People are evil, people are foolish

In the news today, I read of an Atlanta, Georgia man who "accidentally" left his 22 month old son strapped in his car seat in his Suburban while he worked in his office.  He said that at the end of the day, he returned to his vehicle to find the boy dead.  Later evidence showed that he had been in his vehicle during lunch.  The man is being charged for murder with a possible death penalty. 
I next read an article about a 25 year old woman who beat her 4 year old son to death because he "walked and talked gay".  She and her boyfriend beat him so badly that his intestines burst.  The boy died two days later from septic poisoning.
I cannot even begin to articulate how angry this makes me.  These situations and so many others are wrong in so many ways.  These people who are supposed to love and care for these little children are doing the opposite.  The only people these children have and depend on are failing them. The evil being perpetrated in these situations is beyond my comprehension. 
In addition to this familial failure is the failure of the church.  If everyone in the church would be reaching out and involving themselves in the lives of those around them, situations like this could be greatly minimized or eradicated.
But we are too distracted.  We are too busy with entertainment and pleasures. We get angry when we have to wait in line at the grocery store.  We get angry when our favorite sports team loses a game.  We get angry when our internet connection isn't fast enough.  But we don't get angry at sin and suffering.  We sit on our leather couches playing video games on large screen tv's.  We eat $100 dinners and drink $50 bottles of wine.  We complain if the pastor isn't funny or talks too long.
America has become the land of the easy and complacent.  American evangelicalism is the self created self sustaining fabrication of the self willed man.  We want to be rich and comfortable and not be bothered by anything.
Our foolishness is made painfully evident in the suffering of those around us, while we ignore them.

Nice or godly?

There is a difference between these two characteristics but it seems that many people confuse the two or make them synonymous. Almost as a side note, the etymology behind "nice" is interesting.  The word previously was an insult, a way of calling someone a simpleton.  But as time has progressed, it has become a way of identifying someone as pleasant and kind.  Obviously there is nothing wrong with these characteristics, but they simply are not synonymous with godliness. 
Comparing "nice" with "godly" reveals that one doesn't necessarily follow from the other, in either direction.  In my experience, it seems that many people see a "nice young man" or a "lovely young lady" and automatically assume that they are Christians.  We tend to look upon the children of others, we see their good manners and courteous behavior and wish our own children would emulate such characteristics.  There is nothing wrong with these characteristics but they do not equate with godliness.  Everyone has sins with which they struggle, including the well behaved child.  Just because child "A" is nice and child "B" is somewhat surly, does not necessarily mean that child "A" is better off. It very well could be that the first child is self centered and vain, while the second has an extremely good work ethic and is self sacrificial.
The point in all of this is simple.  We need to set our standard at a level described by the Church, not by modern American culture.  It is very easy to be nice, it takes a lifetime of hard work, struggle, fasting, prayer and asceticism to be godly.  Striving for nice is far too low of a goal.  We can and should encourage our children and ourselves for the higher goal of godliness.

Reading the Bible

The technical term for what i am going to talk about is hermeneutics.  I want to first emphasize the importance of reading the Bible, both Old Testament and New Testament.  As Orthodox, we believe that God's Word, as recognized as the Old Testament and New Testament is central and foundational to the Christian life.  The Bible, within the context of the historic Christian church, is THE Word of God.  Because of this fact, we must learn to rightly handle God's Word.  One of the major problems within Christendom today is the inappropriate or faulty handling of Scripture.  Too many people, who don't have the right understanding or the ability to rightly grasp and handle God's Word are doing so. 
This is not a Pharisaical matter of "you don't have the right education, so you shouldn't preach".  This is about authority and context. 
There are two sides to this matter.  One has to do with the appropriate handling of literature.  This means reading poetry as poetry, history as history, biography as biography, and apocalyptic as apocalyptic.  Try reading a cookbook to your wife like it's poetry.  I don't think you'll get very far.
A good place to start in regards to this first point is with the theologian Anthony Thiselton.  This scholar provides an incredibly astute and thorough analysis and grounding in the proper recognition of the text.  He is truly unsurpassed in his field.
The second side is learning to read Scripture as the apostles read Scripture.  Using the text as they used it.  Recognizing typology, symbolism, and imagery when it is in the text and rejecting it when it's not there.
We will learn to do this second point as we immerse ourselves in the history of the Church and the lives of the saints.  Building our hermeneutical skills from the tools of liberal modernity will not lead to success.  Reading and understanding the Word of God as the Church has always understood it will lead us into the deeper faith and a closer relationship with God and man.

The Dominant Culture

We ignore the controlling power of the culture most dominant around us to our own demise.  We rarely acknowledge the air around us.  The same can be said of our culture.  Having grown up in our particular culture, having everyone around us living by the same standards and rarely having those standards questioned by anyone whose opinion we value, makes an escape or critique of that culture highly unlikely. 
Everyone lives within a particular culture that is based upon a certain worldview and certain presuppositions.  Because these things are foundational to our thinking and stem from religious opinion and culture, a change away from these things to another set of views is rare.  This is rare due to the major cultural rupture that will occur within our circle of influence. A major change of this sort will usually really in a fracture of existing relationships, which most people highly value.
All of this leads us to some observations.  The beliefs we hold and the faith we practice will be controlled by our culture.  This says nothing about the truth or falsehood of that belief system.  What then is the answer to finding and determining the "truth"?  There are two extremes which may be avoided.  First is the "Joseph Smith" syndrome, that is, rejecting all authority outside of oneself and making oneself the final authority.  The second error, on the extreme other end of the spectrum is that of the Roman Catholic church, that is, question nothing of the authority of those over you, simply believe and do what they tell you.
So what is the middle ground? One had to decide where to begin.  Do you trust your senses? Or do you believe that what we receive from our senses is merely illusion (ie Hinduism)?  An understanding of history will help one move in the right direction.  If one starts from the position that God communicated to Abraham and up through the history of Israel, was leading his people in truth, culminating in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as the answer to the Old Testament, then one will embrace the Eastern Orthodox Church as "the" church.  One will be able to critique all other belief systems, see their internal inconsistencies and reject them as false.
What this really all comes down to is the responsibility each one of has to understand history, think clearly, and provide an answer for what he believes.  Everything else is likely to be built on sinking sand.

Objectification

One of the major points in the argument against pornography is its objectifying of women. Women are presented as an object to view rather than as a whole person created in the image of God.  When people become an object to be used and discarded or forgotten, things have gone seriously wrong.
But a second side to this needs to be considered.  Obviously, the women that get caught up in porn are victims, even those that "freely choose" to begin that path.  But what about the mentality, the thinking, behind attention-getting?  Since it is wrong for a woman to degrade herself by making herself an object to be looked upon, would it not be wrong for any woman to present herself as an object even outside of the porn industry? What then are the reasons for why people dress the way they do, apply makeup, or keep their hair?  What is the motivating drive behind the efforts put into appearance?
When it comes down to it, a woman uses her appearance to gain attention.  She will work according to the whims of current culture to attract attention.  Clearly there are other sins involved in porn, but the "attention" principle is underneath it all.  Even if the attention being sought is not lewd or vulgar, it is still attention being drawn to the physical with complete disregard to the rest of the person. 
Do we seek to draw the attention of others by adorning ourselves in a certain way?  Do we look upon the appearance of others with total disregard to the rest of the person?  In short, is our thinking based upon the physical and not the eternal?  We must assess ourselves and ask ourselves what it is that we genuinely think is important.  Do we put a great emphasis upon our physical appearance or do we take great joy in the appearance of others?  How does this compare with our thinking about other peoples souls?  The emphasis we put upon our own appearance communicates to others what we think is important and it also draws their attention to the temporal and not the eternal.  If we love others like we are supposed to love, we will help them toward godliness, not the flesh.  The emphasis we put upon the way others appear communicates a belief in the importance of the temporal and not the eternal. 
The short of it is this: the emphasis we place upon things physical tells the truth about what we truly believe about the importance of things eternal.

Indifference

An attitude of indifference is not compatible with the Christian life.  No matter what situation we find ourselves in, no matter who we are around, the idea of loving God and loving neighbor makes an attitude of indifference impossible.  We cannot look upon someone else's suffering or error with an uncaring attitude. 
The key though, to communicating with someone regarding their situation, and actually being able to help, is often difficult to engage.  We must determine how to communicate love and compassion without being bossy or nosy.  This means establishing a relationship with someone before trying to help.  Oftentimes, merely being someone who listens will go a long way to help. Loving without judgment is a goal to drive after. Learning to recognize the needs of those whom we come across, whom God brings into our path, is a habit to form. 
Learning to love unconditionally is the majority of the battle.  Pray for the means and the opportunity to practice loving your neighbor.

Our use of time

As i get older (I'm middle age now), the concept of limited time keeps coming back to me.  As mortal we only have so much time, and it seems like we have so much to do.  One very important thing to learn is analyzing and prioritizing (I guess that's two things).  We have to question the true value of a thing or activity by considering it in light of eternity.  A week from now, a month from now, a year from now, on the new earth, will this thing still be important? If not, we shouldn't necessarily not do it, but at least consider it and give serious thought to something else that is truly important. 
This is not about things that are sinful or not, that's pretty obvious, but the multitude of inconsequential things in our life.
How are we using our time? Do our actions exhibit a love for God and neighbor, or are they strictly self centered? Do they lead to a fruitful positive end, or are they disposable, merely forgotten in a week?
In general, this seems to fall into the typical theme for me.  Giving things done thought and acting on the results.