Going to heaven

I once overheard a child say, "I hope I go to heaven."  It is a wonderful thing to hear, especially from a child.  I am sure that most adults hold the same sentiment, but the thought occurred to me, do they understand what this means?
You have to begin with getting a definition of heaven.  What do they think heaven is?  From where does their definition of heaven come?  Also, from where do they obtain the concept of heaven?  From Christianity? From Islam?  From Mormonism?  Etc, etc.  Unfortunately, in many cases, heaven is a self defined concept, fabricated from one's imagination.  Obviously, a self created fantasy land doesn't really do anyone any good.  If one wants to base a belief in heaven from Christianity (for example), one needs to actually understand then what that looks like, from an authoritative source.
Heaven, in Christian terms, is not a mere amplification of worldly pleasure.  Heaven is an eternity in immediate, constant communion with the three persons of the Trinity.  Absolute love, absolute perfection, complete and perfect sinlessness in perfect harmony with God and man.  Like a historic church, right communion with God takes place in right communion with others, it is never "just Jesus and me".  Just as God has perfect communion in himself as three persons, we too can have perfect communion when that communion is between us, God and others.
In the same manner, if someone is looking forward to an Islamic paradise, that definition should come from the Koran, not the imagination.  So too with Mormonism or any other.
My point is this: if someone is looking forward to a Christian heaven, then that heaven is defined by the church.  If someone does not desire to live a Christian life, if someone does not love to be part of a Christian congregation, then they will not love a Christian heaven.

Doing something

They longer i live, the more depressing it becomes to live in the US.  There is so much sin, depravity, misdirection, deception and selfishness, not just in myself but in culture at large, that the idea of "doing something", ever increasingly looms large.
But the big question is, what?  How we answer that reveals what we believe is important, feasible and effective.  Unfortunately, far too many people think that politics is the answer.  Politics had its place, but redeeming culture is not its place. 
We may be in for a really rough ride over these next few years.  We will probably have to live through what we have sown.

Fantasy

I just watched a very good but short video on the place and form of emotions in the life of the Christian (see here).  Fr. Maxym noted that in the gospels when we see Jesus, we see him with emotions, but emotions that are perfectly balanced, controlled and connected with reality.  In Jesus, we see no fantasy.  Jesus' being and action are one.
This raises some questions in my mind about the place of fantasy in the life of the Christian.  Is it ever appropriate for the Christian to spend time thinking about that which is not real?  It is a thought steam that I need to spend some time considering and working through.  At this point, I don't have an answer, but I suspect that the answer is "no". 
What about potential reality? Possibly.  What about sinful fantasy? Obviously not.  I don't believe this question has anything to do with ruminating on future goals and plans, but even these should not preoccupy us in a way that distracts us from present reality and present responsibilities.  We really should be focused on loving those in our immediate reality and dealing with our own immediate sins.
As Paul says, "...while it is still called today, repent".

Exclusivity

Christianity is, by definition, exclusive.  This simply means that when Jesus taught us that he is the way, the truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through him, that is exactly what that means.  One cannot be an active Buddhist and inherit eternal life.  One cannot be an self conscious, functioning Muslim and be part of the body of Christ.
I believe it is pretty well understood and embraced that one is either a Christian or they are not.  There is no middle ground.
There is caveat though.  God sends no one to hell.  When one is striving to serve God, to love neighbor and to purify the soul, God happily, joyfully and passionately helps us and embraces us.  This is not to say that "once saved, always saved", our salvation is synergistic, in other words, we are responsible to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. And God is faithful to help us.
This caveat is all about the love of God, working with people, where they are.  The ten year old child growing up in communist China, who had never heard the gospel, could still be seeking after God with his inherent "made in the image of God" soul.  And God will accept that faithfulness.
It is the person who, though they may be nice, is deliberately rejecting the grace of God and only seeks to be their own God is the one who goes to hell, on their own choice.  The one who hates/ignores God during life will not want to be with him for eternity.

Anticipating heavenly delight

It is far too easy to become distracted by the large number of shiny things in our present culture and forget, even momentarily, about the end goal of our life.  When we push aside all of the dross, the distractions, the silly entertainment and the many, many responsibilities (legitimate or not), we have to ask ourselves what is really important.  We answer that question every day by the things we spend our time doing and thinking about.  To where do our minds go when we are not occupied with the things necessary?  What do we love? There is a very long eternity ahead of us and that eternity will be formed by the way we shape our souls now, every day, every moment.
Like concrete, the things we do, say and think, shape us into what we will be for eternity.  Once that concrete is set, there is (practically speaking) no changing it.  Obviously, we can and should repent at any time, but the older we become, the longer we act, say and think, the more we will become like.

Responsibility

In contrast to the seemingly fatalistic mindset of Calvinism, man has always been responsible to pursue holiness and reject the sinful passions.  Our sanctification is our responsibility but we can only achieve holiness with the help of God.  God had given us tools to do so.  These are found in the church, namely: baptism, chrismation, repentance and the Eucharist. Sanctification is the way, holiness is the goal.  We were made to be like Christ, it is our sinful inclinations, our laziness and our willingness to to follow the wickedness of the culture around us that prevents us from being so.

Thoughts on judgment

When we make a judgment on anything, ie, the legitimacy of an argument, the value of someone's word, an explanation we hear, an interpretation of an historical event or just about anything else, what criteria are we using? It seems to me that most people would appeal to "common sense", "public opinion", or "that's how we have always done it". 
But if we give this much thought, we can see just how shaky this ground is.  Do any of us, for example, have enough understanding of economic theory to validate or critique the position promoted by any one particular presidential candidate?  Do any of us have clear understanding in the field of medical ethics or even medicine in general to argue questions about euthanasia, abortion or GMO's?
In addition to these, how many of us have a good understanding on history and the mistakes that have been made in the past?  Enough to see those errors being made again, with just slightly different circumstances or details?
I am not going to offer an opinion or answer to this.  I merely wanted to bring up the thought and ask, ultimately, to whom do we look for answers and guidance, and why.  I am afraid that ultimately, the final authority we choose is ourselves.  When it comes down to it, we choose the answer that seems best to us, when honestly, we have the smallest and least informed grasp on topic x, y or z.  Who is our final authority?

A Trinitarian faith

I never cease to marvel at just how Trinitarian the Orthodox faith is.  From the immediate beginning of Sunday morning matins to the end of the Divine Liturgy, each member of the Trinity is glorified.
I know full well that Roman Catholics and the multitude of Protestant denominations are Trinitarian, but practically speaking, one hardly sees it.  Obviously, this does not suggest, in the slightest, that Roman Catholics or Protestants are not Trinitarian, but it does suggest that these practices are lacking in their manifestation of what they actually believe. 
I believe this points to the value of the apostolic liturgical practice.  Christianity is Trinitarian, so one would expect the worship service to clearly and strongly exhibit this.  And we do see this, clearly and strongly, in Orthodox worship.

A grand conspiracy

Now, I love a great conspiracy as much as the next guy.  I enjoy X Files, stories about Area 51 and secret government organizations, but there is one thing that many people miss, even if there is a grand conspiracy attempting to be perpetrated by an obscenely wealthy and secret Illuminati, they will not succeed.  Alien stories aside (I don't believe in the possibility of intelligent alien life), grand and devious plans by wealthy and corrupt organizations will eventually fail because these people are acting contrary to the will of God.  Yes, it is true that many people live a long time, deliberately opposing the things of God, becoming wealthy and powerful while doing so, but their ultimate plans will come to nothing, for all sin leads to death.
Most of us live in the face of a godless and corrupt society.  We struggle after godliness despite all of the contrary voices and temptations around us.  Despite all of our own sinfulness, we know that a glorious eternity awaits those who love God and separation and despair for those who oppose Him.
The existence of a grand conspiracy being perpetrated by the wealthy and corrupt is irrelevant.  When we seek to love God and love neighbor and resist sin with all of our strength, we can know that ultimate victory is ours. And no form of wickedness can take that away from us.

Things political

In the current climate of political activity, something foundational occurred to me.  We hear all of the rhetoric, the debates, the attacks and justifications, and it seems like nothing is ever accomplished.  There are those who support Trump and those who despise him.  There are those who support Sanders and those who decry him as a borderline communist.  And then there are all of the minority groups and third party candidates.  The problem with all of this (and usually unnoticed) is that of foundational beliefs.
Those who support Sanders do so because they believe that he will bring about good change for the nation.  Why they hold their particular beliefs is really irrelevant.  The point is, they support him because they agree with him.  The Trump supporters are no different, as well as all the other candidates and their supporters.
When these candidates or their supporters discuss, debate or argue, they typically speak past one another because their foundational beliefs about right and wrong and the rules and responsibilities of the federal government are diametrically opposed.
On an interesting side note, every candidate has positive aspects to them.  No one is ever completely wrong.  But we pick out and attack those things we oppose.  But these attacks are based upon foundational beliefs.  To call Trump a total loser is simple ridiculous.  The man is a remarkable business man.  But that might not be important to you if you believe that financial gain and material success are relatively unimportant.  To discuss any particular topic with someone when your personal, foundational beliefs are different than your opponent will only dead end, unless those foundational beliefs are recognized, understood and addressed.
My point is this: you cannot successfully debate or progress in anything unless that discussion starts from some common ground.  To neglect this necessity results in many words but no success.

Purpose controls view

So many in the Protestant world look upon churches with high liturgy and genuinely wonder.  They cannot seem to understand why the liturgy is what it is and why someone would want to do the same thing over and over.
The problem with their criticism stems from their understanding of what the church is and why it is what it is.  Something I have come to understand about the Orthodox Church is its very articulate definition of the church.  Practically speaking, the church is a hospital for the soul.  The Orthodox understand that man is stained by and often controlled by a sinful nature.  This inclination to sinfulness only pollutes the soul and confuses the mind.  The church, in response, provides the means for the healing of the soul.  Through a combination of community, sacraments and the indwelling/filling of the Holy Spirit, man is made new and his soul is formed into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ.  This is what we are supposed to be.  Our sin tainted souls have become so comfortable with the company of sin, anything differing from sinfulness feels odd.  The work of the sacraments through the power of the Holy Spirit forms us into what we should be.  Sometimes it is difficult, uncomfortable and even painful.  But like a good workout, it is the burn of the muscles that build the muscles up. 

Ultimately, the church is a hospital for our souls.  We go to church, we involve ourselves in the church calendar, the sacraments and the community because this is good and right and natural to our nature.  In essence, we are being formed into a shape that will prepare us for an eternity in the infinite loving presence of God.  And as Christians, this should be our ultimate goal and joy.