tired, yet my cry to be removed once and for all from the Field to that place of permanent eventide and bliss, according to my wish, is not granted. Forgive me, I am guilty in my request knowing so many, so many who have battled longer and harder seeking liberty and solace yet I cannot help the longing, smitten by a dew of Christ's love.
ZEUS? NO, BUT....
You are made by God, subsequently you are a little God who has fallen away from the fullness of grace and power. As a result an immortal being becomes attached to mortal things which force the immortal being to experience death. Think about it. Being attached to a desire or an object that lacks immortality causes you to thirst for it over and over and over again until it becomes you or you break free.
Reference: The Woman at the Well. Had you asked, I would have broken your attachment of going from one husband to the next and actually all attachments. In other words He would restore her completely and He did at the end because she did her part.
The inappropriate thoughts knock on the door of your mind and you recognize them for what they are, but, it is YOU who lets them. They cannot pass through Christ unless you push Him aside so you can enjoy the pleasure they stole from God but claim as their own, once they have perverted them.
INTELLIGENCE
There's one thing about not being so intelligent. When something profound comes from your lips, you know its not you.
VISAGE
My prayer becomes absorbed by Thy visage Father.
HIS CARESS
His caress is unending and it tells you its Him
POSSESS THE PLANET
It is clear that you cannot make a possession out of this life so why would you want to make a possession out of anything in it?
HOW BEAUTIFUL IS LIFE?
Life is immensely beautiful but it little more than a cobweb (St John of Kronstadt) compared to the beauty it promises.
Life is obviously now but is also blest with the future.
HIS FACE
Once you have given all of your heart to Christ only, He will reveal gifts to you that you've never seen or experienced and He will also reveal past gifts from earlier in life were also from Him. Then ask to see his beautiful face.
CONFINEMENT
Deserting God and allying ourselves with the Dissenter, confined us to the planet. Thousands of years later we were permitted on the moon.
BEAUTY FULFILLED
When beauty comes before me and I suddenly see its beauty fulfilled, it makes me weep. Other times, beauty fulfilled arrives and again I cry.
HOPSCOTCH
Basically almost everything in this life is a postponement to reality. And we go from one thing to another until we finally realize we have done little more than play hopscotch, we've arrived at reality.
PRAYER TO MY ANGEL
Sing to me my angel with your most sweet voice; words I can offer in prayer to your Master that I also may please Him.
THANK YOU GOD, THANK YOU
By the most tender grace of the Lover of Mankind, the many mumbo-jumbo religions don't always affect one's love for God nor God’s reward for our gratitude that He is our God.
THE KINGDOM OF ADAM
This earth and universe is but a grain of sand in Christ's hand. But Satan and man, in their diminutive state, perceive it in a distorted way. He holds it, and you in His hand until He calls you from it. In the meantime, He waits for you to tire of this, the kingdom of Satan, a fallen angel, and those with him, a kingdom for which Adam and Eve, in their folly, left their home in Paradise. Like the prodigal, may we tire of it and return to our Father Christ, before it is too late.
I HATE SEPARATION
On a personal note, what I hate most about this world, beyond man's inhumanity to man, is separation. Lucifer separated himself from His Lord and Heaven, Adam and Eve separated themselves from their Father and Paradise, we separate ourselves from Christ and His grace, from each other's love and company because of sin, and even if only briefly, death separates us, a separation that was never part of creation or necessary. I hate separation. We should pray that we all repent before death so no separation between sheep and goats exists in Paradise.
LIFE AND RESURRECTION
I read the scripture where Christ told me that he was my life and Resurrection. Faith in His words brought me to His glory and now I know it to be true.
INHERIT THE EARTH
Why should a desire or be attached to anything, such a car, home, money, and so when in Christ I have inherited the earth.
TASTE AND SEE
I’ve never had ice cream but I can say with confidence that it must be delicious, confidence that comes from so many testimonies.
That being said,
Psalm 34:8 King James Version (KJV) 8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Two things: There are many who know the goodness of God but have not tasted otherwise they would know it’s a lingering taste that never ends. So, if you have not tasted, think about your trust and pray for increase and thereby be motived to know what it really means to “taste”.
LOOK FORWARD
I don't look forward to seeing Christ face to face one day, I look forward to seeing Jesus Christ.
True repentance brings humility but it is not necessary. To taste and see that the Lord is good, is to taste humility of Christ.
Body and Spirit
My body wishes to take its ease, tired and distended from gluttony of the senses but the spirit never tires of the life-giving love of Christ won by the saints and granted to us by their precious words and lives.
CHRIST OFFERS THE PRAYER
Follower of Christ, know that God can directly grant you prayer to offer to Him, not only the prayers of your prayer book, not only the prayers said and heard in the Church, but prayers coming forth from Him and given to you so you may witness them being offered to Him but, rewarding you. If desire abides in the heart it can come forth 'then it will inevitably appear outwardly...' as St Tikhon tell us below. Speak to God from your heart on your bed, expecting Him to grace you with words profound in honor of Him. Consider the Psalmist and the beauty of his prayer, how it comes forth like a gushing spring and as effectual to the soul and Spirit as spring water refreshes the body.
SPIRIT NONETHELESS
Whether granted to the incorporeal or to those in earthen vessels, nonetheless infused with God’s own spirit.
ADMIT DISFIGUREMENTHow can we not admit our disfigurement when God has to tell us to love each other?
HATE OUT OF EXISTENCEAllow hate to do its work and root itself out of your love.
PRAY, DON'T READ
Once you’ve prayed, you will more easily recognize when you are simply reading.
YOU ARE AN ATHLETE
Just because you didn’t have a good coach and didn’t learn as much as you could have, doesn’t mean you aren’t an athlete.
LOVE
What virtue is most easily granted yet most easily abused = love.
GREATER THAN THE GIFT
You may count the aspects of love but at the top place the Giver
NO LONGER ALONE
Thank you Father, I am no longer alone.
TEMPORAL/ETERNAL
Father! Now that You have shown me the eternal I can now better see the limitations of the temporal.
FOLLOWER OF CHRIST
Christ asks that if you wish to be a follower, you must love Him above all others, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, friend … if you indeed have become a follower, you no longer thirst
Mr. X: I don’t believe God exists.
You need not believe that He exists. If indeed He does not exist, then there would be no harm in you trying something.
Mr. X: Try what?
Repeat the name of Christ continually.
Mr. X: For how long?
Continuously
Mr. X: Impossible!
It’s not impossible.
Mr. X: If I do, what will happen?
Try it and see.
BLIND TO GOD AND SELF
A self-centered person sees only what he (or she) imagines himself to be. He cannot see God and therefore cannot see himself and worse yet is blind to his own separation. On the other hand, one who looks for God in all things, not only sees Him, but in doing so joins company with Him.
CONFIRMATION
Yesterday was a new day but not in the characteristic way was it experienced. Yesterday I said, Father. Yesterday He let me know that He heard me.
BEAUTY
Don't let fault throw you to and fro. Gods pervading beauty overshadows all things. See it.
How can I not love them Father, they are citizens in Thy garden.
Father, you have given us everything . . . even your Son also.
I loved and admired my brothers Phil and Joe. Phil’s love was generous. Joe’s beauty made it very easy to admit you weren’t handsome. I loved Philip but it took most of my life to know how much more he loved me. Too long did it take me to realize my brothers inherited the rewards of Ibraheem and Zakat. Philip was actually baptized Nicholas (St. Nicholas the Wonderworker) but referred to by mom as Saleem after grandfather Saleem, by others as Phil. Joseph was probably named after St. Joseph the Betrothed. I was baptized after the GM George
Father I am anxious because I yet have learned to believe and trust in the perfection of Your judgement. When there is suffering or pain Lord, let me no longer ask how long.
Definition of Paradise=Spirits at play. When Christ was present in Paradise with Adam and Eve, did they pray together? Did they talk or speculate philosophy or seek enlightenment?
The meek shall inherit the earth. Having denied all things, one becomes meek and thereby in position to inherit the earth (not only the earth but all things since he has inherited Christ the Creator). Subsequently, accusations of possessions have no meaning. How is this known by the individual? By a soundless whisper.
Inadequate in so many ways, vocabulary being one, I will say, it blows my mind how human beings can be so utterly nonchalant about not knowing. At least the blind know they are blind. But a spiritually (what other word can I use?) blind person, is not only blind but doesn’t know he is blind. For a brief few minutes, I watched and listened to a young woman on stage. Here before me was exquisite physical and mental being, regardless of so called flaws. Hair, eyes, eyebrows, mouth, face, head, etc., superb, not because of exceptional beauty but simply because its existence. The sound it was making, called a song, was no more than screeching. I thought, We are so, so blind. Disfigured. The creature does not look at itself and say, I am overwhelmed that I inhabit this exquisite organism of whom I know so very, very little. Actually, compared to a fraction of what it is visually, mentally, and emotionally, I know nothing about it. Why, would I use it to produce such a sound. Well, there is nothing really wrong if one uses it to make a strange sound or noise or whatever for some purpose but to do so and award it a title of beauty or pleasurable, is strange. OK, the reality is, most everyone cares only about what additional pleasure one can gain but the use of the creature they inhabit.
Dear Lord, thank you for the love and joy I receive from your created things, people, friends, objects experienced through the senses, which you give in abundance, but knowing that You are the source, I no longer want your love and joy only through your creation but directly from You, knowing created things are nothing in themselves. It is You we are experiencing. Knowing that You are the Source, You ARE the Life. Dependence on things created by You are no longer necessary nor desirable but rather become obstacles between You and me. The objects in Paradise were secondary to You. You are Paradise. Like Adam and Eve, we are deceived.
The small calm smile granted by the Father to the human face is a most beautiful sight.
If you wonder if your love for Christ is genuine, the proof is easily found. When one loves Christ, he forsakes all for the path that leads directly to Him.
Beauty delivered me to Christ where it was lost in His presence.
I heard a wonderful sound today from the lips of Elder Joseph the Hesychast of the Holy Mountain. He told me that Satan does everything he can to keep us from discovering who we really are. I was so excited I could have burst! Christ is so meek, more meek than the breath of a newborn. So meek that we barely hear Him above the howl of desires, telling us who we really are.
The glory of Your creation dizzies me Father but your love blinds me to all of it.
Because of his attachment to the world, a fallen God cannot tolerate being with the God all the time until it becomes one with him and in doing so he finds out that the fallen God was a false god AND actually not a god at all. So you see God cannot reveal himself to you before the time when you are willing to reject your fallen god.
If you listen only for the voice of our Lord, that is all you will hear and you do what you should. Doing the wrong thing will no longer be a choice.
Dear Patera
Evlogeite
It grieves me when people miss the Salutations and I would like to write something and send it to everyone, although most of them were present. Are they waiting for her to appear? Have they not at least experienced the fragrance (not necessarily with the nose) she grants anyone who calls her from the heart? At the very least, have they not heard the praises offered her throughout the year to draw them to her presence.
St. Peter of Damaskos: As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart . . .
“In the words of the psalmist, ‘As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart’ (Ps. 4:4 LXX), that is, repent in the stillness of the night, remembering the lapses that occurred in the confusion of the day and disciplining yourself in hymns and spiritual songs (cf. Col. 3:16) – in other words, teaching yourself to persist in prayer and psalmody through attentive meditation on what you read. For the practice of the moral virtues is effectuated by meditating on what has happened during the day, so that during the stillness of the night we can become aware of the sins we have committed and can grieve over them.”
Why should you do what St. Peter suggests?
Although you may not know it your creator couldn’t be any closer to you. Why then do you feel distanced from Him or possibly don’t feel Him at all? Don’t allow any opinions to impress your mind about this but relate to Christ’s response at the wedding in Cana when he said to the most pure Virgin, My hour has not yet come St. John 2:4. On the other hand, were there periods in your past that you felt closer than you do today?
As we all know, it is sometimes hard to get out of bed but commitments make it necessary to force ourselves. Make no mistake! It also takes force to resist that which draws us away from Christ. Short term desires, loves, pleasures, etc. are easily taken but have preset termination date. They are present everywhere and draw us away with great force, until we break free. Once that occurs, we are in charge and only one thing can break us free and that is Jesus Christ.
The woman from Canaan didn’t know it was time for her Gift when she asked Christ to heal her daughter, not for herself. Yet, Christ not only granted her request, He praised her great faith. Imagine God praising you? He need not appear or whisper in your ear - you only need to know it.
And the Centurion, who asked Christ to heal one of his soldiers, also gained the Great Treasure. He heart was filled with faith the Christ would grant his request. He wasn’t expecting Treasure for Himself.
Did the holy apostles get notification that at the celebration of Pentecost they would be so transfigured by the descent of the Holy Spirit into completely new creatures with power from God?
If your mind convinces you that you are far from this Gift, then you have distanced yourself from Christ Who couldn’t possibly be any closer.
Check your heart. Where is it most often? When you are honest enough to admit to yourself its location and if you find it on a sensible object or desire, then you have found your treasure. Bob didn’t have to think hard about the question above and without hesitation replied that he loves hanging out with his buddies. The majority of his time while at work or at home, etc. he finds himself focused on his desire to hang out. The object of his affection brings him joy and he is satisfied as long as it lasts each time. Subsequently, when he isn’t hanging out, he is hungry because his heart craves its treasure.
While we study the universe and the nature of things, looking for ‘treasure’, “the” treasure closer to us than sin. As the psalmist says: My sin is ever before me.
Although I remain outside I have seen the joy the bridal chamber and thus having seen, I hate this world’s pitfalls both in the mind and in the heart wherein lies temptations and sin.
FAITH IS THE VEHICLE THAT TAKES YOU FROM BELIEVING IN GOD TO THE GIFT OF KNOWING HIM.
Would you describe this world as a beautiful, exciting and wonderful place? Yes! So can you say you love it? No, I hate it. Is there something wrong with you? How can you say that? I can say it because it has one huge, intolerable flaw! What is that? It is temporary.
I see. So although you have a reason to hate it, you’ve decided to enjoy it until its over? Actually, no. Within it is a portal to one of two other worlds, one far greater than this since it is Paradise Eternal and the other, far worse than this.So when this one ends since, as you say, it is temporary, you simply go to one of the other worlds. True.
What determines one’s destination? For the most part each individual determines his or her own fate. So it is a matter of choice. Yes. However, admission to Eternal Paradise requires a ticket. Can you explain “ticket”? It is best understood by reading the book, “Do You Have a Ticket”
“Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all “fullness of blessing,” both in this world and in the world to come, of all the good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment.” + St. Basil the Great, “On the Holy Spirit”
The tender voice of the Mourning Dove…
I love to hear the tender and sweet voice of the Mourning Dove, in the morning and at any time.
When I young, I felt the same way but unfortunately didn’t know it because the voice of my youth knew little quiet. Now that age, by nature, brings some stillness from passionate youth, memory revisits, uncluttered, revealing what I could not then distinguish.
Our Father Who knows all things, made provision for all things. Because of His love He does not punish our neglect forever but tenderly remains faithful with His infinite gifts until the end.
I have long felt that while men were fabricating Communism, women prayed. In utter ignorance, the Communists demolished thousands of Churches, not realizing that the more they destroyed the more glorious and loved the Church became in the heart, especially women. I think this can be seen in Valentina. She isn’t simply a smiling sweet old lady who can neither understand nor speak English. As expected from right-believing Christians, she represents the Church. When the light of Christ shines on the heart, sins invisible to some become visible. From translations I have received, Valentina is aware of, brands and weeps over the slightest offense against Christ. A heart that loves God and others, has no room for grumbling or complaint.
1. Angry brothers throughout the world, for every drop of innocent blood you’ve shed, a sea of blood has been shed for your restoration.
2. He who humbles himself to the King, makes visible the King before the time.
3. A bad attitude exposes ingratitude
4. Once I came to know that You are in all things, all the time, I now see you everywhere and at all times, which leaves me in tears of joy.
5. Oh Death, better to have never met. Yet, as an acquaintance in life you become a friend and an antidote to your own poison. Released by our ancient mother and father but forced to assist them by our true Father and Mother. When tasted from within life, you pull aside the veil from eyes and lift burden from heart and the heart exposes the mind to its inner vision. What a sight! What Light! Treasure made to sparkle before its time, to those who weep. Since all things must one day past, death’s treasure is contained in all and can, for at least a moment, be seen in all things.
6. Forgive me Father, although You were ever before me, I didn’t know it was You, It took me 68 years to recognize You.
PEOPLE ARE SO MUCH LIKE EGGS
You need not be an artist to admire the simple yet elegant shape, beauty and art of the modest egg.
It reminds me of how many of us, who admire ourselves, who have it good in this life, (not everyone does however) love our life, our hobbies, our interests, our good fortune, our good looks (if so endowed) our abilities our talents, etc.
The reality however is that our life, whether good or bad, distinguished or dim, is nothing more than the shell of the egg, if it remains un-cracked.
If one never cracks the egg how can its inner beauty, far surpassing its outer beauty, be known?
When the egg is cracked, which, relative to its size requires some force, a completely new reality, a new identity is revealed.
An identity that not only pleases the eye as did the shell but all the senses and even more. And seemingly infinite possibilities are found. How many of its uses and rewards can you name? The shell is not without value of course but what is it compared to the treasure within?
Moreover, its consumption sustains life like no shell can ever do.
To reveal that which is within the egg, a force is required. So it is with that which lies within each one of us. But with man however the force needed may be either as slight as a single breath or, sadly, greater than splitting an atom. Wonderfully, that force is nothing more than sincere desire.
Not one of us is an empty shell but no matter how illustrious or lowly our shell may be, few of us find the treasure within.
But wait! There is even more to the lowly egg, to what is within ……………………scroll down..
There is a new creature, waiting to get out! Within us, Who is Christ Himself.
Get crackin’!!!
Abraham and Zakat; Sam and Mabel
What is treasure? Although they too were subjected to temptations, their treasure superseded everything in their lives. I am not alone as a witness.
My mother and father, your grandparents and your great grandparents, needed God. They lived, not only as believers in God’s existence, but that Life and God are one and the same.
As a family we continue in their footsteps. Who can deny we have not been immeasurably rewarded by our attempt at becoming Disciples of Christ. At the same time, let us be aware that we have reaped where we have not sown. With any insight at all, one must admit the foundation was laid for us.
Dear Faithful
The Blessing of the Lord and His Mercy!
Yesterday I was asked if wine and olive oil were permitted. Although I responded affirmatively, it reminded me of †Mr. Michael Maamari, one of the faithful of St. John’s some years ago. Having previously been engulfed and affected somewhat by modernism, etc. he was, nonetheless, in many, many ways, a living example of an Orthodox mindset. For example, Michael had so familiarized himself with the saints that at the mere mention of a name (not simply his favorite saints), he could state the month of that particular saint’s commemoration. Also, each time Holy Tradition was referenced, Michael would quickly affirm: ‘Of course’. The Church was ever fresh in his mind. Granted there are many facets to remember but after a few years, the more obvious ones begin to stick. Such as, from Pascha until Pentecost, all Wednesdays and Fridays permit wine and olive oil. It even stuck with me. I learned many things from Michael and remember them, especially things like:
Michael walked everywhere. The walk from work was approximately 3 miles yet he very rarely missed evening or morning services. When he did, it was due to working overtime. After services, I would ask: Would you like a ride home Michael? Unfailingly he would say, ‘I am home’. When he accepted a ride, he almost always had a trick up his sleeve. On the way home he would ask to stop at the grocery store, sometimes two. There are many stories to tell but not now. Finally, however, I must say that regardless of his health he never failed to say, Thank God or rather in his broken English, Thanks God. Occasionally he would also say: Oh I am fine, ‘Thank God, or rarely a one word complaint but ALWAYS followed with, Thank God. Withholding the name, Michael was regularly mistreated by someone close to him. I came to know this in an indirect way and when I would ask, he would volunteer details. On hearing, I was sometimes shocked, to which he would smile slightly and say, Thank God.
Valentina: Not a single sparrow falls from a tree without our Father knowing. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (St. Matthew 10:29-31). If Michael were yet here, he would say that God sent Valentina, regardless of how long she may be with us. I must say, the affection and attention paid her by so many in our Church brings great joy. Nevertheless, the reason I speak of Valentina is her relationship with Christ or her Orthodox mindset – much the same as Michael’s. Fr. John told me a couple of days ago that she arrived at the Church unexpectedly. Father determined that she was here for the Translation of the Relics of St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker. She needed no calendar. Valentina doesn’t get the blog and it wasn’t listed anyway. St. Nicholas’s love is and always has been unquestionably felt by people and especially Orthodox all around the world.
We claim to have ‘taken up the Cross’ by calling ourselves Christians. When we love something in or of the world, we know it inside out. Those hearts that rest in Church, are pillars for us. Their very lives, respond to the holy apostle Peter’s accusers saying, Yes, I not only know Him, I belong to Him. I am ashamed to be more familiar with the seasons of the year than the seasons of the Church.
+Father Raphael
Learn: When you finally begin to love the holy ones, they don’t begin to love you in return but instead you become aware of their love for you that was already there. As a result you experience what love truly is.
The Face: If you look for handsome or homely, you’ll miss the soul which is seen in the face’s design and also its temper.
5 Senses: No one knows the hour when the Judge comes but when it happens I am prepared to say: I saw, I tasted, I touched, I smelled and I heard. Was there something else?
Do you know that you can look ahead to the coming Sunday and familiarize yourself with the commemoration? But why would one want to do that?
Ahhh the value of anticipation! Anticipation accomplishes 3 things. 1. It initiates the experience before the event occurs. 2. The event is enhanced because anticipation gave you a head start. 3. The increased saturation in experience gained from #1 and #2 Are you are content with this world, old age, sickness, separation from others through death, ignorant of your origin, what is there to anticipate except those things you can acquire.
We are strange sometimes.
What does God expect when He tells you to be reborn?
He expects you to remake yourself.
Why?
Because you were made and are sustained by a Divine Being and you don’t act like it.
You have put on your own attributes and characteristic like ego, thinking you are a hot shot, self-centered, a know-it-all, etc. none of which is in Him or in the way He made you. Moreover, when He shows you your divinity, you block it because by its nature, it forces your false self to flee and you don’t want to give it up.
ALREADY IN CHRIST
We are already with Christ having been baptized but He is meek and lowly in nature and therefore cannot be seen or experienced nor can His gifts be revealed through the passions and materialism we cover Him with.
REMAIN HIDDEN
If you wish to keep your offences, faults and errors hidden, never blame or accuse yourself of anything. On the other hand, if you want faults you may not have known to exist and wish to be revealed, blame and accuse yourself instead of others.
HOW I SEE IT
Meditation is but the fragrance of the meat, making the meat recognizable and granting faith, love and hope. Once we partake of that on which we meditate however, which is our Savior Jesus Christ, not Christ-Consciousness, filled and restored, meditation is no longer a practice.
NOT IN CHARGE
Thursday January 25 2018 ns I met with Patera concerning an individual who I have been praying for (and worrying). My concerns were quickly resolved but followed by a reminder of all the faults I have committed against my family but with a shocking new one that I was not conscious of - that I resent no longer being in charge. ....... God forgive me
FRIEND OF A FRIEND OF GOD
We love our friends, some more than others. Nevertheless, may God be glorified. We know God is glorified when we love our enemies and people He refers to as the least among us. But we are not limited to only those above. We can be friends, yes, have a mutual relationship with people who were friends with God while yet on earth and are now friends with Him in Paradise. There is nothing imaginary or fantastic about it but actually a more real, a more intimate relationship and one possessing all the attributes of love we are accustomed to. You say you don’t know what I am talking about. I understand, but that is remedied by working toward a relationship with a saint. You can take my word for it because I took it from the saints.
AROUND EVERY TURN
Dying daily (remembrance of death) brings the Beyond closer than this life can begin to offer.
DON'T WORRY
It doesn't matter at what point in time during your life that you find LIFE for you have found eternity.
FATHER!
In my childishness, I often run after things and soon find myself alone in despair and tears. As my Father, You always call me home.
THE GIVING OF THE GREAT GIVER
Beauty in various forms and in various degrees has been before my eyes as it presents itself to everyone else but one day beauty appeared, as usual, and yet, in an instant, it was supplanted and replaced by the 'giving' of the Great Giver. I would have exclaimed 'What a delight!' but even that was supplanted by the 'giving'.
FIRST THE GIFTS, THEN...
First the gifts of God are perceived in all ways and in all things but later they are eclipsed by the Giver and His act of giving.
WARM TEARS
I often wondered why the saints weep warm tears. Having submitted all of their life to God what grievous sins do the saints commit to weep over? Granted, one can weep for an entire lifetime over past sins but I remained unfulfilled with that as an answer. Some time later I found myself weeping more and more frequently at the mere remembrance of the ineffable beauty that is Christ, sometimes through sensible objects, sometimes from thoughts, from a leaf, from a cloud, etc. Competing in unseen warfare (although most worthlessly), I experienced the grace of God and at other times, the opposite, the torment and shackles of the Devil. Gradually realizing that while I remained by Christ, Who is constantly at our side, I experienced nothing but His love for all things and far above, the inexplicable, immeasurable love that He simply is. Although He never leaves me for a moment, like a child I get drawn or enticed away from Him by a passion, a sweet passion but whose aftertaste leaves nothing less than warm tears of sorrow for having distanced myself from Paradise, our Lord Jesus Christ.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE?
The question is: Do you want to continue seeing people the way you usually do (i.e. their faults, sins, their abilities, etc.) or do you want to see them the way Christ sees them? How does Christ see them you may ask? He sees them as someone He loves and would give His life for.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE 2?
When Christ reveals and confirms that you indeed love Him, regardless though you be of the lowest, He reveals in turn not only His love for all creatures, but He reveals to you and blesses you through them, unbeknownst to them, with the love He planted in them.
REGRET?
I could say that I regret not having ventured, in my youth, even farther around the world to experience its wonders while the revelation that the Source of all things perceptible still remained concealed within me. But having now that it has been revealed, what is there to regret?
PITFALL
There are praiseworthy and skillful people whose arrogance is often interpreted as though they think they are smarter than everyone else. I am inclined to think not but rather that they think most everyone else is stupid.
PRAYER TO GRANDCHILDREN
And.....So you see my sweet, I pray for your understanding. Although I have confessed all my sins and know I have been forgiven, memory remains, a memory possessed of regret. But in Paradise, all things that have been forgiven are washed away leaving love between all that are there.
So you see when I have been so protective there is a reason. My love and hope is to keep all of my children and grandchildren and those to whom God allows me to offer His Precious Body and Blood from regret. A life of avoiding, at all costs, that which displeases God and harms our souls and bodies is the key to humility and through humility we attain the grace to love God and others with a new strength, the grace that lit the lamps of the virgins (St Serpahim Sarov), for whom Christ held open the door to the Feast in Paradise.
WORDS WITHOUT MEANING
The words of our Lord and His saints have no meaning to the elements and your body is made up of elements. They only have meaning to the heart that is pure and open to them.
HOW TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
Ask our Savior Jesus Christ for some of His.
UNADULTERATED JOY
All of us indulge in adulterated joy, that is, joy through something perceptible (St. Maximos); some of them God-pleasing, some offensive to God. If in excess, none are God-pleasing. Blessed is one whose faith offers a whole heart request for joy to come independent of perceptible things – from Christ directly.
WITHOUT HIM
Having been created by Him, in His own likeness, we must be infinitely deeply in love with Christ, otherwise why would being without Him be such hell?
ODE TO GARRISON KEILLOR'S COUNTERFIT PERSONA
I am heartened by Garrison Keillor'S God-given semblance but regarding the veneer that is so well known and by which he has characterized himself, let me say . . .
Ultra-pasteurized visage
layer upon layer of shades and colors
Yet nearly mummied, Peat bound, pillowed words
Mimic of a scraty bow embracing string.
Forsake now Garrison
A patina grown in a petri that rapt so many, so long
Find and rejoin
to what once was birthed
You've pushed it beneath
yet it looks down
at your wardrobe
Forsake now, before age brings the composition’s finale.
PARADISE
It has been said in most profound ways, thank God, yet I still want to say it again. They were in Paradise with Christ but Paradise isn’t Paradise, Christ is Paradise. When they left Him, it was Paradise no longer.
PRAY FOR PEACE?
I don't pray for peace. What society calls peace is always temporary. I want the Prince of Peace, He is eternal.
MOZART
“My subject enlarges itself, becomes methodized and defined, and the whole, though it be long, stands almost complete and finished in my mind, so that I can survey it, like a fine picture or a beautiful statue, at a glance. Nor do I hear in my imagination the parts successively, but I hear them, as it were, all at once. What a delight this is! All this inventing, this producing, takes place in a pleasing, lively dream”.
Mozart says it himself. '... I hear them (compositions), as it were, all at once.'
Unless otherwise known, what Mozart claims was unique to him but it is old and common among the melodists of Orthodoxy. Not only is the music granted as a packaged gift from God, as it did with Mozart, but even more unique. The gift given to Mozart is primarily the composition. But as concerns the ancient melodies, not only does the listener receive the music and words that transcend but along with the music, they gain the Giver of the music Himself.
A MANSION FOR YOU IN PARADISE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Aspirant! Know this. Every fruit you bear for Christ and neighbor, every day fasting, praying, attending services, receiving Holy Communion and all the Holy Mysteries, each time you repent and confess, each time you set aside time, play and work to attend a feast day during the week, each time you call on our holy Virgin Mother, each you suffer the sins of others, each time you do good for the sake of goodness, not as a slave or as a hierling........is another stone for the mansion the Son of God is building for you, a son of God, in the Father's kingdom.
CALIFORNIA DREAMERS
A response to Iowans who complain about Iowa and think the grass is so much greener in California.
Iowa ~ tough ~ yes, humidity unwelcomed, hot-whipped storms unexpected, and yes, her icy gusts pierce and numb the cheek more than bitter bites the tongue.
She restrains and shackles, gloves our fingers and big coats that struggle against ease ~ yes, all this and more.
And, predictably, saddled to discomfort’s complaint, comes figment California ~ California ~ gracious, alluring, venerated ~ indisputably America’s queen!
Oh how she pipes her wealth of treasures to entice and draw us to her coast.
Yet home does not loose, rather she knows when to caress and when to gently grant her embrace, and she does so it seems, always unexpectedly. In the midst of summer’s muggy mantle, she unveils her rare but ever-treasured, ever-memorable, balmy breeze that sweeps the field and delightfully kisses the brow ~ on its wing, the cool, sleepy glowing memory of autumn soon to come.
Iowa, where as equals big brother trees stand shoulder to shoulder and with branches that cuddle little brother bushes below as they wait in quiet and stillness of winter night, while we sleep, to delicately dress themselves in flocks of weightless snow.
Come morning - a daydream - courses of specular rain necklaces the branches with clear-silver-white ice ~ a gift of unimaginable beauty!
And yet, ever so softly, spring’s unhurried warmth beckons, freeing her wintered creations to the creeks as a welcome to the coming seasons.
And the dream, California, thumped by Iowa, her enchantment to nap.
NO LONGER IN MOTION
I used to see things in motion. Now I possess them.
WITH YOU
When I am with you I see love hand-in-hand, everywhere and in everything.
PRAYER?
Prayers become still when the Father's arms are around me, rather prayer is replaced by tears of joy from His embrace.
THE PURPOSE OF A CONSCIENCE
Adam and Eve learned about good and evil before the time by turning from Christ to Satan. Did this not bring the conscience into being? If they had consciences beforehand, would they not also be aware of good and evil? Can we therefore assume that there was no need for consciences, especially since they dwelt in Paradise with God Himself. Subsequently, their choice was unconscionable.....
If Adam and Eve had not known good or evil, then is it correct to assume they had no conscience yet? It appears to me that God in His love gave us a conscience so we could transcend the conscience.
TEMPORARY HAPPINESS IS JUST THAT
There is no lasting happiness except that which only Jesus Christ can give.
It is an uninterrupted sovereign happiness, independent of the senses.
This gift is given freely to everyone but must be won.
KNOWING IS ENOUGH
Knowing what one is capable of is enough. He or she no longer has the need or desire to prove it to himself or others.
Evlogeite Patera
I am tired and weak. I will call it the eventide gift of old age but I feel it to be beyond even that, and yet, in an instant, even without enticement, I am snared and bitten, by the Snake and it matters not the species nor its camouflage. My prayer must then be subsequent with: Get thee behind me and then the deeply drawn constant call to Christ to come, spoil and vanquish. I am tired of fighting, tired, yet my cry to be removed once and for all from the Field to that place of permanent eventide and bliss, according to my wish, is not granted. Forgive me, I am guilty in my request knowing so many, so many who have battled longer and harder seeking liberty and solace yet I cannot help the longing, smitten by a dew of Christ's love.
ZEUS? NO, BUT....
You are made by God, subsequently you are a little God who has fallen away from the fullness of grace and power. As a result an immortal being becomes attached to mortal things which force the immortal being to experience death. Think about it. Being attached to a desire or an object that lacks immortality causes you to thirst for it over and over and over again until it becomes you or you break free.
Reference: The Woman at the Well. Had you asked, I would have broken your attachment of going from one husband to the next and actually all attachments. In other words He would restore her completely and He did at the end because she did her part.
The inappropriate thoughts knock on the door of your mind and you recognize them for what they are, but, it is YOU who lets them. They cannot pass through Christ unless you push Him aside so you can enjoy the pleasure they stole from God but claim as their own, once they have perverted them.
INTELLIGENCE
There's one thing about not being so intelligent. When something profound comes from your lips, you know its not you.
VISAGE
My prayer becomes absorbed by Thy visage Father.
HIS CARESS
His caress is unending and it tells you its Him
POSSESS THE PLANET
It is clear that you cannot make a possession out of this life so why would you want to make a possession out of anything in it?
HOW BEAUTIFUL IS LIFE?
Life is immensely beautiful but it little more than a cobweb (St John of Kronstadt) compared to the beauty it promises.
Life is obviously now but is also blest with the future.
HIS FACE
Once you have given all of your heart to Christ only, He will reveal gifts to you that you've never seen or experienced and He will also reveal past gifts from earlier in life were also from Him. Then ask to see his beautiful face.
CONFINEMENT
Deserting God and allying ourselves with the Dissenter, confined us to the planet. Thousands of years later we were permitted on the moon.
BEAUTY FULFILLED
When beauty comes before me and I suddenly see its beauty fulfilled, it makes me weep. Other times, beauty fulfilled arrives and again I cry.
HOPSCOTCH
Basically almost everything in this life is a postponement to reality. And we go from one thing to another until we finally realize we have done little more than play hopscotch, we've arrived at reality.
PRAYER TO MY ANGEL
Sing to me my angel with your most sweet voice; words I can offer in prayer to your Master that I also may please Him.
THANK YOU GOD, THANK YOU
By the most tender grace of the Lover of Mankind, the many mumbo-jumbo religions don't always affect one's love for God nor God’s reward for our gratitude that He is our God.
THE KINGDOM OF ADAM
This earth and universe is but a grain of sand in Christ's hand. But Satan and man, in their diminutive state, perceive it in a distorted way. He holds it, and you in His hand until He calls you from it. In the meantime, He waits for you to tire of this, the kingdom of Satan, a fallen angel, and those with him, a kingdom for which Adam and Eve, in their folly, left their home in Paradise. Like the prodigal, may we tire of it and return to our Father Christ, before it is too late.
I HATE SEPARATION
On a personal note, what I hate most about this world, beyond man's inhumanity to man, is separation. Lucifer separated himself from His Lord and Heaven, Adam and Eve separated themselves from their Father and Paradise, we separate ourselves from Christ and His grace, from each other's love and company because of sin, and even if only briefly, death separates us, a separation that was never part of creation or necessary. I hate separation. We should pray that we all repent before death so no separation between sheep and goats exists in Paradise.
LIFE AND RESURRECTION
I read the scripture where Christ told me that he was my life and Resurrection. Faith in His words brought me to His glory and now I know it to be true.
INHERIT THE EARTH
Why should a desire or be attached to anything, such a car, home, money, and so when in Christ I have inherited the earth.
TASTE AND SEE
I’ve never had ice cream but I can say with confidence that it must be delicious, confidence that comes from so many testimonies.
That being said,
Psalm 34:8 King James Version (KJV) 8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Two things: There are many who know the goodness of God but have not tasted otherwise they would know it’s a lingering taste that never ends. So, if you have not tasted, think about your trust and pray for increase and thereby be motived to know what it really means to “taste”.
LOOK FORWARD
I don't look forward to seeing Christ face to face one day, I look forward to seeing Jesus Christ.
True repentance brings humility but it is not necessary. To taste and see that the Lord is good, is to taste humility of Christ.
Body and Spirit
My body wishes to take its ease, tired and distended from gluttony of the senses but the spirit never tires of the life-giving love of Christ won by the saints and granted to us by their precious words and lives.
CHRIST OFFERS THE PRAYER
Follower of Christ, know that God can directly grant you prayer to offer to Him, not only the prayers of your prayer book, not only the prayers said and heard in the Church, but prayers coming forth from Him and given to you so you may witness them being offered to Him but, rewarding you. If desire abides in the heart it can come forth 'then it will inevitably appear outwardly...' as St Tikhon tell us below. Speak to God from your heart on your bed, expecting Him to grace you with words profound in honor of Him. Consider the Psalmist and the beauty of his prayer, how it comes forth like a gushing spring and as effectual to the soul and Spirit as spring water refreshes the body.
SPIRIT NONETHELESS
Whether granted to the incorporeal or to those in earthen vessels, nonetheless infused with God’s own spirit.
ADMIT DISFIGUREMENTHow can we not admit our disfigurement when God has to tell us to love each other?
HATE OUT OF EXISTENCEAllow hate to do its work and root itself out of your love.
PRAY, DON'T READ
Once you’ve prayed, you will more easily recognize when you are simply reading.
YOU ARE AN ATHLETE
Just because you didn’t have a good coach and didn’t learn as much as you could have, doesn’t mean you aren’t an athlete.
LOVE
What virtue is most easily granted yet most easily abused = love.
GREATER THAN THE GIFT
You may count the aspects of love but at the top place the Giver
NO LONGER ALONE
Thank you Father, I am no longer alone.
TEMPORAL/ETERNAL
Father! Now that You have shown me the eternal I can now better see the limitations of the temporal.
FOLLOWER OF CHRIST
Christ asks that if you wish to be a follower, you must love Him above all others, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, friend … if you indeed have become a follower, you no longer thirst
Mr. X: I don’t believe God exists.
You need not believe that He exists. If indeed He does not exist, then there would be no harm in you trying something.
Mr. X: Try what?
Repeat the name of Christ continually.
Mr. X: For how long?
Continuously
Mr. X: Impossible!
It’s not impossible.
Mr. X: If I do, what will happen?
Try it and see.
BLIND TO GOD AND SELF
A self-centered person sees only what he (or she) imagines himself to be. He cannot see God and therefore cannot see himself and worse yet is blind to his own separation. On the other hand, one who looks for God in all things, not only sees Him, but in doing so joins company with Him.
CONFIRMATION
Yesterday was a new day but not in the characteristic way was it experienced. Yesterday I said, Father. Yesterday He let me know that He heard me.
BEAUTY
Don't let fault throw you to and fro. Gods pervading beauty overshadows all things. See it.
How can I not love them Father, they are citizens in Thy garden.
Father, you have given us everything . . . even your Son also.
I loved and admired my brothers Phil and Joe. Phil’s love was generous. Joe’s beauty made it very easy to admit you weren’t handsome. I loved Philip but it took most of my life to know how much more he loved me. Too long did it take me to realize my brothers inherited the rewards of Ibraheem and Zakat. Philip was actually baptized Nicholas (St. Nicholas the Wonderworker) but referred to by mom as Saleem after grandfather Saleem, by others as Phil. Joseph was probably named after St. Joseph the Betrothed. I was baptized after the GM George
Father I am anxious because I yet have learned to believe and trust in the perfection of Your judgement. When there is suffering or pain Lord, let me no longer ask how long.
Definition of Paradise=Spirits at play. When Christ was present in Paradise with Adam and Eve, did they pray together? Did they talk or speculate philosophy or seek enlightenment?
The meek shall inherit the earth. Having denied all things, one becomes meek and thereby in position to inherit the earth (not only the earth but all things since he has inherited Christ the Creator). Subsequently, accusations of possessions have no meaning. How is this known by the individual? By a soundless whisper.
Inadequate in so many ways, vocabulary being one, I will say, I am amazed how human beings can be so utterly nonchalant about not knowing. At least the blind know they are blind. But a spiritually (what other word can I use?) blind person, is not only blind but doesn’t know he is blind. For a brief few minutes, I watched and listened to a young woman on stage. Here before me was exquisite physical and mental being, regardless of so called flaws. Hair, eyes, eyebrows, mouth, face, head, etc., superb, not because of exceptional beauty but simply because she exists. The sound it was making, called a song, was no more than screeching. I thought, We are so, so blind. Disfigured. The creature does not look at itself and say, I am overwhelmed that I inhabit this exquisite organism of whom I know so very, very little. Actually, compared to a fraction of what it is visually, mentally, and emotionally, I know nothing about it. Why, would I use it to produce such a sound. Well, there is nothing really wrong if one uses it to make a strange sound or noise or whatever for some purpose but to do so and award it a title of beauty or pleasurable, is strange. OK, the reality is, most everyone cares only about what additional pleasure one can gain but the use of the creature they inhabit.
Dear Lord, thank you for the love and joy I receive from your created things, people, friends, objects experienced through the senses, which you give in abundance, but knowing that You are the source, I no longer want your love and joy only through your creation but directly from You, knowing created things are nothing in themselves. It is You we are experiencing. Knowing that You are the Source, You ARE the Life. Dependence on things created by You are no longer necessary nor desirable but rather become obstacles between You and me. The objects in Paradise were secondary to You. You are Paradise. Like Adam and Eve, we are deceived.
The small calm smile granted by the Father to the human face is a most beautiful sight.
If you wonder if your love for Christ is genuine, the proof is easily found. When one loves Christ, he forsakes all for the path that leads directly to Him.
Beauty delivered me to Christ but it was lost in the brightness of His presence.
I heard a wonderful sound today from the lips of Elder Joseph the Hesychast of the Holy Mountain. He told me that Satan does everything he can to keep us from discovering who we really are. I was so excited I could have burst! Christ is so meek, more meek than the breath of a newborn. So meek that we barely hear Him above the howl of desires, telling us who we really are.
The glory of Your creation dizzies me Father but your love blinds me to all of it.
Because of his attachment to the world, a fallen God cannot tolerate being with the God all the time until it becomes one with him and in doing so he finds out that the fallen God was a false god AND actually not a god at all. So you see God cannot reveal himself to you before the time when you are willing to reject your fallen god.
If you listen only for the voice of our Lord, that is all you will hear and you do what you should. Doing the wrong thing will no longer be a choice.
Dear Patera
Evlogeite
It grieves me when people miss the Salutations and I would like to write something and send it to everyone, although most of them were present. Are they waiting for her to appear? Have they not at least experienced the fragrance (not necessarily with the nose) she grants anyone who calls her from the heart? At the very least, have they not heard the praises offered her throughout the year to draw them to her presence.
St. Peter of Damaskos: As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart . . .
“In the words of the psalmist, ‘As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart’ (Ps. 4:4 LXX), that is, repent in the stillness of the night, remembering the lapses that occurred in the confusion of the day and disciplining yourself in hymns and spiritual songs (cf. Col. 3:16) – in other words, teaching yourself to persist in prayer and psalmody through attentive meditation on what you read. For the practice of the moral virtues is effectuated by meditating on what has happened during the day, so that during the stillness of the night we can become aware of the sins we have committed and can grieve over them.”
Why should you do what St. Peter suggests?
Although you may not know it your creator couldn’t be any closer to you. Why then do you feel distanced from Him or possibly don’t feel Him at all? Don’t allow any opinions to impress your mind about this but relate to Christ’s response at the wedding in Cana when he said to the most pure Virgin, My hour has not yet come St. John 2:4. On the other hand, were there periods in your past that you felt closer than you do today?
As we all know, it is sometimes hard to get out of bed but commitments make it necessary to force ourselves. Make no mistake! It also takes force to resist that which draws us away from Christ. Short term desires, loves, pleasures, etc. are easily taken but have preset termination date. They are present everywhere and draw us away with great force, until we break free. Once that occurs, we are in charge and only one thing can break us free and that is Jesus Christ.
The woman from Canaan didn’t know it was time for her Gift when she asked Christ to heal her daughter, not for herself. Yet, Christ not only granted her request, He praised her great faith. Imagine God praising you? He need not appear or whisper in your ear - you only need to know it.
And the Centurion, who asked Christ to heal one of his soldiers, also gained the Great Treasure. He heart was filled with faith the Christ would grant his request. He wasn’t expecting Treasure for Himself.
Did the holy apostles get notification that at the celebration of Pentecost they would be so transfigured by the descent of the Holy Spirit into completely new creatures with power from God?
If your mind convinces you that you are far from this Gift, then you have distanced yourself from Christ Who couldn’t possibly be any closer.
Check your heart. Where is it most often? When you are honest enough to admit to yourself its location and if you find it on a sensible object or desire, then you have found your treasure. Bob didn’t have to think hard about the question above and without hesitation replied that he loves hanging out with his buddies. The majority of his time while at work or at home, etc. he finds himself focused on his desire to hang out. The object of his affection brings him joy and he is satisfied as long as it lasts each time. Subsequently, when he isn’t hanging out, he is hungry because his heart craves its treasure.
While we study the universe and the nature of things, looking for ‘treasure’, “the” treasure closer to us than sin. As the psalmist says: My sin is ever before me.
Although I remain outside I have seen the joy the bridal chamber and thus having seen, I hate this world’s pitfalls both in the mind and in the heart wherein lies temptations and sin.
FAITH IS THE VEHICLE THAT TAKES YOU FROM BELIEVING IN GOD TO THE GIFT OF KNOWING HIM.
Would you describe this world as a beautiful, exciting and wonderful place? Yes! So can you say you love it? No, I hate it. Is there something wrong with you? How can you say that? I can say it because it has one huge, intolerable flaw! What is that? It is temporary.
I see. So although you have a reason to hate it, you’ve decided to enjoy it until its over? Actually, no. Within it is a portal to one of two other worlds, one far greater than this since it is Paradise Eternal and the other, far worse than this.So when this one ends since, as you say, it is temporary, you simply go to one of the other worlds. True.
What determines one’s destination? For the most part each individual determines his or her own fate. So it is a matter of choice. Yes. However, admission to Eternal Paradise requires a ticket. Can you explain “ticket”? It is best understood by reading the book, “Do You Have a Ticket”
“Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all “fullness of blessing,” both in this world and in the world to come, of all the good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment.” + St. Basil the Great, “On the Holy Spirit”
The tender voice of the Mourning Dove…
I love to hear the tender and sweet voice of the Mourning Dove, in the morning and at any time.
When I young, I felt the same way but unfortunately didn’t know it because the voice of my youth knew little quiet. Now that age, by nature, brings some stillness from passionate youth, memory revisits, uncluttered, revealing what I could not then distinguish.
Our Father Who knows all things, made provision for all things. Because of His love He does not punish our neglect forever but tenderly remains faithful with His infinite gifts until the end.
I have long felt that while men were fabricating Communism, women prayed. In utter ignorance, the Communists demolished thousands of Churches, not realizing that the more they destroyed the more glorious and loved the Church became in the heart, especially women. I think this can be seen in Valentina. She isn’t simply a smiling sweet old lady who can neither understand nor speak English. As expected from right-believing Christians, she represents the Church. When the light of Christ shines on the heart, sins invisible to some become visible. From translations I have received, Valentina is aware of, brands and weeps over the slightest offense against Christ. A heart that loves God and others, has no room for grumbling or complaint.
1. Angry brothers throughout the world, for every drop of innocent blood you’ve shed, a sea of blood has been shed for your restoration.
2. He who humbles himself to the King, makes visible the King before the time.
3. A bad attitude exposes ingratitude
4. Once I came to know that You are in all things, all the time, I now see you everywhere and at all times, which leaves me in tears of joy.
5. Oh Death, better to have never met. Yet, as an acquaintance in life you become a friend and an antidote to your own poison. Released by our ancient mother and father but forced to assist them by our true Father and Mother. When tasted from within life, you pull aside the veil from eyes and lift burden from heart and the heart exposes the mind to its inner vision. What a sight! What Light! Treasure made to sparkle before its time, to those who weep. Since all things must one day past, death’s treasure is contained in all and can, for at least a moment, be seen in all things.
6. Forgive me Father, although You were ever before me, I didn’t know it was You, It took me 68 years to recognize You.
PEOPLE ARE SO MUCH LIKE EGGS
You need not be an artist to admire the simple yet elegant shape, beauty and art of the modest egg.
It reminds me of how many of us, who admire ourselves, who have it good in this life, (not everyone does however) love our life, our hobbies, our interests, our good fortune, our good looks (if so endowed) our abilities our talents, etc.
The reality however is that our life, whether good or bad, distinguished or dim, is nothing more than the shell of the egg, if it remains un-cracked.
If one never cracks the egg how can its inner beauty, far surpassing its outer beauty, be known?
When the egg is cracked, which, relative to its size requires some force, a completely new reality, a new identity is revealed.
An identity that not only pleases the eye as did the shell but all the senses and even more. And seemingly infinite possibilities are found. How many of its uses and rewards can you name? The shell is not without value of course but what is it compared to the treasure within?
Moreover, its consumption sustains life like no shell can ever do.
To reveal that which is within the egg, a force is required. So it is with that which lies within each one of us. But with man however the force needed may be either as slight as a single breath or, sadly, greater than splitting an atom. Wonderfully, that force is nothing more than sincere desire.
Not one of us is an empty shell but no matter how illustrious or lowly our shell may be, few of us find the treasure within.
But wait! There is even more to the lowly egg, to what is within ……………………scroll down..
There is a new creature, waiting to get out! Within us, Who is Christ Himself.
Get crackin’!!!
Abraham and Zakat; Sam and Mabel
What is treasure? Although they too were subjected to temptations, their treasure superseded everything in their lives. I am not alone as a witness.
My mother and father, your grandparents and your great grandparents, needed God. They lived, not only as believers in God’s existence, but that Life and God are one and the same.
As a family we continue in their footsteps. Who can deny we have not been immeasurably rewarded by our attempt at becoming Disciples of Christ. At the same time, let us be aware that we have reaped where we have not sown. With any insight at all, one must admit the foundation was laid for us.
Dear Faithful
The Blessing of the Lord and His Mercy!
Yesterday I was asked if wine and olive oil were permitted. Although I responded affirmatively, it reminded me of †Mr. Michael Maamari, one of the faithful of St. John’s some years ago. Having previously been engulfed and affected somewhat by modernism, etc. he was, nonetheless, in many, many ways, a living example of an Orthodox mindset. For example, Michael had so familiarized himself with the saints that at the mere mention of a name (not simply his favorite saints), he could state the month of that particular saint’s commemoration. Also, each time Holy Tradition was referenced, Michael would quickly affirm: ‘Of course’. The Church was ever fresh in his mind. Granted there are many facets to remember but after a few years, the more obvious ones begin to stick. Such as, from Pascha until Pentecost, all Wednesdays and Fridays permit wine and olive oil. It even stuck with me. I learned many things from Michael and remember them, especially things like:
Michael walked everywhere. The walk from work was approximately 3 miles yet he very rarely missed evening or morning services. When he did, it was due to working overtime. After services, I would ask: Would you like a ride home Michael? Unfailingly he would say, ‘I am home’. When he accepted a ride, he almost always had a trick up his sleeve. On the way home he would ask to stop at the grocery store, sometimes two. There are many stories to tell but not now. Finally, however, I must say that regardless of his health he never failed to say, Thank God or rather in his broken English, Thanks God. Occasionally he would also say: Oh I am fine, ‘Thank God, or rarely a one word complaint but ALWAYS followed with, Thank God. Withholding the name, Michael was regularly mistreated by someone close to him. I came to know this in an indirect way and when I would ask, he would volunteer details. On hearing, I was sometimes shocked, to which he would smile slightly and say, Thank God.
Valentina: Not a single sparrow falls from a tree without our Father knowing. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (St. Matthew 10:29-31). If Michael were yet here, he would say that God sent Valentina, regardless of how long she may be with us. I must say, the affection and attention paid her by so many in our Church brings great joy. Nevertheless, the reason I speak of Valentina is her relationship with Christ or her Orthodox mindset – much the same as Michael’s. Fr. John told me a couple of days ago that she arrived at the Church unexpectedly. Father determined that she was here for the Translation of the Relics of St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker. She needed no calendar. Valentina doesn’t get the blog and it wasn’t listed anyway. St. Nicholas’s love is and always has been unquestionably felt by people and especially Orthodox all around the world.
We claim to have ‘taken up the Cross’ by calling ourselves Christians. When we love something in or of the world, we know it inside out. Those hearts that rest in Church, are pillars for us. Their very lives, respond to the holy apostle Peter’s accusers saying, Yes, I not only know Him, I belong to Him. I am ashamed to be more familiar with the seasons of the year than the seasons of the Church.
+Father Raphael
Learn: When you finally begin to love the holy ones, they don’t begin to love you in return but instead you become aware of their love for you that was already there. As a result you experience what love truly is.
The Face: If you look for handsome or homely, you’ll miss the soul which is seen in the face’s design and also its temper.
5 Senses: No one knows the hour when the Judge comes but when it happens I am prepared to say: I saw, I tasted, I touched, I smelled and I heard. Was there something else?
Do you know that you can look ahead to the coming Sunday and familiarize yourself with the commemoration? But why would one want to do that?
Ahhh the value of anticipation! Anticipation accomplishes 3 things. 1. It initiates the experience before the event occurs. 2. The event is enhanced because anticipation gave you a head start. 3. The increased saturation in experience gained from #1 and #2 Are you are content with this world, old age, sickness, separation from others through death, ignorant of your origin, what is there to anticipate except those things you can acquire.
We are strange sometimes.
What does God expect when He tells you to be reborn?
He expects you to remake yourself.
Why?
Because you were made and are sustained by a Divine Being and you don’t act like it.
You have put on your own attributes and characteristic like ego, thinking you are a hot shot, self-centered, a know-it-all, etc. none of which is in Him or in the way He made you. Moreover, when He shows you your divinity, you block it because by its nature, it forces your false self to flee and you don’t want to give it up.
ALREADY IN CHRIST
We are already with Christ having been baptized but He is meek and lowly in nature and therefore cannot be seen or experienced nor can His gifts be revealed through the passions and materialism we cover Him with.
REMAIN HIDDEN
If you wish to keep your offences, faults and errors hidden, never blame or accuse yourself of anything. On the other hand, if you want faults you may not have known to exist and wish to be revealed, blame and accuse yourself instead of others.
HOW I SEE IT
Meditation is but the fragrance of the meat, making the meat recognizable and granting faith, love and hope. Once we partake of that on which we meditate however, which is our Savior Jesus Christ, not Christ-Consciousness, filled and restored, meditation is no longer a practice.
NOT IN CHARGE
Thursday January 25 2018 ns I met with Patera concerning an individual who I have been praying for (and worrying). My concerns were quickly resolved but followed by a reminder of all the faults I have committed against my family but with a shocking new one that I was not conscious of - that I resent no longer being in charge. ....... God forgive me
FRIEND OF A FRIEND OF GOD
We love our friends, some more than others. Nevertheless, may God be glorified. We know God is glorified when we love our enemies and people He refers to as the least among us. But we are not limited to only those above. We can be friends, yes, have a mutual relationship with people who were friends with God while yet on earth and are now friends with Him in Paradise. There is nothing imaginary or fantastic about it but actually a more real, a more intimate relationship and one possessing all the attributes of love we are accustomed to. You say you don’t know what I am talking about. I understand, but that is remedied by working toward a relationship with a saint. You can take my word for it because I took it from the saints.
AROUND EVERY TURN
Dying daily (remembrance of death) brings the Beyond closer than this life can begin to offer.
DON'T WORRY
It doesn't matter at what point in time during your life that you find LIFE for you have found eternity.
FATHER!
In my childishness, I often run after things and soon find myself alone in despair and tears. As my Father, You always call me home.
THE GIVING OF THE GREAT GIVER
Beauty in various forms and in various degrees has been before my eyes as it presents itself to everyone else but one day beauty appeared, as usual, and yet, in an instant, it was supplanted and replaced by the 'giving' of the Great Giver. I would have exclaimed 'What a delight!' but even that was supplanted by the 'giving'.
FIRST THE GIFTS, THEN...
First the gifts of God are perceived in all ways and in all things but later they are eclipsed by the Giver and His act of giving.
WARM TEARS
I often wondered why the saints weep warm tears. Having submitted all of their life to God what grievous sins do the saints commit to weep over? Granted, one can weep for an entire lifetime over past sins but I remained unfulfilled with that as an answer. Some time later I found myself weeping more and more frequently at the mere remembrance of the ineffable beauty that is Christ, sometimes through sensible objects, sometimes from thoughts, from a leaf, from a cloud, etc. Competing in unseen warfare (although most worthlessly), I experienced the grace of God and at other times, the opposite, the torment and shackles of the Devil. Gradually realizing that while I remained by Christ, Who is constantly at our side, I experienced nothing but His love for all things and far above, the inexplicable, immeasurable love that He simply is. Although He never leaves me for a moment, like a child I get drawn or enticed away from Him by a passion, a sweet passion but whose aftertaste leaves nothing less than warm tears of sorrow for having distanced myself from Paradise, our Lord Jesus Christ.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE?
The question is: Do you want to continue seeing people the way you usually do (i.e. their faults, sins, their abilities, etc.) or do you want to see them the way Christ sees them? How does Christ see them you may ask? He sees them as someone He loves and would give His life for.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE 2?
When Christ reveals and confirms that you indeed love Him, regardless though you be of the lowest, He reveals in turn not only His love for all creatures, but He reveals to you and blesses you through them, unbeknownst to them, with the love He planted in them.
REGRET?
I could say that I regret not having ventured, in my youth, even farther around the world to experience its wonders while the revelation that the Source of all things perceptible still remained concealed within me. But having now that it has been revealed, what is there to regret?
PITFALL
There are praiseworthy and skillful people whose arrogance is often interpreted as though they think they are smarter than everyone else. I am inclined to think not but rather that they think most everyone else is stupid.
PRAYER TO GRANDCHILDREN
And.....So you see my sweet, I pray for your understanding. Although I have confessed all my sins and know I have been forgiven, memory remains, a memory possessed of regret. But in Paradise, all things that have been forgiven are washed away leaving love between all that are there.
So you see when I have been so protective there is a reason. My love and hope is to keep all of my children and grandchildren and those to whom God allows me to offer His Precious Body and Blood from regret. A life of avoiding, at all costs, that which displeases God and harms our souls and bodies is the key to humility and through humility we attain the grace to love God and others with a new strength, the grace that lit the lamps of the virgins (St Serpahim Sarov), for whom Christ held open the door to the Feast in Paradise.
WORDS WITHOUT MEANING
The words of our Lord and His saints have no meaning to the elements and your body is made up of elements. They only have meaning to the heart that is pure and open to them.
HOW TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
Ask our Savior Jesus Christ for some of His.
UNADULTERATED JOY
All of us indulge in adulterated joy, that is, joy through something perceptible (St. Maximos); some of them God-pleasing, some offensive to God. If in excess, none are God-pleasing. Blessed is one whose faith offers a whole heart request for joy to come independent of perceptible things – from Christ directly.
WITHOUT HIM
Having been created by Him, in His own likeness, we must be infinitely deeply in love with Christ, otherwise why would being without Him be such hell?
ODE TO GARRISON KEILLOR'S COUNTERFIT PERSONA
I am heartened by Garrison Keillor'S God-given semblance but regarding the veneer that is so well known and by which he has characterized himself, let me say . . .
Ultra-pasteurized visage
layer upon layer of shades and colors
Yet nearly mummied, Peat bound, pillowed words
Mimic of a scraty bow embracing string.
Forsake now Garrison
A patina grown in a petri that rapt so many, so long
Find and rejoin
to what once was birthed
You've pushed it beneath
yet it looks down
at your wardrobe
Forsake now, before age brings the composition’s finale.
PARADISE
It has been said in most profound ways, thank God, yet I still want to say it again. They were in Paradise with Christ but Paradise isn’t Paradise, Christ is Paradise. When they left Him, it was Paradise no longer.
PRAY FOR PEACE?
I don't pray for peace. What society calls peace is always temporary. I want the Prince of Peace, He is eternal.
MOZART
“My subject enlarges itself, becomes methodized and defined, and the whole, though it be long, stands almost complete and finished in my mind, so that I can survey it, like a fine picture or a beautiful statue, at a glance. Nor do I hear in my imagination the parts successively, but I hear them, as it were, all at once. What a delight this is! All this inventing, this producing, takes place in a pleasing, lively dream”.
Mozart says it himself. '... I hear them (compositions), as it were, all at once.'
Unless otherwise known, what Mozart claims was unique to him but it is old and common among the melodists of Orthodoxy. Not only is the music granted as a packaged gift from God, as it did with Mozart, but even more unique. The gift given to Mozart is primarily the composition. But as concerns the ancient melodies, not only does the listener receive the music and words that transcend but along with the music, they gain the Giver of the music Himself.
A MANSION FOR YOU IN PARADISE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Aspirant! Know this. Every fruit you bear for Christ and neighbor, every day fasting, praying, attending services, receiving Holy Communion and all the Holy Mysteries, each time you repent and confess, each time you set aside time, play and work to attend a feast day during the week, each time you call on our holy Virgin Mother, each you suffer the sins of others, each time you do good for the sake of goodness, not as a slave or as a hierling........is another stone for the mansion the Son of God is building for you, a son of God, in the Father's kingdom.
CALIFORNIA DREAMERS
A response to Iowans who complain about Iowa and think the grass is so much greener in California.
Iowa ~ tough ~ yes, humidity unwelcomed, hot-whipped storms unexpected, and yes, her icy gusts pierce and numb the cheek more than bitter bites the tongue.
She restrains and shackles, gloves our fingers and big coats that struggle against ease ~ yes, all this and more.
And, predictably, saddled to discomfort’s complaint, comes figment California ~ California ~ gracious, alluring, venerated ~ indisputably America’s queen!
Oh how she pipes her wealth of treasures to entice and draw us to her coast.
Yet home does not loose, rather she knows when to caress and when to gently grant her embrace, and she does so it seems, always unexpectedly. In the midst of summer’s muggy mantle, she unveils her rare but ever-treasured, ever-memorable, balmy breeze that sweeps the field and delightfully kisses the brow ~ on its wing, the cool, sleepy glowing memory of autumn soon to come.
Iowa, where as equals big brother trees stand shoulder to shoulder and with branches that cuddle little brother bushes below as they wait in quiet and stillness of winter night, while we sleep, to delicately dress themselves in flocks of weightless snow.
Come morning - a daydream - courses of specular rain necklaces the branches with clear-silver-white ice ~ a gift of unimaginable beauty!
And yet, ever so softly, spring’s unhurried warmth beckons, freeing her wintered creations to the creeks as a welcome to the coming seasons.
And the dream, California, thumped by Iowa, her enchantment to nap.
NO LONGER IN MOTION
I used to see things in motion. Now I possess them.
WITH YOU
When I am with you I see love hand-in-hand, everywhere and in everything.
PRAYER?
Prayers become still when the Father's arms are around me, rather prayer is replaced by tears of joy from His embrace.
THE PURPOSE OF A CONSCIENCE
Adam and Eve learned about good and evil before the time by turning from Christ to Satan. Did this not bring the conscience into being? If they had consciences beforehand, would they not also be aware of good and evil? Can we therefore assume that there was no need for consciences, especially since they dwelt in Paradise with God Himself. Subsequently, their choice was unconscionable.....
If Adam and Eve had not known good or evil, then is it correct to assume they had no conscience yet? It appears to me that God in His love gave us a conscience so we could transcend the conscience.
TEMPORARY HAPPINESS IS JUST THAT
There is no lasting happiness except that which only Jesus Christ can give.
It is an uninterrupted sovereign happiness, independent of the senses.
This gift is given freely to everyone but must be won.
KNOWING IS ENOUGH
Knowing what one is capable of is enough. He or she no longer has the need or desire to prove it to himself or others.
Evlogeite Patera
I am tired and weak. I will call it the eventide gift of old age but I feel it to be beyond even that, and yet, in an instant, even without enticement, I am snared and bitten, by the Snake and it matters not the species nor its camouflage. My prayer must then be subsequent with: Get thee behind me and then the deeply drawn constant call to Christ to come, spoil and vanquish. I am tired of fighting, tired, yet my cry to be removed once and for all from the Field to that place of permanent eventide and bliss, according to my wish, is not granted. Forgive me, I am guilty in my request knowing so many, so many who have battled longer and harder seeking liberty and solace yet I cannot help the longing, smitten by a dew of Christ's love.
ZEUS? NO, BUT....
You are made by God, subsequently you are a little God who has fallen away from the fullness of grace and power. As a result an immortal being becomes attached to mortal things which force the immortal being to experience death. Think about it. Being attached to a desire or an object that lacks immortality causes you to thirst for it over and over and over again until it becomes you or you break free.
Reference: The Woman at the Well. Had you asked, I would have broken your attachment of going from one husband to the next and actually all attachments. In other words He would restore her completely and He did at the end because she did her part.
The inappropriate thoughts knock on the door of your mind and you recognize them for what they are, but, it is YOU who lets them. They cannot pass through Christ unless you push Him aside so you can enjoy the pleasure they stole from God but claim as their own, once they have perverted them.
INTELLIGENCE
There's one thing about not being so intelligent. When something profound comes from your lips, you know its not you.
VISAGE
My prayer becomes absorbed by Thy visage Father.
HIS CARESS
His caress is unending and it tells you its Him
POSSESS THE PLANET
It is clear that you cannot make a possession out of this life so why would you want to make a possession out of anything in it?
HOW BEAUTIFUL IS LIFE?
Life is immensely beautiful but it little more than a cobweb (St John of Kronstadt) compared to the beauty it promises.
Life is obviously now but is also blest with the future.
HIS FACE
Once you have given all of your heart to Christ only, He will reveal gifts to you that you've never seen or experienced and He will also reveal past gifts from earlier in life were also from Him. Then ask to see his beautiful face.
CONFINEMENT
Deserting God and allying ourselves with the Dissenter, confined us to the planet. Thousands of years later we were permitted on the moon.
BEAUTY FULFILLED
When beauty comes before me and I suddenly see its beauty fulfilled, it makes me weep. Other times, beauty fulfilled arrives and again I cry.
HOPSCOTCH
Basically almost everything in this life is a postponement to reality. And we go from one thing to another until we finally realize we have done little more than play hopscotch, we've arrived at reality.
PRAYER TO MY ANGEL
Sing to me my angel with your most sweet voice; words I can offer in prayer to your Master that I also may please Him.
THANK YOU GOD, THANK YOU
By the most tender grace of the Lover of Mankind, the many mumbo-jumbo religions don't always affect one's love for God nor God’s reward for our gratitude that He is our God.
THE KINGDOM OF ADAM
This earth and universe is but a grain of sand in Christ's hand. But Satan and man, in their diminutive state, perceive it in a distorted way. He holds it, and you in His hand until He calls you from it. In the meantime, He waits for you to tire of this, the kingdom of Satan, a fallen angel, and those with him, a kingdom for which Adam and Eve, in their folly, left their home in Paradise. Like the prodigal, may we tire of it and return to our Father Christ, before it is too late.
I HATE SEPARATION
On a personal note, what I hate most about this world, beyond man's inhumanity to man, is separation. Lucifer separated himself from His Lord and Heaven, Adam and Eve separated themselves from their Father and Paradise, we separate ourselves from Christ and His grace, from each other's love and company because of sin, and even if only briefly, death separates us, a separation that was never part of creation or necessary. I hate separation. We should pray that we all repent before death so no separation between sheep and goats exists in Paradise.
LIFE AND RESURRECTION
I read the scripture where Christ told me that he was my life and Resurrection. Faith in His words brought me to His glory and now I know it to be true.
INHERIT THE EARTH
Why should a desire or be attached to anything, such a car, home, money, and so when in Christ I have inherited the earth.
TASTE AND SEE
I’ve never had ice cream but I can say with confidence that it must be delicious, confidence that comes from so many testimonies.
That being said,
Psalm 34:8 King James Version (KJV) 8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Two things: There are many who know the goodness of God but have not tasted otherwise they would know it’s a lingering taste that never ends. So, if you have not tasted, think about your trust and pray for increase and thereby be motived to know what it really means to “taste”.
LOOK FORWARD
I don't look forward to seeing Christ face to face one day, I look forward to seeing Jesus Christ.
True repentance brings humility but it is not necessary. To taste and see that the Lord is good, is to taste humility of Christ.
Body and Spirit
My body wishes to take its ease, tired and distended from gluttony of the senses but the spirit never tires of the life-giving love of Christ won by the saints and granted to us by their precious words and lives.
CHRIST OFFERS THE PRAYER
Follower of Christ, know that God can directly grant you prayer to offer to Him, not only the prayers of your prayer book, not only the prayers said and heard in the Church, but prayers coming forth from Him and given to you so you may witness them being offered to Him but, rewarding you. If desire abides in the heart it can come forth 'then it will inevitably appear outwardly...' as St Tikhon tell us below. Speak to God from your heart on your bed, expecting Him to grace you with words profound in honor of Him. Consider the Psalmist and the beauty of his prayer, how it comes forth like a gushing spring and as effectual to the soul and Spirit as spring water refreshes the body.
SPIRIT NONETHELESS
Whether granted to the incorporeal or to those in earthen vessels, nonetheless infused with God’s own spirit.
ADMIT DISFIGUREMENTHow can we not admit our disfigurement when God has to tell us to love each other?
HATE OUT OF EXISTENCEAllow hate to do its work and root itself out of your love.
PRAY, DON'T READ
Once you’ve prayed, you will more easily recognize when you are simply reading.
YOU ARE AN ATHLETE
Just because you didn’t have a good coach and didn’t learn as much as you could have, doesn’t mean you aren’t an athlete.
LOVE
What virtue is most easily granted yet most easily abused = love.
GREATER THAN THE GIFT
You may count the aspects of love but at the top place the Giver
NO LONGER ALONE
Thank you Father, I am no longer alone.
TEMPORAL/ETERNAL
Father! Now that You have shown me the eternal I can now better see the limitations of the temporal.
FOLLOWER OF CHRIST
Christ asks that if you wish to be a follower, you must love Him above all others, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, friend … if you indeed have become a follower, you no longer thirst
Mr. X: I don’t believe God exists.
You need not believe that He exists. If indeed He does not exist, then there would be no harm in you trying something.
Mr. X: Try what?
Repeat the name of Christ continually.
Mr. X: For how long?
Continuously
Mr. X: Impossible!
It’s not impossible.
Mr. X: If I do, what will happen?
Try it and see.
BLIND TO GOD AND SELF
A self-centered person sees only what he (or she) imagines himself to be. He cannot see God and therefore cannot see himself and worse yet is blind to his own separation. On the other hand, one who looks for God in all things, not only sees Him, but in doing so joins company with Him.
CONFIRMATION
Yesterday was a new day but not in the characteristic way was it experienced. Yesterday I said, Father. Yesterday He let me know that He heard me.
BEAUTY
Don't let fault throw you to and fro. Gods pervading beauty overshadows all things. See it.
How can I not love them Father, they are citizens in Thy garden.
Father, you have given us everything . . . even your Son also.
I loved and admired my brothers Phil and Joe. Phil’s love was generous. Joe’s beauty made it very easy to admit you weren’t handsome. I loved Philip but it took most of my life to know how much more he loved me. Too long did it take me to realize my brothers inherited the rewards of Ibraheem and Zakat. Philip was actually baptized Nicholas (St. Nicholas the Wonderworker) but referred to by mom as Saleem after grandfather Saleem, by others as Phil. Joseph was probably named after St. Joseph the Betrothed. I was baptized after the GM George
Father I am anxious because I yet have learned to believe and trust in the perfection of Your judgement. When there is suffering or pain Lord, let me no longer ask how long.
Definition of Paradise=Spirits at play. When Christ was present in Paradise with Adam and Eve, did they pray together? Did they talk or speculate philosophy or seek enlightenment?
The meek shall inherit the earth. Having denied all things, one becomes meek and thereby in position to inherit the earth (not only the earth but all things since he has inherited Christ the Creator). Subsequently, accusations of possessions have no meaning. How is this known by the individual? By a soundless whisper.
Inadequate in so many ways, vocabulary being one, I will say, it blows my mind how human beings can be so utterly nonchalant about not knowing. At least the blind know they are blind. But a spiritually (what other word can I use?) blind person, is not only blind but doesn’t know he is blind. For a brief few minutes, I watched and listened to a young woman on stage. Here before me was exquisite physical and mental being, regardless of so called flaws. Hair, eyes, eyebrows, mouth, face, head, etc., superb, not because of exceptional beauty but simply because its existence. The sound it was making, called a song, was no more than screeching. I thought, We are so, so blind. Disfigured. The creature does not look at itself and say, I am overwhelmed that I inhabit this exquisite organism of whom I know so very, very little. Actually, compared to a fraction of what it is visually, mentally, and emotionally, I know nothing about it. Why, would I use it to produce such a sound. Well, there is nothing really wrong if one uses it to make a strange sound or noise or whatever for some purpose but to do so and award it a title of beauty or pleasurable, is strange. OK, the reality is, most everyone cares only about what additional pleasure one can gain but the use of the creature they inhabit.
Dear Lord, thank you for the love and joy I receive from your created things, people, friends, objects experienced through the senses, which you give in abundance, but knowing that You are the source, I no longer want your love and joy only through your creation but directly from You, knowing created things are nothing in themselves. It is You we are experiencing. Knowing that You are the Source, You ARE the Life. Dependence on things created by You are no longer necessary nor desirable but rather become obstacles between You and me. The objects in Paradise were secondary to You. You are Paradise. Like Adam and Eve, we are deceived.
The small calm smile granted by the Father to the human face is a most beautiful sight.
If you wonder if your love for Christ is genuine, the proof is easily found. When one loves Christ, he forsakes all for the path that leads directly to Him.
Beauty delivered me to Christ where it was lost in His presence.
I heard a wonderful sound today from the lips of Elder Joseph the Hesychast of the Holy Mountain. He told me that Satan does everything he can to keep us from discovering who we really are. I was so excited I could have burst! Christ is so meek, more meek than the breath of a newborn. So meek that we barely hear Him above the howl of desires, telling us who we really are.
The glory of Your creation dizzies me Father but your love blinds me to all of it.
Because of his attachment to the world, a fallen God cannot tolerate being with the God all the time until it becomes one with him and in doing so he finds out that the fallen God was a false god AND actually not a god at all. So you see God cannot reveal himself to you before the time when you are willing to reject your fallen god.
If you listen only for the voice of our Lord, that is all you will hear and you do what you should. Doing the wrong thing will no longer be a choice.
Dear Patera
Evlogeite
It grieves me when people miss the Salutations and I would like to write something and send it to everyone, although most of them were present. Are they waiting for her to appear? Have they not at least experienced the fragrance (not necessarily with the nose) she grants anyone who calls her from the heart? At the very least, have they not heard the praises offered her throughout the year to draw them to her presence.
St. Peter of Damaskos: As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart . . .
“In the words of the psalmist, ‘As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart’ (Ps. 4:4 LXX), that is, repent in the stillness of the night, remembering the lapses that occurred in the confusion of the day and disciplining yourself in hymns and spiritual songs (cf. Col. 3:16) – in other words, teaching yourself to persist in prayer and psalmody through attentive meditation on what you read. For the practice of the moral virtues is effectuated by meditating on what has happened during the day, so that during the stillness of the night we can become aware of the sins we have committed and can grieve over them.”
Why should you do what St. Peter suggests?
Although you may not know it your creator couldn’t be any closer to you. Why then do you feel distanced from Him or possibly don’t feel Him at all? Don’t allow any opinions to impress your mind about this but relate to Christ’s response at the wedding in Cana when he said to the most pure Virgin, My hour has not yet come St. John 2:4. On the other hand, were there periods in your past that you felt closer than you do today?
As we all know, it is sometimes hard to get out of bed but commitments make it necessary to force ourselves. Make no mistake! It also takes force to resist that which draws us away from Christ. Short term desires, loves, pleasures, etc. are easily taken but have preset termination date. They are present everywhere and draw us away with great force, until we break free. Once that occurs, we are in charge and only one thing can break us free and that is Jesus Christ.
The woman from Canaan didn’t know it was time for her Gift when she asked Christ to heal her daughter, not for herself. Yet, Christ not only granted her request, He praised her great faith. Imagine God praising you? He need not appear or whisper in your ear - you only need to know it.
And the Centurion, who asked Christ to heal one of his soldiers, also gained the Great Treasure. He heart was filled with faith the Christ would grant his request. He wasn’t expecting Treasure for Himself.
Did the holy apostles get notification that at the celebration of Pentecost they would be so transfigured by the descent of the Holy Spirit into completely new creatures with power from God?
If your mind convinces you that you are far from this Gift, then you have distanced yourself from Christ Who couldn’t possibly be any closer.
Check your heart. Where is it most often? When you are honest enough to admit to yourself its location and if you find it on a sensible object or desire, then you have found your treasure. Bob didn’t have to think hard about the question above and without hesitation replied that he loves hanging out with his buddies. The majority of his time while at work or at home, etc. he finds himself focused on his desire to hang out. The object of his affection brings him joy and he is satisfied as long as it lasts each time. Subsequently, when he isn’t hanging out, he is hungry because his heart craves its treasure.
While we study the universe and the nature of things, looking for ‘treasure’, “the” treasure closer to us than sin. As the psalmist says: My sin is ever before me.
Although I remain outside I have seen the joy the bridal chamber and thus having seen, I hate this world’s pitfalls both in the mind and in the heart wherein lies temptations and sin.
FAITH IS THE VEHICLE THAT TAKES YOU FROM BELIEVING IN GOD TO THE GIFT OF KNOWING HIM.
Would you describe this world as a beautiful, exciting and wonderful place? Yes! So can you say you love it? No, I hate it. Is there something wrong with you? How can you say that? I can say it because it has one huge, intolerable flaw! What is that? It is temporary.
I see. So although you have a reason to hate it, you’ve decided to enjoy it until its over? Actually, no. Within it is a portal to one of two other worlds, one far greater than this since it is Paradise Eternal and the other, far worse than this.So when this one ends since, as you say, it is temporary, you simply go to one of the other worlds. True.
What determines one’s destination? For the most part each individual determines his or her own fate. So it is a matter of choice. Yes. However, admission to Eternal Paradise requires a ticket. Can you explain “ticket”? It is best understood by reading the book, “Do You Have a Ticket”
“Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all “fullness of blessing,” both in this world and in the world to come, of all the good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment.” + St. Basil the Great, “On the Holy Spirit”
The tender voice of the Mourning Dove…
To seekers of knowledge, whose intellect pridefully praises them. If you have acquired He Who is omniscient, what else is there to know?
I love to hear the tender and sweet voice of the Mourning Dove, in the morning and at any time.
When I young, I felt the same way but unfortunately didn’t know it because the voice of my youth knew little quiet. Now that age, by nature, brings some stillness from passionate youth, memory revisits, uncluttered, revealing what I could not then distinguish.
Our Father Who knows all things, made provision for all things. Because of His love He does not punish our neglect forever but tenderly remains faithful with His infinite gifts until the end.
I have long felt that while men were fabricating Communism, women prayed. In utter ignorance, the Communists demolished thousands of Churches, not realizing that the more they destroyed the more glorious and loved the Church became in the heart, especially women. I think this can be seen in Valentina. She isn’t simply a smiling sweet old lady who can neither understand nor speak English. As expected from right-believing Christians, she represents the Church. When the light of Christ shines on the heart, sins invisible to some become visible. From translations I have received, Valentina is aware of, brands and weeps over the slightest offense against Christ. A heart that loves God and others, has no room for grumbling or complaint.
1. Angry brothers throughout the world, for every drop of innocent blood you’ve shed, a sea of blood has been shed for your restoration.
2. He who humbles himself to the King, makes visible the King before the time.
3. A bad attitude exposes ingratitude
4. Once I came to know that You are in all things, all the time, I now see you everywhere and at all times, which leaves me in tears of joy.
5. Oh Death, better to have never met. Yet, as an acquaintance in life you become a friend and an antidote to your own poison. Released by our ancient mother and father but forced to assist them by our true Father and Mother. When tasted from within life, you pull aside the veil from eyes and lift burden from heart and the heart exposes the mind to its inner vision. What a sight! What Light! Treasure made to sparkle before its time, to those who weep. Since all things must one day past, death’s treasure is contained in all and can, for at least a moment, be seen in all things.
6. Forgive me Father, although You were ever before me, I didn’t know it was You, It took me 68 years to recognize You.
PEOPLE ARE SO MUCH LIKE EGGS
You need not be an artist to admire the simple yet elegant shape, beauty and art of the modest egg.
It reminds me of how many of us, who admire ourselves, who have it good in this life, (not everyone does however) love our life, our hobbies, our interests, our good fortune, our good looks (if so endowed) our abilities our talents, etc.
The reality however is that our life, whether good or bad, distinguished or dim, is nothing more than the shell of the egg, if it remains un-cracked.
If one never cracks the egg how can its inner beauty, far surpassing its outer beauty, be known?
When the egg is cracked, which, relative to its size requires some force, a completely new reality, a new identity is revealed.
An identity that not only pleases the eye as did the shell but all the senses and even more. And seemingly infinite possibilities are found. How many of its uses and rewards can you name? The shell is not without value of course but what is it compared to the treasure within?
Moreover, its consumption sustains life like no shell can ever do.
To reveal that which is within the egg, a force is required. So it is with that which lies within each one of us. But with man however the force needed may be either as slight as a single breath or, sadly, greater than splitting an atom. Wonderfully, that force is nothing more than sincere desire.
Not one of us is an empty shell but no matter how illustrious or lowly our shell may be, few of us find the treasure within.
But wait! There is even more to the lowly egg, to what is within ……………………scroll down..
There is a new creature, waiting to get out! Within us, Who is Christ Himself.
Get crackin’!!!
Abraham and Zakat; Sam and Mabel
What is treasure? Although they too were subjected to temptations, their treasure superseded everything in their lives. I am not alone as a witness.
My mother and father, your grandparents and your great grandparents, needed God. They lived, not only as believers in God’s existence, but that Life and God are one and the same.
As a family we continue in their footsteps. Who can deny we have not been immeasurably rewarded by our attempt at becoming Disciples of Christ. At the same time, let us be aware that we have reaped where we have not sown. With any insight at all, one must admit the foundation was laid for us.
Dear Faithful
The Blessing of the Lord and His Mercy!
Yesterday I was asked if wine and olive oil were permitted. Although I responded affirmatively, it reminded me of †Mr. Michael Maamari, one of the faithful of St. John’s some years ago. Having previously been engulfed and affected somewhat by modernism, etc. he was, nonetheless, in many, many ways, a living example of an Orthodox mindset. For example, Michael had so familiarized himself with the saints that at the mere mention of a name (not simply his favorite saints), he could state the month of that particular saint’s commemoration. Also, each time Holy Tradition was referenced, Michael would quickly affirm: ‘Of course’. The Church was ever fresh in his mind. Granted there are many facets to remember but after a few years, the more obvious ones begin to stick. Such as, from Pascha until Pentecost, all Wednesdays and Fridays permit wine and olive oil. It even stuck with me. I learned many things from Michael and remember them, especially things like:
Michael walked everywhere. The walk from work was approximately 3 miles yet he very rarely missed evening or morning services. When he did, it was due to working overtime. After services, I would ask: Would you like a ride home Michael? Unfailingly he would say, ‘I am home’. When he accepted a ride, he almost always had a trick up his sleeve. On the way home he would ask to stop at the grocery store, sometimes two. There are many stories to tell but not now. Finally, however, I must say that regardless of his health he never failed to say, Thank God or rather in his broken English, Thanks God. Occasionally he would also say: Oh I am fine, ‘Thank God, or rarely a one word complaint but ALWAYS followed with, Thank God. Withholding the name, Michael was regularly mistreated by someone close to him. I came to know this in an indirect way and when I would ask, he would volunteer details. On hearing, I was sometimes shocked, to which he would smile slightly and say, Thank God.
Valentina: Not a single sparrow falls from a tree without our Father knowing. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (St. Matthew 10:29-31). If Michael were yet here, he would say that God sent Valentina, regardless of how long she may be with us. I must say, the affection and attention paid her by so many in our Church brings great joy. Nevertheless, the reason I speak of Valentina is her relationship with Christ or her Orthodox mindset – much the same as Michael’s. Fr. John told me a couple of days ago that she arrived at the Church unexpectedly. Father determined that she was here for the Translation of the Relics of St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker. She needed no calendar. Valentina doesn’t get the blog and it wasn’t listed anyway. St. Nicholas’s love is and always has been unquestionably felt by people and especially Orthodox all around the world.
We claim to have ‘taken up the Cross’ by calling ourselves Christians. When we love something in or of the world, we know it inside out. Those hearts that rest in Church, are pillars for us. Their very lives, respond to the holy apostle Peter’s accusers saying, Yes, I not only know Him, I belong to Him. I am ashamed to be more familiar with the seasons of the year than the seasons of the Church.
+Father Raphael
Learn: When you finally begin to love the holy ones, they don’t begin to love you in return but instead you become aware of their love for you that was already there. As a result you experience what love truly is.
The Face: If you look for handsome or homely, you’ll miss the soul which is seen in the face’s design and also its temper.
5 Senses: No one knows the hour when the Judge comes but when it happens I am prepared to say: I saw, I tasted, I touched, I smelled and I heard. Was there something else?
Do you know that you can look ahead to the coming Sunday and familiarize yourself with the commemoration? But why would one want to do that?
Ahhh the value of anticipation! Anticipation accomplishes 3 things. 1. It initiates the experience before the event occurs. 2. The event is enhanced because anticipation gave you a head start. 3. The increased saturation in experience gained from #1 and #2 Are you are content with this world, old age, sickness, separation from others through death, ignorant of your origin, what is there to anticipate except those things you can acquire.
We are strange sometimes.
What does God expect when He tells you to be reborn?
He expects you to remake yourself.
Why?
Because you were made and are sustained by a Divine Being and you don’t act like it.
You have put on your own attributes and characteristic like ego, thinking you are a hot shot, self-centered, a know-it-all, etc. none of which is in Him or in the way He made you. Moreover, when He shows you your divinity, you block it because by its nature, it forces your false self to flee and you don’t want to give it up.
REMAIN HIDDEN
If you wish to keep your offences, faults and errors hidden, never blame or accuse yourself of anything. On the other hand, if you want faults to be revealed, blame and accuse yourself instead of others.
HOW I SEE IT
Meditation is but the fragrance of the meat, making the meat recognizable and granting faith, love and hope. Once we partake of that on which we meditate however, which is our Savior Jesus Christ, not Christ-Consciousness, filled and restored, meditation is no longer a practice.
NOT IN CHARGE
Thursday January 25 2018 ns I met with Patera concerning an individual who I have been praying for (and worrying). My concerns were quickly resolved but followed by a reminder of all the faults I have committed against my family but with a shocking new one that I was not conscious of - that I resent no longer being in charge. ....... God forgive me
FRIEND OF A FRIEND OF GOD
We love our friends, some more than others. Nevertheless, may God be glorified. We know God is glorified when we love our enemies and people He refers to as the least among us.But we are not limited to only those above.We can be friends, yes, have a mutual relationship with people who were friends with God while yet on earth and are now friends with Him in Paradise. There is nothing imaginary or fantastic about it but actually a more real, a more intimate relationship and one possessing all the attributes of love we are accustomed to. You say you don’t know what I am talking about. I understand, but that is remedied by working toward a relationship with a saint. You can take my word for it because I took it from the saints.
AROUND EVERY TURN
Dying daily (remembrance of death) brings the Beyond closer than this life can begin to offer.
DON'T WORRY
It doesn't matter at what point in time during your life that you find LIFE for you have found eternity.
FATHER!
In my childishness, I often run after things and soon find myself alone in despair and tears. As my Father, You always call me home.
THE GIVING OF THE GREAT GIVER
Beauty in various forms and in various degrees has been before my eyes as it presents itself to everyone else but one day beauty appeared, as usual, and yet, in an instant, it was supplanted and replaced by the 'giving' of the Great Giver. I would have exclaimed 'What a delight!' but even that was supplanted by the 'giving'.
FIRST THE GIFTS, THEN...
First the gifts of God are perceived in all ways and in all things but later they are eclipsed by the Giver and His act of giving.
WARM TEARS
I often wondered why the saints weep warm tears. Having submitted all of their life to God what grievous sins do the saints commit to weep over? Granted, one can weep for an entire lifetime over past sins but I remained unfulfilled with that as an answer. Some time later I found myself weeping more and more frequently at the mere remembrance of the ineffable beauty that is Christ, sometimes through sensible objects, sometimes from thoughts, from a leaf, from a cloud, etc. Competing in unseen warfare (although most worthlessly), I experienced the grace of God and at other times, the opposite, the torment and shackles of the Devil. Gradually realizing that while I remained by Christ, Who is constantly at our side, I experienced nothing but His love for all things and far above, the inexplicable, immeasurable love that He simply is. Although He never leaves me for a moment, like a child I get drawn or enticed away from Him by a passion, a sweet passion but whose aftertaste leaves nothing less than warm tears of sorrow for having distanced myself from Paradise, our Lord Jesus Christ.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE?
The question is: Do you want to continue seeing people the way you usually do (i.e. their faults, sins, their abilities, etc.) or do you want to see them the way Christ sees them? How does Christ see them you may ask? He sees them as someone He loves and would give His life for.
HOW DO YOU SEE PEOPLE 2?
When Christ reveals and confirms that you indeed love Him, regardless though you be of the lowest, He reveals in turn not only His love for all creatures, but He reveals to you and blesses you through them, unbeknownst to them, with the love He planted in them.
REGRET?
I could say that I regret not having ventured, in my youth, even farther around the world to experience its wonders while the revelation that the Source of all things perceptible still remained concealed within me. But having now that it has been revealed, what is there to regret?
PITFALL
There are praiseworthy and skillful people whose arrogance is often interpreted as though they think they are smarter than everyone else. I am inclined to think not but rather that they think most everyone else is stupid.
PRAYER TO GRANDCHILDREN
And.....So you see my sweet, I pray for your understanding. Although I have confessed all my sins and know I have been forgiven, memory remains, a memory possessed of regret. But in Paradise, all things that have been forgiven are washed away leaving love between all that are there.
So you see when I have been so protective there is a reason. My love and hope is to keep all of my children and grandchildren and those to whom God allows me to offer His Precious Body and Blood from regret. A life of avoiding, at all costs, that which displeases God and harms our souls and bodies is the key to humility and through humility we attain the grace to love God and others with a new strength, the grace that lit the lamps of the virgins (St Serpahim Sarov), for whom Christ held open the door to the Feast in Paradise.
WORDS WITHOUT MEANING
The words of our Lord and His saints have no meaning to the elements and your body is made up of elements. They only have meaning to the heart that is pure and open to them.
HOW TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
Ask our Savior Jesus Christ for some of His.
UNADULTERATED JOY
All of us indulge in adulterated joy, that is, joy through something perceptible (St. Maximos); some of them God-pleasing, some offensive to God. If in excess, none are God-pleasing. Blessed is one whose faith offers a whole heart request for joy to come independent of perceptible things – from Christ directly.
WITHOUT HIM
Having been created by Him, in His own likeness, we must be infinitely deeply in love with Christ, otherwise why would being without Him be such hell?
ODE TO GARRISON KEILLOR'S COUNTERFIT PERSONA
I am heartened by Garrison Keillor'S God-given semblance but regarding the veneer that is so well known and by which he has characterized himself, let me say . . .
Ultra-pasteurized visage
layer upon layer of shades and colors
Yet nearly mummied, Peat bound, pillowed words
Mimic of a scraty bow embracing string.
Forsake now Garrison
A patina grown in a petri that rapt so many, so long
Find and rejoin
to what once was birthed
You've pushed it beneath
yet it looks down
at your wardrobe
Forsake now, before age brings the composition’s finale.
PARADISE
It has been said in most profound ways, thank God, yet I still want to say it again. They were in Paradise with Christ but Paradise isn’t Paradise, Christ is Paradise. When they left Him, it was Paradise no longer.
PRAY FOR PEACE?
I don't pray for peace. What society calls peace is always temporary. I want the Prince of Peace, He is eternal.
MOZART
“My subject enlarges itself, becomes methodized and defined, and the whole, though it be long, stands almost complete and finished in my mind, so that I can survey it, like a fine picture or a beautiful statue, at a glance. Nor do I hear in my imagination the parts successively, but I hear them, as it were, all at once. What a delight this is! All this inventing, this producing, takes place in a pleasing, lively dream”.
Mozart says it himself. '... I hear them (compositions), as it were, all at once.'
Unless otherwise known, what Mozart claims was unique to him but it is old and common among the melodists of Orthodoxy. Not only is the music granted as a packaged gift from God, as it did with Mozart, but even more unique. The gift given to Mozart is primarily the composition. But as concerns the ancient melodies, not only does the listener receive the music and words that transcend but along with the music, they gain the Giver of the music Himself.
A MANSION FOR YOU IN PARADISE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Aspirant! Know this. Every fruit you bear for Christ and neighbor, every day fasting, praying, attending services, receiving Holy Communion and all the Holy Mysteries, each time you repent and confess, each time you set aside time, play and work to attend a feast day during the week, each time you call on our holy Virgin Mother, each you suffer the sins of others, each time you do good for the sake of goodness, not as a slave or as a hierling........is another stone for the mansion the Son of God is building for you, a son of God, in the Father's kingdom.
Stopped edit here January 1, 2017
California Dreaming
A response to Iowans who complain about Iowa and think the grass is so much greener in California.
Iowa ~ tough ~ yes, humidity unwelcomed, hot-whipped storms unexpected, and yes, her icy gusts pierce and numb the cheek more than bitter bites the tongue.
She restrains and shackles with gloved fingers and big coats that struggle against ease ~ yes, all this and more.
And, predictably, saddled to discomfort’s complaint, comes figment California ~ California ~ gracious, alluring, venerated ~ indisputably America’s queen!
Oh how she pipes her wealth of treasures to entice and draw us to her coast.
Yet home does not loose, rather she knows when to caress and when to gently tense her embrace, and she does it unexpectedly. In the midst of summer’s muggy anvil, she unveils her rare but ever-treasured, ever-memorable, most balmy breeze that sweeps the field and delightfully kisses the brow ~ on its wing, the cool, sleepy glowing memory of autumn soon to come.
Iowa, where as equals big brother trees stand shoulder to shoulder, whose branches cuddle little brother bushes below as they wait in quiet and stillness of winter night, while we sleep, to delicately dress themselves in flocks of weightless snow.
Come morning - a daydream - courses of specular rain necklaces the branches with clear-silver-white ice ~ a gift of unimaginable beauty!
And yet, ever so softly, spring’s unhurried warmth beckons, freeing her wintered creations to the creeks as a welcome to the coming seasons.
And the dream, California, thumped by Iowa, her enchantment to nap.
NO LONGER IN MOTION
I used to see things in motion. Now I possess them.
WITH YOU
When I am with you I see love hand-in-hand, everywhere and in everything.
PRAYER?
Prayers become still when the Father's arms are around me, rather prayer is replaced by tears of joy from His embrace.
THE PURPOSE OF A CONSCIENCE
Adam and Eve learned about good and evil before the time by turning from Christ to Satan. Did this not bring the conscience into being? If they had consciences beforehand, would they not also be aware of good and evil? Can we therefore assume that there was no need for consciences, especially since they dwelt in Paradise with God Himself. Subsequently, their choice was unconscionable.....
If Adam and Eve had not known good or evil, then is it correct to assume they had no conscience yet? It appears to me that God in His love gave us a conscience so we could transcend the conscience.
TEMPORARY HAPPINESS IS JUST THAT
There is no lasting happiness except that which only Jesus Christ can give.
It is an uninterrupted sovereign happiness, independent of the senses.
This gift is given freely to everyone but must be won.
KNOWING IS ENOUGH
Knowing what one is capable of is enough. He or she no longer has the need or desire to prove it to himself or others.
Evlogeite Patera
I am tired and weak. I will call it the eventide gift of old age but I feel it to be beyond even that, and yet, in an instant, even without enticement, I am snared and bitten, by the Snake and it matters not the species nor its camouflage. My prayer must then be subsequent with: Get thee behind me and then the deeply drawn constant call to Christ to come, spoil and vanquish. I am tired of fighting, tired, yet my cry to be removed once and for all from the Field to that place of permanent eventide and bliss, according to my wish, is not granted. Forgive me, I am guilty in my request knowing so many, so many who have battled longer and harder seeking liberty and solace yet I cannot help the longing, smitten by a dew of Christ's love.
ZEUS? NO, BUT....
You are made by God, subsequently you are a little God who has fallen away from the fullness of grace and power. As a result an immortal being becomes attached to mortal things which force the immortal being to experience death. Think about it. Being attached to a desire or an object that lacks immortality causes you to thirst for it over and over and over again until it becomes you or you break free.
Reference: The Woman at the Well. Had you asked, I would have broken your attachment of going from one husband to the next and actually all attachments. In other words He would restore her completely and He did at the end because she did her part.
The inappropriate thoughts knock on the door of your mind and you recognize them for what they are, but, it is YOU who lets them. They cannot pass through Christ unless you push Him aside so you can enjoy the pleasure they stole from God but claim as their own, once they have perverted them.
INTELLIGENCE
There's one thing about not being so intelligent. When something profound comes from your lips, you know its not you.
VISAGE
My prayer becomes absorbed by Thy visage Father.
HIS CARESS
His caress is unending and it tells you its Him
POSSESS THE PLANET
It is clear that you cannot make a possession out of this life so why would you want to make a possession out of anything in it?
HOW BEAUTIFUL IS LIFE?
Life is immensely beautiful but it little more than a cobweb (St John of Kronstadt) compared to the beauty it promises.
Life is obviously now but is also blest with the future.
HIS FACE
Once you have given all of your heart to Christ only, He will reveal gifts to you that you've never seen or experienced and He will also reveal past gifts from earlier in life were also from Him. Then ask to see his beautiful face.
CONFINEMENT
Deserting God and allying ourselves with the Dissenter, confined us to the planet. Thousands of years later we were permitted on the moon.
BEAUTY FULFILLED
When beauty comes before me and I suddenly see its beauty fulfilled, it makes me weep. Other times, beauty fulfilled arrives and again I cry.
HOPSCOTCH
Basically almost everything in this life is a postponement to reality. And we go from one thing to another until we finally realize we have done little more than play hopscotch, we've arrived at reality.
PRAYER TO MY ANGEL
Sing to me my angel with your most sweet voice; words I can offer in prayer to your Master that I also may please Him.
THANK YOU GOD, THANK YOU
By the most tender grace of the Lover of Mankind, the many mumbo-jumbo religions don't always affect one's love for God nor God’s reward for our gratitude that He is our God.
THE KINGDOM OF ADAM
This earth and universe is but a grain of sand in Christ's hand. But Satan and man, in their diminutive state, perceive it in a distorted way. He holds it, and you in His hand until He calls you from it. In the meantime, He waits for you to tire of this, the kingdom of Satan, a fallen angel, and those with him, a kingdom for which Adam and Eve, in their folly, left their home in Paradise. Like the prodigal, may we tire of it and return to our Father Christ, before it is too late.
I HATE SEPARATION
On a personal note, what I hate most about this world, beyond man's inhumanity to man, is separation. Lucifer separated himself from His Lord and Heaven, Adam and Eve separated themselves from their Father and Paradise, we separate ourselves from Christ and His grace, from each other's love and company because of sin, and even if only briefly, death separates us, a separation that was never part of creation or necessary. I hate separation. We should pray that we all repent before death so no separation between sheep and goats exists in Paradise.
LIFE AND RESURRECTION
I read the scripture where Christ told me that he was my life and Resurrection. Faith in His words brought me to His glory and now I know it to be true.
INHERIT THE EARTH
Why should a desire or be attached to anything, such a car, home, money, and so when in Christ I have inherited the earth.
TASTE AND SEE
I’ve never had ice cream but I can say with confidence that it must be delicious, confidence that comes from so many testimonies.
That being said,
Psalm 34:8 King James Version (KJV) 8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Two things: There are many who know the goodness of God but have not tasted otherwise they would know it’s a lingering taste that never ends. So, if you have not tasted, think about your trust and pray for increase and thereby be motived to know what it really means to “taste”.
LOOK FORWARD
I don't look forward to seeing Christ face to face one day, I look forward to seeing Jesus Christ.
True repentance brings humility but it is not necessary. To taste and see that the Lord is good, is to taste humility of Christ.
Body and Spirit
My body wishes to take its ease, tired and distended from gluttony of the senses but the spirit never tires of the life-giving love of Christ won by the saints and granted to us by their precious words and lives.
CHRIST OFFERS THE PRAYER
Follower of Christ, know that God can directly grant you prayer to offer to Him, not only the prayers of your prayer book, not only the prayers said and heard in the Church, but prayers coming forth from Him and given to you so you may witness them being offered to Him but, rewarding you. If desire abides in the heart it can come forth 'then it will inevitably appear outwardly...' as St Tikhon tell us below. Speak to God from your heart on your bed, expecting Him to grace you with words profound in honor of Him. Consider the Psalmist and the beauty of his prayer, how it comes forth like a gushing spring and as effectual to the soul and Spirit as spring water refreshes the body.
SPIRIT NONETHELESS
Whether granted to the incorporeal or to those in earthen vessels, nonetheless infused with God’s own spirit.
ADMIT DISFIGUREMENTHow can we not admit our disfigurement when God has to tell us to love each other?
HATE OUT OF EXISTENCEAllow hate to do its work and root itself out of your love.
PRAY, DON'T READ
Once you’ve prayed, you will more easily recognize when you are simply reading.
YOU ARE AN ATHLETE
Just because you didn’t have a good coach and didn’t learn as much as you could have, doesn’t mean you aren’t an athlete.
LOVE
What virtue is most easily granted yet most easily abused = love.
GREATER THAN THE GIFT
You may count the aspects of love but at the top place the Giver
NO LONGER ALONE
Thank you Father, I am no longer alone.
TEMPORAL/ETERNAL
Father! Now that You have shown me the eternal I can now better see the limitations of the temporal.
FOLLOWER OF CHRIST
Christ asks that if you wish to be a follower, you must love Him above all others, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, friend … if you indeed have become a follower, you no longer thirst
Mr. X: I don’t believe God exists.
You need not believe that He exists. If indeed He does not exist, then there would be no harm in you trying something.
Mr. X: Try what?
Repeat the name of Christ continually.
Mr. X: For how long?
Continuously
Mr. X: Impossible!
It’s not impossible.
Mr. X: If I do, what will happen?
Try it and see.
BLIND TO GOD AND SELF
A self-centered person sees only what he (or she) imagines himself to be. He cannot see God and therefore cannot see himself and worse yet is blind to his own separation. On the other hand, one who looks for God in all things, not only sees Him, but in doing so joins company with Him.
CONFIRMATION
Yesterday was a new day but not in the characteristic way was it experienced. Yesterday I said, Father. Yesterday He let me know that He heard me.
BEAUTY
Don't let fault throw you to and fro. Gods pervading beauty overshadows all things. See it.
How can I not love them Father, they are citizens in Thy garden.
Father, you have given us everything . . . even your Son also.
I loved and admired my brothers Phil and Joe. Phil’s love was generous. Joe’s beauty made it very easy to admit you weren’t handsome. I loved Philip but it took most of my life to know how much more he loved me. Too long did it take me to realize my brothers inherited the rewards of Ibraheem and Zakat. Philip was actually baptized Nicholas (St. Nicholas the Wonderworker) but referred to by mom as Saleem after grandfather Saleem, by others as Phil. Joseph was probably named after St. Joseph the Betrothed. I was baptized after the GM George
Father I am anxious because I yet have learned to believe and trust in the perfection of Your judgement. When there is suffering or pain Lord, let me no longer ask how long.
Definition of Paradise=Spirits at play. When Christ was present in Paradise with Adam and Eve, did they pray together? Did they talk or speculate philosophy or seek enlightenment?
The meek shall inherit the earth. Having denied all things, one becomes meek and thereby in position to inherit the earth (not only the earth but all things since he has inherited Christ the Creator). Subsequently, accusations of possessions have no meaning. How is this known by the individual? By a soundless whisper.
Inadequate in so many ways, vocabulary being one, I will say, it blows my mind how human beings can be so utterly nonchalant about not knowing. At least the blind know they are blind. But a spiritually (what other word can I use?) blind person, is not only blind but doesn’t know he is blind. For a brief few minutes, I watched and listened to a young woman on stage. Here before me was exquisite physical and mental being, regardless of so called flaws. Hair, eyes, eyebrows, mouth, face, head, etc., superb, not because of exceptional beauty but simply because its existence. The sound it was making, called a song, was no more than screeching. I thought, We are so, so blind. Disfigured. The creature does not look at itself and say, I am overwhelmed that I inhabit this exquisite organism of whom I know so very, very little. Actually, compared to a fraction of what it is visually, mentally, and emotionally, I know nothing about it. Why, would I use it to produce such a sound. Well, there is nothing really wrong if one uses it to make a strange sound or noise or whatever for some purpose but to do so and award it a title of beauty or pleasurable, is strange. OK, the reality is, most everyone cares only about what additional pleasure one can gain but the use of the creature they inhabit.
Dear Lord, thank you for the love and joy I receive from your created things, people, friends, objects experienced through the senses, which you give in abundance, but knowing that You are the source, I no longer want your love and joy only through your creation but directly from You, knowing created things are nothing in themselves. It is You we are experiencing. Knowing that You are the Source, You ARE the Life. Dependence on things created by You are no longer necessary nor desirable but rather become obstacles between You and me. The objects in Paradise were secondary to You. You are Paradise. Like Adam and Eve, we are deceived.
The small calm smile granted by the Father to the human face is a most beautiful sight.
If you wonder if your love for Christ is genuine, the proof is easily found. When one loves Christ, he forsakes all for the path that leads directly to Him.
Beauty delivered me to Christ where it was lost in His presence.
I heard a wonderful sound today from the lips of Elder Joseph the Hesychast of the Holy Mountain. He told me that Satan does everything he can to keep us from discovering who we really are. I was so excited I could have burst! Christ is so meek, more meek than the breath of a newborn. So meek that we barely hear Him above the howl of desires, telling us who we really are.
The glory of Your creation dizzies me Father but your love blinds me to all of it.
Because of his attachment to the world, a fallen God cannot tolerate being with the God all the time until it becomes one with him and in doing so he finds out that the fallen God was a false god AND actually not a god at all. So you see God cannot reveal himself to you before the time when you are willing to reject your fallen god.
If you listen only for the voice of our Lord, that is all you will hear and you do what you should. Doing the wrong thing will no longer be a choice.
Dear Patera
Evlogeite
It grieves me when people miss the Salutations and I would like to write something and send it to everyone, although most of them were present. Are they waiting for her to appear? Have they not at least experienced the fragrance (not necessarily with the nose) she grants anyone who calls her from the heart? At the very least, have they not heard the praises offered her throughout the year to draw them to her presence.
St. Peter of Damaskos: As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart . . .
“In the words of the psalmist, ‘As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart’ (Ps. 4:4 LXX), that is, repent in the stillness of the night, remembering the lapses that occurred in the confusion of the day and disciplining yourself in hymns and spiritual songs (cf. Col. 3:16) – in other words, teaching yourself to persist in prayer and psalmody through attentive meditation on what you read. For the practice of the moral virtues is effectuated by meditating on what has happened during the day, so that during the stillness of the night we can become aware of the sins we have committed and can grieve over them.”
Why should you do what St. Peter suggests?
Although you may not know it your creator couldn’t be any closer to you. Why then do you feel distanced from Him or possibly don’t feel Him at all? Don’t allow any opinions to impress your mind about this but relate to Christ’s response at the wedding in Cana when he said to the most pure Virgin, My hour has not yet come St. John 2:4. On the other hand, were there periods in your past that you felt closer than you do today?
As we all know, it is sometimes hard to get out of bed but commitments make it necessary to force ourselves. Make no mistake! It also takes force to resist that which draws us away from Christ. Short term desires, loves, pleasures, etc. are easily taken but have preset termination date. They are present everywhere and draw us away with great force, until we break free. Once that occurs, we are in charge and only one thing can break us free and that is Jesus Christ.
The woman from Canaan didn’t know it was time for her Gift when she asked Christ to heal her daughter, not for herself. Yet, Christ not only granted her request, He praised her great faith. Imagine God praising you? He need not appear or whisper in your ear - you only need to know it.
And the Centurion, who asked Christ to heal one of his soldiers, also gained the Great Treasure. He heart was filled with faith the Christ would grant his request. He wasn’t expecting Treasure for Himself.
Did the holy apostles get notification that at the celebration of Pentecost they would be so transfigured by the descent of the Holy Spirit into completely new creatures with power from God?
If your mind convinces you that you are far from this Gift, then you have distanced yourself from Christ Who couldn’t possibly be any closer.
Check your heart. Where is it most often? When you are honest enough to admit to yourself its location and if you find it on a sensible object or desire, then you have found your treasure but not . Bob didn’t have to think hard about the question above and without hesitation replied that he loves hanging out with his buddies. The majority of his time while at work or at home, etc. he finds himself focused on his desire to hang out. The object of his affection brings him joy and he is satisfied as long as it lasts each time. Subsequently, when he isn’t hanging out, he is hungry because his heart craves its treasure.
While we study the universe and the nature of things, looking for ‘treasure’, “the” treasure is closer to us than sin. As the psalmist says: My sin is ever before me.
Although I remain outside I have seen the joy of the bridal chamber and thus having seen, I hate this world’s pitfalls both in the mind and in the heart wherein lies temptations and sin.
FAITH IS THE VEHICLE THAT TAKES YOU FROM BELIEVING IN GOD TO THE GIFT OF KNOWING HIM.
Would you describe this world as a beautiful, exciting and wonderful place? Yes! So can you say you love it? No, I hate it. Is there something wrong with you? How can you say that? I can say it because it has one huge, intolerable flaw! What is that? It is temporary. I see. So although you have a reason to hate it, you’ve decided to enjoy it until its over? Actually, no. Within it is a portal to one of two other worlds, one far greater than this since it is Paradise Eternal and the other, far worse than this. So when this one ends since, as you say, it is temporary, you simply go to one of the other worlds. True.
What determines one’s destination? For the most part each individual determines his or her own fate. So it is a matter of choice. Yes. However, admission to Eternal Paradise requires a ticket. Can you explain “ticket”? It is best understood by reading the book, “Do You Have a Ticket”
“Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all “fullness of blessing,” both in this world and in the world to come, of all the good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment.” + St. Basil the Great, “On the Holy Spirit”
The tender voice of the Mourning Dove…I love to hear the tender and sweet voice of the Mourning Dove, in the morning and at any time.
When I was young, I felt the same way but unfortunately didn’t know it because the voice of my youth was deafening. Now that age, by nature, brings some stillness from passionate youth, memory revisits, uncluttered, revealing what I could not then distinguish.
Our Father Who knows all things, made provision for all things. Because of His love He does not punish our neglect forever but tenderly remains faithful with His infinite gifts in hope we will repent before the time.
I have long felt that while men were fabricating Communism, women prayed. In utter ignorance, the Communists demolished thousands of Churches, not realizing that the more they destroyed the more glorious and loved the Church became in the heart, especially for women. I think this can be seen in Valentina. She isn’t simply a smiling sweet old lady who can neither understand nor speak English. As expected from right-believing Christians, she represents the Church. When the light of Christ shines on the heart, sins invisible to some become visible. From translations I have received, Valentina is aware of, brands and weeps over the slightest offense against Christ. A heart that loves God and others, has no room for grumbling or complaint.
1. Angry brothers throughout the world, for every drop of innocent blood you’ve shed, a sea of blood has been shed for your restoration.
2. He who humbles himself to the King, makes visible the King before the time.
3. A bad attitude exposes ingratitude
4. Once I came to know that You are in all things, all the time, I now see you everywhere and at all times, which leaves me in tears of joy.
5. Oh Death, better to have never met. Yet, as an acquaintance in life you become a friend and an antidote to your own poison. Released by our ancient mother and father but forced to assist them by our true Father and Mother. When tasted from within life, you pull aside the veil from eyes and lift burden from heart and the heart exposes the mind to its inner vision. What a sight! What Light! Treasure made to sparkle before its time, to those who weep. Since all things must one day past, death’s treasure is contained in all and can, for at least a moment, be seen in all things.
6. Forgive me Father, although You were ever before me, I didn’t know it was You, It took me 68 years to recognize You.
PEOPLE ARE SO MUCH LIKE EGGS
You need not be an artist to admire the simple yet elegant shape, beauty and art of the modest egg .It reminds me of how many of us, who admire ourselves, who have it good in this life, (not everyone does however) love our life, our hobbies, our interests, our good fortune, our good looks (if so endowed) our abilities our talents, etc.
The reality however is that our life, whether good or bad, distinguished or dim, is nothing more than the shell of the egg, if it remains un-cracked.
If one never cracks the egg how can its inner beauty, far surpassing its outer beauty, be known?
When the egg is cracked, which, relative to its size, requires some force, a completely new reality, a new identity is revealed.
An identity that not only pleases the eye as did the shell but all the senses and even more. And seemingly infinite possibilities are found. How many of its uses and rewards can you name? The shell is not without value of course but what is it compared to the treasure within?
Moreover, its consumption sustains life like no shell can ever do.
To reveal that which is within the egg, a force is required. So it is with that which lies within each one of us. But with man however the force needed may be either as slight as a single breath or, sadly, greater than splitting an atom. Wonderfully, that force is nothing more than sincere desire.
Not one of us is an empty shell but no matter how illustrious or lowly our shell may be, few of us find the treasure within.
But wait! There is even more to the lowly egg, to what is within ……………………scroll down..
There is a new creature, waiting to get out! Within us, Who is Christ Himself.
Get crackin’!!!
A Woman Named June
June introduced herself to me today. She is 83, a southerner, #7 from a mother of 15 = 10 girls and 5 boys - same father. I was sitting in the rider’s seat of my friend's sports car waiting for him while he spoke with June’s son. June saw me and although unacquainted with my friend or me, she unexpectedly came and sat in his car alongside me, in the driver’s seat. Frankly her boldness was a pleasant surprise so I included a welcome. Without delay she opened a door into her private life, a life wretchedly fired in the kiln of a severely abusive father. She began her story.
Once June had come of age, she courageously confronted her abusive father. She directly threatened him saying: ‘You are my father and supposed to be my mother’s husband!’ Calmly but seriously June continued. ‘If you ever whip my mother again (he regularly used a razor strap on his wife and children) I will cut your ______ arm off.’ June suffers from Alzheimer’s but evidently a memory of this sort is so potent and deeply embedded that even Alzheimer’s cannot erase it.
Prefacing what she was about to say next with a brief account about her son, she suddenly rotated in her seat to the left. With her back to me, she leaned against me and rested her head on my folded arms (crossed in front of me). Facing upward, she looked deeply into my eyes. Looking down I saw a much wrinkled, entirely toothless visage, framed by pure white hair that on its own could almost describe without words her past life. Her eyes however displayed no such history as if purposely freed of the abuse she suffered. Toward the end of her story, she suddenly sat up, turned toward me and called my attention by bringing her eyes close to mine. But, unexpectedly, she was distracted by my cassock, as though she had only just then noticed it and somewhat forcefully said: ‘Just what are you anyhow?’ ‘I am a priest’ I responded. ‘Well you don’t act like one’, she blurted out!’ Possibly her image of me was of a RC priest, her mother having been Catholic. She continued but in an abusive kind of sarcasm and mockery, not directed at me, mimicking and exaggerating the way a Roman Catholic makes the sign of the cross. Rapidly and repeatedly with a loud voice, she said ‘Hail Mary full of grace’ ‘And all that______(expletive)’.
Domestic abuse and the foul language that it confers on people in that kind of environment, I am quite familiar with from dealing with transients, alcoholics and others. Possibly reflecting on her mockery of the Virgin Mary and June's possible image of me as a RC priest, she blurted harshly: ‘You don’t like me!’ In honesty I replied: ‘On the contrary June, I am very much attracted to you’
Because of what occurred next, I decided to add it to the PARAGON.
June then calmly leaned back, still in the driver’s seat, slowly wrapped her fingers and hands together, closed her eyes, turned her face to the ceiling of the car and gently said from the heart (which is where I felt it): ‘Father in heaven, forgive me’.
She got out of the car and when she turned around I quickly (but with permission, though she gave it reluctantly) took her picture with my phone.
Abraham and Zakiyat; Sam and Mabel
What is treasure? Although they too were subjected to temptations, their treasure superseded everything in their lives. I am not alone as a witness.
My mother and father, your grandparents and your great grandparents, needed God. They lived, not only as believers in God’s existence, but that Life and God are one and the same.
As a family we continue in their footsteps. Who can deny we have not been immeasurably rewarded by our attempt at becoming Disciples of Christ. At the same time, let us be aware that we have reaped where we have not sown. With any insight at all, one must admit the foundation was laid for us.
Dear Faithful
The Blessing of the Lord and His Mercy!
Yesterday I was asked if wine and olive oil were permitted. Although I responded affirmatively, it reminded me of †Mr. Michael Maamari, one of the faithful of St. John’s some years ago. Having previously been engulfed and affected somewhat by modernism, etc. he was, nonetheless, in many, many ways, a living example of an Orthodox mindset. For example, Michael had so familiarized himself with the saints that at the mere mention of a name (not simply his favorite saints), he could state the month of that particular saint’s commemoration. Also, each time Holy Tradition was referenced, Michael would quickly affirm: ‘Of course’. The Church was ever fresh in his mind. Granted there are many facets to remember but after a few years, the more obvious ones begin to stick. Such as, from Pascha until Pentecost, all Wednesdays and Fridays permit wine and olive oil. It even stuck with me. I learned many things from Michael and remember them, especially things like:
Michael walked everywhere. The walk from work was approximately 3 miles yet he very rarely missed evening or morning services. When he did, it was due to working overtime. After services, I would ask: Would you like a ride home Michael? Unfailingly he would say, ‘I am home’. When he accepted a ride, he almost always had a trick up his sleeve. On the way home he would ask to stop at the grocery store, sometimes two. There are many stories to tell but not now. Finally, however, I must say that regardless of his health he never failed to say, Thank God or rather in his broken English, Thanks God. Occasionally he would also say: Oh I am fine, ‘Thank God, or rarely a one word complaint but ALWAYS followed with, Thank God. Withholding the name, Michael was regularly mistreated by someone close to him. I came to know this in an indirect way and when I would ask, he would volunteer details. On hearing, I was sometimes shocked, to which he would smile slightly and say, Thank God.
Valentina: Not a single sparrow falls from a tree without our Father knowing. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (St. Matthew 10:29-31). If Michael were yet here, he would say that God sent Valentina, regardless of how long she may be with us. I must say, the affection and attention paid her by so many in our Church brings great joy. Nevertheless, the reason I speak of Valentina is her relationship with Christ or her Orthodox mindset – much the same as Michael’s. Fr. John told me a couple of days ago that she arrived at the Church unexpectedly. Father determined that she was here for the Translation of the Relics of St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker. She needed no calendar. Valentina doesn’t get the blog and it wasn’t listed anyway. St. Nicholas’s love is and always has been unquestionably felt by people and especially Orthodox all around the world.
We claim to have ‘taken up the Cross’ by calling ourselves Christians. When we love something in or of the world, we know it inside out. Those hearts that rest in Church, are pillars for us. Their very lives, respond to the holy apostle Peter’s accusers saying, Yes, I not only know Him, I belong to Him. I am ashamed to be more familiar with the seasons of the year than the seasons of the Church.
+Father Raphael
Learn: When you finally begin to love the holy ones, they don’t begin to love you in return but instead you become aware of their love for you that was already there. As a result you experience what love truly is.
The Face: If you look for handsome or homely, you’ll miss the soul which is seen in the face’s design and also its temper.
5 Senses: No one knows the hour when the Judge comes but when it happens I am prepared to say: I saw, I tasted, I touched, I smelled and I heard. Was there something else?
Do you know that you can look ahead to the coming Sunday and familiarize yourself with the commemoration? But why would one want to do that?
Ahhh the value of anticipation! Anticipation accomplishes 3 things. 1. It initiates the experience before the event occurs. 2. The event is enhanced because anticipation gave you a head start. 3. The increased saturation in experience gained from #1 and #2 Are you are content with this world, old age, sickness, separation from others through death, ignorant of your origin, what is there to anticipate except those things you can acquire.
We are strange sometimes.
What does God expect when He tells you to be reborn?
He expects you to remake yourself.
Why?
Because you were made and are sustained by a Divine Being and you don’t act like it.
You have put on your own attributes and characteristics like ego, thinking you are a hot shot, self-centered, a know-it-all, etc. none of which is in Him or in the way He made you. Moreover, when He shows you your divinity, you block it because by its nature, it forces your false self to flee and you don’t want to give it up.
Q: WHAT DO YOU SEE IN THESE PHOTOS?
A: The image and likeness of Divinity, clothed in the rags of deprivation, degradation, prejudice, inequality and inhumanity against the Creator and His Creation.
