Why Nature?

Is there any sort of psychological connection between the apparent obsession with outdoorsy/wilderness/hiking/exercise with the apparent cultural slide into paganism? I have to admit that I have never thought along these lines today, but today, after hearing co-workers speak about hiking for the 1000th time, I really began to wonder.

Obviously, this connection, if it does exist, is not a conscious one.  I can guarantee that those persons who love this return to nature mentality, are not doing so because they are raging pagans, of any stripe. But when we look at the history of cultures, when we look at the progress of the people of Israel, directed by the hand of God and when we look at the growth and development of the church, none of these go in the direction of “natural-back-to-earth-back-to-nature”.

The argument of “I find God in nature, therefore I don’t need to go to church,” simply does not work.  It is not a historical position, it does not flow from the historical church. The kingdom of God is within us and the people of God are found in the Orthodox church.  This is not to argue that God does not move amongst other gatherings of people. As the Orthodox church says, “We can say where God is, but we will not say where God is not.”

So what is the ground for my original question?  I have to wonder why the common mentality of a culture that is moving away from God, from Christianity and from holiness is heading toward “the wild outdoors”.  Is it a draw toward un-civilization? Is it a move towards that which is unstructured, spontaneous and whimsical? It certainly seems to place an emphasis upon the physical, rather than the spiritual.

I must close with one more comment.  Paul does tell us that while exercising the physical body has some value, the pursuit of holiness has value for all areas of life, both physical and spiritual.

Speaking in silence

While silence certainly has its place in a person’s life, according to the Orthodox church, as human beings, we are created for communication and interaction.  While it is true that we are to emulate Christ, in every aspect of our lives, communication is one key area that is often overlooked, in this regard. Jesus told many stories to communicate the truths of a right relationship with God.  So on one hand, we can say, with certainty, we must learn to communicate, in the most effective ways possible, so as to remove all possible means of misunderstanding and mis-speaking. Another way of saying this is that we do not communicate by silence, we communicate with words.  God spoke to a sinful world by means of word. We, now, as his body, should do the same. It is when a heart has been changed, has learned to drive away the distractions of the world and listen for silence that one is ready to begin to hear God in the silence.

At the same time, we can say that we are to seek after silence as we strive after theosis.  We pray out loud in order to learn to pray inward in order to learn to pray in silence. In other words, we learn to be quiet so as to hear the voice of God, speaking in silence and guiding us by his Holy Spirit.

So what is speaking in silence?  It is speaking out loud, in love, to those around us, not expecting them to simply know what we mean.  But it is speaking, with a passion for, a love for and a goal of silence, so that we are led by the Spirit of God.

Authority and Labels

When we start with the Old Testament, we are introduced to the concept of "only God".  There is nothing else, literally nothing.  There is no created thing. But then God speaks and there is light, there is earth, there land and water, creatures, plant life and man.  When God forms man and breathes life into him, he names him.  This is the concept I would like to focus on.
God speaks as one with authority.  In naming Adam, he is declaring that he is an authority over him and gives him an appropriate name.  When God sees that it is not good for man to be alone, he brings all the animals to man and has man name them.  From this we can see (and it is said outright later on) that man has authority over all the animals and all creation. In naming the animals, man is declaring his authority over them.
Later on, when God speaks to Jacob, he re-names him.  In doing so, he is giving Jacob a new identity. Later still, when the angel speaks to Mary, he does not give her the option of naming her yet-to-be-born Son, instead God names him.
Now, moving into our personal lives, we can apply this concept to our actions as well.  As parents, we name our children.  By extension, we begin using nick names and pet names for those we love.  But, in a negative sense, we do the same when we become angry and use unkind monikers for others.  In this sense, we are taking a role for ourselves that is not ours.  We do not have the right to re-name others, especially when those names are unkind or degrading.
Considering this from a psychological perspective, there is a large number of labels that are often applied to a variety of mental "disorders".  These labels have the same effect upon people as actual re-naming.  The power of suggestion is a great one, actually and literally moving someone into a mental perspective.  If someone is diagnosed with dementia, sociopathy, autism spectrum or anything else of the like, they are being re-named, and we as Christians do not seem to even question such an act.
What is taking place when this happens and how does it affect us?  Are we simply embracing what is being said and believing it?  Of course, an actual medical diagnosis is different from a psychological labeling. One is a description of what is physically true, while the other is often merely a description of thought processes and behaviors, from typically a secular perspective.
We dare not allow the world to have authority over us and define us, especially when that definition is contrary to who we are in Christ.  If you need medicine, take it.  But don't simply swallow what secular thinking says about your habits, thoughts and behaviors.

Communication

This subject is a fairly common theme in my own thinking and around my home in general. Personally, I deliberately try to limit my communication to the use of literals and not slang or figures of speech. I believe that if one pays attention to the way words are used, and in what context, they will notice that the more professional and academic the communication is, the less slang and figures of speech will be present.
For me, and apparently this is unusual, I find figures of speech or slang to be far more open to misinterpretation and misunderstanding than literal speak. Mainly, I believe, due to the subjectivity and inherent ambiguity of it. It almost seems by definition that slang or figures of speech are artistic and subjective. In the same way that a piece of music or a painting can be excellent or poor, based solely on preference, so too can speech be broadly interpreted i.e., understood in a variety of ways and vaguely articulated.
But really, is that the goal of speech? Or does communication, by definition, aim for the transference of meaning with a specific goal in mind?

Short sighted

There is a reason that the early church fathers, the monastics and our priests speak of the overarching importance of humility.  It is easy to compare one self to others, especially when one can cherry pick those to whom comparison is made.  It is easy to criticize and condemn others.  But it is much more difficult to only compare ourselves to those above and beyond us.  This is one of the reasons that having a spiritual mentor is so valuable.  We find someone that is spiritually superior to us and then we emulate them and hear their instruction.
But to really hear, we must first recognize and acknowledge our lack. This means we identify where we are ignorant, immoral and weak.
This is about humility.
But even besides all of this is recognizing our short sightedness.  As temporal and distracted mankind, we cannot see further than the moment.  We cannot even accurately remember the past.  Science has shown us over and over again just how faultily and romantic we remember past events.  And the further back we go, the less accurate these memories become.
Looking forward is even worse, for we cannot see past the "right now".  We might think that we can plan for the future, but we do not even know if we will be breathing tomorrow.  We cannot even rightly interpret the events of what is taking place right now.  Sure, we can see these events, but we cannot know how they will affect us tomorrow, or next week, next month or next year.
Something we see as terrible or troubling might every well be the exact thing we need to become more holy in our future.
We must have faith that God is working all things for our good.

Interpreting Scripture

Biblical interpretation or technically speaking, hermeneutics, is a powerful field within the Christian faith. It is also a very serious one. To take into one's hand, the word of God, and explain it, is a very serious matter, that should not be taken lightly. This is, after all, THE word of God, upon which men are to build their lives and hearts.

There have been many books written about the subject, each one purporting to be a faithful methodology. Some are extremely academic works, written by and for the educated and others are simple, straightforward efforts by simple, straightforward men.

On one hand, it could be argued that any passage of Scripture could be interpreted in any way the interpreter sees fit, as long as it draws the listener to God. But it could also be argued that the text must be faithfully interpreted according to word meaning, literary form and context, taking into account historical context, author's intent, and the culture of the original audience.

Ultimately, I believe that any interpretation or commentary on the text of Scripture should not be arbitrary. The reader must have a sound reason for any interpretive position. “Why” and “on what grounds” is any meaning applied to a text. Scripture is not wax, to be molded as one sees fit. The original author meant something by the words he used and the original audience would have, most likely, understood what the author meant. These should be a starting point, at the very least.

And remember, the Bible warns about being a teacher. It's a great responsibility. We must not project upon the text, our own opinions or ideas. The explanation of the text ought to be built from the text itself (and its context), not upon our whims, ideas or preferences. Our goal should be to explain the text, not define the text.

The state of eternity

1 Tim 4:10 - For to this end we toil and strive,2 because we have our hope set on the living God, qwho is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

What does Paul mean by this?  “... who is the Savior of all people, especially those who believe.” We just read in the previous verses that Jesus paid the ransom for all men (1 Timothy 2:6).  Here we read that He is the savior of all men. When we read of the final judgment, the sequence is this: Jesus returns, all men are raised from the dead and given perfected bodies, all men are judged according to what they did or did not do, all men then receive the fruit of their time on earth.  If they spent their time loving God, loving neighbor and forming their souls to mirror Jesus Christ, they will glory in the immediate presence of God. But if they spent their time feeding their passions and desires, the holiness of God will be unbearable to them, it will be their hell.

Hell is self made and freely chosen.  If you choose to reject/ignore God during your time on earth, why do you think you would have any desire to be in his holy presence for eternity?  But since God is everywhere and fills all things, you cannot escape the presence of God. Your eternity will be spent in his presence. If you form your soul to love godliness and seek after it, while you are here on earth, your eternity will be glorious.  But if you spend your time seeking temporal pleasure and fulfilling your passions and desires, your eternity will be wretched, as you will be immersed in the holy presence of God, inescapably.

Our responsibility

Many of us have many things that come under our umbrella of responsibility,  and some of us take on additional responsibilities, often out of a feeling of love for God and for neighbor.  But the one great responsibility that we have, and cas odd as it sounds, it really is the most important, is that of our own holiness.
Saint Seraphim of Sarov, a monk in 18th century Russia, once said, "Acquire the Holy Spirit and a thousand around you will be saved."  In short, this pithy saying is saying, work on your own holiness, i.e., be filled with the Holy Spirit and in doing so, everyone around you will be affected as well. 
As someone once said, "You can't communicate what you do not know."  So despite all the best intentions and love for neighbor, if you do not know and love the love of God, you will never be able to communicate that to your neighbor. And even more so, the closer you are to God, the better you will know him, the more you will understand who God is and the better you will reflect and communicate that love to those around you, usually in more effective ways than you could even devise yourself.
"Acquire the Holy Spirit and a thousand around you will be saved."

Emulating Christ

Our emulation of Jesus Christ is not in merely copying what he did, for this would be foolishness. For Jesus lived in the period of the old covenant, with all of its cleanliness laws, it's food laws and it's separation laws. Jesus lived as a faithful old covenant Jew. We, on the other hand, live in the new covenant. We are not forbidden pork, nor mixing our fabrics. We are permitted to eat dinner with gentiles. We are permitted to shave the sides of our heads, if we wish.

So what does it mean to emulate Jesus Christ? We are to do so by practicing his summation of the law, which is, to love God and to love neighbor. If we do this, we are fulfilling every aspect of the law, in total.

We should love those people in our circle of influence. We are to love where we live.