Feeding the body vs feeding the soul

While this isn't an either or situation, there is definitely a sharp contrast that needs to be recognized and understood.  American culture definitely has the first part of this equation down.  We are a nation of exercise freaks, who have devoted entire markets to the idea of right eating, exercise, vitamins, minerals, supplements, etc, etc. 
Eastern thought, on the other hand, peoples such as Buddhists and Hindus have embraced and understand the idea of holistic living.  Eating, exercise, right thinking, reducing stress, etc, etc are all pursued in an attempt to live healthy lifestyle.  The problem with that kind of eastern thinking is the foundations.  The religions that underlie these are problematic, to say the least. In other words, the religious foundations of eastern thinking introduce insurmountable problems for the Christian.  But this doesn't leave us stuck.
The historic faith, ie Orthodox Christianity, gives us tools for directing a holistic lifestyle.  We don't focus solely on the body, but we don't neglect the body either.  Eastern religion provides a religious approach that proves untenable for the Christian.  Modern America provides a strictly physical approach or a self styled neo pagan New age worldview.  American Protestantism provides a
Worldview reminiscent of the American dream.  Be nice, get rich, be comfortable.
The big thing here is paying attention to the reality of the soul.  We can easily see that our bodies need attention.  Good food, clean water, clean air, and moderate exercise.  This is common sense.  But we ignore the health of our souls at our own expense.  In the same way for the guy who spends the first fifty years of his life sitting on the couch.  He cannot be expected to run a marathon, much less even run around the block.  The man who only feeds his mind and senses with trivialities and distractions cannot be expected to have a heart for God.  This man has not prepared his soul for eternity.  In all honesty, when he dies and stands before God, he will not want to be in God's presence.
The way we form our should will determine the shape they will be in for eternity.  While we are alive, it is not too late to start changing our attitude toward our souls. 
The Orthodox church has THE tools to prepare us for eternity.  Make use of them.

N.T. Wright on definitions

One of my favorite, and possibly my very favorite, theologian, in an interview, recently discussed the recent phenomenon of gay marriage.  He, being an Anglican, is in the middle of this discussion.  His critique and answer for this historical deviation was phenomenal.  You can read it here.  In summary, he argues that marriage has never been seen as anything but between a man and a woman.  To suddenly redefine it as anything else, simply because of cultural preference, is simply not honest.  Reality doesn't work that way.
I would like to take his approach and apply it to Christendom in general. The first 800 years of Christian history shows us the church's work of definition and articulation of faith and practice.  This time period saw the seven ecumenical councils and the way the church handled beliefs that differed from the historical and apostolic faith. But eventually, after decades and centuries of slight deviation (around 1050), the Roman church led by the Roman bishop, better known as the pope, decided that all other jurisdictions needed to submit to the pope as final authority.  The other jurisdictions responded with saying that the church had never lived out its that way.  That such a belief and practice would be an innovation.  This brought the first major division within Christendom.
About 500 years later, the Protestant reformation started, causing another massive split within the church.  

The common factor among these two events is that of definitions.  Christianity had been defined as the faith in Jesus Christ as handed down by the apostles and their successors.  Any change of definitions would not be honest.  Why would we think that redefining central trends or practices would even make any sense?  We all need to step back and look at how we define our faith and why.

Two fold failure

We can look at our current culture and see how horribly men have failed in their relationships with women, both wives and daughters.  Even a brief glance, and it should be brief, reveals a generation of women craving male attention and leadership.  I'm not talking about patriarchy or male domination. I'm talking about simple, traditional male/female relationship. Feminism aside, people function best when roles are defined and fulfilled in this manner.
The failure of men in this regard had turned into a vicious circle.  Men become self centered and begin to view women as just another object.  Women in turn lose their proper sense of self and begin to objectify themselves to try to gain back some of their needed attention.  This in turn fuels improper passions in men, which only further denigrates women.  And the cycle continues.
All of this is fairly easily recognized.  But I would like to view the question about the other side of this coin.  We look upon the young men of our culture and what do we see?  We see angry, self centered, and immature young men with no focus or long term goals.  What is driving this?  What is happening in our culture that produces young men like this?  Why are they angry and why are they so short sighted? Is it tied to what is happening with young women, in some fashion?
I could suggest some ideas or theories, but I'm not too sure this would help.  Instead, we, as the people of God, need to recognize what is happening and make a concerted effort to remedy the problem.  We need to address it in our own children and speak about it when opportunity arises.
The church has all the answers.  We need to be ready to give them.  As happened in Rome, when Rome fell from within, the church stepped in and took the reins so too in America, when America falls from within (that's my theory), the church needs to be ready to fill the needs that will be present.  We must not fall into laziness and simply be like the world.  We need to apply the gospel of Christ to all areas of our life and give a reason for the faith that we have.

Covenantal marriage

A friend recently recounted a sad story about a mutual friend.  Someone with whom I attended high school had met someone in college and after developing a friendship into an emotional relationship, they decided to marry, but there was one problem, the man whom she had met was not a Christian.  When asking for her hand in marriage, her father told him that he would only give his blessing to do so if the young man would become a Christian.  He agreed to do so and they married.
Unfortunately, after a relatively short time, the young man filed for divorce and left.
Of course, I was saddened by this story but had a few thoughts.  The first was the naivete of the father.  This family is strongly Christian, at least in the American evangelical sense.  And a profession of Christ apparently was enough of proof for this father.  In the Orthodox worldview, a one time profession would not be enough.  Common sense would seem to dictate the necessity of a lived out profession, as well as baptism.
The second thought was the value of community.  Choosing a spouse from a well connected and well known family is of inestimable value.  This provides a level of protection and truth that can be found nowhere else.  To choose a spouse from an unknown family and background is dangerous.  A faithful marriage requires a like-mindedness and like faith that can only be found in a place of community.
The third thought is that of an arranged marriage.  While the idea of an arranged marriage is only mocked today, with no consideration at all.  But this is an American aberration.  An arranged marriage was commonplace all over the world and for most of known history.  As someone once said, "Marriage, like a pot of dinner, starts cold and warms up, but American culture has marriage start hot but then it only cools."
Marriage, relationships and the such must be understood from a Christian perspective.  Anything else will end in failure.  Our faith defines all of life and we must learn to see it.

Perspective and emphasis

Something occurred to me today as I was thinking about the upcoming nativity.  Speaking in general terms, it seems that Protestants put a greater emphasis upon the birth of Christ, while the Roman Catholic lay greater emphasis upon the crucifixion (consider Mel Gibson's The Passion) but the Eastern Orthodox strongly emphasize the resurrection.
I'm not sure what it all means or if there are connections to be made, patterns to be seen or structure to it all. 

Another vote for Russia

     My daughter recently received this photo on her Facebook page.  I saw it and couldn't resist sharing it.  This photo, taken inside the Russian space shuttle, gives us another example of how the gospel and the Christian life is deeply and intricately woven into Russian life.  Why is it that you never see a cross or an icon or a Bible on any US anything?  If the US was ever a Christian nation (and that is arguable), Russia is a Christian nation and has been for over 1000 years.  Even during the time of Soviet control, the hand of God was over and in the Russian people.

A Flaccid soul

The thought occurred to me add I was chatting with my second oldest son.  If we knew someone whose diet consisted of am/pm burgers and hotdogs, macaroni and cheese and McDonald's, would we not voice concern and encourage them to eat with more variety and health concerns?
But why is our not the same with entertainment?  We seem to put a huge emphasis and concern over the health of our physical bodies (which will only last for about eighty years) but we nearly totally neglect the health of our souls.  We have become a nation of practical materialists.
At the very minimum, we should be asking about what constitutes a healthy soul and how we can take care of the eternal souls that we do have.

The value of people

Upon what do we base our valuation of people?  This is something we all do, either consciously or subconsciously.  This is something learned and if not addressed and thought through, it becomes something we do without consideration of truth or falsity. 
Do we, upon seeing a homeless person, a drug addict, a prostitute, a transvestite, or a gang member, immediately think less of that person?  Do we hold some sort of racist tendencies, sometimes without thinking?
Social experiments have been done with "homeless" people and "business executives".  It's sad to see how people actually respond when they don't know they are being watched.
Do we judge others who are trapped in a particular sin that we personally find repulsive, but "wink" at other sins?  Do we explain away our own sins while strongly criticizing others for their sins?
And even more importantly, do we devalue some people because of their particular sins?
Give it some thought.

It's all wrong

Everything is wrong and nothing seems to be done about it.  Obviously I am speaking metaphorically, but the general point stands.  I can only speak for what I see in America, but considering the influence and power that America holds, this is a pretty big deal.
The America dream. That of comfort, ease and wealth, has infiltrated and now controls everyone's thinking.  From birth, through school, through our days working and into retirement, the focus is on getting lots of money, entertaining ourselves and being comfortable.  We strive after pretty things, after distraction and after ease.  This is what motivates the entire clothing, music, movie and technology industries.
In raising our children, we push them to get a good education so they can make a lot of money so they can be comfortable and well off.
It seems as if we are willing to take on the appearance of American evangelicalism and be nice, thinking this is all that is required of us.
Personally, I need someone motivating, challenging and confronting me for the weaknesses, the sins, and the inconsistencies in my life.
How can we honestly do any less?

Practical valuation

Every so often, and it seems to be of increasing frequency, I have the urge to move to Russia and get away from western society.  Of course, I realize that everyone has their sins, that every culture deals with (or ignores) their sinful predispositions, but western culture, I believe is so subversive, that I am seriously driven to get away from it.
So the question that comes up at this point is this.  If it is valuable to mold ones life to turn away from sin, to seek after holiness and to love God with all of ones self, then the flip side would be true as well.  The culture in which we live here in America does not encourage us to holiness.  In fact, it does the exact opposite, that is, be comfortable and be distracted.
So if we truly value holiness, should we not do what we must to gain it?

The big picture

Every so often, I'll dip my toe into the world of big brother government conspiracy.  Tri-lateral Commission, Bilderberger, Illuminati etc kind of central banking, world control kind of stuff.  The validity of all this stuff, the allegations and various proofs, are much to be debated.  That is not the point of this blog. 
Here are my thoughts: it should come as no surprise that those people with lots of money are also seeking after power.  It should also come as no surprise that the masses are more than happy to be distracted by temporal pleasures.  Everyone has their own circle of life that they live out and control.  It may be that there are very powerful world leaders, elected and unelected, that are manipulating events and people in order to gain more money and power.  But ultimately there will be a final judgment.  We have our own lives for which we are responsible and there are global situations over which we have no control.  The things over which we are responsible are the things we will have to answer for. 
While it may be interesting to look into the conspiracy type of secrets, our responsibility is our own holiness and to love God and neighbor.  If we fail in these, we have completely missed the goal.  Loving neighbor should involve doing what we can to protect the innocent from perpetrators, which certainly can include big government.  But we shouldn't lose sight of the ultimate big picture.  God is in control and world events are not dictated by the whims of the wicked.  Everyone has their free will and sometimes we all suffer for the actions of others. But being focused on the eternal rather than the temporal will keep our lives in order.

A metaphor

Reality is like a visit to the Louvre in Paris.  Non religious people are like those who walk by the grand glass pyramid and no longer see it.  Non Christians are those people standing in line but refusing to pay the entrance fee.  Protestants are visitors who hang out in the bathroom, marveling at the glories therein and debating art theory.  Roman Catholics are like the guards in the security office, catching occasional glimpses of the art.  Eastern Orthodox are the museum patrons exploring and receiving guided tours through the various branches of the museum.

Justification

Contrary to what you may be thinking, this blog is not part of the long ongoing debate in Calvinistic circles on the modern doctrine of justification by faith alone.  I will be musing on something a little more practical.
This thought picks up where I have left off in previous blogs.  Some time ago, I ruminated on the idea of why we do the things we do.  I would like to pick up from there and consider how we justify the things we do and think.
Any justification we give for our thoughts, actions or interests can come from a variety of places.  We can deceive others actually quite easily.  We can deceive ourselves, but it usually backfires on us.  But we can never deceive God.  No matter what, no matter how articulate or complex our rationale or justification is for our thoughts and actions, if it is not honest, accurate or true, then it is all for naught.  The truth will be present and it may condemn us.
Do we justify it by appealing to common practice (but everyone is doing it)?  Do we justify it by speaking to our own desires (I want to do it, so it must be ok)?  Or is it simply a matter of not thinking about it at all?
We can think it through now and deal with the huge number of situations and sinful tendencies in which we find ourselves, or we can ignore rational thought and try to explain/justify ourselves before the judgment seat of God at the last judgment.
I'm thinking sooner is probably better.

Thoughts on expertise

Often times we hear or read about something that appeals to the expert for validation.  A subject is presented and then supported by the expert.  Or an expert speaks, presenting a new or novel idea, and his thoughts are embraced simply because he is an expert.
In some circles, it is nearly anathema to not listen to the expert.  "Don't question, just listen," seems to be the unwritten mantra.
Now I can appreciate the value of expertise and the wisdom that is typically included in expertise, but one cannot and must not mindlessly follow any human direction or advice.  We see an example of this in the science world.  The standard practice in science and medicine is peer review and documentation.  The scientist must "prove" his work and must document it to the point that it can be reproduced by a third party. His work must also be released for review and criticism, i.e., peer review journals.
A third thought is in regards to our circles of influence.  We tend to more quickly believe the thoughts and ideas of those from our own circles and distrust those from without.  This is probably a natural response, but a slightly dangerous one.  Because all men are fallible, including the pope, everything must be tested and checked.  Personally, I believe there's are three checkpoints to consider: Scripture, tradition and logic.  That is, the Bible, as given to us by the church, tradition, as in that which has always been taught and believed by the historic church and logic, as given to us by God.  This is not to say that everything must be logical, but that nothing can be illogical.
The main point here is this, consider the source, critique it against a known standard and pray for wisdom.

The practical subjectivity of reality

It could be that the title of this blog is not exactly accurate, so I'll explain a little. Everyone has had a lifetime of experiences and education that has formed who they are and how they think about things.  Following from this, everyone is different.  This means that the way people see reality and interpret common and uncommon events differ.  This is not to say that reality is malleable but that people understand reality differently.
I believe that one very important thing to glean from this observation is the fact that we cannot judge another person on the presumption that we understand what they are doing and why.  Our thinking will be different from theirs, the world that formed their thinking will have been different from ours and their rationale for why they do what they do will be different from ours.
The important thing here is love.  When we love someone, we do not judge them, we do not assume that we know better or would respond better than they in a situation, and we don't look down upon another for the situation they are in.  We must, as part of the body of Christ, love unconditionally and pray for all men.
As Jesus said, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."- John 13:35

Addressing Sin

Moving from the Protestant world into Eastern Orthodoxy continues to reveal and enlighten numerous things.  One that had come up lately is the addressing of sin.  At least in my experience in the Protestant world, there was always such an emphasis upon being right, upon having all the details lined up and understood, upon thinking right and making sure everyone else was thinking right as well.
In Orthodoxy, things are handled differently.  This is not to say that being right is not important.  It certainly is.  But there is so much to life that is organic and living.  Everyone has come to the faith upon a different path, with different circumstances.  The vast multitude of details that make us who we are, also make us think differently and prioritize differently.  It is cold, unsympathetic and illogical to think that everyone needs to think and respond the same way we have and do.
So in addressing sin, we really shouldn't think that we need to set everyone straight in regards to the sin that we may see (or think we see) in their life.  There is so much we simply do not know about people and why they act and respond the way they do.  Unless someone approaches us and asks for help with their own sin, we really should simply deal with our own sins and pray for others.
Believing in the power of prayer means something. Believing in the power of prayer means pursuing for others, in the way that the Church has taught us, will change things. I can almost guarantee that if we spend our time on our own sanctification and pray for others, much more will be accomplished than if we Bible thump.
This recalls a quote from St Seraphim of Sarov,  "Obtain the grace of the Holy Spirit and a thousand around you will be saved."

The truth?

I am currently looking over my wife's shoulder as she peruses documentaries to view.  One has jumped out as ironic, it's called "The Truth about Food."  Upon reading this title, the first thing that came to mind was, yeah, for right now.  In fifty years, "the truth" will most likely look completely different.  Not that this is a bad thing.  It could be bad, it's could be good, is really hard to say.  The simple fact is, we actually know very little, and it is sheer arrogance to claim "truth".
The only place that truth can unresolvedly be claimed is the Church.  God has come in the flesh and is currently leading His church through the Holy Spirit leading the church. 
I really wish any ideas and theories would be posted as "maybe", instead of truth.  I think a little humility might be a good idea.

A drastic paradigm shift in economic worldview

I was thinking about the way that I spent and saved money when I was younger, and then comparing it to the way that money is viewed today.  I certainly wasn't a miser in my youth but I don't think I spent foolishly either.   In my youth, people had hobbies and frivolties, like they always have, but the youth of today seem to be in a far different situation that I ever was.
The problem comes in today because of technology. Kids today have cell phones, internet access, Netflix, Xbox online, Spotify, etc etc, and all of these costing a monthly fee.  Kids today are learning to consume and not save.  And the expenditures are on non tangible items.  With our technology today, at the end of the month, there is nothing to show for it.
This isn't even to mention the incredibly high level of constant distraction that goes on.  A constant barrage of entertainment keeps our minds from considering anything of eternal value.
All in all, I really have to question the actual value of our technology.

Life is boot camp

The longer I am in the Orthodox faith, the more I realize that my life on earth is not going to be roses, feather beds and gourmet meals.  While on the one hand I realize that everyone who takes on the name of Christ has gotten hold of some truth, on the other hand, everyone has some things wrong.  Some people more than others.
My wife imparted some wisdom to me the other day that will take some time to assimilate and implement.  She reminded me that in the spirit of Christian love we ought to find the good in others and glean what is helpful from them, instead of nit picking their errors.
With this in mind, many in the church have made the mistake of striving after temporal success and comfort, under the guise of "success in Christ". 
The Church, on the other hand, while not denying the success and power of Christ over all things, teaches that our responsibility is to undo the horrible effects of sin upon our life.  We have so much work to do, there is so much that is wrong in our thinking and actions.  The Church has given us the sacraments to strengthen and empower us to succeed over sin through the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Life is bootcamp.  We must think of life as a training ground, a place to burn off the dross, to get rid of the flab, cleanse ourselves from sin and to strive after holiness.  There is no time for distraction and titillation.
Life will be difficult and tiring.  Life will be grief and repentance and humility.
Fortunately, we have our spiritual fathers and the sacraments and the Divine Liturgy to move us forward.
Ultimately, we have the love of God that, like any healthy relationship, will lift us up and heal us.

Extreme measures

My wife recently read a summary biography of St Nilus, circa 450 AD.  St Nilus, in response to the wicked culture in which he lived, responded with an extreme measure.  He was married and had two children. He and his son went to one monastery and his wife took their daughter and joined another. That is an extreme response.
A few questions have come to mind, in this regard.  This godly man responded in an extremely blatant manner to sin, and it worked.  The church has recognized him as saint. First, could this response be seen as a blanket response that anyone could use, or was it specific to him, not to be imitated?  Second, was it a good response, or was it merely an attempt to escape?  Third, would this sort of response with in our day and in our culture?
The question I need to ask myself is, what extreme response am I willing to give, in response to the wicked culture in which I live?  It is very easy to rationalize, justify and/or explain away the way we live.  We really need to pause and consider how we live, how we respond to sin and how strongly we strive after holiness.
Or are we simply living an easy, unobtrusive life?  Have we chosen an easy path, one that is inoffensive and nice? It is easy to throw around the catch phrases and platitudes that sound holy, but do we live them?
No one can answer that question for anyone else, but only for themselves, but everyone will have to answer to God for themselves and no one else.

More Thoughts on Story

What is the point of the story?  I suppose that the point of the story is found in the motivation behind the one telling the story.  But is that all?  Can a story carry a message and a value that the writer/teller did not intend?  Can we bring something valuable out of a story that was meant to only entertain?  But in doing so, are we being honest with the story?  I have known people who are really good at seeing parallels, at finding metaphors, at seeing imagery in a story (particularly movies).  While it is kind of interesting to hear them explain what they are seeing, I have to wonder if that sort of thing is actually valuable.
We can't argue that there is something better we can or should be doing with our time.  That can be said with just about everything we do.  But I suppose it is all about priorities.  How much time are we spending with our focus on entertainment?  How much time is spent with that sort of thing on our minds?  How much time do we actually pray the Jesus Prayer?  How much time do we spend with others, trying to build up and encourage?
I think it comes down to being honest with what we are doing and why.  We don't have to answer to anyone about it, really, but we should be acting in love.

The power and influence of culture

Many Christian parents won't send their kids to the public school because of concern over worldly influence.  Most of us watch over who our children associate with, in order to keep them safe.  We as adults choose our friends based on their character.   In all of these situations, the concern is over the power and influence of culture and worldview.
If these instances are legitimate (and I believe they are), then why do we not concern ourselves with our culture at large?
If you hadn't noticed, I have a big interest in things Russian.  I pulled up demographics on the nation of Georgia.  I found that 84% of that nation professes the Orthodox faith.  To me that is amazing.  I can hardly imagine what a national Orthodox culture looks like.  Obviously, I have to avoid the "grass is greener on the other side of the fence" mentality. But one has to wonder what it would be like to live in an Orthodox culture.
I have to ask the question, is it legitimate to move from a greater evil to a lesser evil, if at all possible?  Obviously, people are people wherever one lives.  Everyone struggles with sin, no matter what culture one lives in.  But should we do the most we can to live in the best environment we can?

The value of story

When we read through the Gospels, it's a ready realization that they were written in story form.  Granted, they are written in a very special narrative format, but they are story, nonetheless.  We don't hesitate to praise the value of reading and knowing the gospel story and the stories in the gospels.  But we should stop and consider the format.  God gave us the most important piece of information in story form, not any other form. Jesus did most of his teaching in story form and even at times did not give an explanation to the meaning of his stories. 
What do we do with this in our own lives?  Consider the current state of our culture here in the US.  From birth onwards, we are immersed in stories.  Children's books, audio books, movies, etc. We are given to story.  We seem to have an inherent interest in, as well as a training towards enjoying a story.  The billions of dollars spent every year on movies and fiction supports this idea.
What is the appropriate way to handle this?  As I am constantly learning, there is no easy, black and white answer to this.  Can we learn from movies?  Absolutely.  But it is also true that movies and fiction can be a huge waste of time and a distraction from what is truly important. 
It's a question you must answer for yourself, but it must be an honest answer that is preceded by many other questions, answers and considerations. 

Isolation

The recent highschool shooting in Marysville, WA has stimulated a few thoughts.  The foundational worldviews that were prevalent at the founding of this country and the subsequent direction that technology has developed had led us to where we are.  What do I mean by this? 
Protestantism is, by its very nature, individualism.  You find the church that you like and you go there.  If, for any reason, you want to leave and go elsewhere or go nowhere or even start a new church, you are within the bounds of acceptable Protestant behavior.  The founding of our country is based on these same principles.  The Protestants in England, Germany and the Netherlands did not like the way things were going in their countries and churches, so they left and started something new.
This mentality had continued on to this day, but eventually without the religious foundation.  Thus we end up with a bunch of individuals, doing whatever they want.  Ultimately, we end up with isolation.  The problem today is that technology is at the point where someone can create entire worlds/lives in an artificial environment.  Online gaming, online porn, online chat rooms, online dating, etc, ad nauseam. 
When someone isolates themselves from others, and live out their lives with only themselves as a sounding board and sole source of critique, things get really weird.
This is not what we see in Orthodoxy.  Even the monk who spends long periods of time alone in prayer, is never solo. He still goes to Divine Liturgy, at least one a week.  He still sees his confessor/spiritual father, for guidance and he still has some sort of work in which he interacts with other monks.
The everyday Orthodox Christian has all of these plus more.  He had a wife and kids, co workers and neighbors. 
Obviously, I know very little about this young man who killed fellow students and himself in Marysville, but what I have read reveals a few things.  He clearly had no one with whom to talk or sound off ideas.  He sounded like he was struggling but no one knew it.
What do we learn?  Being isolated is never good.  We must interact with, speak to and listen to others.  and even more so, we must live and move and have our being in God.  Daily prayer, confession, repentance and scripture reading must be central to our lives, lest we end up weird and detached.  For God is the ultimate reality.

How can we NOT respond?

We live in a world that is directly contrary to everything we believe and hold dear.  The Christian faith is about denying yourself, taking up your cross, following Christ, loving God and loving neighbor.  The church gives us tools to succeed at these things, by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit.
But the world is all about being rich, being comfortable and putting yourself first.
So my question is this: when we live in the world, these two foci are in direct opposition.  We have to respond.  What are we going to do? And who do we talk to about how successful we are in responding the right way?
We had better think through this situation and have a good answer.  For we will have to answer, at the final judgment.

Entertainment as childish?

     A co-worker referenced a television show he watched when he was very little and how much he enjoyed it back then.  I had never heard of the show so that evening I Googled it and found some episodes on YouTube.  The smaller children and I watched a few minutes of one episode, which they thoroughly enjoyed.  It was so enjoyable to watch them watch the show and be so overjoyed at its silliness.  The show was very 70's and corny.
     This situation brought about some ideas.  As you may have figured out by now, I like to dig up and question our presuppositions.  My thought was this: 

     Could it be the case that the reason our desire for a change in the content of the material that we find entertaining is that entertainment should be strictly a juvenile activity?  In other words, is entertainment something that we leave behind as a childish activity, like playing "Hopscotch" or "Duck, Duck, Goose"?

     It very well could be that I am completely off base and that some entertainment is perfectly legitimate.  But when I look at the teachings of the early church fathers, I don't see any room for entertainment, trifles or sensory titillation.
     I would love to hear some feedback on this.  Something more than, "Well I think it's ok...". 
So  question is, "Is entertainment an activity that we leave behind as we grow up?"

Marriage and monasticism

For several years now, I have pondered on the relationship between, the differences between, and the value of, monasticism and marriage.  I have read a lot of monastic writings, the Philokalia, the Ladder of Divine Ascent, etc. I have heard homilies, lectures, talks and dialogues about monasticism and marriage.  Yet it was just a couple days ago, in a conversation with my priest, that I finally heard a really wonderful explanation. 
Marriage and monasticism are different in that marriage is the "normal" path but very few are called to monasticism.  Both use all the tools provided by the Church to grow in communion with God, but to varying degrees.
I began to wonder why married people would spend any time at a monastery.  And it was explained this way: the monastic path is for those very few called one's.  In some ways, it is a very difficult path, but has great rewards and can make one a great blessing to many. One would spend time at a monastery, not because there is something inherently special about monasticism but because monasticism gives us a glimpse into and a reminder of, what we should be doing in our very busy lives, that is, praying, fasting, attending the Divine Liturgy and cleansing our souls.  We are all called to draw close to God, not just the monks.

The presence of evil

I just watched "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" the other night.  It was an exceptional movie that took place in Nazi Germany.  In the movie, an SS soldier and his family were assigned to a home in the country to oversee and improve the performance of a nearby death camp.  The soldiers eight year old son discovered the camp, and not understanding what it was, developed a friendship with an eight year old Jewish boy inside the camp.  They became friends on either side of the barb wire.  The ending is absolutely devastating.
This movie generated some thoughts and questions.  It seems to me that in cases where men gain near absolute authority, they become evil.  And in cases where men acquire huge amounts of money, evil and perversion typically follow.
Consider the Nazi regime, Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao Zedong, etc.  In all of these cases, power brought terrible instances of abuse and destruction. And even on a lesser scale, we see abuses of power in our own government. I don't know where this leads, or what conclusions we can draw from these examples, but we must learn something. 
Maybe we should learn that the limits we have in our own lives, limited money and limited power, are to our advantage.  God is gracious to us, often in ways we don't understand.

Consider the context

It's been said to me that I look like an Orthodox monk.  But it's also been said by a co-worker that I must be a biker.  A checker at the local grocery store is convinced that I am Jewish.  Someone once asked me if I was Amish.  What is my point in these situations?  It has occurred to me that the labels placed upon you by others, based on your appearance, is not so much your responsibility but is instead a projection of others past historical context.  In other words, the things that have formed someone's thinking will control and direct how they see others.
What is our responsibility in this?  I'm not exactly sure, but no matter what, we need to be acting in love toward God and neighbor and we must be fixed on things eternal rather than temporal. 
We should consider why we dress and appear the way we do.

Sadness

"Hey baby, looking for a good time?"  I think we all have a pretty good idea of what is going on behind a statement like this and are (or at least should be) repulsed at such a thing.  But honestly, this statement, generally speaking, is the American culture in a nutshell.  This is what drives (in a worst case scenario) the multi billion dollar porn industry and also drives (in only a slightly better scenario) the latest wave of mega, seeker friendly churches.  The American dream is to be healthy, wealthy and distracted from anything uncomfortable or distressing. 
Unfortunately, this mentality is miles away from the heart/mind of the Church.  The Orthodox church is all about communion with God.  Our souls are darkened, sinful and self centered, but Jesus has given us, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the tools to purify ourselves and draw close to God.  The tools of prayer, fasting and the sacraments enables us to defeat the power of the devil, the flesh and the world, by the grace of God.
With this in mind, we need to acknowledge what our response should be on the face of so much wrong.  Our sinfulness, the fallen state of our culture and corruption so ingrained in so many people should evoke a serious sadness.  We ought to be grieved at so much wrong, within ourselves and in our culture.
Sadness is not a debilitating depression but a godly response to the control so many people allow death to have.  This kind of sadness should lead us to the throne of God, deep in prayer, realizing our sheer dependence upon him. 
God is love and life and anything contrary to Him only leads to suffering and death.  Too many people don't see this and continue down the path of selfishness.  This should make us sad.  The best response is prayer: for ourselves, for our neighbor and for the world.

Accomplishments

Whenever we accomplish something, the thought behind it is that in some way we believe it to be important.  Even if we have not deliberately thought it through, we believe that doing it is beneficial or necessary.
As we raise up our children, we train them, either consciously or unconsciously, that certain things are valuable.  When we praise or reward them for earning good grades, we are training them to believe that education is important.  When we cheer them on for the goal, the point, the run or the touchdown, we are training them that success in sports is important.  When we praise them for being pretty or handsome, we are training them to believe that external beauty is valuable.  So the question stands, do these things align with the beliefs of our faith? 
As we set goals and accomplishments for ourselves and our children, what is motivating these?  Are the things we are aiming to accomplish eternally worthwhile?  Are the things we are training into our children eternally valuable?  And more importantly, are there things we are neglecting or merely giving lip service, that actually are eternally valuable? 
What are the things that we claim to believe, that are part of the historic Christian faith, that we just don't have the time to do, because we are distracted and too busy to make them part of our lives?

Sacrifices

     The question is not so much, "What sacrifices are we willing to make for our faith", for I think that most people will be consistent with what they practically believe. The question will only honestly be answered in the moment when sacrifice is called for.  Any other time is mere theory and much too easy to falsify.
     The question is more about what we see as the value of our earthly life, the value of our passions, and the value of our comfort and ease. 
     The claim of belief and what is actually believed are different, often because one has been taught something false. What I mean is this:  if someone believes that they are X, simply because that is what they have always been told is true, does not mean that it is true.  There is deception involved in this, but not necessarily malicious deception.  And of course, there is responsibility on the part of the person believing. 
     My point in bringing these two seemingly random points together is this: belief always produces fruit and sometimes this fruit may not be what one expects.  The sacrifices that one will make will be based, often times unconsciously, on the beliefs one holds. 
     So what sacrifice are we willing to make?  The one that is consistent with what we practically believe. With that, we need to compare what we say we believe with what we actually live out, and then honestly ask ourselves of we are ok with any discrepancies we may find.

The wallet points to the heart

     I may be beleaguring the point, but it really seems that the things that we spend our time, money and energy upon are the the things that we find important.  I really don't know what else these expenditures can mean.  As I was reading a blog from the abbot of a monastery, he noted that it is very easy to point out the sins of others while ignoring our own.  But to do so accomplishes nothing and helps no one.  To do so only opens us up to demonic influence.
   So instead of looking upon others and judging them by our own standards, let us all critique ourselves and do so harshly.  For a two week period, document how you spend your time and money and see where it leads.

Overt vs Subtle

I have thought about this in bits and pieces over the past couple of years and thought I would try to put together and articulate it cohesively.  This idea has come up in connection with the education of children and with religion.  The question is that of danger.  What is more dangerous, the overtly wrong thing or the subtle, slightly, ballpark, almost right kind of teaching? 
A few examples might help clarify what I am getting at.  Would it be safer to send a young man or woman to a secular university or a nominally Christian one?  It's it safer for a child to listen to overtly anti-Christian music or subtley watered down, questionably religious music? The question really comes down to defenses.  Is an obvious enemy more dangerous or a secret enemy?
Think of the difficulties in either case.  With the overtly secular music or school, we know exactly who is the enemy and where the lines are drawn.  But with the subtle situation, the line is fuzzy, the black hats and white hats both look kind of gray.
With the overtly secular situation, one is deliberately walking into enemy territory.  But with the subtle situation, one does not know who exactly the enemy is.
I'm inclined to think that the overt situation is safer.  At least one knows where the lines are.  But of course there is still the question of influence.
Historically speaking, we have seen this exact situation in early middle age middle east.  When Islam and/or Roman Catholicism was overthrowing the middle east, the Orthodox Church chose Islamic rule over Roman Catholic, for the very reason I am discussing.  They understood the danger of subtlety.  We need to ask ourselves what we should do if we are ever in a similar situation.
And of course there is still the question of recognizing the subtleties and dealing with them as they arise. Is this a safe practice in which to engage?  Or should one avoid every subtle situation, if at all possible?  I would suppose it would depend somewhat on who is exposed and what is their level of maturity.  And then there is the question of multi generational influence. We must give consideration to how an overt exposure will affect the generations that follow us.
We can even take this back one step.  We should probably even consider the influence of acquaintances as well.  These are not enemies per se, but merely different from us.  Should we not think through the possible affects of exposure to these as well?

Initial consideration

     When giving consideration to any particular set of beliefs, the first place to start is it's internal consistency.  In other words, are the claims and/or beliefs of the religious system consistent with one another.   If at one point, belief system X says that "a" is true, then at another point says that "a" is not true or that "b" contradicts "a" to some degree, the system is internally inconsistent.  If a religious system is flawed at such a fundamental level, then continued investigation at deeper levels is pointless.
     Practically speaking, being able to comprehend, interact with and analyze a set of beliefs is vital.  The less clearly and articulately one is able to think, the more likely one will be deceived.  

The Christian faith, as taught and practiced by the Orthodox Church, is the only belief system that will pass an articulate critical analysis.  In other words, at some level, all other belief systems or religions will fail.  The Orthodox faith is the only faith that flawlessly answers all criticisms.
     Of course, not all other belief will fail such a critical internal analysis.  There is further investigation that can be pursued that will reveal other fallacies.  Even if a belief system is internally consistent, it could hold false presuppositions.  Ultimately, there will be some belief that is faulty.  This has to be the case.  If one starts from a foundational question and works upward, answering each question correctly, one will end up at the Orthodox faith.  If one does not, then one has answered something wrong, somewhere along the line.

     Of course, there is always the point of personal lack of understanding or wisdom.  No one person is ever perfectly clear in his thinking.  We can be deceived.  We can make logical or emotional errors.  This is one reason that we look to the early church fathers for guidance.  When we can look to the wisdom of the church, as guided by the Holy Spirit, we can be assured of our position in the faith.

Hidden uncertainty

As it has been a few years now that I have stepped out of Protestantism, something has been coming clear to me.  As a Protestant, the choice of doctrine and practice was mine to make.  And I did make that choice multiple times over the years.  As an avid reader, and lover of study, the more I read, the broader my understanding base became.  Essentially it came to the point where I realized that anything I wanted to believe, I could justify by the manipulation of Scripture and logic and I could find a community that believed and practiced the same thing.
This is what every denomination, parachurch organization and quasi- Christian cult does.  This is the whole problem with Protestantism/evangelicalism. 
Looking back over the years as a Protestant, I wonder how I wasn't more apprehensive about the whole thing.  I guess I couldn't see the problem from the inside.  Now, as Orthodox, the thought of not having a legitimate authority over me and my family is frightening.  This is not cowardice or mindlessness, this is common sense.  One would not travel through the Amazon jungle without a guide and this world is far more dangerous than any jungle. God has given us the Holy Spirit led body of Christ (the historic church).  It is sheer lunacy to reject that authority and wing it alone.
Of course, the Protestant response is, "I have the Holy Spirit leading me."  While this sounds holy and pious, it's arrogance.  To claim that the Holy Spirit is leading your church and no other, is ridiculous.  There is no historical footing upon which to stand.  And even beside that, every single denomination, parachurch organization and quasi Christian cult makes the same claim, and they can't all be right.
Unless one wants to claim that doctrine and practice doesn't really matter, the present state of the Protestant world is untenable.
What is historically true is the fact that the Holy Spirit is leading the Orthodox church.  Herein is found the body of Christ and communion with God.  There is no need to look anywhere else.  All the answers are here.

Practically speaking

While the practical position of the Orthodox church in regards to non-Orthodox religious persons is one of non-judgment, this does not mean that the details of doctrine and the practices of various groups are unimportant.
As Orthodox, we never say a particular person will NOT go to heaven, for we can never know someone else's heart.  It seems that often we don't even know our own heart, so we should never judge anyone else.
One thing we do say, though, is that the Orthodox church is THE body of Christ.  We know where the Holy Spirit is, we don't know where he is not. 
We can say that various religious groups, as a group, are not valid forms of Christianity, and therefore should not be pursued or acknowledged as Christianity.  But again, we are talking about organizations, not individuals. Is person A part of denomination X? We will say nothing about person A, but we can say that denomination X is not a good place to be.  Although, we do believe that God can and does use a wide variety of situations, often very unusual, to bring someone to himself.
Our job is to love everyone.  If we do that, everything else will fall into place.

Youth?

So you think our culture doesn't worship youth?  Just find a 35 year old woman and tell her she looks 50.  I guarantee, she won't give you a pleasant response.

Ideological homosexuality

In the heavy metal music scene, the sub genre of black metal, to be exact, there is a fairly common thread that is found.  Oddly enough, in this dark, violent, ugly, male dominated scene, the practice of homosexuality is common.
From one perspective, this makes absolutely no sense, considering the stereotypical image society has of rock stars.  But when one understands the philosophy behind black metal, this deviation makes sense. 
The genre of black metal is intellectually, philosophically and deliberately founded upon Satanism. This is not the kind of Satanism like one sees in the movies.  Aside from a very small (and i mean very small) group of actual devil worshippers, the kind of Satanism promoted by black metal even denies the very existence of God, Satan, or anything beyond the physical.   For the Satanist, this life is all there is, the grave is the end.  They believe that there is no absolute right or wrong and that one should do whatever one wants. One thing that is common with the Satanist is the lifestyle of antithesis toward Christianity.  They see organized religion as slavery and inhibition, as contrary to normal life.
Thus the commonality of homosexuality.  It is contrary to the Christian faith and completely self serving. The Satanist acknowledges this and deliberately pursues that which is contrary to organized religion and morality.
What is the point of all this explanation?  What can we learn from this?  We can learn to be committed to our faith.  If the Satanist can practice homosexuality based on its meaning, rather than on its passion, how much more so should we as children of God live according to life and truth, rather than by our passions?

Your own business

One of the many things I have learned in the Orthodox faith is that of minding one's own business.  On the surface, this sounds so unloving and self centered, but as is often the case, that is an incorrect perception.
To mind ones own business means to not be looking around, trying to point out everyone else's sins and struggles.  We all have our own sins that should take a huge amount of our time to address, if we are doing it right.
I have to admit this is not an easy thing for me to do.  Refraining from looking around and instead looking within at my own sin.  Fighting our own flesh, learning to love and not judge others and learning to follow the lead of the Church instead of our own desires, these are the most difficult.
Right or wrong, people don't like unsolicited advice.  It is not received well.  We are called to love God and neighbor, not correct neighbor or try to be God.
God has provided us the church to lead and direct us.  God has protected the church, he has led the church, and he is purifying the church.  The church is not man's idea or invention.  It is the body of Christ, of which we are part, to our growth and sanctification.  We can be part of her and become more like Christ, or we can follow our own passions and end up like the world.
This fact alone should remind us of how much work we have to do in our own lives, without trying to correct everyone else.

Pragmatism?

We eat because something tastes good, but should we?  We have sex because it's enjoyable, but should we? And what about things that have no pragmatic purpose?  Entertainment, sports, art, fashion?
Should we live only for pragmatic reasons? Where does pleasure come into the picture? Is doing something simply because it's enjoyable acceptable?

Thoughts on children

I have a few thoughts on children, their sin and our own sin. From my own interactions with various people, from all the things I have done and from raising my own children, it seems that our own sin has a direct influence upon the formation of our own children and their subsequent sinfulness.
I would say that the sins we see in our children is a clearer manifestation of our own sin.  Children learn, in part, by imitation. As they see in life, they imitate.  Their imitation may be rawer and less refined, it may be less rationalized and defensible, but therein lies the value.  Are we willing to look at our children's sin and see ourselves, possibly in a way that we were unable to, simply looking at ourselves?

Hatred in the face of perfect love

It's a really ponderous thing that someone can actually hate God.  It makes no sense, from many different perspectives.  For one, God is love.  Everything he does is good and for our benefit.  Even when we don't understand or see the immediate fruits.  Two, God is all powerful.  How can it make any sense, whatsoever, to hate someone who is in absolute control? 
I suppose it could be argued that a particular person doesn't hate God specifically because they don't even believe in God, they simply manifest a hatred toward organized religion, usually in the form of Roman Catholicism.
But even this fails a logic test.  It is one thing to hate the way a professed follower of a particular religion unfaithfully practices that religion as opposed to hating the God of the religion itself.
Or possibly one hates the concept of organized religion in general and the requirements it places upon them.  This is probably more often the case, as rebellion is a common seed in man.  But if this is the case, at least be honest about it. 
But sadly, more often than not, many of the criticisms raised against Roman Catholicism are somewhat legitimate, at least the abuses therein that are so common.
So what do with this realization?  There are two ways to address this.  From a negative perspective, we must live in a way that gives no one any grounds for despising the faith.  From a positive perspective, we must know and love out our faith in a way that we can display the love of God.  In doing so, we will draw men, even those who hate and despise.

Our responsibility

Jesus made it very clear that the most important thing is loving God and loving neighbor.  We see this emphasis in the Orthodox church, but in a very interesting way.  The monastic ideal, if one believes themselves so called (as opposed to the married path), is about totally coming oneself to God for the purpose of purity and prayer for the world. 
It is here that we see Jesus' directions lived out.  We love God by hating sin and striving after purity and communion with God.  We love neighbor by praying for them, a lot.
But how does obedience to Jesus' manifest itself in the married life.  Really,  in exactly the same way.  We commit ourselves to purity within the married state, which is a very real form of chastity, we love God by hating sin and striving after holiness and we love our neighbor by praying for them, a lot.
We are all in different situations but we all have the same goal, loving God and loving neighbor. It is our responsibility to work out how. A good place to start is in gaining guidance from your priest.

Telling vignette

The other day at work I noticed a co worker gazing upon my 2013 Porsche Cayman.  He approached me later on and said, "Wow, that car has some beautiful ashtrays." I thanked him for the compliment and walked away confused. 
At this point you may be questioning my co workers sanity, and rightfully so.  But fortunately, that conversation never happened and I don't drive a Porsche, I drive an 84 Toyota pickup.
So while that conversation never happened, one very much like it actually did.  A co worker approached me the other day and said, "Hey, I met your wife. Man, she is really pretty, I mean really pretty.  How did you manage to snag her?"  While I wholeheartedly agree with him, my wife is very beautiful, his saying so is comparable to the Porsche comment.  Why mention something as trite and shallow as external beauty when other things are so much more valuable?
Marrying a woman for her looks is comparable to buying a Porsche for its ashtrays.  While it very well could be that a Porsche does have nice ashtrays, who cares?
To find a godly wife is more valuable than gold.  To find a vain wife is a grief that will last a lifetime and worsen as time goes on.
The vanity of the world and the love for things temporal will not satisfy or lead to joy.  Why build up what so quickly disappears?  Why spend so much time and energy on something so short term when the state of our eternal souls needs so much work?  Why polish the ashtrays when the engine won't even turn over?

Comfortable being comfortable

The longer I am Orthodox, and the more I read the early church fathers and the desert fathers, the more this question comes to mind.  It seems that in America, the presumption is the pursuit of comfort, wealth and ease.  "Of course we should be wealthy and comfortable, that's the American dream."  But that is not the mind of the Church.
When we remember that our souls are darkened and corrupted by sin, that the church is the hospital for our salvation and that our tendency is towards the flesh and temporal, we should remember to orient ourselves towards living as if these things are true.  Far too often we live as if all is fine.  We've heard the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," but that is not the case here.  Our souls are corrupt, we live according to our flesh and we are selfish. 
The nearly unquestioned attitude is that of striving after wealth and comfort.  We strive to have a comfortable retirement, relaxing and enjoying a permanent vacation.
Our eternal state will be determined by the state of our souls and if we spend eighty years feeding our souls temporal, earthly, even sinful things, will it be any surprise when our eternity looks the same?  The point I am making here is simple.  If we love God, we will strive after Him.  This means putting away and rejecting those things that are contrary to Him.  If we love those things that are contrary to Him, then why would we want to live for eternity with Him?  Heaven is not the ultimate pleasure and thrill.  Heaven is getting to be with God and eternally drawing closer and closer to Him.
The pursuit of wealth and comfort is radically different that the pursuit of holiness and communion with God.  We have to choose one, we cannot have both.

Wrong western thinking

I am getting really tired of the media and their spin on world events.  I don't know why I even bother reading the news especially when it comes to Russia. 
If I remember correctly, the fall of Soviet Russia brought about the dissolution of the unity of the numerous "states" that made up the Soviet Union.  Again, if I remember correctly, the unity that all of these enjoyed was very long term, long before the fall into communism.  The Ukraine even used to be called "little Russia".  So it's maddening to read the western nations speak of Putin as a bully trying to take over independent Ukraine.  The West needs to stop thinking as if Russia is just another country.  Russia is eastern in its thinking.  Russia has been Christian for 1000 years, minus the blip of communism.  These two things make Russia different than anything the USA has ever known or understood.
In my opinion, the West and President Obama need to listen and learn from Russia.  Is Putin perfect? Of course not. No one is.  But as one with a Christian worldview, he is light years ahead of the US.
What will be the end result of this conflict between Russia and the Ukraine?  I don't know, no one does, but I guarantee it will go much smoother if the US and EU stay out of it.
I would not encourage anyone to join the EU or to shift their thinking to be more like the West.  In fact, being more Eastern in thinking is the very thing I am trying to do.  To put a finer point on it, eastern thinking is far more Christian than western.  Western thinking is the result of 1000 years of Roman Catholic scholasticism.  That's a bad thing.
What can we do at this point?  Pray for God's mercy and work at taking on the mind of Christ. All the political action in the world will accomplish nothing without the heart of Christ leading us.  And that means the leadership of the Church.

Progress and sanctification

I want to begin by emphasizing that everyone is different and my thoughts on how this applies will be different for everyone. So here goes.
As conscious and active human beings, our life is about movement.  I've heard it said that life is never stagnant, we are either growing or shrinking.  We are either developing or diminishing. 
We all go to school for the first 18 years of life (some maybe more) and the common life after that seems to be routine, a decline towards retirement.  It seems that far too many sludge through school, to finally finish it and get on with life.   This shouldn't be our attitude.
Regardless of what piques our interest, we should be making some sort of progress.  Whether it's academics (my choice), the arts, financial, humanitarian or something else, we must be progressing.  God did not give us minds and abilities to waste them on mere distraction.  Far too often we spend all our free time on distracting trifles.  We don't think about anything valuable, but distract ourselves with toys, games or entertainment.  Obviously, none of these things are wrong in and of themselves, but only when we elevate them and allow them to distract us from what is actually valuable.
How are you progressing?  What are you doing to make your life truly better? What are you doing to make someone else's life truly better?
Beneath all of this is our responsibility to progress in our sanctification.  We must spend whatever time/money/energy it takes to become more holy.  More often than not, we spend a large portion of our time doing the exact opposite.
Give this some consideration.

Worthwhile for eternity?

I came up with an interesting thought experiment.  We all have different interests and things we either like to spend time on or need to spend time on based upon decisions we have made in the past.
This is a test we can do for ourselves, but only for ourselves.  We must never do this for someone else, as we cannot know someone else's heart, thoughts or past circumstances. 
Think through those things that you like to do, find appealing or enjoy.  Now ask yourself, will these things be in heaven / the new earth?  If we can answer "yes" to this question, then we can at least justify our involvement in or pleasure in it.  But if we answer "no", we had better give some serious consideration to why we like that particular thing/activity.  If we cannot envision this thing or activity in heaven, then our involvement is suspect.
Why do something now that is not possible or acceptable in the immediate presence of God?

One more thought...

A third step or level has just been suggested to me concerning the place of entertainment. This kind of builds on the appropriate response to any form of entertainment that promotes wickedness.  When we encounter that rare instance of entertainment that promotes evil (that was sarcasm), our response should be to flee from it.  In very much the same way that we respond to a sinful thought or temptation, we ought to respond to evil entertainment. When an evil thought comes to mind, we should not think on it or dwell on it. We must reject it outright or it will take hold of us, making the later rejection that much more difficult.
Now in terms of entertainment, it becomes a little more tricky.  Because there is no such thing as evil music or evil painting or evil statues, that which is evil, that is, the content, must be separated from the medium in which it dwells. 
Movies, for example, are not in themselves evil.  What can be evil is the message that is being communicated.  What is evil is when a sin is promoted or shown to be good.  But even in that instance, if someone recognizes this error, but finds value in the overall movie, is it wrong to enjoy the film?
Again, we have to question what it is that we are enjoying. 
A further question can be asked about entertainment.  Is it worth the time?  But I'll leave that for another time?

What response?

The fourth century, in response to the legalization and subsequent popularization of Christianity throughout the Roman empire, saw masses of Christians fleeing to the desert to avoid the dilution and re-definition of the Christian faith.
They longer I live in America as an Orthodox Christian, the more I can sympathize with this response.  It is so incredibly easy to be a Christian in evangelical America.  A person can define their Christianity in just about any manner they wish, as long as it holds even a slight resemblance to Christianity.  All words can be re-defined and the current emphasis on ecumenism and being politically correct makes any kind of critique improper. We don't want to be judgmental now, do we?
The early Christians ran away from a watered down faith, to save themselves.  How can we not do the same?

Community

The concept of community really struck me in a very real way last Sunday.  I was standing in Divine Liturgy with my family and the rest of the congregation.  We were reciting the Nicene Creed and I suddenly had a great appreciation and feeling of community.  I believe that this is something that non- liturgical churches really miss out on. Especially those mega churches that appear to be more performance based than a community centered around the Eucharist.
The longer that I am in the Orthodox church, the more beautiful and comprehensive it becomes.

What is being communicated?

     A different perspective on how we come across in our interactions with others came to mind today.  In the past, I have tried to think through what constitutes modesty, humility, etc.  But I think I may have been missing a big element in this.  While I have given consideration to the idea of who defines modesty as the culture in which one lives, this new thought (new to me anyway), puts a wider aspect to the idea.
     Anytime we do anything in which someone else perceives us, we are communicating something.  We might believe that we are communicating one thing, but in reality we may very well be communicating something entirely different, possibly even exactly opposite.
The question then is, who's definition matters?  We can ask the question, what is being communicated? 
     As a teenager, I had long hair.  I was emulating the appearance of those I thought were admirable.  I genuinely liked my appearance.  I wasn't doing it because someone else was.  I looked the way I did because I liked it.  Being a relatively uneducated American teenager, I didn't give any thought to the negative impression this cast upon me. Now it may be wrong to judge someone by their appearance, but we do it all the time.  In both positive and negative ways.
     When we look or act or speak a certain way, that behavior communicates something.  What is being communicated differs, often drastically, from one culture to another, and from one time period to the next.  Consider the word "gay".  One hundred years ago, if someone referred to themselves as "gay", the message was communicated that they were happy.  But the use of that word today communicates a very different message.  The same can be said of "queer", "nice" and many others.
     In the realm is appearance, the wearing of tattoos communicates a message.  Tattoos were once the category of sailors.  A little later, Hell's Angels or other bikers claimed them as their own.  Any woman with a tattoo was probably of ill repute.  But that message has changed today.
     Or consider the wearing of earrings. Again, at one point, this was the jewelry of sailors.  Then later, if a man had one earring, he was probably part of the homosexual community.  But again, that message has changed.
     One may balk at the idea of the world or culture defining things.  It may be true that the church should be leading a culture, but here in America, at this point in time, the church is not leading, so we have to deal with it.  But if we are going to act in love, we need to be aware of what message we are communicating by our words, appearance and actions.
     Instead of merely following the words, appearance and actions of pop culture, we should give some thought to how we can communicate a message contrary to worldliness.  By looking, talking or acting mainstream, we might not be sinning, but is that really our only goal?  What about being a light to the world around us?  Is mere "comfortable imitation of the world" enough?
     Give some thought to the message we can communicate by our words, appearance and actions.  Give some thought to the difference we can make on those around us.  It's not enough to merely "be".  We should aim for being Christ-like.

The goal vs goals

In many Christian churches, the question of purpose and goals often comes up.  In the Westminster Catechism, first question, we read, "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever."
And amongst the church fathers we hear similar thoughts, "God became man so that man could become God."
They problem with pithy statements such as these is not the content or the intentions behind them, but the practical working out of them.  Easy to say, but very difficult to live.
This is something that every person needs to work out and think through for themselves.  It's not enough to merely recite the passage.  We each need to embrace the content and work it out in our life.
There is often a practical contradiction between the goal (singular) and the many goals we make and achieve over the years of our life. Do the little goals that we set and meet over the years help us in our pursuit of godliness?
Do the daily, little things we do help us in our pursuit of the one big goal of godliness? 
I would suggest that the smaller the detail, the less seemingly significant the action or plan, the less likely we are to even give thought to the long term ramifications that may follow.  There are many things we do and plan that don't receive any attention regarding their actual value or benefit, or even if they fit with our foundational beliefs. 
But this again leads us down the road of who defines what.

A consideration of influence from another perspective

My previous post considered the sources of influence upon women in regards to appearance and fashion.  Today it was suggested to me that the influence of  entertainment  should be examined.  Good idea.
I say good idea because at no time in the history of the United States had there been such an abundance of free time and extra money.  To complicate matters, the Protestant faith calls for an enjoyment of things temporal "all to the glory of God", to use their terms. So not only is the potential for abuse present, the excusing of such abuse is present as well.
I do not intend to go into what is valid, legitimate or valuable in terms of entertainment but only want to discuss the reality and undeniability of influence.
The main difference between the last post and this one is the state of the question.  In the previous post, I asked the question concerning the position of influence upon women attire and appearance.  In this post, the question is a little more complicated.  This is more of a question about what influence there is of entertainment upon the mind and soul.
As I did with the previous post, we need to consider the fruit of influence.  In the former post, the influence consisted of taking on the appearance of the one influencing.  In this post, I need to ask just what is the influence.  Once we determine exactly what is the influence then we can determine what is the fruit of that influence.
In regards to attire and appearance, one either consciously or unconsciously chooses a model to follow and then takes on that particular appearance.  In regards to entertainment, one hears or sees what is being articulated, and then either consciously or unconsciously accepts or rejects that message.  Much of this will be determined by the maturity and cognitive abilities of the hearer.
One cannot appeal to the idea of an unavoidable influence of a message being delivered.  We are told to live in the world but not to be of the world.  This presupposes the ability to make that choice.  This then articulates a difference between "being" or "seeing" something as opposed to "eating" something.  One cannot eat a cheese burger and reject the fat.  But one can read a book by Friedrich Nietzsche, for example, and reject his argument and conclusions.
The same can be said of movies and music.  The hearer or watcher must be diligent enough to recognize and understand the message being delivered and either accept it or reject it.  If one is not capable of doing so, one should not be viewing or hearing such a thing. It is not acceptable or wise to merely take in whatever is being said or shown and merely accept it without thinking.
It's really pretty straightforward.  If the message that is being communicated in the movie or music is changing your thinking toward unholy and sinful things, then the influence of the entertainment is negative.  This needs to be recognized and addressed. 
The other question that needs to be asked is in regards to what we find entertaining.  If we are entertained by something that is wrong or sinful, this reveals something about the state of our soul.  We have been negatively influenced by worldly culture.
The last consideration is the question of how any particular form of entertainment affects our body.  Did the music or the movie (or sporting event, play, opera, symphony, etc) move us to aggression or lust or depression? We should stop and give this some thought.  Ought we to be entertained by something that motivates our passions?

From where comes the influence?

The fact that we are influenced cannot be denied.  No matter what, something or someone or many factors will influence, direct or control how and what we think.  One of the largest struggles in our work towards holiness is the fact that ninety percent of these influences are worldly and vain.
The world, the flesh and the devil, as has historically been identified, are serious problems.  The vanity of the world is even a greater problem when it isn't identified as vanity, but is rather embraced, even by those in the church.
It is a really sad state of events when one goes to church and encounters women that look no different from the world. I challenge you to a little test.  The next time you are in church do a comparison.  Look at the way the women in the service are dressed and compare them to the women you see in icons.  Now, the next time you are in the grocery store, compare those same women in church to the women you see on the magazines in the checkout line.  Who looks like who?
The women in icons have their heads covered, their shoulders covered, their legs covered. You see no makeup, you see no fingernail polish, you see no toenail polish. 
It is at this point that the question can be asked, "Who is influencing who?"  An even bigger question is, "Why is this happening and why is no one saying anything about it?"  The influence of the world creeps into our lives far too often and far too easy.  Let's start paying attention.

Spartan or ?

Several years, in commenting on the decor, our lack thereof, in my classroom, the principal at the school at which I was teaching, labeled me as "spartan" in my approach to decorating.  That didn't seem like a bad thing to me at the time, but now looking back I don't believe he was exactly accurate.
The idea of being Spartan is about non extravagance.  It's about living with only what is necessary.  It's about no frills.  While those types of things were true about me, the motivation is what was different.
One big aspect of Orthodoxy is that of focusing on the eternal and disregarding the temporal, worldly and trite.  As we continue in our sanctification, we fight against the desire of the flesh to rule over us.  We are striving to continually deepen our relationship with Christ, to the point of minimizing ourselves and becoming more like Christ.
This is one reason why the Eucharist is so important and central to our faith.  The Eucharist is communion with God.  The more we center our lives around the life of the Church, the closer we will draw into Christ.
Probably the most difficult aspect of trying to be "Spartan" is trying to figure what it means for you, and learning to see our own weaknesses.  It's easy to see the weaknesses in others, but much more difficult to see ourselves.

Missionaries?

In a recent conversation with a co-worker, he shared with me that he had recently spent two months in Romania doing missionary work.  I smiled politely and listened to his story.  After a short period, something very unusual occurred to me.  I have to wonder what Protestants (in this instance, Baptists) are thinking.  The country of Romania, before, during and after its overthrow by Soviet communism, remained an Eastern Orthodox country.  Being 92,000 sq miles, it contains over 300 monasteries.  That's one monastery for every 300 sq miles.  That is nothing short of amazing.
So I ask myself, what do the Protestants think they are doing?  Sending Protestant missionaries into Romania is like sending Mc Donalds into France.  Is it food? Kind of.  But what is the point?

A fundamental and foundational problem of epic and universal proportions

    I am going to argue that vanity is most likely the biggest problem within Christianity today. I am not arguing that it is the most serious problem, but it is universal and spares no one.
     The way the current problem stands looks something like this.  Visit any church and observe what the high school and college girls are wearing.  Then look at the young mothers, the middle age women and the older women.  What you are going to observe is that all of these women dress according to the standards of the world.  They are wearing what's cute, what's fashionable, what's attractive, and what draws the attention. The problem with this is that all of these things are immediately contrary to the Christian faith.  Show me in Scripture or the writings of the Church fathers or monasticism where this kind of thinking about appearance is encouraged.
     We cannot think like the world.  We must not think like the world.  As followers of Christ we must be different from the world.  If nothing else, this should at least be seen in our thinking.  We must be able to articulate why we do the things we do, in regards to our appearance, amongst other things.  This includes clothing, makeup, hairstyle, etc.
     I am not going to argue for any one particular standard or set appearance, but i am going to argue for the necessity of having a well thought out and supported position.  What has the Church historically said about clothing and appearance?  What do the church fathers say about this?  What do the monastics say about this?
     Some could argue that I need to mind my own business and not concern myself with things that others might not even see as sinful.  But we need to move beyond self- centeredness.  When I go to church, I may need to answer to my children as to why someone is dressed a certain way.  It's a shame that I cannot go to a church picnic without having to be concerned with seeing someone’s half naked body.  If someone has to continually be attentive to the way they sit or move, because someone may see up or down somewhere otherwise, that is a serious problem.
     Our children are our responsibility.  We must train them up to think like Christ.  If their concern is gaining the attention of some young man who is looking for a pretty wife, then we have failed to train them in choosing a godly spouse.  Our young men ought to be looking for a wife that is striving after godliness, humility, chastity and charity, not looking pretty.
     Vanity is vanity is ungodliness.  And if we are training our daughters to work towards being pretty, then we have failed them.

Consideration of President Putin

     I just came across this photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin venerating (kissing) an icon of the Theotokos (Mary the Mother of God) in the presence of the Patriarch of Russia.  This photo alone should give us some pause and consider just what kind of man he is.  For the Orthodox Christian, to see the President of Russia offering such veneration to the Mother of God is extremely moving.  At least for me it is.
     When is the last time we have seen Obama doing anything even remotely religious?

Creating worlds

Recently I read about the motivating factors behind the roots of Christian monasticism.  Christians who were very serious about their faith couldn't or didn't want to be in a fallen world any longer.  To put it more precisely, these Christians saw how when Christianity became legal, it became very easy to be a believer and the faith was becoming watered down and polluted, so they left the world and went into the desert to work out their salvation, praying for the world and fighting against sin.  In a very real sense, they re-created their world according to what they thought should be.
In our current day, and in many times throughout the past, those who were very wealthy would set up their worlds according to the standards they desired.
The rest of us, all throughout time and even today, do our very best to create our world in the fashion we desire but are much more limited in our available time and money.
What does this all mean?  Success or failure in this endeavor doesn't ensure right or wrong.  We must use the direction of the Christian faith as seen in Scripture and the Church to create our world the best we can.  And we must work at it, hard, as an effort of faithfulness. We must not follow the easy or comfortable path.

Practical

The practical implications of culture.  The culture in which we live is formed by the faith we actually practice.  Thus the world currently around us is Protestantism run out to its end.
With that thought in mind, we can ask and answer the following question.  Why has every culture since the formation of the Christian faith, failed? Every single culture: Protestant, Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox has failed and degenerated.  Why?
I want to start with the idea of consistentsy.  None of us are perfectly consistent in the living out of our faith.  We make mistakes, we make bad choices, bad decisions and bad things often result from our sin.  This is true in the individual and true on a large scale in a culture.
But the thing to realize is the fruit, the end result of any system of thought or religious belief. We can see the end result of a consistent practice of Protestantism is standing before us, the United States of America.  That which makes up the core foundation of Protestant thought, that is, self as final authority, is fleshed out to a logical end in America.  America is Protestantism.
The failures we see in Roman Catholic countries and cultures is truly of the same form, just simply with a different emphasis.  The Roman Catholic Church declared itself superior to and independent of the other patriarchates of the historic church.  In doing so, in setting up a single individual as the final authority, the Roman church rebelled against the Church as a whole.  In essence, they were setting themselves up as the final authority. Thus the countries and cultures that grew from that way of thinking would eventually become like the parent, self identifying as authoritative.  And in doing so, would deviate from the historic faith, having no legitimate authority over them to protect them.
But what about those Eastern Orthodox countries and cultures that have fallen?  I would argue that these cultures have fallen or declined either through inconsistent faith (i.e., thinking and acting like Protestants), or are being treated and tried to further strengthen their faith. 
The last one may sound like a begging of the question, but we do see this explanation given in Scripture as an explanation for hardship.  God has never promised us an easy life.  To the contrary, the path of faithfulness is extremely difficult.
So practically speaking, the culture in which we find ourselves is going to either be faithful to the faith or not.  Either way, we are responsible to live our lives as ones denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Christ.  This means constantly repenting, constantly examining ourselves and dealing with all our weaknesses, finding and getting up each time we fall.  Ours is a life of perpetual salvation.

Hearing the critique

It seems that most people don't like conflict or confrontation.  Don't rock the boat, don't get into anyone's face, don't talk about religion or politics, seem to be the standing rules, unless you are a talk show host or a musician. 
But in the case that someone fails to follow these unspoken conventions, our best response is to hear them.  We don't have to believe them, but we should take their words at face value and consider what they say.  A critique, given from any perspective, with whatever intent, can be helpful to our sanctification.  It very well could be that others see things in us that we don't see.  A different perspective may reveal our blindspots.
In the case that the critique is unfounded and not legitimate, we can disregard it and love the person anyway.  Their words give us an opportunity to love the unlovely.
Let's make the most of any situation, regardless of how uncomfortable it may be.  We might learn something from it.

American culture

     I hate to have to use this particular terminology, for one, because it sounds unpatriotic and two, it sounds blasphemous, but here goes. American culture is nearly omnipresent and it is leading us to hell.
     Now, an explanation. Every since WWII, American culture has been leading the world in nearly all fields.  Science, religion, medicine, entertainment, etc, etc. The worldview behind American culture is that of individualism.  Be your own man, decide for yourself, be your own leader, submit to no one.  This pretty much sums up the rugged individualism that Americans seem to pride themselves in.  Unfortunately, this kind of thinking is everything contrary to the Christian faith.
     The prevalence of this mentality is unbelievably wide.  With the exception of obscure corners, American culture is everywhere.  American thinking has become so deeply ingrained, that we no longer recognize or question it.  On almost a daily basis, I catch myself doing or saying or thinking something American, contrary to the historical Christian faith I hold so close.  Not to mention the constant bombardment of American thought from all corners.
     What do we do about it?  We must learn to question everything we see, say or do.  We must first learn what constitutes Christian thinking.  And that can only happen by immersing ourselves in the lives of the saints and Scripture as interpreted by the Church.
     This will not happen by immersing ourselves in American culture.  The end of that road is incoherent blindness and deafness.  American culture leads to distracted ignorance.
    To put a different spin on a Proverb, "Better to live in the corner of the attic with a crust of bread and a comprehensive faith, than to live in a mansion with cable TV," Proverbs 25:24.

Baptism saves you

In 1 Peter 3:18-22, we read that there is an anti type that saves us, that is, baptism.  This verse generates a great deal of verbal, linguistic and grammatical gymnastics.  People do not want this verse to mean what it says because it seems to speak contrary to the Lutheran/Calvinistic mantra of salvation by faith alone, sola fide.
Possibly the greatest stumbling point in this regard is the meaning that is often affixed to baptism.  The evangelical world wants to disembowel the word and reduce it to a public profession of faith.  But obviously this is clearly contrary to 1 Peter 3:21.
As you can probably guess, I am going to argue for the historic meaning of the text.  Baptism is a sacrament that actually does something.  As a sacrament, baptism identifies us as part of the body of Christ.  Similar to the Old Covenant mark of circumcision, baptism is the New Covenant "mark" as belonging to the people of God. It is very helpful to consider circumcision when seeking to understand baptism.  In the Old Covenant, if someone wanted to be part of the people of God, they needed to accept the covenant sign.  Did the covenant sign save them? In a sense, yes, but only if they were faithful.  Consider the Day of Atonement.  The high priest would enter the holy of holies once a year and offer up sacrifices for all the people.  If he emerged from the tabernacle alive, then it meant that God accepted his sacrifice.  This means the sins of all the people were covered. All of them for all of them.  But we know full well that not all of the Israelites entered the Promised Land.  Many of them died in the wilderness.  In other words, some went to heaven and some didn't.
This same pattern holds true for the New Covenant believer. If someone wants to be part of the body of Christ, he must be baptized into the church, the body of Christ.  Does this save him? In a sense, yes, as long as he is faithful and perseveres to the end.  Having a right understanding of the nature of baptism will truly help one rightly understand this passage.
Baptism saves us as it is "the" means of entering into right relation with the body of Christ.  It is into Christ that we are being baptized and life is only in him.  But we only attain eternal life in and with Christ when we are faithful and persevere in the faith to the end.