The Catalog of Good Deeds: Personal Thoughts on Orthodoxy

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We often call Christmas the “season of giving”. If you are like me, most of that giving is in material things. Toys for little ones, maybe nice clothes for older ones… maybe something really expensive for those precious ones. And of course, there is always the receiving of these fine gifts from others who have entered into the “season of giving”. Most everyone really likes being on the receiving end of a gift.

Now this article is not about to condemn such activities. In fact, I think it is really nice that we have a chance to give gifts to those we love and care about. And, it’s really nice to be on the receiving end too! At the same time, it is called the “season of giving” for a much different reason. Perhaps this story will help shed a little light.

Wealth More Precious than Jewels (Author unknown)

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and wanted it, so the woman gave it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.

A few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. “I’ve been thinking,” he said. “I know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me this stone.”

Even though this traveler had gotten hold of a precious stone that was worth a fortune, he realized that he was missing out on something even more valuable. The Giver of the gift had something of much greater worth than that stone. The traveler came back desiring that greater treasure.

We can be a lot like that traveler as we go through life. We may suddenly find ourselves in a bad situation. It could be serious, as in a health problem or divorce or death of a loved one. It could be less serious, as in feeling depressed or stressed out or in need of some material thing. Next thing we know, we find ourselves asking God for help. I imagine every one of us can recount a time when God intervened to bring us that gift we asked for.

Many of us have gone on our merry way after receiving His gift of help, forgetting that just maybe there was something far greater behind that gift. Is it possible that the One, who could give us that gift of help we needed, might actually have something more valuable to give us? Indeed, the real message of Christmas is not just that we have a God who is able to heal our broken health, or to bring comfort in the midst of great grief, or to bring peace of mind when our world is stressed out beyond belief. The message of Christmas is far deeper and greater for those who would bring their gift of life back to God and seek the more precious gift.

For those who would like to look further into that gift of Christmas, here’s some great reading from the Giver of Life Himself:

Luke 2:1-20; Galatians 4:1-7; John 1:1-13; 3:13-21.

God’s richest blessings to each of you this Christmas season!

By Fr. Stephen Powley

Source: https://upwordglance.com/2016/12/14/could-you-give-back-your-best-gift/

Learning to Swim

I learned to swim at an early age. I remember, before I started taking official lessons, my father taught me the basics of swimming. He would hold me on my back and teach me to float. In time, I learned to float on my belly and do the “doggy paddle.”

At some point, probably when I entered elementary school, my parents enrolled me in the city’s swim classes. I thought it was great. Our instructors were high school lifeguards. To me, they were the coolest people I’d ever met. They taught us how to kick, how to do proper strokes with our arms, and how to breathe. All was going well...until they wanted us to dive.

At first, it wasn’t so bad. We stood on the side of the pool and learned how to point our hands above our heads, how to lean into the dive, and, then, how to jump into the water. But, it turned horrid very quickly. They wanted us to dive off the diving board!

Jumping into the Deep End

Are you kidding me? They wanted me to climb up a steep ladder, walk out onto a wobbly and narrow plank, and jump into water that is deeper than I could ever imagine! And, they wanted me to trust them to catch me if all went wrong! How could I do that? They were, after all, only high school kids.

What I lacked, however, was trust. I didn’t trust everything I’d been taught, even though, by this point, I did know how to swim. I also didn’t trust the lifeguards. I had everything I needed, except trust.

Sermon on the Plain

In many ways, Jesus’s vision of the Christian walk is like diving into the deep end. The Orthodox Church has been reading through the Gospel of Luke, and, when Jesus gives the Sermon on the Plain (a lot like St. Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount but this is St. Luke’s version), Jesus asks us to take a big jump.

Jesus tells us that being a Christian may mean becoming poor. It may mean going hungry. We may end up weeping. And, to top it all off, people will hate us, exclude us, and revile us. (Luke 6:20-23)

But, despite our treatment, we are to love our enemies–even do good for them! We are to allow people to hit us by turning the other cheek. We are to give away our clothing to those who beg for the shirts on our backs. And, when people upset us, we are to forgive them–over and over and over again. (Luke 6:27-31, 37-38).

Is Jesus really asking us to live this way? It sounds like he’s asking us to jump into the deep end with no life preserver.

Jesus Is Our Lifeguard

As scary as the Christian walk sounds, it is the only true way to live. (Just imagine if everyone lived this way!) And, the good news is that Jesus is there for us. He’s our lifeguard. This is the meaning of the gospel lesson we read on Sunday: the raising of the widow’s son at Nain. (Luke 7:11-17)

After the Sermon on the Plain, where Jesus asks us to jump into the deep end of Christian living, he tells us that to live this way is like building a house on a solid foundation. He then shows us the power of this way of life.

First, Jesus heals the centurion’s servant from afar. All it took was for the centurion to have trust. Then, Jesus raises the widow’s son. Entering Nain, he sees a funeral possession and he tells the widow, “Do not weep.”

Remember, our Christian walk may leave us weeping. But Jesus promises that we shall laugh. We may become poor or hungry, but Jesus will give us the kingdom and fill us. Loving our enemies and forgiving others may lead to our death, but our master, the Lord Jesus Christ, has the power to raise us from the dead. He shows us this by raising the widow’s son. This is the power of God, a god who has visited his people.

Cross and Resurrection

The Christian walk is hard. It requires a lot of patience from us and a lot of compassion for others. It requires us to trust and dive into the deep end. Perhaps, we’ll drown. The martyrs, over 2,000 years, have shown that following Christ isn’t always about a happy ending...at least not in this life. But, this is the way of the cross. Jesus, who dived into the deepest water humanity has ever known, ended up crucified.

But, the good news is, Jesus is risen! Christ’s resurrection is confirmation that the Christian walk is the true way. It’s vindication that loving our neighbors, even when they hate us, is the right path to follow. It shows us that we should pick up our cross and jump off the diving board.

Take a deep breath, trust God, and jump. Jesus is there waiting to catch us.

By Fr. Dustin Lyon

Source: http://www.dustinlyon.org/?p=1763

The Advent Season, which began for us on November 15/28, is a time for anticipating the "Good News" of the Lord's Birth. As with all things in life, Scripture reminds us that we must be careful of being "in the world, but not of the world". This is especially true of the celebration of Christmas. Many lament that the stores are decorated for Christmas from the end of October - an example of the over-stressing and "early-stressing" of this great Christian Holy Day. But what do we do in our homes? I have noticed that on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, people begin to put up their decorations and turn on their Christmas lights and trees.

Our Orthodox Advent tradition gives us some guidelines of which many of us perhaps are not aware. Within this 40-day preparation period, a slow progression of events and remembrances unfolds. This is seen in the general attitude, hymnology, prayers, and fasting practices which begin to intensify on the Feast of St. Nicholas (December 6/19), and progress through the feasts of St. Spyridon (December 12/25), St. Daniel (December 17/30) and St. Ignatios (December 20/Jan-uary 2). The latter is specifically called "the day of preparation". What do you think this tells us?

Add to this the tradition of the "Twelve Days of Christmas" that begins on Christmas Day, and runs to January 5/18, the day before Theophany, the next great feast. The 'food fast' is most intense on the 12 days preceding December 25/January 7, and there is no fasting on the 12 days after Christmas, not on Wednesday or Friday! Again, what do you think this tells us?

It is interesting to note that historically we do not have an exact date of Jesus' birth. The date of His Nativity was specifically selected by the early Church to coincide with the pagan celebrations held in late December. They were rather riotous and foolish in nature, not becoming of a follower of Christ. Thus this date had a dual purpose: (1) to mark the Lord's coming to earth in human form, and (2) to do it at a time which would help defeat an attitude and lifestyle which went against the Lord's teachings. The early Church leaders knew that these Christians struggled with the temptation to return to their former ways. Once again, what would you think this tells us? The Orthodox tradition is clearly not to "pre-celebrate" Christmas, but rather to withhold the celebration until the designated time. Once it arrives, we are to celebrate it joyously, not with over riotous activity as did the pagans. Some 40 or 50 years ago here in America, people decorated their Christmas trees on Christmas Eve. Slowly, through the influence of merchants and media, we started to put up our decorations and trees earlier and earlier each year. As a result, we take them down earlier and earlier, not waiting for the Theophany observances of January 5-7 [January 18-20], which are specifically part of the 12-day cycle beginning on Christmas.

Every year there are more and more parties held during the height of the Christmas Fast, instead of during the festive period of December 25-January 5 [January 7-18]. On the day after Christmas we hear people say that Christmas is over, and the Christmas trees are out on the curb. Since they have pre-decorated and pre-celebrated and feasted, in their minds "it's over", when really it should just be beginning.

I offer the following practical applications of our Orthodox theology and practice:

- Do decorate, but don't pre-decorate. Use the December 6-20 [December 19-January 2] guide as a starting point.

- Do celebrate, but don't pre-celebrate. Use the December 25-January 5 [January 7-18] time frame for your festivities.

The Scriptures instruct us: "In all things be not like the pagans, but rather calm, joyful in praise and giving of love to glorify Christ who came for us." Since we Christians are called to be "in the world, but not of the world", we are to transform the world and not have the secular world transform us. Secularism has crept into our Christmas observances. It is up to us as individuals to purify the celebration. This begins with our families, our households, doing the more proper and fitting things and teaching others to do likewise by example. I urge you to plan for a Christmas observance that will hold true to our Orthodox view and pattern for celebration.

By Fr. Andrew George,

taken from “Orthodox Family Life”

Source: http://www.theologic.com/oflweb/xmas/precele.htm

There’s a slim chance of finding someone who will openly claim that she wants to be sick. It seems natural to want to be healthy and to wish the same for other people. For instance, if you ask a young mother what she wants for her baby, she will immediately reply, “I want her to be healthy,” and possibly forget to mention anything else at all. Is it always useful to be healthy and pray for health? What is the place of physical health in the system of Christian values?

“You Should View Your Illness as a Wake-Up Call from Heaven”

I’ll limit my answer to physical health because there is spiritual health, too. Certainly, physical health isn’t among the chief Christian values, as aren’t our clothes.

In fact, our flesh is our temporary garment, the leather robes that we received from God. Yes, it is important and significant. Our bodies are the temple of the soul, which is why the Lord often healed people. It was one of his main occupations on earth. However, we all remember how He told a man who had been paralyzed for a long time, “Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5: 14). We also remember the lepers who lived outside of the city walls and begged Jesus to heal them. Only one of them returned to Him later to say thank-you. Where did the other nine go? They returned to their passions and desires. Only one leper was fully healed in the end. He was healed both physically and spiritually.

Of course, we ought to strive for the ideal. We know that Christ didn’t fall ill because He had neither sinful thoughts nor passions. Even ascetics fall ill sometimes. It isn’t caused by their sins, though. Their illnesses are a way for them to receive crowns, to acquire more grace and more spiritual gifts. The reasons why saints and ascetics fall ill are a distinct and separate topic.

We can interpret illnesses as a way to heal our souls. They are remedies for the ailing souls. Take, for example, a dreadful illness like cancer. Tumors are frequently overlooked until the entire body is affected and it’s too late to do anything. That’s when people learn that they’re ill. Nevertheless, this illness can be immensely beneficial for one’s soul. There are many people who call it affectionately “cancerling”. There is even a saying, “Cancer isn’t kidding: it grabs your hand and drags you into the Paradise.” Cancer really provides an opportunity to put all things in their rightful places little by little and get rid of all excessive and unnecessary things that we used to rely on when we were healthy. Patients’ souls are purified, and they get saved and return into their heavenly home.

There have been quite a few miraculous healings, too, even when doctors were unable to help. People are cured by their tears of repentance, the Sacraments of the Church, heartfelt prayers, and God’s Providence. I know a woman from the country of Georgia who learned of her cancer when it was already in the terminal stage. She wasn’t a staunch believer yet. She went to Moscow and saw a famous doctor who admitted that it was too late for him to be able to do anything. He added, “Go ask God to heal you!” God’s Providence led her to the Convent of Blessed Matrona. She stood by the saint’s shrine and went away. That night, Matrona appeared to her and said, “Why don’t you pray to me? Why aren’t you asking me to heal you?” The woman replied, “I don’t know Russian, you don’t know Georgian. How can I pray to you?” She was a simple woman, you know. Today that woman is completely fine. She honors Matrona very much and never sees doctors anymore. She went through dozens of doctors but it was prayer that turned out to be her only remedy.

Of course, we should aim for a healthy body. But when a person is spiritually asleep, he can perish. You should treat your illness as a wake-up call from Heaven, “Behold, there’s something wrong with your soul. You can die. You must take care of your soul as quickly as possible.” That’s why when you fall ill, your first impulse must be to think, “What have I done wrong?” You should re-consider your lifestyle, your relationships with God and people, repent of your sins and take the Unction. It will suffice in most cases.

Of course, we’re not opposed to medical professionals. We have God-inspired doctors among our saints, e.g., Saint Luke of Crimea and Saint Panteleimon. The problem with physical health is that people unthinkingly do whatever it takes to have it. They never ask themselves what they need it for. Sadly, more often than not, they need it to be able to enjoy sinful worldly delights and to pursue their sinful passions. That’s what they think: Is my life worth living if I cannot eat delicious food and if I don’t have earthly pleasures? That was how people used to live without God. We remember the Ancient Rome where noble people would even commit suicides as soon as they learned that they could no longer indulge in the pleasures of the flesh. They didn’t know God. When you don’t know anything about the eternity, your physical fitness becomes central, and that’s obviously dangerous. That is why the Lord lets us fall ill so that we could take some time to think about our souls.

We are Christians and therefore we should be thinking first of all about our souls and not about all possible ways to get rid of our ailments. Speaking of severe cases or terminal illnesses, yes, we should ask for God’s healing so that we could continue living and becoming better persons, cleansing our hearts, and putting to use the talents that the Lord has given us. A human body is a donkey that is meant to take us to the paradise. Non-severe illnesses sometimes advance one’s spiritual growth. I can confirm that from my own personal experience. For instance, you suffer from the sin of gluttony. You pray to God and ask Him to deliver you from that sin. The Lord sends you an illness that affects your digestion, which is not severe and not terminal. When I had pains in my pancreas, my doctor told me, “You must eat simple food. I prescribe to you hunger, cold, and rest.” I smiled. That was precisely what I was after. Why do I need to get rid of that illness? Let it be. It gives me an opportunity not to fall prey to the sin.

Some people say that all illnesses are caused by anxiety. Where does the anxiety come from? Its roots are in our pride and selfishness. We must learn to be humble and to accept everything that God sends us with gratitude. It may be life or death, wealth or poverty, illness or health. If we maintain that peaceful stance of complete submission to God, we will most likely never fall ill again. If we start sinning, being nervous, hasty, or scared, we’ll receive a pushback in the form of an illness. That’s why we should seek the cure for our soul. Our chief doctor is the Lord and His Gospel. Human physicians are merely His helpers. Let’s improve spiritually and take our medicines.

By the Rev. Lev Arshakyan,

the spiritual father of Elvira Fellowship

for Social Support of Deaf-Blind People

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

Source: http://pravoslavie.ru/105888.html

Last week, I dropped by a friend’s house and found him on his hands and knees in the front yard. He was frantically searching for something. I went over to him and asked what was going on. He told me that he had lost the only keys for his truck and had to find them. I immediately dropped to my knees and joined the search. After about 10 minutes of fruitless searching I suggested that we stop and start from the beginning. I asked him to tell me exactly where he was when he lost the keys. He said he was inside the house! After a moment of silence to gain my composure, I asked him what in the world he was doing searching for his keys in the front yard, if he had lost them inside the house! He explained to me that there was more light outside and thought it would be easier to search for them!

This modern parable (no I didn’t really find my friend looking for his keys) provides a good picture of this modern world we live in. There are so very many people looking for happiness; looking for “God”; looking for meaning to life; looking for healing for their emotional pains and scars… but sadly, they are looking in the wrong places! They are looking in places that “feel good”, or in a place that seems to be popular on television, or in an easy place to get to (one that doesn’t interfere with having fun). It is very much like the guy searching in the wrong place for those car keys because it is lighter outside, or the air is fresher, or because his neighbors are outside, or because he didn’t want to mess up the inside of the house.

There’s an old country western song about “lookin’ for love in all the wrong places” that seems pretty appropriate. They may find something… but not what they really wanted or needed. Many folks are looking for answers to those tough questions in life or looking for healing from those pains, yet they refuse to acknowledge the Lord. They want physical or psychological answers to issues and they want no part of any spiritual answer. There are some things that we do need a physical or psychological help with, but to leave God out of the picture is simply discounting the ultimate healer and helper.

This world has done its best to discredit the impact the Lord can truly make on someone’s life. They would have us thinking that God’s power doesn’t measure up to our hard hitting problems. It is better to look for life’s answers any place but with God. Many years ago, we lived in a small town that had an enormous problem with drugs and their young people. The City Council even advertised in the local paper asking if anyone knew of a way to help. The ministerial group of the town contacted them about a group that had enormous success working with young people using drugs. A meeting was set up and the very first question asked by the City Council was: “This group isn’t going to mention God are they?” They were told that God was the very foundation of the answer to this problem. They refused to even listen any further…they wanted the drug problem to be solved without God in the picture.

The Holy Scriptures speak to us about what can happen when a person searches in the right place: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”; “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, Who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him”; “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”.

Besides dealing with the pains of life in this way, many folks also seem to search for the TRUTH in exactly the same way as the man with the lost car keys. So many folks have bought into the idea that truth can somehow be “relative”. In other words, whatever is true for you is truth…we all arrive at our own truth. This sounds so very nice, but it totally misses reality.

There really is TRUTH in this universe and no matter how much we may believe a lie, it will never become the TRUTH! Gravity is a nice example! I can believe with all my heart there is no such thing as gravity; I can proclaim to everyone who will listen that gravity is a fable; I can write best-selling books about the lie of gravity… but if that “truth” is ever tested by me stepping off the roof…well you all know that I will have discovered the hard way that gravity does indeed exist!

TRUTH is an absolute! Unlike the fairies of Peter Pan, TRUTH will continue to exist whether we believe it or not. This holds fast in both the physical realm and the spiritual realm! TRUTH is something we should pray for: “Guide me in Your truth and teach me” (Psalm 25:5). The words of the Holy Prophet Isaiah would seem to fit our world today as they did in his day: “Truth has stumbled in the streets… and they turned away their mind so as not to understand” (Isaiah 59:14-15). May we never turn our minds away from the TRUTH, rather may we be seekers after the TRUTH!

When those pains of life or tough questions come our way, may we all humble ourselves and seek the Lord. There is only One who claimed to actually be the TRUTH…not simply to teach the truth or to point us toward the truth…Jesus Christ said: “I am the Truth…” (John 14:6). He is the One, Who has the healing touch and the answers. And may you have a heart that hungers for the TRUTH (and nothing but the TRUTH)!

God bless you all, each and every day!

By Fr. Stephen Powly

Source: https://upwordglance.com/2016/04/13/lost-keys/

And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Gen. 2:9).

We often hear that Adam and Eve were cast away from the Garden of Eden for their disobedience, namely, because they ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which God had ordered them not to eat. What kind of tree was it? What did it look like and why do we often see it portrayed as an apple tree?

The decision of the Christian tradition of the West to depict the tree of knowledge as an apple tree was bound to happen, and it would be really surprising if they didn’t do it. That’s because the Latin word for ‘apple’ is mālum, while the Latin word for ‘evil’ is mălum. The two words are nearly identical, which was why the Christians in the West began portraying that tree as an apple tree, for, after having eaten the mālum (apple), our ancestors got to know mălum (evil). And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Gen. 2:16-17).

How did the Eastern Orthodox tradition envision the tree of knowledge?

Most Holy Fathers didn’t try to find out the nature of this tree. They paid more attention to spiritual understanding of the commandment laid out by God and the consequences of being disobedient to God’s will. St. Maximus the Confessor interpretes this passage allegorically, stating that the act of eating the fruit of this tree symbolizes improper usage of one’s senses, which leads to insanity.

Other Holy Fathers often deemed the tree of knowledge to be a fig tree because when Adam and Eve sinned, they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. (Gen. 3:7). After they sinned, they took the leaves of the tree of knowledge. This tree is often mentioned in sacred texts, in particular, in the episode when the Lord cursed the fig tree that did not have any fruit. The Fathers also pointed out that the reason why Jesus acted in such a way was because that tree was the tree of knowledge that our ancestors had eaten a fruit of.

Here is one of the most unconventional patristic attempts at interpreting this passage from the book of Genesis: the exegesis by Saint Ephraim the Syrian. St. Ephraim regarded the tree of knowledge as a symbol of God, which is why we read in his book Adam and Eve, “If only Eve paused to think who stood in front of her when she saw the tree of knowledge—whether it was a creature or the Creator.” These words are uncommon, especially if you consider that St. Ephraim interpretes it too allegorically for the school of theology he belonged to.

That is why, based on the idea that the tree of knowledge is a way of partaking of God, some Holy Fathers, including St. Ephraim the Syrian, put forth the suggestion that the tree was a grapevine, for it was wine, the fruit of the grapevine, that Christ turned into his most pure Blood during the Last Supper. The Lord said, I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. (John 15:1).

Saint Ephraim treats the commandment about not eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil as the commandment about fast, about some kind of spiritual and physical abstinence. Adam and Eve were commanded to fast. Orthodox liturgical tradition always limits fasting time. A fast is over as soon as the holiday for which it was meant to prepare us begins. It is by fasting that we make ourselves worthy of partaking of God’s grace and get ready for this spiritual experience.

Saint Ephraim’s exegesis of the first chapters of Genesis is liturgy-inspired. According to Saint Ephraim, the paradise is God’s temple, while the Tree of Knowledge, along with the Tree of Life is the Holy of Holies where God dwells. Adam and Eve are God’s priests who were explicitly created in order to offer unto God the sacrifice of praise. They had to make themselves ready to eat the fruit of that Tree by fasting and contemplation. Having been created in the image of God, Adam and Eve were to enter the fullness of Divinity.

Our ancestors failed this test and were thrown out of the paradise: not because God was angry with them but because they were no longer capable of staying in the paradise. The sin of the first human couple is the sin of sacrilege, the sin of unworthy communion. Instead of offering a true sacrifice and proper service to the One God, they stole the great Treasure and desecrated the great Sacrament. Communion with Christ is absolute good but if someone wishes to partake of the Holy Eucharist, sneaks into the altar, steals the Holy Gifts and eats them, he will commit a sacrilege.

Thus, our ancestors lost the opportunity to approach the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life. Nevertheless, it was exactly the reason why our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world: He came so as to draw everyone closer to him through his Cross, this new Tree of Life, and to grant them open access into the Holy of Holies, which had been locked by Adam’s sin. Jesus Christ calls all the faithful who believe in him and who have been washed by the water and the Spirit to approach the Cup of Immortality and to be united with their Creator during each Divine Liturgy. Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9). Let us behold our Savior’s call, defy false humility that leads us away from the Cup of Christ, and approach the Bread of Life with fear of God in faith and love.

By John Nichiporuk,

a Bachelor of Theology,

specialized in Biblical Studies.

The Catalog Of Good Deeds, 2018

So… they’ve taken Christmas out of Christmas and put it in Advent, and they’ve taken Christ out of Advent, except it’s not really Advent anymore, it’s Shopping Season, and then when the real Christmas comes, Christ is still in Christmas but Christmas is over. And who has done it is not who everybody thinks it is. (Are you still with me?) That is where modern American society is. The true Advent and Christmas are still here in the Church, but is anybody paying any attention?

Orthodox Advent and Christmas

Here’s how the Church intends us to keep this time of year: On November 15 our Orthodox Advent (Christmas) Fast begins. The calendars all say it should be kept like Great Lent. In parish use (outside the monasteries) I think it is usually just meatless. All Christians once kept an Advent Fast; now we Orthodox alone are left to tell you, and I’m not sure how many of us keep it. All the liturgical churches, east and west, follow approximately the same pattern. Advent is intended to be a time of quiet patient waiting, hope, prayer, repentance, reflection on the mystery of the Virgin and the coming of the Maker of all to our earth, as we move towards The Nativity of Christ – rather like Great Lent as we prepare for Pascha. Western Advent is shorter than ours but “fuller”, with many hymns and Scripture readings leading up to Christ’s birth. We Orthodox don’t have as much “verbal” preparation for Christmas. Some readings speak generally of darkness and light. On November 26, this year, we get our first Advent hymn, the lovely Kontakion “The Virgin Comes Today” – often sung slowly as we wait patiently.

Those who come to Sunday Matins/Orthros hear the Christmas Canon. The two Sundays before the Nativity of Christ are dedicated to Christ’s Ancestors and to those in his Genealogy. For us, that’s about it until a few days before Christmas. Hardly a celebration. The Christmas feast begins (surprise!) on Christmas and continues, with us Orthodox, for 8 days. Westerners get “The 12 Days of Christmas”. Our Fast goes off on Christmas and remains so till the great feast of the Epiphany, which originally was considered more important than Christmas.

How our culture has totally messed up Advent and Christmas

However today in popular secular practice the “Christmas” season now begins… when? Well, one Milwaukee radio station has played wall to wall 24 hours a day pop “Christmas” music since late October. As I write this on November 21, the White House has announced that “the Christmas season has begun”. The White House press corps are skeptical of many things, but they didn’t question that. In stores where once they played Christmas carols, now they play pop winter songs. (This I think is a good thing. They no longer use songs about Jesus to sell merchandise.) Santa Claus now arrives, sometimes by helicopter (and sometimes accompanied by whoever this is!), in mid November to sell merchandise. (This is a very bad thing. In 3 weeks we’ll talk here about “The Real Santa Claus” and how commercialism has turned our beloved Saint Nicholas into a car salesman.) Even many churches now schedule their Christmas concerts and activities before Christmas. Then after the Christian Christmas season actually arrives on December 25, it all stops. Just try to go to “The Nutcracker” or “The Christmas Carol” after Christmas Day. Sorry, it’s all over. Our neighbor lady across the street acts this out perfectly. Usually she puts her “Christmas” tree up on November 1 and takes it down on the day after Christmas. And as for poor Epiphany, after the holiday Shopping Season from Thanksgiving to Christmas, followed by civil New Years Day parties and a gazillion bowl games (there used to be 4), everybody is wiped out, and Epiphany is ignored.

To summarize: 1) In our culture there has been a War on Advent, and we have lost it. Advent has been almost completely secularized, and most Christians go right along with it. When I was a boy, at least in our part of Ohio, Christmas trees were not put up and decorated until Christmas Eve. No more. 2) Nobody has attempted to take Christ out of Christian Christmas. December 25 is still ours! But most Christians ignore the Christmas season and the Epiphany.

Now, I’m not trying to sound like Scrooge. But look: even Scrooge repented during Advent and then celebrated with the Cratchit family on Christmas Day. I’m only saying that the secular world around us has got it all backwards. And if we follow the secularists, we miss the joy of both seasons. One can hardly blame non-liturgical Christians who have no Church guide to the seasons. But we Orthodox and Roman Catholics and Anglicans and Lutherans have no excuse. We are living double lives at this time of year, and we really should know better.

Does this make any difference? Yes! Of course, sin and death are worse problems – keep it in perspective. But consider what a difference it would (will?) make if the commercial interests turned our Great Lent into a season of parties and shopping leading up the visit of the Easter Bunny, and if Christians just went along with it. What would we lose in our prayer life and spiritual growth and devotion to Christ? and if at the end of Lent we were so exhausted and our stomachs so full that the joy of the Paschal feast and Paschal season meant little to us? Think of what we would lose. Well, that’s what has already happened to Advent and Christmas. And by losing the Epiphany we have lost its theme of “Christ for the world”, the mission of the Church.

The War on Advent: How we lost it and who was behind it

Some television and political personalities say there’s a “War on Christmas”, that evil atheists are taking Christ out of Christmas. They’re onto something, but they haven’t got it straight. As I said, it’s really a War on Advent. And who’s behind it is not the atheists but the commercial interests, the very people who sponsor the television shows and the political campaigns of those who complain there’s a “War on Christmas”!

How did all this happen? Let’s do some history.

The feast of the Nativity of Christ dates back only to about the fourth century. Believe it or not, Christians did not celebrate Christmas for the first 3 centuries of the Christian era. Since we don’t know the date of Christ’s birth, Christians borrowed the date of the ancient pagan winter solstice festival of “Sol Invictus”, the return of the “Unconquered Sun” – since Christ is indeed the true Light that came into the world, that “shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it”.

Most of the rest of what we think of as “traditional Christmas” is in fact modern. Most popular Christmas carols go back only to the 19th century. Christmas gift-giving as we know it seems to have begun a couple of centuries ago. At first gifts were given to the poor. Then in the mid 19th century, about the time the lovely and bizarre poem “’Twas the Night before Christmas” became popular, people began to give Christmas gifts to children. In the late 19th century the commercial interests saw a marketing opportunity, and they promoted Christmas gift giving for all. Not surprisingly this caught on – for Jesus said “it is more blessed to give than to receive”, and after all who doesn’t also like getting presents?

Read the full article here: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/frbill/40-war-advent/

“If we desire to be in good things after the death of this body, let us take every care that our soul does not become glued to the body, nor mingled with it, staggering around as if drunk with the passions of the body, trusting itself to bodily pleasures.”

Saint Ambrose of Milan

I sometimes picture the soul covering itself with velcro hooks, which are the passions, so that the soul tends to stick to stuff. In conversation or when walking down the street, we see or remember someone’s mean actions, or their shapely body, and ZIP our attention is stuck on that image or word. We walk around, even into church or daily prayers, our souls completely covered in velcro-stuck food, drugs, nice houses, sexy people, and imaginary arguments that we won.

It’s like showing up for a sprint race wearing a scuba mask, tanks and fins, plus a parachute and a hazmat suit over it all, our arms full of kettle-bells and bags of candy corn. “Let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race…” (Heb. 12:1).

In a few hours or decades you and I will step out of this body… how easily? I’m afraid of finding myself in that life, awaiting the future resurrection, with my soul starving for all the connections it has learned to crave. Where is my pizza? Where is the new Game of Thrones episode? Where is my sex-partner? Where is my Facebook? I have hungered and thirsted for these things, and for a while I was filled, but now I am only hungry and thirsty and nothing will ever fill me!

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for *they* shall be filled” (Mt 5:6).

It is easy enough to diagnose the human problem of compulsion and distraction with stuff; the Buddha figured out as much 2500 years ago.

But together with the diagnosis, the Church offers a prescription.

Our first response when we see how controlled, compelled, and obsessed we are with stuff is to try and reduce the amount of stuff. Cut down on TV and gadget time, quit drinking or using, move out of the girlfriend’s house… And these are good, maybe necessary things.

But the thing to note is that these are not only habits, but passions. That word comes from the same root that gives us pathology, psychopath, and pathetic — it means a suffering or infirmity. (That’s also why we call Christ’s suffering The Passion.) The passions are spiritual illnesses. And that is good news, because illnesses can be treated and even healed.

Along with changing our behavior, by our own willpower with God’s help — perhaps avoiding buffet restaurants or liquor stores, or biting our tongue when unhelpful words want to come out — we have the possibility of uprooting and healing these “sticky” places in our soul.

That healing therapy is twofold. First, on a moral level, we can’t simply fight our impulses and programmed behaviors by white-knuckled denial. We have to plant new behaviors with which to displace the old. If we are prone to judge and condemn, then we need to learn mercy by giving alms and serving others. If we are compelled to use alcohol and other drugs, then we need to write new scripts for our stress to follow: patterns of behavior that include meaningful conversation, forming non-dependent relationships, confession and absolution, and healthy ways to identify and calm stress before it takes the wheel. Others outside the Church know this: Twelve-step programs and counselors say the same thing.

What is unique in the Church is the healing of the soul, which begins to straighten the inward brokenness underlying our passions.

Remember your basic Orthodox Catechumen 101? At the very beginning, your priest probably introduced you to daily prayer, a rule of fasting, frequent confession and communion, reading scripture, almsgiving. These things are not regulations; nobody will deduct points from your score for failing to do them, and Christ will not judge you based on your merit badges. These things are therapy and discipline.

If you’ve got a broken ankle, you need more than ice bags: Your doctor will prescribe some exercises. If you don’t do the exercises, you won’t go to hell… but you won’t get well, either. If you want to walk then you’ll follow the therapeutic prescription.

If you’re a mediocre pianist or athlete or martial artist, and you ask an Olympic coach or master musician or sensei to help you, he may prescribe some specific ways of eating, times for sleeping, and a lot of inconvenient, repetitive exercises that cut into your TV and party schedule. These are called “disciplines” (and if you don’t have disciplines you aren’t a “disciple.”) The Olympic coach or sensei sees potential in you, and all his rules and corrections are there to form in you the image that he sees you can become.

We Orthodox often want to talk about theoria or miracles or why we are smart for having picked the Right Church. We are quick to post memes and quotes from the Fathers. And we have so many opinions about ecumenism, tollhouses, and canons.

Now if we could all just go back to Catechumen Basics 101, review the part about simple weekly fasting, daily prayers, almsgiving, guarding our lips and eyes… and do these things… then Orthodox Facebook might be a less septic environment; and more importantly we would begin to be healed.

Imagine, not only having fewer distractions for our shattered attention, fewer compulsions driving us into unthinking scripted behaviors — but beyond this, having a firsthand, personal, here-and-now experience of the mercy and peace of God that makes us less “sticky,” and more ready to cooperate with the action of God in us.

At Gethsemane, the Lord said, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (Jn 14:30). The tempter owned no territory in Him. There were no passions in Christ for a temptation to stick to.

That is what all our disciplines and canons are for. That’s the Olympian gold-medalist that the coach sees in us. The Church will continue pointing us all back to these basics – which are practiced daily by monks, nuns, and every Christian being perfected through faith — “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man [completely-grown adult], to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

Talk to your priest?

By Fr. Silouan Thompson

Source: http://silouanthompson.net/2018/10/sticky/

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