James Anthony
#0
We\'re so cocooned from what the Word of God really says to us, very rarely do we ever stop to think about what it is that hinders us in our spiritual life. Holy Writ says that if we hate a brother whom we see, and love God whom we do not see, the love of God is not in us.
Ouch! Yet even though the Fathers whom we so revere, may say a thousand times that God requires us to love all men alike, \"...that person \" who really bugs us, seems to be a perfectly legitimate reason to ignore what is so plainly \" the will of God\".
If, in point of fact, the Lord Jesus Christ is really my life, then He is also the heart of that life, both physically and spiritually. I don\'t think it means for me to be a spineless doormat. But then; neither do I think it allows me to the poster boy for raging anger, wrath, jealousy, bitterness, and revenge. All of which we\'re commanded by the Apostle to \"...put away from us...\" and \"..not to be named among you as is proper among saints. These things are \"...raised up in us against the knowledge of God...\", and give the devil a legitimate place in us from which to wage war against Christ.
These is not just esoteric \"pie in the sky\" spiritual ramblings, with no basis in reality. Nor are they far fetched goals of \"theosis\", which we look forward to, but as I obey the grace of the most precious Holy Spirit, His life really does become mine. And I can partake, not only of His Most precious Body and Blood during Divine Liturgy, but also partake through the promises of His Everlasting Covenant, of the divine nature.
The normal pains, disappointments, and persecutions of life will not stop coming, but ohh, the healing balm of the love of God, when His life really is mine!
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John Chan
#1
I have been percolating on this one for awhile now, James. Thanks for putting it up for contemplation.
Yes, His life is Mine - and perhaps more emphatically: His life is ours. I had been pretty comfortable in my protestant thinking - subscribing to \'branch theory\' as the only way to reconcile the contradictions and conflict of beliefs. But in reality, if I didn\'t like what another group did or believed, I could just distance myself from them and say \"Oh, it doesn\'t matter. The differences are not essential to salvation.\"
But now I am in the Orthodox Church, and quite honestly, I have never met so many people who, though nice, are really really weird in some fashion or other.
My initial gut reaction is to shy away from them and not be too interactive. I claim my upbringing as a New Yorker to politely mind my own business and conveniently hide in my heritage of \"being Chinese:\" stoic, unflappable, enigmatic. If all else fails, I just pretend that I don\'t speak the language.
Orthodoxy will not let me get away with this. We are saved together - in the Church. And I realize now that all these things happen so that I may work out my salvation - as His life becomes mine, and ours.
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Elizabeth G
#2
hummm.... well I have a few thoughts on what you both said. One is, in response to \"weird\" people, if there were not people we find weird then the would would be rather dull would it not?
Also it is hard to love others especially those weirdos and people who just annoy the heck out of us... but we must try. We must pray that God will teach us to love in a way that We will understand... I also need to do this, it is important to learn how to love, because if we do not love even those around us then we really don\'t love God and if you don\'t love God then well, this poses a problem. So remember that Every person is brought into our lives for our own salvation... yes everyone even though we do not realize it. And we must always pray that God will teach us to love and to put the right desires in our hearts...
~ Elizabeth
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KW
#3
Keeping the light of Christ within is central to giving to other Orthodox. Helping and caring for others must be grounded in prayer so as to not diminish the light within ourselves and our families. Those with young children are especially giving at times, not realizing that the needy at church are adults. To have a Christ-like spirit in our home and for our children, we have to let God show us how to care for our fellow Orthodox so as not to diminish the sacred grace within the family. Prayer is a loving solution which increases Christ within yet enables us to listen for God\'s solutions. We had to find this balance as we cared for the sick in our home. Really poor and strange people can be mentally ill, cons, etc. and prayer helped us find better ways to obtain aid for those in need. In our parish, there are people with serious problems so I would say go with your hunch when you meet the \"weirdos\", be loving and pray, but keep the spiritual balance right in yourself and in your family. God\'s love can shine on those that \"we hate\" (or fear) through our prayers and that love transforms us too.
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