The meaning of death

Under the Old Covenant, death meant "not life" (obviously), but it also meant separation from the blessings of God, separation from the Promised land and separation from the people of God.  For the Jew, this was a huge issue.  For the Old Covenant people of God, all of the blessings for obedience were physical, therefore going into death meant separation from all of that.  Death was the scary unknown and was the ultimate sign of covenantal disobedience.
But this is no longer the case.
Now that the Old Covenant has passed away, under the New Covenant, with death having been defeated, we no longer need fear death.  Our life can transpire in a wide variety of ways.  Long or short, healthy or sick, rich or poor.  The important and defining factor is that of love.  Did we strive to love God and love neighbor?  In our love for God, we seek to put away those things that draw us away from Him and embrace and practice those things that move us toward him and make us more like Christ.
The fact of physical death should be, in the mind of the Christian, a non issue.  We will physically die, but to do so is merely to pass from this short life into eternity with Christ.  And we also have eternal life, in a sinless eternity, in a physical, perfected body, forever in the presence of our loving God.  This is a win/win situation for us.  We learn to live out a short, physical life, striving after a loving relationship with God, only to pass into eternity and a blessed future, with that same loving God.  Death is irrelevant.

Asking the right question

Another thought came to mind this morning, as I was reading.  A statement was made about Duns Scotus and a particular question that he asked in regards to original sin and the necessity of the incarnation. Without going into that speculation, it struck me that even the way we ask questions should be questioned. Again, my thinking has so be influenced by the West, scholasticism and academia that this observation probably deserves some serious consideration.
It occurred to me that the easiest way to correct this, without an overwhelming amount of introspection, is simply to start paying attention to how and what kind of questions the early church fathers asked.  The next step would be to apply their methodology to my current day.

Misdirection

I find myself constantly returning to the same point.  We have been born and raised in America, the land of freedom and opportunity.  What this actually means is that we will sacrifice anything for our rugged individualism.  We live how we want, by the rules that we choose.  And this is perfectly contrary to the Christian faith.
The big question?  How do we change our thinking so as to be more like Christ?  This is a multigenerational practice that will only come about if we consciously strive after it.  And this can only happen in the context of the church.

ISIS vs Christ

Last night I watched an absolutely wonderful but at the same time, convicting, documentary on the scourge of ISIS in Egypt.  The film centered on the families of the twenty men from Egypt who were beheaded (martyred) by ISIS.
It was incredibly moving to see the response of these families, in fact of such hatred and barbarism.  Those killed were seen to be martyrs for Jesus Christ, not compromising their faith in the face of militant Islam.  It came down to a simple choice: convert to Islam or die.  These men didn't waver.
Here is the link to the documentary: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/isis-vs-christ/

Double knowledge

Something I have been learning, as of late, is something the church fathers, St. Gregory Palamas in particular, calls double knowledge.  Having now been introduced to the concept, it makes perfect sense.  The idea is this, there are two kinds of knowledge, the first, natural, that is, knowledge we gain by study and intellect.  The natural sciences, book learning, the scientific method, etc.  The second is knowledge of God.  This is not a mere knowledge about God, but a knowledge of/relationship with God.  It is not something that comes by study, but by prayer, repentance and the cleansing of the soul.  We draw into an ever deepening relationship with God by turning away from the vanity of the world, loving God more than ourselves and hating sin.
I cannot but marvel at the radical contrast between this way of living versus that of the Protestantism/Calvinism that I previously lived.  My previous reformation years, while I did learn much about thinking, learning, history and theology, all of those things do not lead to godliness.  This point cannot be emphasized enough.  All the natural/worldly knowledge in the universe will not lead to godliness.  We only grow in our relationship with God by cleansing our souls and seeking Him. 
At the same time, there is nothing wrong with book learning.  One only needs to look at my library to see that I believe that.  As the church fathers have said, education and knowledge are tools that we can use to reveal greater light of divine truth.  The two types of knowledge are not contrary to one another.  They are two completely different realities.  One is natural, the other is divine.
Having great intellectual prowess and education will mean nothing if we neglect the state of our souls.  But on the other hand, someone can have a first grade education but surpass the most educated among us by having developed a sanctified soul.  Purity of heart is infinitely more important than any knowledge of any created thing, conceptual, philosophical or natural.
As Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians, anything without love is merely a clanging cymbal.

Politics

Over the past little while, I have really lost interest in anything political.  It all seems like a huge waste of time, with so much deception and misguided attention. The common opinion that all politicians are liars may or may not be true, but the the perception is based on something.
Anyway, at the same time, the question of faithful, Christian politics had been plaguing my mind.  What would a truly Christian political system look like?  I can say that a faithful, Christian political system would not look like what we currently have in the US.  I would argue in the basis of the religious foundations of the US, that is, evangelical Protestantism.  As I mentioned in a tweet today, the typical American Protestant church is radically different that the historic Orthodox church.  Therefore, it stands to reason that a political system derived from a religious worldview contrary to the historic faith would be contrary to the historic faith.
Obviously, an educated, well thought out answer to this question will not simply roll off my tongue.  This will take a long bit of thought and reasoning.

Foundations

It occurred to me the other day, after having a conversion with someone holding differing views than myself, that I had been missing a vital key to fruitful dialog.  This person complained that, to them, it was bothersome that my side of the dialog always returned to theology.
My revelation?  That my discussions are always built upon and lead to theology, because "love of God" is my foundation.  I came to realize that if the person with whom I am speaking does not have the same foundation, the conversation will most likely fail.
So the point that I need to remember and articulate is that my discussion partner may have differing foundations than myself and I need to know and understand (or at least discover and help them articulate) what his foundation is.  From there I can then find a common ground and build.
The whole point of dialog is to gain understanding and communicate love.  To most efficiently do so, I must understand him and speak to him in a way he can appreciate.  To begin from a common point and then move forward, so as to move him in the right direction, avoiding the logical or practical errors that would lead to falsehood, is the ultimate goal.
The great thing about logic is that one can begin a conversation literally anywhere, move in the right direction and the dialog will eventually move into Orthodoxy.  All truth belongs to God, therefore all discussion of truth will lead to his church.  Our responsibility is to be able to see it, understand it and be able to use it in a manner that leads in love. 
To communicate truth in a way that exudes love is what it is all about.  Even if the partner in dialog rejects the truth and love of God, we have done our work in communicating the gospel in a God honoring manner.