The Heresy of the Rapture

Source: orthodoxartsjournal.org

 I was more-or-less accidentally informed the other day of yet another failed prophecy/prediction of the so-called "rapture" receiving some media coverage. In response to yet another "false alarm," I am sending out this older meditation on the themes from a time in the past (about fifteen years ago), when I responded to  another "prophet"  who energized his flock with a failed "rapture" date.  

The Heresy of the Rapture

I was barely aware of the story over the weekend concerning a small(?) group of Fundamentalist Christians who were awaiting the “rapture” that would anticipate and prepare the world for its demise and the final judgment. I must have lagged behind in keeping up with the news – or at least certain newsworthy stories. Yesterday, however, I read a lead article about the self-appointed “preacher” who found himself “flabbergasted” that his calculation of May 21, 2011, as the day of the “rapture” did not actually materialize. I believe that he is now in hiding, though he did boldly predict that he now believes that a date in October of this year will be the actual day of the “rapture.” His poor followers are left to pick up the pieces of their shattered dream and return to the endless challenges of the “daily crosses” we often must bear in the quotidian reality of “this world.”

As an Orthodox Christian I am perfectly indifferent to any and all dates that may be calculated concerning the so-called “rapture,” for the simple but important reason that we do not believe that there will be a rapture as envisioned by various Protestant sectarians since the 19th c. This is a teaching – or belief – that has never been part of the Church’s Tradition and which we can probably label a “heresy” with some legitimacy. We believe that this is a false teaching that is contrary to the Scriptures and the ongoing Tradition of the Church. As I just mentioned, the origin of the rapture teaching is as recent as the 19th c. And I believe that the teaching is credited to a certain John Darby. This is a part of what is further termed Protestant “dispensationalism.” 

However, the twelve(!) volumes of the fictional Left Behind series by Tim LeHaye and Jerry Jenkins have recently popularized “rapture theology” with probably disastrous results for many Christians who were taken in by this bogus and fear-creating theology. And this “theology” is painfully superficial and artificial, based upon a misreading of a few biblical texts (I THESS. 4:13-18; MATT. 24:39-42; JN. 14:1-2) These authors – regardless of their sincerity – ironically became multi-millionaires as they wrote about the end of the world and the last judgment, in a series of best-sellers. Might as well enjoy yourselves and come to terms with “mammon” while waiting for Jesus to take you out of the this world of tribulation and sorrow! There is also a strong militarist “right-wing” component to the Left Behind series that has political implications for American foreign policy in the Middle East. Fortunately, it does seem as though a good deal of this has died down in recent years as this series of books has lost some of its momentum. I never felt the slightest temptation to read any of this literature, not even for the sake of maintaining an awareness of what was attracting so much attention.

Another irony is that many biblical literalists cannot support their claims from the Scriptures. For example: The word “rapture” does not appear in the Bible! It is an artificial construction, based upon cutting and pasting together the biblical passages that are mentioned above. For those who are blissfully ignorant of rapture theology, perhaps a short description may be helpful. The “rapture” claims that Jesus will descend from heaven and take up true believing Christians into the air with Him – hence the “rapture” (from the Latin raptio, “to snatch”); and hence all of those unanticipated driver-less cars that will be careening around our streets and freeways as so many weapons that God can further use to punish the non-believers. Christ will then essentially “turn around” and “return” to heaven with these true believers who will be spared the seven years of horrible tribulation unleashed upon the earth before He returns again in a definitive manner to inaugurate the end of the world and the last judgment. We are now presented with a two-part Second Coming of Christ that again has no biblical or creedal support. This scenario offers the false comfort to Christians that they will not have to share the sufferings of the world with their fellow human beings, legitimately prophesied in the Scriptures for the “end of the world” This is also blatantly in contradiction to the Scriptures (see MATT. 24:21-22).

As Orthodox Christians, we believe in the Second Coming of Christ, as stated in the Nicene Creed, when “He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead.” But Orthodox theologians do not spend/waste their time calculating the time of the Parousia, nor do they attempt to describe what is essentially indescribable. Vigilance and preparedness are essential virtues according to the teaching of Christ. Our own deaths will come soon enough, and these will serve as our “personal judgments” before the Final Judgment for which we pray to have a “good defense.” There is more than enough there to occupy us in the interval. As a Serbian proverb says:  Work as if you will live to be a hundred; and pray as if you will die tomorrow.

Another dreary effect of these stories is that the media and non-believers can mock Christians or Christianity for these supposedly non-fulfilled prophecies. I understand there were entire websites devoted to ridiculing this latest group and their vigilance in waiting to be raptured up on May 21. There were even “rapture parties.” The gleeful chatter and cynicism of the unbelieving world was very much a part of this sad story. Christianity remains in some minds to this day to be preoccupied with “Judgment Day” and the fear of God – together with God’s wrath toward sin and disbelief. Deservedly so one could argue, but it keeps the Gospel on the defensive and again sends very confusing signals as to what various Christians believe. Concentration is taken away from the love of God expressed so powerfully in the Incarnation, Death and Resurrection of Christ; of the sacramental life of the Church; of a life of serious prayer; and of the joy in the hearts of believers who trust in the further fulfillment of the promises of God.

Finally, there are the deeply disappointed, disenchanted, confused, and bewildered Christians who actually believed this “prophet.” Many of them distributed their assets and could be facing a bleak future of readjustment to life in the world. Now what do they do? Who now to listen to? How many will abandon their faith in Christ as they will feel as if Christ “let them down?” I feel very sorry for these people and hope that they can put their lives back together again on a solid footing with their basic Christian faith intact, though with a greater capacity for true discernment and a better knowledge of the Scriptures.

Just a few thoughts on yet another failed prophecy on the end of the world. Apparently, it’s back to work for everyone.

There is a Part II & III to this, if you are interested:

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Thursday's Theological Thoughts

Source: pixnio.com

I received a number of responses to my most recent Monday Morning Meditation on the season of Fall: a beautiful poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, together with shared reminiscences of the season from others. (Older parishioners seem to remember those burning leaves!) I also received this from an old friend who graduated from the seminary with me. She draws a wonderful analogy between the dying leaves of Fall and what they may reveal about the "real" person in the end. I thought to share her musings with you.

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Fall has always been my favorite season, as the stifling heat of summer finally lets up and the leaves change. I remember marveling when I learned that the colors are always there, but hidden by the green of the chlorophyll, only to be revealed by the act of dying. This is so in some people, too; our "true colors" are revealed at the end. There's a lesson in there somewhere. It's a wonder that even in its fallen state, creation can still so vividly reflect the glory of the Lord. Like you, I really loved the burning of leaves, although I had thought that this was pretty much a suburban backyard thing, and am surprised to learn that this took place in a city setting too. We are no longer allowed to do this, and for good reason, but it is still a cherished memory.

Monday Morning Meditation - Glory to God for Autumn

Source: pixnio.com

This year, the Fall officially begins for us today, September 22. Wonderful that we greeted the season with the beauty of the Divine Liturgy just yesterday morning. From my personal—and, admittedly, “subjective”—perspective, there is nothing quite like the Fall among the four seasons. For me, one of this season’s greatest attractions is found in the flaming red, orange, yellow and golden leaves that transform familiar trees into a series of neighborhood “burning bushes,” each one seemingly brighter than the other. When combined with a piercing blue sky on a sunlit day and a certain crispness in the air, I find myself more vividly aware of the surrounding world and thankful for God’s creation.

On a somewhat more “philosophical note”—more apt to emerge, perhaps, on an overcast, windswept day—we may realize that this “colorful death” signals the fleeting nature of everything beautiful in this world, “for the form of this world is passing away” [1 Corinthians 7:31]. And yet this very beauty, and the sense of yearning that accompanies it, is a sign of the beauty ineffable of the coming Kingdom of God and our restless desire to behold and experience that beauty.

Growing up on a typical city block in Detroit, I distinctly recall a neighborhood “ritual” that marked this particular season: the raking and burning of leaves that went on up and down the entire block once most of the leaves had spiraled and floated to the ground. Everyone on the block raked the leaves down toward the street and into neatly formed mounds of color that rested alongside the curb. Then they were lit and the task of raking now became that of tending and overseeing the piles of burning leaves. This usually occurred after dinner for most families, but one could still see the shimmering waves of heat that protected one from the early evening chill and the ascending ashes rushing upward. Please momentarily forgive my politically incorrect indifference to the environment, but I thoroughly enjoyed those small bonfires near the curb as the pungent smell of burning leaves filled the air. This unmistakable smell would, as I recall, linger in the air for a couple of weeks or more as different neighbors got to the task at different times.

The entire scene embodied the wholesomeness of a 1950s first-grade reading primer, as “Mom” and “Dad,” together with “Dick” and “Jane” (and perhaps “Spot,” the frisky family dog) smilingly cooperated in this joint, familial enterprise. The reading primer would reformulate this “celebration” of healthy work and a neatly ordered environment into a staccato of minimally-complex sentences: “See Dad rake;” “Dick and Jane are raking too;” “Here comes mom!” This all served to increase the budding student’s vocabulary while reinforcing a picture of an idealized—if not idyllic—American way of life.

Since my parents were peasants from a Macedonian village, we never quite fit into that particular mold—especially when my mother would speak to me in Macedonian in front of my friends! And yet I distinctly remember teaching my illiterate mother to read from those very “Dick and Jane” primers so that she could obtain her American citizenship papers, which she proudly accomplished in due time.

Before getting too nostalgic, however, I will remind you that this wholesome way of life - something of an urban idyll - was taking place at the height of Cold War anxiety. This, in turn, evokes another clear memory from my youth: the air-raid drills in our schools that were meant to prepare us and protect us from a Soviet nuclear strike. (Khrushchev’s shoe-pounding exhibition at the United Nations, together with his ominous “We will bury you!” captured the whole mood of this period.) These carefully-executed air-raid drills were carried out with due solemnity and seriousness—lines straight and no talking allowed! We would wind our way down into a fairly elaborate—if not labyrinthine—series of basement levels that were seemingly constructed, and thus burdened, with the hopeless task of saving us from nuclear bombs! We would then sit in neatly formed rows monitored by our teachers, and apparently oblivious to the real dangers of the Cold War world, until the “all clear” signal was given, allowing us to file back to our classrooms. Thus did the specter of the mushroom cloud darken the sunny skies of “Dick” and “Jane’s” age of innocence.

I must acknowledge that my short nostalgic digression does not offer a great deal for reflection. So as not to entirely frustrate that purpose—and because I began with some brief reflections on the created world—I would like to offer some of the wonderful praises of the beauty of the world around us from the remarkable Akathistos Hymn, “Glory to God for All Things.”

This hymn, which has become quite popular in many Orthodox parishes, was said to have been composed either by an Orthodox bishop or priest slowly perishing in a Soviet prison camp in 1940. In unscientific, yet theological-poetic imagery, he reminds us of what we are often blind to: God’s glorious creation. Would he have “missed” all of this if his life was as free as ours are to be preoccupied with daily concerns and cares that leave no time or room to look around in wonder? Whatever the case may be, this is a magnificent hymn that fills the soul with delight if only for the moment that it is being chanted:

O Lord, how lovely it is to be Your guest. Breeze full of scents; mountains reaching to the skies; waters like boundless mirrors, reflecting the sun’s golden rays and the scudding clouds. All nature murmurs mysteriously, breathing the depth of tenderness. Birds and beasts of the forest bear the imprint of Your love. Blessed are you, mother earth, in your fleeting loveliness, which wakens our yearning for happiness that will last forever. In the land where, amid beauty that grows not old, rings out the cry: Alleluia! [Kontakion 2]

You have brought me into life as if into an enchanted paradise. We have seen the sky like a chalice of deepest blue, where in the azure heights the birds are singing. We have listened to the soothing murmur of the forest and the melodious music of the streams. We have tasted fruit of fine flavor and the sweet-scented honey. We can live very well on Your earth. It is a pleasure to be Your guest. [Ikos 2]

I see Your heavens resplendent with stars. How glorious You are, radiant with light! Eternity watches me by the rays of the distant stars. I am small, insignificant, but the Lord is at my side. Your right arm guides me wherever I go. [Ikos 5]

Brings to mind Dostoevsky’s enigmatic phrase:  “Beauty will save the world.”

Midweek Morning Meditation: 'Wood is healed by Wood!' - The Tale of Two Trees

Source: pixnio.com

As we continue to observe the Feast Day of the Elevation/Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord all through this week, perhaps a few further words about the Cross might be appropriate.

The Feast of the Elevation of the Cross raises a myriad of themes - Biblical, historical, theological, etc. - for our meditation, to use that term. One such theme is what we call a typologicalreading of the Scriptures. This is a profound way of discovering the inner connection between persons, events, and places of the Old Testament - what we would call "types" - with their fulfillment as "antitypes" in the New Testament. Thus, Adam is a type of which Christ - the last Adam - is the antitype:  "Adam who was the type of the one who was to come" (ROM. 5:14).

Through typology we learn that the Old Testament can now be read as anticipating the Person of Christ and the saving events recorded in the New Testament, without undermining the integrity of the historical path of ancient Israel as the People of God entrusted by God with a messianic destiny. One such typological application is expressed in an intriguing and paradoxical manner through one of the hymns of the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross:

...For it is fitting that wood should be healed by wood, and that through the Passion of One who knew not passion should be remitted all the suffering of him who was condemned because of wood. (Sticheron, Great Vespers)

A truly wonderful phrase: "wood should be healed by wood!" Yet, what is this "wood" that is being referred to? How does wood "heal" wood? The wood in both instances is clearly the wood of two trees - the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil as found in GEN. 2; and the wood of the Tree of the Cross. In disobedience to the command of God, the man and woman of GEN. 2 - Adam and Eve - ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was the one tree, the fruit of which, it was not safe for them to eat:

You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in that day that you eat of it you shall die. (GEN. 2:17)

The freedom and self-determination of the first man and woman were tested by this divine commandment. In a celebrated interpretation of this passage, St. Gregory the Theologian (+395) draws out the meaning of this command and its consequence:

[God gave Adam] a law as a material for his free will to act on. This law was a commandment as to what plants he might partake of and which one he might not touch. This latter was the tree of knowledge; not, however, because it was evil from the beginning when planted, nor was it forbidden because God grudged it to us - let not the enemies of God wag their tongues in that direction or imitate the serpent. But it would have been good if partaken of at the proper time. The tree was, according to my theory, contemplation, which is safe only for those who have reached maturity of habit to enter upon, but which is not good for those who are still somewhat simple and greedy, just as neither is solid food good for those who are yet tender and have need of milk. (Second Oration on Easter, 8)

This is also found in St. Athanasius the Great (+373)

Knowing once more how the will of man could sway to either side, in anticipation God secured the grace given to them by a command and by the place where he put them. For he brought them into his own garden and gave them a law so that, if they kept the grace and remained good, they might still keep the life in paradise without sorrow or pain or care, besides having the promise or incorruption in heaven. But if they transgressed and turned back and became evil, they might know that they were incurring that corruption in death that was theirs by nature, no longer to live in paradise but cast out of it from that time forth to die and abide in death and corruption. (On The Incarnation, 3.4.)

The theme of the initial innocence of Adam and Eve, their lack of maturity and need for spiritual growth and maturation was very characteristic of the Eastern Church Fathers, being found as early as St. Irenaeus of Lyons (+c. 200).

Therefore, the "wood" of this tree proved to be death-dealing, not because God made it such "in the beginning," but because it was partaken of in a forbidden manner and not "at the proper time."

Nothing created by God is evil by nature; rather, all is "very good." But misdirected free will can pervert the good into something that is evil. The gift of the promise of deification is a God-sourced gift, not a self-sourced gift. 

On the other hand, the Tree of the Cross is precisely the wood through which the first disobedience was undone by the One who died on it in obedience to the will of the Father. The Tree of Life that was in the Garden was the actual "type" of the Tree of the Cross on Golgotha. The last Adam - Christ - healed us of the sin of the first Adam. (As early as St. Justin the Martyr, it was taught that the Virgin Mary was the "new Eve" also because of her obedience to the Word of God). The Cross is therefore

... the blessed Wood, through which the eternal justice has been brought to pass. For he who by a tree deceived our forefather Adam, is by the Cross himself deceived; and he who by tyranny gained possession of the creature endowed by God with royal dignity, is overthrown in headlong fall. (Sticheron, Great Vespers)

According to a pious tradition, the place of the skull is the place where Adam was buried when he died. The blood that flowed from Christ "baptized" that skull as symbolic of the sons of Adam (and Eve) being given renewed and eternal life by the blood shed by Christ on the Cross - the Tree of Life.

The Tree of true life was planted in the place of the skull, and upon it hast Thou, the eternal King, worked salvation in the midst of the earth. Exalted today, it sanctifies the ends of the world... (Litiya, Great Vespers)

"Wood is healed by Wood!" This is the good news revealed in the typological interpretation found in the liturgical hymns of the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross together with the biblical exegesis of the Church Fathers. This is why we honor and venerate the Cross by literally bowing down before it in adoration. The Cross was at the heart of the proclamation of the Gospel, a instrument of shame in the ancient world. But this did not deter the Apostle Paul from proclaiming that Gospel as the power of God:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (ROM. 1:16)

We also cannot be "ashamed" of the Tree of the Cross through which "joy has come into the world."

A Sacrificial Act of Love

Source: iconsandechoes.com

This past Monday, on the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, our friend and SUPRASL 2025 speaker Ewa Natalia Moroz-Keczyńska was found not guilty in a Polish court. In 2022, Ewa and four others were arrested for providing food, water, and shelter to two refugee families from Egypt and Iraq who had been forced to cross the Polish-Belarussian border. They faced up to eight years in prison.

While the ongoing tragedy at that border is a complex issue, and well documented elsewhere, my purpose today is simpler: to share Ewa’s story as a powerful, clear and courageous example of what it means to live out the teachings of Christ in real time.

The situation of refugees and migrants — whether in Europe or across the world—is undeniably complex, entangled in politics, national security, competing humanitarian concerns where the lives of human beings are often exploited to push competing narratives.

I understand the fears many people carry. If my own country faced a sudden influx of refugees, I too might be afraid— of losing security, of strained resources, or of cultural change. These are real, deeply human concerns that should not be dismissed.

Yet as Christians, we are called to view these realities through the lens of the Gospel. We cannot expect governments to always do the right, or the Christian, thing. And likewise we should when its seems that our political leaders or governments seem to be promoting Chrisitan values we should take care to inquire into their true intentions. That being said, while courts are not arbiters of the Gospel, the “not guilty” verdict in Ewa’s case resonates strikingly with Christ’s teaching. We can take strength not because the court validated Jesus’s teachings, but because we see that the Lord has heard our prayers; He has seen the good and justified deeds of His people.

The verdict in Ewa’s case came on the feast day of the Nativity of the Mother of God (new style). The Gospel reading for the feast gives us a clear lens for Ewa’s story. In Luke’s Gospel a woman calls out to Christ, blessing His mother: “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” And Christ replies: “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Luke 11:27-28. In this short response, as Christ is often want to do - keep it simple - all of His teaching is summed up. Keep the word of God. Keep His commandments. This is an astounding response from our Lord, for in it he places greater honor not on proximity to Him, not even on being the Theotokos, but on the simple and radical act of living His word.

And we know well from the parable of the Good Samaritan, which immediately precedes the reading for the feast, what that word, what that commandment is: to “love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and our neighbor as ourselves.” Luke 10:27. And Christ leaves no doubt about who our neighbor is: “The one who showed mercy” (Luke 10:37).

Ewa and her companions know this message intimately. They did not act for personal gain, for performance, or even as political protest. They acted as neighbors, performing a sacrificial act of love, fully aware that it could cost them their own freedom. The court’s ruling offers a rare glimpse of light in our polarized world, concluding that “helping people in desperate need, without seeking personal benefit, cannot be criminalized. To suggest otherwise would mean punishing every act of compassion.” The court went even further suggesting that, “Disagreement with an unjust status quo is often the spark that drives necessary change.”

War, injustice, poverty, and climate change force millions to flee their homes. Here lies our tension: the fears of host nations are real, but so too is the suffering of those who arrive. The Christian call does not dismiss those fears—but it also does not allow us to harden our hearts.

St. Maria of Paris, reflecting on John 3:16, wrote: “There is no following in the steps of Christ without sharing, however small, in this sacrificial act of love.”

Today, there are 122.6 million refugees worldwide. Each one is a human being created by God. To each, we are called to be a neighbor.

May we have the courage not only to hear the word of God but, like Ewa, to keep it.

Monday Morning Meditation: The Place of the Cross ~ in the Church, and in our Lives

Source: holycrossoca.org

The current Feast of the Elevation/Exaltation of the Cross allows us to go a long way in dispelling a stereotype that has developed concerning the Orthodox Church. This stereotype claims that the Orthodox Church is the Church of the Resurrection and/or Transfiguration of Christ at the expense of the Cross. Upon a closer and more balanced examination, this claim loses credibility.  The Cross has a central and abiding place within the Orthodox Tradition - theological, spiritual, liturgical, iconographic, and more. For the sake of brevity, the terse expression of St. Gregory Palamas (+1359), synthesizes more than a millennium of the patristic tradition of the Christian East, when he declared in one of his homilies: 

“The Lord’s Cross discloses the entire dispensation of His coming in the flesh, and contains within it the whole mystery of this dispensation.”

Liturgically, the focus on the Cross can hardly be described as minimal.  Great and Holy Friday is at the very heart of the Church’s liturgical tradition, when concentration of the Savior’s death on the Cross is treated with the greatest of solemnity and pathos. The crucified, dead and buried Master is surrounded by the faithful in a series of services that are emotionally intense and theologically rich in expression. This day serves as the prototype of every Friday (and actually every Wednesday)within the Church’s liturgical tradition when the Cross is the “theme” of those days, reflected in the hymnography of the day. That connection is strengthened accordingly by designating Wednesdays and Fridays as “fasting days.” The Cross and fasting have been linked together from the very earliest days of the Church’s history. To this day, practicing Orthodox Christians are expected to fast on those days as an expression of honoring and calling to remembrance the Cross of the Lord.

The current Feast of the Cross – one of the Twelve major fixed Feasts of the liturgical year - is one among others that again will focus our attention on the Cross throughout the year. The mid-point of Great Lent, the third Sunday, is called the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross. As on this current Feast, the Cross is decorated with flowers, brought into the center of the church by means of a solemn procession, and then venerated with the same hymn – “Before Thy Cross, we bow down and worship, O Master; and Thy holy Resurrection, we glorify” - accompanied by prostrations. At the end of the service the faithful approach and kiss the ‘life-giving wood” of the Tree of the Cross. Another feast on August 1, though not as observed, is called the “Procession of the Cross.” Neglected or not, the same rite of procession and veneration is prescribed for this feast as for the other two we are describing here.

Another practice, which comes to the Orthodox so naturally, but may strike the outside observer as strange, is that at the end of the Divine Liturgy all of the faithful approach the bishop or priest, and reverently kiss the hand-held Cross that is presented to them. (I am unaware of this practice outside of the Orthodox Tradition, but I could simply be ignorant about this). Each person then receives a piece of “blessed bread” – the antidoron in the Gk. – before leaving the church. Again, for someone raised from childhood in the Orthodox Church this is so natural that it remains indelible in the minds of those who grew up Orthodox even if they leave the Church at some point in time. The point here is that it is one more clear expression of the over-all role of the Cross within the life of the Church. Our last gesture before departing from the Church back to our daily lives is venerating the Cross and committing ourselves in the process of remaining loyal to Christ crucified.

Of course, “making” the sign of the Cross over oneself is another perfectly natural practice for Orthodox Christians – and shared by other Christian traditions, as this is one more practice that can traced back into Christian antiquity. In fact, it is about as natural as breathing! The reason behind this practice is clear yet profound. As I have written elsewhere: The Church and our personal lives are placed under the sign of the Cross, both as an emblem of victory and of our willingness to bear our personal crosses in our daily struggles against sin, temptation, the devil, and all manner of evil. Throughout the entire Liturgy, whenever we glorify God, we make the sign of the Cross over ourselves, revealing our faith in Christ, the “Lord of Glory” (I COR. 2:8) crucified for our sakes according to the will of the Father and “through the eternal Spirit” (HEB. 9:14).

Non-Orthodox Christians who visit an Orthodox Church, and who may be aware of this practice, will still comment on the frequency with which Orthodox believers will make the sign of the Cross over themselves during the services. Of course, the naturalness of this act should never take away from the concentration and care that needs to accompany this outward sign if it is to have any meaning.

Perhaps we should finally mention the fact that most Orthodox Christians wear a cross. This is not meant to be one more piece of “matching jewelry” or displayed in an ostentatious fashion. Rather it is a humble practice of again recognizing the place of the Cross in the divine dispensation and in our personal salvation. It also implies the “self-denial” that we need to practice as true disciples of Christ. Our vocation is not simply to be "cross-wearers," but "cross-bearers."

Reflecting upon this summary of the place of the Cross in the life of the Church and in our personal lives, one may not only come to the conclusion that the Orthodox do not neglect the Cross, but that their devotion to the Cross may be a bit excessive! But that is hardly the case. What needs to be remembered is that a holistic approach to the Christian Faith combines the “outward” and the “inward.” Feast Days, processions, prostrations, veneration, signings, etc. are the outward manifestations of the Church’s inner vision of the literally cosmic and then deeply personal dimensions of the Cross. This vision based on faith, is then proclaimed to the world in a variety of ways, each of which tries to capture something of the greatness of God’s love revealed in the Cross. For the Cross is the “mystery” of God’s will for the world and its salvation. (cf. EPH. 1:3-10) For the Cross is believed to be “breadth and length and height and depth” of “the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (EPH. 3:18-19)

Fragments for Friday -- He Gave What Was Most Precious to Show His Abundant Love

Source: pinterest.com

The sum of all is God, the Lord of all, who from love of his creatures has delivered his Son to death on the cross. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son for it. Not that he was unable to save us in another way, but in this way it was possible to show his abundant love abundantly, namely, by bringing us near to him by the death of his Son. If he had anything more dear to him, he would have given it to us, in order that by it our race might be his. And out of his great love he did not even choose to urge our freedom from compulsion, though he was able to do so. But his aim what that we should come near to him by the love of our mind. And our Lord obeyed his Father out of love for us.

Ascetical Homily 74.

Thursday's Theological Thoughts

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

This last Sunday, we anticipated the Feast Day of the Elevation/Exultation of the Cross - this coming Sunday, September 14 - by hearing in the Liturgy the glorious passage of Jn. 3:13-17. Embedded in that passage is the famous and well-known verse of Jn. 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." 

The great Fathers of the Church offered some wonderful commentary on this verse in their scriptural exegesis, as well as in homilies and treatises. I would like to offer a small taste of their words to help us further draw out the implications of the extraordinary revelation found in Jn. 3:16.

Here is St. John Chrysostom (the "Golden-Mouthed") commenting on Jn. 3:16 in a passage that has been described as "the Intensity of God's Love and Our Response." And, as usual, St. John draws a sharp moral point from this endlessly rich verse:

"The text, "God so loves the world," shows an intensity of love. For great indeed and infinite is the distance between the two. The immortal, the infinity majesty without beginning or end loved those who were but dust and ashes, who were loaded with ten thousand sins but remained ungrateful even as they constantly offended him. This is he who "loved." For God did not give a servant, or angel or even an archangel, but "his only begotten Son." And yet no one would show such anxiety for his own child as God did for ungrateful servants ...

We put gold necklaces on ourselves and even on our pets but neglect our Lord who goes about naked and passes from door to door. ... He gladly goes hungry so that you may be fed; naked so that he may provide you with the materials for a garment of incorruption, yet we will not even give up any of our own food or clothing for him ... These things I say continually, and I will not cease to say them, not so much because I care for the poor but because I care for your souls.

Homilies on the Gospel of John 27.2-3.

Midweek Morning (Guest) Meditation - The Weeds Between Us

Source: ancientfaith.com

This growing season I have tried to let the big garden at the park “lay fallow” or rest without the burden of needing to produce food for For the Life of the World Cafe. Last year I grew and put up enough menu staples to last us until the spring of ‘26. With the scriptural invitation to let fields lay fallow every seven years, and having tended the soils of our West Norwood neighborhood for fifteen consecutive growing seasons, both the fields and I have been doubly due for some “rest-oration.” However, over the course of the last eight months, I have learned that this is more easily said than done.

I couldn’t simply have a hands-off approach all year, allowing the gardens to be overtaken with weeds and grass. The city of Norwood gave me eighteen dumptruck loads of half-composted leaves, which I used to bury the garden and suppress the weeds. This helped a lot, but it didn’t take me long to discover that even a foot of half-composted leaves does little to check the life force of crabgrass, nutsedge, and thistle.

Yesterday afternoon, in an attempt to keep the thistle from going to seed, I worked to pull tens of thousands of prickly plants for the fourth time this growing season. I couldn’t help but feel frustrated about doing this work during my sabbatical. Then I spotted my son, Kallum, and his kindergarten classmates coming down to the park for their afternoon play time. Fifty yards from the playground, and elbow deep in the thistle, I watched Kallum run non-stop for the next twenty minutes. His joy and freedom of play was so beautiful and so good. 

As I continued my work, buoyed by the gift of watching him, I thought of the many children around the world who, for a variety of political reasons, do not have the freedom, the energy, or the health to run around and play. I thought of children in Sudan and Gaza and Ukraine suffering from war and famine. I thought of children who are not receiving vital medical care, without which they will likely lose out on their childhood, and possibly die. I thought of immigrant children who are here in the United States by no decision of their own, living in constant fear of being separated from their families. Slowly, the thistle became an invitation to pray. Pulling these pernicious and pokey weeds yet again, and watching my son play, I held to God our polarized nation and suffering world.

Those of us who run this cafe believe that all of our lives, near and far, are interconnected, whether we realize it or not. And we believe that both on material and spiritual levels the flourishing of our neighborhood is inextricably connected to the well-being of the wider world. We believe these ideas are not mutually exclusive but mutually dependent.

In the gospel of John, Jesus declares that he gives his life–his very flesh–”for the life of the world”, (6:51), – not just for those with whom he agrees; not just for those who we like. He gives his life for Sudanese and Palestinians, for Ukrainians and Americans, for conservatives and liberals, for immigrants and citizens.

As a counternarrative to the fear-driven belief that we Americans need to “circle the wagons” and stop caring for others, whether people far away or those nearby with whom we do not agree, For the Life of the World Cafe insists that in order to “take care of our own here,” we must not abandon the heart of God for people in need around the world, particularly children who are truly innocent bystanders. To this end, during the month of September, For the Life of the World Cafe will donate 10% of its gross proceeds to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation which lost a tremendous amount of its funding through the dissolution of USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development). In this way, may our small work here be for the life of the world and for the flourishing of our neighborhood.

Robert Lockridge

The Nativity of the Theotokos - to see life with a restored vision

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

 O incomprehensible and ineffable matters! The God of all things, knowing in advance your worth, loved you; and because of this love, he predestined you, and at the end of times (I Pet. 1:20), he brought you into being and revealed you as Theotokos, Mother, and Nurse of his own Son and God."

"Be glad most blessed Anna, for you have born a female [child]. This female [child] will be the Mother of God, gateway of light and source of life, and she will do away with the accusation against the female sex."

- St. John of Damascus

Coming as it does right after the beginning of the Church New Year, this Feast allows us a good start that we further hope we can sustain as the liturgical year unfolds before us. As a straightforward and joyous feast of commemorating the birth of the Virgin Mary, we receive a “taste” of the joyousness of life from within the Church that is often obscured by life’s challenges, difficulties and tragedies. Fr. Alexander Schmemann puts it like this: 

In and through this newborn girl, Christ – our gift from God, our meeting and encounter with Him – comes to embrace the world. Thus, in celebrating Mary’s birth we find ourselves already on the road to Bethlehem, moving toward to the joyful mystery of Mary as the Mother of God.

In an age of cynicism and unbelief, to encounter the purity of Mariam of Nazareth – the Virgin Mary and Theotokos – is to see life with a restored vision that, again, is only possible from within the Church. Goodness, purity of heart and faithfulness to God are embodied realities lived by real human persons. Such a restored vision of life will strengthen our sense of the inherent goodness of life that sin may obscure, but never obliterate. Yet, if we can no longer “see” that, then we have lost something absolutely vital to our humanity, and we need to repent and embrace that “change of mind” that will restore our own humanity. 

Some will undoubtedly see nothing but a stereotype of the “feminine” here, but perhaps Fr. Schmemann has something worthwhile to say in his approach to the “image of woman” as manifested in the Virgin Mary:

The Virgin Mary, the All-Pure Mother demands nothing and receives everything. She pursues nothing, and possesses all. In the image of the Virgin Mary we find what has almost completely been lost in our proud, aggressive, male world: compassion, tender-heartedness, care, trust, humility.

We call her our Lady and the Queen of heaven and earth, and yet she calls herself “the handmaid of the Lord.” She is not out to teach or prove anything, yet her presence alone, in its light and joy, takes away the anxiety of our imagined problems. It is as if we have been out on a long, weary, unsuccessful day of work and have finally come home, and once again all becomes clear and filled with that happiness beyond words which is the only true happiness.

Christ said, “Do not be anxious … Seek first the Kingdom of God” (see Mt. 6:33). Beholding this woman – Virgin, Mother, Intercessor – we begin to sense, to know not with our mind but with our heart, what it means to seek the Kingdom, to find it, and to live by it.

Celebration of Faith, Vol. 3

On the day following the Feast – today, September 9 – we commemorate the “ancestors of God,” Joachim and Anna, the father and mother of the Virgin Mary according to the Tradition of the Church. This is a consistent pattern within our festal and liturgical commemorations: On the day after a particular feast, we commemorate the persons who are an integral part of that feast day’s events. For example, the day after Theophany we commemorate St. John the Baptist; and on the day after Nativity, we commemorate the Theotokos. Therefore, because of the essential role of Joachim and Anna in the current Feast of the Virgin Mary’s Nativity, September 9 is the “synaxis of Joachim and Anna” and we thus bring them to mind in an effort to discern and meditate upon their important place in this festal commemoration.

The source of their respective roles is the Protoevangelion of James, a mid 2^nd c. document. As Archbishop Ware has written:

The Orthodox Church does not place the Protoevangelion of James on the same level as Holy Scripture: it is possible, then, to accept the spiritual truth which underlies this narrative, without necessarily attributing a literal and historical exactness to every detail.

One of those “spiritual truths” alluded to by Archbishop Ware is the account of both Joachim and Anna continuing to pray with faith and trust in God’s providence even though they were greatly discouraged over the “barrenness” of Anna. This is no longer our perception today, for not being able to have a child is hardly a sign of "barrenness!" And it also implies that this is a "woman's" problem, thus disengaging the man's role in the process of conception. Yet, it is true that a lack of children in ancient Israel could easily be taken for a sign of God’s displeasure, thus hinting at hidden sins that deserve rebuke. Though disheartened, they continued to place their trust in God, refusing to turn away from God though thoroughly tested as to their patience. Perseverance in prayer in the face of discouragement is a real spiritual feat that reveals genuine faith. The conception and then birth of the Virgin Mary reveals the joyous outcome of their faith and trust in God. Perhaps this is why we commemorate Joachim and Anna as the “ancestors of God” at the end of every Dismissal in our major liturgical services, including the Divine Liturgy: We seek their prayers as icons of an everyday faith that is expressed as fidelity, faith and trust in God’s Law and providential care.

Icon of the Conception of the Theotokos by Righteous Anna

Source: allsaintstoronto.ca

Joachim and Anna could also be witnesses to a genuine conjugal love that manifests itself in the conception and birth of a new child. Their union is an image of a “chaste” sexual love that is devoid of lust and self-seeking pleasure. The strong ascetical emphases of many of our celibate saints may serve to undermine or obscure the blessings of conjugal love as envisaged in the Sacrament of Marriage. In fact, through its canonical legislation going back to early centuries, the Church has struggled against a distorted asceticism that denigrates sexual love even within the bonds of marriage as a concession to uncontrollable passions. The Church is not “anti-sex.” But the Church always challenges us to discern the qualitative distinction between love and lust. The icon of the embrace of Joachim and Anna outside the gates of their home as they both rush to embrace each other following the exciting news that they would indeed be given a child, is the image of this purified conjugal love that will result in the conception of Mary, their child conceived as all other children are conceived.

The Feast of the Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos has four days of Afterfeast, thus ending with the Leavetaking on September 12. That allows us to then prepare for the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross on September 14!

Blessed Dissatisfaction -- Can't Get No Satisfaction... Thank God!

Source: ancientfaith.com

This meditation being presented here was written some time ago. But for those who are new to the parish, and for those who are willing to give it another read, I thought that it would have a certain resonance since it was only yesterday evening when we chanted the Akathist Hymn "Glory to God For All Things," as we acknowledged the Church New Year beginning on September 1. I There are certain thoughts expressed in the Hymn that led me to write this particular meditation.

* * *

"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." —Psalm 42:2

"I can't get no satisfaction" —The Rolling Stones

"(Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones must be considered one of the great all-time "classics" of the pop/rock music world. 

I remember it well from the Summer of 1965. With its driving guitar riff and raspy-voiced lyrics giving a kind of pop-articulation to the disaffection of the lonely and alienated urbanite who, try as he might, just cannot succeed at "satisfying" the material and romantic/sexual goals droned into his mind on the radio and TV; this song - regardless of its actual intentions - managed to say something enduring about the "human condition." (I wonder if the various members of the Rolling Stones ever experience any genuine satisfaction after many years of fame and fortune). 

Be that as it may, a rather odd connection came to me between this song and a verse from "The Akathist of Thanksgiving" that we sang and chanted yesterday evening for the Church New Year beginning today, September 1. In Ikos Six of the akathist, one of the verses in the refrain reads as follows:

Glory to You, Who have inspired in us dissatisfaction with earthly things.

Both the Stones' song and the Orthodox hymn speak of "no satisfaction" or "dissatisfaction." However by "earthly things," the author of this remarkable hymn does not mean the natural world in which God has placed us. The refrain of Ikos Three makes that abundantly clear:

Glory to You, Who brought out of the earth's darkness diversity of color, taste and fragrance,
Glory to You, for the warmth and caress of all nature,
Glory to You, for surrounding us with thousands of Your creatures,
Glory to You, for the depth of Your wisdom reflected in the whole world ...

To the purified eyes of faith, the world around us can be a "festival of life" ... foreshadowing eternal life" (Ikos Two). The "earthly" can lead us to the "heavenly."

"Earthly things" in the context of the Akathist Hymn and the Orthodox worldview expressed in the Hymn, would certainly refer to the very things the Rolling Stones song laments about being absent - material and sexual satisfaction seen as ends in themselves. But whereas the song expresses both frustration and resentment as part of the psychic pain caused by such deprivation, the Akathist Hymn glorifies God for such a blessing! In the light of the insight of the Akathist Hymn, we can thus speak of a "blessed dissatisfaction." The Apostle Paul spoke of a closely-related "godly grief." (On this point, I would imagine that the Apostle Paul and Rolling Stones part company).

This just may prove to be quite a challenge to our way of approaching something like dissatisfaction.

Our usual instinct is to flee from dissatisfaction "as from the plague." Such a condition implies unhappiness, a sense of a lack of success, of "losing" in the harsh game of life as time continues to run out on us; and the deprivation and frustration mentioned above. 

Why should we tolerate the condition of dissatisfaction when limitless means of achieving "satisfaction" are at our disposal? To escape from a gnawing sense of dissatisfaction, don't people resort to alcohol, drugs and sex as desperate forms of relief? Or unrestrained and massive consumer spending? And we should not eliminate "religion" as one of those means of escape. 

If those means fail, then there is always therapy and medication as more aggressive means to relieve us of this unendurable feeling. 

Sadly, many learn "the hard way," that every ill-conceived attempt to eliminate dissatisfaction through "earthly things" only leads to a further and deeper level of this unsatiable affliction. Sadder still, there are many who would "forfeit their soul/life" just to avoid the bitter taste of dissatisfaction!

If the living God exists as we believe that He does, then how could we not feel dissatisfaction at His absence from our lives? What could possibly fill the enormous space in the depth of our hearts that yearns for God "as a hart longs for flowing streams." (Ps. 42:1) 

It is as if when people "hear" the voice of God calling them - in their hearts, their conscience, through another person, a personal tragedy - they reach over and turn up the volume so as to drown out that call. 

If we were made for God, then each person has an "instinct for the transcendent" (I recall this term from Fr. Alexander Schmemann), that can only be suppressed at an incalculable cost to our very humanity. 

In His infinite mercy, the Lord "blesses" us with a feeling of dissatisfaction so that we do not foolishly lose our souls in the infinitesimal pseudo-satisfactions that come our way. Therefore, we thank God for the gift of "blessed dissatisfaction!"

When we realize that we "can't get no satisfaction," then we have approached the threshold of making a meaningful decision about the direction of our lives. The way "down" can lead to that kind of benign despair that characterizes the lives of many today. The way "up" to the One Who is "enthroned above the heavens" and the Source of true satisfaction. 

The Rolling Stones uncovered the truth of an enduring condition that we all must face and must "deal with." I am not so sure about the solution they would ultimately offer ... but in their initial intuition they proved to be very "Orthodox!"

May the Church New Year fill us with "blessed dissatisfaction" so that we desire to seek and love God all the more!

The Church New Year (September 1) - The 'Two Ways' and the Church New Year

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me … to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (LK. 4:18-19)

Today is Monday, September 1, the beginning of the Church New Year. This is also referred to as the Indiction, and there are both religious and political reasons behind this date, as the Church was accommodating itself to the realities of a Christianized Roman Empire by the fourth century. Living as we do in a completely different and secularized society from the Roman/Byzantine world in which our church calendar was more-or-less fully developed, we have a difficult time conceiving of any new year commemoration other than that of January 1. Be that as it may, if we want to understand the liturgical year with its developed rhythm of fasting and feasting, we will need to embrace “the mind of the Church” to some extent to make that understanding attainable. 

As Orthodox Christians we live according to the rhythms of two calendars – the ecclesial and the secular – and often enough we are caught up in a “battle of the calendars.” That is a struggle that can strain our choices and possibilities when we make decisions that affect the use of our “time, talent and treasure.” The appointed Gospel reading for the Church New Year is LK. 4:16-22, from which the scriptural text above is taken. Every year is potentially “the acceptable year of the Lord,” but from our all too-human perspective that will be determined by how we approach each year as it comes to us in our appointed time in this world. 

Recently, but with a more focused intention, I applied two contrasting terms toward our approach to the Dormition Fast that occupied us at the beginning of August for two weeks. Those contrasting terms were convenience and commitment. I said that our approach to this recent fast was determined by our choice of seeking the way of convenience or of making a commitment. A choice of convenience will lead to being uncommitted and thus negligent of whatever discipline is set before us. I believe that we can expand the use of these terms to now embrace our approach to the Church New Year or even beyond to our very approach to life as Christians. As we approach the Church New Year we can ask ourselves: Do I choose convenience over commitment when these terms apply to my relationship to God and with the Church? Is my first concern when the “distribution” of my time, talents and treasure is under consideration reduced to a matter of convenience; or do I first think in terms of my commitment to the Lord? Am I therefore trying to “fit” the Church into my life rather than trying to “fit” my life into the fullness of life offered in the Church? At the beginning of the Church New Year  – a beginning that not only implies, but offers the gifts of repentance, renewal and regeneration – these may be questions worthy of our heartfelt and serious consideration.

It may seem too simplistic to ask these questions in a stark “either/or” manner. Life is a bit more complicated than that. The choices of convenience and/or commitment – made consciously or unconsciously - can be seen as relative terms that often overlap and get entangled in ways that only further accentuate life’s complexities. Nevertheless, with the utter seriousness with which the Scriptures confront us with the “God question” we do find set before us a rather stark choice between “two ways:” and that would be between life and death. These are not choices that impinge upon our biological well-being. Rather, “life” and “death” are choices that depend upon our commitment to not only believing in God’s existence, but of our willingness to live according to the commandments of God. That is why the choice is presented in a very straightforward, unambiguous manner. The stakes are that high. It is not as if the teaching found in the Scriptures lacks an awareness of the difficulties of life; or of what we like to refer to as life’s “nuances.” But in the Scriptures we find the “ultimate questions” presented with a clarity that, again, demands a clear choice with a full understanding of just what is at stake. For ultimately, there is an “either/or” distinction when it comes to our decision for or against God.

The term “Two Ways” was from the beginning of the Church’s life even a technical term found in the earliest Christian literature. Although not a part of the New Testament, this is perhaps best illustrated by the very early document (1st. c.) known as The Didache. This document opens with a classic expression of this teaching: 

There are two ways: one is the Way of Life, the other is the Way of Death; and there is a mighty difference between these two ways.

The way of life is this: first, that you shall love God who created you; second, your neighbor as yourself; all those things which you do not want to be done to you, you should not do to others. ( Didache, 1:1-2)

This clearly echoes the direct teaching of Christ found in the Gospels, of course. And in the Gospel According to St. Matthew, we hear the Lord’s own versions of this choice of the Two Ways: 

Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. (MATT. 7:13-14;24-27)

Yet, the Christian teaching of the Two Ways finds its first and most definitive expression in the Old Testament. There, as something of a final summation of the lengthy discourse of Moses to the people of Israel before they enter the Promised Land, the following is recorded in the Book of Deuteronomy:

But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you this day, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. (DEUT. 30:14-18)

The Church calendar with its New Year commemoration on September 1 can be more than a quaint and antiquated remnant from the past. And it can even be more than a formal reminder that we will begin the annual cycle of fasting and feasting by celebrating the great Feasts of the liturgical year – important as this is. The Church New Year, perhaps coming after a long and “busy” summer, can remind us with a biblical urgency that the choice of the Two Ways may not be a once-in-a-lifetime decision; but one that needs annual renewal that can only be accomplished through repentance and that “change of mind” that directs us toward God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength (MK. 12:30). 

Let us search our hearts about this carefully. This deserves our time and attention more than anything else. This is not an inner examination that can be postponed to a more “convenient” time. Rather, it is a time of “commitment” to the really essential question that shapes our lives decisively. As the Lord asked the Apostle Peter, so the Lord asks us if we love him. Are we able to answer Him as did St. Peter: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” (JN. 21:17)