Framework and interpretation

We all live our lives with a wide variety of interactions and experiences. The culture in which we happen to live, in large part, controls how we interpret these various situations.  Growing up in America, someone will have a very materialistic, comfort centered way of thinking that will be motivated and driven by this worldview.  Someone in agricultural India or Asia will obviously be different, very likely moving in Buddhist or Hindu circles and frame of thought.
I have been thinking lately about reality and how we interpret it.  Regardless of one's desire to be ecumenical or politically correct, there is only one reality.  The reason there are so many different religions and worldviews is not because of different realities, but differing interpretations.  There is only one framework that constitutes reality.  How honestly, thoroughly or consistently we interpret that framework will determine which worldview we embrace.  Without going into the details of why we interpret dishonestly or inconsistently, the fact is, the whole thing is a vicious circle. We interpret the framework because of our worldview and our worldview is molded by our interpretation of the facts.  The biggest challenge is to be able to step outside of our framework and consider from a different angle.  There may be facts that we have ignored or are ignorant of.  There may be certain beliefs that we have embraced either consciously or unconsciously, that prevent us from moving in a particular direction or seeing certain things.
My suggestion is this. Start asking questions such as"why".  "Why do I believe x, y, or x?"  "Why do I do thing a, b or c?"  As you ask yourself a question, also seek out how others have answered the same question.  When you have answered that question, ask the question that supports that answer.  Eventually you will come into some very difficult philosophical questions and that is okay.
This is especially interesting when we come to interpreting religious or spiritual experiences.  These experiences fully depend upon the worldview we have embraced.  We have nothing else upon which to lean.  We have no other frame of reference to look to.
Reality is what it is.  It is our responsibility to get it right.

Names and time

Today is the day of Pentecost. As someone pointed out, according to the church calendar, time, from this point forward, is named as "days after Pentecost", and this is significant.  The way we name things reveals several things, one of them being levels of importance.  In the Orthodox church, Pentecost is a great holy day, seconded only by Pascha (Easter).  What actually happened at Pentecost and what was communicated cannot be overstated.  The miracle of speaking in tongues was a reversal of the Tower of Babel.  When God looked down upon the efforts of men striving after rebellion, in trying to build a tower to heaven, he confused their language to stop their sinful unity.  Now, at Pentecost, because of Jesus' salvific work, man can, united as one in Jesus Christ, unify and once again enter into God's presence.
I would suggest that the overarching theme of Pentecost is mankind united as the church.  As a united people of God, we once again come to God.  This is simply everything.  That singular event should define our reality, thus the concept of naming our time based on this event.
To flesh out one more aspect, consider... linearly speaking, our life moves forward only in regards to the life of Christ, thus our use of his birth for our yearly calendar.  But cyclically speaking, we rise from the dead with Christ at Pascha, but our cycle of life is from Pentecost, when we join together as the church and move through life together, with the blessing of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.  It's always been about "the people of God."
That's important.

Recapture

As Americans, with our eyes on our wallets and our attention on physical appearance, we desperately need to recover and live out the truth that we are spiritual, as well as, physical beings.  Sure, you listen to people talk and see what many people do on Sundays and it may appear that people believe in the spiritual side of things.  But really, it is only talk and two hours on Sundays.
If we lived our lives with a balance between physical and spiritual, things would look radically different.  As it stands today, just a hair over one percent of our time is spent on spiritual life.  That is unbalanced.
I am really in no place to even begin suggesting what a balanced life looks like, but I do know that what we are doing right now is woefully lacking.

Spiritual and material

My thoughts have been moving lately in the direction of holism.   When we look at the wide variety of cultures across time and around the world, we see two tendencies.  A culture will either tend toward materialism or toward the spiritual.  I think reality is a spectrum with these two extremes on opposite ends.  A whole, healthy person will be perfectly balanced in the middle.  He will balance his energies between taking care of his body and his spirit without neglecting or injuring one in favor of the other.
The biggest problem for us today, here in America, is our terrible emphasis on the material, to the best total neglect of the spiritual.  Most Protestant churches are no better.  They preach on morality, on healthy living and on going to heaven someday (or avoiding hell, depending on the church).  But there is almost nothing said about healing the soul, restoring our spirit, or cleansing our heart.  It is so bad that to even to try to speak on the topic will bring either looks of confusion or derision, with accusations of being "New Age".
The far east, on the opposite end, tends toward the other extreme, at least religiously.  Meditation and reincarnation form a worldview that downplays the place of the body.
We need to remember, God made man body and soul.  He formed him from clay and breathed life into him.  We should not fall into the error of Platonism, which sees the spirit in the prison house of the body.  But we shouldn't neglect our spirit either, putting all our emphasis on exercise and the pursuit of youthful beauty.
It will be a very difficult path to find and travel, as we have been way off for so long.  But we must find a balance.  A whole new world will open up for us, in which we will know others more deeply, we will interact with all of creation more fully, we will come to know the spiritual side in ways we cannot even begin to comprehend, and we will know God in the way we were created to know him.
Our reality must be built upon a framework of loving God and loving neighbor.  We can only do this when we are whole, spiritually and physically healthy and balanced.  The tools that we need to move in the right direction are provided for us in the church, the holy, apostolic, historic Orthodox Christian church.  Let's learn to use them holistically.  Life is complex, this will take us a long time to figure out.

Curious?

If you have noticed, my postings have been rather scarce as of late.  I have recently discovered www.quora.com, a great website for posting and answering questions.  I am beginning to think that this site may be a really good medium to try to offer up some Orthodox answers to questions that people are actually asking.  I've been receiving some good attention and questions.  So if you are interested, you can check out my posts there as well.
I will still post here from time to time, but probably not as often.  We'll see.....

Sacred/Secular?

It is a common mode of thought in American, Evangelical, Protestantism to think in the dualistic terms of sacred and secular.  For many years, I tried very hard to categorize everything into this kind of world.  Everything was to be black or white, right or wrong, sacred or secular.  As I have become Orthodox in my life and worship, I have come to realize just how Old Covenant this kind of thinking is.
In the time prior to the resurrection, everything was categorized this way.  Everything could be compared to and run through the filter of external law.  Granted this is not to suggest that this was an easy task or one that was not abused via manipulation and verbal/literary gymnastics, but the worldview was there.  Since we have moved beyond the infancy of the Old Covenant and have moved into the New, we must change our thinking to fit.
We must not think in terms of law, black and white or a simple "draw a line in the sand."  Life is far too complex and "big" for our little brains.  Instead, our lives should be lived out in terms of our movement toward holiness and our relationship with God.  We need to ask, "Is this thing helping me or holding me back in my drive toward holiness?  Is this thing (physical, conceptual or otherwise) helping me keep my thoughts on loving God and loving neighbor, or is it simply a distraction to entertain me?"
But this is a question we must ask only ourselves and not try to impose on others.  This questions is deeply personal and must be discussed with our priest or spiritual father.  Everyone is in a different place with different needs, weaknesses and locale.  This is not to suggest that what is sin is different for different people.  Sin is sin.  But again, we must never impose on another.  Someone else's place typically cannot be known to us, looking in from the outside.  At most, we can only pose questions, and then pray for those we know and love, that they would continue to grow in holiness.

Balance

Over the years, I have heard stories and explanations about what we should expect as we enter the afterlife.  Sometimes, especially in Protestant churches, one hears the stereotypical hellfire and brimstone sermon.  Other times, one gets the impression that God is the old man in the sky, winking at our sins, allowing anyone, except maybe mass murderers, into heaven.
In Orthodox circles, things are a little more balanced and solid, but there still seems to be a bit of back and forth.  On one hand, we hear how God wants all men to be saved, that God is a merciful and patient God, giving us long life, in order to repent.  But on the other hand, one reads stories of monks who have struggled all of their lives, striving after holiness, only to approach death with much fear, afraid that they will be turned away from heavens gate. 
I would be the last one to criticize a monk, but I really struggle to accept the idea that God would turn anyone away, especially one who has fought long and hard to love him with all of their heart.  Jesus taught us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.  But one also had to realize that it is a yoke and it is a burden.
So we must strive to keep a balanced view.  We must work hard to walk the path of holiness, for it is a narrow path and we are fighting against an ungodly culture and our own fallen, corrupted natures.  But at the same time, God really, really loves us and wants us to be with him.  If we make use of the tools he has given us (church, prayer, repentance, confession, and the sacraments), we can be assured that he will be faithful and help us succeed and keep our faith, to the end.  The Christian faith is a battle, but God wants us to be holy and if we let him, he will do what it takes to get us there.