Preface: This is just a simple paper assigned after an introductory study of postmodernity and the current cultural shifts and a reading of “The Younger Evangelicals” by Robert Webber. This paper is not designed to be very formal containing a thesis and points. It is merely a personal reflection upon 5 cultural shifts that are opportunities for the Church, 5 cultural shifts that are a danger to the Church, and 5 ways I want to create ministry in this cultural context or how to carry out ministry. I believe the ways these younger evangelicals, who come from multiple Christian Traditions, have some solid ways of engaging the culture that we Orthodox Christians can implement and learn from as we wrestle with the context in which God has placed us. I hope this will be of benefit as you continue to wrestle and to struggle in these anxious times.

Dr. Carlus Gupton writes, “Our time is best described as transitional, a very fluid moment where previous ways of understanding the world and functioning within it are increasingly abandoned, yet without clear definition of what will replace it. Something has ended, but the new beginning has not yet taken shape, thus we are in the uncomfortable wilderness, the neutral zone.” The Church is living in a day and age where absolutes are being denied and truth is relative. This day and age of Postmodernism can present to the Church opportunities to ministry and dangers to the Church’s ministry to preach the Gospel and be a hospital for the sick sinners.

Five Opportunities the Cultural Shifts Present

Robert Webber writes:

The younger evangelicals are conscious that they grew up in a postmodern world. One younger evangelical writes of ways postmodern thinking differs from modern thought. Postmoderns ‘no longer feel a need to bow the knee to the modern God of rationality.’ Postmoderns, he argues, ‘have a much broader conception of what counts as reason’ because they acknowledge that ‘all rationality (religious, scientific, or whatever) is laden with faith.’ Postmodern young people recognize that ‘thinking is highly indebted to others.’ Therefore, the younger evangelical rejects the modern notion of individualism and embraces community. And to be postmodern in a Christian way is ‘to embrace the kingdom of God and renounce the values of the world.’”

This is the first opportunity presented to us to witness to people. This opens the door that much of Protestantism, with its emphasis on the rational, had closed and that is the door to sacramentalism or a sacramental world-view. For too long reason has dominated the Church in the Western societies. We, as Orthodox Christians, must not let reason dominate the life of the Church too much.

The Enlightenment with the emphasis on reason and scientific method stole all the mystery from the Christian faith ranging from throwing out the sacraments and calling them “ordnances” to the rejection of Christian mysticism. This shift away from reason allows for the Church to restore a sacramental world-view for it allows for a restoration of mystery, the Mysterium tremendum et fascinans (fearful and fascinating mystery). This shift opens the door for the Numinous to be once again believed, for there to be transcendence beyond our reason. This is not to say reason is invalid. The Church would be wise to follow the words of Blasé Pascal, “If one subjects everything to reason our religion will lose its mystery and its supernatural character. If one offends the principles of reason our religion will be absurd and ridiculous …There are two equally dangerous extremes, to shut reason out and let nothing else in.”

“The postmodern September 11, 2001, world has led to the recovery of the biblical understanding of human nature. The language of sin, evil, evildoers, and a reaffirmation of the deceit and wickedness of the human heart has once again emerged in our common vocabulary,” writes Robert Webber, “The liberal notion of the inherent goodness of humankind and the more recent evangelical neglect of the language of sin and depravity have failed to plumb the depths of the wickedness that lurks in the human heart. The younger evangelical approaches humanity with a more realistic and biblical assessment of our estrangement from God.” This presents the Churches second opportunity to present the Christian meta-narrative of the Creation, the Fall, Israel, and Jesus Christ. This allows for the Church to tell Her story of redemption and how She has been made a part of the re-creation attempts of God.

Pragmatic Evangelicals, seeking to draw in seekers (no pun intended), neglected to preach about the wickedness of men and the depths of humanity’s depravity. David Crowder, of The David Crowder*Band, put it this way: “When our depravity meets His divinity it is a beautiful collision.” This cultural shift allows for a sacramental understanding of the Cross and Resurrection to take place. The shift allows for the preaching of humanity’s depravity coming into collision with God’s divinity, which overcomes the wickedness and clothes the redeemed in the Divine Nature (II Peter 1:4-5).

The Church can present the story of the Fall, but that there is more to life. That there is a door for humanity to be ontologically changed, transformed back into an original state of glory. David Horseman writes, “”Theosis is neither a mere psychological change nor a simple behavioral change. It is both, but not in a superficial sense. These changes of thought and behavior are but the indices of a deeper, ontological change, in our nature, a sharing of the divine nature, in which we become more and more like God, changed from glory into glory, until the day of our final redemption…” This could be the story we tell with this change in culture.

The third opportunity presented by this cultural shift is in the context of evangelism. The Next-Wave web magazine states of younger evangelicals’ desire “is to see people enter a relationship with Jesus Christ. Receive His forgiveness, enter His community with the saints, worship in ways that are meaningful to them, and reach out to others in their world.” Robert Webber believes that the new landscape of the culture will provide a new type of evangelism that is ancient-future evangelism. The old is that the Church must emphasis a personal regenerative relationship with the Triune God via Christ, but the new is the context in which the Church worships and facilitates community that is missional.

This aura creates an opportunity for the Church to fashion a community focused on relationships of reconciliation: relationships with humanity and with God. The Gospel is presented through relationship primarily. A good model of evangelism in the postmodern world would be: dialogue, demonstration, declaration, and defense all lived out incarnationally in the context of our greater society but also within our communities.

The Church’s fourth opportunity within this cultural shift is to begin to see Christianity as more than a world view. Robert Webber writes, “Today the younger evangelical questions the priority given to Christianity as a worldview. Younger evangelical Charles Moore writes, ‘The idea of Christianity as a worldview is essentially Gnostic. It makes Christianity an idea, a philosophical viewpoint, and a construct. Christianity is primarily a kingdom, an embodied reality and is more about a faithful discipleship than affirming an intellectual construct.’ Moore argues that making Christianity a worldview ‘abstracts reason from history and pits the existing, choosing subject against the object. It reduces Christianity to metaphysics.’”

This part of the cultural shift is very important to the life of Christianity because seeing the faith as something to be believed, rationed, and defended can leave it shallow and empty for there is no living it out. Christianity is primarily relational and has to be incarnational in this world. The Church can benefit with this ideological shift because it allows the Church to embody Christ and be formed to His image and live as He lives.

“The Christianity Today articles reported that ‘postmodern Christians are trying to redefine the relation of faith and knowledge, that instead of coming to the faith rationally, true knowledge requires the Holy Spirit to work an ontological change in the human heart,’” writes Robert Webber. He goes on to clarify that this is not a new approach, but that younger Christians are deconstructing in order “to reconstruct an historic life of the mind”. The road to the future lies in the past. The Church has an opportunity today to revisit the past with the Creeds, the Church Fathers, St. Aquinas, and St. Augustine and let that ancient wisdom shape and mold the way the Church carries out faith and practice. Many young Christians are even reverting to the ancient Orthodox Church and becoming one with Her and Her Mysteries. This is a good thing!

Five Dangers the Cultural Shifts Present

The number one thing for the Church to distinguish in the cultural shift of postmodernity is that there are two schools of postmodernity: soft postmodernity and hard postmodernity. Milliard Erickson, in Postmodernizing the Faith, writes:

Hard postmodernism, best represented by deconstruction, rejects the idea of any sort of objectivity and rationality. It maintains that all theories are simply worked out to justify and empower those who hold them, rather than being based on facts. It not only rejects the limitation of meaning of language to empirical reference; it rejects the idea that language has any sort of objective or extra linguistic reference at all. It moves from relativism to pluralism to truth. Not only is all knowing and all speaking done from a particular perspective, but each perspective is equally true or valuable. The meaning of a statement is not to be found objectively in the meaning intended by the speaker or writer, but is the meaning that the hearer or reader finds in it. ‘Whatever it means to me’ even if it is quite different from what it says to you.”

The Church has to remember that wonderful idea by Blasé Pascal that there are two dangerous extremes shutting reason out or letting nothing else but reason in. The pluralism of today’s society is dangerous to the truth of the Gospel. The Church must defend and live the truth of the Gospel and learn to evangelize to a pluralistic society instead of assimilating into society.

Religious tolerance is the second danger. Dr. Gupton writes about what postmodern thinkers believe, “No religion should be thought of as superior to another. Indeed, this belief in superiority is the major roadblock to religious unity.” This hard postmodernism belief is very dangerous to the truth of the Gospel. The Church believes that She has an exclusive claim on the Truth, which She must stand by and defend.

The third danger of hard postmodernism found in this cultural shift is in the area of evangelism. Dr. Gupton writes about postmodern thought, “Proselytizing is bigotry, pure and simple. The idea of winning converts is based on the antiquated notion that one religion has more to offer than another. Our task is to help others discover the hidden inner meaning of their religions, rather than convert them to our own.” This is something the Church must absolutely reject to defend the Gospel. Only through Christ is forgiveness of sin offered and deification began. Other religions contain some universal truths, but do not contain the Truth found in the Gospel presented by the Church.

The fourth danger the Church must be careful to be aware of moral relativism or moral pragmatism. Easum writes, “In the new emerging society right and wrong will not exist. Whatever benefits the individual will form the basis for ethics.” The Church has to come to the defense of morals and ethics. The problem with hard postmodernism is that it deconstructs to the point of chaos, which cannot be upheld. This is no accountability of ethics, but the Church can account for its ethics, which stem from God and absolute truths. Society and individuals are dangerous grounds upon which to build what is moral, right, or just.

The fifth danger to the Church is privatization. The Church must be careful to fight against this idea that faith, too, can be privatized and individualized. The Church must maintain a strong emphasis on communal living both at home and in ecclesiastical settings. Easum writes, “People are preoccupied with themselves. Whatever is done behind closed doors is considered acceptable conduct. Privacy is the ultimate price…The majority of people will tend to withdraw physically and psychologically.” This is the danger to an incarnational people called to be God’s hands and feet in the world. We must do well to remember that our faith is personal, but it is not private! The rampant individualism of Western culture is an extreme heresy that we must be aware of and reject thoroughly.

Five Ways to Interface with the Culture

As a young man who feels called to the priesthood, I am feeling lead more and more lately to plant a church from the ground up. There is a great outline of postmodern churches compared to pragmatic Evangelistic churches and how they function within the postmodern culture, by Eric Stanford, found on pages 116 and 117 of “The Younger Evangelicals” that I think fits perfectly how I would like to approach ministry in this postmodern society:

1. Even though I would be the priest and carry out all the sacramental duties I want to approach leadership as a team effort with all the members of the parish helping to carry out the duties of the church. Ministries may not always come from the leadership team, but from within the congregation who feels lead to start up a ministry. Christ is the head of the Church, and I am a part of that thus He moves mysteriously and powerfully in all our lives in the parish.

2. Life is about relationships. My life motto is “I am a person of worth created in the Image of God the Father, the Almighty, to live, to love, and to commune with fellow humankind and with the Blessed Trinity.” This is how I want to carry out ministry in the church. Programs, as Eric says, “are means not ends.” Everything thing we do ought to be to foster community and relationship and not just to learn and do. Developing close, healthy relationships is the focus within the postmodern context I want to employ.

3. Eric writes, “Be authentic. Don’t pretend you’ve got it all together, spiritually or otherwise. Admit your mistakes and struggles, for then we can work on them together. No posers allowed.” I believe this is core to who I am. I strive to be real and authentic. I am drawn to real and authentic people, so I want to be a part of a community that emphasizes that over excellence or perfection, but wants to strive towards those together.

4. I want to help create a community that honors “intellect and emotions, doctrine and intuition,” as Eric states. I want to take a holistic approach to faith and life. I want to focus on the power of the story that Christianity tells: Creation, Fall, Israel, Jesus. I see it often as a five act Shakespeare play that has last the fifth act thus we are left to write the fifth act on our own according to the authority of the other four acts. Our stories should come inside of this grand story.

5. I want to create dialogue and relationship between Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans, and Orthodox. There is no us vs. them in regards to other Christians or in regards to non-Christians. After all, our Lord told His disciples when they told Him someone was casting out demons in His name that was not a part of their group, “whoever is not against us is for us.” Christians and non-Christians often face the same issues and have the same questions. It is about cooperation and not competition or condemnation. I want to clarify that I do not propose a false sense of unity or ecumenism either. The Orthodox Church is the one true Church, and I firmly believe this. We have made our conditions for unity known, but I think that dialogue is a good thing that promotes healthy conversations and understanding among those who profess Christ. I want to help foster this healthy conversation.

John Anderson has a B.S. in Bible and Preaching/Church Leadership from Johnson University and is a member of Saint Anne Orthodox Church in Oak Ridge, TN, where he resides with his wife, Courtney, and their Chihauhau, Charlie. He is very passionate about preaching, church leadership, missiology, and preaching the Gospel to a lost and hurting society. He aspires to become a priest in the Orthodox Church. He is the editor-in-chief for Orthodox Ruminations.

Chaplain's Corner
Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California

It was Patriot's Day 2013 in Massachusetts. Few around the world are now unaware that the Boston Marathon was run that day. Few are also now unaware that the new Boston Massacre occurred on that day as well. On April 15, 2013 (Patriot's Day), I was writing on my computer at the time and getting 'pop-up' Breaking News alerts of 'an explosion in Boston.' As an example of how common, and thus de-sensitized, I think many of us, including myself, have become to such news alerts, I paid it little attention. As per my work routine, at 4:00 PM CA time I turned on TV News while sorting my email. I immediately saw, once again, that the world as many of us have come to know it was, once again, radically changed.

I want to take the lead from a seminarian who was interviewed by one of the national networks, (I do not recall which network as I was constantly flipping news channels), whose witness reminded that any experience can be made a Godly one if it is tied to prayer. The seminarian and his wife were actually caught in the cross-fire that killed one of the alleged perpetrators: the older brother. Bullets were flying around them. They used the time to pray to God for deliverance during this "nightmare."

We can think of all the responders who came to the aid of the many injured. If their service was done with a pure heart and Godly spirit, then it became a channel of spiritual and psychological healing for all involved. We can also reflect on the great endurance of the victims, their family and friends, the heroic law enforcement officers [let me mention the many from far away states] and the people of Boston, who were on lockdown and living in a state of fear. I believe the apt slogan that has emerged from those affected is "Boston Strong."

It would be so easy to merely focus on the nefarious terrorist deeds of the alleged perpetrators. However, we should look at the total picture. There were millions of people in Boston, in MA, in nearby states and in foreign countries who were touched by this incident to the core of their hearts. Many, as we saw on the TV news, performed extraordinary acts of service. Some Marathon runners themselves turned to help the injured. The medical personnel that were on the finish line, near where the explosions occurred also reacted immediately. Of course, the tenacity of the police: local, state, federal and international is above and beyond adequate description. Many of us, like the seminarian couple, could only pray - but how important prayer is. How many prayers were lifted to God on the behalf of the victims and all who were touched by them and attended to them? Only God knows, but indeed, the world needs such healing. Even ordinary people can, at the very least, pray during extraordinary calamitous times.

May 19, 2013
Sunday of the Myrrh-bearers

There is wisdom and merit in the impulse to study the writings of Peter and Mark together; the First Epistle of Peter and the Gospel of Mark were both composed at Rome, in close sequence, and, as far as we can determine, in the context of the same crisis: the persecution of Christians in the aftermath of the fire that broke out in the capital on July 19 of the year 64 and destroyed much of the city.

We know of this fire and its aftermath from the writings of two pagan historians, Tacitus (Annals 15.38) and Suetonius (Lives of the Caesars 6.38), who also describe that persecution. The Emperor Nero, who was widely accused of starting the fire (for the purpose of urban renewal), sought to divert criticism from himself by blaming the local Christians for the arson.

This latter group was mainly composed of poorer folk, slaves and former slaves, day laborers, and so forth. There was no danger of implicating any of the more influential citizens who "counted" in Roman society. There ensued, consequently, an official and most brutal persecution of Christians, described in gripping detail by those same two pagan historians. During the course of the persecution, the Apostle Peter was crucified upside down on Vatican Hill, to the west of the city, across the Tiber.

Tacitus described the persecution:

Nero created a diversion and subjected to the most extraordinary tortures those hated for their abominations by the common people called Christians. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames. These served to illuminate the night when daylight failed. Nero had thrown open the gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or drove about in a chariot. Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man's cruelty, that they were being punished (Annals 15.44).

It appears that the First Epistle of Peter was written shortly before the outbreak of that persecution. Peter refers to it as something imminent:

Beloved, do not think it strange respecting the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some unusual thing were happening to you; but rejoice, inasmuch as you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is made manifest, you may also be rejoice with exceeding gladness (1 Peter 4:12-13).

When Peter wrote these words, we know, Mark was with him (5:13).

As for the Gospel of Mark, our earliest references to it indicate that it came into being in the aftermath of the Neronic persecution, during the course of which Peter himself perished. According to the consensus of the earliest witnesses, Mark wrote his gospel with a view to preserving and handing on Peter's preaching about Jesus. These witnesses, speaking with one voice from around the Mediterranean Basin, include Papias of Hierapolis, the Anti-Marcionite Prologue, Irenaeus of Lyons, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria—-all of them between A.D. 130 and 210.

Thus, the First Epistle of Peter and the Gospel of Mark belong to two stages in a crisis that followed the fire in Rome during the year 64: Peter wrote as the Neronic persecution was soon to begin, and Mark wrote in the ongoing context of it. Both writers, that is to say—and Mark under the tutelage of Peter—appealed to the example of the persecuted Jesus to instruct and encourage his persecuted followers during that crisis.

Thus, Mark records-as Peter remembered-the words of Jesus: "Whoever desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow (akoloutheito) me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospel's will save it" (Mark 8:34-35. Check the whole context, particularly 8:31-33).

Peter is no less clear on the identical point: "If, however, you endure it when you do good and still suffer, this is pleasing to God. For to this you have been called, because also Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow (epakolouthesete) in his steps" (1 Peter 2:20-21).

The ancient Greeks had a school of philosophers known as the Sophists, who took pride in their ability to prove impossible things. Some sophists even hired themselves out at public events, where audiences could watch spellbound as they proceeded to prove propositions that were obviously false.

The sophist philosopher Gorgias (4th century b.c.) invented an ingenuous argument to prove that: nothing exists; and even if something exists, nothing can be known about it; and even if something exists and something can be known about it, such knowledge cannot be communicated to others; and even if something exists, can be known about, and can be communicated about, no incentive exists to communicate anything about it to others.

It would be nice if such sophistry had been limited to ancient Greeks. However, the 20th century saw a thinker whose nonsense rivaled and even surpassed anything produced by the sophists. His name was Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979), the guru of the 1960s counterculture.

Herbert Marcuse

Marcuse is important, not because he was able to take sophistry to new levels of truth-twisting heights, but because his truth-twisting thought has been formative in defining so much of the collective "common sense" (or more accurately, common nonsense) of our age.

How formative? In 1968, when students in Paris revolted, they tore apart the city carrying banners that read "Marx/Mao/Marcuse." In his forward to Marcuse's book Negations: Essays in Critical Theory, Robert Young said that "among pure scholars [Marcuse] had the most direct and profound effect on historical events of any individual in the twentieth century."

The Frankfurt School

Marcuse came from a generation of intellectuals who had experienced the devastation of World War I. This pointless war, together with the Spanish influenza, which followed on its heels and wiped out as many as the war had destroyed, produced a generation of exhausted and cynical intellectuals ready to embrace the false optimism of either fascism or Marxism. Many who adopted the latter course came together in the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt in Germany (formally called the Institute for the Study of Marxism). Their movement was characterized by a unique intellectual vision that came to be known as "the Frankfurt school."

That vision was essentially Marxist, but with a twist. Whereas Marx believed that power rested with those who controlled the means of production, the Frankfurt school argued that power rested with those who controlled the institutions of culture. The school would come to include sociologists, art critics, psychologists, philosophers, "sexologists," political scientists, and a host of other "experts" intent on converting Marxism from a strictly economic theory into a cultural reality.

Marcuse was a key intellectual in the movement, along with Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Erich Fromm, Walter Benjamin, Leo Lowenthal, Wilhelm Reich, Georg Lukacs, and many others. These men were disillusioned with traditional Western society and values. Lukacs, who helped found the school, said that its purpose was to answer this question: "Who shall save us from Western Civilization?"

"Terror and civilization are inseparable," wrote Adorno and Horkheimer in The Dialectic of Enlightenment. The solution to terror was therefore simple: dismantle civilization. Marcuse expressed their goal like this: "One can rightfully speak of a cultural revolution, since the protest is directed toward the whole cultural establishment, including [the] morality of existing society." Lukacs saw "the revolutionary destruction of society as the one and only solution to the cultural contradictions of the epoch," and argued that "such a worldwide overturning of values cannot take place without the annihilation of the old values and the creation of new ones by the revolutionaries."

Lukacs used the Hungarian schools as a front line for instilling this cultural nihilism. Through a curriculum of radical sex education, he hoped to weaken the traditional family. Historian William Borst recounts how "Hungarian children learned the subtle nuances of free love, sexual intercourse, and the archaic nature of middle-class family codes, the obsolete nature of monogamy, and the irrelevance of organized religion, which deprived man of pleasure."

To America

When Hitler became chancellor in 1933, the Frankfurt school was forced to disband, relocating first to Geneva, and later, after most of its intellectuals fled to the United States, at Columbia University. From Columbia, its ideas were disseminated throughout American academia.

On the surface, post-war America seemed like the last place that would give this anti-Western philosophy a hearing. After all, the entire Western world, but especially America, was acutely conscious of the way fascism had nearly wiped out their civilization. The Nazis had risen to power on a wave of fashionable neo-paganism and primordial tribalism that presented itself as an alternative to the culture of the modern West. In a number of ways, therefore, the defeat of Hitler represented a triumph for Western values. In America, this victory was followed by the renewed cultural optimism characteristic of the late 1940s and 1950s, which, among other things, manifested itself in the baby boom.

The genius of the Frankfurt School lay in its ability to convert this newfound confidence into a force for sabotaging society. The strategy involved a clever redefining of fascism as an extreme right-wing heresy. According to this narrative, Nazism had been the outgrowth of a society entrenched in capitalism. ("Whoever is not prepared to talk about capitalism should also remain silent about fascism," commented sociologist Max Horkheimer.) Cultures that attached strong importance to family, religion, patriotism, and private ownership were declared virtual seedbeds of fascism.

The historical revisionism reached its height with Marcuse, who established himself as the most well-known member of the movement because of his ability to effectively communicate with the youth. Marcuse was adopted as the intellectual guru of the hippie movement, and he, in turn, provided the younger generation with a steady stream of propaganda to sanctify their rebellious impulses. (It was Marcuse who invented the catchphrase "Make love, not war.")

For Marcuse, the only answer to the problem of fascism was communism. "The Communist Parties are, and will remain, the sole anti-fascist power," he declared. For this reason, he urged Americans not to be too hard on the totalitarian experiments of their communist enemies, asserting that "the denunciation of neo-fascism and Social Democracy must outweigh denunciation of Communist policy."

Whistling & Work Theory

The Frankfurt thinkers taught that those who held conservative views were not just wrong, but neurotic. By converting conservative ideas into pathologies, they set in motion the trend of silencing others through diagnosis rather than dialogue. "Psychologizing" political opponents became a substitute for debating them.

It wasn't just their political opponents who fell under the hammer of psychoanalysis. By pioneering a discipline known as "Critical Theory," the Frankfurt School was able to deconstruct all of Western civilization. Instead of showing that the values of the West were false or deficient, they diagnosed the culture as being inherently logo-centric, patriarchal, institutional, patriotic, and capitalist. No aspect of Western society, from cleanliness to Shakespeare, was immune from this critique. Even the act of whistling fell under the deconstruction of Adorno, who said that whistling indicated "control over music" and was symptomatic of the insidious pleasure Westerners took "in possessing the melody."

It is doubtful that Marcuse ever got too worked up over whistling, but what did make him really mad was labor. A good day's honest work was one of the most repressive aspects of the civilization he hoped to undermine. As an alternative, Marcuse urged what he called "the convergence of labor and play."

The libido was the key to this pre-civilized utopia. Marcuse called for a "polymorphous sexuality" involving "a transformation of the libido from sexuality constrained under genital supremacy to eroticization of the entire personality." Once this transformation took place, labor would no longer occupy such an important role in the West. In Eros and Civilization Marcuse wrote that "labor time, which is the largest part of the individual's life time, is painful time, for alienated labor is absence of gratification, negation of the pleasure principle."

In his book Intellectual Morons, Daniel J. Flynn helpfully compares Marcuse's views on labor with those of Marx:

Marx argued against the exploitation of labor; Marcuse, against labor itself. Don't work, have sex. This was the simple message of Eros and Civilization, released in 1955. Its ideas proved to be extraordinarily popular among the fledgling hippie culture of the following decade. It provided a rationale for laziness and transformed degrading personal vices into virtues.

This elevation of laziness included self-conscious rejection of the "work" of keeping oneself clean. Thus, Marcuse argued that those who returned to a more primitive state must reject personal hygiene and experience the freedom of embracing a "body unsoiled by plastic cleanliness."

Doublespeak

Flynn put Marcuse's entire philosophy in a nutshell when he contended that Marcuse "preached that freedom is totalitarianism, democracy is dictatorship, education is indoctrination, violence is nonviolence, and fiction is truth." As this suggests, Marcuse was a genius at "granting positive connotations to negative practices." This trick reached the height of doublespeak when Marcuse preached that tolerance is actually intolerance, and visa verse.

Guided by Marcuse's sophistry, the notion of tolerance came to mean the complete opposite of what it had formerly signified. No longer was tolerance the act of allowing or forbearing with another person's viewpoint or values despite one's disapproval of them. This was the notion espoused by liberals of the Enlightenment and embodied in the quotation (falsely attributed to Voltaire), "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Though this notion of tolerance, like any other type of liberty, has obvious legal limits, it was based on the Christian idea (not always perfectly followed) that we should refrain from deporting, imprisoning, executing, or humiliating those whose beliefs, practices, and behaviors we dislike or disapprove of.

Marcuse considered traditional tolerance to be "repressive tolerance," which needed to be replaced with "liberating tolerance." Significantly, liberating tolerance involved "intolerance against movements from the Right and toleration of movements from the Left." Movements from the Left included the activism of various groups that Marcuse encouraged to self-identify as oppressed, including homosexuals, women, blacks, and immigrants. Only minority groups such as these could be considered legitimate objects of tolerance.

Commenting on this new type of tolerance, Daniel Flynn wrote:

Tolerating what you like and censoring what you don't like, of course, had a name before Marcuse came along. It was called intolerance. Intolerance had an unpopular ring to it, so Marcuse called it by its more popular antonym, tolerance. This word was often modified by liberating, discriminating, and true. Further corruption of language came via his criticism of practitioners of free speech as "intolerant."

What emerged from the shadow of this new tolerance was a type of intellectual redistribution. Instead of redistributing economic capital from the middle class to the working class, as Marx had urged, the new tolerance sought to redistribute cultural capital. Marcuse made no secret that this was his ultimate goal, admitting that he commended "the practice of discriminating tolerance in an inverse direction, as a means of shifting the balance between Right and Left by restraining the liberty of the Right." This was achieved in a number of ways, including what Flynn has described as "attitudinal adjustment" effected by "psychological conditioning through entertainment, the class room, linguistic taboos, and other means [that] transmit their ideology through osmosis."

In the years since Marcuse, the notion of tolerance has completed its metamorphosis. Whereas under the old notion of tolerance, a man had to disagree with something in order to tolerate it, under the new meaning, there can be no disagreement; rather, a person must actually accept all values and viewpoints as being equally legitimate (the obvious exception being that we must not tolerate the old notion of tolerance.)

Unlike many of his philosophical descendants, Marcuse was perfectly conscious of the double standard he advocated, making no secret of the fact that he was willing to stamp out academic freedom in order to shift the balance of power. He even acknowledged that this new model of tolerance involved "the withdrawal of toleration of speech and assembly from groups and movements which promote aggressive policies," while "the restoration of freedom of thought may necessitate new and rigid restrictions on teachings and practices in the educational institutions which, by their very methods and concepts, serve to enclose the mind within the established universe of discourse and behavior." What Marcuse was saying is even more radical than Gorgias's claim that nothing exists. It amounts to this: Freedom of thought and freedom of speech can only be achieved by rigid restrictions on thought and speech.

In arguing for "the cancellation of the liberal creed of free and equal discussion" (from his essay "Repressive Tolerance"), Marcuse helped undermine the ancient university motto lux et veritas. The modern university, with its vigilant policing of ideas and its politically driven censorship policies, was given its intellectual legitimization by Marcuse.

Consequences

While it is doubtful that anyone took Gorgias's thought seriously (least of all Gorgias himself), Marcuse's ideas have been taken so seriously that they have formed the intellectual foundation both for the academic Left and for the machine of political correctness that drives much contemporary media bias.

Gorgias knew that he was being irrational, but he did so for the enjoyment of demonstrating his intellectual powers. Marcuse also knew he was being irrational, but he believed that irrationality was good. For him, logic was a tool of domination and oppression, whereas, he wrote in One Dimensional Man, "the ability to . . . convert illusion into reality and fiction into truth, testify to the extent to which Imagination has become an instrument of progress."

Marcuse served stints at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Brandeis, and the University of California at San Diego. In each of these institutions, he preached his gospel of nihilism, in which negative concepts and words were continually twisted into positives. Up until his death in 1979, he continued to convince people to "convert illusion into reality."

The truly amazing thing is that so many people have believed his illusions.

Robin Phillips is the author of the book Saints and Scoundrels: From King Herod to Solzhenitsyn and is working on a Ph.D. in historical theology through King's College, London. He blogs at http://robinphillips.blogspot.com.

Read the entire article on the Salvo Magazine website (new window will open).

Americans have lost the art of honest debate. Perhaps better stated, we have thrown it away. Advocates on all sides of political and cultural spectrums cynically manipulate public opinion through focus group–tested obfuscating words and phrases rather than persuade through candid and accurate descriptions of advocacy agendas.

I have grappled with this tactic for over twenty years as an activist against the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia. When I first engaged the issue in 1993, the Hemlock Society was the nation’s foremost organization advocating legalized physician-assisted suicide. Talk about candor in advocacy—hemlock was the poison swallowed by Socrates to carry out his death sentence, and the slogan of the organization was “good life, good death.” No confusion or pretense about the agenda there.

But look what happened. The Hemlock Society eventually merged with one of its own offshoots, Compassion in Dying, to form Compassion and Choices. Talk about euphemistic honey to help the hemlock go down.

Today assisted suicide is described almost exclusively through euphemism, especially in media coverage. The most prominent phrase is “death with dignity.” Several years ago, Compassion and Choices began a campaign to convince reporters not to use the word “suicide” to describe a terminally ill person’s deliberate use of a lethal prescription of drugs. The word “suicide,” Compassion and Choices scolded, is “biased” and steeped in “value judgment.” Worse, in the group’s view, it carries a “social stigma,” causing readers to “be misled.” In contrast, the group claimed that “aid in dying” is “value neutral” since it is undertaken by terminally ill people who take “medication”—another euphemism in this context—who don’t want to die but merely “shorten their dying process.”

The contrary is true, of course. Assisted suicide is the accurate and descriptive term that explicitly describes the act in question. Suicide describes the act, not the motive. Someone who kills himself commits suicide, regardless of whether he does so because of mental instability, a career collapse, or a terminal illness.

None other than the founder of the Hemlock Society, Derek Humphry, protested the use of euphemisms in assisted suicide advocacy in a 2006 letter to the editor published in the Register Guard of Eugene, Oregon. Humphry wrote against using the term “death with dignity” to describe the “lawful act [in Oregon] of a physician helping a terminally ill person to die by handing them a lethal overdose,” as “an affront to the English language.” The proper term should be physician-assisted suicide, Humphry opined, because, “‘Physician’ means a licensed M.D.; ‘assisted’ means helping; and ‘suicide’ means deliberately ending life.”

Humphry ended the letter with a plea to “call a spade, a spade.” Indeed. Otherwise, we can’t have an honest societal debate about one of the more consequential—and potentially culture-changing—issues of our time.

The assisted suicide movement certainly isn’t alone in deploying euphemisms as a political tactic. We all have examples we can name. The “right to an abortion,” rarely used, would be accurate. The ubiquitous “right to choose” and that sound bite of all sound bites, “choice,” are inaccurate because their intent is to hide the subject of the decision. Similarly, the New York Times recently referred to babies who survived late-term abortion—only to be murdered by the abortionist Kermit Gosnell—as “fetuses,” even though there is no such thing as a born fetus.

The intentionally bloodless term “collateral damage,” used during war, is particularly galling in this regard. Collateral in this context means “secondary,” or “indirect.” Damage means “physical harm caused to something in such a way as to impair its value, usefulness, or normal function.” The point of the term is to distance ourselves from the horror that actually happened: the killing and wounding of non-combatants during an act of war.

The proper and accurate term for such a circumstance is “civilian casualties.” Surely war is of sufficient import, and basic respect for these victims should require accurate terminology in describing the carnage.

The struggle over the lexicon about how to properly describe aliens illegally in the United States is another example. I think “illegal alien” is properly descriptive. So too is the somewhat more tactful “undocumented immigrant,” as that describes the lack of formal permission for these people to be residing in the country. But notice that many advocates for legalizing the status of millions of such people in the country now refer to them merely as “migrants” or “immigrants.”

The media play a huge role in this problem. Indeed, it is easy to discern the side of a controversy that the media favor by the words and terms reporters deploy in stories to describe the political combatants. Thus, the Associated Press stylebook requires the use of the following terms involving contentious debates:

Abortion: Use anti-abortion instead of pro-life and abortion rights instead of pro-abortion or pro-choice. Avoid abortionist, which connotes a person who performs clandestine abortions.

Similarly, “illegal alien” is now forbidden by the A.P.:

Except in direct quotes essential to the story, use “illegal” only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant.

Euphemisms are a propagandistic tool of misdirection. They ill serve a free people. But advocates won’t stop manipulating us until we insist that they, in Humphry’s words, “call a spade a spade.”

Read the entire article on the First Things website (new window will open).

Do, do, do read Andrew Doran’s TAC essay today about how US Mideast policy toward Iraq and others is destroying Christianity in the land of its birth. Note well this:

Two weeks after the Bush-Laghi meeting, on March 19, 2003, Operation Iraqi Freedom commenced. Shortly after combat operations concluded on May 1, the real conflict began. Amid the chaos and sectarian violence that followed, Iraq’s Christians suffered severe persecution. Neither the military nor the State Department took action to protect them. In October 2003, human rights expert Nina Shea noted that religious freedom and a pluralistic Iraq were not high priorities for the administration, concluding that its “diffidence on religious freedom suggests Washington’s relative indifference to this basic human right.” Shea added, “Washington’s refusal to insist on guarantees of religious freedom threatens to undermine its already difficult task of securing a fully democratic government in Iraq”—more prescience that would be likewise disregarded.

Iraq’s diaspora Christian community in America had also foreseen the danger, and quickly took action, helping thousands of refugees with humanitarian assistance. The Chaldean Federation’s Joseph Kassab, himself a refugee from Baathist Iraq decades before, advocated zealously for their protection. Kassab’s brother, Jabrail, a Chaldean archbishop, helped organize relief in Iraq during the sanctions from 1991-2003, doing “all that he could to help the Iraqi people—Christians and Muslims together.” His brother remained at his post until October 2006, when a Syrian Orthodox priest, Fr. Paulos Eskander, was abducted and beheaded, after which Pope Benedict ordered him to leave Iraq. Fr. Eskander’s murder was part of a campaign that targeted the most conspicuous of Christians—the clergy.

In February 2008, Archbishop Paulos Rahho’s vehicle was attacked after he finished praying the Stations of the Cross in Mosul. His driver and bodyguards were killed. Rahho, wounded but alive, was put into the trunk of the assassins’ car and taken from the scene. He managed to pull out his cell phone and call his church to tell them not to pay his ransom, saying he “believed that this money would not be paid for good works and would be used for killing and more evil actions.” His body was found in a shallow grave two weeks later.

During this campaign of systematic violence, the U.S. military provided no protection to the already vulnerable Christian community. In some instances, the clergy went to local American military units to beg to for protection. None was given. As Shea noted two weeks later, the administration and the State Department—whose record on Christian minorities and religious freedom leaves much to be desired—still refused to “acknowledge that the Christians and other defenseless minorities are persecuted for reasons of religion.”

A month after the murder of Archbishop Rahho, President Bush addressed the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.  Joseph Kassab had been invited to pray the Hail Mary and Our Father in Aramaic following Bush’s remarks, an act of solidarity with the Christians of the Arab world. “I had two or three minutes with the president behind the curtains,” Kassab said in a recent interview. “He said he thought you had to fix the whole picture before coming to the other elements. It was disappointing. He knew it was a failure and his administration refused to acknowledge that.”

Rosie Malek-Yonan, an Assyrian Christian who testified before Congress, would call the Bush administration a “silent accomplice” to “incipient genocide.” Anglican Canon Andrew White of Baghdad’s Ecumenical Congregation captured the reality with blunt precision: “All of my leadership were taken and killed—all dead.”

Those Iraqi Christians who fled to America would fare little better in seeking asylum. Many Chaldeans and Assyrians were detained, until their cases were heard, in what an attorney familiar with Chaldean-asylum cases describes as “prisons,” adding that she “never worked on a case where a Chaldean was granted asylum, but I heard that it happened.” Throughout these deportation proceedings, the administration and the State Department steadfastly refused to recognize the conditions—which the U.S. had helped to bring about—as “persecution.” In consequence, most were deported.

Most were deported. Good Lord, I had no idea. What a freaking disgrace upon my country and its government. And though not as bad as Bush, the current president is still at it:

Among the refugees are more Iraqi Christians, who originally fled to the relative freedom and tolerance of Syria, only to find themselves again fleeing persecution, often hunted by Syria’s rebels. Many of these rebels are members or affiliates of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network. The Obama administration, bewilderingly, has chosen to support Syria’s rebel groups without any apparent thought of the consequences. The extent of covert support remains unclear, though reports suggest it is significant. As in Iraq, the insurgent campaign in Syria targets priests, the most visible symbols of the Christian faith.

The protection and perseverance of minority religious communities—indeed, of religious freedom—continues to be a low priority for the Obama administration and the State Department.  The U.S. fails to recognize that the Islamist-Wahabbist commitment to eradicating Christian minorities today will result in the extinction of diverse modes of Islam tomorrow, a fact that is not lost on moderate Muslims.

A foreign correspondent I know, a thoroughly secular man of wide international experience, writes to me:

A hundred years from now, I suspect the lasting historical legacy of the American interventions in the Middle East and of the fall of the Mubarak dictatorship in Egypt will be the end of Christianity in the Middle East. Anyone wanting confirmation of Hegel’s axiom that history is a slaughter bench need look no further than the the fact that this process should have been hastened (for I suppose one could argue it was likely over the long term, anyway, because in the Middle East, as in Europe after World War I, multicultural and multi-confessional societies are no longer able to survive) by the decisions of American president whose Christian identity seems to have meant more to him than to any president since Jimmy Carter (not the ONLY parallel between them, by the way, though of course the suggestion would horrify both men). And why so many conservative Christians (not just neo-cons and liberal hawks) support doubling down on this mistake in Syria is a complete mystery to me.

I am working this morning from a hotel room in Texas, where I’ve come on business for a couple of days. I just had a heartbreaking conversation with the maid, an older woman who is a Kosovar Muslim war refugee. Dear lady, she talked about how thankful she is to America that our country offered her and her husband and children refuge from Milosevic’s persecution, but how humiliating it has been for her to work as a chambermaid all these years.

“I only make enough to pay my rent and my groceries, but I am happy for that,” she said. “At least I have my life. But it is hard, when you have everything taken from you, and you are so old when you come to this new country that the only thing you have the language skills for is cleaning rooms.”

I could tell that she felt bad that she had complained. She followed by saying that she is grateful that she and her family have their lives, and weren’t murdered by the Serbs. I told her I agreed, and that I feel sorry today for the Serbian Orthodox monks and nuns whose monasteries are today being desecrated and destroyed by Kosovar Muslim thugs. She smiled sadly.

Anyway, America gave this Muslim woman and her family a haven from persecution in a war we didn’t start. Yet we could not give Arab Christian families — people from our own cultural and civilizational roots — a haven, even though we started the war that led directly to their own murder and persecution.

Shame on America. Christian readers, let’s batter the offices of our members of Congress and our president on behalf of our brothers and sisters in the Middle East, who are suffering in part because of our country’s actions.

Read the entire article on the American Conservative website (new window will open).

Only a few days ago one of the best known figures of the Italian counter-jihad, Egyptian-born journalist Magdi Cristiano Allam, a former Muslim who converted to Catholicism, announced that, although he remains Christian, he has left the Catholic Church.

In his column in the daily paper Il Giornale he gave several reasons, prominent among which is “Because this Church is weak vis-à-vis Islam”:

What more than anything else drove me away from the Church is its religious relativism, in particular the legitimization of Islam as true religion, of Allah as true God, of Muhammad as true prophet, of the Koran as sacred text, of mosques as places of worship. It is genuine suicidal madness that John Paul II went so far as to kiss the Koran on May 14, 1999, Benedict XVI put his hand on the Koran praying toward Mecca in the Blue Mosque in Istanbul on November 30, 2006, while Francis I began by extolling the Muslims “who worship one, living and merciful God.” On the contrary I am convinced that, while respecting Muslims who, like all people, possess the inalienable rights to life, dignity and freedom, Islam is an inherently violent ideology, as it has historically been conflictual inside and belligerent outside. Even more I am increasingly convinced that Europe will eventually be submitted to Islam, as has already happened from the seventh century to the other two sides of the Mediterranean, if it does not have the vision and the courage to denounce the incompatibility of  Islam with our civilization and the fundamental rights of the person, if it does not ban the Koran for apology of hatred, violence and death against non-Muslims, if it does not condemn Sharia law as a crime against humanity in that it preaches and practices the violation of the sanctity of everyone’s life, the equal dignity of men and women, and religious freedom, and finally if it does not block the spread of mosques.

This news has attracted national and worldwide media attention, just as the announcement of his conversion from Islam to Catholicism on 22 March, Easter Eve night, 2008 did, when he “received Baptism, Confirmation and Communion in St Peter’s Basilica from Pope Benedict XVI”.

Allam’s position has several Italian (and international) counter-jihad blogs sympathetic to it, carrying articles with titles like Islamic Fundamentalism and the Impossible Dialogue.

But his new decision to leave the Church has also attracted many criticisms in Italy. Journalist Filippo Savarese: “I do not know what could be worse than repudiating one’s conversion for (alleged) issues which are in fact mostly ‘political’.” Politician Maurizio Lupi who was Allam’s godfather: “I am sorry, but Christianity taught me to love the freedom of every man and to respect it even when I do not agree with his choices. In this case not even with the reasons (we are Christian for love of truth not for aversion to Islam), but I notice that, unfortunately, this is the attitude of many who say they accept Christ but not the Church.”

Gabriele Satolli, candidate to the 2013 Italian general election for the party founded by Allam, Io Amo l’Italia, left the party, called Magdi’s motivations “raving, and therefore impossible to agree with.”

Still, although we may dispute whether they are a good enough reason to leave the Catholic Church, Allam’s arguments are grounded in reality.

“Having a dialogue” is by definition a reciprocal verb, as “being a sibling.” They mean something only if what is true of the subject of the verb is also true of the object, be it a quality, relationship or activity. When a call for dialogue is not met with a response, it is a monologue.

As Raymond Ibrahim points out, the Muslim countries with some of the worst records on their treatment of Christians are also the most interested in interfaith initiatives in the West:

Few things offer surreal experiences as when Islam and the West interact—when 7th century primordialism encounters 21st century relativism.  Consider the issue of “interfaith dialogue.”  In principle, it is a decent thing: Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others trying to reach a common ground and professing mutual respect.  But what does one make of the gross contradictions that emerge when a human-rights violating nation calls for “dialogue,” even as it enforces religious intolerance on its own turf?

Enter Saudi Arabia.  Birthplace of Islam, the Arabian kingdom is also the one Muslim nation that regularly sponsors interfaith initiatives in the West—even as its official policy back home is to demonize and persecute the very faiths it claims to want to have an interfaith dialogue with.

There are different positions within the Catholic Church with regard to Islam, with a minority of voices, some of which are powerful, dissenting from the official stance.

The two positions at the extreme opposites are exemplified by the late Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, who was Archbishop of Milan, and Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, Archbishop of Bologna.

The former is credited with having anticipated many bishops of Italy and Europe in stretching out an acquiescent hand towards Islam. As early as 1990 he dedicated his Saint Ambrose homely to “We and Islam.” In 2001, after 9/11, his Saint Ambrose homely had a title that substituted a clear stance with a list of concepts: “Terrorism, retaliation, self-defence, war and peace.”

On Islam, the most difficult issue of the decade, as well as on many other questions, Martini’s position has always been the search for a grey area, a balancing act: “We have to prevent the dramatic scenario of a clash of civilizations,” qualified by “We must not delegitimize the right to self-defence from terrorism and the need to extinguish its hotbeds.”

It is interesting how, replicating the ideological and political alliance between Islam and the Left in the Western lay world, Cardinal Martini, considered a progressive and constantly praised by the mainstream liberal media, was after his death eulogized by the leftist newspaper La Repubblica for having approved of policies ranging “from dialogue with Islam to yes to condoms” and because “he had never condemned euthanasia.”

Writer and blogger Antonio Socci thus sums him up rather unfavourably: “Everything imposed by ideological fashions found Martini open to dialogue and to all possibilities: ‘there is nothing wrong in two people, even homosexuals, having a stable relationship and in the State favouring them,’ he had said.”

At the other end of the spectrum is Cardinal Giacomo Biffi. As early as 30 September 2000, before 9/11, when not many people in the West worried about Islam at all, he delivered a speech at the Fondazione Migrantes seminar, “On Immigration”. The following [translated from Italian by the author] is what he said on Muslim immigration to Italy and Islam:

The case of Muslims

If we do not want to evade or censor realistic attention, it is apparent that the case of Muslims should be treated separately. And it is hoped that political leaders will not be afraid to face it with open eyes and without illusions.

Muslims – in their vast majority and with few exceptions – come here determined to remain alien to our “humanity”, individual and social, in its most essential, valuable, “secularly” non-renounceable aspects: more or less openly, they come here determined to remain substantially “different”, waiting for us all to become substantially like them.

They have different eating habits (not in itself a big problem), a different holiday in the week, a family law incompatible with our own, a concept of women very far removed from ours (going as far as practicing polygamy). Above all, they have a strictly fundamentalist view of public life, so much so that the perfect identification between religion and politics is part of their unquestionable and inalienable faith, although they prudently wait to become predominant before imposing it. It is therefore not the Church, but modern Western states that must think carefully about this.

I shall say more than that: if our state seriously believes in the importance of civil liberties (including religious) and democratic principles, it should work to make them more widespread, accepted and practiced at all latitudes. A small tool to achieve this goal is the request of being given a not purely verbal “reciprocity” by the immigrants’ countries of origin.

In this respect the Italian Bishops Conference wrote in 1993: “In many Islamic countries it is almost impossible to adhere to and freely practice Christianity. There are no places of worship, non-Islamic religious events are not allowed, not even minimal ecclesiastical organizations exist. That raises the difficult problem of reciprocity. And this is a problem that affects not only the Church, but also civil society and politics, the world of culture and even international relations. For his part, the Pope is tireless in asking everyone to respect the fundamental right to religious freedom” (n. 34). But – we say – asking does not help very much, even if the pope cannot do any more.

Although it may seem alien to our mentality and even paradoxical, the only effective and not unrealistic way to promote the “principle of reciprocity” by a really “secular” state,  truly interested in propagating human freedoms, would be to allow for Muslims in Italy only the authorization of institutions which Muslim countries actually allow for others. [...]

Conclusion

In an interview ten years ago, I was asked with great candor and with enviable optimism: “Are You among those who believe that Europe will either be Christian or cease to exist?” I think my answer then may well serve to conclude my speech today.

I think – I said – that either Europe will become Christian again or it will become Muslim. What I see without future is the “culture of nothing”, of freedom without limits and without content, of skepticism boasted as intellectual achievement, which seems to be the attitude largely dominant among European peoples, all more or less rich of means and poor of truths. This “culture of nothingness” (sustained by hedonism and libertarian insatiability) will not be able to withstand the ideological onslaught of Islam, which will not be missing: only the rediscovery of the Christian event as the only salvation for man – and therefore only a strong resurrection of the ancient soul of Europe – will offer a different outcome to this inevitable confrontation.

Unfortunately, neither “secularists” nor “Catholics” seem to have so far realized the tragedy that is looming. “Secularists”, opposing the Church in every way, do not realize that they are fighting against the strongest inspiration and the most effective defence of Western civilization and its values of rationality and freedom: they might realize it too late. “Catholics”, letting the knowledge of the truth they possessed fade in themselves and replacing apostolic anxiety with pure and simple dialogue at all costs, unconsciously pave the way (humanly speaking) to their own extinction. The only hope is that the seriousness of the situation may at some point lead to an effective awakening both of reason and of the ancient faith.

It is our hope, our commitment, our prayer.

Written in 2000. All predictions confirmed. Truer, if possible, now than it was even then.

Enza Ferreri is an Italian-born, London-based Philosophy graduate, author and journalist. She has been a London correspondent for several Italian magazines and newspapers, including Panorama, L’Espresso, La Repubblica.

She blogs at www.enzaferreri.blogspot.co.uk.

Read the entire article on the Raymond Ibrahim - Islam Translated website (new window will open).

When describing how his disciples should serve the needy, Jesus told a parable about a good Samaritan who rescued a traveler who had been robbed and left for dead.

This businessman didn't care that his act of kindness took place in public and that the injured man didn't share his faith.

This raises a haunting question for those involved in the church-state struggles surrounding the Health and Human Services mandate requiring most religious institutions to offer their employees, and often students, health-insurance plans covering sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives, including "morning-after pills."

As Sister Mary Ann Walsh of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops noted in an online memo: "HHS has such a narrow standard as to who operates a religious ministry, Jesus himself couldn't pass muster."

[...]

Read the entire article on The Republic website (new window will open).

A mass exodus of Christians is currently underway.  Millions of Christians are being displaced from one end of the Islamic world to the other.

We are reliving the true history of how the Islamic world, much of which prior to the Islamic conquests was almost entirely Christian, came into being.

Pope Tawadros II, the 118th pope of the Coptic Church of Egypt, leads the Easter Mass at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recently said: “The flight of Christians out of the region is unprecedented and it’s increasing year by year.”  In our lifetime alone “Christians might disappear altogether from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt.”

Ongoing reports from the Islamic world certainly support this conclusion:  Iraq was the earliest indicator of the fate awaiting Christians once Islamic forces are liberated from the grip of dictators.

In 2003, Iraq’s Christian population was at least one million. Today fewer than 400,000 remain the result of an anti-Christian campaign that began with the U.S. occupation of Iraq, when countless Christian churches were bombed and countless Christians killed, including by crucifixion and beheading.

The 2010 Baghdad church attack, which saw nearly 60 Christian worshippers slaughtered, is the tip of a decade-long iceberg.

Now, as the U.S. supports the jihad on Syria’s secular president Assad, the same pattern has come to Syria: entire regions and towns where Christians lived for centuries before Islam came into being have now been emptied, as the opposition targets Christians for kidnapping, plundering, and beheadings, all in compliance with mosque calls telling the populace that it’s a “sacred duty” to drive Christians away.

In October 2012 the last Christian in the city of Homs—which had a Christian population of some 80,000 before jihadis came—was murdered.  One teenage Syrian girl said: “We left because they were trying to kill us… because we were Christians….  Those who were our neighbors turned against us. At the end, when we ran away, we went through balconies. We did not even dare go out on the street in front of our house.”.

In Egypt, some 100,000 Christian Copts have fled their homeland soon after the “Arab Spring.”  In September 2012, the Sinai’s small Christian community was attacked and evicted by Al Qaeda linked Muslims, Reuters reported. But even before that, the Coptic Orthodox Church lamented the “repeated incidents of displacement of Copts from their homes, whether by force or threat.

Displacements began in Ameriya [62 Christian families evicted], then they stretched to Dahshur [120 Christian families evicted], and today terror and threats have reached the hearts and souls of our Coptic children in Sinai.”.

Iraq, Syria, and Egypt are part of the Arab world.  But even in “black” African and “white” European nations with Muslim majorities, Christians are fleeing.

In Mali, after a 2012 Islamic coup, as many as 200,000 Christians fled.  According to reports, “the church in Mali faces being eradicated,” especially in the north “where rebels want to establish an independent Islamist state and drive Christians out… there have been house to house searches for Christians who might be in hiding, churches and other Christian property have been looted or destroyed, and people tortured into revealing any Christian relatives.” At least one pastor was beheaded.

Even in European Bosnia, Christians are leaving en mass “amid mounting discrimination and Islamization.”  Only 440,000 Catholics remain in the Balkan nation, half the prewar figure.

Problems cited are typical:  “while dozens of mosques were built in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, no building permissions [permits] were given for Christian churches.” “Time is running out as there is a worrisome rise in radicalism,” said one authority, who further added that the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina were “persecuted for centuries” after European powers “failed to support them in their struggle against the Ottoman Empire.”.

And so history repeats itself.

One can go on and on.

• In Ethiopia, after a Christian was accused of desecrating a Koran, thousands of Christians were forced to flee their homes when “Muslim extremists set fire to roughly 50 churches and dozens of Christian homes.”
• In the Ivory Coast—where Christians have literally been crucified—Islamic rebels “massacred hundreds and displaced tens of thousands” of Christians.
• In Libya, Islamic rebels forced several Christian religious orders, serving the sick and needy in the country since 1921, to flee.

To anyone following the plight of Christians under Islamic persecution, none of this is surprising.  As I document in my new book, “Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians,” all around the Islamic world—in nations that do not share the same race, language, culture, or economics, in nations that share only Islam—Christians are being persecuted into extinction. Such is the true face of extremist Islamic resurgence.

Original story on Fox News.

Read the entire article on the Pravmir.com website (new window will open)..

Father Pat's Pastoral Ponderings

When we consider the oral tradition that preceded the writing of the Gospels, it is essential to consider its personal quality; only a few individuals were able to speak to the ministry and teaching of Jesus with recognized authority: the Apostles whom he had chosen. The Evangelists, in their composition, did not draw on rootless sources and anonymous testimonies. The canonical collectors, the men who gathered these writings into an authoritative corpus, were certain that each of the Gospels rested on the personal witness of one of the Twelve. In Mark, for instance, they knew they were dealing with Peter.

This is the reason we should study Peter's theology of the Atonement in conjunction with our examination of Mark. For now, two texts will suffice:

Writing of the Passion of Christ, Saint Peter declared, "It is better to suffer for doing good-if God's will so determines-than for doing evil. For also Christ suffered once for sins, a just man for unjust people, in order that he might bring you to God, being slain in the flesh but enlivened in the Spirit . . ." (1 Peter 3:18).

Several points in this compact text merit particular reflection:

First, Peter introduces this imagery for an exhortatory purpose; he is holding up Jesus as a moral example Christians are to follow. The immediate context discloses this purpose; in the preceding verses he tells his readers to be always ready to provide a "defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed" (3:15-16).

Second, Peter's allusions to Isaiah 53 in this place are unmistakable. The prophet had written: "The Lord handed him over for our sins (paredoken avton tais hamatiais hemon). . .For the transgressions of my people he was led unto death" (Isaiah 53:6 & 8 LXX).

Third, in appealing to soteriological meaning of the Isaian text, Peter describes Jesus' own intention: "He suffered . . . in order . . ."—-apethanen . . . hina." That is to say, our access to God, according to Peter, was not simply the result of Jesus' suffering but its deliberate reason. The atonement was not only the objective purpose (telos) effected by Jesus suffering; it was also his subjective intention, his deliberate aim (skopos), in so suffering. The fulfillment of the Isaian prophecy was not only something Jesus did; it is something he had in mind to do.

This is a precious testimony, inasmuch as Peter was a witness to the thoughts and sentiments Jesus expressed during the period leading immediately up to his death, the timeframe indicated in the second half of Mark's Gospel. Peter heard each of the Lord's prophecies of the Passion.

Fourth, according to Peter the atoning work of Christ included, not only the removal of sins, but also a positive access to God. According to Peter, Jesus brings (prosagage) us to God.

With respect to the same Isaian prophecy, another passage in 1 Peter is more detailed and certainly more explicit: "Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps, ‘who did not sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth’; who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to Him who judges righteously; who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—-by his wounding you were healed" (2:21-24).

Once again, certain observations are in order:

First, Peter's intention, is exhortatory; he appeals to the sufferings of Christ by way of providing a practical example to his readers how they are to follow in his steps. Peter's intention is conveyed in the immediately preceding verses: "For what sort of credit is there if you bear it patiently when you are beaten for your faults? If, however, you endure it when you do good and still suffer, this is pleasing to God. For to this you have been called, because also Christ suffered for you . . ." (2:20-21).

Second, the reference to Isaian prophecy is indicated, not only by a verbal similarity, but also by a direct quotation: "he did not sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth" (Isaiah 53:9 (XX).

Third, Peter's direct quotation is surrounded with other echoes of Isaiah 53. For instance, his assertion, "by his wounding you were healed," is a near quotation of Isaiah 53:5, "by his wounding we have been healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

Fr. Pat's Pastoral Ponderings

Very early in the Fourth Gospel, John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!" (John 1:29) The Evangelist tells us that John repeated this identification on the following day (1:36). For the rest of the Fourth Gospel, nothing more is said of John's exclamation; he identified Jesus as the sacrificial lamb, but the theme is not further pursued in the story.

When Jesus dies, however, the Evangelist suddenly comments on the fact that Jesus' legs were not broken on the Cross. Interpreting this fact as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy, he quotes the Book of Exodus: "Not one of his bones shall be broken" (19:36; Exodus 12:46). John expects his readers to be familiar with that text; he assumes they will recognize that this verse pertains to the Paschal Lamb. In citing it, John identifies Jesus as the true Paschal Lamb.

If we look closely at this imagery, however, we recognize that the image of Jesus as Paschal Lamb has passed through a filter, so to speak. In the Mosaic Law the paschal lamb was not a sin offering. It was a special sacrifice immediately tied to Israel's deliverance from Egyptian slavery. It represented—-if the expression be allowed—-the embodiment of liberation from slavery.

How, then, does John the Baptist, who identifies Jesus as the Paschal Lamb, declare that he takes away the sins of the world? Here is where I want to employ the metaphor of the filter: the theme of the paschal lamb has been filtered through the Isaian image of the Suffering Servant, whom the prophet declares, "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before his shearers, so he opens not his mouth."

The original lamb was not a sin offering; it was offered in the context of Israel's deliverance from slavery. The blood of that lamb marked the doorposts of the houses of the Israelites, so that the angel of the Lord would spare those houses the dreadful tenth plague which was visited on Egypt on the night of Passover.

This new Lamb of God, however, does more than free the Israelites from servitude in Egypt. He is the Suffering Servant of the Lord, described in the Book of Isaiah as a sin offering. This new Paschal Lamb takes away the sins of the whole world. He does not perish for one people only, but to gather into one all the scattered children of God. This verse from Exodus, cited at the scene on the Cross, ties the end of John's account back to the exclamation of John the Baptist in the first chapter.

This imagery ties St. John's theology to that of St. Paul, who wrote to the Corinthians, "Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed." It ties John also to Peter, who declared our redemption by "the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:19).

We are now observing the Christian Passover, that feast of which St. Gregory the Theologian wrote, "Then comes the Sacred Night, the anniversary of the confused darkness of the present life, into which the primeval darkness is dissolved, and all things come into life and rank and form, and that which was chaos is constrained to order. Then we flee from Egypt; that is, from sullen persecuting sin; and from Pharaoh the unseen tyrant . . . (Orations 45.25).

St. Gregory perceives the conflation of the imagery from Exodus 12 and Isaiah 53. Here is how he describes the Paschal Lamb: "Thus then and for this cause the written Law came in, gathering us into Christ; and this is the account of the Sacrifices as I account for them. And that you may not be ignorant of the depth of His Wisdom and the riches of His inscrutable judgments. He did not leave even these unhallowed altogether, or useless, or with nothing in them but mere blood. But that great—-and if I may say so—-in its first [divine] nature 'unsacrificeable' Victim was intermingled with the Sacrifices of the Law, and was a purification, not for a part of the world, nor for only a short time, but for the whole world and for all time."

Recognizing that the wool of the lamb—-though it is the lamb's native nakedness—-provides the clothing for the human being, Gregory transposes this imagery to the case of Christ, whose very innocence becomes the proper clothing for the wedding feast, the very garment of incorruption: “For this reason a Lamb was chosen for its innocence, and its clothing of the original nakedness. For such is the Victim offered for us, who is both in name and fact the garment of incorruption.”

Gregory continues the symbolism of the lamb, finally identifying it with the suffering Victim in Isaiah 53: “And he was a perfect Victim not only on account of his divinity, than which nothing is more perfect; but also on account of that which he assumed, having been anointed with the divinity, and having become one with Him who anointed it, and I am bold to say, made equal with God . He was a male, because he was offered for Adam . . . He both took on Him our sins and bore our weakness (Isaiah 53:4), yet he did not himself suffer anything that needed healing. For he was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin. For he that persecuted the Light that shines in darkness could not overcome him” (45.13).

This is the meaning of the Passover, said Gregory, because “the Lamb is slain, and act and word are sealed with the Precious Blood” (45.25). He goes on, “we will feed on the Lamb toward evening— for Christ's Passion was in the completion of the ages; because, in addition, he communicated his disciples in the evening with his Sacrament, destroying the darkness of sin” (45.26).

Here we perceive the symbolism of the darkness that covered the earth for three hours, as the true Paschal Lamb was being slain. Here we detect the mystery of the redemptive blood that flowed from his side to anoint our hearts and minds against the avenging angel.

Some have taken cold comfort in the hope that late term abortion/infanticide is an aberration. But that isn't necessarily so, either in practice, or more particularly, in advocacy. Indeed, the idea that it is ethical to kill newborns—whether after a botched abortion or after normal birth—has been gaining traction for many years.

Nor is the Gosnell trial the first case of alleged killings of babies born alive after an attempted abortion. In 2003, a woman named Sycloria Williams discovered she was pregnant at about 23 weeks. She decided to abort and the abortionist, Pierre Jean-Jacques Renelique, gave her drugs to induce premature labor.

When her contractions began, she went to the abortion clinic, but Renelique wasn't there to kill the fetus. Before he could arrive, her baby girl was born alive. A clinic co-owner named Belkis Gonzalez, entered the room. cut the baby's umbilical cord, and placed the live baby, placenta and afterbirth in a medical waste bag. Staff at the clinic did not call 911 or seek medical assistance for Williams or the baby, the subsequent lawsuit [by Williams] said. Police were notified of the incident by an anonymous caller, and her corpse was later discovered in a clinic closet.

Because Renelique wasn't present, he only lost his medical license in Florida. Because the autopsy couldn't state categorically that the baby died because of negligence, Gonzales eventually pled guilty to practicing medicine without a license, receiving five years-probation.

The murdered, Dr. George Tiller, became infamous for performing very late-term abortions in Kansas. Under Kansas law, before abortions can be performed post viability, the abortionist must obtain a second medical opinion as to the reasons for the abortion and mental health status of the mother. Tiller's friend, Dr Ann Kristin Neuhause, often provided the required second opinion—or perhaps better stated, the rubber stamps. In 2012 she lost her license to practice medicine "for performing inadequate mental health evaluations on 11 patients, ages 10 to 18, who had late-term abortions at Tiller's clinic from July to November 2003."

Many among the pro-choice community support a right to late term abortion, and indeed, some even refuse to say that babies born alive during an abortion should be treated medically like any other infant. Most recently, a lobbyist for the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates named Alisa Laport Snow made headlines when she testified before a committee considering state legislation to require treatment of babies that survive abortion. Asked by Representative Jim Boyd, "If a baby is born on a table as a result of a botched abortion, what would Planned Parenthood want to have happen to that child that is struggling for life?" she replied,"We believe that any decision that's made should be left up to the woman, her family, and the physician."

Planned Parenthood later "clarified" its position, stating that such children should be treated. But one need not be a cynic to question the organization's sincerity.

Meanwhile, a documentary about four late term abortionists, entitled "After Tiller," was screened "to cheers" at the Sundance Film Festival. According to the Hollywood Reporter, "The audience gave a standing ovation for the filmmakers as well as the four featured doctors who were on hand to take questions from the audience after the film"

More famously, the President of the United States once stated he supports abortion rights through the ninth month. Even more extremely, when he was an Illinois State Senator, he voted against a born alive protection bill on the basis that it might "burden the original decision of the woman and the physician to induce labor and perform an abortion."

Many see these cases and advocacies as shocking. I view them as merely the first forays of what may one day become legalized infanticide. Indeed, advocacy for killing newborns has achieved outright respectability. Peter Singer, as just one example, has repeatedly stated that infanticide is no different morally from late term abortions. Because of such advocacy—not in spite of it—he was appointed to the world's most prestigious endowed chairs in bioethics at the misnamed Center for Human Values at Princeton University.

This raises a cogent question: How is what happened in Philadelphia morally different from what Peter Singer's "ethical" supposedly "human values" would allow? At a 2010 Princeton conference Singer explicitly said, "The position that allows [late term] abortion also allows infanticide under some circumstances…If we accept abortion, we do need to rethink some of those more fundamental attitudes about human life."

So, to answer my own question, other than technical issues of clinical procedures and sanitary methods, and absent the jars of trophy body parts found at the Gosnell clinic, I can't think of a single reason why Singer's values would not permit a "professionally" operated abortion/infanticide abattoir.

So would the ethics of the authors of "After Birth Abortion: Why Should the Baby Live," published in the Journal of Medical Ethics. As I discussed last year here at tothesource, two bioethicists supported infanticide on the basis that aborting a fetus and killing a born baby are no different morally, stating, "The position that allows abortion also allows infanticide under some circumstances. . . . If we accept abortion, we do need to rethink some of those more fundamental attitudes about human life."

Blatant infanticide isn't just talk in the Netherlands. Rather, it is a technically illegal but widely accepted extension of the country's legalized euthanasia policy. Not only are Dutch doctors who kill babies rarely prosecuted, and never meaningfully punished, but in 2005 the New England Journal of Medicine—perhaps the world's most prominent medical journal—respectfully published "The Groningent Protocol," in its august pages.

What is the Groningen Protocol, you ask? A bureaucratic checklist published by a Dutch pediatrician by which doctors at the Groningen Medical Center determine which terminally ill or disabled babies should be euthanized.

So this is where we are: Late term terminations are part of abortion practice in the United States. Many prominent voices believe that legal abortion amounts to a right to a dead fetus—no matter how late in the pregnancy. Late term abortions, in turn, sometimes result in the killing or lethal neglect of born babies, e.g., infanticide. And infanticide is actively promoted as ethical among some of the most prominent bioethicists and in medical journals in the world, and practiced in the Netherlands without meaningful consequence.

It is tempting to dwell on these shocking events and thereby miss the bigger picture. Late term abortion and infanticide are merely the most provocative front in an all-out war being waged in medical clinics and Ivory Tower publications against Judeo/Christian morality based in human exceptionalism and adherence to the principle of universal human rights. We ignore that bigger picture at our substantial moral peril.

Read the entire article on the To the Source website (new window will open).

We are becoming a society in which “choice” and self-defined identities trump once-common values and traditional beliefs. But contrary to the rhetoric of its defenders, this shift is not a simple advance for freedom. The privileging of “choice” above all else in fact requires re-engineering the human person and society as a whole, and this will inevitably involve a great deal of coercion.

This shift, if it didn’t begin with Roe v. Wade, could be said to have been dramatically accelerated by it. Despite continuing opposition by over 50 percent of the American people, abortion is now universally available, in some places through the ninth month. Two states have legalized assisted suicide for the terminally ill—once strictly prohibited by the Hippocratic Oath. Now, some doctors actively collaborate in lethally overdosing their patients.

Advocacy for legalizing “after birth” abortion—e.g., infanticide—as a natural extension of the abortion right is growing more prominent, and not just among acolytes of Princeton’s Peter Singer. A Florida Planned Parenthood representative, opposing a bill that would require medical treatment for an infant who survives abortion, said the choice to care for the child should be a private one made between a mother and her doctor. The President of the United States expressed similar views while an Illinois state senator. The blind eye demonstrated by the media on the Kermit Gosnell murder trial—in which he is charged with snipping the spines of newborn babies and keeping fetal body parts in jars—has convinced some observers that “post-birth abortion” is no big deal among many on the “choice” left.

More futuristically, transhumanists urge society to devote its intellectual and financial resources to expensive research aimed at enabling individuals to radically redesign themselves in their own image. The ultimate goal of transhumanism is designing a “post-human” species in which everyone could freely change their appearance and capacities at will.

There is now even serious talk about allowing doctors to amputate healthy limbs as a “treatment” for a terrible mental illness known generally as “body integrity identity disorder.” BIID sufferers obsess about becoming disabled, a few as paraplegics or quadriplegics, but most desperately desire to become amputees—which they perceive as their true identities. Some defenders of voluntary amputation note, correctly, that we permit sex change operations—and even legally “reassign” males to be females and vice versa—so it is only logical that we also accommodate “amputee wannabe” self-identity.

To what extent is society required to help facilitate the choices of radically autonomous individuals? Based on what I am seeing, it seems clear that identity, health, and lifestyle choices may soon trump all—particularly when these desires conflict with traditional values and norms. For example, in Colorado, the parents of a first grade boy are suing his elementary school for discrimination because their son, who identifies as a girl, is not allowed to use the girls’ restroom. Similarly, a bill has been filed in the California legislature that would require schools to permit transsexual boys and girls to use opposite-sex bathrooms. That boys and girls might not want to share toilet facilities with girls and boys is of no consequence.

This collapse of comity is happening most acutely in the health field, in which “choice” increasingly trumps the values of medical professionals. In Victoria, Australia, every doctor must be complicit in abortion—either by doing the deed when requested or referring to a colleague who they believe will. A few doctors have gotten in hot water for being unwilling to participate in the taking of human life, including a doctor who refused to refer for a sex-selection abortion.

Similarly, the Royal Dutch Medical Association issued an ethics statement telling their members that if asked for euthanasia by a legally qualified patient, they have to either do the deed or refer to a doctor willing to kill. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued a similar ethics opinion in 2007 concerning physicians opposed morally to “standard reproductive services.” Advocates for BIID amputation also assert that doctors ethically opposed to the procedure should be required to refer patients to a colleague who will amputate.

Referrals to willing practitioners may one day be insufficient. In California, an infertility doctor objected on religious grounds to providing artificial insemination to a lesbian patient. Despite referring the patient to a doctor who she knew would provide the service, she was successfully sued for discrimination.

We have now reached the point that others are expected to pay for individuals’ “choices” and maximizing others’ self-identity—even when it violates the payer’s own beliefs. The contraceptive mandate under Obamacare requires religious organizations and business owners opposed to contraception on faith grounds to provide their female employees free access to birth control, sterilization, and the sometimes-abortifacient morning-after pill. San Francisco taxpayers now pay for sex change operations of city employees, and that procedure will soon be covered by “Healthy San Francisco,” the city’s universal health insurance plan. A bill pending in the California legislature would require group health insurance to pay for infertility treatments for all gay and lesbian people who want children as if they were biologically infertile.

Parents are now subservient to their own children’s sexual “choices.” In many states, minor girls can obtain an abortion without parental consent, and in some cases, even without notice. The Federal Drug Administration just made the morning-after pill available on store shelves for girls age fifteen and up.

Not too long ago, Americans mostly believed in “live and let live.” The ironic motto for the current day: “You do it my way.” That’s not paradoxical. The maxim that applies just depends on the choice that is being made.

Read the entire article on the First Things website (new window will open).

Ours is a noisy world. I don't mean the roar of the neighbor’s lawnmower before 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. We live in an age that is saturated with cultural and social/political noise. Western culture is being drowned in corrosive clamor. This can hardly be a coincidence. The moral confusion of our time has a consuming effect on our ability to make sense of reality and to be content with daily existence.

The West has now reached a point when we can no longer afford to ignore the rapid zombification of contemporary man. These people are now legion. Their affronted and mindlessly militant worldview has been brewing since at least the 1960s. Of course, the causes of how and why the West has been brought to this ominous condition cannot be entertained in a vacuum, without first addressing the nature of man.

Aristotle is correct that character is created over time, through the exercise of virtue. In the absence of virtue, it is not difficult to understand how some people can be easily exploited into becoming "angry" zombies. Angry is the new chic. Virtue is definitely not in vogue at the moment. Virtuous people are not cool. Remember, ours is an age that is very susceptible to what is “trending.” We are infatuated with hollow fashions.

Take a young child; indoctrinate him or her from the cradle to think of human reality merely in terms of race, gender or class categories, as the trend dictates, and follow where that leads. Groupthink cannot allow the cultivation of spontaneity or thoughtfulness. Plant envy and resentment, and see what kind of person you will reap. Eventually, this politically constrained view of human reality blinds people into embracing a noxious belief system that incapacitates them to lead happy lives. Predictably, these politically useful souls can no longer think other than in social/political terms.

This is analogous to watching a young athlete build muscle through weight lifting. However, in the education of children, the inverse is the case. Here, the ability for rational discernment and the soul’s capacity for self-knowledge and autonomous action are atrophied. Don’t scratch your head, though. Nothing happens by coincidence in this radicalized age. Curiously, being angry today, besides being modish, is out of proportion to our unprecedented material well being. Our abundant worldwide economic statistics demonstrate this. The angry types, you will notice, are highly affected and disingenuous. They are also masters of deception and hypocrisy, for their anger is blatantly selective. However, such theatrical anger is costly. The cacophony that these hapless souls produce is driving Western culture into an unprecedented abyss.

Western man now meanders through life without recourse to meaning and purpose, without regard for the calming effect that beauty and truth can have on daily life. This is what issues forth from self-loathing relativists and nihilists, people who crave meaning at any prize, while forging a world that negates transcendence and God.

Ironically, the elites who have fomented our social/political dissolution feel that they are the only people qualified to get us out of our dismal predicament. Go figure. This is a classic tale of Marxist self-delusion, which has poisoned the well of all aspects of western life and culture, whether many people today suspect this reality. The funny thing is that Marx referred to such elites as fomenters of false consciousness. Hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty are perhaps better words to describe these elites. If history has taught us anything, it is that the ire and cynicism of demythologizers brings societies to ruin. The subsequent move in this hypocritical and destructive dialectic is to convince people that things are so bad that only a radical fix can save us. Stay tuned. This is textbook radicalism. Twentieth century history has taught us this. Yet how many of the angry ones care to study history?

Marxism, especially under the tutelage of its most brilliant twentieth century agent of mayhem, Antonio Gramsci, perfected this stealthy, angry dialectic. Gramsci provided fashionably angry people with a visible, can’t-go-wrong-while-appearing-angry agenda, while creating a following of those who imagine themselves the guardians of popular causes. How is this possible? Because Gramsci understood that if Marxist theory and its many neo-derivatives were to be effective in annihilating objective values, truth and the nuclear family, for instance, appearance had to take precedence over truth. The best way to accomplish this, Gramsci proposed, is to destroy both, high and popular culture. Just think of Aristotle’s prescience, when he writes that everyone wants to philosophize at the expense of truth. It is not a coincidence that today the West is ruled by morally corrupt individuals who lack constructive ideas.

Lamentably, the average person does not realize that for Gramsci and his current cadre, man is just cattle, grist for the mill of the sinister notion that the end justifies the means. This, we cannot forget, is the altar and substance of secular religion. Radical ideologues must wage perpetual war on human reality. Even more menacing still is the realization that the educational establishment has not only swallowed the Gramsci pill to-end-all-our-woes, it actually relishes it. Thoughtful people have tremendous cause for trepidation today; our moral/spiritual havoc issues from the world’s allegedly educated elite.

Stanislaw Witkiewicz and Aldous Huxley were right when they assessed that the brave new world of the future would become violently consumed by the happy pill. It is also ironic that the happy pill, the murti-bing pill, as Witkiewicz called this, is making man violently ill. This feel-good, entitlement pill has destroyed Western man’s ability to reason and our capacity to cultivate genuine emotions. We have also lost the instinct to identify danger and the will to resist the totalitarian impulse. The glare of technological barbarism can’t be too far behind. George Santayana, who is best known for his observation that those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it, defined radicalism as "redoubling your effort after you’ve forgotten your aim."

Currently, many of the institutions, customs and manners that dominate our world are based not on genuine, but rather politicized values. This is exploitive and high combustible. However disingenuous, the latter is promoted through the power of public relations. Virtuous people are being conned by morally corrupt, idea-deprived people whose purpose it is to push the status quo as the new norm.

Our vicious spiral into the maelstrom of radicalized, technocratic savagery is the inevitable result of our destruction of objectivity and time-proven values. This goes against the whole point of learning from our mistakes, doesn't it? The greater the clatter, the less societies need wisdom. Of course, wisdom has always been a threat to power. Our present predicament has hardly come about through common accord. This sets a very dangerous precedent for the future of democratic institutions and human liberty.

Sensibly speaking, there is no convincing reason why our culture must embrace experimental values just because intellectual hipsters urge the rest of us to accept the latest and coolest moral trends.

A fruitful question for us to ask today is whether moral relativism begins or ends with the emptying of the human soul: nihilism? Regardless of the imaginative, up to date monikers that nihilism embraces: neo-this, relative-that, or post-something-or-other, immorality can’t hide its vile talons. Regardless of the fancy names, we are left with mind-numbing and character-annihilating noise. The lasting effects of relativism on democracy are ominous. The value-free existence of people in the West is devouring the worth and purpose of free societies.

If Marx is correct to assert that bourgeois hegemony creates institutions and values which protect the people who benefit from them the most, then we can be certain that our progressive nihilism is the product of morally corrupt people who are merely protecting themselves. These are C.S. Lewis’ men without chests. This is also the curious case of adaptation preceding evolution.

The denizens of moral relativism have succeeded in creating a self-indulgent world order in which only they can flourish. While embracing self-serving values, they promote veiled nihilism as the greater good. This is a winner take-all formula. How can they go wrong with the popular appeal of this formula? As Jacques Barzun effectively argued, we now have the culture we deserve.

It is now next to impossible for people of good will to have a fighting chance to embrace virtue. How can young people today embody the virtuous life that Socrates envisioned or the values of Christianity, in light of the barrage of social/political mendacity and aberrant cultural/spiritual nonsense that dominate contemporary life?

In Warning to the West, Alexander Solzhenitsyn points out key ways in which the totalitarian impulse has come to rule the West. One of these is the retreat through which older, wiser generations have yielded “their intellectual leadership to the younger generation.” Solzhenitsyn argues that this goes against common sense and human experience: “For those who are youngest, with the least experience of life, to have the greatest influence in directing the life of society.” This is a formula for disaster on all levels: cultural, spiritual, economic and social/political. Why do it, then? Because it is a winning formula for radical ideologues to have the passion of youth do their dirty work. They understand that young people do not fear the precipice.

Source: The Catholic World Report | Christopher B. Warner

The April 22nd kidnapping of Syrian archbishops Mar Gregorios Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Paul Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, and the killing of their driver, has reminded us once again of the vulnerability of ancient Christian peoples living in the Middle East. More than 1,000 Christians have been killed to date in the Syrian conflict and more than 80 churches have been destroyed. The majority of Christians in Syria are Greek or Syriac Orthodox or Melkite Greek Catholic. This recent violence in Syria can remind us to pray for suffering Christians in the Middle East and afford us the opportunity to practice solidarity with our Greek Catholic and Orthodox Christian brothers and sisters.

Catholic World Report had the recent privilege of asking Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ for his perspective on current Orthodox-Catholic relations. Father Taft has been the leading scholar in Byzantine liturgical studies for decades. Taft has devoted his life to preserving the liturgical treasury of the East and building bridges between Orthodox and Catholic Christians. As a young Jesuit, Taft first became interested in the liturgical traditions of the Christian East while teaching at the Baghdad Jesuit College in Iraq (1956-1959).

In 1963, Taft was ordained a Catholic priest of the Byzantine Slavonic (Russian) Rite. He is Professor-emeritus of Oriental Liturgy at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome, where he received his doctorate in 1970 and remained to teach for 38 years. The Oriental Institute is the most prestigious institute in the world for Eastern Christian studies.

A prolific writer, his bibliography comprises more than 800 articles and 26 books, including A History of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (vols. II-VI), Orientalia Christiana Analecta, Rome, 1978-2013. Several of his writings have been translated into other languages.

Taft is the personal friend of many prominent Orthodox scholars, living and deceased, like Father Alexander Schmemann and Father John Meyendorff. He has many friends in and ties to the Russian Orthodox community, where he is admired and respected. For example, he directed the doctoral studies for both of St. Vladimir Seminary’s liturgical professors: Paul Meyendorff and Father Alexander Rentel.

CWR: Father Robert, thank you very much for your willingness to share with us some of your recent thoughts on Eastern Christian ecumenism.

Many people who are sensitive to Orthodox-Catholic dialogue noticed that when Pope Francis appeared on the balcony a month ago, he was not only very humble, but spoke of the Church of Rome as the Church “which presides in love” and referred to himself as the bishop of Rome concerned for the Christians of Rome. These past few weeks he has definitely set the tone for his pontificate.

This quotation from the second-century letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Roman Church, “which presides in love,” could not have been coincidence considering Pope Francis’ noteworthy sensitivities to Eastern Christian ecclesiology. Plus, the historically unprecedented response to Francis’ election in the form of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s attendance at the papal installation Mass seems to mark Pope Francis as another welcomed bridge-builder between East and West. As an aside, I think it is beautiful that pontifex means “bridge-builder” in Latin. Perhaps Pope Francis will bring a new understanding of that title through his ecumenical dialogue and his local focus on the duties of the bishop of Rome? Could you comment on how you think Pope Francis’ humble “style” will be viewed by Orthodox Christians?

Taft: Pope Francesco is making a wonderful impression on most of the world by just being himself, the self of a real Christian in love, not with himself or his image, but with what real Christians love…God and all His creatures He died to save, especially the poor and needy and downtrodden. This has come across clearly to all of us, including Orthodox I know, who as real Christians can spot a fellow-Christian a mile away.

In addition, even more interesting from the ecumenical perspective is Francesco’s emphasis on his primary title, “Bishop of Rome.” Because a prelate’s title to his primacy comes from his local primatial see, not from some personal or super-imposed ecclesiological distinction. I can’t imagine that any of our attentive Orthodox observers have missed that!

CWR: Most Catholics probably envision future unity between the Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church as a re-installment of one world Church organization with the pope of Rome at the top of the governing pyramid. A look at history shows that such a model never existed, so what could Orthodox-Catholic communion actually look like if it were achieved? A renewal of Eucharistic communion? The possibility of an eighth ecumenical council? A resolution for the dating of Pascha/Easter?

Taft: What it would look like is not a “reunion” with them “returning to Rome,” to which they never belonged anyway; nor us being incorporated by them, since we are all ancient apostolic “Sister Churches” with a valid episcopate and priesthood and the full panoply of sacraments needed to minister salvation to our respective faithful, as is proclaimed in the renewed Catholic ecclesiology since Vatican II and enshrined in numerous papal documents from Paul VI on, as well as in the wonderful Catechism of the Catholic Church. So we just need to restore our broken communion and the rest of the problems you mention can be addressed one by one and resolved by common accord.

CWR: According to the most recent joint statement of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation (2010), future communion would include several key elements:

Mutual recognition: The numerous Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church would have to “explicitly recognize each other as authentic embodiments of the one Church of Christ, founded on the apostles”;

A common confession of faith: The “Filioque” ought to be dropped in order to reflect the common Confession of Faith “canonized at the Council of Constantinople in 381”;

Accepted diversity: Orthodox-Catholic Christians would “live in full ecclesial communion with each other without requiring any of the parts to forego its own traditions and practices”;

Liturgical sharing: “Members of all the Churches in communion would be able to receive the sacraments in the other Churches”;

Synodality/conciliarity: “Bishops of all the Churches would be invited to participate fully in any ecumenical councils that might be summoned.

Synodality would operate at various levels of ecclesial institutions: local, regional, and worldwide”;

Mission: “As sister Churches, they would also engage in common efforts to promote the realization of a Christian moral vision in the world”;

Subsidiarity: “Those elected to major episcopal or primatial offices would present themselves to other Church leaders at their level”;

Renewal and reform. They would “commit themselves to continuing [Christian] renewal and growth—together.”

The statement goes on to say, “Conscience holds us back from celebrating our unity as complete in sacramental terms, until it is complete in faith, Church structure, and common action.” Can you clarify what you mean by “restoring our broken communion” so that the other existing problems “can be addressed one by one and resolved by common accord”? It seems like we already have “mutual recognition,” “accepted diversity,” and “mission”; what is the next step and how many steps will it take before we get to “liturgical sharing” which is what I think of when you say “broken communion?”

Taft: Yes, much that is put forward in this excellent historic document is already a reality or on the way to being so. For instance there is no “Filioque” in the Creed Russian Catholics chant in our Slavonic liturgy, and some years ago Rome issued a clarification of its Trinitarian belief about which the late French Orthodox theologian Olivier Clément said if that is the Catholic teaching on the issue then the problem has been resolved. As for “ecumenical councils,” the Catholic Church might specify more clearly its list of those, which as far as I know we have never defined. Are the purely Roman Catholic post-schism councils to be considered ecumenical councils of the undivided Church? If so, says who?

CWR: How could the papal claims of Rome be modified in a way that would be both acceptable to the Orthodox Churches and faithful to the tradition of the Catholic Church? Do you think the jurisdiction issue really is a hang-up for the Orthodox since they also practice cross-jurisdiction throughout Western Europe, the Americas, Australia, and East Asia?

Taft: The new Catholic “Sister Churches” ecclesiology describes not only how the Catholic Church views the Orthodox Churches. It also represents a startling revolution in how the Catholic Church views itself: we are no longer the only kid on the block, the whole Church of Christ, but one Sister Church among others. Previously, the Catholic Church saw itself as the original one and only true Church of Christ from which all other Christians had separated for one reason or another in the course of history, and Catholics held, simplistically, that the solution to divided Christendom consisted in all other Christians returning to Rome’s maternal bosom.

Vatican II, with an assist from those Council Fathers with a less naïve Disney-World view of their own Church’s past, managed to put aside this historically ludicrous, self-centered, self-congratulatory perception of reality. In doing so they had a strong assist from the Council Fathers of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church whose concrete experience of the realities of the Christian East made them spokesmen and defenders of that reality.

In this context I would recommend the excellent new book by Robert Louis Wilken, The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity (New Haven & London: Yale U. Press 2012). Professor Wilken, a convert to Catholicism who is a recognized expert on Early Christianity and its history and literature, shows that Early Christianity developed not out of some Roman cradle but as a federation of local Churches, Western and Eastern, each one under the authority of a chief hierarch who would come to be called Archbishop, Pope, Patriarch, or Catholicos, each with its own independent governing synod and polity, all of them initially in communion with one another until the vicissitudes of history led to lasting divisions.

CWR: Many Orthodox theologians claim that even if the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople or the Patriarch of Moscow were to unite with Rome tomorrow, the lay faithful and the monastics would probably not accept it and therefore there would be no actual union. Given the history of Lyons and Florence do you think this is true, or has the Orthodox mood changed recently?

Taft: Part of the problem is that some Orthodox do not instruct their people adequately and update them, so ecumenical progress on the upper level often does not filter down to the ordinary faithful. In addition of course, there is the problem of the bigotry of many of the monastics and others towards anyone who is not Orthodox. On how they square this with what Christianity is supposed to be according to Jesus’ explicit teaching in the New Testament, we still await their explanation. One Catholic remedy for this—its usefulness proven by the rage it provokes in the exposed bigots—is the factual diffusion of their views, objectively and without editorial comment, in publications like Irénikon in French, or in English Father Ronald Roberson’s highly informative monthly SEIA Newsletter on the Eastern Churches and Ecumenism, distributed gratis to subscribers via email and eventually preserved for permanent reference in the Eastern Churches Journal. These publications just give the news without comment, including quotations from the bigots permanently recorded for posterity, thereby exposing them to the public embarrassment they merit. This is especially important for some representatives of Orthodoxy who speak out of both sides of their mouth, saying one thing at international ecumenical venues, and quite another for the consumption of Orthodox audiences or in publications they do not expect the non-Orthodox to read.

CWR: You mentioned the fact that documenting statements from Orthodox representatives has the potential to nail down the real arguments and eradicate equivocation. How has modern technology, especially the Internet, helped (or hindered) ecumenical dialogue?

Taft: Anything that helps spread the news and the flood of ever-new documentation on inter-church relations can only be viewed positively. And it is a mistake to think that this is not true in countries of the less-developed so-called “third world,” where those interested in the rest of the world are often more computer-literate than those of us in the West. Some of my Orthodox friends in far away countries are computer whizzes compared to me!

CWR: It seems as though Western Catholic theologians have been interested in Eastern theology for the past 1,500 years and have generally sought to integrate it into their own theology. On the other hand, many modern Eastern Orthodox theologians are very leery about anything Western and have furthermore severed themselves from their roots in Hellenic philosophy. Is this statement accurate? Is this a recent phenomenon? And are there any schools of Eastern Orthodox theology that do not see the integration of Western theology and philosophical inquiry as a threat to Eastern theology?

Taft: First of all, the roots of ALL of us include a Neo-Platonic heritage that no one has abandoned in East or West since it is part of Christianity’s DNA, so drop that notion. As for Orthodox theologians, we must distinguish the second-stringers from the best ones. Lest my list be endless, let me mention just a few in each Orthodox Church who are fully conversant with present western Catholic theology. Among the Greeks: Metropolitans Kallistos Ware and Ioannes Zizioulas, Archpriest Stefanos Alexopoulos, Prof. Pantelas Kalaitzidis of Volos, and the professors of Holy Cross Hellenic Greek College in Brighton, Massachusetts. Among the Russian Orthodox: Metropolitan Ilarion Alfayev, Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin, Protoierej Mixail Zheltov, and numerous others. Then in the USA we have the Professors of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary of the OCA, and on and on. So there are in fact plenty of top Orthodox theologians au courant in modern non-Orthodox theological thought.

All too long have I dwelt with those who hate peace. When I speak of peace they are ready for war. (Ps 119: 7)

St. Gregory of Nyssa

St. Gregory of Nyssa (1954) would have us understand that the core of the meaning of this beatitude is that we are called to become "sons of God." Following Moses’ description of the "holy of holies" (Ex 25, 26), St Gregory points out that all the Beatitudes are holy. A special consideration, however, is that the "holy of holies" had a purer, even holier, inner part. St. Gregory called this sanctum, adyton [impenetrable]. It was inaccessible to anyone except the 'high priest.' St. Gregory points out that the impenetrability of the innermost center of the "holy of holies" makes it a fitting symbol of the "inner region of the soul, in which the mystical life is lived." This symbolism applies to the Beatitudes themselves.

This I believe also to be the case of the beatitudes that have been shown us on this mountain. All that the Divine Word has so far laid down is indeed perfectly holy. But what we are now invited to contemplate is truly adyton, and the Holy of Holies. For if the blessedness of seeing God cannot be surpassed, to become the son of God transcends bliss altogether.

Icon of the Creation

Following the Fathers of the Old Testament, St. Gregory notes that Abraham likens man to dust and ashes (Gn 18: 27), Isaiah (40:26), as well as David (Ps 36:2 ), likens man to grass and Solomon proclaims that all that man concerns himself with is vanity (Ecc 1: 2). St. Paul (1Cor 15: 9) counts himself as the least and bespeaks speaks for all mankind that we are as nothing: "For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle." However, God's bestowal of sonship on us lifts us to a Divine dimension. St. Gregory tells us:

Man is esteemed as nothing, as ashes and grass and vanity among the things that exist, yet he becomes akin to this great Majesty that can neither be seen nor heard nor thought; he is received as a son by the God of the universe.

Becoming sons of God does not happen automatically. In this Beatitude Jesus points out to us what we must do to be favored with God's free gift of sonship. We must be peacemakers. Having been favored with the free gift of sonship, we then have the duty to continue to be peacemakers, and in this we find our blessedness, we grow into the likeness of the God of peace.

The Bliss of Making Peace

In his homily on this Beatitude, St. Gregory gives us an unexpected spiritual insight. Normally, it might be expected he would go into what making peace means and how it can be accomplished. However, this holy Father of the Church, using the analogy of combat, warfare and competition, tells us that the "contest" of making peace is actually a reward in and of itself. Most contests, at best, involve tremendous, intense, strenuous physical and mental struggle, at worst, fierce fighting involving bloodshed, lament, atrocities and slaughter. But the contest of making peace is different. Yes, winning leads to the reward of spiritual sonship, but of great importance, St. Gregory points out, is that peace is intrinsically a reward in itself. This leads him to say: "So even if no further hope was promised a man, those who have sense would prize peace for its own sake above all else." Does not the psalmist tell us "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity?" (Ps 132:1).

Christ the Foundation of all Peace

Spiritual peace means freedom from slavery to the passions and bondage to sin. St. Mark the Ascetic tells us: "Peace is a deliverance from the passions, which is not found except through the action of the Holy Spirit." (Philokalia I). St. Isaac of Syria (Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2011) goes on to explain the relationship between the passions, sin and peace in more detail: "As long as your senses are alive to every occurrence, understand you are [spiritually] dead, for the burning of sin will not be absent from all your members and peace will not be able to settle in your soul." St. Isaac also notes that peace is a step upward in the ladder of the beatitudes from the previous step of being merciful. Harkening to Christ's beatitude of mercy (Mt 5:7), he tells us, "a harsh and merciless heart will never be purified. A merciful man is the physician of his own soul, for . . . he drives the darkness of the passions out of his inner self." The result is peace: ". . .let a merciful heart preside over your entire discipline and you will be at peace with God."

Humility the pathway to peace

St. Isaac links the acquisition of peace to humility. He speaks of it as ". . .the peace that is born of humility." In his Homily 48, St. Isaac tells us exactly what humility is: "The man who has reached the knowledge of the extent of his own weakness has reached perfect humility." This means that we need to develop an awareness of the passions that beset us, our sensory responses to these passions and the sinful desires and actions that follow. In his Homily 51, the saint uses the analogy of separating ourselves from things of this world as the way to develop this humble spiritual awareness: "Seek understanding, not gold. Clothe yourself with humility, not fine linen." His next sentence gives us the outcome of this endeavor: "Gain peace, not a kingdom."

St. Theophylact

The importance of acquiring humility to obtain peace cannot be overstated. It is implicit in the first beatitude. Blessed Theophylact (2006) tells us:

Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. First He lays down humility as a foundation. Since Adam fell through pride, Christ raises us up by humility; for Adam had aspired to become God. The "poor in spirit" are those whose pride is crushed and who are contrite in soul.

In meditating on the words of Blessed Theophylact, it would be well to ponder an important point made in a previous article (Morelli, 2012). In his Homily on Blessed are the poor in spirit, St. John Chrysostom asks a deep question: “. . .why did Christ choose the word “poor” [in spirit] and not the word “humble?” St. John’s answer is that the choice of the word "poor" emphasizes that the poor would be awestruck and tremble at God's words, as Isaiah the Prophet (66: 2) said, "My hand made all these things, and all these things were made, saith the Lord. But to whom shall I have respect, but to him that is poor and little, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my words?" St John then distinguishes two types of humility. The first he calls "one humble in his own measure," and the second type "another with all excess of lowliness.” Clearly, the second type is true spiritual humility. St. John likens it to “contriteness of heart,” as David tells us: ". . .sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; a broken and humbled heart God will not despise" (Ps 50: 19). St. John, the Golden-mouthed saint, sees that pride is "the greatest of evils" and the consequence of pride is that it has brought "havoc on the whole world." Lack of peace, that is to say, inner warfare within the soul and outer warfare with those around us, is the resulting mayhem.

St. John of Kronstadt (2003) notes:

People who seek to attain such a disposition of spirit are truly blessed because they have attained God's grace, they have attained the source of peace and joy of the Holy Spirit. . . . St. Theophylact of Bulgaria says "peace is the mother of God's grace; the indignant soul must become a stranger to quarrels with people and within itself if it wishes to attain God's grace."

It is no wonder that the proper translation in English of the hymn sung by the angels at the Birth of Christ should be: "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will." (Lk 2: 13-14). The angels did not proclaim God's words as 'peace on earth good will toward men.' Rather, we see men have to cultivate the "good will" to acquire peace through humility and then they will be blessed with the good will of God: the Godly peace and joy of the Holy Spirit. Once we have attained inner peace, we are spiritually prepared to extend peace to others.

St. John of Kronstadt

It is important to consider that the call to peace is not passive, it is not merely 'being' peaceful. It is a call to action, a call to be makers of peace. I cannot do better than to quote St. John of Kronstadt on this matter. He tells us we must "become peacemakers to our neighbors." This especially must extend to our parishes. He specifically singles out clergy: "Pastors of the Church have a special obligation to be peacemakers. . .this is precisely what they are appointed to do." In any disagreements, no matter what the reason, insult, unfairness, encroachment on our rights or property, we must do all in our power to end it and reconcile. This may involve sacrificing "our property, or our honor, or our precedence." This extends to reconciling those whether "in church, society and family" who have animosity between themselves.

Forest (1999) would have us start by understanding peace as it was meant by the ancient Hebrews.

Consider King David's words in Psalm 121: 6-9: "Pray ye for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem: and abundance for them that love thee. Let peace be in thy strength: and abundance in thy towers. For the sake of my brethren, and of my neighbors, I spoke peace of thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for thee." Now the Hebrew word for peace as rendered in English is Shalom.

The Greek Pagan goddess Eirene

This word allows for multifaceted understandings, but these can be summarized in the most general way as meaning: completeness, good relationships, prosperity and welfare. For the Hebrew people and for King David it would have been applied to the relationship between God and man, between states and cities and between individuals. In Greek, peace is rendered eirene, originally derived from the name of a pagan goddess.

The interpretation of the statue in the museum located in Munich Germany is that she is shown maternally gazing at her trusting infant. The meaning for the pagan Greeks was that prosperity occurs only under the protection of peace (Eirene). It is easy to see how the Greek-speaking Hebrews writing the Septuagint version Old Testament Sacred Scripture, the text used by Christ Himself, would see God as the protector of the people of Israel and as the God of peace (eirene). Psalm 75 reads: "In Judah God is known, His name is great in Israel. And His abode has been in Salem, and His dwelling in Zion. There He broke the powers of the bows, the shield, the sword and the battle. You shine forth in wonder, from the everlasting mountains." In this context, then, we can understand the prophesy of Isaiah:". . .and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into sickles: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.” (Is 2:4-5). Such a sense of peace requires action. It means to do what it takes to make peace. We have to break the powers that make conflict.

The Mind of Christ and His Church on the meaning of peace is easily seen in St. Paul's Epistle to the Colossians (3: 12-15):

Put on for yourselves, therefore, as elect of God, holy and beloved, compassion from your inward parts, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another, and graciously forgiving one another, if anyone hath a complaint against someone; even as the Christ graciously forgave you, thus also do ye. And over all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God be presiding in your hearts, to which also ye were called in one body; and keep on becoming thankful.

As St. Paul told the Corinthians: "God hath called us in peace." (1Cor 7:15). We should see that when we work at making peace it is extending the work of Christ Himself. Christ opened to us the pathway to peace through His death on the Cross. St. Paul makes this clear when he tells us that it pleased the Father "through Him to reconcile all things to Him, having made peace through the blood of His Cross, through Him, whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens." (Col. 1:20). St. John Chrysostom tells us: "Yea, for this became the work of the Only Begotten, to unite the divided, and to reconcile the alienated." Thus, as Christians, we must put into action the counsel that St. Paul gave to the Romans (14:19): "Let us then pursue the things of peace and the things of building up of one another."

A seeming paradox: make peace but go to war

The teachings and actions of Christ, as recorded in the Holy Gospels and the other books of New Testament Sacred Scripture, as well as the teachings of the Scripture writers themselves pose a seeming contradiction. Many of Jesus' teachings would have us focus on peace. Of course, foremost:"Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God." (Mt 5: 9). Consider some other of Jesus’ words written in Sacred Scripture on making peace:

• “But when ye enter into the house, salute it, saying, ‘Peace be to this house.’" (Mt. 10:12])
• "And He [Jesus] said to her, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee well; go in peace, and be sound in body from thy scourge.” (Mk. 5:34)
• "Be having salt in yourselves and keeping peace with one another.” (Mk. 9:50)
• “And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’" (Lk. 10:5)
• Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and saith to them, “Peace be to you.” (Lk. 24:36)
• “I have spoken these things to you, abiding with you; “but the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, that One shall teach you all things, and shall remind you of what I said to you. “Peace I leave to you, My peace I give to you; not as the world giveth, give I to you. Let not your heart continue being troubled, nor being fearful." (Jn. 14:25-27)

We can also reflect on the words and actions of the Apostles:

• “Now he [Moses] was supposing his brethren understood that God through his hand was giving them salvation; but they understood not. “And on the following day he appeared to those who were fighting, and he constrained them toward peace, saying, ‘Men, ye are brethren; why is it that ye wrong one another?’" (Acts 7: 25-26)
• "Then indeed were the churches throughout all of Judæa and Galilee and Samaria having peace, being built up and proceeding in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit they were being multiplied." (Acts 9:31)
• "Then Peter opened his mouth and said, “In truth, I comprehend that God is not a respecter of persons, “but in every nation, the one who feareth Him and worketh righteousness is acceptable to Him.” “The Logos Whom He sent forth to the sons of Israel, preaching the Gospel, peace through Jesus Christ—this One is the Lord of all." (Acts 10: 34-36)
• " . . .Paul answered, “What are ye doing, weeping and breaking in pieces my heart? For I not only hold myself in readiness to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And when he would not be persuaded, we held our peace and said, “The will of the Lord be done.”" (Acts 21: 13-14)
• ". . .Jesus Christ our Lord, by Whom we [St. Paul and the other Apostles] received grace and apostleship to an obedience of faith among all the nations in behalf of His name, among whom are ye also called of Jesus Christ, to all those who are in Rome, beloved of God, called saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ." (Rm 1:4-7)
• "For they that are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh, but they that are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the spirit is life and peace. Because the mind of the flesh is enmity toward God; for it is not subject to the law of God, for neither can it be." (Rm. 8: 5-7)
• “How beautiful are the feet of those preaching the glad tidings of peace, of those preaching the glad tidings of good things!” (Rm 10: 15). [St. Paul referencing Is 7: 52: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, and that preacheth peace: of him that sheweth forth good, that preacheth salvation, that saith to Sion: Thy God shall reign!"]
• ". . .for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For the one who serveth Christ in these things is well-pleasing to God and approved by men. Let us then pursue the things of peace and the things of building up of one another." (Rm 14: 17-19)
• "And the God of peace shall crush Satan under your feet quickly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (Rm 16: 20)
• "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor 1: 3)
• "Finally, brethren, keep on rejoicing, keep on being perfected, being comforted, being of the same mind, being at peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you." (2Cor 13: 11)
• "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Gal 5: 22-23)
• "But now in Christ Jesus ye who once were afar off came to be near by the blood of the Christ. For He is our peace, the One Who made the both one, and broke down the middle wall of the hedge, having abolished by ordinances the enmity—the law of the commandments—in His flesh, in order that He might create in Himself the two into one new man, making peace, and might thoroughly reconcile them both in one body to God through the Cross, having slain the enmity by it. And He came and preached the good tidings, peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then ye are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens of the saints and of the household of God, who were built up on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the cornerstone, in Whom every building, being joined together, increaseth to a holy temple in the Lord...". (Eph. 2: 13-21)

The Holy Land at the time of Melchisedek

• ". . .walk worthily of the calling in which ye were called, with all humility and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Eph 4: 1-3)
• ". . .be comforting one another and building up one another, even as also ye do. And we ask you, brethren, to know those who labor among you, ... be esteeming them exceedingly in love on account of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, be admonishing the disorderly, be consoling the fainthearted, be supporting the weak, be long-suffering toward all. See ye that no one render evil for evil to anyone, but always be pursuing the good both toward one another and toward all. Be rejoicing always; be praying unceasingly. In everything be giving thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1Th 5: 11-18)
• "For this Melchisedek, king of Salem, priest of God the Most High—who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, . . . which indeed is first interpreted “king of righteousness,” and then also “king of Salem,” that is, “king of peace,” without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but having been made like the Son of God [a prototype, a prophetic prefigure of Christ], remaineth a priest in perpetuity." (Heb 7:1-3)
• Melchisideck Icon at the Royal Doors of the Wooden church of St. Archangels of Libotin, Maramures, County, Romania"But the wisdom from above indeed is first pure, then peaceable, equitable, easily entreated, full of mercy and of good fruits, impartial and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace ... From what place come wars and fights among you? They are from this place, from your desires after pleasure which war in your members, are they not? ... Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world is rendered an enemy of God . . . .But He giveth greater grace. Wherefore it saith, “God setteth Himself against the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.” Be subject therefore to God. Stand against the devil, and he will flee from you." (Jas 3: 17-18, 4: 1,4,6-7)
• "Grace to you and peace be multiplied in a full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord..." (2Pt. 1: 2)

In the spirit of St. Gregory of Nyssa discussed above, that likens obtaining peace to combat, we can consider that the seeming paradox of making peace by warfare does not mean warfare literally, but rather refers to the ascetic struggle and discipline that is necessary to overcome the passions that beset us. We may be inclined to vengeance, anger and tempest, but this is not what we are to do. St. Paul writes to the Romans (12: 18), "If possible, as to that which depends on you, be at peace with all men." We are to hold on tenaciously to the teachings of Christ and His Church, but we are to do so by adopting a kindly demeanor toward any who may oppose us. Not to do so would be to send a message of aggression, discord and most probably have any you are interacting with focus on your dysfunctional, un-Godly angry emotion rather than on any Godly message you may want to be communicating. (Morelli, 2006a,b,c; 2011b). This would be in the spirit of St. John Chrysostom who comments:

Do thine own part, and to none give occasion of war or fighting, neither to Jew nor Gentile. But if you see the cause of religion suffering anywhere, do not prize concord above truth, but make a valiant stand even to death. And even then be not at war in soul, be not averse in temper, but fight with the things only. . . .But if the other will not be at peace, do not thou fill thy soul with tempest, but in mind be friendly, as I said before, without giving up the truth on any occasion.” (Hom. 22, P.G. 60: 682 (col. 611) in The Orthodox New Testament, 2004).

Connections: The Orthodox Services and Prayers

In a previous article I comment on the connection between the Beatitude on Mercy and the Orthodox Services: "One need go no further than the ordinary prayers, such as Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Liturgy of the Hours, the Divine Liturgy and other services in the Eastern Church, to meet the phrase that God, our God is a God of Mercy." (Morelli, 2012). Similarly, this Beatitude on Peace is a repeated theme in the Liturgical Services and Prayers of the Church. It is significant that the entryway into the Kingdom of God is by peace. The Divine Liturgy begins by announcing the presence of the Kingdom of God: "Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The petition of the first prayer that immediately follows is that this be done in peace: "In peace let us pray to the Lord." This same petition is repeated constantly in the numerous Holy Mysteries of the Church. Forest (1999) has an excellent, more detailed discussion and references to peace in the Divine Liturgy.

Peace in times of tribulation and conflict

It should be noted that peace does not remove us from the tribulations and conflicts in the world. It merely gives us the armor and shield of God in passing through life's troubles. The words of the psalmist come to mind: "For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me." (Ps 22:4) Did not Jesus Himself tell His Apostles in His priestly discourse at the Last Supper, words that we now to apply to ourselves as well, “These things I have spoken to you, in order that ye may have peace in Me. In the world ye shall have affliction; but be of good courage, I have overcome the world.” (Jn. 16:33).

It is in this sense that we can understand Our Lord's words in commissioning His Apostles: ". . .the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them forth two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Therefore He was saying to them, “The harvest indeed is great, but the workers are few. Entreat therefore the Lord of the harvest that He would send out workers into His harvest. “Go; behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves." (Lk. 10:1-3)

St. Cyril of Alexandria

St. Cyril of Alexandria would understand these words to mean:

How can a sheep prevail against a wolf? How can one so peaceful vanquish the savageness of beasts of prey? ‘Yes,’ He says, ‘for they all have Me as their Shepherd—small and great, people and princes, teachers and taught. I will be with you and aid you, and deliver you from all evil. I will tame the savage beasts, I will change wolves into sheep. I will make the persecutors become the helpers of the persecuted....For I will make and unmake all things, and there is nothing that can resist My will.’ (Hom. 61, Commentary, Ch. 10, 264 in: The Orthodox New Testament. 2004).

Also, we can reflect on St. Paul's words to the Ephesians:

Put on the full armor of God, for you to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; because for us the wrestling is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the cosmic rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of evil on account of the heavenly things. For this cause take up the full armor of God, in order that ye might be able to withstand in the day, and having counteracted all things, to stand. Stand therefore, having girt your loins with truth, and having put on for yourselves the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet in readiness of the Gospel of peace; on the whole, take up the shield of faith, with which ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God—by means of every prayer and entreaty, praying in every season in the Spirit, and being vigilant toward this same thing with all perseverance and entreaty for all the saints. . . . (Eph. 6:11-18)

While St. Paul uses the accoutrements of warfare to describe how we are to engage the evils in the world, he means it in the spirit of peace and to bring about peace. Blessed Theophylact understands this and considers that St. Paul's speaking of "the cosmic rulers of the darkness of this age" refers to the "wicked practices [of] the world.” (The Orthodox New Testament. 2004). However, these wicked practices are to be countered with the Gospel of Peace. Blessed Theophylact explains it this way: “He means it is needful to be in readiness for the Gospel and to preach. For, ‘Beautiful are the feet of one preaching glad tidings of peace, as one preaching good news [cf. Is. 52:7]’

Tribulation and conflict was not present at the onset of creation. But it was not that way in the beginning of creation. God created mankind who was made and placed in Paradise in a state of wholeness. The brokenness that is in the world stems from the original sin of pride of our ancestral parents. Becoming a peacemaker is working toward reestablishing the end for which we were made.

Bringing about peace

One of the first steps of being a peacemaker is to develop inner peace of mind and soul. This will be brought about by having undistorted cognitions (thoughts) and will be manifested by emotional stability and appropriate behavior toward others. Specific helpful strategies toward achieving this are available through Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT) It is commonly known that CBT has been successfully applied to a host of emotional and interpersonal problems in adult populations. It is less well-known that these interventions can be applied effectively to a variety of children's and adolescent's psychological problems (Friedman & McClure, 2002).

Cognitive denominator

It is important to note that children's cognitive capacity is not as developed as an adult’s, therefore, a less complex cognitive factor structure should be considered. For example, when working with children clinically, I have found it useful to compress the more complex adult cognitive structure delineated by Ellis, (1962) and Beck, (1976) that I have discussed in other articles relating to adults (c.f. Morelli, 2009a.c) to two cognitive distortions or thinking errors: demanding expectations and over-evaluations (catastrophizing).

• Demanding Expectations: Belief that there are laws or rules regarding the world, others and self that must always be obeyed. Furthermore, world, others and self will always be the way one thinks they 'should' be. This distortion is sometimes referred to as the “tyranny of the shoulds.” Jack thinks because something is his, he as the right to it and can do anything he wants to maintain possession of it, even if it means picking a fight with another child that takes or is trying to take his possession from him. A program of conflict resolution focusing on alterative appropriate responses would be a way of helping the child settle the matter in a 'peaceful' way. Rewards for appropriate behavior and punishment for inappropriate behavior, administered without anxiety or depression, would be the constructive response to apply here (Morelli, 2006a,b,c).
• Catastrophizing: The perception that something is worse than it actually is. Jill erroneously reacted to her average job evaluation as if it represented a grave and catastrophic event and thus reacted with even more anxiety.

An alternative to consider is to change the names of the cognitive distortions to a more elementary vocabulary. Creed, Reisweber and Beck (2011) present children and adolescents with the cognitive distortions now renamed as "Thinking Traps":

• The repeat: Thinking that if something happened once, it will always happen the same way.
• It's all about me: Blaming yourself for bad things that happen, even when they have nothing to do with you.
• The pessimist: Expecting that things will always turn out for the worst.
• Selective sight: Not seeing the good parts of a situation, but picking out all of the dangerous or bad things that could/did happen.
• Ignoring evidence: Picking out the evidence that tells you that the worst thing is going to happen, instead of looking at all the evidence to decide what will happen.
• The jumper: Jumping to conclusions before getting all the facts about a situation.
• The mind reader: Reading minds, but not in a good way—such as deciding that someone is thinking something bad about you without any evidence.
• Shoulds: "Should" thinking—"I should start a fight with every person who crosses me" or "I shouldn't ever get mad."
• The crystal ball: Predicting what will happen in the future, and that things will probably go wrong.
• A perfect disaster: Thinking that if something is less than perfect, it is a complete failure.

Cognitive complexity

There may be a network of complex, interconnected cognitive distortions. These may be hierarchically ordered. George Kelly's Personal Construct Theory (1955) contends that individuals have cognitive constructs and postulates that they function according to a set of corollaries. One important corollary is the "Organizational Corollary." It is defined as "each person characteristically evolves, for convenience in anticipating events [their understanding and behavior in the world by predicting future occurrences], a construction system embracing ordinal relationships between constructs." An individual's construct system is formed and modified by their experiences. The meaning of construct systems being ordinal is that particular constructs may be subsumed by superordinate constructs. For example, a set of (subordinate) constructs, smart-stupid, may be subsumed by the superordinate set, good-bad. In Kelly's model, constructs are always in dichotomous pairs specific to a particular individual. The person's construct system makes the world, and others, more predictable, but at the same time, if the construct system strays too far from reality, the construct system would be the basis of emotional dysphoria and dysfunctional behavior. A person's unique construct system must be discovered, interpreted or revealed by the individual themselves. Others (e.g., clinician, friends, parents or teachers) can only serve as facilitators of the discovery process. Current research suggests that this complexity extends to genetic and differential physiological brain activities and structures as well.

Clinical example

A clinical example may be helpful. Several years ago I had a female patient engage in counseling for problems in interpersonal relationships. During sessions she would consistently describe certain individuals as "friendly," while giving no description of those who were not described as "friendly." I knew I did not understand her cognitive world view, so to speak, so picking up on Kelly's clinical model I inquired: "You know Lyn, you described (here I named a few persons she had mentioned) as "friendly." Now, there are others around you, if they were not "friendly" what would they be? What is the opposite of friendliness for you?" I was expecting an answer like, "stand-off-ish," or "quiet," or even "aloof," but she answered, "critical." Obviously, her answer opened a whole new view of her 'cognitive life space,' that is to say, how she viewed others around her, and this revelation was very helpful in her treatment.

CBT: the Beyond

Judith Beck's (2011) modification of the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy model extending cognitive processing to the underlying beliefs of automatic thoughts may be somewhat similar to Kelly's Organizational Corollary. She postulates that Core Beliefs, followed by Intermediate Beliefs, are the foundation of Automatic Thoughts. She considers Core Beliefs as the most fundamental belief level. These lead to Intermediate Beliefs, which are rules, attitudes and assumptions that are regarded as "global, rigid and overgeneralized." In turn, these lead to Automatic Thoughts that are the actual words and images an individual is thinking in specific situations. An example provided is a Core Belief: "I am incompetent," that leads to an Intermediate Belief: Attitude: "It's terrible to fail," Rule: "I should give up if challenge seems to great," and Assumptions: "If I try to do something difficult, I'll fail. If I avoid doing it, I'll be okay."

Of clinical utility for working with children, adolescents and even adults is the Case Conceptualization Model based on Beck (1995), discussed and presented by Creed, Reisweber & Beck, (2011). It consists of answering questions about:

• Early Experiences: What are the significant early experiences that have affected the student [child, adolescent, adult].
• Underlying Beliefs: What are the student's [child's adolescent’s adult’s] beliefs about him- or herself and the world. What are the . . .beliefs about how to get by in the world—as directly related to his or her core beliefs?
• Thinking and Feeling Patterns: What are the quick, evaluative thoughts that occurred in a specific situation? What are the emotions linked to the thoughts?
• Behavior Patterns: What does the student [child, adolescent, adult] do based on his or her beliefs?

An alternative conceptualization of core beliefs is that they may refer to a kernel evaluation of self. These may be expressed as statements of 'being' that contain some form of the word am. For example: "If someone bullies me and I do not fight back that would mean I am a 'wus.' If I let him or her get away with that, I am a coward.” Such distorted self evaluations are similar to what J. Beck (2011) labels as intermediate or core beliefs. Unfortunately, societal evaluations support such irrational beliefs: Attila the Hun, Hitler and Idi Amin, for example, are (a statement of being) intrinsically evil.

In an earlier seminal work delineating the pathway of irrational beliefs leading to dysfunctional emotions, Ellis (1962) would describe such thinking as a "quite erroneous, belief or assumption that he is worthless, no good, valueless as a person for having done wrong." Certainly a human being does evil things, makes errors, mistakes and gravely sins. As we know from the Orthodox Funeral Service: ". . .there is no man who liveth and sinneth not."

"Statements of Being": Bad Psychology and Bad Orthodoxy

Not only are statements of being psychologically irrational, but they are incompatible with Orthodox Christian anthropology. All mankind is made in God's image. That is the core of everyone's being. We are called to be like Him, and that is the sum of what we do in synergy with God's grace.

One way to discover these unarticulated erroneous self-evaluations is to ask a question such as: "If you did not fight back, what would that say about you?" or "If you did apologize, what would that say about you?"

Some practical interventional suggestions

Some practical suggestions to facilitate the psychological interventions above and relate them to the Mind of Christ and His Church (e.g.: Morelli, 2007, 2010) would be to:

• Model appropriate temperate speech and behavior oneself. (2006b,d)
• Respond to a perceived conflict by first asking what they think the problem is?
• Talk over alternative ways of responding to identified problems. Possible responses may not always be objectively rational in terms of societal or spiritual norms. For some, a core belief regarding maintaining a good "self image" (e.g., I am not a 'wus,'" or "I'm strong, I am no pushover.") may mean it is worth doing harm to others or be subject to punishing consequences. In such cases, the value of "moral courage" versus societal adulation (Morelli, 2012) should be addressed.
• Avoid speaking in an adult 'pontificating' way. Speak in an attentive, collaborative manner in order to validate the feeling of the other. (c.f. Morelli, 2007)
• Repeating what you have been told in the child's own words may help the child to know they are understood. Facing the child and maintaining eye contact also facilitates their knowing that they are being listened to and heard.
• In previous papers, "role playing" conflict resolution was recommended (Morelli, 2011a,c) . For example, with a young child: "Children can be prompted to make up sharing agreements for toys, games, and video play. Role-modeling scripts can be practiced. Initially, the parent may have to model such cooperative dialogue with the child. "Ok, lets take turns, you choose the first game and I'll choose the second game," etc."
• Icon Christ is our Reconciliation (Monastery of Saint John in the Desert (Jerusalem)Behavioral "homework assignments" is a well known technique in CBT following after role playing. (Edelman & Chambless, 1995). The child or adolescent may be asked to suggest something they could "practice" after the session, in real life.' Collaborate with the child to choose something doable/manageable. For example, a child or adolescent may initially practice keeping a distance from someone they previously had fights with. Be prepared to 'de-brief' the homework exercise, to go over any obstacles and come up with needed changes. Positively reinforce even small increments of appropriate problem-solving behavior. (Morelli, 2008). Remember to reinforce the behavior, e.g.. "Good job, walking away;" not the child: as in: "Johnny, you're great."
• Initial stages of peacemaking and conflict resolution may be indirect.
• It is important to keep in mind that cognitive-behavioral change is incremental and may take several attempts to achieve success. Spiritual growth will take a lifetime.
• All peacemaking should done on the foundation of Christ, the Prince of Peace, begotten by His Father and nurtured by His Holy Spirit, thus working toward spiritual happiness. (Morelli, 2009).

The fruits of peace not only provide inner peace that is intrinsically blissful and ensures peace among men of good will, but also proclaim the glory of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God, to all mankind and contribute to a person’s theosis. Consider the words of St. Seraphim of Sarov:

Acquire the spirit of peace and a thousand souls around you will be saved.

Chaplain's Corner
Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California

Only God knows what the state of the world will be by the time this "Chaplain's Corner" is published. So, my spiritual reflection is really dated as of the state of the world at the writing of this article (the second week of April, 2013). News sources report an unusually high awareness among Americans of the current threat of a nuclear war crisis incited by the extreme bellicose threats and actions of North Korean leaders. Words such as "represents threat," "public pessimism" and that "Americans are listening are now being heard worldwide." Such reports also indicate that a poll across all demographic groups in the United States, is that if the North's neighbor, South Korea, is attacked, the United States should respond militarily. How close is the nuclear annihilation clock to ticking to '0?' As of this writing, very close.

All this brings to my mind the words of the psalmist: "All too long have I dwelt with those who hate peace. When I speak of peace, they are ready for war." In other words, peace is precious; it is a treasure. This reflection bespeaks the necessity for all of us at all times to preserve peace and to work and hope to bring about peace. Peace is one of the fundamental teachings of most of the world's religious traditions. An example is Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Buddhist Zen master, who, since the Vietnam War, has worked tirelessly for peace. He pointed out that “Many people think excitement is happiness. . . . But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace. Mahatma Gandhi points out that “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.” Christ told his followers: "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God." (Mt 5: 9).

Becoming sons of God does not happen automatically. We must be peacemakers and be committed to continue to be committed to this task throughout our lives. It is in this that we find our blessedness; in this we grow into the likeness of the God of peace. Interestingly, a 20th Century scientist, Albert Einstein, points out a pathway to peace: “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding." Our Holy Church Father St. Isaac of Syria, writing centuries before, tells us that such a road to peace can be traveled, but we must first begin with understanding of ourselves. St. Isaac links the acquisition of peace to humility. He writes of ". . .the peace that is born of humility. . .the man who has reached the knowledge of the extent of his own weakness has reached perfect humility."

REFERENCES

i http://politicalticker.bl...

ii A Short Breviary for Religious and Laity. (1962) Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.

iii Thich Nhat Hanh. (2007). The Art of Power. NY: Harper-Collins.

iv http://www.goodreads.com/...

v http://www.goodreads.com/...

vi Holy Transfiguration Monastery. (ed., trans.). (2011). The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian (revised, 2nd edition). Boston, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

The prophetic words of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn resonate like thunder across the history of man. "Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened." Thus summarized the Nobel laureate, Orthodox Christian author, and Russian dissident the main reason why the communist revolution was able to enslave, terrorize, and murder tens of millions of innocent people. An atheistic mentality and a long process of secularization gradually alienated the people from God and His moral laws. This led them away from truth and authentic liberty and facilitated the rise of tyranny.

Alexandr Solzhenitsyn at typewriter

Godlessness is always the first step to the concentration camp. Tragically, that same process is now at work in America and many other parts of the world. Too many refuse to see it or believe it.

America has long been a beacon of freedom for millions of souls who came here seeking liberty and opportunity. It achieved this unique place in history by recognizing the authority of God and his moral laws and declaring that men have the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Founded by faithful and God-fearing men who despised government tyranny and sought religious freedom and individual liberty, America incorporated these universally true principles in its Declaration of Independence and Constitution. These ideals eventually became the bedrock upon which all our laws, government, and institutions were originally built.

America's Founding Fathers understood and proclaimed that all rights come from God alone, not governments. They insisted that government must always serve man and that man was created by God to be free. Their deep faith and reverence of the Almighty inspired and guided their actions and motivated their decisions. It is this belief and trust in God's authority and wisdom that ultimately transformed America from a tiny British colony with a handful of refugees to the mighty economic and military superpower and an oasis of freedom, opportunity, and prosperity for tens of millions of immigrants.

The Founding Fathers, like Solzhenitsyn, understood the dependence of freedom on morality. A virtuous and faithful people who placed God at the center of their lives and the foundations of their institutions helped America become that shining city on a hill "whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere," said President Ronald Reagan. "We've staked the whole future of American civilization not on the power of government," wrote James Madison, "far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us...to govern ourselves according to commandments of God. The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which the Constitution is founded."

This same theme is found throughout the writings of the Founders. John Adams clearly understood that our "Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." "He who is void of virtuous attachments in private life is, or very soon will be, void of all regard for his country," observed Samuel Adams. Patrick Henry wrote that "virtue, morality, and religion ... is the armor that renders us invincible[.] ... [I]f we lose these, we are conquered, fallen indeed[.] ... [S]o long as our manners and principles remain sound, there is no danger."

Solzhenitsyn warned that by forgetting God, America and the West faced a "calamity of a despiritualized and irreligious humanistic consciousness" that would weaken their foundations and make them vulnerable to moral decay and internal collapse. Only by turning back to God from the self-centered and atheistic humanism where "man is the touchstone [measure] in judging and evaluating everything on earth" would the West have any hope of escaping the destruction toward which it inevitably moves.

Unfortunately, America did not heed Solzhenitsyn's warnings. In the last several decades, America has been rapidly transformed from a God-fearing and worshiping nation into a secularist and atheistic society, where communist and atheistic ideals are glorified and promoted, while Judeo-Christian values and morality are attacked, ridiculed, and increasingly eradicated from the public and social consciousness of our nation. Under the decades-long assault and militant radicalism of many so-called "liberal" and "progressive" elites, God and His moral laws have been progressively erased from our public and educational institutions, to be replaced with all manner of delusion, perversion, corruption, violence, decadence, and insanity.

"Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants," warned William Penn. Throughout history, the most serious threats to man's freedom always arise when men refuse to acknowledge that God is ultimately the source and protector of real and lasting liberty and freedom. When that timeless truth is erased from men's consciousness, when God's wisdom and laws are forgotten, when morality is no longer a virtue to be treasured and emulated, when human life is no longer sacred, and man becomes the only standard of all that is true, then genuine freedom will begin to vanish from any group, institution, community, or society. Carnality, greed, selfishness, and worldly pleasure and power become the main goals of human existence. The moral and ethical clarity, conviction, and courage required to defend freedom and protect genuine liberty ultimately disappear, to be replaced by the most cruel, unethical, tyrannical, and godless ideologies.

It is no coincidence that advocates and followers of Fascism, Nazism, and Communism — all secular, immoral, atheistic, and godless ideologies — enslaved and murdered the greatest number of people in the history of mankind. All produced some of the most cruel, violent, and evil tyrants this world has ever known — despots who persecuted their own citizens, slaughtered the innocent, destroyed their own people, and brought calamities to other nations. All subjugated the liberty and property of men to the absolute power and control of the state. All were enemies of God and blasphemers of His Holy Scriptures. All viciously persecuted the most devout and religious members of their societies, primarily the religious Christians and Jews who righteously and faithfully followed the Lord.

This is the lesson the 20^th century expended so much blood to teach us. It appears that without a marked change in course, the Western world is going to have to learn it again.

Chris Banescu is an Orthodox Christian attorney, conservative blogger, and university professor. He regularly blogs at www.orthodoxnet.com/blog and www.chrisbanescu.com.

Read the entire article on the The Voice blog (new window will open).

Christian churches of any sort are right to be careful and thoughtful about the specific causes and organizations to which they do and do not give their public support, as such decisions are important part of what they tell a watching world about their faith and about the triune God. And if a church cannot or will not take the time to examine what a given organization actually does, it makes little sense to bestow a blank-check ecclesial endorsement on the organization’s activities.

So what exactly is accomplished by most of Eastern Orthodoxy in the United States being affiliated with the National Council of Churches (NCC)?

First, we must ask what the effective purpose of the NCC is today.  Its member communions include neither the Roman Catholic Church nor more than an increasingly narrow fraction of American Protestants.  Given its growing narrowness, penchant for divisive rhetoric, and the rather unloving, disdainful ways in which NCC leaders take pains to distance themselves from other Christians, especially evangelicals, it is clear that the NCC’s noble founding goal of Christian unity is not much of a priority for current NCC leaders.

The NCC has served a purpose in the past with its New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible translation and its annual Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. But the former is a fait accompli while the latter represents only a tiny fraction of the NCC’s work. So neither of these is the council’s raison d’être.

No, the first and foremost effective purpose of the modern NCC is to promote the values of theologically liberal/heterodox Protestantism and to use the name and resources of churches as a politically convenient tool to promote partisan public-policy agendas, including ones that directly oppose clear Scriptural teachings.

Devout Eastern Orthodox prize their church’s identity as the bearer of what they see as unbroken Christian tradition. Of course, important parts of this tradition’s moral teachings are the basic Christian moral values of valuing the lives of unborn children and honoring the God-given boundaries of sex only within man-woman marriage.

Yet over the years, IRD has documented numerous instances of the NCC defending abortion and/or homosexual practice while demonizing those who stand up for Christian values (at least nominally shared by Eastern Orthodox leaders) on such issues. To say nothing of the over-the-top interpersonal rudeness that NCC staffers have been known to aim at Christians who do not share their liberal Protestant values.

[. . .]

Do Eastern Orthodox leaders really have no problem with the direction and values of a church council of which they are a part being shaped by the input of people who deny the divinity of Christ, while Protestants who actually believe in the Nicene Creed are often disproportionately excluded from such discussions in the NCC? Do Eastern Orthodox leaders really have no problem with their name, through the NCC, being associated with a radical group’s work to promote religious support for abortion and sexual immorality?

If Eastern Orthodox leaders choose to remain silent, this would tragically be consistent with their past behavior.

[. . .]

As any Greek readers may discern from my last name, Eastern Orthodoxy is part of my own family heritage. So I really do sympathize with how important it must have been decades ago for religious leaders of struggling new immigrant communities in an often very intolerant America to be invited to have a seat at the table with leaders of the cultural mainstream. But after a century of an established presence of Eastern Orthodoxy in America, shouldn’t such church leaders want more than merely being seen but not heard?

Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, and other Eastern Orthodox members of the NCC could follow the example of their Antiochian Orthodox brethren by withdrawing their membership in the NCC and pursuing other areas of ecumenical engagement, a move that would be enthusiastically cheered by countless conservative Protestants within and beyond NCC member communions (including this United Methodist writer). Or they could try to use their seats at the table to seek genuinely meaningful dialogue by respectfully yet firmly challenging tablemates who have recently strayed from biblical moral values. At the very least, they could pro-actively make sure that as long as the council uses their names, the NCC will not say or do anything against Eastern Orthodox moral teaching.

[. . .]

But America’s NCC-endorsing Eastern Orthodox leaders (with the notable exception of the Antiochian Orthodox) have, by and large , chosen none of these things. Instead, they choose to continue their path of having no discernible moderating influence on the council (and having little to no apparent interest in doing so) while offering a blank-check endorsement of the NCC’s work, which the NCC’s Liberalprotestant staffers are all too eager to tout as a tool to shield the council from being dismissed as the decaying, ideologically narrow, Liberalprotestant dinosaur that it is.

[. . .]

Of course, I understand that Eastern Orthodox polity is fundamentally different from any Protestant body, and that, to the disappointment of the NCC and its allies like the Unitarian-led Religious Institute, no official Eastern Orthodox body is going to formally vote to, say, endorse abortion. And for what it’s worth, it is now widely agreed that the United Methodist Church is unlikely to change our official, conservative position on homosexuality for at least the foreseeable future.

But in both cases, there is a huge crisis of integrity when the church leadership chooses to shrink back from defending the very church values their offices charge them with promoting, and even passively allow their church’s name to be used to promote agendas directly contrary to the church’s own teachings.

Among U.S. leaders of both the United Methodist Church and Eastern Orthodoxy, there appear to be a number of leaders who love the Lord and accept the authority of Scripture, to whom God has given great opportunities to be witnesses for Christ and Christian truths affirmed in the on-paper position statements of both churches, but who inexplicably choose to bury their talents in the ground.

Read the entire article on the Juicy Ecumenicism blog (new window will open).

Marriage as a human institution is constantly evolving. But in all societies, marriage shapes the rights and obligations of parenthood.

September 19, 2008

I am a liberal Democrat. And I do not favor same-sex marriage. Do those positions sound contradictory? To me, they fit together.

Many seem to believe that marriage is simply a private love relationship between two people. They accept this view, in part, because Americans have increasingly emphasized and come to value the intimate, emotional side of marriage, and in part because almost all opinion leaders today, from journalists to judges, strongly embrace this position. That's certainly the idea that underpinned the California Supreme Court's legalization of same-sex marriage.

But I spent a year studying the history and anthropology of marriage, and I've come to a different conclusion.

Marriage as a human institution is constantly evolving, and many of its features vary across groups and cultures. But there is one constant. In all societies, marriage shapes the rights and obligations of parenthood. Among us humans, the scholars report, marriage is not primarily a license to have sex. Nor is it primarily a license to receive benefits or social recognition. It is primarily a license to have children.

In this sense, marriage is a gift that society bestows on its next generation. Marriage (and only marriage) unites the three core dimensions of parenthood — biological, social and legal — into one pro-child form: the married couple. Marriage says to a child: The man and the woman whose sexual union made you will also be there to love and raise you. Marriage says to society as a whole: For every child born, there is a recognized mother and a father, accountable to the child and to each other.

These days, because of the gay marriage debate, one can be sent to bed without supper for saying such things. But until very recently, almost no one denied this core fact about marriage. Summing up the cross-cultural evidence, the anthropologist Helen Fisher in 1992 put it simply: "People wed primarily to reproduce." The philosopher and Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell, certainly no friend of conventional sexual morality, was only repeating the obvious a few decades earlier when he concluded that "it is through children alone that sexual relations become important to society, and worthy to be taken cognizance of by a legal institution."

Marriage is society's most pro-child institution. In 2002 — just moments before it became highly unfashionable to say so — a team of researchers from Child Trends, a nonpartisan research center, reported that "family structure clearly matters for children, and the family structure that helps children the most is a family headed by two biological parents in a low-conflict marriage."

All our scholarly instruments seem to agree: For healthy development, what a child needs more than anything else is the mother and father who together made the child, who love the child and love each other.

For these reasons, children have the right, insofar as society can make it possible, to know and to be cared for by the two parents who brought them into this world. The foundational human rights document in the world today regarding children, the 1989 U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, specifically guarantees children this right. The last time I checked, liberals like me were supposed to be in favor of internationally recognized human rights, particularly concerning children, who are typically society's most voiceless and vulnerable group. Or have I now said something I shouldn't?

Every child being raised by gay or lesbian couples will be denied his birthright to both parents who made him. Every single one. Moreover, losing that right will not be a consequence of something that at least most of us view as tragic, such as a marriage that didn't last, or an unexpected pregnancy where the father-to-be has no intention of sticking around. On the contrary, in the case of same-sex marriage and the children of those unions, it will be explained to everyone, including the children, that something wonderful has happened!

For me, what we are encouraged or permitted to say, or not say, to one another about what our society owes its children is crucially important in the debate over initiatives like California's Proposition 8, which would reinstate marriage's customary man-woman form. Do you think that every child deserves his mother and father, with adoption available for those children whose natural parents cannot care for them? Do you suspect that fathers and mothers are different from one another? Do you imagine that biological ties matter to children? How many parents per child is best? Do you think that "two" is a better answer than one, three, four or whatever? If you do, be careful. In making the case for same-sex marriage, more than a few grown-ups will be quite willing to question your integrity and goodwill. Children, of course, are rarely consulted.

The liberal philosopher Isaiah Berlin famously argued that, in many cases, the real conflict we face is not good versus bad but good versus good. Reducing homophobia is good. Protecting the birthright of the child is good. How should we reason together as a society when these two good things conflict?

Here is my reasoning. I reject homophobia and believe in the equal dignity of gay and lesbian love. Because I also believe with all my heart in the right of the child to the mother and father who made her, I believe that we as a society should seek to maintain and to strengthen the only human institution — marriage — that is specifically intended to safeguard that right and make it real for our children.

Legalized same-sex marriage almost certainly benefits those same-sex couples who choose to marry, as well as the children being raised in those homes. But changing the meaning of marriage to accommodate homosexual orientation further and perhaps definitively undermines for all of us the very thing — the gift, the birthright — that is marriage's most distinctive contribution to human society. That's a change that, in the final analysis, I cannot support.

David Blankenhorn is president of the New York-based Institute for American Values and the author of "The Future of Marriage."

Read the entire article on the Los Angeles Times website (new window will open).

Doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

JERUSALEM — Every Christian knows the holiest places in Christendom are in Jerusalem. The holiest of all, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, was erected in 325, over the site where it is believed Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead.

Yet, few know that it is a Muslim who opens and closes the only door to this holiest of Christian sites.

In fact, it’s two Muslims: one man from the Joudeh family and another man from the Nuseibeh family, two Jerusalem Palestinian clans who have been the custodians of the entrance to the Holy Sepulchre since the 12th century.

Every morning, at 4:30, Adeeb Joudeh travels from his apartment outside the walls of the Old City to bring the cast-iron key to the church, just as his father and his forebears did before him.

Once there, he entrusts the key — looking like a 12-inch (30-centimeter) long iron wedge — to Wajeeh Nuseibeh, who knocks at the gate to call the priests and the pilgrims who spend the night praying inside. From inside the church, a wooden ladder is passed through a porthole to help him unlock the upper part of the enormous door.

Then, he unlocks the lower one before handing the precious key back to Joudeh. The ritual is reversed every evening at 7:30, after hundreds of tourists and pilgrims have left the church.

During holidays, such as Holy Week, which culminates Sunday with the Christian Easter, the elaborate opening and closing ceremonies take place several times a day.

Why the elaborate ritual? As often happens in Jerusalem, a city holy to several peoples and religions, there are different versions to explain why two Muslim families hold the key to the holiest site in Christendom.

“After the Muslim conquest in 637, the Caliph Omar guaranteed the Archbishop Sophronius that the Christian places of worship would be protected and so entrusted the custodianship to the Nuseibehs, a family who originated in Medina and had had relations with the Prophet Muhammad,” said Nuseibeh, a retired 63-year old electrician, while waiting in a nearby cafe to carry out his duties at the Holy Sepulchre.

“It happened again in 1187, after Saladin ended the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. He chose our family again to look after the peace between the different Eastern and Western Christian confessions, which were at odds over control of the Sepulchre,” he said with a gentle smile, sitting next to his son, Obadah.

To this day, coexistence among the several Christian churches sharing the Holy Sepulchre is a delicate one. Catholic, Greek, Armenian, Coptic, Syriac, and Ethiopian Orthodox monks have resorted to fists more than once to defend their respective denomination’s rights and privileges in the church, as defined in an decree by the Ottoman Empire, known as the Status Quo of 1853.

Such impious brawls between clergy proved Saladin’s prescience 1,000 years ago, when the sultan sealed the second front gate of the church and entrusted control of the remaining entrance to neutral custodians.

The Nuseibehs claim that the Joudehs entered this story only in the 16th century, after the Ottoman Turks gained control of Palestine and decided to charge a second family with the responsibility of guarding the key.

“Yes, we share the responsibility with the Joudehs, and sometimes we argue, as happens in a family,” Nuseibeh said.

Each Maundy Thursday since the end of the 19th century, the two Muslim families give the key to the Holy Sepulchre to the local Franciscan friars, for as long as it takes to walk to the church in a procession and to open the door after the morning liturgies. When those are completed, the friars return the key to the families.

This ceremony, which confirms in practice the validity of the Muslim families’ custodianship, is repeated with the Greek and Armenian communities, on Orthodox Good Friday and Holy Saturday, respectively.

“Right now, I have in my hands the keys to Christendom’s heart. This is a very important moment for us,” said the Rev. Artemio Vitores, the Spanish Franciscan who is the vicar Custodian of the Holy Land, during the Maundy Thursday procession.

“For centuries, Christian pilgrims were denied entry to the church, or had to pay huge sums to pray on the Sepulchre,” he said, all while holding the key.

At the head of the procession, Vitores was flanked on one side by Wajeeh Nusseibeh, his son Obadah and two cousins, all of whom were equally compensated by the friars for their services with the symbolic sum of $60.

On Vitores’ other side were Adeeb Joudeh, wearing an impeccable dark gray suit, and his 19-year-old son Jawad.

For about 20 minutes, Joudeh ceded control of the only existing key to the Holy Sepulchre. While there is another key, it is broken and no longer used. The functioning key is normally kept in a small office attached to the church and is guarded by an employee of the Joudeh family.

“This key has seen Saladin and every generation of my family since 1187. To me, it’s an honor to be in charge of the holiest of Christian places,” Joudeh said, while walking the cobblestoned alley leading to the Holy Sepulchre.

He insisted on showing on his smartphone what he claimed are 165 official decrees confirming the Joudeh family’s role as custodian of the church over the centuries.

“My ancestor who was given the keys was a sheik, a highly respected person, who was not supposed to perform physical labor, such as climbing the ladder to open the gate,” Joudeh explained. “That’s why the Nuseibehs were called in to perform this duty. Unfortunately, they feel still ashamed of being just the doorkeepers.”

At the end of the procession, the key was welcomed by cheerful pilgrims waiting in front of the church.

For a few minutes, everybody stared at the solemn opening of the gate before rushing in.

Moments later, Adeeb Joudeh walked home with his son, as did Wajeeh Nuseibeh. They will come back here, time and again, at the gate of the Holy Sepulchre: two Muslims, coming in peace to bear the key to the heart of Christianity.

Read the entire article on the International Business Times website (new window will open).

A presentation given at the Society of St. John Chrysostom-Western Region Light of the East Conference, 1-2 March, 2013, hosted by St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church in Irvine, CA.

Chaplain's Corner
Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California

How many of us really take the time to reflect on the things we do to others and do to ourselves in our daily lives? There are some good reasons for doing such a self- analysis. Not the least of which is that by thinking over how we may have hurt others and ourselves we may foster compassion for others in terms of the misdeeds they may have done and this in turn may lead to more civility in our evaluations of others and also in our dealings with them. It is so easy for us to justify our own aberrations while seeing the immoral, improper or wicked behavior of others.

In ancient Chinese tradition Confucius (551-479 BC) sadly comments: "I have not yet seen one who could perceive his faults and inwardly accuse himself." (Analects, bk. v., c. xxvi.). On the other hand, Mencius (372 – 289 BC), the disciple and commentator of Confucius, speaks about the joys of true self-reflection: "There is no greater delight than to be conscious of sincerity upon self-examination." (Bk. vii., pt. i., c. iv., v. 2.). It is only in such sincere understanding of self that true virtue can be practiced. This helps in comprehending the meaning of Confucius' statement: "To be able to practice five things everywhere under heaven constitutes perfect virtue: Gravity, magnanimity, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness." (Analects, bk. xvii., c. vi.)

Psychologists would label such a process of reflection a self-inventory. For example, Robert Enright, PhD, (2012), notes the need for an “ uncovering phase” in which an individual lists their own faults and the consequences of them. This self-understanding promotes understanding of the factors that may have influenced others’ untoward behaviors. Such understanding nurtures compassion, and compassion fosters civility.

Religious traditions would consider such a reflection-inventory procedure to be an examination process. In Buddhism, the habit of self-examination is attainable through contemplation, a mental training exercise developed by self-introspection (http://www.sacred-texts.c...). In Christianity, the examination of conscience is critical to growth in the spiritual life. St. Paul writes: "Try your own selves if you be in the faith; prove ye yourselves. Know you not your own selves, that Christ Jesus is in you, unless perhaps you be reprobates?. . . For we rejoice that we are weak." (2Cor 13: 5, 9; trans. http://www.drbo.org). The Eastern Church Father St. Nikitas Stithatos writes (Philokalia IV)) about the fruit of self-knowledge obtained by what he calls a "cross-examination of the conscience," saying: "you gain greater knowledge of your own limitations and recognize the weakness of human nature; at the same time your love of God and your fellow beings waxes until you think that sanctification flows simply or from the proximity of those with whom you live."

REFERENCES

Enright, Robert D.( 2012). The Forgiving Life: A Pathway to Overcoming Resentment and Creating a Legacy of Love, Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association.

(Palmer, G. E. H., Sherrard, P. & Ware, K. (trans.) (1995). The Philokalia: The Complete Text; Compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain & St. Makarios of Corinth, (Vol. 4). London: Faber and Faber.)

Several weeks ago I spent a weekend with Catholic and Orthodox scholars in a colloquium titled “Liberty, Society, and the Economy in Modern Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Thought.” I am a parish priest, not an academic, which means I approach the big questions from what I call a “rubber meets the road” perspective. I start with the problem or issue that I am thrust into and work out from there. It’s real, sometimes messy, and almost exclusively existentialist.

That also meant that I approached the colloquium as a student and did not have much to contribute until the how the ideas we discussed applied to everyday people in everyday life. That’s the world in which I practice my vocation so that has become my area of expertise.

The practical dimension was welcomed especially by the academics who, as most of us know, can distance themselves from the concrete consequences of ideas and sometimes fail to distinguish the power of one idea over another. It’s a professional hazard but then all professions have their hazards including the vocation of the priesthood. That’s why we should not only know ourselves (one goal of the Christian life) but also get to know how others see us and clarify how we see others.

Thus kind of knowledge cannot be attained without sentiments of goodwill and professional courtesy. They were present in good measure and after a half-day or so grew into a mutual respect that made both the formal meetings (we analyzed texts from the Catholic and Orthodox traditions) and informal discussions over dinner, walks to Starbucks and so forth very fruitful and rich.

The Catholics have a very developed intellectual tradition about contemporary issues, more so than the Orthodox because they faced no Muslim Conquest or Bolshevik Revolution, historical events that have held us back. That tradition is impressive although not nearly as airtight as some Catholic apologists would have you believe.

The Catholic Church also has some significant problems and the frank assessment of their causes by the Catholic participants surprised me. I simply did not expect it. To the Orthodox participants the discussion revealed a resilience and strength within the Orthodox Church that we tend to take for granted.

The resilience has to do with how we worship, how the Divine Liturgy is the essential locus of Orthodox self-identity and maintains a unity of faith despite our jurisdictional divisions. We talked about this at some length especially how in our secularized age (I define secularization as the loss of the awareness of the sacred dimension of creation) many people experience deep interior alienation but are also compelled toward authenticity and communion, especially among the young.

The yearning for authenticity and communion is a search for the transcendent and structured worship speaks directly to it. This is one reason why converts to the liturgical churches (Orthodox and Catholic alike) are often conservative in their approach to worship. In a culture where the divine dimension is lost and worship no longer exists, sexuality becomes a substitute. Malcolm Muggeridge said years ago that “sex is the sacrament of the materialist.” Ideologically this is true but as a priest I also take a more functional approach. The rampant sexuality we see in our culture is often an attempt to self-integrate and find communion—a reach for the unifying clarity that touching the transcendent promises—although greater disintegration is the inevitable result. 

The Catholics at the conference understood the relationship between worship and encounter with Christ but are dogged by theological liberals who still insist that the deconstruction of traditional forms is progress. Time is on their side however since theological and moral liberals don’t create children (an abortion mentality applies to ideological progeny as well). They have been unable to raise others in the ideas that they have embraced and new recruits are drying up as their spiritual barrenness becomes increasingly evident. They are graying now and in another decade or two they will be gone.

The participants wondered how Orthodoxy, with all its apparent disorganization, can still maintain a uniformity of worship. To us it seems self-evident: worship is the locus of self-identity because that is where the Gospel is preached and where the matrix of faith and morals is brought from the speculative into an encompassing experience that offers knowledge, wisdom, and insight. In sermons I describe it as living our lives not in black and white, but in living color. Anyone who has ears to hear and eyes to see recognizes the power of worship even if only intuitively at first.

I was asked, “What would happen if you changed the Liturgy around?” I answered, “My people would call the Bishop on Monday morning and he would call me on Monday afternoon.” They asked, “What would happen if the Bishop changed it around?” I responded, “They would chase him out of town.” At that point I was corrected by another Orthodox participant who quoted from one of the Fathers, “They should throw him into the river.”

There are several important take-aways from the conference. The first is that Catholic and Orthodox apologetics assume a reality that simply does not exist. All institutions have problems and the both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches have their share of them. I’ve spent my share of time with Catholic apologists and frankly, I just get tired of it. There is always an answer for everything. Catholics I am sure would express the same exasperation from the other direction.

This is not to say that substantial differences don’t exist. Clearly they do. Nor is it to say that every ecumenical encounter must have as its goal some kind of unity. I’m not sure if unity between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches is even possible given present circumstances but even if it were, I’ll leave it to others to work it out.

Nevertheless, a unity of sorts was evident and—the second take-away—strengthened. The late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, a Lutheran convert to Catholicism, wrote years back that the new ecumenicism is the ecumenicism of the Spirit. What he meant was that Christians from Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism should be clear about their differences but talk together anyway. We are drawn by the Spirit of God and driven by increasing de-Christianization of the larger culture. “We are more united in the acknowledgement of our differences than in pretending that they don’t exist,” Fr. Neuhaus correctly said.

Needless to say the participants in the conference were social and moral conservatives—orthodox Catholics and non-progressive Orthodox. We see the same dynamic when talking with Protestants. Authentic conversation with Christians of other communions takes place only when the foundational moral and theological questions are settled.
Again, this does not mean that universal agreement exists. It doesn’t. It does mean however, that the path to moral and theological relativism where distinctions are erased and where the authority of the received tradition is reduced to private opinion is closed. Unity at the expense of truth is a collaboration of the confused where the only possible outcome is collapse. We can look to the Episcopalian Church or the National Council of Churches as evidence.

We Orthodox owe something to the Catholics. Catholic leaders have been the clearest and strongest voice in the defense of the dignity of the human person in our increasingly secularized culture. We benefit from their witness. They draw from the moral tradition in ways that that hold our own leaders to account—and correctly so since we hold that part of the moral tradition in common. All Christians, not just Catholics, benefit from their faith and courage.

They also give the American Orthodox Church some breathing room as it finds its way in American society and learns how to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the American ethos. Learning this takes time just as it did in the early centuries of the Church. Orthodox Christianity has much to give secularized America especially to the young who, as I said at the outset, are searching for authenticity and communion. 

What are they waiting for? In a word—anthropology. “Anthropology” is a theological term that is derived from the Greek work anthropos or “man.” It means that within our Orthodox tradition lies the knowledge of what it means to be a human being particularly how our personhood—the who of who we are—is realized and actualized in communion with the Risen Christ. We Orthodox understand this. Our anthropology is developed. That’s one reason why the Church does not fall apart despite our disorganization and historical suffering.

This understanding has to be brought forward and actualized in the American ethos because that is where we live and how we think. This is true of both cradle born and converts (two misnomers because both are adopted in Christ only through baptism) if the ground for human flourishing is to be recovered and tilled. Many are waiting for us. This too was evident at the colloquium.

I’ve written extensively in the Catholic press about the cultural project that has brought Catholics and Orthodox together on high levels (Pope Benedict and Pat. Kyrill for example) as well as local efforts like the colloquium. One question the Orthodox asked was whether the retirement of Pope Benedict would dampen the work.

It does not look like it will. Pope Francis is faithful to moral tradition and also appears to be courageous (these days there is no faithfulness without courage). He understands the moral crisis in Christendom and appears to be as committed to the restoration of the Christian foundations of culture as his predecessors were. This portends a good future for Orthodox-Catholic relations and will hopefully make more Orthodox aware of the grave crisis facing us.

May God grant him many years.

This essay was also published on Catholic Online.

Do women have a right to a dead  fetus baby? Apparently so, according to a Florida Planned Parenthood official who testified that if a baby is born alive in a botched abortion, the mother should decide whether the abortionist should kill or care for the newborn. From the Weekly Standard story:

Florida legislators considering a bill to require abortionists to provide medical care to an infant who survives an abortion were shocked during a committee hearing this week when a Planned Parenthood official endorsed a right to post-birth abortion. Alisa Laport Snow, the lobbyist representing the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, testified that her organization believes the decision to kill an infant who survives a failed abortion should be left up to the woman seeking an abortion and her abortion doctor.

“So, um, it is just really hard for me to even ask you this question because I’m almost in disbelief,” said Rep. Jim Boyd. “If a baby is born on a table as a result of a botched abortion, what would Planned Parenthood want to have happen to that child that is struggling for life?”

“We believe that any decision that’s made should be left up to the woman, her family, and the physician,” said Planned Parenthood lobbyist Snow.

Remember, Peter Singer was appointed to the most elite bioethics chair in the world at Princeton–not in spite of, but because–he preaches for the propriety of infanticide. And despite all the fuss over the pro “post birth” abortion article published in the Journal of Medical Ethics awhile ago, many of the most mainstream bioethicists support the agenda because they oppose human exceptionalism and believe that humans with low present capacities lack full moral value.  

Thus, I don’t know why anyone is surprised about the PP endorsement. It is just another indication that infanticide continues its slow movement toward respectability. 

By the way: If a baby born during a botched abortion can be killed, why not also an unwanted baby born in the usual manner?

Read the entire article on the National Review website (new window will open).

“The Negro cannot win as long as he is willing to sacrifice the lives of his children for immediate personal comfort and safety. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In the early 1970’s, even though some Black voices were protesting against forced sterilization, artificial chemical birth control methods and abortion, there were many who were fooled and misled by propaganda that promoted such strategies. I was among those who were duped. As a result, I suffered one involuntary and one voluntary “legal” abortion.

My involuntary abortion was performed just prior to the passage of Roe v. Wade by my private pro-abortion physician without my consent. I had gone to the doctor to ask why my cycle had not resumed after the birth of my son. I did not ask for and did not want an abortion. The doctor said, “You don’t need to be pregnant, let’s see.” He proceeded to perform a painful examination which resulted in a gush of blood and tissue emanating from my womb. He explained that he had performed an abortion called a “local D and C.”

Alveda King

Soon after the Roe v. Wade decision, I became pregnant again. There was adverse pressure and threat of violence from the baby’s father. The ease and convenience provided through Roe v. Wade made it too easy for me to make the fateful and fatal decision to abort our child. I went to a Planned Parenthood sanctioned doctor and was advised that the procedure would hurt no more than “having a tooth removed.”

The next day, I was admitted to the hospital, and our baby was aborted. My medical insurance paid for the procedure. As soon as I woke up, I knew that something was very wrong. I felt very ill, and very empty. I tried to talk to the doctor and nurses about it. They assured me that “it will all go away in a few days. You will be fine.” They lied.

Over the next few years, I experienced medical problems. I had trouble bonding with my son, and his five siblings who were born after the abortions. I began to suffer from eating disorders, depression, nightmares, sexual dysfunctions and a host of other issues related to the abortions. I felt angry about both the involuntary and voluntary abortions, and very guilty about the abortion I chose to have. The guilt made me very ill.

I pray often for deliverance from the pain caused by my decision to abort my baby. I suffered the threat of cervical and breast cancer, and experienced the pain of empty arms after the baby was gone. Truly, for me, and countless abortive mothers, nothing on earth can fully restore what has been lost.

My children have all suffered from knowing that they have a brother or sister that their mother chose to abort. Often they ask if I ever thought about aborting them, and they have said, “You killed our baby.”

This is very painful for all of us. My mother and grandparents were very sad to know about the loss of the baby. The aborted child’s father also regrets the abortions. If it had not been for Roe v. Wade, I would never have had that second abortion.

My birthday is January 22, and each year this special day is marred by the fact that it is also the anniversary of Roe v. Wade — and the anniversary of death for millions of babies. I and my deceased children are victims of abortion. The Roe v. Wade decision has adversely affected the lives of my entire family.

My grandfather, Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr., twice said, “No one is going to kill a child of mine.” The first time Daddy King said this was to my mother, who was facing an “inconvenient pregnancy” with me. The next time, I was facing a pregnancy, and told him about it. In both instances, Daddy King said no.

Martin Luther King

Tragically, two of his grandchildren had already been aborted when he saved the life of his next great-grandson with this statement. His son, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “The Negro cannot win as long as he is willing to sacrifice the lives of his children for immediate personal comfort and safety. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

How can the “Dream” survive if we murder our children? Every aborted baby is like a slave in the womb of his or her mother. In the hands of the mother is the fate of that child — whether the child lives or dies — a decision given to the mother by Roe v. Wade. That choice, the final choice of whether the child lives or dies, should be left to God, Who ultimately says “choose life!”

Like my Uncle Martin, I too have a dream. I still have a dream that someday the men and women of our nation, the boys and girls of America will come to our senses, humble ourselves before God Almighty and receive His healing grace. I pray that this is the day and the hour of our deliverance. I pray that we will regain a covenant of life and finally obtain the promised liberty, justice and pursuit of happiness for all.

Let us end injustice anywhere by championing justice everywhere, including in the womb.

This article appeared on The Orthodox Church of Tomorrow website.

Read the entire article on the Life News website (new window will open).

The theology of the Lord’s Passion, as portrayed in the Fourth Gospel, is not exhausted by our considerations of Jesus—hitherto—as Priest. He is also portrayed as the one who generously forfeits his life for the sake of those he loves. In John’s Gospel this idea is thematic.

Thus, in the Last Supper discourse Jesus declares:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than to lay down his life on behalf of (hyper) his friends. . . No longer do I call you servants . . . but I have called you friends” (John 15:12-15).

Here Jesus takes up the affirmation contained in his Good Shepherd parable: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sake of (hyper) the sheep. . . . I give my life for (hyper) the sheep” (John 10:11, 15).

John has this affirmation in mind when he writes,

“By this we know love, because he laid down his life for our sake (hyper hemon)” (1 John 3:16).

In respect to Jesus laying down his life, John narrates the ironic prophecy of Caiaphas the high priest. After the raising of Lazarus, we recall, the Sanhedrin expressed concern that

“everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and will abolish both our place and nation.”

In response to this concern Caiaphas declared:

“You know nothing whatever, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the sake of (hyper) the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.”

Whereas Caiaphas recommended the murder of Jesus as a political expedient, the Evangelist perceived that his cynical declaration was, in fact, freighted with the drama of prophecy:

“Now he did not say this on his own, but, being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the sake of (hyper) the nation, and not for the sake of (hyper) that nation only, but also that he would gather together into one the scattered children of God” (John 11:47-52).

In these affirmations we recognize the root of the early Christian conviction that Christ died for us, on our behalf, unto our benefit—hyper hemon. Thus, the Apostle Paul summed up the work of the Atonement:

“While we were yet powerless, Christ died, at the chosen time, for the sake of (hyper) the ungodly. Indeed, scarcely for (hyper) a righteous man will someone die, though on behalf of (hyper) a good man someone might even dare to die. But God demonstrates His love in our regard, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for our sake (hyper hemon) (Romans 5:6-8).

Although Christians subsumed this language, in due course, into the grammar of sacrifice, it was not (like Ephesians 5:2) originally sacrificial in a formal sense. That is to say, to give one’s life for someone else is not a sacrifice understood as a liturgical immolation or ritual gift. It is more proper to think of it, rather, as sacrificial in an extended and metaphorical way. Even today we commonly lengthen the imagery of sacrifice to cover anyone’s gift of his life for the sake of a person, a group, or a cause. We speak this way all the time, for instance, in reference to the heroism of those who defend and protect us.

It is true that hyper (followed by the genitive) can, in some contexts, mean Instead of,” “in place of,” but this hardly seems to be the case in the examples we are examining here; clearly Jesus did not die in our place. That is to say, we still must die.

We should further observe that the use of hyper in these New Testament texts refers to Jesus’ experience of dying. According to the Epistle to the Hebrews,

“we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for (hyper) every person” (2:9).

It is Jesus’ death—not the Passion, the sufferings, in general—that is envisaged in these references. Surely, Jesus’ experience of dying was painful in the extreme, and, just as surely, that suffering, also, was endured on our behalf and for our sakes. Nonetheless, when Holy Scripture speaks of what Jesus did for us, the reference is invariably to his death. The other grievous afflictions associated with his death are descriptions of how he tasted death. They are theologically significant, not in themselves, but with respect to Jesus’ death. They were aspects of his death. The Enemy Jesus met and defeated on the Cross was death.

It appears that the idea of dying for somebody, or laying down one’s life on behalf of a cause or a nation, was fairly late in the thought of Judaism. When John wrote,

“we also ought to lay down our lives for (hyper) the brethren” (1 John 3:16),

he expressed a moral ideal that had only recently emerged among the Chosen People. Its presence in Hebraic ethos and culture is not obvious, in fact, until the time of Daniel and the Maccabees.

More on this later.

This essay appeared on the Preachers Institute website.

Fr. John Tanveer

On Saturday, March 9, 2013 a crowd of Muslim Pakistanis attached a small Christian neighborhood known as the St. Joseph Colony in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. This was shortly after an incident earlier in the week, when one Muslim resident had accused another Christian resident of blasphemy against Muhammed after the two had engaged in a dispute. The police arrested the Christian accused of blasphemy on Friday, and the mob action took place the next day.
The secular press (including the New York Times) reported this incident, using Pakistani government supplied figures of 178 houses, 18 shops, and 2 churches damaged by the fires that the mob started. Some news reports carried estimates of the mob size as approximately 2,000 to 3,000. What they failed to report – obviously because the government did not supply these figures – is much more disturbing.
Fr. John Tanveer, a native of Lahore, is an Eastern Orthodox priest who lives in Lahore. While he does not live in the St. Joseph Colony, a few of his parishioners do, and they lost their houses. He visited the area the next day, and has been returning almost daily to try to bring some comfort and aid to those affected. His reports are based on his own personal observation, as well as many interviews with the residents of the Colony about what they experienced. Here are some of the facts that he has reported.

• The number of homes destroyed is at least 350, or twice the size of the government estimate.
• The residents estimated the crowd at over 5,000, again approximately double the numbers used by the press.
• Residents stated that the entire operation was very well planned and deliberate, not a case of a peaceful demonstration getting out of hand.
• Residents report that chemicals of some sort (perhaps gasoline?) were used to start and fuel the fires. If you look at the photos, you will notice that the structures in the Colony are all brick and stone. Thus, a single fire or a few fires would not have spread to decimate hundreds of buildings without the widespread use of artificial accelerants.
• The police told residents in the Colony the previous day (Friday) that they should leave the area. This clearly indicates that the government was aware of the planned mob action, and wanted to minimize the loss of life.
• During the mob violence, the police were present in small numbers, and took no action to stop the rampage.
• The St. Joseph Colony is located on land near a number of industrial sites including steel and iron-making plants. It is well-known that these industries would like more land to expand their operations, and many residents believe that is why the entire incident took place – to force the Colony residents to abandon their homes leave the area.

Fr. John states that neither the government nor any of the large international humanitarian NGO’s have responded with any significant aid. He has been preparing and bringing food to the Joseph Colony every day, but his parish does not have the funds and resources to give the sort of aid that will be needed to care for these displaced residents and help them rebuild.
Please take a look at some photos taken by Fr. John on the website of the Pakistani Orthodox Church (www.orthodoxpakistan.org) and consider making a contribution to help. This is a volunteer effort, and there are no administrative costs. Every dollar sent goes straight to Fr. John who will use it to provide food and other assistance to the St. George Colony residents. Donations may be made by mail or Paypal as stated on the website. Please pray for these displaced fellow Christians, and please pray for Fr. John, his wife Rosy, and their four children as they minister in the name of Christ.

Cal Oren supports the Orthodox Mission in Pakistan that helps the Orthodox Church in Lahore, Pakistan.

Pictures from Fr. John

Click to enlarge

Read more: Muslims Desecrate and Burn Christian Holy Bibles in Lahore

In his The Weight of Glory Weight of Glory sermon C.S. Lewis reminds us that God created men and women as immortal beings. While our sin and rebellion has temporarily alienated us from God, resulting in the death of our physical bodies, our souls do not die. Past death, our souls live on waiting for the Second Coming of Christ and the restoration of our full humanity; when our renewed and transformed bodies will be once again in full union and symbiosis with our souls.

Lewis masterfully pulls aside the veil of worldly cares and materialist presumptions. He reveals the godly and eternal dimension of our existence with the wisdom and insight that only a messenger of the Lord could posses. “It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you may talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet if at all only in a nightmare.”

This timeless truth is important because it draws attention to how precious and special human life truly is. Nothing in this world compares with the value of human life. “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendours,” proclaims Lewis.

Lewis also helps us see Christ’s commandment to “love thy neighbor as yourself” from a clear and sobering perspective. “And our charity must be real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.”

[. . .]

Read the entire article on the Voice in the Wilderness blog (new window will open).

The first man in outer space 50 years ago believed fervently in the Almighty — even though the atheistic Soviet government put famous words in his mouth that he had looked around at the cosmos and did not see God.

Mankind’s first space flight lasted 108 minutes on April 12, 1961.

It was the height of the Cold War. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was proclaimed by the Soviet leadership to have announced, ”I went up to space, but I didn’t encounter God.”

However, he never uttered those often-quoted words, says a close friend. And it seems that the Soviet Union lied about a number of aspects of the 1961 space flight.

For example, they covered up the fact that he landed more than 200 miles away from where they were expecting him, a new book discloses. The Soviets trumpeted his mission, the first manned flight into space, as a major Cold War propaganda coup, portraying it as a glitch-free triumph of Communist ideology, writes Russian journalist Anton Pervushin in his book, 108 Minutes That Changed the World.

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, in line with the official atheistic Soviet line, proclaimed that Gagarin had told him the famous line about not seeing God in space. But nobody else ever heard Gagarin say it –and he never repeated it.

In fact he was a baptized member of the Russian Orthodox Church. Due to Soviet repression of Christianity, he kept that to himself.

A new book published on the eve of the 50th anniversary of Gagarin’s famous flight reveals that Soviet scientists severely miscalculated where he would land. “For many years Soviet literature claimed that Yuri Gagarin and his Vostok I landing capsule had come down in the area it was supposed to,” writes Pervushin. ”They had been expecting Gagarin to land almost 250 miles further to the south So it turned out that nobody was waiting or looking for Yuri Gagarin. Therefore the first thing he had to do after landing was set off to look for people so he could tell the leadership where he was.”

The Soviets also lied about the manner of his landing, claiming that he had touched down inside the capsule — which landed on dry land, unlike American space capsules, which splashed down in water. In fact, Gagarin bailed out and landed by parachute.

The book reveals a touching letter Gagarin wrote to his family before the mission in which he pondered his own mortality, telling his wife not to “die of grief” if he never returned. “After all life is life and there is no guarantee for anybody that tomorrow a car might not end one’s life.”

Earlier, the Soviets had sent Laika, a dog, but had made no provision for her to return to earth — so she died in orbit.

“Gagarin also became well-known for the phrase he is said to have stated, a phrase that was used extensively by the atheist propaganda of the time,” writes Nafpaktos Hierotheos Vlachos, the head of today’s Russian Orthodox Church. ”And I say ‘he is said to have stated.’”

In fact, “Gagarin was a baptized faithful throughout all his life,” says General Valentin Petrov, Professor of the Russian Air Force Academy and a personal friend of the cosmonaut. “He always confessed God whenever he was provoked, no matter where he was.”

In a 2007 article titled “Yuri Gagarin, the Christian,” by Maria Biniari, she wrote on his birthday in 1964, he visited a monastery, the Lavra of Saint Serge, and met with the Prior — the monk in charge.

There, he had a photo taken of himself, which he told the priest “this is for those who don’t believe.” He signed it “with my best wishes, Yuri Gagarin.”

“That famous phrase which has been ascribed to him, well, in actual fact it was Khrushchev who had said it,” says Petrov. ”It was heard during a meeting of the Central Committee, whose desire it was to promulgate anti-religious propaganda.

“Khrushchev had mockingly addressed the following words: ‘Why didn’t you step on the brakes in front of God? Here is Gagarin, who flew up to space, and yet, even he didn’t see God anywhere.’

“Immediately after that, those words were placed into another’s mouth, because the people would have believed more in Gagarin’s words than Khrushchev’s,” says Petrov.

In fact, Gagarin should be remembered for completely different words, says his friend:

” I always remember that Yuri Gagarin said: “An astronaut cannot be suspended in space and not have God in his mind and his heart.”

Read the entire article on the Beliefnet website (new window will open).

Chaplain's Corner
Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California

In today's world who has not confronted the 'arrogance of power?' At first it might be easy to think that only those who hold positions of wealth or authority would be candidates to wield power. While it is true that such individuals may be in an opportune setting to display self-serving, controlling actions, even individuals who are not high on the economic, political or social status scales can exert unwarranted, overbearing power.

I am reminded of an example discussed in a graduate psychology course in New York City. A well-dressed, stockbroker-looking executive, somewhat rushed, has put a bill in a subway token window booth just as a subway train on its way to the Wall Street Station has opened its doors merely a few feet away, opposite, and in sight of the booth and the entry turn-style. Objectively there is more than enough time for the token clerk to give the passenger the token and change so that he would be able to catch the train. The clerk stalls, moves his hands appearing to sort change in front of him, and just as the subway doors are closing hands over token and change, with an obvious smirk on his face implying: "I got you."

This may remind readers of the ancient Greek notion of pride (hubris). Hubris motivates someone to use, intentionally, any means, even aggression, to degrade or humiliate others. In this case, the action of the subway clerk was not outright violence but what would be termed in psychology, passive aggression. None the less, it can easily be seen as a display of arrogant power. The Bhagavad-Gita (16: 18) describes pride this way: "Egotistical, violent, arrogant, lustful, angry, envious of everyone, they abuse my presence within their own bodies and in the bodies of others."

I would suggest that hubris is fed by narcissism, a sense of inflated self-focus and self-worth that blinds us to the feelings and needs of others. The ancient Hebrews knew this. In the Book of Proverbs (15: 18) we read: "Pride goeth before destruction."

One way to heal this worldwide psycho-spiritual disease is to acquire the virtue of humility. Also in the book of Proverbs (11: 2) we find: "…but where humility is, there also is wisdom." The spiritual wisdom of the great Father of the Eastern Church St. Isaac of Syria put it this way: "The man who has reached the knowledge of the extent of his own weakness has reached perfect humility."ⁱ This happens when we have developed an awareness of the passions that beset us, in this case, pride or hubris and the untoward actions that follow.

An untoward action that might follow, for victims, could a triggered by the passion of wanting to get even Thus, both perpetrators and victims, if they seek the power of humility, might well take seriously Jesus’ instruction: "...how canst thou say to thy brother: Brother, let me pull the mote out of thy eye, when thou thyself seest not the beam in thy own eye? Hypocrite, cast first the beam out of thy own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to take out the mote from thy brother's eye." (Lk 6: 22).

ENDNOTES

i Holy Transfiguration Monastery. (ed., trans.). (2011). The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian (revised, 2nd edition). Boston, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

Society of St. John Chrysostom - Western Region President's Message 2013 Winter

Some recent developments in the world of inter-Apostolic Church relations are encouraging. It should be pointed out that the thaw in the frozen tundra of emotional frigidity among the Churches could be traced back to the lifting of the anathemas between Rome and Constantinople in December 1965 by His Holiness Pope Paul VI of Rome and His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople. This event, although symbolic, initiated a series of exchanges between the Eastern and Western Churches culminating recently in a statement of Holy Spirit-filled hope by the current Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew who said: "The uniqueness of the founders of our Churches, of Elder Rome and of New Rome, the Holy Apostles Peter and Andrew, as brothers according to the flesh, constitutes a motivation for both of our Churches to move toward the genuine experience of spiritual brotherhood and the restoration of communion in this same spirit, in truth and in love."ⁱ Also on the Orthodox side is the announcement that, under the aegis of the Department External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, a theological commission approved a document on 08 November 2012, entitled The position of the Moscow Patriarchate on the question of primacy in the Universal Church. It is now submitted to the Russian Orthodox synod for approval.ⁱⁱ

The recent letter of congratulations from His Holiness Pope Benedict XVⁱⁱⁱ to His Holiness Tawadros II on the occasion of his enthronement as Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark reflects the hopeful attitude toward the eventual unity of all the Apostolic Church. Pope Benedict writes: "I pray too that relations between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church will continue to grow closer, not only in a fraternal spirit of collaboration, but also through a deepening of the theological dialogue that will enable us to grow in communion and to bear witness before the world to the saving truth of the Gospel."^iv

Once again we should take these recent actions of the hierarchs of the various Churches to be a call for action for all Christians baptized by their respective Apostolic Churches into the royal priesthood of Christ to pray and work avidly for unity.^v One concrete way of doing this [was the] the 2nd Light of the East Conference on 01-02 March 2013, sponsored by the Society of St. Chrysostom-Western Region (SSJC-WR). [The conference was] entitled: Following Jesus: The Power of Forgiveness. Theological, Psychological and Practical Suggestions for Growth, it [was] held at St. Paul's Greek Orthodox Church, Irvine, CA. Achieving unity is going to have to involve mutual forgiveness among all the Churches for their past untoward actions toward each other. Without forgiveness there cannot be love.^vi Without love there cannot be unity.

Revised for 2013 03. Original: http://lightoftheeast.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/ssjc-wr-newsletter-2013-03-winter13.pdf

ENDNOTES

i www.ec-patr.org/docdisplay.php?lang=gr&cat=7

ii www.mospat.ru/en/2012/11/08/news74710/

iii Since the original publication of this article in print form (2012 12) two events have occurred that are noteworthy. First is the election of His Beatitude John X as Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East. Formally he was the Metropolitan Archbishop of Antioch for Europe. He has extensive multi-cultural and multi-ethnic experience. As such he was actively engaged in ecumenical dialogue with Christian communities, especially with the Roman Church. In a recent statement he said: “Do not fear, lest you lose your dynamism; instead go to meet all with love, joy and full trust in your God, Who is the God of love, Who is love itself. Be the heralds of reconciliation.” We celebrate this feast with our other Christian brethren. We pray to God that we may deepen our dialogue with them all, in order to reach the unity God desires, the unity without which the world will not believe that Jesus was sent by God." His record bodes well for substantive work for the reconciliation of the Apostolic Churches.

The second very historic and noteworthy event is the resignation of His Holiness Benedict XVI as Pope of Rome. At the forefront of the agenda of his pontificate was his spiritually blessed extensive dialogue and interaction with the leaders of the other Apostolic Churches: Eastern and Oriental Orthodox. I pray that his successor continue this Christ-mandated legacy that fulfills Christ's prayer to His Father: "I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name whom thou has given me; that they may be one, as we also are." (Jn 17: 11)

iv www.zenit.org/article-35989?l=english

v I do not want to essentially change the original article in this revision, (except the essential few edits noted in brackets above). However, in the light of the notable recent events I would like to expand the article content in this Endnote section. Many of my articles have noted the increasing threat to Christ's teaching by the growing radical secularism in the modern world.(E.g., www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/morelli-whose-church-do-i-belong-to-my-church-or-the-orthodox-church-o; www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/morelli-the-demon-of-correctness-religiously-incorrect-secularism; www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/morelli-making-the-orthodox-church-smaller) This movement against the Mind of Christ and His Church goes by various names: agnosticism, atheism, freethinking, humanism, inquiry centers, moral relativism, non-theists, political correctness, radical feminism, radical church-state separation, religious correctness, religious relativism (one ecclesial group is as good as another). Recently, Secularism has moved from being a relatively passive intellectual movement to an activist-missionary 'church without God.' An article in the online Religion newsletter, Religion Dispatches, reported on such secularist activism on college-university campuses. For example, it was reported: "a select group of students will show their humanitarian spirit by participating in the Bleedin’ Heathens Blood Drive. On February 12 [2013], they will eat cake to celebrate Darwin Day, and earlier this year, they performed “de-baptism” ceremonies to celebrate Blasphemy Day, attended a War on Christmas Party, and set up Hug An Atheist and Ask An Atheist booths in the campus quad." (www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/6790/are_atheists_the_new_campus_crusaders/)

From the Eastern Orthodox viewpoint sin is considered an infirmity or disease that can be individual or collective, that is to say, involving any economic national, religious, social or political groupings. Thus, any of these can act sinfully, be diseased. The denial of God's existence for any individual or group is an illness. I am reminded of the psalm (13: 1): "The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God, They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways: there is none that doth good, no not one." Interestingly, some secularists consider this passage offensive. They probably do not consider the crusade to take 'Christ out of Christmas' to be offensive to true Christians. (c.f.: http://www.orthodoxytoday...) Here we see the tyranny of some, whether they be minority or majority, to impose their value system on the others. How spiritual refreshing, then, was to read the comments of Youhanna [John] X the recently enthroned Patriarch of Antioch: “We will keep seeking the longed-for unity among Christians and we will work together with our Muslim partners in order to consolidate coexistence with them.” (www.naharnet.com/stories/en/71793). We must also consider the attempt to divorce the Church from proclaiming its moral teachings. We can easily see the consequences of disenfranchising Church moral teaching: abortion-murder, euthanasia-murder, gay-marriage-destruction of God's plan of mankind[s procreation, female ordination-the denial of the incarnation of Christ as a male, the 'one priest' and His successors in the 'male' mode of mankind as the proper icon of Him. Likewise, the comments on the legacy of Pope Benedict XV by Don Briel, Director of the Center for Catholic Studies at University of Saint Thomas, who said: "As expected, he placed a strong emphasis on addressing the amnesia of European culture about its Christian roots, and in remarkably sophisticated presentations in London, Paris, Berlin and Rome he reminded secular governments about the essential role of faith in modern democratic assumptions and insisted that faith could not be reduced to a private principle and excluded from civic life." (http://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2013/02/more-on-pope-benedicts-legacy.html). Extremely important to this Endnote are the comment of Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, Director of the Department of External Church Relations of the Patriarch of Moscow, on the announcement of the abdication of Pope Benedict XVI: "Even before his ascension to the See of Rome, Cardinal Ratzinger declared war on ‘the dictatorship of relativism’ so typical for the Western society today. It immediately made him unpopular in the eyes of secular politicians and journalists. Pope Benedict XVI is not a media star. He is a man of the Church. In the mass media, he is continuously criticized for traditionalism and conservatism, but precisely these merits of his are of credit for millions of Christians, both Catholic and non-Catholic, those who seek to preserve traditional Christian spiritual and moral values." (https://mospat.ru/en/2013/02/11/news80919/). The importance of these endnote comments are beautifully summarized by Antiochian Archdiocese of New York priest, Fr. Hans Jacobse. In writing about Pope Benedict XVI he wrote: "First is his deep understanding of the Christian patrimony of Christendom. The Christian foundation of culture should be self-evident to most, but in our post-Christian (and poorly catechized) age our historical memory has grown increasingly dim. Religion vivifies culture. Christianity is the well from which meaning and purpose are drawn. That meaning and purpose shapes law, institutions, and the other constituents that define Western culture." (www.pravmir.com/fr-johannes-l-jacobse-an-orthodox-priest-reflects-on-the-retirement-of-pope-benedict-xvi/)

vi www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/christ-our-model-for-forgiveness

Chaplain's Corner
Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California

How many of us when we first meet some new person immediately find something about them to be critical about? Alternatively, we can look at the major news stories in the media over the last few months of 2012 and focus on the overwhelming brokenness graphically depicted: war, super-storms, school massacres and mass killings, to say the least.

However, we do have an alternative. We could try to see the good that is imbedded within the bad. We can see that through all this tragedy some have been encouraging others to remain affirming of hope, fostering optimism and healing, and, most importantly, inspiring others by their own good actions. We have to see that inspiring others is one of the greatest good deeds we can do for those around us.

Doing good for others is certainly not unknown among the world's religions. Buddhist tradition teaches, "Therefore, do thy duty as prescribed; for duty-bound action is superior to inaction . . . .Actions normally fetter the human being but not when they are performed as acts of sacrifice." (Bhagavadgita, 3: 8-9). The words of Gandhi are very meaningful on helping us to focus on the good: “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it—always."ⁱ

How can we bring about both seeing the good that others do and in turn reflecting such good in our own lives, and thus animating more good actions by those around us? St. Isaac of Syria tells us it must be a synergy involving reliance on, i.e., trust and confidence in, God united with our own good efforts. He asks: "Do you believe that God provides for His creatures, and is able to do all things? Let suitable labor, therefore, follow on your faith, and then He will hear you. Think not to grasp the winds of your fist, that is, faith without works."ⁱⁱ

One way of doing this is to practice in our own lives the good we see and admire in others. This cannot be done, however, if we focus on the mistakes others make or the evils they have done. A great psycho-spiritual help here is to follow the counsel of Jesus Himself: ". . .first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then thou shalt see clearly to cast out the splinter out of thy brother’s eye." (Mt. 7:5) May I add that Jesus’ words can be extended - realizing that all of us fall short in some way will enable us to see more clearly the good others are doing or mean to do. To do this would be to cultivate in ourselves the virtue of mercy.ⁱⁱⁱ St. Isaac describes this virtue. "Mercy, on the other hand, is sorrow and pity stirred up by goodness, and it compassionately inclines a man in the direction of all."

ENDNOTES

i www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/goodness

ii Holy Transfiguration Monastery. (ed., trans.).  (2011). The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian (revised, 2nd edition). Boston, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

iii Mercy is discussed in much greater psycho-spiritual detail by Morelli (2012): www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/smart-parenting-xviii-applying-christs-beatitudes-to-parenting-blessed-are

This course has recently been updated and soon to be published in a chapter in an American Psychological Association book. The updated reference for the upcoming book is: Morelli G. (in press). Eastern Orthodox Churches. In Scott Richards, (Ed.), "Handbook of Psychotherapy and Religious Diversity" (2nd edition). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

2.0 Bio-Cultural Elements

2.1 Emotion and Neural Processes

Studies from various areas in psychology, suggest cognition, emotion and behavior interact with each other in complex ways (Weitan 1995). There are currently various psychological models to explain this interaction. One model based on Darwinian evolutionary theory is that emotion develops as an adaptive value to a stimulus. The different laboratories of Izard (1984), Tomkins (1991) and Plutchik (1984) come remarkably similar findings on the presence of primary emotions shortly after birth. These researchers agree on six emotions (fear, anger, joy, disgust, interest and surprise) out of about eight or ten primary emotions. Phylogenetically these emotions occur before the brain structures supporting cognition initiate development. That is, subcortical brain areas such as the hypothalamus and the limbic system develop before the cerebral cortex.

Researches have shown that emotional responding in lower animals appears to be an innate reaction to certain stimulus. In human brain architecture the limbic system and hypothalamus are connected by neural structures to these, later developing cortical structures allowing communication between these two areas. Research on neurophysiological processes and psychopharmological processes summarized by Izard suggests that these areas serve as the possible neural architecture (sub cortical and cortical) pathways of emotion. Early Christians knew nothing of the taxonomy and biological substrates that are understood today. They were limited to the understanding of their times. The word passion is the term most closely used by the Church Fathers in describing what today by scientific investigation are called emotions.

2.2 Cognition, Emotion, and Psychospiritual Perspectives

The research literature demonstrating the cognitive elicitation of emotion is ubiquitous. Appraisals, anticipations, attributions, beliefs, construals, inferences, judgments and memories of stimulus situations all fall in the cognitive domain. In one early pivotal study out of Richard Lazarus’ laboratory (1991), appraisal strategies of subjects were manipulated before they viewed a film depicting an aboriginal male puberty rite. Subjects in a neutral or “intellectualized” condition displayed significantly less emotion as measured by self-report and physiological monitoring then subjects in the “sensitized” condition. Other studies in this area are use variations of this paradigm. In recent years a substantial body of information has been collected on cognitive-emotion interaction. (Bandura, 1986; Erwin, 1980; Galanter, E. 1962; Kahneman, D. 1973; Marmor, J. 1962; Posner & Snyder, 1975; Shriffren, 1988). Cognition has also been extended to the behavioral processes of parenting, (Patterson, 1976).

The question that arises for the use of psychospiritual intervention to address emotional disorders is to what extent cognition plays a role in initiation, sustaining and possible attenuation of emotional responding? If one were to maintain that emotions can be triggered even in humans by sub-cortical processes, would cognitive processes have any role in their modulation? This is not a trivial question, because it is at the foundation of the various Cognitive therapies and it goes to the heart of the moral and spiritual teachings of the Church Fathers.

Fundamentally the question is: “To what extent can we control our emotions or what the Church Fathers refer as our “passions”? Is it true that emotions generated at more basic systems such as sub cortical or neural processes are less cognitively controllable than cortical (cognitive) processes? To what extent do individual differences play in such control processes? In other words are some individuals able to control the various systems of emotional activation over others? In as much as we do not have a comprehensive individual difference model of emotion activation, we must proceed with caution and at best heuristically. Each person should be evaluated individually as to what emotion systems are influencing an emotional reaction and the person’s ability to have cognitive control of these systems.

Some patients with lower levels of cognitive control may benefit from interventions targeting the neural sensori-motor or affective systems directly (i.e. psychotropic treatment, environmental change) as the primary treatment. Patients with higher levels of cognitive control may benefit from more focused cognitive treatment programs (i.e. Beck’s [1995] Cognitive Therapy). It has been my clinical observation however, that even patients with limited cognitive resources however (with the exception for example of low functioning cognitively impaired individuals) benefit from some cognitive interventions. This makes neurophysiological sense if it is remembered that in humans the brain subcortical pathway (emotion) and cortical (cognitive) pathways are connected. These findings in no way contradict the teachings of the Church Fathers. They point out man, created in God’s image has “free will”. However as the Fathers tell us any number of factors may diminish the capacity of voluntary-involuntary acts (St. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, Book II).

2.3 Factors Affecting Human Behavior

Such Church Fathers as St. John of the Ladder and St. Gregory Palamas indicate that continual sin becomes habitual. [Thereby making behavioral patterns less voluntary.] Habits can “darken the spirit”, [habits] work by “darkening our minds, which guides us, pushes people to do things only the mad would think of.” (Philokalia, 1984-93) The Church Fathers suggest on reducing the strength of the habits by removing sensory factors and stopping memories [thoughts] as they begin. With repetition, these new techniques become stronger. This is not unlike ‘thought stopping’ techniques proposed by Cognitive-behavioral therapists. For the Christian, putting these techniques, in a spiritual perspective, suggested by the Church Fathers provides added motivation and rationale for the treatment.

2.4 Cultural Values in Psychospiritual Therapy

Cultural (and to a lesser extent spiritual) factors have received increased emphasis in understanding mental disorders and psychological treatment (DSM IV, American Psychiatric Association, 1994; McGoldrick, et.al. 1996). It would be unthinkable for Christians not to include spiritual factors in the understanding and treatment (healing) of mental disorders. The Christian spiritual tradition, including the prayers and practice of the Church, Sacred Scripture and the writings of the spiritual fathers lends itself to an elegant integration with the Cognitive therapy methods noted above. While non-religious clinicians will not of course employ prayer for and/or with their patients, ethically they are required to include the religious values of their patients, even merely as a tool for understanding and treatment as suggested by McGoldrick, et.al. (1996). Christians are committed to do all in Christ’s name. Jesus told His followers: 26. “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Lk 9: 26) St Paul told the Corinthians: “knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Cor 15: 58) Thus following the advice of McGoldrick et.al., it behooves the clinician to interweave the treatment with the patients spiritual value system.

A clinical example follows: One of my patients had discontinued regular psychotherapy due to a terminal illness. Her initial presenting problems and treatment focus involved family problems. Being a deeply religious woman, I made clinical-pastoral visits to her during up to her death in a hospital. The nature of her treatment shifted from family issues to the acceptance of her impending death. Because of her deep commitment to Christian teaching, the concept of her spirituality was integrated into exploring and addressing the “meaning of her life”. It was great comfort to her to know she had brought Christ to her family and that He would continue to care for them spiritually after she would be dwelling with Jesus, after her physical death. By addressing her cultural value of being a devout Christian and integrating this into her psychotherapy, she became fulfilled spiritually and could die in peace.

2.5 Cognitive Distortions

Keeping in mind the caveats above the cognitive-behavioral model of emotional dysfunction (Beck, Rush, Shaw and Emery, 1979; Ellis, 1962) has been shown to be effective in dealing with dysfunctional emotions, decreasing inappropriate behavior and increasing appropriate behavior. According to this model basic dysfunctional emotions such as anger, anxiety, depression and mania as well as more complex emotions such as anticipation, awe, jealousy and remorse (Plutchik, (1984) are produced by distorted or irrational appraisals, attitudes, beliefs and/or cognitions. Situations (something that someone has said or done or events that have happened) do not produce or cause the emotional reaction. Rather we upset ourselves over people and events by our cognitive processing of these situations. If our thinking is clear, rational and non-distorted we have normal feelings like annoyance, concern and disappointment.

Even opening this model to a less strict position, (allowing for sub cortical activation of emotion) it would be maintained that some control over emotions initiated by these sub-cortical centers could be had by cognitive (cortical) methods. In Beck’s model, individuals have automatic thoughts (which are similar to primed cognitions investigated by Loftus, 1980) about activating events. These include selective abstraction (drawing conclusions unwarranted by the facts), personalization (attributing neutral events to be referred to you), polarization (viewing events in all or nothing terms), generalization (the tendency to conclude events will never change or always remain the same), demanding expectations ([Ellis, 1962], the belief that there are laws or rules that must or should be obeyed) and catastrophizing ([Ellis, 1962], the perception that something is more than 100% bad, awful or terrible).

Another cognitive model with clinical utility is attribution theory (Weiner, 1974; Abramson, Seligman & Teasdale, 1978). In this model explanations of events as due to combinations of internal or external and unstable (temporary) or stable (permanent) factors influence felt emotion and subsequent behavior. After rapport, diagnosis and treatment goals have been established the Cognitive-behavioral treatment strategies usually involve some form of didactic presentation of the cognitive model. Bibliotherapy is often used adjunctively. [Some recommended, books include, Beck, A.T. (1988), Love is Never Enough; Burns, D. (1980), Feeling Good; Ellis, A. (Ellis and Harper, 1975) A Guide to Rational Living] The patient is then helped to recognize, pinpoint and identify his/her cognitive distortions. The patient learns to challenge and restructure the irrational distorted cognitions that are initiating or sustaining the dysfunctional emotions to more accurate non-distorted cognitions. Use of notes and charts in the treatment session and outside the office is encouraged to facilitate the patient’s integration of these concepts.

Morelli G. (in press). Eastern Orthodox Churches. In Scott Richards, (Ed.), Handbook of Psychotherapy and Religious Diversity (2nd edition). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

“Let alone the little children, and cease hindering them to come to Me; for of such is the kingdom of the heavens." And He laid His hands upon them... (Mt. 19:14-15)

Tragic news is set before us every day by the ever-present news media. Bombings, gang shootings, child abuse, starving refugees, massive floods. So much, so often, that we could get inured to it. But some days there is news that demands deeper attention, deeper mourning, a more sustained search for solace.

Horror at Sandy Hook

December 14, 2012. A Breaking News alert caught my eye while I was at my computer on a teleconference call, a report of a “massive school shooting in Connecticut.” I casually mentioned it the conferences, then when the call ended, I turned on the TV news. Only in extremely exceptional circumstances do I ever watch TV during the day; the last time was in 2001 –the terrorist attack on the United States that resulted in the tragic death of all those victims and left such untoward psycho-spiritual aftermath. For the rest of that day I continued to watch the news and followed breaking developments on internet media.

Just as on the day of the 2001 terrorist attack, I had, and still have, no adequate words to describe my emotions as I saw the overwhelming grief of those in the midst of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, CT. Of course, the most emotionally and spiritual scarred are those closest to the incident - the parents, families and friends of the 1st grade children and the school personnel who were killed. But also not to be forgotten are the grief reactions of the first responders. I thought to myself that if I feel so deeply hurt by seeing the reports of the incident, I cannot imagine the depths of anguish suffered by those actually at the scene. The media coverage of frightened children, parents and teachers and the aghast first responders, the fire, first aide, and police personnel, and even of the newscasters themselves was so graphic.

A special spiritual trauma since it was when we were preparing to celebrate the Birth of the Prince of Peace

In preparation for the birth of Christ we are supposed to be awaiting the fulfillment of the prophesy of Isaiah (9:6): "For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, Prince of Peace." A slaughter of the innocents is accompanying the Birth of the Prince of Peace this year as it was during the time of Christ. St. Matthew tells us: "Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.” Saint Bede the Venerable tells us that this [Rachel is said to have bewailed her children, and did not wish to be consoled] "signifies that the Church bewails the removal of the saints [innocents] from this world," but she does not wish to be consoled in such a way that those who have overcome the world by death should return again with her to bear the strife of he world for surely they should not be called back into the world from whose hardships they have once escaped to Christ for their crowning.” *(The Orthodox New Testament, 2004). (Mt. 2: 17-18 That is, in such a way that death is not seen as victorious over life [even though it] continues to bring strife to the world. This year we added to our Nativity preparation prayers "May their memory be eternal."

During the Nativity Season we also cry out the angelic hymn: "Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will." (Lk 2:14). Thus, indeed, anyone of "good will" will share in this grief in some manner, shape or form. Many average American citizens and many people worldwide were weeping that day and in subsequent days. Who can forget the President of our country responding as a father as he wept during his initial White House briefing on the evening of December 14.

Applying the words of St. Paul about all who make up the Body of Christ to all mankind being made in God's image

St. Paul told the Romans (12:5): "So we being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." Then St. Paul goes on to tell them in very practical terms what this means: "Rejoice with them that rejoice; weep with them that weep." (Rm 12: 15). That we are to extend love to all mankind, and how this should lead us to respond to others, comes from Jesus, the Logos, the Word, Himself. Did Jesus not tell us: “Verily I say to you, insofar as ye did it not to one of the least of these, neither did ye do it to Me.” (Mt. 25:45) So my spiritual task, as, indeed , that of all men of good will across our nation and across the world, is to offer the true meaning of Godly grief to those directly and indirectly touched by this horrific shooting.. As Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain counsels (Ageloglou. 1998): "It is our duty to make the pain of others our own."

The Prophet Jeremiah

The Prophet Jeremiah

Also, during this tragic period, the Prophet Jeremiah comes to mind. Why Jeremiah? Jeremiah, the Old Testament Prophet, was called by God to preach to His Chosen people of the First Covenant around 626 BC, a time of tribulation that followed on a time of pagan worship among His peopleⁱ. About a year after Josiah, king of Judah, (641– 609 BC) had turned the nation from the widespread idolatrous practices of the previous kings of Judah toward repentance, the people of God turned again to pagan practices. (Josiah is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus as recorded by St. Matthew (1: 10- 11)). The Hebrew people’s failure to heed the Prophet's words was followed by the destruction of Jerusalem (598-588 BC) and the subsequent Babylonian exile. Of these catastrophes the Prophet Jeremiah writes:

For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and delivered him out of the hand of one that was mightier than he. And they shall come, and shall give praise in mount Sion: and they shall flow together to the good things of the Lord, for the corn, and wine, and oil, and the increase of cattle and herds, and their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they shall be hungry no more. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, the young men and old men together: and I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them joyful after their sorrow. And I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness: and my people shall be filled with my good things, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord: A voice was heard on high of lamentation, of mourning, and weeping, of Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted for them, because they are not. (Jeremiah 31: 11-15).

The Prophet Jeremiah's words show that with God’s help we can turn our earthy and very human grieving into a Godly grief. 'Zion' is an alternate name for the Heavenly City Jerusalem. But more importantly, for the Hebrew people, Zion refers to the Temple Mount, the seat of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and what is its center— the sanctuary. Morelli (2010) wrote:

Holy of Holies in Solomon's Temple

Holy of Holies in Solomon's Temple Although God is everywhere present, the sanctuary also represents the Kingdom of God, His special dwelling place. Recall God's command to Moses: "And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst." (Ex 25: 8); of which St. Paul told the Hebrews (9:3): “Behind the second curtain stood a tent called the Holy of Holies." It is in the Holy of Holies that the Ark of the Covenant was placed. The account of Jeremiah the Prophet:

"Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim . . . in the ark [were] the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt . . . so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. (1Kgs 8: 5-6,9,11)."

Israelite Captivity Routes

The lament of the psalmist (136: 1-4) over losing the sanctuary of God can easily be seen as a true, Godly grief: "Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: when we remembered Zion: On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments. For there they that led us into captivity required of us the words of songs. And they that carried us away, said: Sing ye to us a hymn of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten." So, too, let us look at the loss of the innocents and their caretakers in Sandy Hook, and any such type loss anywhere in the world, as the loss of someone we are called on to love with a Godly love because they, and we, are all made in God's image and called to be like Him.

The origins of brokenness in the world – source of grief

The Sacrifice of Abel

The first recorded murder in Old Testament Sacred Scripture was among Adam and Eve's sons, Cain and Abel (Gn. 4). We know that it was due to jealousy that Cain slew his brother Abel. But what weapons did they have? Well, the account in Genesis Chapter 4 is exceedingly sparse in information, it reads:

And it came to pass after many days, that Cain offered, of the fruits of the earth, gifts to the Lord. Abel also offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat: and the Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offerings. But to Cain and his offerings he had no respect: and Cain was exceedingly angry, and his countenance fell.

And the Lord said to him: Why art thou angry? and why is The Sacrifice of Abel thy countenance fallen? If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin forthwith be present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it. And Cain said to Abel his brother: Let us go forth abroad. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and slew him."(Gn 4:3-8)

The murder of the innocents in Sandy Hook and their caretakers was described by the media in so graphic terms, with .223 and 9mm bullets tearing through their bodies, a scene so horrifically vivid that the evacuating children and even teachers were asked to close their eyes. In the days of our first ancestors there were no assault rifles and pistols, but the killing of Abel by his brother would have been equally dreadfully graphic.

“…slew him." Very sanitized! But let us look to history and archeology to conjecture what the weapons of Cain's murder of Abel might have been. They would have been made out of stone. Nonetheless, still deadly and sharp; a knife, a sword or a spear would have been common. If any of my readers, have, God forbid (I give this vivid word image for educational purposes), ever seen a body mutilated by a blade of any kind, they know that it can be as gory as a body punctured by bullets. So, not only was brokenness or separation of man from God seen in the pride and disobedience of Adam and Eve, but now we see such brokenness extendsing to the horrific murder of one's brother brought on by another passion, in this case, envy. Eve and Adam must have mourned over this evidence of brokenness, though there is no direct mention of that in the Genesis account of the murder and God’s confronting of Cain, only a hint in Genesis 4:25, when Eve rejoices over the birth of Seth.

Spiritual Healing of Brokenness

Our Eastern Church Fathers teach us that in brokenness, however, Godly love can emerge. The brokenness in the world, often a source of despair, can be transformed into an opportunity, in imitation of Christ, to empty (kenosis) ourselves from our own self-love, to “put on Christ” - an emptying that reaches fulfillment in love towards God and neighbor. Indeed, thousands of loving Americans and countless others, nation and world-wide, lovingly and fervently prayed for the victims of the Sandy Hook Massacre and their families as well as for the other victims of such evil and for their families. Rightly do we storm the throne of God, where the Son and the Holy Spirit are seated with Father, with our prayers for these innocents, for their loving families and friends as well as for the perpetrator of this slaughter.

Pray for the sinner?

Many have heard the expression 'hate the sin but love the sinner' and think it is a statement in Sacred Scripture. These words do not appear in Scripture but the spirit of them does reflect the teachings of Christ. St. John the Evangelist informs us (Rev. 2: 6) of what Jesus told him, through the mouth of His angel about the nefarious works of a group, the Nicolaitians, who had left the early Church: “. . . you hate the deeds. . .which I also hate”. Surely all people of "good will" deplore and lament the horrific shooting in Newtown, CT. Similar feelings about such opprobrious deeds against children and anyone throughout the world will also be hated. Unfortunately, such criminal actions demonstrate the extreme sinful brokenness mankind is capable of. Any individual is made in God's image and should never be besmirched as a person.

Spiritual Healing after Sandy Hook

Praying for someone who has offended us may be both the first act of forgiveness some may be capable of in the beginning of the forgiveness process, and at the same time lead to a deeper level of forgiveness and healing of the residue of the conflict. (Morelli, 2007b). However, prayer for one who has offended us or who has committed such hideous deeds has to conform to the love that God has for all of us. All prayer for forgiveness must be done with purity of heart and with the fullness of God’s love. This is to say, we must pray that they reach out to God, glorify His Holy Name and in turn that God embrace them in His Bosom. It is so easy to pray with conditional or impure prayer: “I will only forgive if the other person fulfills some condition.” This may be that they ask or beg forgiveness. It may be that a failure to pray for forgiveness is a form or retribution toward the offender. Not to forgive may be an act of vengeance on our part. We could even go further and say, or pray: “God send them to hell.” To do this would be to forget the spiritual insight of our Orthodox Christian Church Father, St. Silouan the Athonite. To someone who "declared with evident satisfaction that 'God will punish all [sinners]. They will burn in everlasting fire,'" St. Silouan replied: "Tell me, supposing you went to paradise, and there you looked down and saw someone burning in hell-fire - would you feel happy?" "It can't be helped. It would be their own fault,” [was the response]. The Staretz [spiritual Elder] answered him in a sorrowful countenance. "Love could not bear that," he said. "We must pray for all."” (Sophrony, 1999)

Prayer and Psychological Healing

Interestingly, a recent psychological study (Lambert, et. al. 2010) found that prayer for one who has offended us would increase selfless concern for others and simultaneously enhance forgiveness. In part, the researchers explain that the finding that forgiveness is healing is based on focusing on ‘shared common goals.’ For the Orthodox Christian these results should not be surprising, for, as St. Paul tells us of our common goal, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. . . .” (1Th 5:9).

Now, in the spirit of St. Maximus the Confessor, who tells us that grace is based on nature, let me convey some of what has come out of behavioral mental health scientific research that we can sanctify by employing in synergy with our commitment to Christ and His Church. My suggestions below about intervention with children and adolescents exposed to trauma, such as the Sandy Hook School Massacre, either directly or by media coverage, is a compilation I extracted from an outstanding resource the National Institute of Mental Health-National Child Traumatic Stress Networkⁱⁱ, as well using previous articles I have written on talking to childrenⁱⁱⁱ.

Psycho-behavioral Interventions

Talking to Children about the Shooting

Parents and children consider that schools are supposed to be safe places, where learning and social development can take place. Some children across the nation have become overwhelmed with dysfunctional thoughts and emotions after viewing the graphic depictions broadcast by the media of the Sandy Hook Elementary School incident. Teachers, parents, clergy and other trusted adults are often turned to for guidance when children are troubled. Young children may be especially psychologically vulnerable and in need of reinforcing reassurances of safety and that they feel protected. They have to be reassured that the safety of their particular school, school-grounds, every student and especially the particular child or children being talked to is a foremost priority.

Some starting points may include:

• Starting a conversation. Ask if they heard about the incident. Ask them what they know about it. Picture drawing may be helpful in initiating conversation.

In previous articles on talking with children and adolescents (Morelli, 2007a,c; 2008b, 2011) I have pointed out that it is most important not to start out telling what your ideas are about the incident and don't assume that you know what your child is thinking. Rather, it is critical to know what the child is thinking and feeling and what facts they think they know about the incident. Since 14 December, right to the current time and most probably for the foreseeable future, the media has and will broadcast incorrect information and interpretations^iv. It will take quite some time for all the real facts to emerge. Your own and your children’s thoughts and feelings may change accordingly. As your child or adolescent explains, carefully listen for misconceptions, misinformation, and accompanying dysfunctional thoughts and feelings, such as anger, anxiety, depression or fears. Gently correct inaccurate information and validate their emotional reactions. It is also important to note that not to engage a child or adolescent about such an incident actually highlights its gravity so much more. "It is so awful, it cannot even be discussed."

• Continue any conversation using the Socratic Method^v. For example, if a child asks: "Is possible that this could happen at my school?" The adult's response would be guided by the child exploring the facts of what has been learned and implemented by those in authority in the school and community: "Ok! Let's look at the new things the school is doing."^vi "We can learn new ways of handling such incidents." Questions about re-occurrence may also occur. Question- answer interaction fosters feelings of security.
• If the child does not mention it, the adult should point out that the perpetrator was stopped and can never repeat this action again. The quick response by first responders can be pointed out.
• In any interaction with the child or adolescent, caretakers should model a calm and confident demeanor.
• Maintain regular schedules for family activities such as meals and other usual family routines such as curfews and chores. Do not make any unnecessary major life-altering decisions during this time.
• Physically hugging your child and telling them how much you love them (in an age appropriate way) is certainly in order and is a critical healing action.
• Caretakers can share their own feeling of sadness but also communicate how they and others have done, and can do, good things for others and the community.
• Exposure to graphic media (images and sounds) of the incident should be limited and very young children should be as much as possible not exposed to such media at all (they may appear to be engaged in play but could also be attending to media coverage). Even adults can be psychological impacted by graphic exposure. This may include graphic horror media even unrelated to this incident.
• Caretakers need caretaking. Take time-out, pray, do activities that you like to do. Take time to talk to other parents in the community.

Common psycho-behavioral-spiritual reaction to trauma

Common reactions of children and adolescents include: attention and concentration difficulties, increased irritability and defiance, change in appetite, changes in sleep patterns, difficulty in separating from caretakers, preference to stay at home or in their rooms, expressing fear at returning to school, having a sense of danger that future events or activities may bring them harm and feelings of abandonment by God. If reactions seem severe or persist, professional assistance from licensed, highly trained, scientifically oriented mental health professionals should be sought. (Morelli, 2006a). Caretakers should take note of the research supporting the efficacy of Cognitive- Behavior Therapy in treatment of traumatic stress and its severe consequences, such as suicidiality. (Ghahramanlou-Holloway, Brown, & Beck, 2008; Morelli, 2009).

Also, and foremost, is remembering that the Church is a spiritual hospital and her Holy Mysteries and prayer are her instruments of spiritual treatment. (Morelli, 2006b). Human healing, then, when referenced to the victory of Christ over death, takes on an eternal meaning and purpose: chiefly, to partake of the deeper life found in God, to rise above the brokenness in such tragedies.

In a previous article (Morelli, 2008a), I wrote:

Our commitment to God is to put all our trust in Him. Let us pray the words of King David as he fled from Saul: “ ... This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust without a fear.” (Ps. 56: 9-11). In the words of one of the holiest of saints of the early Eastern Christian Church, St. Isaac of Syria: “For someone to entrust himself to God means that, from that point onwards, he will no longer be devoured by anguish or fear over anything; nor will he again be tormented by the thought that he has no one to look after him.” (Brock, 1997)

Understanding reactions to trauma

Normal Grief

Some grief reactions to trauma and loss of loved ones, friends and acquaintances are to be expected and are considered perfectly normal. This may include periodic brief feelings of sadness, especially when recalling past activities involving the lost ones. Over time, such images and thoughts are transformed into a stronger sense of connection with peers, family, community, church and relationships with God. For some, this even goes further and they engage in altruistic acts for others.

Exaggerated Grief

Some children and adolescents who have suffered the loss of their classmates or teachers under traumatic circumstances such as the Sandy Hook Massacre display extended periods of extreme grief. They may mentally focus on the circumstances surrounding the occurrence, how it could have been thwarted and/or guilt that they themselves have survived. These individuals as well as the descriptions of those suffering from depression and Post Trauma Stress Disorder (PTSD) discussed below should definitely be provided with the professional mental health services I previously recommended.

Depression

For some, exaggerated grief becomes prolonged across usual daily activities throughout the day and would be considered indicative of depression and other dysfunctional emotions such as anxiety and anger. Symptoms include prolonged and severe irritability, lack of joy, sleep pattern change, loss of appetite and decreased interest in activities previously enjoyed. Even more severe would be expressions of hopelessness, worthlessness and suicidal ideation. (Morelli, 2009). Some children somatize their dysphoric emotions. That is to say they convert their emotions to bodily complaints, such as chest tightness or pain, headaches, stomach ailments and digestion problems and/or rapid heartbeat.

Post-traumatic Stress Reactions

Some youngsters, as well as adults exposed to graphic scenes of the Sandy Hook carnage (and others exposed to similar traumatic events), will develop a more serious condition, akin to PTSD. Traumatic events are persistently re-experienced. PTSD signs (American Psychiatric Association 2000) include:

• recurring and intrusive distressing recollections of the events (images, thoughts perceptions and, in young children, repetitive play regarding aspects of the trauma event).
• recurrent distressing dreams of the event (in children, frightening dreams with no specific content.
• acting, feeling or re-living that the distressing events were reoccurring (in children, trauma-specific playacting
• intense psychological distress when exposed to external cues associated with the traumatic event.
• physiological reactivity (e.g., trembling, crouching) to trauma external cue exposure.
• persistent avoidance of trauma-associated stimuli such as thoughts, feelings, conversations, people —- also, inability to recall trauma events, diminished interest in activities, detachment from others, diminished range of feeling (unable to love).
• a sense of a foreshortened future (marriage, career, lifespan).
• increased arousal not present before the trauma, such as falling or staying asleep, anger or irritability outbursts, concentration hyper-vigilance, startle response.

I cannot reiterate too strongly that if a parent, teacher or caretaker of a child or adolescent (or colleague, in the case of traumatized adults) notices the signs of exaggerated grief, depression and certainly posttraumatic stress reactions in others as outlined above that aid from appropriate mental health professionals be sought. Parents can do this directly for and with their children. Adults can open a dialogue with their traumatized colleagues, suggest professional aid and enlist the support of supervisory personnel if necessary.

Christ is our true physician and healer

As Orthodox Christians we know that healing of the soul ranks higher than the healing of the body. This is because it is only by healing of the soul that we can attain our ultimate aim: theosis, or union with God, that we "might become partakers of the divine nature "as St. Peter (2Pt 1:4) puts it. In the Mind of Christ and His Church the healing of the body and mind is offered as a sign of His mercy and blessing to the person experiencing God's healing and to inspire others to do His will. Such Godly healing is to be sought through the Holy Mysteries of the Church, especially Holy Confession, Communion and Holy Unction, as well as prayer conformed to God's will. Nevertheless, we still embrace God's gift to mankind of the ability to develop scientific medical and psychological treatment. It is imperative that we who engage in the health and mental health professionals and the professionals themselves heed the advice of Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain (Ageloglou, 1998): "— Help the sick people by show them the deeper meaning of life; do not only cure their bodies."

Jesus and the Children

To accomplish this, all of must become like little children. That is to say, little children as Christ meant ‘children’ when He said to His disciples:

In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greater in the kingdom of the heavens?” And Jesus called to Himself a little child, and set him in their midst, and said, “Verily I say to you, unless ye be turned about and become as the little children, in no wise shall ye enter into the kingdom of the heavens. “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, this one is the greater in the kingdom of the heavens. “And whosoever shall receive one such little child in My name, receiveth Me. (Mt. 18:1-5).

Christ means for us to be humble, to use the talents, in this case the healing talents, He has given us, but to do so realizing that they come from and depend on Him. St. John tells us Jesus’ own words: “I am the vine, ye are the branches. The one who abideth in Me, and I in him, this one beareth much fruit; for apart from Me ye are not able to do anything." (Jn. 15:5).

"Thus saith the Lord: A voice was heard on high of lamentation, of mourning, and weeping, of Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted for them, because they are not." (Jer 31:15)

REFERENCES

American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM-IV-TR). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

Ageloglou, Priestmonk Christodoulos. (1998). Elder Paisios of The Holy Mountain. Mt. Athos, Greece: Holy Mountain.

Brock, S. (1997). The Wisdom of St. Isaac the Syrian. Fairacres Oxford, England: SLG Press.

Ghahramanlou-Holloway, M., Brown, G.K., and Beck, A.T. (2008).Suicide. In M.A. Whisman (Ed.). Adapting cognitive Therapy for Depression: Managing Complexity and Comorbitity. NY: Guilford

Lambert, N. M., Finchamm F. D., Stillman, T. F., Graham, S. M., and Beach, S. R. H. (2010). Motivating change in relationships: Can prayer increase forgiveness? Psychological Science, 21 (1): pp. 126-132.

Morelli, G. (2006a, May 08). Orthodoxy and the Science of Psychology. www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles6/MorelliOrthodoxPsychology.php.

Morelli, G. (2006b, December 21). The Ethos of Orthodox Christian Healing. www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles6/MorelliHealing.php.

Morelli, G. (2007a, August 28). Smart Parenting VI: Talking to Your Children About Sex. www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles7/MorelliSmartParentingVI.php.

Morelli, G. (2007b, December 02). Forgiveness is Healing. www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/morelli-forgiveness-is-healing.

Morelli, G. (2007c, December 29). Smart Parenting IX: Talking to Your Children When a Popular Role Model Falls Short. www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/smart-parenting-ix.-talking-to-children-when-a-popular-role-model-falls-sho

Morelli, G. (2008a. June 08). Pastoral Reflections on Suicide in the Military. www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/morelli-pastoral-reflections-on-suicide-in-the-military

Morelli, G. (2008b, September 19). Smart Marriage XIV: Talking to Your Children About Same Sex “Marriage.” www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles8/Morelli-Smart-Parenting-XIV-Talking-To-Children-About-Same-Sex-Marriage.php.

Morelli, G. (2009, January 13). Suicide: Christ, His Church and Modern Medicine. www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/morelli-suicide-christ-his-church-and-modern-medicine.

Morelli, G. (2010, November 25). The Ethos of Orthodox Catechesis. www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/morelli-the-ethos-of-orthodox-catechesis.

Morelli, G. (2011, October 03). Smart Parenting XXIII: Coping with Bullying. www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/smart-parenting-xxiii-coping-with-bullying.

Sophrony, Archimandrite. (1999). St. Silouan the Athonite. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.

The Orthodox New Testament. (2004). Buena Vista, CO: Holy Apostles Convent.

ENDNOTES

i en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah

ii www.nctsn.org/

iii www.orthodoxytoday.org/archive/morelli

iv One example of particularly egregious interpretation accounts were made by so called medical, psychiatric and psychological experts. When queried as to how the shooter could perform such a horrific massacre, the answer given was that he was psychotic. The basis of such a speculative diagnosis was the brutality of the massacre itself. The diagnosis was then used as the explanatory principle for the massacre to be committed. This is pure unadulterated illogical circular reasoning that is totally unacceptable in the scientific community. The diagnosis of psychosis (or any disorder) has to be made on data independent of the event the disorder is the supposed cause. When I was teaching university undergraduates and graduate students and  seminarians as well and even if a first level  Psych 101 student gave me a circular reasoning answer such as this would be grounds for immediate course failure. So shame on so called doctoral, experts on this issue.

v Use of Questions: The Socratic Method

Use of questions is actually related to a cognitive-educational model called the Socratic Method (Beck, 1995). Using this technique, an instructor or mentor does not give data, knowledge or wisdom directly. Instead, the student discovers it as a result of answering a series of questions posed by the teacher. When a child discovers something for himself, or makes appropriate connections between things, is far more meaningful than referencing authority. When a parent asks questions like "What do you think?" or, "How is this related to what we learned in…(scripture, reading the Church Fathers, a homily or church school etc.)," chances are much greater that the child will grasp and retain important points. Be ready to outline some of theological principles given above. Don't preach. Keep it simple. Use clear, focused, examples. (Morelli, 2008)

vi As I am writing this I received an e mail of new procedures being implemented by a NE USA school system as announced to district parents in an e mail. I have heavily edited the content for anonymity.  This same information should be available for any school system in the United States and can be used in helping the child "discover" what has changed since the Sandy Hook Massacre and the safety and protection for their school: 

School Security Plan:

Visitor Policy: All school visitors must be buzzed into a specific school building at a single clearly marked access point.  Other entry points will be kept locked at all times. When classes are not in session, users of school buildings will have limited and defined access to specific school areas. Other areas will be locked and inaccessible.

Contact: If an untoward  emergency occurs, the District will contact you via the emergency phone system already in place throughout the District. (land line, cell phones, phone texts, and email). Timely updates will be provided the same way.

Emergency Pick-Up: If an emergency situation occurs requiring school evacuation, you will be notified via the emergency contact system and told where to pick up your children. For security purposes, in order not to compromise the safety of students and staff, information about the pick-up location will not be publically broadcast before the actual emergency situation.

District Security Plan: The District has an extensive and detailed Security Plan that was developed in partnership with law enforcement (including the municipal, school, county and state Police Departments). The Plan covers response procedures for a variety of types of incidents, including lockdowns and active shooter situations. Drills on these procedures occur regularly throughout the year.

Highest Level Security Classification: Specifics of the District’s Security Plan are confidential at the highest level and not open to requests made through the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) for any except responding school and law enforcement personnel. This measure is necessary to avoid compromising security and thereby endangering students and staff.

In the days and weeks to come, we expect to make further changes to the School Security Plan. As announced at the Board of Education Meeting on December xx, the school and municipal Police Department’s Crime Prevention Bureau in conjunction with county and state law enforcement will conduct a detailed security survey very shortly. The results of this survey will be made public at the next Board of Education meeting and security further security recommendations announced.

The municipal School District continues to make every effort to ensure that all students are educated in a safe and secure environment and school administrators and teachers are also protected.  Contact me, Xxxxxxx  Xxxxxxx, Superintendent of Schools  at  xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxx.edu with any questions or concerns.

***I will note that some proposals for School Safety have included having uniformed/un-uniformed armed police officers at every school. Some schools already have put in metal detectors, bullet proof windows in the school buildings.   Here in San Diego, a proposal has been made to have cameras in school entrances, hallways, classrooms and offices, etc., with the ability to be broadcast in real-time to responding police cars.

Americans take great umbrage whenever they, as a society, are portrayed by the residents of other nations as self-centered, avaricious and overbearing. While an egregious exaggeration in the past, is it an accurate description now? Who are the American people today and what sort of country is the United States in 2013?

How does one describe a society wherein a majority of the people, and their elected leaders, have embraced the following mindset?

• a) The United States can commit to unlimited government spending as the long-term future of the nation is immaterial and will take care of itself.
• b) Based on 66 years of unprecedented economic growth and prosperity, the good times will never end and America will under no circumstance experience massive national adversity as there is a bottomless pit of money to be siphoned from an equally bottomless pit of wealth.
• c) Since the dollar is the international reserve currency, the United States, in order to cover its massive budget deficits, can arbitrarily create trillions of dollars out of thin air regardless of any consequence for the nation or the global economy.
• d) There are no limits to personal behavior and the arcane concepts of decency, honor and integrity are from a bygone era.

In just four years the United States has accumulated nearly $6 Trillion in debt. The national debt is now $16.5 Trillion or 32.5% of the world's total indebtedness (the U.S. accounts for 5% of the global population and 20% of the annual Gross World Product). Further, the total unfunded liabilities (state, local and federal) of the U.S., as of 2012, exceed $238 Trillion, or 3 times the annual Gross World Product (total economic activity of all the countries on earth). The United States is, today, the most indebted and bankrupt nation in the history of mankind.

Assuming other nations would still be willing to buy American bonds and the dollar has not been replaced as the world's reserve currency, the expected level of government spending over the next four years will result in the national debt exceeding $21.5 Trillion (nearly 40% of the projected world debt in 2017). Interest costs, as the end-product of having to raise rates to attract lenders, will absorb nearly 60% of the total income taxes collected in 2017.

However, at some point before this scenario fully plays out, the rest of the world will no longer tolerate and subsidize a nation unwilling to change its profligate and self-centered ways. The financial collapse of the United States would not only have a devastating impact on the standard of living for the average American but for the vast majority of people around the globe.

How can a nation with any sense of decency allow this scenario to play out? None of this is a mystery to the politicians, academics, the media, Wall Street, major corporations and a substantial portion of the electorate. While there may be a considerable percentage of the population that could be categorized as "low-information" voters, this does not excuse the actions and attitudes of these people or the balance of the citizenry. The United States, and possibly the global economy, is being taken apart by the avarice and narcissism of its elites and the selfishness and ignorance of far too large a percentage of its inhabitants.

The vast majority of politicians, while paying lip service to fiscal restraint, are primarily concerned with re-election and continuing the standard of living, ego-gratification and wealth accumulation that comes with elected office. They have thus abandoned their moral and fiscal duty by pandering to the bulk of the American people who have been willingly indoctrinated to believe that by the mere circumstance of living in the United States one is entitled to and guaranteed a "decent" livelihood regardless of the cost to future generations.

The leaders, as well as a preponderance of the rank and file, within the public sector unions, are focused not only on siphoning as much money as possible from the treasuries of the states and federal government, but also impacting, through compulsory union dues, the election of politicians who will acquiesce to their never-ending demands. This modus operandi also extends to the private sector unions who are increasingly turning to government and the elected officials they also financially support to strong-arm their demands upon employers — which will compel many to choose either bankruptcy or offshore relocation.

The bankers on Wall Street, in order to protect their annual seven figure incomes, have become willing tools for the governing class in Washington D.C. either as: 1) foils in the propagation of class warfare; 2) well compensated accessories to the creation of money by the Federal Reserve; or, 3) intermediaries for massive political donations. All the while knowing that the government has designated their entities as "too big to fail" thus shifting any potential risk to the American taxpayers.

Additionally, far too many major corporations and well-heeled investors have turned their eyes to the government as the source of loans and guarantees for a myriad of investment schemes and projects. In the search for not only money but favorable regulatory treatment, they, in return, willingly contribute to the election of those who will not only continue these policies but will make certain there are few or no consequences for failure. That the ultimate objective of these politicians is to make certain the private sector is under the thumb of government bureaucrats seems immaterial to these so-called capitalists.

In the world of academia, the primary objective is no longer to educate but to make certain there is no end to the ever-increasing income stream that flows into the pockets of the institutions and individuals. If that means saddling students with unconscionable debts or demanding unlimited subsidies from the government then so be it.

The mainstream media has abdicated its responsibility to be a neutral chronicler of the abuse of power. In order to sustain their individual lifestyles and gain access as well as bask in the glow of the ever-growing power structure in Washington, they have become the propaganda arm of big government.

The entertainment industry, in their determination to promote an unfettered lifestyle, has for many decades advanced the notion that there are no limits to personal behavior. Further, since decency, honor and integrity are passé, the entertainment complex can justify grossing untold billions from the glorification of ever-increasing violence and depravity. All the while financially supporting those in the political class who claim to be in sympathy in these matters but who, in reality, are more dedicated to the concept of an all-powerful central government — a government which will eventually turn on these same supporters.

Regardless of the reason or circumstance, a majority of the people of this nation have been conditioned to believe the federal and/or state governments will always be able to ride to the rescue in any situation. The fact of the matter is: this nation cannot weather a severe financial crisis as it has squandered its ability to do so.

The United States in 2012 re-elected a man, Barack Obama, who is self-centered, unprincipled, and arrogant. From the perspective of the rest of the world, this is increasingly the image of the United States in 2013. While a substantial portion of the American populace do not subscribe to or live their lives this way, a majority does. For far too many, they do not care about what happens to their country, their progeny or other people around the globe.

The United States is rapidly becoming the egregious caricature first used in the 1950's and 60's — the Ugly American.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Mt. 5:8)

In a previous article (Morelli, 2012) I discussed the importance of Christ delivering the Beatitudes while on the summit of the mount. My commentary was based on Forest's (1999) insight that the 'mount" as an object that is high and points to heaven, and was, as such, purposely chosen by Christ. Forest writes: "Mountains are images of earth reaching toward heaven, thus places of encounter between Creator and creature." This is most fitting because it relates to the spiritual preparation needed to "see God."

St. Gregory of Nyssa

St. Gregory of Nyssa (1954) refers to this symbolism of the mount in his Homily VI on this Beatitude. First, St. Gregory takes the perspective of God's vision, from above, of His creation beneath Him:

When from the sublime words of the Lord resembling the summit of a mountain I looked down into the ineffable depths of His thoughts, my mind had the experience of a man who gazes from a high ridge into the immense sea below him.

But, as St. Gregory points out, we have a conundrum. In the Old Testament Book of Exodus, (33: 17) Moses tells us God’s words to him: "Thou canst not see my face: for man shall not see me and live." St. John the Evangelist reiterates this revelation. "And of His fullness we all received, and grace for grace; for the law was given through Moses, but the grace and the truth came to be by Jesus Christ. No one hath seen God at any time. The only-begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, that One declareth Him.” (Jn. 1:16-18).

Isaiah the Prophet

Also from the Old Testament, consider God's words as told to us by Isaiah the Prophet (55:9): "But as the heaven is distant from the earth, so is my way distant from your ways, and your thoughts from my mind." We can also look to the teaching of St. Paul who says of God that He is ". . .the King of those who reign as kings and Lord of those who lord as lords, the One Who alone hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable, Whom not one of mankind did see, nor is able to see, to Whom be honor and everlasting might. Amen.” (1 Tim. 6:15,16).

St. Gregory resolves this enigma by distinguishing between the essence of God, which cannot be beholden, versus the effects that derive from His essence, that is to say His energy, which can be seen. To use St. Gregory's words: "...knowledge of the Divine essence is inaccessible to thought.... For He is invisible by nature, but becomes visible in His energies, for He may be contemplated in the things that are referred to Him."

St. Gregory gives us two examples of what can be comprehended. Think of the words of the psalmist: "How great are thy works, O Lord? thou hast made all things in wisdom: the earth is filled with thy riches." (Ps 103: 24). St. Gregory understands this to mean that God reveals Himself to us both by the wisdom of what He does and by the beauty in His works. Also, we may consider the divine splendor in the words of King David when he says: "The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands. Day to day uttereth speech, and night to night sheweth knowledge." (Ps 16 1-2).

Thus, we can see the importance of St. Paul's words to the Philippians (1:9-11):

And this I pray, that your love be abounding yet more and more in full knowledge and all perception, for you to approve the things which are excellent, in order that ye may be sincere and without offense until the day of Christ, having been filled with the fruits of righteousness which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

St. Symeon The New Theologian on seeing God

St. Symeon The New Theologian

St. Symeon the New Theologian has a very spiritually perspicacious insight into the problem of seeing God. First keep in mind what Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ said of Himself: “I am the light of the world; the one who followeth Me in no wise shall walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of the life.” (Jn. 8:12). St. Symeon (Philokalia IV) points out to attain "[purity] of heart and every other beatitude can only be accomplished by cultivating continual watchfulness, that is to say a constant alertness to things of God and not of this world and preventing them from entering the heart. Thus the meaning of this beatitude is that it is only the "pure in heart" that can receive this vision of the Divine.

To see God is of necessity to understand purity

The ancient languages of Aramaic and Hebrew are very informative in understanding the spiritual meaning of purity and thus in comprehending the necessity to be pure of heart to "see God." In Aramaic, purity is associated with the term zakah (innocency)ⁱ, which in turn is related to the Hebrew root word zakak, which means to be translucent.ⁱⁱ Translucency means that light is allowed to pass through it. Therefore, if some faculty of perception is covered over with a barrier of any type it cannot fulfill its function; light cannot pass through it; what it is attempting to perceive cannot be perceived because the faculty is not translucent.

Sin blocks out the light of God

St. Diadochos of Photiki

Jesus Himself tells us: “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be sound, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness." (Mt. 6:22-23). Now the Eastern Church considers the heart to be the core, the center of man's spiritual being. It is the place where spiritual perception rests. As Jesus put it: “The good man bringeth forth out of the good treasure of his heart that which is good; and the evil man bringeth forth out of the evil treasure of his heart that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaketh." (Lk. 6:45).

St. Diadochos of Photiki (Philokalia I) tells us that the heart "does this not because it is the heart’s nature to produce evil ideas, but because as a result of the primal deception the remembrance of evil has become as it were a habit."

Fr. Staniloae

Staniloae (2003) understands this as the heart having two aspects. One part ". . .has its face turned toward God." Quoting St. Mark the Hermit, Staniloae explains: “From there, from "the hidden temple of the heart, the mind receives good and beautiful stimuli from Christ who dwells there," and Who nurses them into a virtuous life." The other heart Staniloae calls the "subconscious of the passions." It is linked to our biological self and involves the psychological process of memory of past passionate arousals and actions. We can choose to focus on the passions and continue to work toward inordinately satisfying them.

St. Isaac the Syrian

St. Isaac the Syrian (2011) puts it this way:

It is better to avoid the passions by the recollection of the virtues than by resisting and arguing with them. For when the passions leave their place and arise for battle, they imprint on the mind images and idols. This warfare has great force, able to weaken the mind and violently perturb and confuse a man's thinking. But if a man acts by the first rule we have mentioned, when the passions are repulsed they leave no trace in the mind.

However, passions draw us into an empty slavery to the passions to fulfill them, but they can never be satisfied. In this regard, we can apply the wisdom of King Solomon: "All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea doth not overflow." (Ecc 1: 7) A craving for praise (pride), material goods (greed), sexual arousal (lust), striking out at others (anger), food and drink (gluttony), begrudging others (envy), focusing on self rather than God,(sloth), can never be satiated. St. Neilos the Ascetic (Philokalia I) asks: "What advantage do we gain in life from all our useless toil over worldly things?" St. Maximos the Confessor would have us consider that all the passions involve egoism, that is to say, self-love, in some manner. He tells us: "Self-love is an impassioned, mindless love for one's body. Its opposite is love and self-control. A man dominated by self-love is dominated by all the passions." (Philokalia II).

The reason for the futility of living a life focused on fulfilling the passions is beautifully summarized by Staniloae (2003):

This always unsatisfied infinity is due both to the passion in itself, as well as the object with which it seeks satisfaction. The objects which the passions look for can't satisfy them because the objects are finite and as such don't correspond to the unlimited thirst of the passions.

Staniloae goes on to make a very important observation regarding the interaction of body, soul and spirit in satisfying the passions. He writes: ". . .the close unity of the body and soul causes the bodily passions to be interwoven with those of the soul, or to have inter-influence." St. John of Damascus provides a concrete example of this interaction:

For countless pleasures surge to and fro attracting the eyes of the soul: pleasures of the body, of material things, of over-indulgence, of praise, laziness, anger, of power, avarice and greed. These pleasures have a glittering and attractive appearance which, though deceptive, readily seduces those who do not . . . . [fear God and love Christ]. (Philokalia II)

St. Paul's understanding is that sin produces a hardness of heart. In Staniloae’s terms: the part of the heart that could be facing God is, instead, facing the world of the senses:

testify in the Lord: ye are no longer to walk even as also the rest of the nations walk, in the vanity of their mind, who have been darkened in thought and alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance which is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; who, having become insensible, gave themselves up to licentiousness, for the working of all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not thus learned the Christ—if indeed ye heard Him and were taught in Him, as truth is in Jesus: to put off from yourselves the old man, with respect to the former manner of life, who is being corrupted according to the desires of the deceit, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man, who, according to God, was created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. (Eph. 4:17-24)

St. John of Damascus

St. John of Damascus on focusing the heart on God so as to see Him

St. John (Philokalia II,) tells us that the passions can be classified by the tripartite functions of the soul: ". . .the intelligent, the incensive and the desiring aspect.." In his monograph On the Virtues and Vices, St. John goes on to list the passions and accompanying sins and their cure. His teaching is so comprehensive and thorough it bears quoting in full:

The sins of the intelligent aspect are unbelief, heresy, folly, blasphemy, ingratitude and assent to sins originating in the soul's passible [susceptibility to feeling, pain or suffering and/or influence by external factors] aspect. These vices are cured through unwavering faith in God and in true, undeviating and orthodox teachings, through the continual study of the inspired utterances of the Spirit, through pure and ceaseless prayer, and through the offering of thanks to God. The sins of the incensive aspect are heartlessness, hatred, lack of compassion, rancor [bitter anger], envy, murder and dwelling constantly on such things. They are cured by deep sympathy for one's fellow men, love, gentleness, brotherly affection, compassion, forbearance and kindness. The sins of the desiring aspect are gluttony, greed, drunkenness, unchastity, adultery, uncleanliness, licentiousness, love of material things, and the desire for empty glory, gold, wealth and the pleasures of the flesh. These are cured through fasting, self- control, hardship, a total shedding of possessions and their distribution to the poor, desire for the imperishable blessings held in store, longing for the kingdom of God, and aspiration for divine sonship.

The Holy Spirit-inspired Church Father then goes on to delineate the stages of how the passions start and their final ensnarement of us into total sinfulness. He lists ". . . . provocation, coupling, wrestling, passion, assent (which comes very close to performance), actualization and captivity." The first step, provocation, is a suggestion; St. John likens it to the commands of the Evil One given to Our Lord while in the desert: “If Thou art God’s Son, command that these stones become loaves” (Mt. 4:3); “If Thou art God’s Son, cast Thyself down" (Mt. 4:6); “All these things [the kingdoms of the world and their glory] will I give to Thee if Thou wilt fall down and make obeisance to me.” (Mt. 4:9).

Habit formation and automaticity in contemporary psychological research

It is most interesting that empirical scientific behavioral observation has uncovered processes similar to the stages of passion outlined by St. John of Damascus. Bargh (1994), for example, summarizes the stages of habit formation that lead to automaticity. The stages with the related terms used by St. John of Damascus (in parentheses) include: awareness (provocation, coupling, wrestling and passion), intention, efficiency (assent and actualization) and automaticity (captivity).

These findings would suggest that the cognitive-behavioral treatment interventions to modify and change dysfunctional cognition, emotion and behavior can be helpful in controlling passions and their consequences (Morelli, 2010) and thereby working at attaining purity of heart.

Bandura's social learning theory (1986) provides a good graphic overview of the research-clinical model:

The praxis of spiritual perception: metanoia

In order to put into practice Staniloae’s (2003) spiritual insight that we have two aspects of the heart, we must turn our hearts toward God and thus away from the passions. But this brings up another enigma. How do we turn toward God, if we do not see Him because we are so mired in the passions that the light of His beauty and wisdom is blackened out? The answer can be found in part in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

Culture in Tradition

In a previous paper on the spiritual application of the Beatitudes to our lives (Morelli, 2012) I discussed this parable from the viewpoint of what Bailey (2005) would describe as a Western perspective. He makes the point, however, that we should penetrate the culture of the speaker that: "...there are layers of perception that can only be uncovered when the culture of the Middle East is understood and applied to the interpretation of Scripture." In fact, this approach may be more in line with the Eastern Church's understanding of Sacred Scripture. This understanding is articulated by Fr. John Breck (2001) in his seminal work Scripture in Tradition. He discusses the ancient Christian exegetes, the Fathers of the Church, who understood Sacred Scripture "from a more holistic point of view." Thus, he speaks of the "inspired vision" of Divine Truth that was revealed to mankind by Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, which "...escape[s] a purely scientific or empirical approach to interpretation." It is the work of the "...the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, that One shall teach you all things, and shall remind you of what I said to you," (Jn. 14:26) who, as told to us by Jesus Christ himself, acts through the Church, and the Church Fathers in particular, to "...preserve and transmit the essential elements of Tradition."

Parable of the Prodigal Son

Below I have highlighted in square brackets ([])some of the relevant passages from the Parable of the Prodigal Son, for which, as recommended by Bailey (2005), a cultural understanding of the meaning of the parable and its application to "purity of heart" can be helpful.

And He said, “A certain man had two sons. [All three individuals in the parable are mentioned in the opening verse]. And the younger of them said to the father, ‘Father, give to me the portion of the property which falleth to me.’ [Focus on one thing: material wealth. To get this he expresses a desire to break a relationship with the Father: to sin. Relationships are important among Jewish people, during the time of Jesus. The father, the family, the clan and all observing his action will suffer.]

And he divided to them his means of living. And not many days after, the younger son, having gathered all together, went abroad into a distant land, [In Hebrew culture, inheritance involves responsibility. He takes his share of the wealth while shirking responsibility: caring for his family. He also gives up and loses the physical and psychological security his family and clan would provide him in the present and in the future.]

and there scattered his property, living profligately. [Further acting out of sin: wasteful, spendthrift living. In Middle East culture, this may refer to building a reputation by holding great banquets and over-generous gifts or, based on the testimony of the older son who could have had 'insider information,' living an immoral life.]

But after he spent all, there arose a severe famine throughout that land, and he began to be in want. [He would be estranged from family and villagers and at a time of famine might be vilified and even physically attacked by villagers in need.]

“And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that land; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. “And he was longing to fill his belly from the husks, which the swine were eating; and no one was giving to him. [The Greek word for joined (kollao) used by St. Luke implies something that clings but is unwanted, like desert sand on the feet - the wealthy citizen wants to separate himself from the ne'er-do-well Jewish prodigal and sends him into an abhorrent, detestable and ritually prohibited task of being among swine, feeding them, let alone eating their swill.]

“But having come to himself, [He came to see the whole pictureⁱⁱⁱ: the loss of his father, the value of his previous relationships], he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father abound in loaves, and I am perishing with hunger! [the real wealth he once had.]

“‘I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I sinned against heaven and before thee^iv, and am no longer worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants.”’ [Impure confession, the son has a motive: as a servant he can get paid and start to regain status.]

“And he rose up and went to his father. But when he was yet far away, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell upon his neck, [A Middle East countercultural act on the father’s part. The father initializes reconciliation. The prodigal's father is a prototype of God the Father, as St. Paul writes: "But all things are from God Who reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not reckoning their transgressions to them, and He put in us the word of reconciliation." (2Cor 5: 18-19)] and ardently kissed him.

“And the son said to him, ‘Father, I sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no longer worthy to be called thy son.’ [A pure confession with no expectation of self-gain, as he had in his original thought, now a true metanoia, acceptance of his father’s reconciliation, a gift from his father.]

“But the father said to his slaves, ‘Bring forth the robe, the chief one, and clothe him, and provide a ring for his hand and sandals for their feet. “‘And bring the calf, the fattened one, and slay it; and let us eat and be merry; “‘for this my son was dead and is alive again; and he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. [The son is given back his status and honor by his father - to be acknowledged and respected by all.]

“Now his son, the elder one, was in a field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. “And he summoned one of his servants, and began inquiring what these things may be. “And he said to him, ‘Thy brother is come, and thy father slew the calf, the fattened one, because he received him back safe and sound.’ “But he was angry and not willing to go in. [A breach of Middle Eastern custom and respect; and a display of his rancorous envy toward his younger brother and greed because of how he would inherit less wealth.]

Then his father went out and besought him. [This connotes a respectful entreaty.]

“And he answered and said to his father, ‘Behold, so many years I am serving thee, and never did I transgress thy commandment, and never didst thou give a kid to me, in order that I might make merry with my friends; “‘but when this thy son came, the one who devoured thy means of living with harlots, thou didst slay for him the calf, the fattened one.’ [Doesn't use the title 'father,' he criticizes his father's action and wants his due-a disrespect in the Middle East.]

“And he said to him, ‘Child, thou art always with me, and all that is mine is thine. “‘But to make merry and to rejoice was fitting, because this thy brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’” [Despite the older son's disrespect, he initiates reconciliation like he did with his younger son—a prototype of God the Father and His love unrequited by His sinful people.] (Lk. 15:11-32)

Applying the lessons in the Parable of the Prodigal Son

The root of the Prodigal's sin and his reconciliation with his father can easily be understood by Staniloae's understanding that the heart has two aspects, one facing God the other facing the passions. He started out by facing the passions – the allurements of the material world. He turned his back on family and community. However, he eventually purified his heart by turning toward his father. It must be remembered that the Prodigal did not initiate the reconciliation. He responded to his father's pursuit of him. To do our part, we have to nurture the virtue of discrimination. St. Antony the Great of the Desert points out: "And this is just what we find; for the power of discrimination, scrutinizing all the thoughts and actions of a man, distinguishes and sets aside everything that is base and not pleasing to God, and keeps him free from delusion." (Philokalia I, That is to say, we have to make a willful decision to keep our gaze on God. St. Hesychios the Priest (Philokalia I) tells us that one way to keep our gaze on God and thus acquiring purity of heart is watchfulness: "Watchfulness is a continual fixing and halting thoughts at the entrance to the heart." (Philokalia I,) He describes watchfulness as ". . .a spiritual method which, if sedulously practiced over a long period, completely frees us with God's help from impassioned thoughts, impassioned words and evil actions. It leads, in so far as this is possible, to a sure knowledge of the inapprehensible God, and helps us to penetrate the divine and hidden mysteries." He explicitly links watchfulness to purity of heart and points out that it is the way to attain this purity. He writes: "It is, in the true sense, purity of heart, a state blessed by Christ when He says: 'Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God' (Matt. 5:8)" St. Hesychios intimates that it is a state of "spiritual nobility." It is difficult to attain, but necessary in order to lead a life of holiness.

Persistence

Discrimination and watchfulness must be combined with persistence. We could consider persistence to be holding up in the face of the vicissitudes of life. St. Maximus the Confessor puts it this way:

The saints are full of goodness, compassion, kindliness and mercy. . . .Because of this they hold fast throughout their lives to the highest of all blessings, humility, that conserves other blessings and destroys their opposites. Thus they become totally immune to vexing trials and temptations, whether those due to ourselves and subject to our volition [to be repelled by self-control], or from ourselves beyond our control [to be repelled by patient endurance]. (Philokalia II)

Some practical pointers

The ethos behind putting this Beatitude into practice is based on Christ's answer to the young man who called out to Him as 'good Master' wanting to know what to do to attain eternal life: "And Jesus said to him, Why callest thou me good? None is good but one, that is God." (Mk 10: 18). We can follow the advice of Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain and focus on the goodness of things around us and connect them to the good God. The Elder says this:

. . .evil does not exist in this world. Everything was created by God and He saw it as "very good" (Gen 1: 31). Evil exists when we make wrong use of the things God granted to us for our benefit. It is not bad to have money, but it is bad to be avaricious. Drugs are not an evil thing, when used to relieve the pain of people who suffer. They are bad when used for a different purpose. A knife is a useful utensil, when we use it to cut bread. However, when it is used to hit someone, it becomes a deadly weapon. . . .Therefore we must use everything in the right way. (Ageloglou, 1998)

Similar to Staniloae's describing the two aspects of the heart [God vs. the passions], the Elder distinguishes two types of people:

I know from experience that in this life people are divided into two categories ... The first resembles the fly . . . it is attracted by dirt. For example when is found in a garden full of flowers with beautiful fragrances, it will ignore them and will go sit on top of some dirt on the ground . . if the fly could talk,. . . it would [say]: . . "I only know where to find garbage, toilets and dirt." . . .The other category is like the bee . . whose main characteristic is to always look for something sweet and nice to sit on . . it will ignore the dirt and will go to sit on the sweet . . it would say "I can only tell you where to find flowers, sweets, honey and sugar.". . .it only knows the good things in life and is ignorant of all evil.

The mind as an aid in the spiritual journey

Cognitive Clinical Science would say that choosing to focus on the "dirt" is an example of being influenced by the cognitive distortion of selective abstraction, i.e., 'focusing on one event while excluding others.' (Morelli, 2009). Cognitive Therapy intervention would involve the patient challenging the cognitive distortion by asking disputational questions, the most relevant of which is:

• Is there any other way of looking at the situation?

If all aspects of a situation are perceived, one can then move on to decision-making. The spiritually unhealthy cognitions (focusing on evil) can be replaced by spiritually healthy thinking (focusing on the 'good'). This does not mean that we are unaware of the evil. It does not mean that we do not see the whole picture. It does mean that we choose not to follow the path of evil and act like the "fly," but follow the path of the "bee" by deciding to do what is good. This is consistent with the Elder Paisios' thinking: "We must always be careful and constantly question the nature of our thoughts." (Ageloglou, 1998) The Elder, talking to someone who endured the horrific vagaries of the Vietnam War and came to associate traffic noise with the sounds of war, gave this advice: "Think about the wars, the people who are being killed or dying of hunger, the houses that are being bombed. . . . Then the association of the traffic noise with the noise if the war will become a very good reason for you to glorify God. . . ."

Socratic Interaction

In many articles in my smart parenting series^v I have emphasized three points. Firstly, let the person you are talking to tell you what they think about the subject. This is certainly true when discussing issues with children, but is equally applicable to discussions by adults amongst themselves. Secondly, use the Socratic Method as I outlined it. Ask how their view may square with Christ's teachings or the Church's understanding of the issue. Many previous parenting series articles give examples of the use of this technique. Thirdly, say as few words as possible. Do not preach. Child development research supports that children learn words on the occasion of a single exposure to a new word. (Rice, 1990). This process, sometimes called fast mapping, suggests that understanding develops by the child's being given freedom to experience the meaning of words as applied to new contexts and their own actions. The Socratic Method, incidentally, allows the child to do this. Individuals imposing their own interpretation on children and others restricts cognitive understanding by the self- discovery process. As I have pointed out in the many smart parenting articles, preaching also cognitively distracts the child from the issue and also promotes dysfunctional emotional reactions such as anger.

St. Paul's Vision: The Fruits of Spiritual Warfare

St. Hesychios the Priest calls the struggle to see God and thereby obtain holiness "spiritual warfare." (Philokalia I). He goes go on to say that prayer is the major weapon to win this victory: "He should possess prayer."^vi Thereby, the evil one will be "broken and routed by the venerable name of Jesus . . . .prayer which is ever active in the inner shrine of the soul, and which by invoking Christ scourges and sears our secret enemy."

Thus, at the cusp of our earthly life and hopeful entry into the bosom of God and thus to "see Him" we can say along with St. Paul: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." (2Tm 4: 7) For, as St. Paul tells St. Timothy in his first letter (6: 12), this warfare bears fruit: "Fight the good fight of faith: lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art called, and hast confessed a good confession before many witnesses."

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

ENDNOTES

i http://concordances.org/hebrew/2136.htm

ii http://concordances.org/hebrew/2135.htm

iii In Cognitive Therapy, focusing on one thing rather than the whole is a thinking error, that is to say, a cognitive distortion. The technical name for this is: selective abstraction, which I define as: "focusing on one event while excluding others" (Morelli, 2009).

iv Bailey (2006) suggests that the Prodigal's thought was not true repentance. It is almost verbatim Pharaohs' 'confession' to Moses during the plagues. "Wherefore Pharaoh in haste called Moses and Aaron, and said to them: I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you," (Ex 10: 16) which was an attempt to manipulate Moses and the Hebrew people and keep them in subjection. Bailey's hypothesis is that the Prodigal was motivated to manipulate his father into trusting him.

v www.orthodoxytoday.org/archive/morelli

vi My editor, Anne C. Petach points out the benefit of the fasting periods of the Church as opportunities for parents to be explicit, primarily by example, but also in conversation. She noted this could be an aid in the struggle against the pull of the allurements of the passions, both in terms of entitlements to luxuries (an attitude that derailed the Prodigal Son and blinded him) and images so very prevalent in our times, and that cloud the translucence I discuss in this article that also is so very prevalent in our times. This would allow more time and inner 'space' for prayer. She also suggests that the giving of alms likewise works on disciplining the passions and children can readily grasp this when it is presented to them as a personal challenge in small, appropriate ways. I would say that her spiritual advice surely can be applied by adults as well.

REFERENCES

Ageloglou, Priestmonk Christodoulos. (1998). Elder Paisios of The Holy Mountain. Mt. Athos, Greece: Holy Mountain.

Bailey, K.E. (2005). The cross and the prodigal. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bargh JA (1994). "The four horsemen of automaticity: Awareness, intention, efficiency, and control in social cognition.” In Wyer RS, Srull TK (eds.), Handbook of social cognition: Vol. 1 Basic processes. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Breck, J. (2001). Scripture in Tradition: The bible and its interpretation in the Orthodox Church. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.

Forest, J. (1999). The Ladder of the Beatitudes. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

Holy Transfiguration Monastery. (ed., trans.). (2011). The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian (revised, 2nd edition). Boston, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

Morelli, G. (2009, October 24). Overcoming Anxiety: Christ, The Church Fathers and Cognitive Scientific Psychology. www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/morelli- overcoming-anxiety-christ-the-church-fathers-and-cognitive-scientif

Morelli, G. (2010, August,10). Emotional Activation And Psychospiritual Intervention: An Overview. www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/morelli-emotional-activation-and- psychospiritual-intervention-an-overview

Morelli, G. (2012a, January 02). Smart Parenting XXIV Applying Christ’s Beatitudes to Parenting: Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit. www.orthodoxytoday.org/view/smart- parenting-xxiv-applying-christs-beatitudes-to-parenting

Morelli, G. (2012b, May 02). Smart Parenting XXV Applying Christ's Beatitudes to parenting: Blessed are they who mourn. www.orthodoxytoday.org/view/smart- parenting-xxv-applying-christs-beatitudes-to-parenting-blessed-are-t

Palmer, G. E. H., Sherrard, P. & Ware, K. (trans.) (1979). The Philokalia: The Complete Text; Compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth, Vol. 1. Winchester, MA: Faber and Faber.

Palmer, G.E.H., Sherrard, P. & Ware, K. (1981). The Philokalia,: The Complete Text; Compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain & St. Makarios of Corinth, Vol. 2. London: Faber and Faber.

Palmer, G.E.H., Sherrard, P. & Ware, K. (Eds). (1979). The Philokalia, Volume IV: The Complete Text; Compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain & St. Makarios of Corinth. London: Faber and Faber.

Rice, M.L. (1990) Preschooler's Quill: Quick incidental learning of new words. In G. Conti Ramsten & C.E. Snow (Eds.), Children's Language: Vol. 7. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

St. Gregory of Nyssa. (1954). The Lord's Prayer. The Beatitudes. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.

Staniloae, D. (2003). Orthodox spirituality: A practical guide for the faithful and a definitive manual for the scholar. South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon's Seminary Press.

Chaplain's Corner
Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California

In previous Chaplain's Corner articles I have pointed out the futility of making so called "New Year's Resolutions." The are vague, abstract and lack the specific steps to bring resolutions into effect.ⁱ Now what is not futile is to cultivating the cure for the illness that inflicts so many of us, that in part make such resolutions useless. This psycho-spiritual disease is called listlessness. It is the inactivity stemming from lassitude, lack of vigor and energy. Its cure is to develop self-discipline.

Self-discipline is an orderly way of life. In contemporary smartphone or tablet terminology it becomes a step by step psycho-spiritual and behavioral 'To-Do' list. As is common among various religious traditions, they focus on similar counsels to attain perfection. Self discipline is one such path. In Hinduism points out: "Turbulent by nature, the senses even of a wise man, who is practicing self-control, forcibly carry away his mind, Arjuna.ⁱⁱ In the Eightfold Path of Buddhism, the last three, focus on the components of self-Discipline: right effort, mindfulness and concentration.ⁱⁱⁱ Islam teaches that to effect such change individuals must take on responsibility for action. "Surely Allah changes not the condition of a people, until they change their own condition."^iv

In Christianity St. Paul makes the necessity of discipline quite explicit. He likens being in the favor of God's Kingdom to be the crown that is received after the endurance it takes of running and winning a race. He writes in to the Corinthians:

Ye know, do ye not, that they who run in a stadium all indeed run, but one receiveth the prize? Thus keep on running that ye might obtain. And everyone who contendeth exerciseth self-control in all things; indeed then, those do it that they might receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I run therefore thus, not as uncertain; thus I box, not as beating the air. But I buffet my body and bring it into bondage, lest, having preached to others, I myself should become unapproved. (1Cor 9:24-27).

The Eastern Church Father St. John Chrysostom would see this discipline as "the part of a master not of a combatant, of a teacher not of a foe, of a gymnastic trainer not of an adversary.”^v St. Isaac of Syria caps the rewards in stor for us by discipline. He writes: Good order [discipline] generates peace, peace gives birth to light in the soul and peace makes the pure air in the mind radiant ... draws near to wisdom ... receives joy from God."^vi How much better is cultivating self-discipline than promising oneself unattainable resolutions.

ENDNOTES

i www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/new-year-resolutions-bah-humbug
www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/commitment-for-a-new-year-overcoming-rudeness

ii www.hinduism.co.za/senses-.htm

iii www.thebigview.com/buddhism/eightfoldpath.html

iv www.seventhfam.com/temple/books/quran/quran13.htm

v Hom. 23, P.G. 61:202 (col. 190).]

vi Holy Transfiguration Monastery. (ed., trans.).  (2011). The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian(revised, 2nd edition). Boston, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Historical Christian Spiritual Foundations of Counseling.

Christians trace their founding to Jesus Christ, by His sending (decent) of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost on His apostles and disciples. Following St. Paul, we know that the teachings of Jesus were understood by Christians by them being sanctified by this same Holy Spirit. St. Paul did much to spread the teachings of Jesus throughout the Roman world. To one group he wrote: “To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.” [2 Thessalonians 2: 13-15] These teachings of Jesus passed in tradition to His Church: “I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you.” [1 Corinthians 11:2] St Paul told the Ephesians “you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone…” (2: 19, 30) St Luke told his readers: “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son. [Acts 20:28] Following St. Paul, these traditions, oral first and then written, were passed from the apostles to their successors, the bishops and priests.

Christianity is known therefore through the oral tradition and practice of the church and through the written scriptures. The written scriptures compiled by St. Athanasious [Old Testament] the Great in c. 328 A.D., and New Testament Synod of Laodicaea (381 A.D.) and both ratified by the Sixth Ecumenical Council (3rd Constantinople) in 680 A.D. by the same overseers (episkopi) whom the Holy Spirit inspired to care for the church by maintaining the “traditions.” This is important because the synergy of Christian spirituality and psychology must be both true to Christian teaching in tradition, practice and scripture and modern scientific psychology. Reference will be made to the “Church Fathers” who were not teaching anything new but merely discovering what Jesus had taught and passed on to the apostles and their successors the bishops as inspired by the Holy Spirit. McGuckin (2004) has expressed this very succinctly: “the perceived duty of those attending the councils [overseers, as in St. Luke (Acts 20:) above] was to ‘recognize’, by comparison with past precedent, the faith of the church, and having recognized it acclaim it in the spirit.” For a Christian, spiritual life is a dynamic journey in which he or she is born ill and is cleansed by baptism. After baptism, while on earth his or her life becomes a journey of continual purification and healing. Christ is the physician and psychotherapist and the Church is the hospital. The teachings of the Church Fathers, prayer, the sacraments, (Confession, the Eucharist etc.) combined with scientific psychology are the medicine.

1.2 Christianity and Psychotherapy

For the Christian, psychotherapy is one component of the healing process of healing ‘body, mind and spirit’. An early example of Christian physicians of the ‘body,’ would be the brother physicians, Sts. Cosmos and Damian. They were known as the "unmercenary physicians" and wonderworkers who took no money for their healing. They were born in Rome and grew up Christian, both showing gifts of healing and the ability to encourage others in their Christian journey. Persecuted for their faith, they were brought before the Emperor Galerius, who demanded them to deny Christ to save their lives. Instead, they preached Christianity to the Emperor urging him to turn to the Living God and the true faith. While preaching to him, they healed him of a serious illness. Emperor Galerius declared himself a Christian and released the two brothers. They lived to continue working until their fame elicited envy in another physician who had them stoned to death in 284 A.D.

The healing of ‘spirit’ may be exemplified by St. Gregory of Nyssa, who said that curing the spirit is acquired by Godliness by those who gaze upon the Cross of Jesus, as the Israelites gazed on the staff of Moses: “There is one antidote for these evil passions [spiritual illnesses] (italics mine): the purification of our souls which takes place through the mystery of godliness. The chief act of faith in the “mystery of godliness” is to look to Him who suffered the passion for us. The person who looks to the One lifted up on the wood [the Cross] rejects passion, diluting the poison with the fear of the commandment as with a medicine. The voice of the Lord teaches clearly that the serpent lifted up in the desert is a symbol of the mystery of the cross when he says: “The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert”. (St. Gregory of Nyssa in Malherbe & Ferguson, 1978). This healing takes place as mentioned above, by being fully united to the Church, in prayer and sacraments.

The scientific method was not a field of study until almost 1500 years after Christ and the early church could know nothing of its methods. However, two factors tie Christianity with psychology as we know today. One is the tradition of spiritual direction and the other is the view that being made in God’s image. Christians are to use their intelligence and free will in their interacting with the world. The tradition of spiritual direction and spiritual fatherhood is laid out by St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians: “Though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers, For I became your father in Christ through the Gospel.” (4:15). As Bishop Kallistos Ware tells us: “[A spiritual father, such as St. Clement] …was also a spiritual guide to his pupils, a living model and exemplar, providing them not only with information but with an all embracing personal relationship.” (p. ix) Bishop Kallistos went on to say that in the early church, the spiritual father was seen in five ways: doctor, counselor, intercessor, mediator and sponsor. In his counselor role, the spiritual father heals by ‘words, advice and council.’ Confession, used by the spiritual fathers and priests is viewed as going to a ‘hospital’ rather than a court of law. Penance imposed after confession of sins is viewed as a tonic to assist in recovery, not as a punishment. The second factor making Christianity open to modern psychotherapy is that mankind is made in God’s image. The ‘image’ of God in man has been mainly viewed by the Church Fathers as follows: our intelligence and free will, which can be used to become more “like” Him [God]. The use of modern scientific psychotherapy, which is the result of the use of our intelligence, becomes therefore a necessity for the serious Christian in his or her purification and healing and in his/her journey to be “like God.”

1.3 Important Figures in Christian Spirituality

• Jesus Christ 3-6 BC to 27-30 AD (God becoming flesh “of one essence with the Father before all things were made” Council of Nicea, 325)
• St. Clement of Alexandria (160-215). Bishop and father of speculative theology.
• Ss. Cosmos and Damian (c.230- 287. Born in Rome, they were unmercenary physicians, preachers of the Gospel and martyrs for Christ.
• St. Anthony the Great (c.250-355). From Middle Egypt, he is the Father of Christian monasticism)
• St. Athanasius (296–393). Patriarch of Alexandria, a great teacher and biographer of St. Anthony.
• St. Gregory of Nyssa (335-394), from Cappadocia, a great teacher, writer and mystical theologian.
• Abba Evagrius the Monk (c.350–399), monk and ascetical writer.
• St. John Cassian (360-435) monk, who summarized the traditions of the Desert Fathers for the Western Church.
• St. Cyril of Alexandria (375-344), Patriarch of Alexandria, who defended the truth that Christ possessed both the Nature of God and the Nature of Man.
• St. Neilos the Acetic (c.390-450), abbot of a Monastery in Turkey, wrote especially on the relationship between the spiritual father and his disciples.
• St. Hesychios the Priest (c.400–450), monk and spiritual writer.
• St. Dorotheus of Gaza (c.525–575), monk and spiritual writer, who wrote, especially, that real knowledge is inseparable from love of God.
• St. John of the Ladder (c.525-606). monk, ascetic wrote classic spiritual treatise, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, on steps to raise oneself to God through the acquisition of various virtues.
• St. Maximos the Confessor (580–662), monk, ascetic, who wrote especially on love and virtue.
• St. Isaac of Syria (c. 613-700), bishop, monk, ascetic who wrote especially on God's mercy.
• St. John of Karpathos (c.625–675), monk, who wrote on the senses, thoughts and virtue.
• St. Gregory Palamas (1296-1359), Bishop, mystic, theologian, who wrote extensively on prayer and union with God.
• St. Seraphim of Sarov (1759-1833), monk, mystic, who taught that the main aim of the Christian life is to acquire for oneself the Spirit of God.
• Metropolitan Kallistos Ware (1934- ), Professor at Oxford University, recognized scholar of the Church Fathers and theology.
• Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev (1966-), noted contemporary theologian, classical music composer.

1.4 The Development of Christian Churches

This image shows the development of Christian churches since Christianity began.¹

To be continued. . .

¹ An alternative timeline graphic:

Chaplain's Corner
Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California

There is a well known phrase in the Christian Gospels, the saying of Christ that "…it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Lk 18: 25). A superficial understanding of this teaching would have it that to be rich, in and of itself, bars one from God's kingdom. But a deeper spiritual perception would indicate the fallacy in this apprehension.

We might first consider what various religious traditions say about wealth or bounty. In Hebrew tradition, it is the misuse of wealth - a failure to help others that is sinful. The Prophet Amos points out: "Hear this word, ye fat kine [bovine] that are in the mountains of Samaria: you that oppress the needy, and crush the poor: that say to your masters: Bring, and we will drink." In Islamic tradition, Allah blesses the rich who "…feed, for the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan, and the captive" (Koran 79:8). Buddhist writer Ven. Jotika of Parng Loung states, "From [the] Buddhist point of view, good and praiseworthy is one who accumulates holdings in rightful ways and utilizes it for the good and happiness of both oneself and others."ⁱ Swami Narasimhananda describes the Hindu teachings on wealth, telling us: "…wealthy people need to share their wealth with the less fortunate."

The Fathers of the Church clearly understood the deeper, true spiritual meaning of Christ's teaching about being rich. St. Theophylact, in his great commentary on the Holy Gospels, emphatically states: "It is not riches that are evil. It is instead those who hold onto wealth who deserved to be accused... [rather we should] be compassionate toward all."ⁱⁱ The great feasts that are celebrated in December of the civil calendar, Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa, all follow the feast of Thanksgiving that is celebrated at the end of November. 'Love' is the spirit common to all these celebrations. What better way to make the Thanksgiving Feast spiritually meaningful and not simply a secular event than to allow God to conquer the hearts of each of us who is blessed by the wealth of His bounty, by the many possessions we have, and thus inspire us to share with the needy and the poor, especially during this December period, but actually throughout the whole year.

We could be reminded this year that many average people suffered immense losses from an unexpected untoward event of nature - Superstorm Sandy. The graphic images of the widespread destruction and human suffering have, I pray, incited compassion in all our hearts. We should note the words of St. Gregory the Dialogist: "Godly love cannot be perfect unless a man love his neighbor also. Under which name must be included not only those who are connected with us by friendship or neighborhood, but absolutely all men with whom we have a common nature, whether they be foes or allies, slaves or free."ⁱⁱⁱ

To put this into practice, we should reflect on the words of St. Basil: "The bread which you do not use is the bread of the hungry; the garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked; the shoes that you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot; the money that you keep locked away is the money of the poor; the acts of charity that you do not perform are so many injustices that you commit."^iv By sharing the wealth of our bounty with all by our good will we can help to bring into reality the song of the angel's at Christ's birth: "Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will." (Lk 2: 14)

ENDNOTES

i http://www.thisismyanmar.com/nibbana/jotika01.htm

ii Blessed Theophylact. (2008). The Explanation by Blessed Theophylact of The Holy Gospel. House Springs, MO: Chrysostom Press.

iii Manley, J. (1990). The Bible and the Holy Fathers. Menlo Park, CA: Monastery Books

iv St. Basil. Homily 4 on Luke xii 18

Chaplain's Corner
Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California

In this day and age it is so easy to dismiss God from our lives. Jesus gives us an insight into the cause of this abandonment of God in society. St. Matthew records Jesus’ words on His Sermon on the Mount: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Mt. 6:21)

A contemporary Eastern Church holy father, Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain (Mt. Athos), gives a very perspicacious insight as to how this occurs: "If you want to take someone away from God, give [them] plenty of material goods . . . [they] will instantly forget Him forever." (Ageloglou, 1998) In past times one could look around at the beauty of the world and echo the words of King David in the Old Testament scripture: "The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands. Day to day uttereth speech, and night to night sheweth knowledge." (Ps 18: 1-2)

Today we have material goods around us that were completely unheard of a generation ago - dazzling high-definition LED displays, even on smart phones and tablets, and television that intrinsically mesmerizes us. Even the recent Olympics, which in times past focused on sports, now, in 2012, are overshadowed by ceremonies that are extravaganza-style spectacles of laser strobe lights and bombastic sound. Is there any thought or remembrance of God, the creator of Light?

Not all is hopeless, however. Let us recall the words of Job (12:12) in Old Testament Sacred Scripture. In speaking about knowing God he says: "In the ancient is wisdom, and in length of days, prudence." Science seems to be catching up to this scriptural wisdom. A study done by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) of the University of Chicago concluded that as we increase in age, the more likely it is that we will believe in God. The study’s author (Smith, 2012) suggests that these results may be due "perhaps in response to the increasing anticipation of mortality occurring."

This is exactly the message the Eastern Church would have us keep in mind. The words in our funeral service are a sobering reminder of our finite existence, but include hope in God who can elevate us to eternal life. We pray the Idiomelon composed by St. John of Damascus: "I called to mind the Prophet, as he cried: I am earth and ashes; and I looked again into the graves and beheld the bones laid bare, and I said: Who then is the king or the warrior, the rich man or the needy, the upright or the sinner?" Or, in the words of a popular contemporary song, "Is that all there is?"

But then we move on to the prayer of hope: "Yet, O Lord, give rest unto Thy servant with the righteous." Later in the funeral service we pray, "May Christ give thee rest in the land of the living, and open unto thee the gates of Paradise and make thee a citizen of His kingdom." The meaning of illness and death is eternal life. Yes, with age, wisdom unites us with God.

REFERENCES

Smith, T.W. (2012). Belief about God across time and countries: Report for ISSP and GESIS. Chicago: NORC.

But whosoever shall cause one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be to his advantage that a millstone turned by an ass were hung upon his neck, and he were drowned in the deep of the sea (Mt. 18:6).

Samhain

In the United States and many European countries as well, we are coming up to the annual festival of the celebration of "All Hallows' Evening." Its roots go back to ancient pagan Celtic tradition Samhain (pronounced: Sah-ween) when villagers would light large outdoor fires and put on costumes to hide from and ward off roaming ghosts of spirits and the dead. The Research Center of the Library of Congress reports:

Feralia Feast

The Celtic region included the area that is now modern Great Britain, France and Ireland. Also part of the pagan banquet was that animals and crops were placed in the bonfires as a sacrifice to the pagan gods. The conquest of the majority of Celtic lands by the Romans in 43 AD added additional pagan elements to the feast. One was Feralia, a late October festival wherein the Romans memorialized their dead. Second, was a day to sacrifice to the Roman goddess Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees.

Pomona

Bobbing for apples

Pomona's symbol is the apple. To this day, apples are common in modern celebrations of this festival. The name of this festival has also been changed. It is no longer referred to as "All Hallows’ Evening." All know it by the name 'Halloween.'

The Divine Instruction regarding paganism

It should be immediately obvious that the members of the Eastern Church that then and now that make up the original Patriarchates in Africa, Eastern Europe, India and the Middle East would know nothing of this festival. Not so for the Church in the West. The Church could not stand by idly. In Old Testament Sacred Scripture we read the instructions God gave to His people through the mouth of Moses:

Soothsayers (Dn 3)

When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee, beware lest thou have a mind to imitate the abominations of those nations. Neither let there be found among you any one that shall expiate his son or daughter, making them to pass through the fire: or that consulteth soothsayers, or observeth dreams and omens, neither let there be any wizard, Nor charmer, nor any one that consulteth pythonic spirits, or fortune tellers, or that seeketh the truth from the dead. For the Lord abhorreth all these things, and for these abominations he will destroy them at thy coming. (Deut 18: 9-12)

One of the fundamental teachings of Christ about salvation is in His words to Thomas during the priestly discourse at the Last Supper: "Jesus saith to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one cometh to the Father, except by Me." (Jn. 14:6) The Apostles themselves would go on to adapt Christ's teaching to the cultures and traditions they encountered as they evangelized in different parts of the world. St. Paul, for example would tell the pagan Athenians that the "unknown God" they worshiped was the God of the Christians. St Luke tells us St. Paul's words:

St. Paul preaching to the Athenians

“Men, Athenians, I perceive how in all things ye are most religious. “For passing through and carefully observing the objects of your veneration, I also found an altar on which it had been written: ‘To an unknown God.’ Therefore since ye know not Whom ye reverence, I proclaim this One to you. “The God Who made the world and all things in it, this same One, being Lord of heaven and of earth, dwelleth not in temples made by hand; “neither is He being serviced to by the hands of men, as though in need of anything, because He Himself giveth to all life, and breath, in all respects" (Acts 17:22-25).

In emulation of the missionary ethos of St. Paul and the Apostles, a transition from the pagan festival of Samhain to a Christian feast started in 609 AD. Boniface IV, Patriarch of the West and Pope of Rome who inaugurated a Feast called All Martyrs Day. Pope Gregory III (731-741) added all saints of the Church to the martyrs and fixed the date to 01 Nov. Origins of the English word Halloween

The name of this feast in Middle English was Alholowmesse. Imbedded in this word is the modern word ‘hallow,’ which means holy. Thus, the meaning of the Feast is its name: the Feast of all the holy ones - all the saints. The evening before the Feast would be 'all-hollows eve' which in modern English becomes Halloween. The tie to the saints or souls that have fallenl asleep in the Lord, became further strengthened by the day after All-Saints Day, which in the West came to be called All-Souls’ day.

The Diaspora of the Eastern Church

In the 19th Century, immigration of Eastern Christians from the traditional areas they had long occupied into the geographic areas of the Western Church, intensified. Obviously, they did not find the Celtic pagan practices that had confronted the Church in the 7th Century, but they did find the residue of pagan practices as they have been transformed over time —-such as the modern Halloween Festival. So the question for Orthodox Christians is: how should they respond to the Halloween as it exists today?

Halloween Today

The Library of Congress Research Center [see Endnote i] beautifully summarizes current practice:

Virtually all present Halloween traditions can be traced to the ancient Celtic day of the dead. Halloween is a holiday of many mysterious customs, but each one has a history, or at least a story behind it. The wearing of costumes, for instance, and roaming from door to door demanding treats can be traced to the Celtic period and the first few centuries of the Christian era, when it was thought that the souls of the dead were out and around, along with fairies, witches, and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to placate them. As the centuries wore on, people began dressing like these dreadful creatures, performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This practice is called mumming, from which the practice of trick-or-treating evolved. To this day, witches, ghosts, and skeleton figures of the dead are among the favorite disguises. Halloween also retains some features that harken back to the original harvest holiday of Samhain, such as the customs of bobbing for apples and carving vegetables, as well as the fruits, nuts, and spices cider associated with the day.

Today Halloween is becoming once again and adult holiday or masquerade, like Mardi Gras. Men and women in every disguise imaginable are taking to the streets of big American cities and parading past grinningly carved, candlelit jack o'lanterns, re- enacting customs with a lengthy pedigree. Their masked antics challenge, mock, tease, and appease the dread forces of the night, of the soul, and of the otherworld that becomes our world on this night of reversible possibilities, inverted roles, and transcendency. In so doing, they are reaffirming death and its place as a part of life in an exhilarating celebration of a holy and magic evening.

How should Eastern Christians respond to modern Halloween?

The beautiful words of the commemoration of the Theotokos at the end of most of the Ektenias (Litanies) of the Church should be the ethos of our response: “… let us commend ourselves and each other, and all our life unto Christ our God." We can take a step toward the healing of society, our families and our children by taking what is at the core of our Orthodox Faith to transform Halloween from evil and superstition to the care of Our Ever-present God who opens us to His sanctification.

Gateway to Alternative Lifestyles not blessed at all

To accomplish this means removing anything ungodly from the celebration. This means unhealthy focusing and emphasis on cemeteries, devils, ghouls (a grave robber, an evil spirit or ghost), goblins, (a grotesque supernatural creature that makes trouble for living people), skeletons and alternative sexual lifestyles. If any Halloween practice contains as its spirit, as the Library report above states, "antics [that] challenge, mock, tease, and appease the dread forces of the night, of the soul. . . ." then they can clearly be seen as un-Godly. Some practices not only are an affront to God but dishonor our bodies that we are to care for and the love we must have for others. For example, wearing a costume that is pornographic, that is to say arouses lust and sexual desire, surely is disrespect to ourselves and those around us.

Psychological Caveats

Let me suggest a few guiding principles. Do not outright dismiss Halloween as many children become oppositional when given a stern, uncompromising, not understood, dictatorial: "No." Ask the children what they think Halloween means. Parents may then engage their children in conversation to suggest how they want to celebrate the festival. Children could be prompted to describe what they think are the true values of God: God is love and Goodness. Then, they could be asked what they think are the values of the evil one and his spirits.

The conversation with the child can move on to the question: "Can you love God and be on His side and with celebrating the evil spirits at the same time. Whose side do you want to be on?" If a family loved one has fallen asleep in the Lord, would they want to think of them as a ghoul, spirit in league with the evil one as depicted in Halloween costumes, or to be in God’s bosom. As the Christians of the first millennium transformed the pagan festivals to Christ-centered celebrations, parents can transform pagan Halloween into Christ-like joyous Halloween.

Keep Christ in Halloween

Any Halloween practice by Eastern (or any Christians), then, should contain Christ. A few suggestions are: Harvest Festival thanking God for the fruits of the Harvest (instead of appeasing evil forces). Offer age-appropriate “treats” to neighbors when Trick or Treating: offers to rake leaves, or pick up fly-away trash.

• Icons or other Symbols placed on Pumpkins
• Carving a Christian symbol on Pumpkins, especially the Cross.
• Animal Cookies—-(Referencing the Creation narrative and the story of Noah in the Old Testament Book of Genesis, instead of sacrificing to the evil one)
• Have a parish Halloween party or play. Especially featuring martyr saints and the holy monks who struggled against demonic aggravation. Both conquered by their adherence to Christ.
• Psalm or Proverb Quotes Cards for Trick or Treaters
• Sacred Scripture, patron saint or morally neutral costumes
• Finally, let us meditate on Christ, who is the center of all things.

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in Him were all things created, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or authorities. All things through Him and to Him have been created. And He is before all things, and in Him all things have come into existence. (Col. 1:15-17)

ENDNOTES

ⁱ http://www.loc.gov/folklife/halloween.html

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy. (Mt. 5:7)

St. Gregory of Nyssa (1954), the Church Father who has written such extensive Homilies on Christ's Beatitudes, instructs us that this Beatitude on mercy, among all of them, points us in a singular way to the core of who God is. He emphasizes that this "Beatitude is the property of God par excellence."

Praying for God's Mercy

The saint then tells us of the challenge to us that is inherent in this spiritual perception. He asks:

If, therefore, the term "merciful" is suited to God, what else does the Word invite you to become but God, since you ought to model yourself on the property of the Godhead?

Once we have attained being merciful, then we are deemed worthy of Beatitude, because we have attained that which is characteristic of the Divine Nature. Mercy is one of God’s Divine characteristics that He has revealed to mankind. As the prophet David tells us: "All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, to them that seek after his covenant and his testimonies." (Ps 24: 10). And in another psalm David cries out: "O Lord, thy mercy is in heaven, and thy truth reacheth, even to the clouds." (Ps 35: 6). This is beautifully described by St. Isaac of Syria, who in his 1st Ascetical Homily (Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2011) tells us:

Do you wish to commune with God in your mind by receiving a perception of that delight . . .? Pursue mercy; for when something that is like unto God is found in you, then that holy beauty is depicted by Him. For the whole sum of the deeds of mercy immediately brings the soul into communion with the unity of the glory of the Godhead's splendor.

The source of mercy is God and His activity

It starts with the relation of the persons of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit among themselves. Staniloae (2003) describes this relationship as a "perfect community of supreme persons." Staniloae goes on to explain:

The Persons communicate their nature as an energy. Everything is an energy which is communicated from one person to another. Their love is perfect; they radiate their whole nature from one to the other.

Staniloae goes on to point out that this perfect love is not uniform, but rather unique to whom the Persons are themselves:

The Father loves the Son with an infinite parental sense, comforting Him with the unending sensitivity of a perfect Father, and the Son responds to this parental love with the filial sense of one who feels comforted by a perfect Father . . .the sensitivity of the Father for the Son assumes the hypostatical and comforting image of the Holy Spirit.

The place of the Holy Spirit in this 'community of persons' is best described by Bobrinskoy (1999) as "the place of unity between the Father and the Son." Bobrinskoy instructs us that from all eternity it is the Spirit in whom the Father tells the Son, as Prophet David tells us: "The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee." (Ps 2:7).

Vladimir Lossky (1978) tries to make this Divine Mystery of Love as comprehensible to us as is humanly possible given the limitations of our finite reasoning. He uses very concrete imagery to convey an understanding:

. . .all the Divine Names, which communicate to us the life common to the three, come to us from the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. The Father is the source, the Son the manifestation, the Spirit the force which manifests. Thus the Father is the source of love, the Son, love which reveals itself, the Spirit, love realized in us. Or according to the admirable formula of Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, the Father is crucifying love, the Son, love crucified, the Spirit, love triumphant. The Divine Names are the flow of the Divine Life whose source is the Father, shown to us by the Son and communicated to us by the Spirit.

The act of creation is an extension of this Divine Love outside of God's essence. Staniloae considers this a desire by God to "extend the gift of His infinite love."

St. Gregory the Theologian's understanding of mankind's application of God's Mercy

St. Gregory the Theologian

St. John of Kronstadt (2003) notes that St. Gregory the Theologian tells us that "no service is as pleasing to God as mercy." This is because mercy is most similar to God Himself who is merciful. Consider how many times in the various services of the Eastern Church the priest exclaims after a prayer: "For Thou art a merciful God and lovest mankind, unto Thee we ascribe glory: to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: now and ever and unto ages of ages."

St. Gregory notes that God as the righteous Giver "showers" His love on all mankind. Consider God's mercy as spiritually perceived by St. Gregory (Daley, B.E. 2006):

This is how they are suffering, and much more miserably than I have said: our brothers and sisters before God (even if you prefer not to think so) who share the same nature with us, who have been put together from the same clay from which we first came, who are strung together with nerves and bones in the same way we are, who have put on flesh and skin like all of us, as holy Job says when reflecting on his sufferings and expressing contempt for our outward form. image of God in the same way you and I have, and perhaps preserve that image better than we, even if their bodies are corrupted; they have put on the same Christ in the inner person, and have been entrusted with the same pledge of the Spirit; they share in the same laws as we do, the same Scriptural teachings, the same covenants and liturgical gatherings, the same sacraments, the same hopes. Christ died for them as he did for us, taking away the sin of the whole world; they are heirs with us of the life to come, even if they have missed out on a great deal of life here on earth; they have been buried together with Christ, and have risen with him; if they suffer with him, it is so they may share in his glory.ⁱⁱ

St. Paul tells the Ephesians: ". . .but God, Who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us." (Eph. 2:4]) Thus, if we are to be Godly and reflect Christ, it behooves us to show love and mercy for all mankind.

St. Gregory of Nyssa's understanding of mercy to be practiced by mankind

The Woman Caught in Adultery

St. Gregory sees mercy "as the opposite of cruelty." To practice mercy, individuals must be softened in soul. Psychologists would consider this understanding to be related to empathy. Empathy is the ability to think and feel what the other is thinking and feeling. (Morelli, 2005). It is only when fostering this ability that mankind can apply mercy, that is to say, attempt to heal the ills of others.

Spiritually, mercy is related to compassion. Morelli, 2005 notes: "Compassion is the deep awareness of the suffering of others coupled with the desire to relieve it." He goes on to say: "Compassion is a precursor of love (agape). Love is what we do for the good and welfare of others. How can we love, how can we work for the good and welfare of others, if we are not aware of their suffering nor have a desire to relieve it? We love others only if we can first sense their needs." God's love is called ‘agape.’ The basic understanding of love as agape is that it is an attitude, a heartfelt intention and a set of actions that are aimed at the good and welfare of the other.

The Orthodox Services and God's Mercy

One need go no further than the ordinary prayers, such as Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Liturgy of the Hours, the Divine Liturgy and other services in the Eastern Church, to meet the phrase that God, our God is a God of Mercy. The transliteration of the Greek word for mercy is eleosⁱ. The never-ending cry in the Church and prayerful petition in Greek is Kyrie eleison, rendered in as English Lord have mercy. The importance of this petition cannot be overestimated. A few examples from the Divine Liturgy: At the Prothesis, the great hidden offering of the bread and wine to be confected by the Holy Spirit into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ and be offered to the Father starts with the priest praying "O God, be gracious unto me a sinner, and have mercy on me;" when this same prayer is said right before receiving the Eucharist; when the numerous Ektenias (Litanies) whose petition response is "Lord have mercy” are prayed; when, immediately before the Lord's Prayer, the priest turns toward the assembly and, blessing them with the hand Blessing Cross, says: "And the mercies of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ be with you all." Finally, at the end of the Liturgy when, as the rubrics of the Antiochian Archdiocese state:

The Priest stands on the lowest step of the stairs before the Holy Doors with the hand Cross in his left hand, and gives the people the Antidoron [blessed bread] with his right saying meanwhile:

The blessing of the Lord and His mercy come upon you; always: now and ever unto ages of ages. Amen

The mercy of God is referenced in the beginning and at the end. "Lord have mercy."

The Jesus Prayer

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

No discussion of God's mercy in terms of Orthodoxy could be had without reference to The Jesus Prayer. It is central to the spirituality of the Eastern Church. It is composed of a single line: "Lord Jesus .Christ Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner," The seed of this prayer is first found in the prayer of the tax collector in Christ's Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Luke's (18:13) “And the tax collector, having stood afar off, was not willing even to lift up his eyes to the heaven, but kept beating upon his breast, saying, ‘God, be gracious to me the sinner.’"

Theologically, this prayer reflects the Orthodox understanding of Christ's redemptive crucifixion that "it is not the anger of God the Father but His love that lies behind the sacrificial death of His Son on the Cross." (Alfeyev, 2002).

Furthermore the prayer is Trinitarian. St. Philotheos of Sinai tells us that "through remembrance of Jesus Christ . .the intellect grows lucid in its radiant contemplation of God and of Divine realities." (Philokalia III). How this takes place is made more explicit by St. Hesychios the Priest:

The Holy of Holies

. . .invoking Jesus Christ . . . .You will then attain a vision of the Holy of Holies and be illumined by Christ with deep mysteries. For in Christ 'the treasures of wisdom and knowledge' are hidden, and in Him 'the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily' (Col 2: 3,9)” (Philokalia I).

The implicit Trinitarian ethos of the Jesus Prayer can be emphasized by focusing on the word Christ-Messiah, the one sent by the Father as an act of selfless love. As St Paul tells us:

Who, existing in the form of God, deemed it not a prize to be seized to be equal with God; but He emptied Himself and took the form of a slave, and came to be in the likeness of men. And having been found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient even to death—indeed, the death of a cross. Wherefore God also exalted Him exceedingly, and freely gave to Him a name that is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth; and every tongue should confess for itself that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:6-11).

Icon of the Theophany

The Sonship of Jesus, the Christ, was confirmed by the Holy Spirit at Jesus Baptism, as St. Matthew (3:16,17) records: "And Jesus, having been baptized, went up straightway from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and coming upon Him. And behold, there came to be a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I am well pleased.” Also not to be lost in St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians is the focus on the name "Jesus" itself. St Cyril of Alexandria's commentary on St. Luke (2: 21b) (Orthodox New Testament, 2004) tells us of the significance of this name: "He received His name, even Jesus, which by interpretation signifies, the Salvation of the people. For so had God the Father willed.”

Christ's Parable on mercy: The Good Samaritan

The Good Samaritan

Most Christians are, I pray, quite familiar with Christ's Parable of the Good Samaritan.ⁱⁱ The important points to be noted are that the man beaten by the robbers was most probably a Jew. The two person's passing by who offered no aid were Jews themselves. One, a priest and another male member of the tribe of Levi, a Levite who would serve as an assistant to the temple priests. Samaritans were considered a mixture of peoples following the Torah, but also following pagan practices. As the writer of the Book of Kings (2Kg 17: 32-37) tells us: "And nevertheless they worshipped the Lord. And they made to themselves, of the lowest of the people, priests of the high places, and they placed them in the temples of the high places. And when they worshipped the Lord, they served also their own gods according to the custom of the nations out of which they were brought to Samaria: Unto this day they followed the old manner: they fear not the Lord, neither do they keep his ceremonies, and judgments, and law, and the commandment, which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he surnamed Israel."

However, it was the Samaritan not the two Jews, members of God's chosen people, who offered aid, that is to say, showed mercy to the injured traveler. The lesson from this parable is obvious. No one should decline to offer mercy should be mercy be declined to anyone in need. It terms of mercy there should be no ethnic, legal, political, sex-gender or societal boundaries. Mercy is for all and should be by all.

Mercy in action

First let's consider the commentary of St. John Chrysostom on Blessed are the merciful:

Here He seems to me to speak not of those only who show mercy in giving of money, but those likewise who are merciful in their actions. For the way of showing mercy is manifold, and this commandment is broad. What then is the reward thereof? “For they shall obtain mercy.” And it seems indeed to be a sort of equal recompense, but it is a far greater thing than the act of goodness. For whereas they themselves show mercy as men, they obtain mercy from the God of all; and it is not the same thing, man’s mercy, and God’s; but as wide as is the interval between wickedness and goodness, so far is the one of these removed from the other.ⁱⁱⁱ

Jesus saving the fearful Peter (Mt 14: 27-31)

There is no better place to practice and teach the practice of mercy than to follow the well known listing of corporal and spiritual works of mercy found in Christian tradition^iv:

The chief corporal works of mercy:
To feed the hungry
To give drink to the thirsty
To cloth the naked
To ransom captives
To shelter the homeless
To visit the sick
To bury the dead

The chief spiritual works of mercy:
To admonish the sinner
To instruct the ignorant
To counsel the doubtful
To comfort the sorrowful
To suffer wrongs patiently
To forgive injuries
To pray for the living and the dead

An example of a corporal mercy in action program
A good example of a mercy in action program is the Fellowship of Orthodox Christians United to Serve (FOCUS).^v Their expressed vision is to experience and reveal "the Kingdom of God in North America “on earth as in heaven.”" The group sees their mission "as an expression of Christ’s love." Their mission statement is written in the form of the Corporal Works of Mercy: "FOCUS North America serves the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick and imprisoned by providing Food, Occupation, Clothing, Understanding, and Shelter." This ministry is accomplished by social action groups, social welfare agencies, professionals and volunteers dedicated to this service. FOCUS also aids parishes and various Orthodox groups "with the education, resources and training needed to initiate social action ministries in their own communities." I can personally attest to the effectiveness of this program in my hometown San Diego area. Orthodox families, youth groups and entire parishes have volunteered in this diaconia.

Antiochian Department of Pastoral Counseling

Other corporal mercy service ministries are available to individuals, families and parishes as well. Coming to mind are the Orthodox Prison Ministry^vi and various parish nursing ministries^vii The Department of Chaplain and Pastoral Counseling of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America functions as an Orthodox psycho-spiritual resource for clergy, laity and professionals in applying the works of mercy.^viii

Practicing the Spiritual Works of Mercy

Prayer and spirituality make up the core of the Spiritual Works of Mercy. Both prayer and enlivening the ethos of Christ's spiritual teachings can be practiced as individuals, in families, parishes, geographically local groups of parishes and jurisdictional assemblies. However, there are some examples of Fellowships and Brotherhoods that exist to support these practices as well. The 'St. Philip's Prayer Discipline' initiated in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America "exists to provide a daily balanced rule of prayer for those who wish to deepen their spiritual life and to learn to pray as the faithful have done for generations and generations."^ix The straightforward goal of the Prayer Discipline "is to teach us to pray diligently and effectively so as to enhance our spiritual lives and to fortify us, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to persevere unto our life's end." Other specialized groups also sponsor prayer fellowships. In Communion, an organization focusing on peace, and the Orthodox Christian Fellowship (geared to college and university students) are notable examples.^x Also, many individual parishes have formed prayer-groups.

It should also be noted that various vocations (and even when looked at as secular professions) are dedicated to comforting, counseling, and educating. Certainly the Holy Priesthood is the ultimate example. However, the various educational, medical and social service occupations can be easily dedicated to this spiritual diaconia.

Principles of applying mercy

"...and for all."

Jesus, Lord of all

Certain principles should be kept in mind in practicing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. First is to apply to the giving of mercy, the words of the priest prays during the Anaphora of the Divine Liturgy, that it is to be given: "on the behalf of all and for all." Applying mercy is one area in which there is complete inclusiveness. From no one, saint-sinner; perpetrator-victim; gay-straight; citizen-illegal immigrant; while-black; young-old Orthodox-Non-Orthodox— can mercy be withheld. It is by being merciful to all that we correctly apply the Mind of Christ and His Church, as told to us by St. Paul: "For as many as were baptized into Christ, ye put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3:27, 28)

This Orthodox understanding is in sharp contrast to the man-made, Protestant and secular argument applying these words of St. Paul to justify, for example, changing the original text of Sacred Scripture to inclusive language or supporting a feminist agenda such as women's ordination. These words have always been understood by Christ's One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Orthodox Church to be a 'call to sanctity to all mankind."

Mercy starts in the home

Jesus at the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus

Also keep in mind that applying mercy has to start with those most immediately around us. For most this means family, friends, parishioners and members of one's community. It is important to model mercy to those around us. It could mean something as simple as a merciful comment about, and prayer for, any that may be involved in some horrific tragedy that may be in the current news media. (Morelli, 2006). It must be emphasized however, that the genuine needs of all mankind throughout the world must never be left out in our thoughts, prayers and actions. Especially in today's world, mankind is truly a global community.

Real mercy centers on real needs

Christ Healing the Paralytic

We must focus on the true and diverse needs of all and be able to prioritize their real needs. Jesus did cure the physical illness of the paralytic, but His concern was for the paralytic's spiritual wellbeing. This can easily be seen in reflecting on Jesus' words after the cure: “Behold, thou hast become well; no longer go on sinning, lest a worse thing should befall thee.” (Jn. 5:14)

Extending ourselves

Crises, emergencies, needfulness and tragedies do not usually happen on a planned time schedule. Very often they may occur at the most inconvenient of times. Individuals with different personalities have different degrees of adaptability to such unplanned occurrences. To give a personal example, I carefully plan my activities, usually in great detail, and find it hard to deviate from my planned task schedule, etc. However, this may be the cross Christ is asking me and some of us to pick up and bear at this time. The Good Samaritan mentioned above most probably did not expect to come upon someone in crises and would have to adapt his plans to tend to the suffering man, but he did so.

Mercy: out of agape and respect for all, as we are made in God's image

St. Paul Preaching to the Athenians

Here resounds the words of St. Paul: "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but I have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And if I dole out all of my goods, and if I deliver up my body that I may be burned, but I have not love, I am being profited nothing." (1Cor. 13:1,3. Implied in St. Paul's understanding of any act that from a worldly perspective would appear 'good' is that if such an act is to rise above worldly 'goodness' to Godliness, it must be motivated by the selfless, kenotic love that is Godly love, or agape. For example, acts of philanthropy and social service and the works of the helping professions, mentioned above, are good, but must be motivated, enlivened by Christly love. As St. Paul told the Romans: ". . .for the love of God hath been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who was given to us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."(Rm 5:5,6) Furthermore, we must see that the recipient of any merciful act has dignity as a creature composed of body and soul, made in God's image and called to be like Him, just as we ourselves are. All are worthy of Godly respect, never belittlement or condescension.

ENDNOTES

i http://www.preceptaustin.org/2_timothy_115-18.htm#mercy

ii "And behold, a certain doctor of the law stood up, tempting Him, and saying, “Teacher, by having done what shall I inherit eternal life?” And He said to him, “In the law what hath been written? How readest thou?” And he answered and said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” And He said to him, “Thou didst answer rightly; be doing this, and thou shalt live.” But he, wishing to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” And taking it up, Jesus said, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who both stripped him and laid blows upon him, and went away, leaving him, as it happened, half-dead. “Now, by a coincidence, a certain priest was going down on that road. And having seen him, he passed by on the opposite side. “And in like manner also a Levite, having come to be by the place, came and saw him, and passed by on the opposite side. “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came down to him; and having seen him, he was moved with compassion. “And he drew near and bound up his wounds, pouring over oil and wine; and he put him upon his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. “And on the morrow, after he came forth, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatsoever thou shalt spend besides, on my coming back, I will repay thee.’ “Which then of these three seemeth to thee to have proved to be a neighbor of the one who fell among the robbers?” And he said, “The one who rendered mercy in dealing with him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go on thy way, and be thou doing in like manner.” (Lk. 10:25-37)

iii http://www.one-fold.com/Resources/Chrysostom/npnf110.pdf

iv (From A Pocket Prayer Book for Orthodox Christians (Antiochian Archdiocese, popularly known as "The Little Red Prayerbook")

v http://www.focusnorthamerica.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19&Itemid=90

vi http://theorthodoxprisonministry.org/

vii http://oca.org/resource-handbook/parishdevelopment/a-parish-nursing-ministry;
http://www.goarch.org/archdiocese/departments/outreach/ministryprofiles/parishnurse/

viii http://www.antiochian.org/counseling-ministries

ix http://www.antiochian.org/fellowship/SPPD

x http://www.incommunion.org/2004/10/18/prayers/;
http://www.ocf.net/wikis/ programs/day-of-prayer.aspx

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Alfeyev, Bishop Hilarion, (2002). The Mystery of Faith. London, England: Darton, Longman and Todd.

Bobrinskoy, B. (1999). The Mystery of the Trinity: Trinitarian experience and vision in the biblical and Patristic Tradition. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.

Daley, B.E. (2006). Gregory of Nazianzus. NY: Routledge

Holy Transfiguration Monastery. (ed., trans.). (2011). The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian (revised, 2nd edition). Boston, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

Lossky, V. (1977). Orthodox Theology, An Introduction. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.

Morelli, G. (2005, August 29). Compassion and love. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/compassion-and-love.

Morelli, G. (2006, September 24). Smart Parenting IV: Cuss Control. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles6/MorelliParenting4.php.

The Orthodox New Testament. (2004). Buena Vista, CO: Holy Apostles Convent.

St. Gregory of Nyssa. (1954). The Lord's Prayer, The Beatitudes. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.

St. John of Kronstadt. (2003). Ten homilies on the Beatitudes. Albany, NY: Cornerstone Editions.

Staniloae, D. (2003). Orthodox Spirituality, a practical guide for the faithful and a definitive manual for the scholar. South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon's Seminary Press.

Chaplain's Corner
Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California

There are many unexpected and sudden difficult challenges that individuals have to face in modern life Many of these may be considered life-changing experiences. Such events may include, for example, abrupt acute-chronic illness, accidental injury, serious financial adversity, sudden unemployment and/or loss of home, severe family-marriage difficulties. Strong dysfunctional emotions such as anger, anxiety depression and a profound sense of dread are often common reactions.

Developing a healthy psycho-spiritual management resilience and hardiness strategies are helpful when coping with such catastrophes. Resilience is a psychological process of adaptation in the face of obstacles, trauma, tragedy and stress that is related to good emotional, physical and spiritual health.

One of the resilience strategies favored by scientific cognitive clinical psychologists is the unconditional acceptance of self, others, and the vicissitudes of life. Two essential cognitive shifts are involved in this process. First, framing choices as preferences by using phrases such as "would like,” rather than considering choices as demands by using words that imply “must,” and second, evaluating realistically, that is, seeing the untoward events as less than 100% bad, instead of consistently over-evaluating by labeling them "terrible, awful or the end of the world, more than 100%." Nothing, after all, can be more than 100%.

Looking at Old Testament Sacred Scripture, Esta Miranⁱ asks: "could we understand Exodus as God taking the Jewish People on a journey from weak to strong, from downtrodden to resilient?" She goes on to conclude: "a deeper reading of Exodus is that God guides us on developing personal strength and resiliency. We can persist and overcome adversity and oppression, and achieve security and a sense of well-being.

A great spiritual lesson in resilience can be learned from Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite Woman as described by St. Matthew (15: 21-28). The Canaanite woman came to Jesus crying, "Have pity upon me Son of David!" She wanted a cure for her possessed daughter. It is the only occasion on which Jesus was ever outside of Jewish territory, in the land of Tyre and Sidon north of Galilee where the hated Phoenicians, the enemies of the Jews, lived. At first, Jesus ignored her. But this did not stop her. She acknowledged Him as "Son of David." She was persistent and did not let obstacles - the insults of others - stop her.

Our Eastern Church Father St. John Chrysostom asked, "Was she silent and did she desist? By no means, she was even more insistent." St. John Chrysostom pointed out that Jesus knew she would say this. Jesus, he said, wanted to "exhibit her high self- command." (Homily LII, on St. Matthew XV).

This ‘high self-command” means that she is tough and resilient, and takes responsibility to overcome barriers; one characteristic of resilience and hardiness is taking decisive action. Like her, we have to start by making a choice, even against all odds. We have to be committed despite all who mock us and to stay loving in the face of those who reject our love or even hate us. Grace is a gift of God, but we must cooperate with it. "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full," (John 15:11).

To follow the Canaanite woman's lead we, too, must be committed to God with all our heart, must be realistically persistent, tenacious, stubborn, undiscourageable and joyful. If we do this, we will prepare ourselves to survive catastrophe by wearing the armor of resilience.

ENDNOTE

i http://www.jewishideas.org/blog/exodus-jewish-people-and-resilience-blog- thoughts-dr-esfrom

Given the decidedly strange response of the Obama Administration and much of the Western commentariat to the violence sweeping the Islamic world, one temptation is to view their reaction as simple incomprehension in the face of the severe unreason that leads some people to riot and kill in a religion's name. But while the Administration's response has plenty to do with trying to defend a foreign policy that has plainly gone south, it also reflects something far more problematic: the Western secular mind's increasing inability to think seriously and coherently about religion at all.

This problem manifests itself in several ways. The first is the manner in which many secular thinkers seem to regard all religions as "basically the same." By this, they often mean either equally irrational or as promoting essentially similar values.

A moment's reflection would indicate to even the most militant atheist that this simply isn't true. Islam and Christianity, for instance, have very different understandings of who Jesus Christ is. Christians believe that he is God, the second Person of the Trinity. Muslims do not. Ergo, Islam and Christianity are not effectively the same. At their respective cores are fundamentally irreconcilable theological positions. It's also very difficult to find robust affirmations of free will outside Judaism and Christianity (at least the orthodox varieties of these two faiths).

Likewise, as any informed Muslim will tell you, Islamic theology has no real equivalent of the Christian idea of the church. The Greek word for "church" (ekklesia) literally means to be "called out." That, alongside Christ's words about the limits to Caesar's power, had immense implications for how Christians think about the state and its relationship to religion. Among other things, it means Christianity has always maintained significant distinctions between the temporal and the spiritual realms that are far less perceptible — again, as any pious Muslim will inform you — in Islamic theology and history.

All this, however, is a little complicated for those secular intellectuals who simply regard religion as just another lifestyle-choice rather than being essentially about people's natural desire to (1) know the truth about the transcendent and (2) live their lives in accordance with such truths.

That's why the left talks so much today about "freedom of worship" (as if your faith-decisions are akin to choosing which mall you shop at) and are trying to peddle a version of religious liberty that basically confines religious freedom to what happens inside your church, synagogue, mosque or temple on your given holy-day of the week. The notion that religious liberty is all about creating space for people to live out their beliefs consistent with others' freedom to do the same and even permits us to peacefully argue — gasp! — about the truth of different religions' claims seems to be beyond their grasp.

Then there is the sheer ignorance of history prevailing among much of the secular intelligentsia. This was unfortunately exemplified by the lamentable historiography that was on full display in President Obama's once much-touted, now much-forgotten 2009 Cairo speech. Among other things, the President referred to how Islam "carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment."

Really? Did the President's advisors and speechwriters know that this thesis has been subject to withering critique for over 100 years? Were they conscious that, as the French professor of Arabic and religious philosophy Rémi Brague demonstrated in his book Europe, La voie romaine (1992/1999), the statesman-scholar-monk Cassiodorus (c.485-c.585 AD) not only collaborated with Pope Agapetus I in arranging for the translation of classical Greek texts into Latin, but also established a monastery-school on his family estate to safeguard and study the same works? Were they aware that the works of Antiquity never somehow vanished but were preserved for centuries by Greek-speaking Eastern Christians? Or that Aristotle was known and read in the medieval West long before Arabic translations appeared in Europe?

The answer to all the above questions hardly needs to be stated.

In other words, civilizational development is a much more complicated affair than many secular-minded people are willing to concede. And that partly reflects their ongoing efforts to whitewash Christianity's immense civilizational achievements out of history.

Today's history textbooks, for example, are full of mythologies about the so-called "Dark Ages." These publications invariably overlook, for instance, the powerful contributions made to the development of the modern sciences by figures such as the 13th-century saint Albertus Magnus or the profound advances made in constitutional theories of limited government by medieval theologians like Thomas Aquinas.

Why? Because acknowledging such facts raises the question of whether the various Enlightenments (which saddled us with such intellectual dead-ends as David Hume's skepticism and Rousseau's egalitarian-obsessions) were as radical and enlightened as many liberals make them out to be.

And that brings us to yet another problem with the secular mind regarding religion: its increasing embrace of what might be called suppressive tolerance. This is the art of discouraging people from expressing their views on particular subjects on the grounds that saying what you think might involve what's become the ultimate crime of modern times: hurting other peoples' feelings.

Of course, most secular intellectuals are very selective about applying this. You can, after all, say the most uninformed and truly bigoted things about Christians and that's free speech. If, however, you ask polite but direct questions about aspects of particular schools of Islamic thought (even while acknowledging parallels with specific Christian thinkers) as Benedict XVI did in his 2006 Regensburg lecture, then you're being "hurtful."

Lastly there's the difficulty of wishful thinking. This might be described as many secular intellectuals' belief that, deep down, everyone really wants to be like them: what George Weigel calls "debonair nihilists."

Eventually, or so the theory goes, the unwashed masses will "get over" all those pesky questions about the meaning of life, death, good, and evil to which religious faiths attempt to provide comprehensive answers — many of which are far more convincing that the default philosophical materialism, relativism, and skepticism that passes for sophisticated thinking in the faculty lounge these days. Instead, they expect we'll eventually accept that life is meaningless and the most we can do is, as Marx described his future society, "one thing today and another tomorrow; to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, breed cattle in the evening and criticize after dinner, just as I please."

Unfortunately for the urbane hedonist crowd, God's death has been forecast on numerous occasions by figures ranging from Marx and Nietzsche, to the Economist in 1999. The latter, however, was smart enough to retract this assertion in 2007 in the face of overwhelming evidence that, globally speaking, the world was becoming more religious rather than less.

And that perhaps points to the greatest tragedy of the secular mind's remarkable close-mindedness to any serious contemporary conversation about religion. Its core operating assumptions, historical unawareness, and reliance upon numerous legends for legitimacy translates into many Western intellectuals having little of a meaningful nature to say about how we address real problems of religiously inspired violence and of truth-suffocating intolerance masquerading as tolerance.

Put another, more troubling way, one of the West's greatest impediments in its struggle against religious extremism may well the fact that the secular part of its soul turns out to be far less enlightened than anyone imagined possible.

Samuel Gregg is Research Director at the Acton Institute.

Read the entire article on the American Spectator website (new window will open).

A message from the President of Society of St. John Chrysostom —Western Region (www.lightoftheeast.org)

Members of the Society of St. John Chrysostom, in fact those baptized into any of the Apostolic Churches, have a very important responsibility this Fall 2012 season. American citizens will have the opportunity to vote for the President of the United States as well as for any number of other national, state and local offices. The mix of religion and politics in issues in this electoral season has made the usual politicking even more contentious and challenging than in past years.

In no manner shape or form is this message meant to support any particular candidate or political party. The only purpose of this message is to serve as a reminder for all to carefully discern the Mind of Christ and His Church on the critical moral issues raised in this election and to let Christ and the teachings of His Apostolic Churches be our guide in our witness by our political words, deeds and votes.

Unfortunately, some candidates want to usurp our right speak up for ourselves on issues. A particularly egregious statement I constantly hear from candidates for office from all political parties in the United States is, "What the American people want is. . . ." To have some modicum of honesty, politicians could at the very least somewhat qualify such arrogant rhetoric by saying: "Some American people want . . . ." I, for example, am one of these "American people." For a candidate to imply that I want something against the teachings of Christ and His Church is to take away the freedom of speech and religion granted to me – and all - by the constitution and, more importantly, granted by God to all to mankind by His making us in His image and giving us free will.

Despite the differences that still prevent full communion of all the Apostolic Churches, our witness should be informed by a Christ-like conscience. Furthermore, our conscience should be nurtured by deep prayer and by cultivating the virtue of discernment. It would be well for us to meditate on the counsel of St. Gregory of Sinai found in the Philokalia, Vol.4 (p.222): "A person is perfect in this life when . . . he receives the grace to assimilate himself to the various stages of Christ's life . . . . belief is knowledge or contemplation of the Holy Spirit . . . . scrupulous discernment in matters of dogma constitutes full knowledge of the true faith."ⁱ In union with His Church, may the Holy Spirit accompany all of us in this matter.

ENDNOTES

i Palmer, G.E.H., Sherrard, P. & Ware, K. (Eds.). (1995). The Philokalia, Volume 4: The Complete Text; Compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain & St. Makarios of Corinth. London: Faber and Faber.

A message from the President of Society of St. John Chrysostom —Western Region (www.lightoftheeast.org)

Members of the Society of St. John Chrysostom, in fact those baptized into any of the Apostolic Churches, have a very important responsibility this Fall 2012 season. American citizens will have the opportunity to vote for the President of the United States as well as for any number of other national, state and local offices. The mix of religion and politics in issues in this electoral season has made the usual politicking even more contentious and challenging than in past years.

In no manner shape or form is this message meant to support any particular candidate or political party. The only purpose of this message is to serve as a reminder for all to carefully discern the Mind of Christ and His Church on the critical moral issues raised in this election and to let Christ and the teachings of His Apostolic Churches be our guide in our witness by our political words, deeds and votes.

Unfortunately, some candidates want to usurp our right speak up for ourselves on issues. A particularly egregious statement I constantly hear from candidates for office from all political parties in the United States is, "What the American people want is. . . ." To have some modicum of honesty, politicians could at the very least somewhat qualify such arrogant rhetoric by saying: "Some American people want . . . ." I, for example, am one of these "American people." For a candidate to imply that I want something against the teachings of Christ and His Church is to take away the freedom of speech and religion granted to me – and all - by the constitution and, more importantly, granted by God to all to mankind by His making us in His image and giving us free will.

Despite the differences that still prevent full communion of all the Apostolic Churches, our witness should be informed by a Christ-like conscience. Furthermore, our conscience should be nurtured by deep prayer and by cultivating the virtue of discernment. It would be well for us to meditate on the counsel of St. Gregory of Sinai found in the Philokalia, Vol.4 (p.222): "A person is perfect in this life when . . . he receives the grace to assimilate himself to the various stages of Christ's life . . . . belief is knowledge or contemplation of the Holy Spirit . . . . scrupulous discernment in matters of dogma constitutes full knowledge of the true faith."ⁱ In union with His Church, may the Holy Spirit accompany all of us in this matter.

ENDNOTES

i Palmer, G.E.H., Sherrard, P. & Ware, K. (Eds.). (1995). The Philokalia, Volume 4: The Complete Text; Compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain & St. Makarios of Corinth. London: Faber and Faber.

Remove falsehood and lies far from me;
Give me neither poverty nor riches—
Feed me with the food allotted to me;

Lest I be full and deny You,
And say, "Who is the LORD?"
Or lest I be poor and steal,
And profane the name of my God. (Proverbs 30:8, 9)

At first glance, considering food in the context of Orthodox spirituality and practice may seem inappropriate. But closer examination indicates, in fact, a rather intimate, meaningful connection between the two. We can see this in the quote from the Book of Proverbs that opens this essay. We should eat "the food allotted to us," and which is necessary for our sustenance. To do otherwise is to make ourselves vulnerable to two spiritual dangers.

Problems with Food as a Spiritual Disorder

The first spiritual danger is that we may become so focused on food as an end in itself that it distracts us from what should be our true end: God. In the most basic and first of the commandments, God told us, "I am the LORD your God . . . You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:2, 3). This commandment is echoed by Jesus: "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment." (Matthew 22:37, 38).

What is our treasure: God or food? As Our Lord told us, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Luke 12:34). As our holy father Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain tells us, "If you want to take someone away from God, give [them] plenty of material goods . . . [they] will instantly forget Him forever" (Ageloglou, 1998).

The second spiritual danger is sins against others and self. This may be a little harder to grasp. Our holy father St. Dorotheos of Gaza understood this danger so well. He asks: "If someone is offered a pleasant food [can he] not partake of it? [Can one] be careful and not overreach . . . and take more than [her] share? And what if the food is already divided into portions?" Is there an eagerness "to get a large portion . . . and leave a smaller portion?" (Wheeler, 1977).

The spiritual root of this danger is easily seen in the context of the second of the greatest commandments taught by our Lord: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:31). Our holy father St. Theoliptos said to monastics, "When you enter the refectory, do not look round to see how much food your brethren are eating and so fragment your soul with ugly suspicions. Look only at what lies before you. . . . Nourishing your body and spirit in this way, with your whole being you may truly praise Him who 'satisfies your desire with blessings' (Ps 103:5)." The danger here is not only a lack of charity, but also its offshoots of greed, envy, gluttony, and anger.

St. Gregory of Sinai has given us one of the most thorough discourses on how to partake of food. He astutely notes, "As the fathers have pointed out, bodies vary greatly in their need for food. One person needs little, another much to sustain his physical strength, each according to his capacity and habit." Speaking to those who are committed to a godly life, St. Gregory goes on to say such Christ-centered individuals "should always eat too little, never too much. For when the stomach is heavy the intellect is clouded and you cannot pray resolutely with purity."

Interestingly, the saint goes on to suggest an actual menu. The specific foods and quantities are geared to the monastic life and not particularly relevant to committed Christians living in the world. What is important and applicable, however, is that he does suggest a schedule and a specific list of foods. With regard to our commitment to Christ, St. Gregory points out, "Abstinence from specific types of food is most beneficial."

Example: societal sanctioned gluttony

When I consider the millions of people in the world literally starving to death, I find a particular form of gluttony, that of wasting food under the guise of fun and frolic, particularly abhorrent and sinful. Particularly egregious, for example, on 14 July 2012 an online Miami, FL newspaper proudly posted this invitation:

La Tomatina Tomato Fight

If you’ve ever been to Spain, you might be familiar with La Tomatina, a tomato fight held in Bunol on the last Wednesday of August where thousands of people go to throw ripe tomatoes at strangers. This year, you won’t have to travel to this small town in Spain to do it because Tobacco Road is bringing it to Brickell!

On Saturday, February 11 10,000 pounds of tomatoes will be ready for Miami’s First Tomato Battle and everyone is invited, even if you don’t want to participate and just want to watch. The party starts at 2pm with food and drink specials .... The fight begins at 4pm and it will last an hour. There will also be a safety zone, ... for spectators who don’t want to get sauced...Don’t miss Miami’s first Tomatina and get ready to get dirty!ⁱ

A Google Search 'tomato battles' indicate such society sanctioned wasteful, thus gluttonous behaviors are rapidly spreading across United States communities. Tomatoes are not the only instruments of such gluttony; watermelons and other fruits and vegetables have become popular in fighting and throwing:

As part of its 'youth ministry' the picture on the left was accompanied by the following caption and explanation:

Amazing Fruit Smash- This isn’t so much a game as something amazingly fun and stupid to do. You will make a mess, and you will have a fun time. What you need Baseball bat Goggles Smash-able fruits and veggies Tomatoes Watermelon Squash Bananas Peaches...ⁱⁱ

For an Eastern Christian perspective on such conspicuous sinful wastefulness consider the spiritual perception of St. John of Damaskos (Philokalia II, p. 338) who would counteract such a vice with an opposite virtue. I consider only St. John's words on the sinful passion of gluttony and its companion vice avarice and their contrary healing virtues:

Gluttony should be destroyed by self-control ... avarice by compassion for the poor ... and offering thanks to God; ... and by considering oneself the least of all men.

In the Eastern tradition we pray:

O Christ our God, bless the food and drink of thy servants, for Thou art Holy always now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen

We do not destroy this gift of God and even indirectly deprive those in need of bodily sustenance. 

Problems with Food as a Medical/Psychological Disorder

For those who have a normal attitude toward food, the advice of Scripture and the fathers as given above may suffice to enable them to eat in a way that is pleasing to God. However, in our society, eating disorders are becoming increasingly common. Those with eating disorders need a more in-depth approach to the problem—one that combines spiritual, medical/psychological, and practical intervention to help them learn to eat properly.

There are two food-related problems classified as eating disorders according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000):

• Anorexia Nervosa is defined as the failure to maintain a minimally normal body weight (85% of expected weight). It is often accompanied by intense fear of gaining weight and the extreme misperception (overestimation) of actual weight.
• Bulimia Nervosa is distinguished by recurring episodes of binge eating. There are two types: the purging type exhibits health-threatening compensatory behaviors such as self-induced purging (vomiting), overuse of diuretics, enemas, and laxatives; the non-purging type does not manifest these behaviors.

Both of these disorders are sex-related, with females showing a higher prevalence. There is evidence that both biological and social features may contribute to the occurrence of these disorders.

Obesity is defined as an excess proportion of total body fat wherein the person’s actual weight is 20% or more above normal weight for their sex and height. It may come as a surprise that obesity is not listed as an eating disorder. This is because eating disorders are consistently associated with dysfunctional psychological and behavioral syndromes, patterns, or characteristics (such as those noted above). Obesity is considered rather a "general medical condition" (APA, 2000). Clearly, however, psychological factors are often related to the cause and course of obesity.

More recently, in 2008, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)ⁱⁱⁱ announced that psychological factors related to obesity are considered worthy of scientific investigation. This new interest was also noted by an NIMH Report reviewed by Allison, et al. 2009. It was noted that obesity is common among individuals with Serious Mental Illness (SMI) and that this contributes to higher risk for other medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease and shorted life expectancy. 

Medical-Psychological Considerations in Eating Disorders

The medical consequences of eating disorders are critical. Serious medical disturbances accompany anorexia nervosa such as anemia, elevated blood urea, diminished liver function, attenuated thyroid function, lowered neuroendocrine function, heart and brain irregularity, and death. Associated psychological problems are depression, social withdrawal, insomnia, lowered sex interest, obsessive-compulsive features, social anxiety, poor impulse control, need for control, and alcohol and/or drug abuse.

Accompanying bulimia (purging type) can be: potassium loss leading to muscle weakness and heart irregularities; and fluid retention leading to nausea, vomiting, headache, hyponatremia and malaise. Eventually, confusion, slower reflexes, convulsions, and/or coma may occur. Also associated with the purging type are significant and permanent loss of dental enamel, chipped and ragged teeth, increased dental cavities, enlarged glands, cardiac and skeletal myopathy, and esophageal and gastric ruptures. Females (90% of those diagnosed with this disorder) are subject to menstrual irregularity. Psychological problems concomitant with bulimia of both types are mood disorders (depression) and substance abuse and dependence.

Some Psychological Interventions

The following techniques are not recommended for anorexic patients. Anorexia most often requires an in-patient setting, with hospital release the reward for weight gain (Craighead, Craighead, Kazdin & Mahoney, 1994). However, these techniques may prove helpful to patients dealing with bulimia or obesity.

Metacognition. This is thinking about our own thinking—knowledge and experiences we have about our own thinking processes. Another way of putting it is controlling our thinking about eating. A person with an eating problem could instruct herself, "Before eating anything I have to consult my eating plan." A sequence of control instructions might include: "Before eating, open my eating control pad, check the time of day, look at the food and amount I am to have. Just get out this portion on the list. Go to the kitchen table. Move away from all food after eating, return to previous or scheduled activity." As simple as this may sound, this metacognitive procedure of step-by-step "talking to oneself" was found to help patients with previous regulation and/or control problems (Meichenbaum, 1986).

Stimulus Control. Any healing of eating disorders or obesity requires a program of stimulus control. People respond to stimuli reflexively, without even thinking. For example: Pass refrigerator-open door. Contemporary research psychologists recommend changing the stimulus cues by using distinct signals such as location, size, color, and sensory modality (Martin and Pear 1992). For example, a sticky tape could be applied to a refrigerator or pantry door handle to modify the stimulus cue. A colorful "Think First" sign or large bold X could serve the same purpose. At home, one can restrict one’s eating to a single room, preferably seated at the kitchen table, rather than carrying a box of food from one room to another or sitting on a couch watching television. The problem eater could put the foods to be consumed in portion-sized packages in a special location, away from other family foods.

Response Management. The more difficult it is to respond to a stimulus, or the more complex the response, the easier it is to block it. A simple example: Reaching for a peanut is more difficult if the bowl is across the room or at the other end of the house than if it is within arm’s reach. Helpful response techniques include putting food on a saucer instead of a plate, using very small utensils, putting the utensil down after each bite, interrupting bites by sipping water, or getting up from the table. A chart can also be filled out as a requirement to eat: Before eating, the person has to write day, time, place, food, and quantity on a chart. This could be initiated as a metacognitive strategy as discussed above.

Reinforcement (reward) techniques. Bulimics and patients who overeat could also make a list of activities they like doing. These activities could serve both as a substitute for the inappropriate eating behavior and as a reward for complying with one’s healthy eating program. I have found a combination of daily and weekly rewards to work well. One overweight patient found it rewarding at the end of the day to take a bubble bath if she had complied with her eating program. Going to a play or music program with her husband on the weekend was her reward for following her program during the week before.

A Model Program

A model medical-psychological obesity treatment program funded by NIMH was reported on by Casagrande et al. (2010). The treatment protocol was entitled Achieving Healthy Lifestyles in Psychiatric Rehabilitation (ACHIEVE).  It was originally designed as an out-patient program that required daily attendance. The intervention consisted of multiple components applying a variety of methods to induce behavior change. The components included repetitive and on-going activities, including group and individual sessions that incorporate individually designed weight management sessions, rewards, food models, daily record trackers.

The ACHIEVE treatment model integrates the principles of social cognitive theory relapse prevention procedures (Bandura, 1986), cognitive-behavioral management (Morelli, 2009) and motivational interviewing. All of these procedures lead to the building of intrinsic skills and environmental support. Preliminary findings have shown the effectiveness of this model.

The Church’s Approach to Eating Disorders

Considering the severity of the medical and psychological consequences of eating disorders, the patient who suffers from one of them should not attempt self-treatment. Family or clergy who know an individual with these disorders should make a referral to an experienced, licensed health/mental health practitioner who specializes in such disorders. (Please note that a general practice physician or clinical psychologist is not necessarily an eating disorder specialist.) For Orthodox clergy and laity to make such a referral is in the firm tradition of our Church.

St. Maximus the Confessor said that "grace builds upon nature" (Morelli, 2006). For the Orthodox Christian, this means that neither the spiritual nor the natural dimensions of human existence are ignored. A parish priest especially must be aware that many of the problems parishioners present to him have psychological components and that the spiritual healing of a person often involves psychological dynamics that require the aid of persons qualified to address and treat them. It is foolhardy and dangerous to assume all behavioral and cognitive problems have only a spiritual basis. As St. Basil said, medicine, too, must be taken into account in the healing of persons. We should take his words to heart.

In the fourth century, various healing centers were opened and administrated by the Orthodox Church, including hospitals and homes for the poor, orphans, and aged (Demakis, 2004). Many of these centers were associated with monasteries. The health care workers—the physicians, nurses, and psychologists of the day—were often the monks themselves. St. Basil of Caesarea was trained in medicine and was reported to have worked with the monks in ministering to the ill and infirm.

St. John Chrysostom as Patriarch of Constantinople used the wealth of the Church to open hospitals and other philanthropic institutions, which earned him great love from the people. Within two centuries, the rapid growth of these centers necessitated state funding, although the Church retained the active administration and care-giving in the arrangement. Emperor Justinian moved the most important physicians into the hospitals, which enhanced the reputation of these centers (Demakis 2004).

Treating the Whole Person

If one has a food-related problem, there are two possibilities. If one does not have a diagnosable eating disorder, then one could consider the problem to be a spiritual one and it should be dealt with spiritually.

If the problem with food is a diagnosable medical/psychological disorder, the person with this disorder would be considered to have an illness or infirmity, one that is most probably involuntary. This can only be determined, however, by a thorough medical examination followed by medical/psychological treatment. Even in eating problem cases that are medical/psychological, there is always a spiritual component. In the tradition of the early Church, the focus was on the healing of the whole person, body, mind, and spirit, accomplished by a synergy between medical science and the Holy Mysteries of the Church.

St. John Chrysostom presented us with the idea that the entire Church of Christ is a hospital, thereby expressing in clearer theological terms the relationship between the healing of body and soul practiced by the early healers. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 1:33ff), the Good Samaritan exemplifies Christ, who, as the Great Physician, comes to broken mankind (the man beaten by robbers) in order to bring healing. The inn to which the Good Samaritan delivered the suffering man is the Church (Vlachos, 1994, 1998).

The interrelationship between body and soul is noted in almost every liturgical prayer. Most Eastern Orthodox corporate prayer begins with theTrisagion (Thrice-Holy) prayer, which makes the relationship clear: "All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, cleanse us from our sins. Master, pardon our iniquities. Holy God, visit and heal our infirmities for Thy name's sake" (emphasis added).

This interrelationship is also demonstrated in the spiritual practices and Mysteries of the Church.

Disclosure of Thoughts. An initial step in dealing with eating disorders is the disclosure of the patient’s thoughts, behaviors, feelings, and symptoms. In a similar manner, the church fathers emphasized the importance of practicing this disclosure in a complete and systematic way. For the spiritual fathers, this is done with vigilance (nepsis), watchfulness, and the guarding of the heart. Hausherr (1990) quotes an anonymous old man as saying, "When evil thoughts harass you, do not hide them, but tell them at once to your spiritual father. The more one hides one's thoughts, the more they multiply and the stronger they become."

The Service of Holy Unction. Orthodox Christians perform the Mystery of Holy Unction for the healing of soul and body and for forgiveness of sins. In his epistle, the Holy Apostle James writes, "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven" (James 5:13–15). The anointing prayer reads, "The blessing of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ: for the healing of soul and body . . ."

The prayer of the blessing of the oil illustrates the goal of physical healing: that those anointed may glorify God and thus be spiritually healed. The prayer in part reads:

O Lord, who through Thy mercies and bounties heal the disorders of our souls and bodies: Do thou Thyself, O Master, also sanctify this oil, that it may be effectual for those who are anointed therewith, unto healing and unto relief from every passion, of every defilement of flesh and spirit, and every ill; that thereby may be glorified Thine all holy Name, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

The Holy Eucharist. The Holy Eucharist is the reception of the Body and Blood of Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Eucharist conjoins us to the Great Physician, a point expressed in the liturgical prayer that is read immediately before the elevation of the bread and wine: "We give thanks unto Thee, O King invisible, who by Thy measureless power hast made all things . . . look down from heaven upon those who have bowed their heads unto Thee . . . distribute these Gifts here spread forth unto all of us for good . . . heal the sick, Thou who art the physician of souls and bodies."

These spiritual disciplines can combine with a traditional medical approach to restore the whole person to a godly relationship with food.

The Food of Life versus the Food that Perishes

St. John of the Ladder counsels, "If you have promised Christ to travel the straight and the narrow road, then keep your stomach in check." And he also tells us, "Begrudge your stomach and your heart will be humbled: please your stomach and your heart will be proud."

And finally, let us heed the words of Our Lord Himself: "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him" (John 6:27). Furthermore may we meditate on St. Isaac of Syria's (Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2011) understanding: "This is THE RULE OF LIFE that is chaste and pleasing to God ... use foods that sustain the body, and not those that satisfy gluttony."

ENDNOTES

i http://itsinmiami.com/tomatinatobaccoroad/

ii http://billnance.org/category/games-2/

iii http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18158005

REFERENCES

Allison, D.B., Newcomer, J.W., Dunn, A.L., Blumenthal, J.A., Fabricatore, A.N., Daumit, G.L., Cope, M.B., Riley, W.T., Vreeland, B., Hibbeln, J.R., and Alpert, J.E. (2009). Obesity among those with mental disorders: a National Institute of Mental Health meeting report. American Journal of Preventative Medicine.36,4, 341-50.

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR). Washington, DC. 

Ageloglou, Priestmonk Christodoulos. (1998). Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain. Mt. Athos, Greece: Holy Mountain.

Bandura, A. (1986). Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Casagrande, S.S.,  Jerome G.J.,  Dalcin, A.T.,  Dickerson, F.B.,  Anderson C.A.,  Appel, L.J.,  Charleston J.,  Crum R.M.,  Young, D.R.,  Guallar, E.,  Frick K.D.,  Goldberg R.W.,  Oefinger M.,  Finkelstein, J.,  Gennusa, III, J.V.,  Fred-Omojole O., Campbell  L. M.,  Wang, N-Y.,  and Daumit, G. L. (2010).  Randomized trial of achieving healthy lifestyles in psychiatric rehabilitation: the ACHIEVE trial. BMC Psychiatry.  http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/10/108..

Craighead, L.W., Craighead, W.E., Kazdin, A.E. & Mahoney, M.J. (1994). Cognitive and behavioral interventions: An empirical approach to mental health problems. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Demakis J. (2004). "Historical Precedents for Synergia: Combining Medicine, Diakonia and Sacrament in Byzantine Times." In S. Muse (Ed.), Raising Lazarus: Integral healing in Orthodox Christianity. Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press.

Hausherr, I. (1990). Spiritual Direction in the Early Christian East. Spencer, MA: Cistercian Publications.

Holy Transfiguration Monastery. (ed., trans.).  (2011). The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian(revised, 2nd edition). Boston, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

Martin, G. & Pear, J. (1992). Behavior Modification: What It Is and How To Do It. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Meichenbaum, D. (1986). "Cognitive behavior modification." In F. H. Kanfer & A. P. Goldstein (Eds.), Helping people change: A Textbook of methods. 3rd ed. NY: Pergamon.

Morelli, G. (2006, December 05). "Understanding Clergy Stress: A Psychospiritual Response."http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles6/MorelliClergyStress.php.

Morelli, G. (2009, October 24).  Overcoming Anxiety: Christ, The Church Fathers and Cognitive Scientific Psychology. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/morelli-overcoming-anxiety-christ-the-church-fathers-and-cognitive-scientif.

Palmer, G.E.H., Sherrard, P. & Ware, K. (eds.) (1981). The Philokalia: The Complete Text compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth (Vol. 2) . London: Faber and Faber.

St. John of the Ladder. (1982), John Climacus: The Ladder of Divine Ascent. NY: Paulist Press.

Vlachos, Bishop Hierotheos, (1994). Orthodox Psychotherapy: The Science of the Fathers. Lavadia, Greece: Birth of the Theotokos Monastery.

Vlachos, Bishop Hierotheos, (1998). The Mind of the Orthodox Church. Lavadia, Greece: Birth of the Theotokos Monastery.

Wheeler, E.P. (1977). (ed., trans.), Dorotheos of Gaza: Discourses and Sayings. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications.

Original article: Fall 2008 issue of The Handmaiden Journal (Vol. 12, No. 4) with internet post at:  http://www.conciliarpress.com/pages/Food-That-Perishes%3A-An-Orthodox-Approach-to-Food-and-Eating-Disorders,-by-Fr.-George-Morelli.html. Updated Orthodoxy Today Version 2012 July.

Chaplain's Corner
Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California

The recent arrest of local office holder in California for the corporal punishment and name-calling abuse of a child made headlines. Arrest, office holder, politician or not, bullying is always an egregious affront to God and to man whom He made in His image.

Plain and simple, bullying is abuse. Those who bully and those who are bullied are found everywhere. Bullies can be bosses, clergy, military superiors, parents, police, teachers or simply acquaintances etc.

Children and adults can be the brunt of bullying. They can be called loathsome names, be belittled, laughed at and/or be ignored. Emotional abuse is one form of bullying that is often most unnoticed because of its ubiquity and subtlety. These practices in our society are so common as to go virtually unperceived.

However, emotional abuse but can be equally devastating to the victim as physical and or sexual abuse. Research has shown that victims are susceptible, for example, to clinical depression, suicide and other disorders.

Helpfulness may be considered the opposite of bullying. A kindly disposition is inherent in the tenets of many religious traditions. In the fall of the year Hindus celebrate Karwa Chauth. While this feast mainly focuses on married women, the spirit of the celebration is prayer, relief from household duties, and giving gifts. Basically, it is to insure others’ "well being."ⁱ

In Buddhist scripture we read: “Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world; by love alone is hatred appeased. This is an Eternal Law.” (The Dhammapada, Verse 5) In the Hebrew Sacred Scripture, we read that David, despite his position of power was a supporter and protector of his friend Jonathan (1Kg 20) and certainly not his bully.

Jesus goes even further in telling His Disciples what can only be the most extreme opposite of being a bully. He likens true helpfulness to agape — Godly selfless love: “Greater love hath no one than this that one should lay down his life for his friends." (Jn 15:13).

To help us supplant any tendency in ourselves to bully others we should cultivate the virtue of kindness. To accomplish this it might help to reflect on the spiritual perception of our Eastern Church Spiritual Father, St. Gregory the Theologian, who tells us: "[All] men are our brothers in God and [have] a nature like ours, being drawn from the same original mud, they are composed as We nerves and bones..."ⁱⁱ

With this in mind we can see how horrific and un-Godly any form of bullying is. Echoing the words of the Prophet Hosea (6.7), Jesus told his listeners that the core of true worship of God: "I wish mercy, and not sacrifice." (Mt. 9:13) Considering that mercy is a disposition to be kind and forgiving, it can be shown how truly important being helpful and kindly is; and, conversely, how un-Godly any form of bullying is. Kindliness is next to Godliness.

ENDNOTES

i http://www.karwachauth.com/

ii http://www.migne.fr/gregoire_de_nazianze_discours_14.htm

It sounds like a scriptwriter's dream.

Here we have Russia, a vastly powerful country with a floundering democracy, facing the imminent threat of tyranny. That danger is personified by Vladimir Putin, a former KGB man who looks like, well, a former KGB man, as imagined by John Le Carré. Standing in his way is a gallant resistance movement symbolized by an all-female rock band, a group of punky young performance artists called Pussy Riot.

After playing for democracy in a daring public venue, they face a show trial that could send them to prison for years. Around the world, politicians and celebrities speak out, supporters organize solidarity demonstrations. The film is a natural: can we get Aubrey Plaza as the band's leader? Will Madonna do a cameo? This is too good to be true!

And indeed it is. Putin may be a thug, and Pussy Riot might be feminist warriors for human rights, but the particular act for which they faced trial is much more controversial than is commonly reported in the West.

A good case can be made that it was a grievous act of religious hate crime, of a kind that would be roundly condemned if it happened in a country that the West happened to like. (I'm also wondering why liberals are suddenly so fond of a band that claims inspiration from the "Oi!" music invented by Far-Right British skinheads).

Last March, three members of Pussy Riot staged an unauthorized "concert" in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Standing before the altar, they sang a pseudo-hymn to the Virgin, urging her to remove Putin, and condemning the Patriarch Kiril as his slavish disciple. They have now been convicted of what a judge termed "hooliganism driven by religious hatred."

Few Western commentators have taken that religious element too seriously, but it is central to what Hollywood might term the back-story.

Look, above all, at the site of the demonstration. Historically, Christ the Savior was a central shrine both of the Orthodox faith and of Russian national pride, and for that reason, the Bolsheviks targeted it for destruction. In 1931, in a notorious act of cultural vandalism, the Soviet government dynamited the old building, leveling it to the ground, and replacing it with a public swimming pool. Not until 1990 did a new regime permit a rebuilding, funded largely by ordinary believers, and the vast new structure was consecrated in 2000. The cathedral is thus a primary memorial to the restoration of Russia's Christianity after a savage persecution.

It's difficult, perhaps, for Westerners to realize how bloodthirsty that government assault was. Russia in 1917 was overwhelmingly Orthodox, and in fact was undergoing a widespread religious revival. Rooting out that faith demanded forceful action by the new Bolshevik government, which had no scruples about imposing its will on the wishes of a vast majority. Government leaders like Alexandra Kollontai — the self-proclaimed Female Antichrist — illegally seized historic churches and monasteries, and used soldiers to suppress the resulting demonstration. Hundreds were killed in those actions alone.

Through the 1920s, the Bolsheviks systematically wiped out the church's leaders. Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev perished in 1918, shot outside the historic Monastery of the Caves, while Bishop Hermogenes of Tobolsk was drowned in a Siberian river. Archbishop Andronicus of Perm was killed the following year, followed by most of his clergy. In 1920, Bishop Joachim of Nizhni Novgorod was crucified upside down from the iconostasis in his cathedral. In 1922, a firing squad executed the powerful Benjamin, Metropolitan of Petrograd/St. Petersburg. The repression was indiscriminate, paying no attention to the victims' records as critics of Tsarist injustice and anti-Semitism.

Persecution claimed many lives at lower levels of the church, among ordinary monks and priests. We hear of clergy shot in their hundreds, buried alive, mutilated, or fed to wild animals. Local Red officials hunted down priests as enthusiastically as their aristocratic predecessors had pursued wolves and wild boar. The number of clergy killed for their faith ran at least into the tens of thousands, with perhaps millions more lay believers.

The regime also rooted up the churches and monasteries that were the heart of Russian culture and spiritual life. Officials wandered the country, vandalizing churches, desecrating saints' shrines and seizing church goods, and murdering those who protested the acts. Militant atheist groups used sacred objects to stage anti-religious skits and processions. Between 1927 and 1940, active Orthodox churches all but vanished from the Russian Republic, as their numbers fell from 30,000 to just 500.

In the process of dechristianization, the crowning act came in 1931 with the obliteration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. For the Bolsheviks, it was the ultimate proof of the Death of God.

But, of course, Resurrection did come, so that a new cathedral would stand to mark a new century. The long nightmare was over.

Yet Russia's new religious freedom is a very tender shoot, and the prospect of future turmoil has to agonize those believers who recall bygone horrors. These fears are all the more pressing when modern-day activists seem to reproduce exactly the blasphemous deeds of the past, and even in the precise places. When modern-day Orthodox look at Pussy Riot, they see the ghosts of Alexandra Kollontai and her militiamen, or the old Soviet League of Militant Godless. Are they wrong to do so?

I just offer an analogy. Imagine a dissident group opposed to the current governments of Poland or Hungary. In order to grab media attention, they take over one of those countries' recently restored synagogues, and frame their complaint in the form of a pseudo-Jewish prayer. Horrified, the authorities arrest them and threaten harsh criminal penalties. Not only would international media fully support the governments in those circumstances, but they would complain bitterly if police and courts showed any signs of leniency. However serious a group's grievances, there is absolutely no justification for expressing them with such mind-boggling historical insensitivity, and in such a place. Anywhere but there!

So no, I won't be giving to any Pussy Riot support groups.

Philip Jenkins is a Distinguished Professor of History at Baylor University and a columnist for RealClearReligion. His latest book is Laying Down the Sword.

Read the entire article on the Real Clear Religion website (new window will open).

I have a vivid memory of walking through McClellanville, South Carolina, in September of 1989, a few days after Hurricane Hugo obliterated the town. I remember staring at what had been—so I was told—a supermarket. It was now a pile of rubble, a grotesque gathering of broken concrete, with no sign of a supermarket. The fact that this wasn’t done by some great machine built for the purpose, but by wind and water, filled me with shock and fear.

The shock and fear passed quickly—I was seventeen. But I remember wondering, though I’m sure I was too self-conscious to say it out loud, whether it was right to say this had been done by God. I never heard anybody say so, or even raise the question—this despite the fact that I was in McClellanville under the auspices of a church in a neighboring county.

A Judgment for Instruction

In an earlier time, it wouldn’t have been left to a teenaged kid to ponder. For many centuries, destructive acts of nature were said to be judgments of God. As late as 1756, the American Presbyterian minister Samuel Davies interpreted a series of earthquakes in Europe as God’s judgment on a godless generation: a judgment intended to instruct the backslidden. “Such devastations,” he said—the sermon bears the excellent title, “Religious Improvement of the Late Earthquake”—“are at once judgments upon the places where they happen and warnings to others.”

Davies (pronounced Davis) preached this sermon at nearly the height of the European Enlightenment, by which time even he could sound a little defensive about interpreting natural events in this way:

There is a set of conceited philosophers risen among us who think they disprove all this, by alleging that earthquakes proceed from natural causes and therefore it is superstitious to ascribe them to the agency of Providence. But there is no more reason or philosophy in this than if they should deny that a man writes because he makes use of a pen or that kings exercise government because they employ servants under them. I grant that natural causes concur toward the production of earthquakes; but what are these natural causes? Are they independent self moved causes? No; they were first formed and are still directed by the divine hand.

Davies’s conception of nature did not exclude second causes, but for him God inhabited these contributing components to effect his purposes, almost as if he could be glimpsed behind or among them. It brings to mind Cowper’s lines, “He plants his footsteps in the sea,/ and rides upon the storm.”

[...]

Read the entire article on the Touchstone website (new window will open).

I have been thinking about loneliness. We assume it is a sorrow that afflicts unlucky people: those who have outlived their friends, who are painfully shy, or who have been abandoned by their families.

Would that it were only so. Central to human existence, says the court decision justifying the alienating of one's unborn children, is the right to determine for oneself the meaning of the universe. "I am myself alone," says the hunchback Richard of York, plotting the overthrow of his own brothers in his quest for a solitary and joyless crown. "From this time on I never will speak word," says Iago. He has accomplished his revenge against his captain, Othello, and now, facing torture and execution, declares himself alienated from the whole human race. "Myself am Hell," says Milton's Satan. That short sentence encapsulates the whole mystery of evil.

Ultimate Alienation

When Dante and Virgil are nearing the end of their first day on the slopes of Purgatory, they wonder how they should use the last hour of daylight to best profit. Dante looks round and sees a soul, all alone, and suggests that they ask him the best path to climb. The soul seems a man of dignity: he remains still, "as a lion / at rest will watch, and never turn his head." But if we suppose he is a solitary fellow, enjoying his separation from the rest of mankind, we are in for a surprise.

Virgil asks him about the road, and the man does not immediately reply, but asks his own question in turn, one whose answer will place the poets in a society: "Where were you from?" Virgil begins with the name of his native city, "Mantua," when the soul suddenly breaks in upon him: "O Mantoano, io son Sordello / della tua terra!" "We share one country, you of Mantua! / I am Sordello!" And the two embrace.

What follows is also remarkable. Dante suspends the narrative, and for the last 76 lines of the canto launches into a bitter invective against the Italian cities of his day, particularly his native Florence. Even in Purgatory, so far away, he says, that soul rose up in joy merely at the name of his native land, while back in the world of the living, people gnaw one another, "and so near / as those united by a wall and ditch!"

[...]

Read the entire article on the Touchstone website (new window will open).

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

The terms righteousness or the righteous that we read often in Sacred Scripture and spiritual reading are frequently ill-understood. This fourth beatitude from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5: 6) can help us understand the depth of spiritual meaning of righteousness.

Firstly, it is not something merely external or superficial or as defined in the dictionary as simply being "morally upright." Our Lord starts out this beatitude by connecting righteousness with hungering and thirsting for it. This means that righteousness must come from the depths of our spirit, that is to say the center of our minds and the depths of our hearts.

The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke

We know this because elsewhere Jesus tells us: “The good man bringeth forth out of the good treasure of his heart that which is good; and the evil man bringeth forth out of the evil treasure of his heart that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaketh." (Lk. 6:45) Jesus also said: "And He said to them, “Ye are they who justify yourselves before the face of men, but God knoweth your hearts; for that which is exalted among men is an abomination before the face of God." (Lk. 16:15)

St. Paul

Expanding on the words of Jesus, St. Paul preached that any virtue must not be from the surface, but rather has to spring from the heart. "But thanks be to God, that ye were slaves of sin, but ye obeyed from the heart, to which form of teaching ye were delivered. And having been freed from sin, ye were made slaves to righteousness." (Rom. 6:17-18) "For with the heart one believeth unto righteousness." (Rom. 10:10)

Photograph of St. John of Kronstadt

The person who is parched with thirst or faint with hunger thinks of almost nothing other than how and where he might quench them as quickly as possible." Then he points out that satisfaction of the physical need is met "with great yearning and joy."

The saint goes on to point out that physical hunger occurs because the body "lack[s] certain elements."

This explanation helps us to see how Christ's emphasis on hungering and thirsting for righteousness has to follow on the previous beatitude of mourning, as on a ladder of spiritual ascent, so to speak.  A previous article (Morelli, 2012) points out the similarity between the stepwise order of the beatitudes, as discussed by Forest, (1999), the scriptural account of Jacob's ladder (Gen 28: 11-19) and the classic spiritual guide of St. John of the Ladder (1991), The Ladder of Divine Ascent.

Icon of the Ladder in Jacob's Dream

Morelli (2012) also describes the proper understanding of what Christ meant by mourning. Based on the understanding of the Church Fathers such as St. Gregory of Nyssa, Nicolas Cabasilas and Blessed Theophylact, Morelli concludes that "mourning is sorrow regarding our separation from God due to our sinfulness." As a consequence, we also "focus on the sins we have committed due to our pride-fullness, our separation from God, and we mourn them."

This separation from God and the sense of the sinfulness that caused this separation are the spiritual elements lacking that, to use St. John of Kronstadt's words, produce our yearning, our hunger and thirst for righteousness.

What is righteousness?

St. Gregory of Nyssa (1954) gives us the most succinct meaning of Our Lords words. Righteousness is the entirety of virtue that is proclaimed by Christ in the Gospels. St. Gregory tells us:

He [Our Lord Jesus Christ] includes in this every other form of virtue. Thus a man is equally blessed if he hungers for prudence or fortitude, or temperance or anything else that comes under the concept of virtue. For any one form of virtue divorced from the others, could never by itself be perfect virtue. . . .

St. Gregory is embracing the spirit of Our Lord’s reference to not breaking even the least of the commandments when He states: “Whosoever then shall break one of the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens.” (Mt. 5:19). St. Gregory applies this ethos; to be righteous, one must be virtuous in all virtue.

St. Mark the Ascetic

t. Mark the Ascetic has a psychological and spiritually perspicacious understanding of the foundation of all virtue. He tells us: “No single virtue by itself opens the door of our nature; but all the virtues must be linked together. . . .”(Philokalia I)

Later, in his Homily on Righteousness, St. Gregory goes on to tell us:

Therefore we learn from the Lord this sublime doctrine that the only truly and solidly existing thing is our zeal for virtue. For if a man has perfected himself in any of the higher things, such as continence, temperance, devotion to God or any other of the sublime teachings of the Gospel, his joy in these achievements does not quickly pass away, but is truly solid, lasting his whole lifetime.

How similar is St. Gregory's reflection to St. Paul's exhortation: "Or do ye not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Cease being led astray; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor masturbators, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor coveters, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor raveners shall inherit the kingdom of God." (1Cor. 6:9-10)

Teaching Children to be hungry for Virtue

Jean Piaget

In attempting to convey to children the meaning of this Beatitude two concepts must be joined together; the concept of hungering and thirsting and the concept of the spiritual meaning of righteousness. Based on the work of Swiss developmental cognitive psychologist Jean Piaget (1952)ⁱ, I suggested in a previous paper (Morelli, 2012) that any instruction start out with “practical, perceiving and doing, action bound" (Flavell, 1985) examples and exercises.

In helping children (and even adults) understand this Beatitude, some exercises might include reading about different scenarios and then eliciting discussion, simulating real life experiences, watching real life experiences, commenting on picture scenes, giving a talk or presentation to family members or church school class. It is important to keep in mind the findings of research educational psychologists such as Edgar Dale (1946, 1953). He developed the Cone of Learning that illustrated his  findings that what is actively learned is more influential than that what is passively learned. Making spiritual connections between concrete and abstract ideas and having them actually influence the hearts, minds and actions of our children (and ourselves) should be the main goal of Christian education.

In giving children (and ourselves) these scenarios it is also important to keep in mind the work of Lev Vygotsky (1978) on the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The ZPD could be described  as psycho-physical processes that are in the process of maturing. They may be considered seeds or buds of concept formation and behavior that will eventally become fruitful.

For children, Vygotsky often recommended exercises that would allow a child to pretend or playact a role "above" their normative age. He wrote: "In play a child is always above his average age, above his daily behavior; in play it is as though he were a head taller than himself."

Some scenarios that could be discussed and, even more beneficial, acted out:

• Setting I: A fellow student at school says, "I saw the answers to the test we are going to take, do you want to know them"?
• Setting II: You are walking behind your parents in a drug store parking lot and see a wallet on the ground. What do you do?
• Setting III: A new student, with a decidedly foreign accent, comes into the class in the middle of the semester. Others think she is strange and mock her. What do you do?
• Setting IV: You are having some friends over to your house and your parents are out for a few minutes. You drop a dish and it breaks. What do you do?
• Setting V: You are with a friend in a candy store and the clerk steps into the back room. Your friend says, "Here grab this candy bar and put it in your pocket; he can't see us now." What do you do?
• Setting VI: You are standing in line to check out of a store. In front of you is a paralyzed man in a wheel chair. No one is behind you. He drops a hundred dollar bill from his side pouch on the wheel chair but doesn't notice. What do you do?
• Setting VII: A high school classmate of yours is the niece of the owner of a drug store and works there part time. She tells you she can grab a bunch of condoms and give them to you. What do you do?
• Setting VIII: You really like singing in chorus, but your friends at school think it is "lame." What do you do?
• Setting IX: You are at a high school classmate’s house party. His parents should be home but aren't. He says he has a stash of booze and pot and says, "Let's have fun, come on try it, you are a "wussy" if you don't." What do you do?
• Setting X: Your parents are away for the weekend. You always go to Divine Liturgy and your brother drives you.  They will never know if you skip. What do you do?
• Setting XI: You love pizza. You already had two slices and want more. Some of your friends haven't taken theirs yet. There are only a couple of slices left. What do you do?
• Setting XII: Your best friend tells you, "Look at this great XXX site I found on the Internet; let's look at it and fool around. I look at it all the time and make myself feel 'really' good; everybody does it." What do you do?

Parents, catechists and youth workers should be able to make up similar scenarios. Even from the point of view of society we can think of doing the right thing as exercising moral courage. There are some youth organizations that promote such action. For example, from the Boy Scouts of America Oath: being "morally straight"ⁱⁱ The following is but a partial list of unrighteousness easily found by studying Sacred Scripture in Church Tradition: Adultery, Agnosticism, Alcohol (and/or Drug) intoxication; Atheism,  Anger, Arguing, Boasting, Deceitfulness, Disobedience, Envy, Extortion, Fornication, Gossiping, Greediness, Hypocrisy, Homosexuality, Idol worship (the Occult), Insulting, Mercilessness, Murder, Rudeness, Pride, Slander, Stealing, Unforgiving, Unjustness.

Connecting being "morally straight" with spiritual righteousness.

Based on the research findings of educational psychologists, Morelli (2010) pointed out the necessity of making connections between new thoughts and actions to be learned  with material already known. Also important is that the material be organized and be applied to multiple settings. In applying these principles to spirituality Morelli writes:

Always start out by asking children what they know, or think, about whatever is up for discussion. It could be a catechetical topic, like in the example above: "What is the Church? Or a moral issue like same-sex marriage. Four caveats: 1) let the child speak; 2) don't answer your own questions; and 3) don't assume you know what the child knows or is going to say; 4) don't preach. Help the child make connections based on the child's understanding by asking questions. If the child does not make a connection, show the child what it is and then query the child's understanding.

Based on the work of Piaget, Dale and Vygotsky discussed above, these same principles should be applied when acting out, (playacting) and/or performing such morally challenging scenarios.

Making connections with the teachings of Sacred Scripture is also important. Consider some of the following passages:

St. Paul

• “And wisdom is justified by her children!” (Mt 11:19)
• "May it not be! But let God be true and every man a liar; even as it hath been written: “That Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, and shalt prevail when Thou art judged.”(Rm 3:4)
• “But I say to you, that every idle word, whatsoever men shall speak, they shall render an account concerning it in the day of judgment. “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”  (Mt. 12:36,37)
• “Cease judging according to appearance, but judge the righteous judgment.” (Jn 7:24)
• "Ye see then that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." (Ja 2:24) (On this passage Blessed Theophylact (The Orthodox New Testament, 2004) comments: “When he says, ‘by works,’ he does not mean by the law, such as circumcision and such things, but works of virtue, righteousness, and the like.” (P.G. 125:335A (col. 1161))
• "Therefore let not sin be reigning in your mortal body, so that ye obey it in its desires. Cease presenting your members as weapons of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God, as those alive from the dead, and your members as weapons of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Rm 6:12-14)
• St. John Chrysostom (The Orthodox New Testament, 2004), commenting on St. Paul's teaching, writes: “To show that it is not through force or necessity that we are held down by wickedness, but willingly, he does not say, ‘let it not tyrannize,’ a word which implies necessity, but ‘let it not be reigning.’...Sin has no power of its own, but from thy remissness. After saying, ‘let it not be reigning,’ he indicates the manner of this reigning, bringing forward and saying, ‘so that ye obey it in its desires.’” (Hom. 11, P.G. 60:533 (col. 486))
• "For with the heart one believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesseth unto salvation." (Rom. 10:10)
• “‘This is the covenant which I will covenant with them after those days,’ saith the Lord, ‘I will give My laws into their hearts, and write them upon their minds,’” (Heb. 10:16)

. . .for they shall be filled. (Mt 5: 6)

The fulfillment that Jesus is teaching us in this Beatitude is related to what He has told we should hunger and thirst after: the Kingdom of Heaven and not the kingdom of men. St. Matthew goes on to record Jesus words: "Be taking heed not to do your alms [righteous deeds] before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise ye have no reward with your Father Who is in the heavens." (Mt. 6:1) St. Paul (Eph 5:1-5) makes it explicit that we are filled in the Kingdom of God:

Keep on becoming imitators of God, as beloved children. And be walking in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smelling fragrance. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you—even as it is becoming to saints—and filthy conduct, and foolish talking or jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that every fornicator or impure person, or coveter (who is an idolater), hath no inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ and of God.

The Kingdom of God

To have an understanding of what the Kingdom of God is we have to have spiritual perception. We are reminded of this by the petition in the Trisagion Prayer at the start of the Divine Liturgy and of daily prayers: "[God] who art in all places and fillest all things; Treasury of good things and Giver of life." This is certainly not a worldly, earthly kingdom, neither is it a kingdom that merely encompasses the cosmos, but it embraces all there is, both created and uncreated. However, as mankind is a creature of body and soul, and by God's grace that soul is eternal, it must be kept in mind that we have both material and spiritual grounding in God's Kingdom.

We may, by God's will and grace, be filled in our material existence, but the more important is that we be filled in our spiritual existence. St. Paul (Rm 8:28) reminds us, "And we know that to those who love God all things work together for good, to those who are called according to purpose." Sometimes the things of this world work for good, such as when Jesus told the listeners of His Sermon on the Mount:

But if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into an oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore do not become anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’ For all these things the nations seek after; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye need all of these things. But be seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Mt. 6:30-33)

St. James tells the readers of his Epistle:

But the wisdom from above indeed is first pure, then peaceable, equitable, easily entreated, full of mercy and of good fruits, impartial and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace. (Ja 3:17-18)

It may not be that this final peace, "the fruit of righteousness," will occur until the world to come. But this realization is in accord with all that Jesus told us of the higher value of the world to come over the world we are in now. Once again, from the spiritual treasure Jesus delivered to us in the Sermon on the Mount:

Cease treasuring up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth destroy, and where thieves dig through and steal; but be treasuring up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth spoil, and where thieves do not dig through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Mt 6:19-21)

Discrimination "the queen and crown of all virtues"

St. John of Damaskos (Philokalia II) tells us that ". . .discrimination is greater than any other virtue, and is the queen and crown of all virtues." St. Theodoros the Great Ascetic (Philokalia II) puts discrimination in very practical terms that can serve as a guide for teaching us, and our children, to understand the great difference between that which is perishable, that is to say chaff, versus that which is wheat, the imperishable, immeasurable treasure of heaven:

Yet the rejection of material wealth, or of fame, may distress the intelligence; for the soul, still bound to such things, is pierced by many passions. . . .a soul attached to wealth and praise cannot mount upwards. . . .For if the soul is persuaded that only the beauty which is beyond everything is to be regarded as truly beautiful, while of other things the most beautiful is that which is most like the supreme beauty, and so on down the scale, how can it relish silver, gold or game, or any other degrading thing?

Putting into practice the psychological exercises discussed above would be an aid to learning what is of true value. To do this, we can start with St. Ephraim the Syrian's (1997) counsel that we must contemplate "death and what accompanies it," as it is essential to our attaining the Kingdom of Heaven. He writes about this very graphically:

The days and the hours, like thieves and robbers, rob and steal from you. The thread of your life is gradually torn and shortened. The days deliver your life up to burial, the hours lay it in the grave, and together with the days and the hours does your life on earth disappear.

The purpose of this exercise is not to impel towards dysfunctional emotional anxiety but to implant psychological and spiritual hope that can lead to eternal bliss. As we pray in the Byzantine Funeral Service, may each of us, like the thief on the cross, become a "citizen of Paradise."

St. John of Damascus

The Idiomela by St. John the Monk of Damascus, said at our Funeral Service, takes up for us what happens in the grave:

I called to mind the Prophet, as he cried: I am earth, and ashes; and I looked again into the graves and beheld the bones laid bare, and I said: Who then is the king or the warrior, the rich man or the needy, the upright or the sinner? Yet, O Lord, give rest unto thy servant with the righteous.

The discrimination exercise is to examine anything from the earth, be it a material technological gadget, or something in the social domain, praise, flattery, a trophy, and to study what happens to it over time. The use of a graphic can be very helpful. A scenario can be set up combining a past historical event with some material or social 'treasure' that exists in one's life today. Consider the detail in the historical event of the Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD.

Aftermath of the Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius

Once again, some questions can be asked prompting discriminating what is transient and perishable, that last unto Eternal Life.

Look at the picture. Suppose some of these people had a computer, game station, Smartphone, or an award, diploma or trophy, what would it look like? What meaning would it have now? Suppose one of these people had great fame and received huge praise, what would it mean now?

Now consider that Jesus in His human body was crucified and died for our salvation. He put aside all earthly glory and comfort, in obedience to the Father, so that we might have what is imperishable.

Jesus was in the tomb for three days.

But we know Jesus conquered death by His death and in three days rose from the dead.

Making connections with Sacred Scripture and the various Paschal hymns and prayers would be very educationally and spiritually effective. I pray that what immediately comes to mind for all is the most well known hymn: "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and on those in the tombs bestowing life."

"If you have no works do not speak on virtue," wrote St. Isaac of Syria (Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2011).

Entering the Kingdom of God does not come cheaply and takes cooperation with God's grace and sincere partaking of the Holy Mysteries, especially Holy Confession. St. John of Kronstadt (2003) explains:

Satiety of the soul is similar [to satiety of physical hunger and thirst]. It means calming our spiritual forces through heartfelt repentance for sins, cleansing them through grace, and acquiring the strength to do good, which we did not have when we worked for sin and which Jesus Christ, our Peace, our Righteousness and our Strength, gives to us.

St. Isaac of Syria (Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2011) would have us consider the question: "In what field did you hire yourself out, and who will pay you your wages at the sunset of your separation?

St. Gregory of Nyssa (1954) succinctly puts it this way: "The desire for virtue is followed by possession of what is desired; and the interior goodness brings at the same time unceasing joy to the soul." This brings us full circle back to our ultimate, that is to say highest, satisfaction that is critically linked to putting our hunger and thirst for God before any hunger and thirst for the things of this world.

The death of author and controversialist Gore Vidal last week brought an end to one of America's most gifted and flamboyantly offensive literary voices. Eugene Luther Gore Vidal was born in 1925 on the campus of the United States Military Academy at West Point. For decades, Vidal was one of America's most outrageous men of letters. His life was marked by a long series of confrontations and he died as one of the nation's most famous and infamous literary figures.

Like many in his literary generation, Vidal was born to privilege, but suffered from an unhappy childhood. His father, an aviation pioneer, was the head of civilian aviation in the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and later became a founder of TWA. His mother was a deeply troubled socialite who was the daughter of U.S. Senator Thomas P. Gore of Oklahoma. Most of Vidal's childhood was spent in the Gore home in Washington, D.C. Vidal's mother later married Hugh D. Auchincloss, stepfather to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and the young Vidal lived for some time on the Auchincloss estate in northern Virginia. He attended prominent private schools including St. Albans School in Washington and Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, from which he graduated.

At St. Albans, Vidal dropped his first two names and identified himself simply as Gore Vidal, believing even then that it would be a better name for a literary personality. At the same school, Vidal developed a romance with another boy, Jimmie Trimble, who was killed in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II.

As Charles McGrath of The New York Times reported, Vidal claimed to have had over 1,000 sexual encounters with both men and women before the age of 25. Though he described his own preference for "same-sex sex," Vidal denied the existence of both heterosexuals and homosexuals. Literary critic Michael Dirda of The Washington Post explained, "Again and again he insisted that everyone is really bisexual: 'There is no such thing as a homosexual or heterosexual person. There are only homosexual or heterosexual acts. Most people are a mixture of impulses if not practices.'"

Upon his death, he was described by The Wall Street Journal as "a slashing literary provocateur and by The New York Times as both "an Augustan figure" and an "elegant, acerbic, all-around man of letters." He was known for his outrageous public appearances and his leftist political views. In one famous encounter, Vidal opposed conservative publisher and author William F. Buckley, Jr. in a face-off during televised coverage of the riotous 1968 Democratic National Convention. The two exchanged insults in an infamous outburst and nearly came to physical blows before a live national audience. Nothing quite like it has happened in the mainstream media ever since.

Gore Vidal ran for elective office twice, losing a race for Congress from New York and a race for a Senate seat from California. He described himself as a populist but did not seem to like people. He once said, "I'm exactly as I appear. There is no warm, lovable person inside. Beneath my cold exterior, once you break the ice, you find cold water."

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His literary talents were prodigious, though he scandalized the elites early in his career by writing a novel openly celebrating homosexuality. That 1948 novel, The City and the Pillar, was dedicated to Jimmie Trimble. Vidal found himself sidelined from the literary establishment with that novel, called pornographic by some reviewers, and he went to Hollywood, where he established both a reputation and a fortune as a screenwriter and dramatist. He rewrote the screenplay of Ben-Hur and was involved in a host of other projects for the movies and television.

He re-entered literary life with a series of novels. One of these, Myra Breckenridge (1968), was one of the first depictions of sex-reassignment surgery. He lived with a male companion for many years in Italy in what was described as a platonic relationship, later moving back to the United States.

Most of the media coverage after his death dealt extensively with his homosexuality and radical politics. He claimed, for example, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew in advance of Pearl Harbor and that President George W. Bush knew in advance of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Many also mentioned his antipathy to Christianity.

But the true nature of Gore Vidal's theological protest was largely, if not totally, missing from the national coverage. In his 1992 Lowell Lecture at Harvard University, Vidal attacked not just Christianity, but the very notion of monotheism.

In his essay, "Monotheism and its Discontents," based on the lecture at Harvard, Vidal perceptively and blasphemously blamed the existence of a binding sexual morality on monotheism.

The great unmentionable evil at the center of our culture is monotheism," Vidal asserted, "From a barbaric Bronze Age text known as the Old Testament three anti-human religions have evolved - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These are sky-god religions.

He went on to describe the "sky-god" as patriarchal and jealous. "He requires total obedience from everyone on earth, as he is in place not just for one tribe but for all creation."

He claimed that America's founders were "not enthusiasts of the sky-god," but that devotees have had an inordinate influence throughout most of the nation's history. "From the beginning, sky-godders have always exerted great pressure in our secular republic," he argued. "Also, evangelical Christian groups have traditionally drawn strength from the suppressed." He blamed the "sky-godders" for "their innumerable taboos on sex, alcohol, gambling."

In one scathing paragraph, he pressed his case:

Although many of the Christian evangelists feel it necessary to convert everyone on earth to their primitive religion, they have been prevented - so far - from forcing others to worship as they do, but they have forced - most tyrannically and wickedly - their superstitions and hatred upon all of us through the civil law and through general prohibitions. So it is upon that account that I now favor an all-out war on the monotheists.

He was not reluctant to state his main concern:

Christians should pay close attention to Gore Vidal's argument, but the mainstream media have almost uniformly ignored it. The obituaries have celebrated his literary gifts and noted his radical political ideas and rejection of Christianity, but not his call for "all-out war on the monotheists."

We should realize that Vidal's rejection of monotheism, though blasphemous, was truly perceptive. He was certainly correct that a binding and objective morality requires a monotheistic God who both exists and reveals himself. He was also correct in pointing to the fact that a secularized Europe has largely abandoned a biblical morality when it comes, most specifically, to sexual behavior.

Gore Vidal was a controversialist, but in making this argument, he was simply saying aloud what many others in his social class and literary circles were thinking. He outlived most of his contemporaries and critics, but he lived a tragic life and he died a tragic death. Christians, sobered and saddened by the legacy of this "slashing literary provocateur" must not miss the troubling parable of Gore Vidal and the Sky God. It tells us a very great deal about the intellectual world Gore Vidal now leaves behind.

Adapted from R. Albert Mohler Jr.'s weblog at www.albertmohler.com.

R. Albert Mohler, Jr. is president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. For more articles and resources by Dr. Mohler, and for information on The Albert Mohler Program, a daily national radio program broadcast on the Salem Radio Network, go to www.albertmohler.com. For information on The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to www.sbts.edu.

Read the entire article on the Christian Post website (new window will open).

A recent federal trial court ruling has warmed the hearts of social conservatives and civil libertarians alike. A judge in Colorado on July 27 protected a Catholic-owned small business against the “free birth control rule”—which requires companies subject to the Affordable Care Act to offer their employees free contraception, sterilization, and other “preventive” services.

The free birth control rule does not yet apply to religious institutions. Houses of worship with faith objections are exempt permanently, and religious institutions operating in the general community do not have to comply until next year. But the regulation—which went into effect on August 1—allows no religious conscience exemptions for private businesses, meaning that all employers who come under the Affordable Care Act must comply or face federal penalties.

William Newland and his siblings, self-insuring owners of Hercules Industries, a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning manufacturing company, did not appreciate being ordered by the federal government to violate the precepts of their Catholic faith. With the help of the Alliance Defending Freedom, the family members and their business (an S corporation in Colorado) sued, claiming (in addition to constitutional arguments) that the free birth control rule violates their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

RFRA was enacted in 1993 in response to a Supreme Court decision that allowed federal drug laws to supersede Native American religious ceremonies that include the use of peyote. Under RFRA, once the Newlands demonstrated that the birth control regulation forces them to violate their faith, which they did, the government had the burden of proving it has a compelling state interest in so doing.

That’s usually a tough nut to crack. As a wild hypothetical to illustrate the concept, the federal government could demonstrate a compelling interest in preventing sincere neo-Aztecs from engaging in human sacrifice. But what is the compelling federal interest in forcing Catholic business owners to provide free birth control? District Court judge John L. Kane found none. Thus, in Newland v. Sebelius, he issued a preliminary injunction shielding the Newlands and their company from the rule’s objectionable provisions pending the final disposition of the case. (Since the court did not apply general constitutional principles in issuing the injunction, the ruling only applies to the plaintiffs. Any other business seeking similar protection will have to file its own lawsuit.)

In the spare reporting about the injunction, few noted the Obama administration’s audacious attempt to emasculate RFRA by claiming that because the family does business as a corporation, RFRA does not apply. “This argument relies upon two key premises,” Judge Kane noted:

First, the government asserts that the burden of providing insurance coverage is borne by Hercules [as distinguished from the Newland siblings as individuals]. Second, the government argues that as a for-profit, secular employer, Hercules cannot engage in an exercise of religion.

In other words, the Obama administration argued that upon entering commerce through a juridical entity such as a corporation, individuals forgo the religious liberty RFRA was enacted to protect.

Because the question is one of “first impression,” Judge Kane declined to decide at this early stage in the case whether a corporation has freedom of religion (as the Supreme Court has ruled it has freedom of political speech), finding instead that the Newlands were sufficiently impacted personally to justify a preliminary injunction.

But that doesn’t settle the matter. And it raises an important question: How would a court determine a corporation’s “religion” under RFRA?

Large, publicly held corporations such as Google or General Electric probably would not be found to have a particular religious belief, given that such companies are owned by millions of individual and institutional shareholders. In contrast, closely held private companies like Hercules Industries will often be able to demonstrate that their owners share a common religious belief, which should then also be attributed to the corporate entity for RFRA purposes.

By attempting to strip the owners of Hercules of their statutory protections because they incorporated their business, the Obama administration showed once again its determination to shrivel the First Amendment’s freedom to exercise one’s religion into mere “freedom of worship.” As Hercules’s attorney Matthew S. Bowman told me, “Apparently the only things a family business may legally pursue—according to the government—are profit and whatever else Washington bureaucrats decide to mandate, which in our case includes contraception, sterilization, and what many believe to be abortion-inducing drugs.” 

The Newland case makes clear that the elections this fall could not be more important for religious liberty. The contrasting viewpoints of the likely judicial nominees of each potential president are obvious. But in addition, a first-term Romney Justice Department would almost surely take a view of religious liberty diametrically opposite that of a second-term Obama DOJ. Romney—who has praised the Newland injunction—would surely scrap the Obama administration’s pinched “freedom of worship” in favor of the Constitution’s “free exercise” of religion.

But it isn’t just the presidency. The makeup of Congress is also crucial. If a court ever rules that juridical entities are not covered by RFRA, Congress will have to amend the law to ensure that religious employers retain the freedom to conduct their businesses in conformity with their religious convictions. Under a Majority Leader Reid and a House speaker Pelosi, good luck with that!

Read the entire article on the Weekly Standard website (new window will open).

A lot of anti-gun sentiment has bubbled up in the wake of the shootings last week at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado. In this incident, as in similar ones before it, people are quick to blame the instruments of death – in some measure, rightly so. Military grade assault rifles do not belong in the hands of civilians. When the framers of the Constitution included the Second Amendment, they had no conception that the people of the future, in their depravity and bloodlust, would invent hand-held weaponry that could kill dozens of humans almost instantaneously. It is bad enough that we have to use such weapons in war; let us not pretend, even if we support the civilian's right to bear arms, that such weapons belong to citizens in peacetime.

However, the debate over gun control, heated as it is, is not hot enough. It does not even begin to address the deeper wounds in our society that continue to manifest themselves, year after year, in the senseless mass murder of innocent people.

Who are these young men, and why do they commit these murders? They have no political program, religious beliefs or ideology to speak of. They do not want money in return for their actions. They seem to have no other motive than a voracious appetite for destruction. The Jihadist Muslims kill with more purpose and meaning than our senseless American murderers.. At least the Jihadists sacrifice themselves by opposing one social order, a Sharia-based Muslim society, to another, modern liberal Western society. They have an object, a goal toward which they are fighting that is good and beautiful to them. In a similar way, at least the killer in Norway last year, as insane as he was, had an ideology and saw himself as forwarding that ideology by killing those whom he believed were opposed to it.

Our American murderers, in contrast, seem to be motivated by nothing, as far as I can see. Indeed, I believe that this is the answer to why these incidents keep happening: they are the final expressions of our cultural love affair with nothingness, of our loss of a center in Christ and its replacement by rampant cultural nihilism. This is the answer under our collective nose, the metaphorical envelope on the table that is hidden in plain sight, as in Poe's story about Detective Dupin. We are so surrounded by relativism and nothingness that we can no longer see it anymore; it is simply the air we breathe.

This is the striking naiveté in the commentary on the Aurora shootings that restricts their relevance to gun control. Let us consider the facts that are forgotten in this restricted conversation: we have killed off all of our cultural heroes, accenting the flaws of those who have gone before us instead of emphasizing their strengths and virtues and the ideals toward which they strove; we have questioned into extinction the traditional understanding that some truths, particularly in the moral sphere, are absolute and absolutely binding upon all of us; and we have exalted everything that is base, barbaric, evil and insane, expecting that somehow our culture will continue to thrive on this noxious, unwholesome food.

Simply look at the content of the recent Batman movies, which were the stage for the Colorado murders last week. This young man had simply taken seriously what was implied in the films themselves: that insanity and evil are to be preferred to what is true, good and beautiful. This is why, for me, the condolences offered to the victims by the director and the actors in the Batman film are so jarring. They created this monster, or at least contributed to its creation, with their exaltation of brutality and senseless cruelty, and then they act as though they are surprised by the senseless, brutal actions of someone who was inspired by the films.

Culture is not a watertight box; what we parade on our movie screens will eventually spill out into social behavior, affecting us all. At least since the 1960's, our culture seems to have forgotten this fundamental truth. I believe that now we are seeing the fruits of it.

One more thing remains to be said about the Colorado shootings, something most news commentators are woefully ignorant of. That is the connection between this murderer's subject of study and his actions. He was a PhD-level student of neuroscience. As many cultural critics have shown (Raymond Tallis with particular trenchancy), neuroscience as it is practiced in most of our universities is an interdisciplinary mish-mash that boils down to scientism and a reductive materialism. All of our human thoughts, goals, achievements and knowledge of the larger narrative into which we fit as God's rational creatures are nothing but the products of synapses firing in the brain. Neuroscience is a cloak for the same materialist and atheist ideology that spawned Marxism. It is the perfect subject of study for a mass murderer, as its first dictum is that living, breathing humans are nothing but biological machines.

There is nothing wrong with talking about prudent gun control legislation in connection with the recent events in Colorado – legislation that would prevent assualt weapons and ammunition from being easily available; however, let us not fool ourselves into thinking that this will get us to the bottom of what happened. Much more subtle cultural surgery is needed to get at the source of the wound. The only solution that I can see for our culture is to turn away from our romance with nihilism and back towards Christ, the center that holds everything else together. Only then can we hope to stem the tide of barbarism and irrationalism that steadily infects ever-wider areas of our culture.

The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who gathereth not with Me scattereth. (Mt. 12:30)

Whosoever then shall break one of the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whosoever shall do and teach them, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens. (Mt. 5:19)

Most of us are aware of the profound moral courage of Dan T. Cathy, the CEO of Chick-Fil-A who had the fortitude to say that marriage should only be between a male and female. It is unusual for me to write a commentary suited for an editorial page, but Cathy's words were so clear and the thousands of Christians who supported him so heartening that I decided to part from my usual practice. Please understand my sole purpose is to affirm the teachings of Christ and how Orthodox Christians should apply them.

This commentary is offered in the spirit of true Christian witness. We are called to model our commitment of Christ and His teachings.  I have written frequently on this theme, especially about the necessity of this witness between parents and children.  I have recommended using news media stories and open-ended Socratic questions in dialogue to explore the Mind of Christ and His Church on these kinds of issues (Morelli, 2010).  Adults can do these between themselves as well.

The response by the mayors of two prominent American cities to the CEO's statement was an egregious over reach of their authority. When the mayors said that the restaurant chain was "not welcome in this city," they indirectly challenged both freedom of speech and religion.  St Ephraim the Syrian (1997) instructs us that: "Blessed is he who does not defile his tongue with slander, for the heart of a slanderer is full of all manner of defilement." Frankly, if I were a resident of either city, I would be offended by the audaciousness of someone who claimed to speak for me while at the same time denying the freedom that allows me to speak. One Chick-Fil-a supporter noting the long lines of those supporting Chick-Fil-A, reported "The one comment I kept hearing from the crowd was 'I hope those people in Washington get the message.'" ⁱ

Waitress taking an order from waiting long line of cars

But speech was not the only freedom attacked. What about the sizable populations of these cities who belong to the orthodox Apostolic Churches (Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches) as well as traditional Protestants and Jews who by implication would also be considered unwelcome in these cities? Their freedom of religion was attacked too. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Chicago Francis Cardinal George had some wise words to say about this:

I was born and raised here, and my understanding of being a Chicagoan never included submitting my value system to the government for approval. Must those whose personal values do not conform to those of the government of the day move from the city? Is the City Council going to set up a ‘Council Committee on Un-Chicagoan Activities’ and call those of us who are suspect to appear before it? I would have argued a few days ago that I believe such a move is, if I can borrow a phrase, ‘un-Chicagoan.’ Approval of state-sponsored homosexual unions has very quickly become a litmus test for bigotry; and espousing the understanding of marriage that has prevailed among all peoples throughout human history is now, supposedly, outside the American consensus…Marriage existed before Christ called together his first disciples two thousand years ago and well before the United States of America was formed two hundred and thirty six years ago. Neither Church nor state invented marriage, and neither can change its nature.ⁱⁱ

In previous articles I echoed the 2005 call of Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev for a moral alliance by the Apostolic Churches on such issues Morelli, 2010a, 2011). This is a perfect event and time to actualize this alliance by all who are true followers of Christ and His Church.

However, extreme humility is required for all Christians in this process. Recall the event in Our Lord's life recorded by St. Matthew:

And behold, one approached and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why callest thou Me good? No one is good, except One-God. But if thou art willing to enter into life, keep the commandments.”  (Mt. 19:16-17)

We know the commandments and that we are all called to obey them.  God's gift to mankind of sexuality is that it is to emulate the relationship of agape love between the persons of the Holy Trinity and the kenotic self-emptying love Christ had for us by taking on our human nature and His crucifixion and death on the cross for our salvation. (Morelli, 2008) Regarding same sex relationships St. Paul make clear Christ's teachings to the Romans when he wrote:

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness in the desires of their hearts, that their bodies be dishonored among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and reverenced and worshipped the creature beyond Him Who created, Who is blessed to the ages. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to passions of dishonor. For both their females exchanged the natural use into that contrary to nature, and in like manner also the males left the natural use of the female, and were burned up in their lust one toward another, males with males working out that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves the recompense which was fitting of their error.

And even as they did not approve to have God in full knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do things which are not fitting; having been filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, guile, malignity; being whisperers, slanderers, hateful to God, insolent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful; who, having fully known the ordinance of God that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do them, but also consent to those who practice them. (Rom. 1:24-32)

St. Paul has a similar message for the Galatians:

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, use of drugs, potions or spells, enmities, strifes, jealousies, fits of anger, intrigues, divisions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revellings, and things like to these; of which I tell you beforehand, even as I also said previously, that they who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal. 5:19-21)

So those who deny there is such a thing as sexual sin, (or illness or infirmity) (heterosexual or homosexual, are deluding themselves. However we must keep in mind that only God can judge and that God's mercy trumps His justice. St. Luke tells us these words of Jesus:

Therefore keep on becoming compassionate, even as your Father also is compassionate. And cease judging, and in no wise shall ye be judged; cease condemning, and in no wise shall ye be condemned; keep on acquitting, and ye shall be acquitted. (Lk. 6: 36-37)

And St. Isaac the Syrian (Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2011) tells us how to understand God's mercy: "As a handful of sand thrown into the great sea, so are the sins of all flesh in comparison with the mind of God".

Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy. And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity. (Ps 50: 1)

ENDNOTES

i http://www.wnd.com/2012/08/americans-flock-to-support-chick-fil-a/

ii http://chicagoist.com/2012/08/02/cardinal_george_enters_the_chick-fi.php

REFERENCES

Alfeyev, H. (2005, April 24). Toward a Catholic-Orthodox Alliance. http://en.hilarion.orthodoxia.org/7_2

Holy Transfiguration Monastery. (ed., trans.).  (2011). The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian(revised, 2nd edition). Boston, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

Morelli, G. (2008, July, 8). Good Marriage XIII: The Theology of Marriage and Sexuality.http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles8/Morelli-Smart%20Marriage-XIII-The-Theology-of-Marriage-and-Sexuality.php.

Morelli, G. (2010a, April 30). Toward healing Church schism: Overview and psycho-theological reflection.www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/toward-healing-church-schism-overview-and-psycho-theological-reflection.

Morelli, G. (2010b, November 25). The Ethos of Orthodox Catechesis: The Mind of the Orthodox Church. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/view/morelli-the-ethos-of-orthodox-catechesis

Morelli, G. (2011). Moral Courage: Something the Apostolic Churches Can Do Now. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/moral-courage-something-the-apostolic-churches-can-do-now

St. Ephraim the Syrian (1997). The Spiritual Psalter. (Br. Isaac E. Lambertsen, trans.) Liberty, TN: St. John of Kronstadt Press.

A message from the President of Society of St. John Chrysostom -- Western Region

Even a cursory reading or exposure to the current news media has made the world aware of the new martyrs among the Christians of the Apostolic Churches in Syria. Christians make up merely 10% of the 22 million inhabitants of Syria, with most belonging to the Greek Orthodox, Melkite-Greek Catholic and Syrian Orthodox Patriarchates of Antioch. A recent Eurasia Review article reported that, "The areas controlled by the opposition are witnessing the rise of radical forms of Sunni Islam with the extremists not willing to live in peace with the Christians.

Many of these gangs and armed groups operate independently of the Free Syrian Army, which rejects such kinds of discrimination against minorities." What was once a peaceful country has become a battleground of destruction, devastation and death. It is feared that a continuation of armed hostilities will result in the mass exodus of Christians similar to what has happened in the ethnic cleansing of the Christians of Iraq and Palestine. Another Eurasia Review article comments: "The extinction of the Middle East’s Christian communities is an injustice of historic magnitude."

What can we do as members of the Society of St. John Chrysostom- Western Region (SSJC-WR)? In the past, I have forwarded to our members and readers the call made for a moral alliance of the Apostolic Churches against pagan secularism and blatant societal de-Christianization. Now I forward the call for all of us to practice the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, both to those who are victims in this tragic conflict and to the perpetrators of these atrocious hostilities as well.

Among the spiritual works of mercy, instructing those in ignorance, comforting those in sorrow, forgiving those inflicting injury and praying for all, stand out as needed in this situation. Among the corporal works of mercy, giving monetary or material aid to those afflicted seems the very least we can do. The Antiochian Archdiocese in North America and the Antiochian Patriarchate, for example, are working to help all those touched with this violence by contributing to the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) and Christian Aid, a key member of the ACT Alliance, which is a coalition of 100 churches and church-related organizations working together in humanitarian assistance and development. Two prominent Catholic agencies, 'Caritas Internationalis' and 'Aid to the Church in Need,' under the direction of the Holy Father and the Vatican, have responded to the persecution of Syrian Christians by aiding those fleeing the horrific violence.

As an act of moral alliance, and certainly in the spirit of SSJC, the Patriarchs of the Apostolic Churches of Syria issued the following joint statement: "We: Ignatius IV Hazim, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Gregorios III Laham, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem, condemn the cowardly criminal act that took place in the Qazaz district of Damascus on the morning of Thursday, 10 May 2012, and condemn all acts of terrorism that have targeted different regions of the beloved Syrian land, claiming the lives of many innocent victims and wounding both civilians and military personnel, the children of this great nation. . . we pray to God to heal the wounds of Syria and Syrians, and to restore the children of the one homeland to one another in love, openness and reconciliation, tolerance, mutual assistance and wisdom. . . ."

We, as members of the SSJC-WR, pray not only that this example of moral alliance be of some support and eventual relief for the beleaguered Syrian Christians, but that it also lead to full unity of all the Apostolic Churches in obedience to Christ's prayer: ". . . that I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep in Thy name those whom Thou hast given Me, in order that they may be one, even as We." (Jn. 17:11)

Chaplain's Corner
Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California

Cognitive psychologists call it mental filter or selective focusing. (Beck, 1995). Basically, this thinking distortion and, most importantly, spiritual error is that one pays attention to one detail in a situation (usually an inauspicious factor) and fails to focus on all the details, especially factors that may be favorable. One contemporary elder of the Eastern Church, Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain, (Angeloglou, 1998) describes it this way. People can be divided into two categories. "The first resembles the fly. . . it is attracted by dirt." He goes on to whimsically note that if the fly that was in a garden could talk it might say: "I don't even know what a rose looks like." People who resemble the fly "always look for the bad things in life, ignoring and refusing the presence of the good." Other people are like the bee that can be found in a garden "always looking for something sweet and nice to sit on."

A brief psychological self-test may help us to see what kind of outlook we take. In uncertain times, do I expect the worst or the best? Will something go wrong for me if it could go wrong? Do I see the future as bleak or bright? Do I think that good things happening to me are rare or common?

We can look no further than Judeo-Christian Sacred Scripture for examples of righteous figures who, despite obstacles, focused on the good and emerged victorious. Joseph, (Gn 38) thrown into pit by his brothers, went on to be a ruler among the Egyptian people. We learn that the "Lord was with him, and made all that he did to prosper in his hand." (Gn 39:3). The prophet Job, despite unrelenting suffering, remained focused on God and finally prospered due to His faithfulness. In the New Testament Scripture we read about the Apostles Peter (Acts 12) and Paul (Acts 16) who, despite arrest and imprisonment, persisted in focusing on their devotion to Christ and not on the horrors of prison and were delivered from their calamity and eventually attained sainthood.

We should note that optimistic thinking crosses religious lines. Hindu teacher, Mahatma Gandhi, notes: "Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive, because your words become your behavior." (Gold, 2002). Gandhi goes on to point out that such a focus on that which is favorable will go on to shape our habits, values and destiny.

The lesson for us is to maintain our psychological and spiritual health by working to consistently extend our focus to include gratitude for the care and providence that God has for us, being persistent and seeking needed professional help well. As St. Isaac of Syria tells us: "There is a provident God who steers the affairs of the world, and with each one of us there is a Guardian who does not miss anything, and whose watchfulness never relaxes or grows weak." (Brock, 1997)

REFERENCES

Ageloglou, Priestmonk Christodoulos. (1998). Elder Paisios of The Holy Mountain. Mt. Athos, Greece: Holy Mountain.

Beck, J.S. (1995). Cognitive Therapy: Basics and Beyond. The Guilford Press: New York.

Brock, S. (1997). The Wisdom of St. Isaac the Syrian. Fairacres Oxford, England: SLG Press.

Gold, T. (2002), Open Your Mind, Open Your Life: A Book of Eastern Wisdom. Kansas City, MO: Andrew McMeel Publishing.

Roads to the Temple: Truth, Memory, Ideas, and Ideals in the Making of the Russian Revolution, 1987-1991. By Leon Aron (Yale University Press, June 2012). 496 pages

“There are different ways to understand how revolutions work,” writes Leon Aron in his new book Roads to the Temple: Truth, Memory, Ideas, and the Ideals in the Making of the Russian Revolution, 1987-1991 that chronicles the collapse of Soviet Communism during Glasnost from 1987-1991. The most dominant is structuralism, an approach that draws from Marxist thought and sees the state as the central actor in social revolutions. In the structuralist view revolutions are not made, they happen.

Aron explains that structuralism has some merit because of its chronological linearity. It can reveal the events that lead from point A to B to C; an important function because the historian’s first step is to grasp what actually happened. But structuralism also has a grave flaw: the materialist assumptions (“objective factors”) informing it are deaf to the “enormously subversive influence of ideas.”

Structuralism, specifically, is subservient to Marxist dogma, particularly the relegation of the ideas into the category of idealism (non-being). It defines man as a passive actor in the fixed and impersonal currents that drive history that renders the historian blind to man’s moral character, particularly constituents such as “truth, memory, ideas, and ideals” that shape purpose and meaning and by them drive events.

Glasnost was a social revolution of the first order driven by these moral constituents, Aron writes. It arose not by the will of the Soviet state but because the state was already weakened. Aron quotes Tocqueville who first described how weakened states till the soil that leads to their dissolution:

It is not always that when things go from bad to worse that revolutions break out. On the contrary, it oftener happens that when a people … suddenly finds the government relaxing its pressures …Thus the most perilous moment for a bad government is one when it seems to mend its ways … Patiently endured for so long as it seemed beyond redress, a grievance appears to become so intolerable once the possibility of removing it crosses men’s minds.

Glasnost arose out of Perestroika, the effort to revive the moribund Russian economy by introducing market-based reforms and foster an increasing openness to the West. Internal progress was stymied by the moral rot that pervaded all levels of Russian society (alcoholism, cronyism, abortion, waste, fraud, despair, censorship, food shortages, murders, exiles). Perestroika could not succeed until the rot was first confronted.

Dry Tinder

Although Glasnost officially began in 1987, an event one year earlier lit the fuse. Unlike earlier Soviet rulers, Mikhail Gorbachev had a visceral dislike of the brutal terror that forced the compliance of Russian subjects to centralized economic planning. He choose instead to relax the restraints of the state on its subjects. After heated debate in the Politburo, the anti-Stalinist film Pokoyanie or Repentance was released and the floodgates opened. Russians were about to breathe the air denied them since Lenin first seized power.

Glasnost quickly took the shape of a national repentance in the full sense of that term. Censorship disappeared, not by state decree (the leadership had originally hoped to limit debate) but because millions of Russians sensed the shackles being broken and joined in to expunge the lies that held the terror state in place.

The discussions took place in journals and newspapers, on television, in homes and marketplaces. A flood of written material was produced, much of which Aron studied to shape his historical narrative,  selecting that which that illustrated with great clarity the radical nature of this second revolution.

The recovery of the past is laborious and often painful because the loss of historical memory creates the loss of individual identity. The New Man of the Collective, that febrile illusion of materialists everywhere  – be it Jacobin, Soviet, Nazi or any other incarnation – was the first lie that needed to be named and repudiated.

The loss of historical memory created what Aron calls the “deafened zone,” a place in the national consciousness that contained no memories, that was enforced by an exhaustive policy of censorship that not only concealed facts but by the “hourly construction and maintenance of a ‘parallel,’ ‘brilliant’” reality created a history that never existed. Orwell’s 1984, Huxley’s Brave New World, and Grossman’s Life and Fatewere published for the first time during Glasnost and did much to define what the “deafened zone” actually was.

One develops moral self-awareness first by hearing truth and then seeing and acting on it. Once the “brilliant” history was revealed as the continuous cascade of lies that it was, the voices of those muted by the cacophony of the state-controlled media began to be heard, faintly at first but louder as more witnesses stepped forward. First up were those who recalled seeing friends and relatives of the millions murdered by the barbarous regime.

It is difficult to grasp the scope of Soviet brutality. The best we can do is examine the individual stories and multiply them again and again until the limits of imagination are reached. The suffering is too great for any one person to perceive although people who value truth will see that the ideas driving the regime were conceived in the fetid bowels of hell. Nothing else explains such abject depravity.

Myths Shattered

This was only the beginning. “Any lasting polity espouses and propagates essential beliefs by which it lives,” writes Aron, and the Soviet Union “spawned a powerful mythology that legitimized political, economic, and social arrangements.” Sustained daily by constant propaganda and censorship and the restriction on travel except for the elites, it imposed severe penalties on any new version of the Soviet past and present. Yet, between 1987 and 1989, “virtually every constituent myth of this tale was shattered by uncensored truths.”

Legitimizing myths were becoming “unraveled” — a very dangerous development for the leadership because delegitimizing of the regime was a direct challenge to its power. Aron chronicles in considerable detail the unraveling that, in historical terms, happened in the blink of an eye. Here too Russian intellectuals began to weigh in. Economists pored over the “official” economic reports and pointed out they were riddled with lies; military analysts revealed the war in Afghanistan was a defeat (Russians believed they won) and  unearthed the truth behind the Great Patriotic War, particularly Stalin’s enthrallment with Hitler and the millions fed as fodder to the Nazi war machine because of his inept leadership.

Aron describes too the damage that forced collectivization imposes on the soul. Glasnost enabled the Russian to see that Homo Sovieticus was both a “symbol of a spiritual crisis and its epitome.” The Soviet Man forgot how to work, was driven by envy, sloth, lying, and stealing, driven to drink, both humiliated and humiliator. The virtue necessary for stability and progress was methodically and mercilessly ground out of almost everyone. Despair left the soul and the nation bare.

Moral crises are healed by repentance. In Greek, repentance (metanoia) means “a turning or change of the mind;” literally a new way of seeing. Although Aron does not mention it, the call to repentance was made years earlier. In 1975  From Under the Rubble, a book by Alexander Solzhenitsyn and six other dissidents (all living in Russia at the time) was published that outlined with uncanny accuracy the steps necessary for the Russian restoration.

Glasnost, like every modern revolution, “was about reclaiming and extending human dignity … ” At first it imposed on the Russian leadership a new definition of socialism (Gorbachev sought to meld the new found freedom with socialist ideas) and foreign affairs. As time went on however, it became increasingly clear that the great collectivist experiment needed to be scrapped altogether. New ideas emerged that proclaimed that the quality of domestic and foreign policy were indissolubly dependent on the moral health of the citizenry. Universal values were to be recovered and implemented. A new democracy had to be crafted that was “based on deep-rooted morality and conscience.”

Aron’s masterful work may also contain a prophetic warning.  Russia repudiated the materialist ideas that eroded the barriers against the tyranny while the nations of the West are embracing them. If Russia’s history proves moral renewal breaks the shackles of darkness, then our moral corruption may be blinding us to an enslavement coming our way.

David Gelernter, the Yale professor of computer science, has an alarming yet cautiously exuberant book out, America-Lite: How Imperial Academia Dismantled Our Culture (and Ushered In the Obamacrats). He tells us where we are and how and why we got here, and gives readers a pep talk,   encouraging them to be the light (not “lite”) we need. He talks about it all with National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez.

KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: Is there a precise moment where you can say, yes, yes, this is the moment when America went “lite”?

DAVID GELERNTER: The Cultural Revolution itself began right after World War II (when our leading colleges were still in the hands of the generally centrist WASP elite) and culminated around 1970, when intellectuals were in control, and preparing to use these universities as platforms for imposing their worldview throughout the schools’ establishment and cultural elite.

So America went lite starting around 1970. The big change was complete by the 1980s: In ’83, “A Nation at Risk” described the mediocrity of our schools; in ’87, Bloom’s Closing of the American Mind described the intellectual corruption of our universities. Both times, these disasters had (of course) already happened. And Bill Bennett, secretary of education under Reagan from ’85 to ’88, repeatedly drew the nation’s attention to this cultural disaster.

So by (say) 1990, America-Lite was a done deal. Each year since, we’ve seen a new crop of largely ignorant high-school and college graduates (children we have failed to educate) released into an ever dumber and denser cultural atmosphere.

LOPEZ: Is it a bit dramatic to call what’s happened here an actual “cultural revolution”? Was there blood? Mandates?

GELERNTER: American culture had its throat slit and bled to death at our feet. Isn’t that revolutionary enough? The blood is only metaphorical, but to the 40 percent of [all] infants [who are] born to single mothers this year, the consequences will be real.

In a piddling few decades, the world’s most powerful, influential cultural establishment happened to get demolished and rebuilt from the ground up. What had been basically a Christian, patriotic, family-loving, politically moderate part of society became contemptuous of biblical religion, of patriotism, of the family, of American greatness. The American cultural elite used to resemble (more or less) the rest of America. Today it disdains the rest of America. That’s a revolution.

Example: Look at (just) the arts in 1960 vs. 1990. In 1960, the whole country knew Robert Frost’s poetry; Leonard Bernstein was reaching large TV audiences for classical music with his Young People’s Concerts on CBS; theater and ballet were thriving, reaching larger audiences all the time; Hemingway was only the most famous of America’s serious novelists; and American avant-garde painting was a topic for Life magazine. (And European artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, and Giacometti were international celebrities.) In 1990, silence. High culture had become a term to laugh at. No blood; no mandates. Just an empty lot covered with weeds where the art used to be.

LOPEZ: Why is the “smashing of etiquette” so important? When I let — and expect and welcome — a man to hold the door for me and let me have the first cab again, will I know we’ve come through this storm?

GELERNTER: If these things are done in the archly cynical, self-conscious, self-mocking, God-forbid-I-should-actually-be-serious style in which we specialize (we post-cultural zombies) then of course they’ll mean nothing.

But if they’re done as a matter of course — like speaking grammatically — then (trivial as they are in themselves) they will speak eloquently about the actor and the society he comes from. These things used to be important because they said “this is an ‘ought’ society where we take our duties as seriously as our rights — not an inch-deep, egomaniac society where our rights are sacred but our duties are all owed to ourselves.”

LOPEZ: What was the “Great Reform” and what’s most important for us to understand about it today?

GELERNTER: In 1945, Yale and Harvard and their colleague institutions, America’s most powerful and influential colleges, were mostly run by and for the WASP elite. They all had intellectuals and scholars among their populations, but the ideal students, faculty, deans, and presidents were social and not intellectual leaders. The Great Reform was a beautiful impulse with dreadful consequences. The major colleges opened their gates to Jews, blacks, women, and other once-excluded groups.

What eventually followed was tragic. As May Day 1970 approached, Kingman Brewster, president of Yale, announced: “I am appalled and ashamed that things should have come to such a pass in this country that I am skeptical of the ability of black revolutionaries to achieve a fair trial anywhere in the United States.” These black revolutionaries were Black Panthers who were on trial for torturing to death one of their own members. They were terrorists and thugs. Or was Brewster expecting — in a sense, legitimizing — an armed insurrection against the American government?

LOPEZ: Why do you, a distinguished professor, call Barack Obama “an airhead liberal”?

GELERNTER: His casual, unscripted comments suggest that he is typical (only more so) of the graduates of his alma maters Columbia and Harvard: Whatever he knows or doesn’t know, he certainly projects no grasp of modern history or any history. He casually rejects the American Creed, which has always centered on American uniqueness, American exceptionalism, America as that city on a hill striving to be worthy to lead the whole world towards freedom, equality, democracy.

Obama doesn’t see it.

LOPEZ: But what about all the talk that he is a deep believer in all that is Left?

GELERNTER: I can’t see that he gives a damn about [being] left-wing or any other principles. He thinks Left and speaks Left because that’s what seems natural to him, where he’s comfortable, what he was trained to think. But did he walk union picket lines, as he promised to? Did he lead the country to a better understanding of cap-and-trade and the horrors of carbon emissions, or (say) a better understanding of the need to protect women from vicious Taliban rule in Afghanistan? Does he care about democracy? If so, why did he support card-check; why does his attorney general oppose photo-ID requirements for voting?

LOPEZ: And a “PORGI (Post-Religious Globalist Intellectuals) establishment.” Is that to get you tea-party cred?

GELERNTER: If we don’t understand who’s running our leading colleges, we can’t even begin to understand our own culture. Our most powerful colleges have gigantic cultural influence through their alumni, graduate, and professional schools (especially their law, journalism, business, and education schools) and their direct influence on sister institutions throughout the nation. So who’s in charge? Once upon a time, there was a powerful WASP elite in this country. Obviously they weren’t all the same, and obviously we can generalize (either that or we can’t think). The WASP elite on the whole was politically moderate and Christian.

And what sort of people are running our powerful colleges today? Or are they so diverse, it is impossible to generalize?

In fact they’re radically un-diverse. They’re not all the same, there are dissenters, but culturally they are far more uniform than the old WASP elite ever were. You won’t find lots of church-goers among them. You won’t find lots of patriots. You will find plenty of intellectuals. You can call the PORGI establishment whatever you like, but there’s no way around the fact that the culturally uniform, conformist group in powerful positions at top colleges are likely to be post-religious and globalist and intellectuals — or at least intellectualizers, would-be intellectuals. So call them whatever you like, but they’re PORGIs to me.

LOPEZ: Why is that “post-religion” bit so important?

GELERNTER: Post-religious thinkers don’t even live on the same spiritual planet as Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish Americans. Old-time atheists struggled with biblical religion and rejected it; modern post-religious thinkers struggled with nothing. Since the Bible and biblical religion underlie the invention of America, it’s hard (unsurprisingly) for post-religious people to understand America sympathetically. Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural, the most sacred of American texts, is (precisely) a sermon describing North and South as equally guilty in God’s eyes for the sin of slavery and, ultimately, for the war itself:

Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”

The quote is from Psalms 19; Reagan’s famous “shining city on a hill” paraphrases the gospels. Expecting post-religious, Bible-ignorant thinkers to grasp America is like expecting a gerbil to sing Pagliacci. The gerbil might be brilliant in his way, but he’ll never make it in opera. (If this be species-ism, make the most of it!) How can my post-religious colleagues and countrymen, many of whom have never even opened a Bible, understand Lincoln or America or Americans?

LOPEZ: What do you mean when you say that “conservatives today are not complacent — but they can’t let themselves become complacent about complacency.”

GELERNTER: They can’t relax and take things easy and let the big, deep problems work themselves out. Conservatives are too apt to be obsessed by politics and to cede culture to their opponents. For a generation, conservatives have shrugged off education, and now they face a hard slog merely to defeat a grandiose failure of a left-liberal president in a disastrous economy, in dangerous times, in what is still a center-right nation. If this isn’t gross Republican incompetence, show me what is.

LOPEZ: Do liberals rage at injustice? Do conservatives love family, friends, and country? Do either do either particularly well? How can such a generalization be helpful outside of a country-music song?

GELERNTER: Yes, honest liberals do certainly rage at injustice. Of course conservatives love family, friends, and country. Not all conservatives are paragons (to say the least) and not all liberals are inch-deep phonies. But liberals and conservatives have chosen different emotions to display on their marquees.

Such generalizations are not merely helpful, they’re mandatory if we hope to stay sane. If conservatives can’t recognize the honest and honorable impulse at the bottom of liberalism, they aren’t serious; they are embarrassments to their fellow conservatives. When liberals can’t do likewise with respect to conservatives, we get the dishonest (sometimes obscene) trash-attacks on a George W. Bush or a Dick Cheney or a Sarah Palin.

LOPEZ: You write that we are “facing a terrible problem with a fairly simple solution. But the problem must be solved soon, or we lose a crucial advantage. There are still plenty of people around who were educated before the cultural revolution and remember the way we were: our schools, colleges, the press and the civilized world generally striving — with partial success at best, but fine persistence — to tell the truth. Principled conservatives and liberals remember it all fondly. They don’t want to go back in time. They don’t want to restore an old world; they want to build a new one that we can be as proud of as William DeVane was proud of America in 1957. We want a country whose national leaders are known for ‘integrity, idealism and skill’; where our college teachers are ‘learned and devoted’; where America herself is ‘the wonder and envy of other nations.’” You add: “In short, we want to go back to telling the truth.” But whose truth, Professor?

GELERNTER: Everyone’s truth. Mankind’s. Truth transcends time, place, and cultural tastes. This is a revealing, sad question for what it says about the pervasiveness of deconstruction, post-structuralism, and other games we play with the truth, all so much easier and more fun than actually finding the truth. Who does Leviticus 19 belong to, or the Ten Commandments? To mankind, and they are true for all mankind. A whole generation has been taught that truth is just a matter of taste. This is false.

Sure, we disagree about evidence. Sometimes we ask the wrong questions. We might be the jury at a murder trial, with twelve different opinions among us and no sure way of knowing who is right. But one thing we do know for sure: The truth exists, whether we can find it or not.

LOPEZ: Is it really possible to move forward with the best of what we’ve had in a united way? Some of the religiously affiliated institutions went bankrupt, or were otherwise bought out or closed. Believers don’t know what they believe quite like they used to, memorizing the Baltimore Catechism and all. Now we’ve got a government openly mandating the religious to the sidelines while using altar boys to make the sale. Aren’t we beyond hope here in any kind of rebuilding? Some of us may remember . . . vaguely . . . but are the blueprints and the work ethic still there?

GELERNTER: This was and remains a religious country. There is nothing hypothetical (barring some unthinkable catastrophe) about the survival and success of Judaism and Christianity in America. Many left-wing religious brands are out of business or flailing helplessly as they take on water, but up-to-date religion never did make sense, because religion is our lifeline and a sort of love letter to our families, our ancestors, and our better selves.

LOPEZ: How is Internet education key to the wave of the future? Wasn’t it a decade ago?

GELERNTER: Sure. I’ll look at this in a personal way: In 1991 I published a book called “Mirror Worlds,” claiming that the cybersphere would turn into (in effect) the smooth surface of a New England millpond, reflecting everything around it. I claimed we’d “stop looking at our computers and start looking through them.” It’s taken some time, but we are clearly moving in that direction. In the mid ’90s I claimed that time-ordered real-time messaging streams (like Twitter or Facebook walls, or blogs, or our own much earlier Lifestreams) would become the dominant model of the Internet and web; it’s taken a while, but it’s coming on stronger all the time. I still think that nearly all the Internet education software I see is lousy. (Naturally I think mine is better!) But this is a trend that is underway, there is no longer any doubt of that.

LOPEZ: How are “self-hating WASPS . . . as important a phenomenon as self-hating Jews”?

GELERNTER: In 1945, WASPs ran our powerful colleges and the cultural elite. No one could force them aside. The feds had yet to dig their nails deep into university flesh. Civil-rights laws were weak. The weather reports all said “increasing liberalism”; that was the mood of the times. Nonetheless, socially prominent WASPs looked at these institutions their ancestors had built, funded, and supplied with art and money and books and buildings — and stepped aside.

As the WASPs passed on the torch, they spoke often about the rightness of tolerance and equal opportunity. But there’s another element to this revolution, and its overtone you only catch if you listen carefully (and yet it’s important).

When the British and French withdrew from their empires during this same post-war generation, they spoke of the justice of what they were doing. But they were also exhausted. They no longer had the heart for imperialism. They blamed themselves and (more) their ancestors for having got them empires to start with. They felt guilty, and we saw the up-flare of European self-hatred that has been so important to the modern world ever since.

Kingman Brewster was a hero of the cultural revolution. He was also a hero of the WASP elite, a lineal descendant of William Brewster, a leader of the Mayflower Pilgrims and of Plymouth Colony; he was suave, charming, accomplished, and brilliant. And he was very publicly “skeptical of the ability of black revolutionaries to achieve a fair trial anywhere in the United States.” Robert Lowell, McGeorge Bundy, and Robert McNamara were all important, self-hating WASPS who came to dislike the nation their ancestors had built.

LOPEZ: You write that “our nation’s most serious problems are not economic or political. They are social, cultural, educational and (above all) spiritual. Conservative thinkers and leaders tend to ignore such problems. But our cultural oxygen is being displaced by a steady seep of poison. We had better act soon; in fact, now.” You then say with some confidence that “we will.” What gives you that confidence? Is it anything you are seeing before your eyes?

GELERNTER: Americans have come through tougher crises. Until the middle of 1942 we got beaten and fell back again and again before the Japanese Empire. The Cold War was half a century of jangling tension. Americans rise to the occasion. That’s our style.

LOPEZ: So much is cultural in America-Lite, but how much rides on this coming election? Is it pivotal on its own, or does it have to bring with it a certain cultural component? A rage and a love made manifest in civil society?

GELERNTER: A lot rides on it; too close for comfort. But let’s assume we beat Obama. Certainly he is ripe for beating. We breathe a sigh of relief — and go on turning out pre-programming, left-tilting airheads, class after class. The exact same thing happens if Romney wins. Obama has become a four-alarm fire in this dangerous world and we must beat him. Even so, America herself will win only when we get rid of our dangerously infected schools and universities and get new ones. In the long run, I am all for Harvard and Yale and Princeton coming back strong — but only after losing the best students year after year to Internet colleges — a string of losses that will change their whole worldview. Internet colleges won’t teach right-wing history to make up for today’s ubiquitous left-wing history. They’ll just teach history.

LOPEZ: Why do you quote Henry James so much?

GELERNTER: He’s got a lot to say.

— Kathryn Jean Lopez is editor-at-large of National Review Online.

Read the entire article on the National Review Online website (new window will open).

Until very recently, the West saw religious liberty as a weight-bearing pillar of human freedom. Thus, the very first clause of the First Amendment (1789) states,

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

More broadly, Article 18 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) provides:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

That’s unequivocal. Freedom of religion means the right to live according to one’s own faith, that is, to “manifest” our religion or belief in practice, both “in public or private,” without interference from the state.

These days, that and $2 will buy you a small cup of Starbucks coffee. Strident secularism is on the march and freedom of religion is the target, with secularist warriors attempting to drive religious practice behind closed doors by redefining religious liberty down to a hyper-restricted, “freedom of worship.”

What’s the difference? Under freedom of worship, the Catholic and Orthodox churches both remain perfectly free to teach that the Eucharistic bread and wine transform into the body and blood of Christ. Muslims can continue to require women to be segregated from men at the mosque. But outside worship contexts, the state may compel the faithful to violate their faith by acting in accord with secular morality rather than consistently with their dogmatic precepts.

These assaults on religious practice are becoming increasingly commonplace. For example, a German trial judge recently outlawed the circumcision of children on the basis that the “fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents”, to carry out their religious beliefs.

Circumcision is controversial today, but redefining the rite into “mutilation” or “child abuse” is blatant secular imperialism. For millennia, faith adherents have believed that circumcision is done for boys (rather than to them). Indeed, prohibiting the rite deprives male children of these faiths a religious benefit to which they are entitled while dispossessing them of a core aspect of their personal identity.

Jewish and Muslim religious practice is also under assault in the Netherlands, where a new law may outlaw methods of animal slaughter that comply with the obligations of kosher and halal. Religious liberty? What’s that? The atheist bioethicist Peter Singer sniffed that Jews and Muslims who don’t like the ban should just become vegetarians, writing that since the ban would not prohibit worship practices, no freedoms are being infringed.

We see the same freedom of worship assault against freedom of religion in President Obama’s “Free Birth Control Rule.” The Affordable Care Act now requires that most employers provide their workers with free contraception, sterilization, and other reproductive services. True, the rule exempted religious employers that oppose contraception, but the shield was drafted so narrowly that—surprise, surprise—it only protects freedom of worship. Specifically, to qualify for a religious exemption:

1. The “inculcation of religious values” must be the employer’s “purpose” for existing;
2. The employer must “primarily” employ “persons who share its religious tenets.”
3. The employer must “primarily” serve “persons who share its religious tenets.”

Lest there be any doubt, the rule further states, “Specifically, the Departments seek to provide for a religious accommodation that respects the unique relationship between a house of worship and its employees in ministerial positions.” Thus, the group health insurance covering nuns in a Catholic religious order would probably not have to cover contraception. But insurance provided by the order’s elementary school employees, probably would.

Religious liberty is also under assault from efforts to eviscerate the right of medical conscience. Victoria, Australia, for example, legally compels every doctor to participate in abortion—even if morally or religiously opposed—either by doing the deed when asked, or referring the pregnant patient to a doctor they know supports abortion. The Dutch Medical Association (KNMG) recently promulgated a similar ethical rule requiring all Dutch doctors to kill, or if opposed on religious or moral grounds, refer when legally qualified patients ask to be euthanized. In other words, the affected doctors are free to believe that participating in abortion and euthanasia are egregious sins; they just can’t legally or ethically escape so sinning and remain in practice.

At this point in the discussion, opponents of freedom of religion may bring up the Aztecs, arguing that a robust view of religious liberty would require allowing children to be sacrificed to pagan gods. Not so. Even fundamental liberties are not absolute. The law properly prohibits religious practice when there is a compelling government interest. For example, the state can force a Jehovah’s Witness child to be given life-saving blood transfusions even though doing so violates Witness dogma.

Here's the bottom line. If the freedom of worship assault against freedom of religion succeeds, creed-motivated philanthropic and service organizations such as the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, and religiously sponsored schools, hospitals, nursing homes, pregnancy counseling centers, etc., will be forced to choose between acting contrary to their faith and closing their doors. That would not only make our society far less free, but would materially harm the millions of men, women, and children whose lives are immeasurably benefited by faithful people practicing their religion in the public square.

RESOURCES

Peter Singer, The use and abuse of religious freedom

Wesley J. Smith is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism, and consults for the Patients Rights Council and the Center for Bioethics and Culture.

Read the entire article on the First Things website (new window will open).

The following greeting and remarks were delivered by His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, of the Orthodox Church in America, to the Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America, meeting in Ridgecrest, North Carolina. He was among some eight ecumenical visitors from various denominations who brought greetings to this orthodox Anglican body.

Met. Jonah

There is one Body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope in God's call to us: One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of all.

[Metropolitan Jonah] Brothers and sisters in Christ, It is good to be here with you again, three years after I first was with you in Bedford, Texas. I bring you greetings and, I hope, encouragement, from the Orthodox Church in America.

Over the past three years our churches have conducted a theological dialog, discussing the issues that separate us, issues that are not so much OCA vs. ACNA, but issues that separate Anglicanism from Orthodoxy. This has focused on the issue of the filioque, the addition by the Roman Church to the Nicene Creed, forced on the entire Western Church in the 11th century, and this, disrupting the unity of the confession of the Catholic Faith.

I would remind you that the root and foundation of the Church of England is not "Roman" but rather, the broader Orthodox Catholicism that prevailed until the Roman Church began massive changes in the Second Millennium. The English Church was a local Orthodox Catholic Church in communion with Rome and the rest of the Churches for most of the first millennium. Part of the English, and even continental, Reformation was intended to bring the Church back to its original roots, free from the changes that occurred during the isolation of the Western Church in the Dark Ages and Middle Ages. The Orthodox see the Reformation as having gone awry, and reinforced the very elements that made the Western Churches' theological positions idiosyncratic, thus isolating it even more from Orthodoxy.

My hope is that we can roll this back. You have the opportunity to return your Church to its original heritage, and thus actualize the rich inheritance of English Orthodox Catholicism, in communion with its root tradition. This means the overcoming of generations of schism, a schism which was forced on the English Church, and then a perpetual state of schism for itself and the churches established by it in its colonies and missions. This needs to be healed.

The ecumenical hope is to overcome the schisms of the West, so that the English and Roman Churches can again take their place within the communion of the One Orthodox Catholic Church. You have an immense role and opportunity within this. Removing the filioque is not simply a nice gesture of ecumenical solidarity; it is, rather, an affirmation of the ancient faith of the Undivided Church.

Realignment

There is another element in this which is of immediate importance, and directly follows on the above. As was written about by Robert Terwilliger, a great Anglican divine of the 20th century, there is a coming realignment within Christianity, one which we can already see the strains of. Whenever schisms happen within the Church, they are generally because certain individuals lead a group out of the Church, being disobedient to the Faith and Doctrine, and refusing to submit to the authority of the hierarchy, which is trying to discipline them and call them to repentance.

What is happening now is somewhat different: a split between those who hold to traditional, biblical faith as interpreted by the Fathers of the Church and the ecumenical councils; and those who espouse a secularized belief, subject to the rationalizations of the scholars according to contemporary philosophy, who dismiss the Fathers and the Councils as no longer relevant, who dismiss the moral teachings of the Scriptures and Fathers as culturally relative. This could be called, by one side, a break between traditional Christianity and post-modern worldly philosophy. Or it might be labeled as the freeing of people from fundamentalist oppression to the light of their own reason.

This is not the protestant/catholic divide; it is not the evangelical-charismatic vs. mainline divide. It cuts across all communities in the West, even affecting the Orthodox and Roman Churches in some degree. As Anglicans, you are no strangers to this: it is the reason you are here, and not in TEC. It is creating a massive realignment within Christianity; those who hold to the traditional Scriptural and patristic Faith and discipline of Orthodox Catholicism; and those who reject it, criticize it, and I will add, as you well know, persecute it. You and the ACNA are part of that realignment.

There is a radical cultural shift away from traditional Christianity, toward something unrecognizable. The "Secularists" (for lack of a better, non-pejorative term) reject the virgin birth of Christ, the resurrection, even His Divinity; that His words are recorded in the Scriptures and that the Scriptures are even relevant to our days; rather they are oppressive and keep humans in darkness. Another Episcopalian bishop, a certain Mr. Spong, wrote that "Christianity must change or die," referring to traditional orthodoxy, espousing the radical secularization of the Episcopal Church and all Christianity. It is my prediction that it is not the Orthodox Churches that will die.

Solzhenitsyn said that "what the Soviet death camps could not do, Western secularism is doing more effectively. In Russia, 20 million died in the last century as martyrs for the Orthodox Faith, and countless millions of others were thrown in the gulag, for standing up against militant secularism. Many perished because they resisted the Renovationists whose schism distorted the Orthodox Faith. Whether you call it Soviet atheism, or Western secularism, it is the same enemy.

Our battle is against secularism. His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, has called for us to stand together against this enemy. This is the realignment: to stand together for the faith once delivered by Christ to the Apostles, and thence to the Bishops, without alteration, without change, without revisions; against those who would submit their faith to the current of the age, the wisdom of this world. We must stand together, and we cannot stand alone. Even the immense Roman Church is buffeted by the militant secularists, who defy authority and criticize that which they know not, and we can see in this country how increasingly fragile their unity is.

Brothers and sisters, we must embrace the Cross of Jesus Christ, the foolishness of the Gospel, the wisdom that is not of this world. We must rejoice in the salvation that God has given us in His Son Jesus Christ, who was crucified for us and rose from the dead. We glory in His Resurrection, and await His Coming Again. We must overcome the divisions that separate us, so that we can stand united in one mind and one heart, confessing that God has come in the flesh to raise us to heaven. We must live according to the moral and ethical commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ enshrined in the Gospel, and reject sin and recognize its corruption.

This is the orthodox faith of the Fathers, the Ecumenical Councils and the undivided Church. We will have to accept the scorn and derision of those who are of this world, even those who call themselves brethren, being cast out of their synagogues and ridiculed, sued in civil courts, and count all things as worthless that we have lost for the sake of Christ. This, my friends, is our cross. We have to support one another in bearing it. The closer we come, the greater our mutual support will be, and we will not lose heart, or forget that Christ has already won the victory: He has overcome the world. By accepting to go by way of His Cross, we too will share in His Victory.

Let us listen to the words of St. Paul: 10 I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brethren. What I mean is that each one of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? ... For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart." Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17-25, Revised Standard Version)

Beloved, Christ is Risen.

Read the entire article on the Virtue Online website (new window will open).

Read additional commentary on The Voice Crying in the Wilderness blog, Koinonia, and American Orthodox Institute blog.

Source: Acton Institute

The Obama's Administration's mandate requiring the Catholic Church to conform to government dictates on contraception and abortifacent drugs is more than a war on the Catholic Church argue Jennifer Roback Morse and Eric Metaxas. It's a war on freedom.

Eric Metaxas is a public intellectual and author of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, the thrilling biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. A German theologian in Nazi Germany, Bonhoeffer is remembered for his clandestine efforts to overthrow Hitler and the Nazis in the struggle for human freedom.

Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse is an economist. She is the Founder and President of the Ruth Institute, a non-profit focused on promoting the sanctity of marriage as the critical foundation for families, communities, and society.

With the decision that Obamacare will stand as the law of the land means that America — home of the brave, land of the free — is no more. This great country, the one to whom all great refugee movements of the world for over two centuries saw as the light to escape poverty, political bondage, and hopelessness now turns its back on that legacy of freedom for what will, in a very short time, amount to a bowl of pottage.

The turn to tyranny won't happen overnight and it won't be recognized as tyranny — not at first anyway. But as freedom gets chipped away the straight jacked gets tighter and then hardens to envelop the mind like a steel casket. By the middle of the next generation those who gave away their freedom in the name of freedom will be cursed by their own children. The children will weep by the waters of Babylon, unearthing old movies and books of an America they never knew. "Why did you not shout out against the decline?" they will cry.

Antonio Gramsci, that great architect of the coming oppression was a shrewd man. He understood that the overthrow of the great liberal tradition would be a journey that would take generations. It would require a long march through the cultural institutions, overthrowing line by line and precept by precept those bedrock moral values upon which the freedom of men was first defined and later codified into law. Today the children of the great people of the Magna Carta, of English Common Law, the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution worship instead pleasure, safety, and wealth.

The God of Abraham has been forgotten, the same God who freed Abraham from the delusion of polytheism and the Israelite from the tyranny of Egypt, who gave man a Gospel from which insights into the nature and dignity man was drawn, and whose teachings unleashed a creativity that brought healing and light into a world in ways that would astonish the prophets and philosophers of old. And in that forgetting, we embrace a darkness the depth of which most of us do not yet perceive.

The path of the free West now follows the path of Russia under the Soviets. When men scorn and ridicule the good, noble, and true, darkness is always the end. The promise of a new enlightenment free from the shackles of self-restraint and morality is a delusion. When man refuses to govern himself, he will give his liberty to a strong man so that order will prevail. The strong man is glad to take it, and in short order will demand even more to satiate his unquenchable thirst for power. We have just crossed that threshold. Dostoevsky warned us. So did Nietzsche.

Religion is the wellspring of morality and morality is the ground of culture. The encroaching darkness will have no room for religion because faith in God stands as the repudiation of those who see no transcendent referent for truth. Man becomes his own touchstone. We've seen the outlines of the coming struggles already in the HHS mandates trying to force the Catholic Church to submit to policies that violate its moral precepts. This is just the beginning.

One hope remains: The Republicans take all three branches of government in the next election and overturn this monstrosity. It is possible the Republicans win, but whether they have the political will to overturn Obamacare completely is another question. The cultural rot may be too deep. Maybe there are enough clear thinking Americans left. I hope so but I am not confident.

Expect the hostility towards Christians to increase. Watch too for justifications for this grave loss of liberty in the name of compassion and the greater public good from some religious leaders. Some of our leaders have already traded courage for acclaim as evidenced by their silence towards the attacks on the laws and precepts that defend human life and other bedrock principles. These leaders know that every defense of human life has its root and source in the self-revelation of God to us but they choose Esau's legacy over the Apostles'.

We may have to prepare for the catacombs. The government has been granted a license to control every aspect of your behavior under the rubric of the public good. Those who claim there is a law higher than the State will be seen as an enemy. It can't be any other way.

Read the article on the American Orthodox Institute and Catholic Online website.

Why is anyone surprised? Obamacare was never going to be overturned. Not that it is constitutional, as the Constitution was originally conceived. It surely isn’t. But that Constitution has been terminally ill for a long time. Now it is dead.

Why would the Supreme Court’s conservative chief justice rewrite the individual mandate’s penalty to be a tax, when the law’s authors unequivocally stated it was not a revenue generator during the legislative process? Let’s call it the “technocratic imperative” — faith in big government solutions for societal problems — a mindset that generates a far stronger gravitational pull than the standard conservative/liberal paradigm. The technocratic imperative is why, when push comes to shove, conservative judges almost always move “left” and liberal judges almost never move “right.”

The case was always about two contrasting approaches to law and government. Opponents of Obamacare mounted a legal challenge to the individual mandate. They argued that the government does not have the constitutional authority to force Americans to buy anything, and indeed that such a legal compulsion is unprecedented in American history.

Proponents responded with a strong policy defense: They argued that a modern state must have universal health coverage. In a private system, without the mandate, people will wait until they are sick before buying insurance, which would cause a financial collapse. Because the majority of the court favored the policy — even though Chief Justice John Roberts disingenuously claimed that wasn’t his concern — the majority simply rewrote the law to make it appear to fit established constitutional paradigms.

Again, why is anybody surprised? The Supreme Court has steadily expanded the power of the federal government since the 1930s. In so doing, the justices have often based their decisions as much on policy as on law — and then, as now, fashioned legal justifications to back up their decisions (which, in turn, become springboards for further federal legislative and regulatory expansion).

This corruption of constitutionalism has come about, in my opinion, because most federal judges are members of the “ruling class” — people who graduated from Yale, Harvard, Princeton, etc. — who don’t believe in localism or the power of the individual to solve society’s problems. Rather, the Supreme Court’s ruling reflects a deep faith in the ability of “experts” — operating through government bureaucracies — to fashion regulations to make all things right. (Just look at the recent upholding of the vast and increasing powers of the EPA by an appellate court.) Since the ruling class believes that Obamacare’s purposes are laudable, that universal coverage is equitable and that the mandate is a necessary element of making the new law work, it is, ipso facto, constitutional — even if the law has to be rewritten.

As I learned in law school, the Constitution is what the Supreme Court says it is. That’s why it’s called judicial legislating.

My big clue that today would come was a November 2011 decision validating the individual mandate written by one of the federal judiciary’s most conservative members, Reagan-appointed Appeals Court Judge Laurence Silberman. To wit: “The right to be free from federal regulation is not absolute and yields to the imperative that Congress be free to forge national solutions to national problems.” That’s policy, baby! Moreover, it encompasses a philosophy that places technocratic problem-solving above upholding limited government. And that’s the essence of today’s ruling.

With the coming of the Obamacare decision, a new era has now fully dawned for the United States of America — even in the unlikely event that Obamacare is legislatively repealed. The beating heart of the Affordable Care Act is technocratic. Within the next few years, unelected and unaccountable bioethical cost/benefit boards of experts will decree from central control what (and perhaps, who) is covered by health insurance, and what (and perhaps, who) are not — just as happens in places like the United Kingdom. The Independent Payment Advisory Board even has power over a presidential veto regarding areas within its jurisdiction.

In this sense, think of Obamacare as our Brussels, the E.U.’s bureaucratic central control center. The cornerstone been laid for the construction of a full-blown bureaucratic state. Limited government is dead. Long live the technocracy!

Wesley J. Smith is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism. He also consults for the Patients Rights Council and the Center for Bioethics and Culture. 

"Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her" (Jn 8:7).

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me." (Jn 14:6)

A question has arisen among some ordained into the Apostolic priesthood of Christ as to how those who are living an alternative lifestyle, that is to say, outside of the teachings of Christ, should be ministered to? This question is especially relevant, but not limited to, clergy who serve in military and/or government chaplaincies. The ascendency of post-modernism, relativism and secularism, have politically legitimized lifestyles under the guise of "human rights" that were previously the domain of Judeo-Christian teaching. (Morelli 2006d, 2009) The pendulum of political correctness has swung from merely tolerating non-Christian teachings to forcing on a nation a worldwide religious correctness that some argue has the apparent goal of imposing secularist values and principles on all.ⁱ  As in the early days of Christianity, being a committed Christian, especially for clergy, will be a criminal act, subject to censure and punishment. I will point out in this essay that an Orthodox understanding of true priestly pastoring would ameliorate this concern.

Christian pastoring

What stands out in St. Gregory the Great's The Book of Pastoral Rule, (2007), originally written in 590 AD, is that the foundation of the ministry of what he variously terms priest, ruler, preacher or shepherd is spiritual discernment and consideration of the individuality of the person being ministered to. For example, St. Gregory tells us: "Therefore the discourse of the teacher should be adapted to the character of his audience so that it can address the specific needs of each individual and yet never shrink from the art of communal edification." Some selected audience examples that St. Gregory gives that must be considered in individualizing what we may today term the work of the priest and evangelization are:

• men and women;
• the wise of the world and the dull;
• the bold and the modest;
• those who fear punishment and therefore live innocently, and those who have become so hardened in iniquity that they cannot be corrected by punishment;
• the humble and the proud;
• the obstinate and the fickle;

St. Gregory the Great

St. Gregory goes on to specifically single out what he calls "also those to be advised differently." Some pertinent selected examples are:

• those who misinterpret the words of Sacred Scripture, and those who understand them but do not speak about them with humility;
• those who are bound by wedlock and those who are free of the ties of marriage;
• those who boast about their sinful behavior and those who confess their sins but do not put an end to them;
• those who are overcome by unexpected desires and those who bind themselves deliberately in sin;
• those who have experienced the sins of the flesh and those who are ignorant of them;

What should be immediately noted is that St. Gregory is discussing those who, in the post-Constantinian Church, considered themselves Christians and at least nominally wanted to follow Christ's teachings. One distinction St. Gregory does not make is between  those who are Christians committed to Christ and His Church versus those who are deliberate pagans, agnostics or atheists or those who choose to create "a church of their own making." (Morelli, 2006a). However, I maintain that this is an important distinction to be made in this modern pluralistic, politically and religiously correct world.

In this regard, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev comments on what the Creed of the Councils of Nicaea (325 AD)-Constantinople I (381 AD) which first canonized what was the "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church,” of which is the Orthodox Church:

The Church is synonymous with Christianity; one cannot be a Christian without being a member of the Church. "There is no Christianity without the Church," writes the hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky). Archpriest George Florovsky noted that Christianity is the Church." Christianity has never existed without the Church or outside the Church. Following Christ has always meant joining the community of his disciples and becoming a Christian has always meant becoming a member of the body of Christ. . . [Florovsky writes]. . . . "No one could be a Christian as an individual by himself, as a separate individual. . . ."

I will also add that these comments are also relevant to those who are members of ecclesial communities that are founded my men, such as those groups deriving from the Reformation in the West. Such communities broke with the Church founded on the Apostles by Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It should be noted that many times members of these communities are praiseworthy in terms of sincerity and devotion.ⁱⁱ Unfortunately, however, many of these groups appeal to what they consider to be the intrinsic authority of Sacred Scripture,ⁱⁱⁱ for example, calling Sacred Scripture by the title: The Holy Bible, implying, as per dictionary definition, that the text is authoritative in and of itself.^iv This view has an effect on theology and practice. It leaves readers of Sacred Scripture open to individualistic interpretation of Scripture, instead of measuring their individual understanding with that understood and taught by Christ's One, Holy, Apostolic Catholic and Orthodox Church. The effect of such a break from the Church of the Apostles is deleterious. As I have written previously (Morelli, 2010b):

Some who label themselves Christian communities are even teaching that several of the societal sins. . .such as abortion and same sex marriage, are Godly acts. Some have acquiesced to political correctness and teach that females can be ordained to the holy priesthood and episcopacy. The effect of this sell-out is not only to not preach the Gospel as Christ has taught us, but also to produce a greater alienation from the Orthodox Church, which the non-Christian world can perceive as outright scandal and hypocrisy. It has also undermined the common Christian witness to the secularized world. Equally reprehensible is the message of those who preach hatred, retribution, vengeance and death in the name of Christ. This is a mockery of all Christ stood for by His emptying of Himself (kenosis) of the Godhead and taking on our human nature.

A question to be answered later in this essay will be how to minister to those who are members of His true Church versus non-members.

The action of Christ

Christ Meeting the Centurion

Let us recall the action of Christ as he met a pagan Roman centurion who approached Him to heal his dying servant.  This encounter is well recorded by St. Matthew (8: 5-13):

And after Jesus entered into Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, beseeching Him, and saying, “Lord, my servant is laid on a sickbed in the house, a paralytic, being terribly tormented.” And Jesus saith to him, “I will come and cure him.” And the centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not fit that Thou shouldest come under my roof; but speak with a word only, and my servant shall be healed. “For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goeth; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he cometh; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he doeth it.” And after Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Verily I say to you, not even in Israel did I find so great faith. “And I say to you that many shall come from the east and west, and shall recline at table with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of the heavens. “But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the darkness, the outer one; there shall be there the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.” And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go thy way; and as thou didst believe, let it be to thee.” And his servant was healed in that hour.  

It should be noted that Jesus did not reject the pagan centurion, nor did he castigate him.  In fact, Jesus listened to what he had to say. Obviously, he discerned humility in the centurion's heart and a trust that Jesus could, in fact, heal his servant. St. John Chrysostom, in his Homily 21 on St. Matthew's Gospel, (The Orthodox New Testament, 2004)  gives us an important spiritual insight into what this Gospel account means in terms of ministering to others:

If we wish to regard him as more believing than the Apostles, we must then understand the testimony of Christ to mean that the good which anyone does is to be praised according to the capacity of that person. For an unlettered person to say something profound is a great thing, which from a philosopher is a matter that excites no wonder. In this sense is it said of the centurion. For it was not the same thing for a Jew to believe as for one outside that nation.

Christ Encountering Zaccheus

An even more telling interaction of Jesus and sinners is with those who were the tax-collectors. The Jews at the time of Christ considered tax-collectors as great sinners, as being greedy, exploiting the poor and over-taxing and pocketing the money they collected. (Orthodox Study Bible, 2008).  Zacchaeus' confession, told to us by St. Luke, (19: 8) confirms their criminal activities: "And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, the half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor; and if I extorted anything of anyone by false charges, I give back fourfold." (Lk. 19:8) The view of the Jews is shown clearly by their being scandalized by Jesus’ consorting with 'such' a man: “But after they saw it, they all were murmuring, saying, “’With a sinful man He doth enter to lodge.’” (Lk. 19:7)

St. Matthew (9: 10-13) also records the encounter:

And it came to pass, as He reclined at table in the house, also behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining at table with Jesus and His disciples. And after the Pharisees saw Him, they said to His disciples, “Why eateth your Teacher with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus, having heard it, said to them, “They who are strong have no need of a physician, but they who are ill. “But go and learn what this is, ‘I wish mercy, and not sacrifice’: For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”  

Through the Holy Gospel account Jesus is giving to those around Him and, of course, to us down to the present day, a very important lesson., Our Lord appears to be accepting these egregious sinners and freely dining with them without demanding they change their sinful lifestyle. Why would Jesus be so tolerant and kind? God created us with free will. This, in part, is because of our being created in the 'likeness of God.' We are reminded by St. Diadochos of Photiki that  "All men are made in God's image; but to be in His likeness is granted only to those who through great love have brought their own freedom in subjection to God." (Philokalia I). This great spiritual father goes on to give us a great counsel: "Free will is the power of a deiform soul to direct itself by deliberate choice towards whatever it decides."   

Throughout his public life Our Lord respected the free will of all those he came across. As I pointed out in a recent article on God's acceptance of our free will:

Let us contemplate the words of St. Isaac of Syria (Alfeyev, 2000) on "how compassionate God is, and how patient; and how He loves creation, and how He carries it, gently enduring its importunity, the various sins and wickedness, the terrible blasphemies of demons and evil men." (Morelli, 2011).  

The Witness of St. Paul

The Acts of the Apostles (Chapter 7) recounts the actions of St. Paul when he visited Athens and met with some of the pagan populace. Epicureans and Stoics obviously did not accept Christ as true God and true man and that no one goes to the Father except through Him. These pagans would be considered heathens, infidels and the 'lowest of the low.' His encounter is remarkable, both psychologically and spiritually.  As a psychologist, based on St. Luke's account of St. Paul's dialogue with them, I would give him an outstanding rating for building clinical rapport. He was not judgmental. He appeared to accept them and their beliefs for what they were and had a continuing dialogue. He used a clinical method that I often used in supervising my clinical doctoral students. He started out by first affirming what was favorable in what they believed: "I perceive that in every way you are very religious." (Acts 7: 22). It should be noted that St. Paul did not chastise them for the errors of their belief, just the correctness that they had a belief. Approaching those who differ with us is brought to a higher spiritual level by employing the same spirit. In this regard , we can contemplate the words of St. John the Baptist about what Jesus will do: ". . . to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn. . . ." (Lk 3: 17) St. Paul, guided by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, was first focusing on the wheat, the good that his listeners believed in, before moving on to instructing them in the fullness of Christ's teaching.

A clinical example

Early in my work as a mental health clinician (I was a pre-doctoral intern, and not yet ordained a priest), I had an interesting case that illustrates how important it is to start any "therapy-healing-ministry" by first focusing on the what is favorable in any patient’s thoughts, intentions and actions, before proceeding on to 'fine-tuning,' so to speak.  My "patient" was a young man in his early twenties with moderate mental retardation.  The presenting problem, brought to the attention of the intake section medical center I was at by his mother, was that he would lean out the window (a second floor apartment over a store) and was in imminent danger of falling out of the window. After listening to her presentation and talking to the 'designated' patient, with the patient's permission, I asked the mother to come into the room. She had to sit next to her son. As she was starting to sit he caught a glance of her and reflexively jumped away from her.  I immediately intuited that this was not a normal reaction. A mental yellow flag, so to speak, went up in my mind. I immediately got the insight to direct my initial comments to the mother. My question went something like this; " I know you love your son very much, and you are quite concerned about him falling out the window.” She responded affirmatively. I went on. "So, what do you do to keep him from falling out?”  She responded immediately, without hesitation: "Doctor, the only thing I found that will work is bug spray." (I had an instantaneous sick stomach — but as a clinical psychologist, I was trained to show no external emotion in body or voice, thus I proceeded in a caring, neutral voice). She continued: "I spray it in his face until he goes back from the window. . .and that works for a little while." My response, in a kind, supporting voice (but with my stomach still churning), "Well, you found something that works, good for you, you love him and care for him. But you know there may be some side effects of using bug spray in his eyes and face that may not be so good . . . . suppose we could find another technique that would work just as well. Would you consider this?”  She said 'yes.' We then went on to discuss behavioral management techniques (Morelli, 2005a, 2006b, 2006c). The clinical (and spiritual) point is: if I would have denigrated, castigated or humiliated her, etc., I would have lost her. She never would have been open to change. That is to say, to using a non-toxic, not potentially lethal technique to aid her son. Like Christ and St. Paul: first focus on the wheat, then carefully remove the weeds. St. Matthew (13: 30) tells us Christ's instruction: "Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"

A Pastoral-Clinical approach to ministry

The witness of Christ Himself should be the model for any service to those who are separated from His Church. Recently, Morelli (2011) pointed out that, in His ministry, Christ respected the free will of those He encountered. In the course of my work with others over many years I have encountered those committed to the totality of Christ's teachings and have adopted, so to speak the Mind of Christ and His Church. (Morelli, 2010b). On the other hand, I have also interacted with individuals who are vehemently opposed to Christ, His teachings and His Church. Many individuals or couples I have counseled were living lifestyles diametrically opposed to Christ's teachings. Now, to be sure, it cannot be missed that I am a Christian and a priest. I have icons throughout my office and wear clerical garb. Some have started out counseling being openly antagonistic. They have outright informed me that they do not believe in God, certainly do not want to convert to Christianity, some even pointing out that they are very contented being engaged in the "alternative lifestyle"^v they are living.

The spiritual state of mind for dealing with anyone who is living an alternative lifestyle is magnificently summarized by St. Isaac of Syria (Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2011):

Let this always be the aim of your conduct: to be courteous and respectful to all. And do not provoke any man or vie zealously with him, either for the sake of the Faith, or on account of his evil deeds; but watch over yourself not to blame or accuse any man in any matter. For we have a Judge in the heavens, Who is impartial.

St. Isaac goes on to say:

But if you would have any man return to the truth, be grieved over him and, with tears and love, say a word or two unto him; but do not be inflamed with anger against him, lest he see within you signs of hostility. For love does not know how to be angry, or provoked, or passionately to provoke anyone.

I pray it is in this spirit that the rest of this article is written.

Of course, clinically, I have to determine the presenting problems (symptoms) and do a diagnostic analysis. During this interview I usually incorporate discussion about the patient's fundamental values. This would cover areas of conduct, honesty and caring for others.^vi It has been my clinical experience that many times such open-ended dialogue provokes interest in the authentic teachings of Christ and His Church. In a clinical setting the patient has filled out an Intake Questionnaire. Some of the questions are about the religious background of the patient and his/her parents and the degree of religion in their lives. Then I ask follow-up questions querying if the patient(s) are living by their fundamental values.

A critical legal caveat and moral imperative

The lifestyle of the patient has to be within the boundaries of what is legal. All governmental jurisdictions have a mandatory reporting law that must be followed for certain professions, such as mental health workers and physicians, etc., when actual or realistically potential abuse or injurious behavior toward others (or self) are disclosed. For clergy of the Apostolic Churches, the seal of confession is inviolable, but prudence must be employed by the priest if any abuse is suspected to have been committed by an individual requesting the Holy Mystery of Confession. Such a person should not be given the Holy Mystery, or absolution should be contingent on reporting to the legal authorities (c.f. Morelli, 2005b). 

Contemporary Ethics and Christ

In accordance with contemporary standards of ethical practice for mental health practitioners and chaplains,^vii the beliefs and opinions of those being counseled are to be respected. Each individual has the freedom to choose their religious and spiritual preference with no doctrine or spiritual practice imposed on them. As discussed above, this position conforms to Christ's own ministry. However, if an individual asks of their own accord if a particular viewpoint or action is in accordance with the Mind of Christ and His Church, (Morelli, 2006d) I certainly can be totally forthright and respond truthfully. I also have the right to conform counseling to my conscience as informed by Christ and His Church. If someone with a same-sex orientation, for example, should ask me to help them overcome their social anxiety so as to facilitate meeting same sex partners, I certainly would inform them that I cannot counsel them in this regard as it goes against my own value system and that my "practice" is limited to Orthodox Christian teaching. I would suggest that they seek out another counselor. 

While I have never faced such (or similar) situation, I did for example, have to refuse treatment to a wife who found out her husband was having an affair and wanted me "to help her get back at him and take him for all she could get." I straightaway informed her that in conscience I could not enable or facilitate anger and vengeance, and therefore could not counsel her in this regard. This is to say that, as an Orthodox Christian, I cannot participate in the sin of another by counsel, command, consent, provocation, praise, concealment, partaking, silence or command. (A Pocket Prayer Book for Orthodox Christians, 1956). To stay within the boundaries of Christ and His Church and professional mental health practitioner ethics, I can, and have, said, "If ever you want to know what Christ and His Church teaches in this regard (some alternate lifestyle behaviors or sinful actions), I will be more than happy to talk to you about it." Parenthetically, and of great importance, it has been my pastoral and clinical experience that individuals are much more open to consider what is being discussed when they first 'consent' to talk about the topic. This may be considered putting into practice the individual pastoring advice St. Gregory the Great gives in his Pastoral Rule discussed above, but with the other's permission.

The spirit of the law

In a previous paper (Morelli, 2010a) I pointed out that in spiritual direction it is important to take into account the "stages of the spiritual life" of the individual being ministered to. This is in accordance with the counsels of the Holy Spiritual Fathers of the Church. Holy Nikitas Stithatos (Philokalia IV), for example, writes:

There are three stages on the spiritual path: the purgative, the illuminative and finally the mystical, through which we are perfected. The first pertains to beginners, the second to  those in the intermediate state and the third to the perfect. It is though these three consecutive stages  that we ascend, growing in stature according to Christ and attaining 'mature manhood, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ' (Eph 4: 13)

The saint goes on to tell us that "the purgative stage pertains to those newly engaged in spiritual warfare." Now, applying this to those living alternative lifestyles, the following may be considered. Some may live such a life voluntarily, quite deliberately. Using the terminology of St. Nikitas, they are not even desiring to enter the purgative stage. Others may recognize they are not living a Christ-like life and are engaged in a form of spiritual warfare and often failing. Once again referencing St. Nikitas, they are wrestling within the purgative stage. St. Nikitas describes this as being ". . .characterized by the rejection of the materialistic self, liberation from material evil, and investiture with the regenerate self, renewed by the Holy Spirit." In this regard, particularly apt are the words of St. Paul to the Colossians (3:8-10):

But now ye also put off from yourselves all these things: wrath, anger, malice, blasphemy, foul language out of your mouth. Cease lying to one another, since ye have put off the old man with his practices, and have put on the new that is being renewed toward full knowledge according to the image of the One Who created him.

Despite whether an attachment to un-Christ-like alternate lifestyles is deliberate or non-deliberate, that is to say voluntary or involuntary, any discussion of the lifestyle must start with the spirit of what a Christ-like life is like, in contrast to what it is not. This makes good psychological sense. As I point out and discuss more thoroughly in Morelli, 2010a:

What should be done for pastoring or catechizing to be fruitful? We know from psychological studies that "internalizing" the reasons for moral behavior facilitates individuals acting morally. Children (and implicitly, adults as well) who function on a "hedonistic" or pleasure level "act out" more than those who have developed higher levels of moral reasoning such as empathy. . . and universal ethical values.

Always referencing the spirit of the law of Christ also makes good spiritual sense. As St. Maximus the Confessor (Philokalia II) reminds us: "All sacred Scripture can be divided into flesh and spirit as if it were a spiritual man. For the literal sense of Scripture is flesh and its inner meaning is soul or spirit. Clearly someone wise abandons what is corruptible and unites his whole being to what is incorruptible."

The inner meaning (spirit) of alternative lifestyles

The confession described in the spiritual classic The Pilgrim Continues His Way (French, 1996) gives us an insight into the sinful spirit of alternative lifestyles and the Godly spirit of living a Christ-like life. The confession is divided into four categories: a lack of love of God;  of neighbor (others); having no religious belief; and being prideful (displaying sensuous self-love).

Recognition of the Majesty of God and Love of Him

The ethos of some of the alternative lifestyles listed in endnote v can readily be seen as contrary to love of God and appreciation of his majesty and glory over all creation. Such lifestyles include animism, astrology, divination, occultism, paganism, pantheism, sorcery, superstition, wicca, and witchcraft.  A commitment to any of these alternative lifestyles includes a belief in some way in supernatural powers, and/or the belief in the supernatural in nature and the possibility of bringing these under the control of mankind.

What has God taught us regarding Himself and creation? The Holy Spirit-inspired Sacred Scripture author of the second book Maccabees (7: 28) tells us: ". . .look upon heaven and earth, and all that is in them: and consider that God made them out of nothing, and mankind also." The beautiful, and as far as humanly possible all-encompassing, description of the Godhead is given to us by St. John Chrysostom in the Divine Liturgy Anaphora Prayer:  

It is meet and right to hymn Thee, to bless Thee, to praise Thee, to give thanks unto Thee, and to worship Thee in every place of Thy dominion: for Thou art God ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, ever existing and eternally the same, Thou and Thine Only-begotten Son and Thy Holy Spirit. Thou it was who didst bring us from non-existence into being.

What better description of all material creation and mankind than the Idiomela by St. John of Damascus that is used in the Eastern Church Funeral Service:

All mortal things are vanity and exist not after death. . . all these things vanish utterly. . . where are the gold and the silver. . . all are dust and ashes, all are shadows. . . I looked into the graves and beheld the bones laid bare. . . . Who then is the king or the warrior, the rich man or the needy. . . .?

It is no wonder that the spiritual Church Fathers consistently counsel that remembrance of death is necessary to orient the intellect, our highest faculty of knowledge (noesis), in order to experience God. St. Philotheos of Sinai (Philokalia III) puts it this way:

. . .ceaseless mindfulness of death. . . purifies the intellect and the body. . . having once experienced the beauty of this mindfulness of death, I was so wounded and delighted by it — in spirit, not through the eye — that I wanted to make it my life's companion; for I was enraptured by its loveliness and majesty, its humility and contrite joy, by how full of reflection it is, how apprehensive of the judgment to come and how aware of life's anxieties. 

Examination of Lifestyle: The Socratic Method

For those willing to examine their alternative lifestyles, the cognitive-educational model called the Socratic Method (Beck, 1995) would be useful. In conformity with Christ's actions in encountering those who were unrighteous, as I discussed above, and in accord with counseling ethics, data, knowledge or wisdom would not be given directly. Rather, the individual discovers it for themselves as a result of answering a series of questions. When someone discovers something for themselves, or makes appropriate connections between things, it is far more meaningful than referencing authority to impose the answer. Be ready, however, to outline some of theological principles behind the analysis. (Morelli, 2008b).

Clinical Example: Astrology and the Occult

A middle age female patient, whom I will name Judy, consulted me for social anxiety. Her intake form indicated she was a member of an Apostolic Church, attended church services every week and was highly religious. At the first session she asked me my "astrological sign." Now I told her I don't think that way, but I did tell her my birth-date. She often mentioned her friends and relatives, their "astrological signs" and the meaning it had in their lives and in relationship to herself. During the course of several sessions her commitment to Christ and His Church was confirmed, as was her commitment and participation in astrology and divination. Over some time she became aware of my total lack of interest in such matters and, in fact, my outright avoidance. She commented on this, and I asked her if she would like to discuss it. I then reminded Judy of her stated commitment to God and His Church. We went on to discuss her concept of God. As we discussed the supremacy of God's majesty and the finiteness of the world and her attempts to control the world as if she were God, she began to discover the contradiction inherent in her astrological beliefs, consultation with fortune tellers, superstitious beliefs and the initiating of incantations to influence people and the world about her.

Lack of love of neighbor (others)

Some of the alternative lifestyles fit into this category. These include gay and sexual fetishism, polyamory, polygamy, polygyny and swinging. In order to understand how these lifestyles fall far short of love of neighbor, true love of neighbor must be understood. St. Isaac the Syrian tells us that by "the superabundant outpouring of [our] love and compassion upon all men [we] resemble God." (Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2011)

St. James tells us: "God is love." (1Ja 4: 6,16). On this Evdokimov (1979) comments:

[The Father is the] absolute beginning. . .of that 'eternal movement of love,' the circular movement of the Divine Life that comes out from the Father, manifests itself and speaks in the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit, in order to be plunged anew into the Father: the eternal generation and spiration going out from the source and returning to it.

We are made in God's image. (cf. Gn 1: 26-27). We know that this image is Trinitarian, One God in substance composed of  three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Bobrinskoy (1999) tells us: "It is the entire Trinity that "dwells in an inaccessible Light, and the economy of salvation falls within the mystery of love hidden since the foundation of the world" (as St. Paul says)."

The act of God in creating the cosmos, and mankind in particular, is also an act of love. 

Thus, we have to start with the love God has and how our love has to resemble His love. Without such love the world and our lives have no meaning. Consider Staniloae's (1994) comment on this: "Apart from the existence of a perfect eternal love there can be no explanation for love in the world, nor is the purpose of the world at all evident."

It becomes immediately apparent that any sexual action outside of a blessed marriage is a lack of true love of neighbor. As Morelli (2008a) explains:

In the marital relationship two individuals become "one flesh;" a term that means that two individuals work in concert to become one in mind and heart. They are joined together in love in a way that replicates the Three Persons of the Trinity’s relation of love to each other. Becoming "one flesh" in a blessed marriage is an act of agape, a selfless giving of one to the other; a self-emptying (Greek: kenosis) in a manner like Christ when He took on human flesh and assumed human nature.

We can also reflect on St. Paul's understanding of marriage as the bond a husband and wife have to one another. In this regard, the writings of the Church Fathers on this topic can be the subject of a Scriptural-Patristic study on the true meaning of a Godly marriage.^viii

In ministering to individuals with alternate lifestyles, the Socratic Method, discussed above, would be useful. Such questions would have to do with the compatibility of their lifestyle with living a Trinitarian-Christ-like kenotic life. Morelli (2010a) gives an example of the use of the Socratic Method in Holy Confession.^ix However, most probably someone who has been committed to an alternative sexual lifestyle like the ones mentioned above would first seek some counseling before going to confession. If they made such an inquiry, they would certainly be at the very beginning of the first stage of the spiritual life, of which St. Nikitas states, "the purgative stage pertains to those newly engaged in spiritual warfare."

Example (the beginning of spiritual warfare)

Priest: "You said you are into some way out things. What kind of things are you into"?

Counselee: “Father, I'm into 'xxxxx'.”

Priest: "How long have you been doing this?"

Counselee: "A few years. I know it's wrong but I don't know why."

Priest: "Do you want to explore what God and His Church has told us is the way to live our lives with our sexuality?"

Counselee: "I know it's hard, but I would like to look into it and see if I can change. What is really hard is that we all do it as a group."

Priest: "How did you start living this way?"

Counselee: "My wife was my girlfriend then at the time we started, we thought it would be sexually exciting to have group sex. One thing led to another; we really got into it; now we live with two other couples and we all do it . . . you know, switch off with one another, like we are all 'married' to one another."

Priest: "Ok! I get the picture. Look, I can’t just tell you to not live a sexual lifestyle because that is the rule of the Church, you know, sort of like the driving rules listed in our State's Driver’s Manual. You know, like you will get a ticket if you change lanes without signaling, but this is like trying to control yourself out of fear. It doesn't work very well. There is a much better way to help."

Counselee: "What's that?"

Priest: "To understand God, (as best we can) how the Persons of the Holy Trinity relate to one another in a relationship of love, how He became man emptying Himself of His Divinity (kenosis) for our salvation and how Christ so loved His Church."

The reflections of the Fathers of the Church, such as the ones I mention in Endnote viii below, could be studied and applied to their own lives. This would be done in the spirit of Saint Chrysostom as he tells us the spiritual meaning of St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians (Eph 5:33): “‘Be loving’ (. . . present active imperative). To the husband he discourses concerning love, and commits to him this province of love. . . . thus binding him close together to her and cementing him to her.” (Hom. 20, P.G. 62:150 (col. 142).) (Orthodox New Testament, 2004).

Priest: "What does your lifestyle say about how you think and feel about the men and woman you are 'hooking up' with?"

The spiritual counseling continues by helping the counselee see that it is a lack of respect for a person made in God's image; it does not emulate the selfless love that God has Himself, or the selfless love God asks us to have for others; it is a self-centered act.

The humanly unimaginable difficulty in lifestyle change

Now, I am not under any illusion that making a lifestyle change is easy. In this regard, we can consider the psychospiritual anguish of the Prodigal (Parable of the Prodigal Son, Lk 15: 11-21),^x which he only experienced when he was in the depths of despair feeding swine in swill and being separated from his father. (Morelli, 2010) Another good consideration for understanding the difficulty of lifestyle change, especially when others’ lives and the social pressures that would be imposed are factored in, would be to compare it to someone who for years was heavily into a strongly addictive drug such as heroin. For example, one study (Hammett, Roberts & Kennedy, 2001) indicated a recidivism rate of about 75% among heroin-addicted criminals.

. . .but with God

However, we must also consider Jesus’ words to his Disciples when they were dismayed at the difficulty of attaining salvation. Jesus had just said: “Verily I say to you, that a rich man, with difficulty, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens. And again, I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Mt.19: 23-24). But then Jesus continued, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Mt. 19:26). We also can look to the great penitents of the Church; probably one of the best known is St. Mary of Egypt (344-421 AD). Undoubtedly, before her 'conversion,' she certainly would be considered to have been living what in today's age is an alternative lifestyle. As we read from the Synaxarion of her Feast Day:

I was born in Egypt and my parents being yet alive, and I being a twelve year old girl, I left them and went to Alexandria. There I lost my chastity and gave myself over to unrestrained and insatiable fornication. For more than seventeen years I indulged licentiously and I did it all gratis. That I did not take money was not because I was rich. I lived in poverty and worked at a spinning-wheel. I thought that all the meaning of life consisted in satisfying fleshly lust . . . . But evidently, God desired my repentance, not the death of the sinner, with long-suffering patience awaiting my conversion.

Her life shows the importance for us of keeping focus on God's mercy, to repent, the first step in which is metanoia.

Metanoia

Careful reading of the Parable of the Prodigal Son will give us a glimpse of the meaning of metanoia. Under Abrahamic Law (Lv 11:3–8; Dt 14:3–21) it would be a major transgression for a Jew to eat swine and even to be associated with such animals, as they are "unclean” for them. Initially, the Prodigal Son was focusing on gaining his inheritance and the riotous living he was enjoying. But then he had a 'wake-up call,' a sudden insight; he found himself mired in swill feeding swine and separated from his Father. St. Luke tells us of the Prodigal's thinking: "But having come to himself. . . ." (Lk 15: 17) Thus the first step in metanoia is an insight, a 'realization leading to a change of mind. He had to leap beyond what he was previously focused on, what would be considered his sinful lifestyle, and thus begin a program of setting his life aright. Metanoia must lead to action. This is shown in the Prodigal's return to his father.

Metanoia eading to action for those living alternative lifestyle in the 21st century would take on different but similar challenges. Of course, keeping with the spiritual symbolism in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, it would mean a re-commitment and engagement with Christ and His Church. However, being actively committed to and engaged in appropriate healthcare treatment resources is also critical. This would include drug, alcohol and sexual treatment programs. These range from community programs such as outpatient type groups similar to Sexaholics Anonymous, to residential treatment centers.^xi Learning the use of, and practicing, cognitive behavioral management techniques, which involve cognitive, stimulus and response management is critical in effecting lifestyle change.

Having no religious belief, pride and sensuous self-love

Referring again to a lifestyle-analysis based on the pilgrim's confession in The Pilgrim Continues His Way (French, 1996), I suggest that any alternate life-style involves elements of having 'no religious belief and being prideful (displayed in the form of sensuous self-love).' Uncovering the spiritual dimension of the lifestyle should be undergone under the guidance of an experienced spiritual director. This is someone to whom inner thoughts and feelings can be readily disclosed.

Qualities of someone giving spiritual direction

In discussing why St. Antony the Great was so sought out by his disciples, Hausherr (1990) states:

Antony [felt] the pain of others as if he himself had been the 'patient' (ton paschonta) and, on the other the discernment (diacrisis) that gave him experience in prescribing the appropriate remedy for each. Charity and discernment are pre-eminently qualities of a spiritual father.

St. Basil the Great provides a model for those ministering in the 21st Century to individuals with alternative styles. Hausherr comments on St. Basil's humane and psychological focus. He goes on to point out that St. Basil "recommended mercy and forbearance for the sinner, 'not by passing sins over in silence but by supporting with gentleness those who are recalcitrant, by applying the remedy with clemency and moderation.'"

Christ the ultimate healing physician

Christ is the one true high priest, and we, either in the royal priesthood by baptism or the ordained priesthood by the Holy Mystery of Holy Orders, are merely His instruments. As the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom says of this: ". . . vouchsafe that these gifts may be offered unto Thee by me, thy sinful and unworthy servant: for Thou Thyself are He that offers and is offered, that accepts and is distributed, O Christ our God." So, too, it is Christ that is our heavenly physician and we are merely the tools of His healing hands. Yes, we are created with intelligence and called upon to use it, but it is Christ who is our ultimate heavenly physician and guide in any healing ministry. Once again, this is expressed so beautifully by St. John Chrysostom in his Divine Liturgy. Right before receiving the Eucharist, His very Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity we implore of him to ". . . heal the sick, Thou who art the physician of our souls and bodies."

Christ respecting the free will of His creatures

St. Matthew records how Jesus ministered to others:

And it came to pass, as He reclined at table in the house, also behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining at table with Jesus and His disciples. And after the Pharisees saw Him, they said to His disciples,“Why eateth your Teacher with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus, having heard it, said to them, “They who are strong have no need of a physician, but they who are ill. “But go and learn what this is, ‘I wish mercy, and not sacrifice’: For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Mt. 9:10-13)

As I point out in a previous article (Morelli, 2011), Christ did not coerce anyone to follow Him or do the Will of the Father. While always affirming the spirit and word of Divine Truth, He respected the free will of those around Him to accept or reject this Truth. In emulation of Christ, true priestly pastoring respects the free will of others, even those living alternative lifestyles. It is done by proclaiming and teaching God's word in charity while  never departing from the mind and practice of Christ and His Church.

“I am the vine, ye are the branches. The one who abideth in Me, and I in him, this one beareth much fruit; for apart from Me ye are not able to do anything." (Jn. 15:5)

REFERENCES

A Pocket Prayer Book for Orthodox Christians. (1956). Englewood, NJ: American Orthodox Christian Archdiocese.

Alfeyev, Bishop Hilarion. (2000). The Spiritual World of St. Isaac the Syrian. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications.

Alfeyev, Metropolitan Hilarion. (2011). Orthodox Christianity: The history and canonical structure of the Orthodox Church. (Vol. 1). Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary Press.

Beck, J.S. (1995). Cognitive Therapy: Basics and Beyond. The Guilford Press: New York.

Bobrinskoy, B. (1999). The Mystery of the Trinity. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press

Evdokimov, P. (1979). Orthodoxy. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press.

French, R.M. (1996) (trans.).  The Pilgrim Continues His Way, London: SPCK.

Hammett, T., Roberts, C. & Kennedy, S. (2001) Health-related issues in prisoner reentry. Crime & Delinquency 47, 3, 390-409.

Hausherr, I. (1990). Spiritual Direction in the Early Christian East. Spencer, MA: Cistercian Publications, St. Joseph's Abbey:

Holy Transfiguration Monastery. (ed., trans.).  (2011). The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian(revised, 2nd edition). Boston, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

Morelli, G. (2005a, September 17). Smart Parenting Part 1. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles5/MorelliParenting.

Morelli, G. (2005b, December, 04) Abuse: Some Pastoral and Clinical Considerations. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles5/MorelliAbuse.php.

Morelli, G. (2006a, January  28). Making The Orthodox Church Smaller? http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/morelli-making-the-orthodox-church-smaller

Morelli, G. (2006b, February 04). Smart Parenting Part II. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles6/MorelliParenting2.php.

Morelli, G. (2006c, March 25). Smart Parenting III: Developing Emotional Control. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles6/MorelliParenting3.php.

Morelli, G. (2006d, September 06). Whose Church Do I Belong To: My Church or the Church of Christ? www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/morelli-whose-church-do-i-belong-to-my-church-or-the-orthodox-church-of-chr.

Morelli, G. (2008a, July, 8). Good Marriage XIII: The Theology of Marriage and Sexuality. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles8/Morelli-Smart%20Marriage-XIII-The-Theology-of-Marriage-and-Sexuality.php.

Morelli, G. (2008b, September 19), Smart Marriage XIV: Talking to Your Children About Same Sex “Marriage.”  www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles8/Morelli-Smart-Parenting-XIV-Talking-To-Children-About-Same-Sex-Marriage.php.

Morelli, G. (2009, September 26). Secularism and the Mind of Christ and the Church: Some Psycho-Spiritual Reflections. www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles-2009/Morelli-Secularism-And-The-Mind of Christ-And-The-Church-Some-Psycho-Spiritual-Reflections.php.

Morelli, G. (2010a, February 01). Pastoral Pointer: It's the Spirit Behind the Letter. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/pastoral-pointer-its-the-spirit-behind-the-letter

Morelli, G. (2010b, November 25). The Ethos of Orthodox Catechesis: The Mind of the Orthodox Church. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/view/morelli-the-ethos-of-orthodox-catechesis

Morelli, G. (2011, March 01). Out of the fountain that is Christ: free will, tolerance and forgiveness. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/out-of-the-fountain-that-is-christ-free-will-tolerance-and-forgiveness.

Orthodox Study Bible. (2008). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

Palmer, G.E.H., Sherrard, P. & Ware, K. (Eds). (1979). The Philokalia, Volume 1: The Complete Text; Compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain & St. Makarios of Corinth . London: Faber and Faber.

Palmer, G. E. H., Sherrard, P. & Ware, K. (trans.) (1981). The Philokalia: The Complete Text; Compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain & St. Makarios of Corinth, (Vol. 2). London: Faber and Faber.

Palmer, G.E.H., Sherrard, P. & Ware, K. (Eds.). (1984). The Philokalia, Volume3: The Complete Text; Compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain & St. Makarios of Corinth.  London: Faber and Faber.

Palmer, G.E.H., Sherrard, P. & Ware, K. (Eds.). (1995). The Philokalia, Volume 4: The Complete Text; Compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain & St. Makarios of Corinth.  London: Faber and Faber.

St. Gregory the Great. (2007). The book of pastoral rule. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.

Staniloae, D. (1994). Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, The Experience of God, Vol. I. Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God. Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press.

The Orthodox New Testament. (2004). Buena Vista, CO: Holy Apostles Convent.

Chaplain's Corner
Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California

Prayer makes up a significant part in every major religious tradition. Thus, if a cross-section of Chaplain Corner readers were asked, “What is prayer,” a variety of definitions would likely emerge. Many would possibly resemble the one I remember from my childhood catechism: “Prayer is the lifting of our minds and hearts to God.” Prayer can be active or passive, individual or communal. Many of the different forms of prayer may contain aspects of worship, petition and thanksgiving.  Our Eastern Church Spiritual Father St. Mark the Ascetic tells us: "There are many different methods of prayer. . . . No method is harmful. . . .” (Philokalia I). St. Dorotheos of Gaza (Wheeler, 1977) reflects the common teaching of the Eastern Fathers that for prayer to be effective it has to be done with a pure heart. 

Prayer can have physical, psychological and spiritual benefits. For example, the results of one study released by the National Institute of Healthⁱ in 2011 reported a decrease in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) symptoms in the group that practiced meditation. In another example, a recent psychological study (Leshner, Cheng, Song, Choi & Frisby, 2006) found that Black-African-American women who had a belief that God was in control of their lives engaged in seeking out more helpful health information from their physicians. In this regard, we can consider that Jesus promised his disciples emotional well-being and how to achieve it: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.” (Mt 6: 33–34) The spiritual benefits of prayer are innumerable. We can summarize the spiritual effects of prayer as a dialogue with God that results in, as the Koran (6: 151) describes it, "peace and blessings." Are these not a need that all of us feel?

However, to pray with a pure heart as St. Dorotheos of Gaza reminded requires that we maintain a continuing sense of the presence of God. St. Isaac of Syria (Brock) informs us wisely on this that, "It is in proportion to the honor that a person shows in his person to God during the time of prayer. . . . [that] the door of assistance will be opened for him, leading to the purifying of the impulses and illumination in prayer.”

REFERENCES

Brock, S., trans. (1997). The Wisdom of Saint Isaac the Syrian. Fairacres Oxford, England: SLG Press, Convent of the Incarnation.

Leshner, G., Cheng, I., Song, H., Choi, Y., & Frisby, C. (2006). The role of spiritual health locus of control in breast cancer information processing between African American and Caucasian women. Integrative Medicine Insights, 2, 35-44.

Palmer, G.E.H., Sherrard, P. & Ware, K. (Eds). (1979). The Philokalia, Volume 1: The Complete Text; Compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain & St. Makarios of Corinth . London: Faber and Faber.

Wheeler, E.P. (1977). (ed., trans.), Dorotheos of Gaza: Discourses and Sayings. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications.

ENDNOTES

 i http://nccam.nih.gov/research/results/spotlight/031912

It is true that storytellers are older than novelists. We catch a glimpse of this every time we find ourselves enjoying a moment of solitude. None of us can evade that vital soliloquy, which we must cultivate from the time of our birth.

No writer has captured the essence of this truism better than Wordsworth in The Prelude. That existential epic ranks as one of man's greatest reflection on human existence. Solitude is more central to human existence than, say, finding ourselves in a crowd. However, solitude does not mean isolation, or much less alienation, and all the trappings that catchword conveys today. On the contrary, our embrace of solitude allows one to reflect on the nature and purpose of the self. Only then, I will argue, can we become useful and productive members of society.

I am willing to bet that storytelling is a more indispensable response to the demands of our lives than any other form of writing or communication. We cannot deny the precise logic and inspired intuition that storytellers utilize in weaving an engrossing story. Just think of Gilgamesh. However, in our time of theory and inane abstractions, this truism will have a hard time bubbling up to the top tier of common sense.

We should realize that solitude is an aspect of human life that we cannot avoid. Unfortunately, some people try very hard to fill the hours of each day of their lives with something to do. Emile Auguste Chartier (Alain) is right that people often rush out to undertake the most unimportant things first. Could this be a way to fill time that would otherwise remain idle? If so, then what a crime this would be, for I’ve never encountered anyone giving away time.

From a very young age, I’ve conceived of storytelling as essential to the life of reflection. Perhaps this is because I was always in the company of sentient older people who conveyed many stories to me; the fabric of purpose and meaning in life was first showcased to me in stories. In any case, it dawned on me as a young boy that stories are wonderful vehicles in our quest for understanding and wisdom.

Above all, I got the impression that storytelling places the recipient, not necessarily the teller, in the middle of it all. This, I believe, has to do with the element of surprise. Storytelling helps us ground life in a more manageable and coherent foundation than we would ordinarily be able to achieve on our own.

This, I contend, is the case because our life is translucent to us. Because we are so immersed in life – living it, that is - we often fail to take stock of our own existence. Instead, we are like a roving camera that pans the field, but which remains transparent to itself.

I have no doubt that the greatest form of storytelling is that vital need that we have to make sense of our own existence. Ideally, storytelling can help us attain self-knowledge. However, it should go without saying that all sincere auto-knosis makes us appreciate the limitations, and the trials and tribulations that mark our lives. This vital lyricism that we feel - always on the verge of bubbling up - and which enables us to make sense of our lives, this is the ultimate legacy of storytelling. Try as we may, as the saying goes, “Wherever we go, there we are.” We simply cannot shed our skin - like reptiles.

It wasn’t until many years later while on a train trip from Chicago to Toronto that I truly came to understand the timeless beauty and coal-and-ice value of storytelling. By coincidence, I was reading Paul Valéry’s The Return from Holland. I was struck by his description of his reflection in the train’s window, and how, when he moved toward the glass, the image vanished, leaving him to disappear into the dark night.

Traveling through Michigan in winter, I was moved by the sight of a handful of young children skating on a small frozen lake in a clearing that was flanked by farmland on one side and woods on the other. The infinitely blue sky made a brilliant contrast with the ground, which was covered in snow. This scene reminded me of the elder Pieter Bruegel’s painting Hunters in the Snow. I was like a roving camera-eye that witnessed the world through a glass. I was satisfied in being a mere spectator, watching the world go by, like a timepiece that is not privy to the essence of time.

The train moved slowly through this area, thus affording me the opportunity to capture the solitude and stillness of that moment in time. The frigid landscape created a synthesis of life with the high sky that humanized and memorialized that moment in time.

The passage of time and the rhythm that our respective lives take on are seminal events that cannot be divorced from each other. Occasionally, we get glimpses of this marriage: the birth of a child, the ostensible finality that death confronts us with, a solitary trek through a lonely beach or the simple act of lying awake in a dark room, sleep escaping us.

On another occasion, while eating lunch in the furthest reaches of Pompeii, in a remote area, where most tourists do not care to tread, I was astounded by the juxtaposition of my solitude in this tragic museum-city, and the sight of the petrified dead, nearby. The hypnotic sound of the warm summer breeze, the immensity of the blue sky and Vesuvius in the distance allowed me a lasting imprint of the stubbornly fleeting essence of time.

That I should be privy to the horrific final moments of those poor souls before me, who are now encapsulated in a timeless cast, this made me realize that I too am a clay being, one who lives on borrowed time.

It makes practical sense to view human life as an aspect of objective reality that is best understood from the inside out. Undoubtedly, we all enjoy the fruits of science. Today we have a science of this-and-that and names for everything under the stars. Perhaps this is as it ought to be, given the far-ranging expanse of our technological curiosity and know-how. Yet I have not been deluded into thinking that we have conquered death, and how this reality-of-realities is played out in the passage of time.

I have never lost my boyhood awe and wonder for the essences that inform this material province. What you see is never what you get. Sure, the world remains after we have departed. We are wayfarers who pass through this mortal domain, like ghosts who remain in their former dwelling places.

The mystery of human existence cannot be exhausted. Neither can it be claimed by the grasp of all-encompassing science or the iron-clad grasp of timely social/political fashion. This realization has kept me grounded in the vital and lyrical quality of my existence, a reality which can never be fully appropriated from without.

I’ve often wondered: What better usage of metaphor, simile and allusion than that made by a subject that attempts to make sense of time and our role in it? Furthermore, what is the role of irony in the interplay of the living and the dead with God?

As a young man just entering college, I once asked a university professor the latter question. I was immediately disappointed. His answer was curt: “I don’t know, go look it up,” he said. The man lacked all semblance of that vital, existential hunger that allows some people to engage life on higher terms.

His lackluster response taught me that genuine and lasting reflection cannot be forged in classrooms, committees or by other collective means. There are no manuals to guide us in our vital concerns. The art of living is not so easily mastered. Time is evanescent, and in order to make sense of the treacherous train in which time rides us along, we must first know the purpose of the track we are on.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.  (Mt. 5:5)

Meekness is not a personality characteristic or, in fact, a virtue valued in modern society. If anything, it would be an attribute to be avoided.  Surely, in the common secular understanding of this term, parents would mostly likely want to avoid raising children to be "meek." A glance at a typical submissive, spiritless and tame. Worldly success, on the other hand, would be enhanced by traits just the opposite of meekness: being aggressive, spirited and/or exciting.

St. Gregory of Nyssa

What Spiritual Meekness is not

The Holy Spirit-inspired spiritual perception of St. Gregory of Nyssa, however, gives an entirely different meaning to the teaching on meekness that Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ gave to His Disciples in the Sermon on the Mount.

Mount of the Beatitudes Church

St. Gregory certainly does not mean meekness in the modern societal sense I mentioned above. In fact, he specifically dismisses the spiritual meaning of meekness as that which "is done quietly and slowly." (St. Gregory of Nyssa, 1954) Just the opposite, St. Gregory in his homily on meekness goes on to reference St. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians (1Cor 9: 24), saying "he advises us to increase our speed; So run, he says, that you may obtain."

Honing in on the meaning of Spiritual Meekness

St. Gregory paints a picture of spiritual meekness that is diametrically opposite to our worldly conception. Of St. Paul, he comments:

Look at the wounds of his opponent, look at the bruises and marks he left on his defeated enemy. . . he scratches him with the nails of continence, he mortifies his limbs by hunger and thirst, by cold and nakedness, he inflicts on him the marks of the Lord.

Jesus casting out the moneychangers

With Jesus, in the face of evil we see spiritual weakness as spiritual strength. Jesus’ confronting of the money-changers in the Temple is a clear example. As St. Luke tells us: ^"And having entered into the temple, He began to cast out those who sold and bought in it, saying to them, “It hath been written: ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but ye made it ‘a den of robbers.’”  (Lk 19:45-46)

In this regard, St. Gregory even references the Fathers of Old Testament King and Prophet David, in pursuit of his enemy, writes:

God who hath girt me with strength; and made my way blameless. Who hath made my feet like the feet of harts: and who setteth me upon high places. Who teacheth my hands to war: and thou hast made my arms like a brazen bow. And thou hast given me the protection of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath held me up: And thy discipline hath corrected me unto the end: and thy discipline, the same shall teach me. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; and my feet are not weakened. I will pursue after my enemies, and overtake them: and I will not turn again till they are consumed. (Ps 17: 33-38)

Plain of Gennesaret (view from the mountain)

The saint writes: "the Bridegroom in the Canticle is likened to a roe [adult male deer] because of his speed, leaping upon the mountains and skipping over the hills." (SS 2:8)

St. Nicholas stopping an execution

Another way of understanding the strength of spiritual meekness is to perceive that it allows for all the time God has ordained to each of us in our natural lives to repent any misdeeds and seek His forgiveness. It is in this spirit that we can consider the application of spiritual meekness displayed, for example, by St. Nicholas in saving the lives of accused innocent and guilty men as they were about to be put to death.

Another example is the action of St. Vladimir of Kiev [Prince of the Ukraine-Russia Region], who after his conversion abolished executions as being incompatible with the Gospel. In his testament to his childrenⁱⁱ he writes:

St. Vladimir of Kiev

Above all things: forget not the poor, but support them to the extent of your means. Give to the orphan, protect the widow, and permit the mighty to destroy no man. Take not the life of the just or the unjust, nor permit him to be killed. Destroy no Christian soul, even though he be guilty of murder.

To understand meekness, first understand the 'passions'

In his Homily on Blessed are the meek St. Gregory instructs us that to comprehend the beatitude of meekness in a spiritual sense the role of the passions in mankind must be understood. He points out that these are natural to mankind. "He [God] does not set up complete absence of passion as a law of human nature." Following the teaching of St. Isaac of Syria (Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2011) however, we know that passions are of the body and not of the soul. The saint instructs us: "by nature the soul is passionless." And again he says, "the soul is naturally dispassionate." The reason for this, St. Isaac tells us, is "that God created His image passionless — yet I do not mean His image in reference to the body, but to the soul, which is invisible [as is God]; for every image is taken from a prototype."

St. Isaac of Syria

St. Isaac goes on to provide a sagacious explanation of the utility that the passions have for the body:

Every passion that exists for our benefit has been given by God. The passions of the body have been implanted in it for its benefit and growth. . .whenever the body is forced by a privation of what is proper to it to be outside of its own well being. . . it is enfeebled and harmed.

However, spiritual writers have constantly warned us of the passions and that they separate us from God and from the whole of mankind. Morelli (2009b) provides some understanding on this seeming contradiction. It is the passions that have gone wrong that are spiritually harmful.

[Inordinate] passions may predispose individuals to discord from God and mankind. St. Paul's warns us: "Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (Gal 5:19-21). The Church Fathers attribute these to the demon of each passion that never tires of breaking the union between God and mankind.

The spiritual core of meekness: moderation

St. Gregory of Nyssa (1954) tells us: "Hence the Beatitude commands moderation and meekness, but not complete absence of passion; for the latter is outside the scope of nature whereas the former can be achieved by means of virtue." What is sinful, so to speak, is being "drawn into passion." St. Gregory goes on to say that in virtue we can "resist such leanings manfully and to defeat passion by reason." St. John of the Ladder (1991) considers that "the precursor of all humility is meekness."

St. John of Kronstadt

St. John of Kronstadt (2003) explains the relationship between meekness and humility. He does this by first asking a question. "Why are the meek beatified immediately after those who mourn"? He then answers his own question. "Because meekness is the fruit and the consequence of contrition, of crying over our sins and failings." (c.f. Morelli, 2012)

Cognitive Behavioral-Psychology of meekness: moderation

Such spiritual wisdom is echoed by contemporary scientific researchers into human behavior. Cognitive psychotherapist Albert Ellis (1962) writes that "there is something about the nature of human beings more than others. . .which makes it horribly difficult for them to take the middle ground. . . instead of having moderating behavior." The beneficent effect of moderation in the areas of health, such as eating, drinking and various psychological domains are well known.ⁱⁱⁱ

Drs. Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis, Pioneers in Cognitive Therapy

Two approaches have been most prevalent in cognitive modulation, or regulation, of behavior. One method, described by Morelli (1997, 2006), is based on aiding patients to identify and restructure irrational cognitions that lead to strong dysfunctional emotions and resultant inappropriate behavior. The other method, initiated by researchers D'Zurilla and Goldfried (1971), considers lack of self-control or moderation to be due to a deficit in systematic problem-solving skills. Treatment intervention involves teaching patients to specify problems, produce alternative solutions and systematically test and confirm the solutions.

The pivotal work of Spivack and Shure (1974) provides an overview of the cognitive problem-solving learning program. They found that children with significant disruptive aggressive interpersonal behavior problems (even in relatively simple social interactions, such as sharing toys) had deficits in social information processing.  These children fail to consider the consequences of their behavior, nor do they have the knowledge of alternative actions to bring about desirable pro-social outcomes.  Intervention is focused on recognition of interpersonal problems, and on teaching them to generate alternative step-by-step solutions to these problems before taking action steps.  Morelli (2006b) describes means-end analysis , a step in a problem-solving process called the General Problem Solver (GPS), developed by Newell & Simon in 1972, in this way:

[it] involves assessing the difference between the stage that the individual presently occupies and the completed task. The second process is called the sub-goal strategy. The individual takes an action or operation to close the gap between where they are at present and completing the goal.^iv

A brief description of applying this technique with children in Shure's own words^v might be helpful. She describes her thinking and that of her colleague, George Spivack. In the 1970's they:

Recognized [the] need for specifically selected vocabulary words to help young children think the problem solving way, e.g., "is/is not," "and/or," "same-different," "before/after," "might/maybe," etc.,), and developed lesson-games to associate those games to questions designed for hypothetical children, e.g., "Can you think of a different  way that  (child) can get his brother to stop bugging him?" "What happened before Rudy called his friend a name?" "What happened after? "What might happen next if .  . .?" etc.). Recognized [the] need to train teachers and parents to carry over this line of questioning when real problems came up (e.g. "Can you think of a different way to solve this problem?" "What happened before you hit him?" "What happened after?" etc). — called "ICPS dialoguing" — to associate thinking with behavior.

A summary chart is provided in the Endnotes. It should be remarked that in the modern application of this program teachers and parents can use group interaction, pictures, puppets and  role-playing to facilitate students’ cognitive-emotive and behavioral skills. Children can also be asked to give examples of problems they have encountered in their own lives.

As seen in the chart below, the "treatment" starts out with lessons that teach preschool and kindergarten children basic problem-solving language and coping  skills.   Word concepts such as not (e.g.: "Is that a good idea or not a good idea?"); same/different (e.g.: "Can you think of a different way to solve this problem?"); and  if. . .then (e.g.: "If you hit Johnny, then what might happen?") are taught to the children.

It can be readily seen that this program is designed to ameliorate extreme behavior into behavior that is more moderate. This is consistent with the spiritual understanding of meekness being moderation.

Counsel of St. Isaac of Syria: Spiritual meekness-Psychological Disarming

St. Isaac of Syria presents us with a beautiful synergia of what is known in cognitive-behavior therapy as the disarming technique and which is an activity that can be sanctified as spiritual virtue. The disarming technique was explained by Morelli, (2010):

 Basically, it makes a neutral statement about the other individual’s response. One does not have to agree to what was said and what you consider false, so truth as you see does not have to be compromised. This is especially important if the truth you expressed and that was rejected by another individual reflects the orthodox teaching of Christ and His Church. 

St. Isaac tells us:

Confute those who would strive to dispute with you by the strength of your virtues, and not by the persuasiveness of your words. By the meekness and quietness of your lip, put the impudence of the obstinate to silence, and not by speaking. Reprove the wanton by the nobility of your life. . . .

It takes Godly strength to remain moderate and not cow in fear in the face of evil.

Once again, these words aid us in focusing on the spiritual connection between moderation and meekness. I want to strongly emphasize, as I have written previously (Morelli, 2006c), the spiritual necessity for committed Christians to use all the scientific treatment procedures of medicine and psychology as well as the Holy Mysteries of the Church in the healing of body, mind and spirit. The Church Fathers understood that we are made in God's image and called to be like Him in all things. St. Gregory of Nyssa said: "Medicine is an example of what God allows men to do when they work in harmony with Him and with one another." St. Basil of Caesarea said: "God's grace is as evident in the healing power of medicine and its practitioners as it is in miraculous cures." To quote the straightforward advice of Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain (Ageloglou, 1998): "You, doctors, take good care of your patients. . . you should have a practical mind. Generally speaking, everyone of us must take advantage of his mind which is a gift from God."

Transitioning from worldly moderation to spiritual moderation (meekness)

Developing a Godly mindset

This may be initiated by helping the child develop a Godly mindset regarding caring for self and reacting to others. Helping the child evaluate actions that relate to their bodies by using the words of St. Isaac of Syria "benefit and growth" mentioned above would be especially helpful. A child might be prompted to answer if a specific action would be of benefit to them or help them grow in some way. This could be done in the guise of a question and answer exercise. A parent might ask:  "What would happen to you if you ate the whole box of cookies?" The answer a child might give might be: "I would get sick," or "I would get fat," or "You would punish me." The parent could then respond with another question: "Would this be good for you in God's loving eyes?" or "Do you think God would think eating all those cookies would help you to grow?" This approach can be used for any number of foods a child may overindulge in. 

Parents and others can also emphasize that what helps us and benefits us the best is a balance (moderation) of different life activities.  Watching a good television program can be a benefit; it can be entertaining, a learning experience or relaxing, but watching too much television can be harmful. A child could be asked, for example: "If you spent the whole day watching television what would happen?" A child might answer: "I would not be able to finish my homework (or say my prayers, etc.)." The parent may ask the child: "Would God want this for you?" "Do you think He would think this good or bad for you?"

Some children have an idealized, unrealistic view of what success is and how it is obtained. They may see someone attain success and not realize it takes a long period of self-discipline in the area in which they have attained success and that they had to balance  their lives, that is to say do all in moderation, to achieve their goal. This practical wisdom was not lost by Elder Paisios (Ageloglou, 1998) who commented:

In our days, many young people have a strange attitude: they want to study, without attending school (they often participate in school strikes, etc.), they want to have good grades without studying hard, and they want their graduation diplomas brought to them at the cafeteria where they are having fun.

Behavior Management 101

In previous parenting articles (Morelli, 2005, 2006a) I have gone over the basics of pinpointing behavior and the proper use of reinforcement and punishment in facilitating appropriate behavior and attenuating inappropriate behavior. In helping a child learn meekness, that is say moderation, it is important here to emphasize one important behavior management procedure: reinforcement, also called rewards or favorable events, must follow the behavior that is to be increased. To put this rule in simple everyday terms: 'first you do your homework, then you go out to play.' Application of this principle is critical in the learning of new and weak behaviors. This rule has to be clearly explained to the child before beginning the program and then be consistently (100%) applied. In practical terms, this means no exceptions are allowed. This is so important that I will give two examples.

Scenario: Johnny, an eleven-year old boy, a star and key player for his team, is about to leave for the national 'little league' championship title game.

Example I: The boy rarely does his homework or daily chores (very weak behavior) and puts most of his focus on baseball. Currently, his chores and homework are undone.

Example II: The boy always completes his homework and daily chores (strong behavior) and integrates baseball with the rest of his life.  Currently, his chores and homework are undone.

Example I: Parent response: "Johnny, you know the rule, it was your choice not to do your homework and chores so you chose not to be able to go to play in the championship game. I am really sorry you made this choice."

Example II: Parent response: "Johnny, you know the rule, but you always do your homework and chores before playing your baseball games. The one time you missed your chore you did it immediately after the game. You certainly earned playing in the championship game. I am proud of you."

Frequently parents in Example I have a difficult emotional challenge. They inappropriately "feel" sorry for their child and want to "give in." However, they are engaging in mindless helping (Morelli, 2009a). They are placing the so-called 'value' of the game and/or the child's feeling 'missing out,' over really helping the child learn responsibility and moderation and, eventually, spiritual meekness. Parents should  have no trouble coming up with other examples. Extra-curricular activities, participation in hobby events and proms come to mind. 

Godly/un-Godly Activity Exercise

A technique parents, catechists and clergy can explore with children is helping them distinguish Godly vs. un-Godly activities. An activity list can start the exercise, but their children should be encouraged to add their own as well. A "G" can be used to label Godly activities and "UG" for un-Godly activities.^vi Children should be encouraged to state the reasons why these actions are Godly and or un-Godly. It is imperative that children know the spiritual reason for the acceptability or unacceptability of these actions. (Morelli, 2011).^vii (Morelli (2007) provides an example of understanding issues of sexuality from a Christ-like perspective. A typical Activity Exercise  list may include the following (the list should be modified (add or subtract activities) to account for the age of the child):

Russian Icon of the Beatitudes

Eating normal amounts G

Overeating UG

Saying daily prayers G

Smoking UG

Saying or doing nasty things to other children (bullying) UG

Going to confession G

Over-drinking alcohol UG

Skipping school UG

Moderate drinking-(if family custom, e.g., a glass of wine at dinner) G 

Taking drugs UG

Texting while driving UG

Attending every church-school class G

Doing assigned chores G

Missing homework UG

Attending Divine Liturgy every Sunday and Feast-day G

Playing video games all day UG

Sharing with others G

Looking at porn on computer or magazines UG

Telling the truth G

Having sex before blessed marriage UG

Forgiving when you have been hurt G

Not giving needed ^viii aid to others UG

Inheriting the earth

St. Gregory of Nyssa (1954) gives us both spiritual and psychological insight into the meaning of Our Lord's telling us that the meek "shall inherit the earth." St. Gregory says:

. . .that even in this life the meek will delight in length of days and many other blessings, as did the long suffering Job, David, Jacob, and many saints in the New Testament who shone with meekness. Most important the meek will receive God's promised boons in the land of the living—in Heaven.

Talking over the consequences of the each of the activities in the Activity Exercise with the child (or adults for their own consideration) can help clarify the ensuing worldly goals or divine graces. For example, overeating, smoking, taking drugs can cause physical and psychological harm to our bodies as well as shorten our lives. It would be educationally and catechetically sound if the child were able to articulate these consequences by answering a series of Socratic questions as illustrated above.

Being in Communion with Christ and the Church of His Apostles<

Spiritually, by performing these ungodly actions we are not caring for the gift of our own lives, a gift that God has given us charge over. Saying our daily prayers, going to confession and Divine Liturgy, attending church school are ways we acknowledge God and show our love for Him. St. Luke (10: 27) tells us Jesus’ own words to us: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind." Some of the other actions in the Activity Exercise, such as not bullying, helping  needful others, not being unforgiving of others, not stealing from others and having sex only within a blessed marriage are geared toward fulfilling the second part of Jesus' counsel on love, that is to say that love be extended not only to God but : ". . . [to] thy neighbor as thyself.”

I have fought the good fight...

We begin our journey to the Kingdom of God by our Holy Baptism, by it becoming among the 'royal priesthood' of God's people His Church. However, we must remain continually committed to Christ by what we treasure in our hearts, what we have in our thoughts and the actions of our daily life..

In inheriting God's blessings not only on earth but, more importantly, in Heaven, "the land of the living," we have Christ as our guide. As St. Peter tells us:

For to this ye were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving behind for you an example, that ye should follow His footsteps: “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth”; Who, when He was reviled, reviled not in return; when He suffered, He threatened not, but kept on giving Himself. . . . (1Pt. 2:21-23)

REFERENCES

Ageloglou, Priestmonk Christodoulos. (1998). Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain. Mt. Athos, Greece: Holy Mountain.

D'Zurilla, T. & Goldfried, M. Problem solving and behavior modification. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1971, 78, 107-126.

Ellis, A. (1962). Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy. Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart

Holy Transfiguration Monastery. (ed., trans.).  (2011). The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian (revised, 2nd edition). Boston, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

Morelli, G.  (1997).  Emotion, Cognitive Treatment, Sacred Scripture and the Church Fathers. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Orthodox Christian Association of Medicine, Psychology & Religion, Brookline, Mass. In Chirban, J. (Ed.), Sickness or sin?-Spiritual discernment and differential diagnosis: Orthodox Christianity.

Morelli, G. (2006). Healing: Orthodox Christianity and scientific psychology. Fairfax , VA: Eastern Christian Publications.

Morelli, G. (2005, September 17). Smart Parenting Part I. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles5/MorelliParenting.

Morelli, G. (2006a, February 04). Smart Parenting Part II. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles6/MorelliParenting2.php.

Morelli, G. (2006b, June 04). The Spiritual Roots of Procrastination. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles6/MorelliProcrastination.php.

Morelli, G. (2006c, December 21). The Ethos of Orthodox Christian Healing. www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles6/MorelliHealing.php.

Morelli, G. (2007, August 28). Smart Parenting VI: Talking to Your Children About Sex. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles7/MorelliSmartParentingVI.php

Morelli, G (2009, February 08). Good Marriage XV. Ensnared By Mindless Helping. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/good-marriage-xv-ensnared-by-mindless-helping

Morelli, G. (2009, April 10). Healing the infirmity of sin: a brief explanation. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/morelli-healing-the-infirmity-of-sin-a-brief-explanation

Morelli, G. (2010, April 09). The Disarming Technique. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/morelli-the-disarming-technique

Morelli, G. (2011 February 01). Pastoral Pointer: It's the Spirit Behind the Letter. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/pastoral-pointer-its-the-spirit-behind-the-letter

Morelli, G. (2012, May 02). Smart Parenting XXV Applying Christ's Beatitudes to parenting: Blessed are they who mourn. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/view/smart-parenting-xxv-applying-christs-beatitudes-to-parenting-blessed-are-t

Newell, A. & Simon, H. (1972). Human Problem Solving. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Spivack, G., and Shure, M.B. 1974. Social Adjustment of Young Children. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

St. Gregory of Nyssa. (1954). The Lord's Prayer, The Beatitudes. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.

St. John Climacus (1991). The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Boston: Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

St. John of Kronstadt. (2003). Ten homilies on the Beatitudes. Albany, NY: Cornerstone Editions.

ENDNOTES

i http://www.yourdictionary.com/meekness

I thank my editor Anne Petach for this comment:

"Part of the problem with the English word meek is that it derives from an Old Norse word meaning pliant or soft, whereas the Greek word ‘praus’, meek (praotes = meekness).

Used in NT and also in Septuagint, (Moses was ‘meek’) and surely also for St. Gregory, meant gentle in the sense of ‘’under control.’ From Aristotle onward,[meekness] includ[es]  the meaning of “a strong animal under control”- This is the set of meanings that is the context of the word for St. Gregory, I believe. See these pages at: http://books.google.com/books?id=PTpPsnD_gQ0C&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&dq=praus+greek+usage&source=bl&ots=DD6LMdeV-Y&sig=v5hFjEnbiNzPByNWgqSRVFBvzHQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KlKXT77qB6WviQKw-Kj7Dw&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=praus%20greek%20usage&f=false Kj7Dw&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAw#v=onepage."

ii http://www.incommunion.org/2004/10/14/quotations/

iii http://www.njnhc.org/health-with-balance-and-moderation.htm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2821200/

iv A flow chart showing the GPS Model:

v http://www.thinkingchild.com/ ICPS in a Nutshell —Preschool to Age 12

Myrna B. Shure, Ph.D

vi Another good suggestion from editor Anne Petach: " As a former catechist, I can see great possible fun in classroom activities as children respond aloud with a hearty Ugh! At the appropriate time – likely to help the lesson stick."

vii Many of the  articles in the Good Marriage, Smart Parenting and Essay series (http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/archive/morelli) provide the Christocentric reason for these evaluations.  Children are not inclined to obey rules when the reasons for the rules are not known. Thus the importance of facilitating children's spiritual understanding.

viii c.f. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/good-marriage-xv-ensnared-by-mindless-helping

Chaplain's Corner
Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California

The 19th Century British statesman Benjamin Disraeli was quoted as saying: "Moderation is the center wherein all philosophies, both human and divine, meet."ⁱ Certainly, in the Hebrew and Christian tradition we see moderation lauded. In the Proverbs of Solomon (25:27) we read: "As it is not good for a man to eat much honey, so he that is a searcher of majesty, shall be overwhelmed by glory." Other religious traditions also praise moderation. Buddha, for example, describes the middle way as a path of moderation between the poles of extreme indulgence and deprivation.ⁱⁱ To accomplish this one would also have to follow the path of wisdom.ⁱⁱⁱ

Cognitive psychotherapist Albert Ellis (1962) notes that "there is something about the nature of human beings more than others . . .which makes it horribly difficult for them to take the middle ground . . .instead of having moderating behavior." The beneficent effects of moderation in the areas of health, such as eating, drinking, exercise and various psychological domains are well known. In dieting, for example, "the goal is to obtain balance, variety, and moderation. People sometimes do not realize that they can eat the foods they enjoy, but the intent is to do it in moderation."^iv

St. Paul writes in his Epistle to the Philippians (4:5), "Let your reasonableness be known to all men." He goes on to explain that this can be attained by discipline, or self-control. He tells the Corinthians: ". . .and everyone who contendeth exerciseth self-control in all things; indeed then, those do it that they might receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible." (1Cor. 9:25) Interestingly, St. John of the Ladder (1991), the 7th Century abbot of St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, recognized that "self-control is the mother of health." He was talking about spiritual health and the ascending of what he termed the Ladder of Divine Ascent. However, the Eastern Church does not neglect bodily healing and the discipline, moderation and self-control it takes to keep healthy or to cure illness. The healing of the body is announced as a sign of God's mercy and blessing on the person experiencing His healing, an occasion of offering thanks to God, and as an inspiration to others to do His will. Thus, in the Orthodox moral tradition, both spiritual and physical healing should be brought to God.

Sometimes the emphasis on spiritual healing is taken to mean that attempts at physical healing should be minimized. This is a grave misconception. The foundation of this misconception rests on ideas that reliance on God somehow stands in opposition to science. It doesn't. God is the source of both the natural laws to be discovered by science and of His supernatural governance of the cosmos, which He revealed to us. Thus, we may consider exercising self-discipline, that is to say applying moderation in our lives, to be a synergia or cooperation with God's healing purposes and goals: the wellness of body, mind and spirit of His creatures.

ENDNOTES

i http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/ moderation_2.html#x92EbhPSIdZdSRKg.99 , http://www.1-famous-quotes.com/quote/332777

ii http://www.wifa.uni-leipzig.de/fileadmin/user_upload/itvwl-vwl/MIKRO/Papers/Wiese/buddhisthouseholdtheory_socio_economics_website.pdf

iii http://www.buddhanet.net/cbp2_f4.htm

iv http://www.njnhc.org/health-with-balance-and-moderation.htm

Ellis, A. (1962). Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy. Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart

St. John Climacus (1991). The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Boston: Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

A message from the President of SSJC-Western Region
(Light of the East Newsletter, 2012, Springⁱ)
by Fr. George Morelli

It is not often that we are blessed to live in the same lifetime with one who is certainly saintly due to his ever-zealous witness to Christ during a time of unceasing and escalating attacks by Islamists, a time during which he provided loving Christ-like service to his people. Thus, it is with profound human sadness but great spiritual joy that we call to our hearts and minds His Holiness Thrice-Blessed Pope Shenouda III, the Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church that traces back to the holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark, who passed into Eternal Life in Our Lord on March17, 2012.

To “fall asleep in the Lord” in the hope of the Resurrection is a great grace, prayed for by all committed Christians. A witness to the Godly passing of His Holiness recounts that on his last day “…he could not sleep and was seeing holy visions of multitudes waiting for him (the “cloud of witnesses” mentioned in the Epistle to the Hebrews (12: 1).”ⁱⁱ May God now seat him at the front of His banquet table in His Eternal Feast of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Ardent followers of Christ know the soul of His Holiness remains alive in the Eternal Mind of God. His spirit can also remain alive in us, who can emulate his desire for the unity of the Apostolic Churches. The unity of the Apostolic Churches is the primary hope, goal, prayer and service of us who are members of the Society of St. John Chrysostom; furthermore, we pray all Christians be devoted to this unity. Christ Himself prayed for the unity of us all when He cried out to His Heavenly Father: "Holy Father, keep in Thy name those whom Thou hast given Me, in order that they may be one, even as We." (Jn. 17:11)

The commitment of His Holiness of Thrice-Blessed Memory to this ecumenical effort is unquestionable. In 1973 he went to Rome and signed a declaration of common faith with His Holiness Pope Paul VI. Various news sources noted this was the first meeting of the Pontiffs since the year 451 AD. In later years, His Holiness Pope Shenouda worked toward similar understanding between the Coptic Church and other Orthodox Churches to overcome obstacles to full unity. An outstanding example was that in June 1989 His Holiness opened the International Commission for Inter-Orthodox Theological Dialogue Conference, which published the first “Agreed Statement” between these Churches.

Prayer, understanding and fellowship with one another are the very least we can do in the spirit and memory of this Godly Pope. May we be enlivened by one of his last words: "I pray for you my beloved children; preserve your tongues from causing any division!"ⁱⁱⁱ

May his memory be eternal!

ENDNOTES

i http://lightoftheeast.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ssjcnewsspring12-copy.pdf

ii Personal communication with Fr. Kyrillos Ibrahim, 24 March 2012

iii Prayer Service, 2012 03 23, St. Mark's Coptic Church of Chicago

One year ends another one starts, second after second, since the beginning of the world, the clock is ticking. What is the significance of time? Why are we so obsessed with it and why we celebrate again and again the passing of another year with parties and fireworks?

One explanation may be that the New Year that comes brings with it a wind of hope, a belief that maybe we’ll do better than in the year past. Resolutions are a must at the bridge between years, but most of them are trivial things like loosing weight or stop smoking, nothing substantial. We see clearly however that after a certain age new year celebrations and particularly birthdays become a bitter-sweet event and the passing of years is not a celebration of entering into maturity, but the beginning of a downhill pathway.

The flow of years changes us, but God remains eternal, immovable, unchangeable, beyond time, “But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end.” (Psa 102:27)

Time is different however for God and us, as the psalmist observes: “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.” (Ps 90:4-6)

How much time we actually need in the world? King David says that “the days of our years [are] seventy; and if by reason of strength [they be] eighty, yet [is] their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” (Psa 90:10)

During this time we are afraid we won’t make the most of it; fear that we don’t have control over its implacable passing, fear that we won’t have enough time. But enough time for what? To spend it into trivial pleasures, to leave “something” behind, see the world? This could be in truth considered a “waste of time”.

We should look at time from a very different perspective. Time is not a rat race but a true gift from God. No matter how much we live an hour, 30 years, 100, we are given just enough time to reach salvation. A father said once that if a man wants to be saved, a day from sunrise till sunset is enough. We have the biblical example of the thief on the cross who “stole” paradise with a word.

But even though thinks like this can happen, they remain exceptions because we are not the masters of time, only God Himself knows the beginning and the end of the world and of each one of us. Then how are we supposed to know when to repent, how do we know when to put a stop of our perennial spiritual procrastination? Some tried to predict the end of the world but they were proven wrong.

There is however another way, instead of guessing we should try preparation, we should try to live everyday, as it will be the last. St. Basil the Great use to say that the greatest philosophy is the thought of death. Indeed with that perspective in mind one can realize that that best resolution of all is repentance, a paradigm shift from wasting time to redeeming time. As Christians we have to redeem the time that we were given by using it properly for our salvation and thus paradoxically gaining an eternity.

I have often seen people reacting strongly to a certain message delivered from the pulpit. Some identify themselves with the circumstances brought into discussion in the sermon and feel exposed, as if the priest purposely reveals their secret to the entire congregation. Others respond negatively to any message that is delivered in a more compelling and direct way, feeling personally attacked and hurt by the less subtle preacher.

This is not necessarily the fault of the priest nor of the people. We are the product of a society that lives and breathes political correctness, where all religious are considered equal and the truth is relative. A powerful message is perceived therefore as too strong because is often compared with the more common but more diluted message of the Gospel that concentrates on guaranteed salvation and tends to forget about the active participation and alignment that Christ requires of each one of us in order to obtain it.

Jesus Christ is considered by all Christians a messenger of love and peace, and this is absolutely true. Christ came to replace an eye for an eye with loving your enemy and turning the other cheek; He wants all men to become one, uniting them with God through His crucified body. But the same Jesus declares “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I did not come to send peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother. (Mat 10:33-35) This is to say that “harmony is not always a good thing”, as St. Theophylact of Bulgaria, observes, because there are situations that may hinder our faith and we should separate from them, rather than trying to cover them up with relativism or misplaced acceptance.

Christ never hesitated, when deemed necessary, to call the things as they were, by name, without clever subtleties or embellished rhetoric’s. The Scripture is full of such examples. The Sadducees and the Pharisees that were surrounding Him, waiting to find in Him a fault were admonished with blunt words “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (Luke 11:44). He uncovered their two-facedness of justifying themselves behind their chosen status while dwelling in sin: “ Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. (John 8:43-44) He called them “generation of vipers” (Mat 12:34-35), “a cup clean only on the outside” (Luke 11:49), “washed graves” (Luke 11:44) and so forth.

His disciples were not spared either. Peter was called Satan when he failed to understand the necessity of Christ’s suffering and death (Mar 8:33). Luke and Cleopas, who did not recognize Christ on the way to Emmaus, were named “ fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken” (Luke 24:25)

He warned everyone about the danger of sin and of spiritual procrastination: “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire”. (Mat 7:19) He depicted with painful precision the punishment of the wicked: “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth”. (Mat 13:41-42)

Jesus went even beyond words as in the case of the money changers from the temple: “And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise”. ( John 2:14-16)

No matter what the Lord said or did, He always had only one thing in mind: the care of His reason endowed sheep; He is the good Sheppard that gives His life for His flock.In a similar manner the priests are called to shepherd the flock that Christ has left in their care.

The mission of the shepherd can be difficult and painful at times. St. John Chrysostom, in his treaty about priesthood observes that a real shepherd has a very difficult task tending to his animals: Those shepherds with great authority compel the sheep to accept the remedy even if they do not willingly submit to it. It is easy to bind them when cautery or cutting is required. Sometimes caressing a sheep is not enough, one has to use a hot iron to cauterize a wound if wants to prevent an infection.

In priesthood the situation is more complicated because “here too, it is possible to bind and to restrain from food and to use cautery or the knife, but the decision to receive treatment depends on the will of the patient, and does no lie with the man who administers the medicine”. One may want or even try to apply the treatment, but if the man does not want to receive it, if his heart is made of rock, if his ways are set and does not see the treatment as necessary, the cure will fail, no matter how willing the shepherd is.

“It is proper therefore for the priest to leave none of these things unexamined, and after a thorough inquiry into all of them, he must apply such remedies as he has considered appropriate to each case lest his zeal prove to be in vain.” The priest has to become a good judge of character in order to be able to discern what treatment has to be applied to each end everyone in his flock. He has to remember above all that God does not desire “the death of the wicked” but that “he should turn from his ways and live.”(Eze 18:23) The priority is to gather, at any price, the body of Christ, to preserve the Church in unity, peace and love, to bring back home the prodigal sons. “One can see that he has much to do […] in the work of knitting together the severed members of the Church”.

But the priest cannot sit idle either, waiting for the sheep to ask for treatment, because the sheep may never realize it needs it; nor he should give a diluted medication when a stronger one is needed. He has to pro-actively address all the issues that endanger the life of the church by balancing all that God has left as tools, discerning what, when and how to apply in order to prevent schism, uproot heresy, keep the seal of the faith inviolate. This happens sometimes at the expense of his own suffering and pain, for his actions may be misunderstood at times, but the shepherd knows that this is nothing new, Christ has done it first for all.

On the fifth Thursday of Lent in the Orthodox Churches we chant the service of the Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete. It is a monumental work of hymnography with more than 250 odes, or verses, to which we also add the lengthy reading of the life of St Mary of Egypt. This makes it probably one of the longest services of Great Lent. If one also a counts the number of prostrations performed after each ode, it becomes also one of the most uncomfortable services for any casual observer.

But the length of the service and the physical discomfort of the standing and the prostrations is not the only thing that renders people to be uneasy with this service. The canon brings forth like in a truthful mirror the fallen and sinful nature of humankind by extensively referencing examples from the Old and New Testament and linking them back with our own shortcomings. We don’t appreciate this because we have grown accustomed to having a very good impression of ourselves; we were taught by the society to be proud of our achievements and develop a high sense of self-esteem. So even when we look in a mirror we always try to search for the good features, not the faults and when someone shows us that we are not as beautiful as we think we are, or as smart as we think we, or as pious as we thing we are, we take somewhat offense in it.

But the Great canon is not the only thing that is uncomfortable in the Orthodox Church; there are many things here that go against the grain off the secular world. Take for instance the iconography. Many times John the Baptist is depicted with a very stern figure, looking to us with fiery eyes that seem to say over the centuries “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Many would like to replace this accusatory appearance that calls us to a heightened sense of Christian responsibility with one that would transmits warm and fuzzy feelings, even though this is not who St. John the Baptist was. This happened in the West where the thin body frame of the greatest ascetic that lived, was replaced with the rounded curves of a well fed body as in the depiction of Leonardo Da Vinci and others. Who cares about historical and theological accuracy when we can have our own happy version of the truth?

The traditional Byzantine music of the Orthodox Church also seems harsh at times to the Western trained ears that are more used with the even tempered intervals of the classical music. But the Byzantine music is not an independent musical system that just happens to be applied to the Church, like the Western one is, the Byzantine music has grown organically in the Church over centuries, in complete symbiosis with the poetry of the prayers and seeks, with its intricate and sometimes seemingly strange intervals of its eight modes, to adjust to the complexity of sentiments that are stirred in our hearts, not by the musical intervals alone, but by the very words of prayer.

We also do not praise gluttony and laziness but we practice fasting and constant work towards salvation. Many call this archaic, unnecessary, optional, old fashioned, fundamentalist and so on. But looking around in the icons of the Church we see no well fed and relaxed individuals but only ascetic figures, sharpened by the great works of fasting and spiritual struggle, martyrs that have greatly suffered for their faith, soldiers that have fought valiantly for the Truth. Isn’t it paradoxical that we want to be united with Christ as the saints are, yet we are not willing to follow in their footsteps? We ask their intercessions, yet we do not agree with their way of life simply because it interferes with our comfortable living?

The architecture of the Orthodox churches fosters on its turn a degree of discomfort in the congregation by setting its liturgical spaces in such a way that allows participation of the whole body in prayer by long-standings, prostrations, kneeling and so on. The West has limited this organic and holistic participation in the services, albeit at times seemingly disordered, by the introduction of well organized rows of fixed pews that add comfort but reduce greatly our involvement in the services.

We can continue all day long with the examples, but it is clear that the over emphasis on comfort and “feel-good” Christianity is a detriment to our spiritual life. Christ Himself, our archetypal Model, has not lived a comfortable life. He was not comfortable when He was unjustly accused, nor when He was hit, or when He was flagellated, or when He was nailed on the Cross. He accepted it all as necessary means for our salvation. He did not look for it, as He prayed for this burden to be lifted from Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, but yet He accepted the will of the Father and fulfilled His mission. Comfort and feel-good were not His priorities, but the salvation of the human race.

We are, of course, not responsible for the entire mankind, but yet we are responsible for ourselves on a very personal level. We should not necessarily go out and seek out suffering and discomfort, but when it is part of our spiritual training, we should embrace it and learn to use it to transform us, to grow stronger and more resilient in our faith. The Great Lent brings this to our attention better than anything.

The uncomfortable discipline of our Church does not allow us to forget that without Crucifixion there is no Resurrection and without death there is no life everlasting. This is who we are as Orthodox: followers of the Crucified One, taking upon our shoulders every day our own personal crosses, climbing step after step the difficult path that leads to our own resurrection.

Why do Orthodox Americans, French, Swedes, and those outside Russia need to revere the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia? It is clear what they did for Russia, but why are the Russian New Martyrs so significant for people in the West? Why should we pray to them? “PravMir” asked several people to respond to these questions.

Father Andrew Phillips, Rector of St. John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church in Colchester, England:

First of all, the New Martyrs and Confessors are multinational, not merely Russian, or even only East Slav, Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian. Like the Soviet Union, the Russian Empire was multinational. At once there comes to mind the heroic examples of the Royal Martyr Tsarina Alexandra and her sister the Grand Duchess Elizabeth who were Anglo-German by blood and upbringing. They represented the best of the West, but they were brought to Paradise by their faithfulness to Russian Orthodoxy. Then there were Nicholas (Johnson) (+ 1918), who was Anglo-Russian, or St John of Riga, who was Latvian. And there were many, many others of many nationalities, united by only one thing, the Russian Orthodox Faith.

Their witness is not political. They all witness to the Church; they are above party or partial politics of left or right. Christ and His Church are paramount for them and they were ready to die for Him. Yesterday, for instance, in Munich the New Martyr Alexander (Schmorell), a victim of Nazism, was canonized by the Church Outside of Russia with representatives from Russia and his name was added to the list of New Martyrs and Confessors. Their sacrifice is not political, it is spiritual – a witness to the values that are not of this world, a witness to the fact that our human destiny is not here, but on the other side, which all human beings are called to and for which we must prepare in the here and now.

Then there are the numbers involved. This is greater than the numbers who were martyred for Christ in the first three centuries. So far over 30,000 have been officially glorified by the Church, but there are many more. It has been noted that this number appears to be linked with the number of churches open in the Russian Orthodox Church. The consciousness of the New Martyrs and Confessors is what has changed Russia over the last 20 years and will change it further, if people continue to repent and be Churched, taking on the spiritual and so moral values of the Church. I believe that the Russian Orthodox are at the beginning of this process, that there is still far to go.

We recall the words of Tertullian, repeated by St Cyprian of Carthage: ‘The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church’. I have baptized many people from Russia because of the witness of the New Martyrs and Confessors. ‘It cannot be that all was in vain’, said one of them. ‘I cannot live and ignore their spiritual feat’. In Russia of course tens of millions have been baptized over the last 20 years. Although the West still has little idea of the New Martyrs and Confessors, but word is spreading.

In them there is an alternative to the empty consumerism and indebtedness to materialism of the West and the Western system which has spread worldwide. This system is based on individualism, the convenience and comfort of the ego bubble of self-absorption. Opposed to this is the spirit of sacrifice, to sacrifice us for a great and noble cause. The only alternative to the spiritual deprivation and poverty of Western materialism is the love of Orthodoxy of the Martyrs and Confessors, the New Saints. This is not of the political left or right, which simply argues about the details of distribution of material benefits. The Church offers another system, which says that justice and just societies are good, but that the salvation of our soul is more important. In fact there will only be just societies when the human souls which make them up are convinced that Christ and His Church, against which the gates of hell will not prevail, is at the aim and at the heart of our lives. Where is the proof of all this? It is in the New Martyrs and Confessors. If they were willing to die for Christ’s Church, then we must also be willing to do so. In this sense the example of the New Martyrs and Confessors is a warning to the West: Repent before it is too late.

Father Sergei Sveshnikov, Rector of the world’s first parish named in honor of the New Martyrs, in Mulino, Oregon:

I think that this question can have several different answers, perhaps even on an individual level, but I would like to focus our attention on two.

First of all, for Christians, saints are the standards of life in Christ. In canonizing a saint, the Church gives us a canon, a rule to follow. In this sense, Russian saints are important to the French in just the same way that French saints are important to the Russians – as examples and standards for anyone who wants to lead a Christian life. In Christ, there is neither Greek nor Jew; so, when we think of Saint Stephen, we do not often think of the fact that he was a Jew or understand what he did for Israel, but rather see him as an example of the kind of faith and boldness in Christ to which we all should aspire. In much the same way, Americans or Europeans or Asians or Africans who learn about the New Russian Martyrs will undoubtedly find them to be examples of faith and love that were shaken by “neither tribulation, prison, nor death.”[1]

But there is another aspect of the glorification of the New Martyrs which may be important to both Christians and non-Christians alike. The New Russian Martyrs are a constant reminder to all who are working to build heaven on earth without God. Nowadays, we think of the communists as some evil people who set out to torture and murder, yet this is simply not true. The communists believed that they were building the infamous “bright future” for everyone in the world – a future of freedom, equality, brotherhood, [2] and happiness for all. People in the Soviet Union did not think that they lived in an oppressive and totalitarian society. In fact, they were convinced that their country was the most democratic and free in the whole world. They earnestly believed that they were building a life which was “better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.”[3]

This almost sounds Christian. Doesn’t Christ want all to be happy? Didn’t He come to free us? Aren’t we brothers and sisters? And weren’t all men created equal? All this is true, but not quite. To give people freedom, equality, and brotherhood in the kingdom of God, Christ sacrificed Himself. To give people the same in the kingdom of communism, communists sacrificed the people. According to Feodor Dostoevsky’s horrifyingly accurate analysis, one hundred million people would die for the success of the revolution in Russia. [4] Not all of them were Christians, not all of them died for Christ, but Christ died for each and every one.

For three decades the Russian Orthodox Church has been lifting up the holy lives and deaths of the New Martyrs as an example for the faithful and a reminder to the whole world. It is a reminder that when people reject the “one thing needful,” [5] when they reject Christ, they follow a path of destruction—millions of human lives ground up to feed the communist beast, and no “bright future.” “By their fruits you will know them” [6]; and the fruits of godlessness are blood, death, devastation, and collapse. There is only one ending to the story of the Tower of Babel. And it would be a horrible mistake to think that communist ideals can be substituted with those of capitalism—the result will inevitably be the same. The only path which leads to the true bright future for mankind is Christ.[7] For as long as we chase after “the bright future,” the “American Dream,” or the same “rose” by any other name—humanity is destined to failure. It is only when we start seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness that all other things will take their rightful places in our lives.[8]

For Orthodox people in America or Europe, or in any place outside of Russia, the subject of the New Martyrs is of primary importance. Violence was done to members of the Body of Christ and it is this thinking that tells us that they are of us and we of them, even today. I do not speak Aramaic or Greek, or Latin for that matter, but we still honor and remember the martyrdom of those under tyrannous rulers. That is the key, to remember. The good thief cries, “Remember me!” To be remembered, kept alive in the mind, is part of the salvation process. Alive in Christ, whether here or on the other side, is to be thought of by God. Russia’s many martyrs are also an admonition to us that the seemingly friendly world around us of today can change into a ferocious and murderous abattoir tomorrow. Will we respond as they did? If we were thrown down a well, as were Grand Duchess St. Elizabeth and Nun Barbara, would we sing our hymns in the deep dark before grenades followed to silence us? No need to recall macabre deaths in the coliseums of the ancient world, we have had and have them still here in our century. The non-Christian world is silent about their lives, no movies, no documentaries, no journalistic investigations. But they live! And we witness to their witness before an idolatrous world that Christ lives.

[1] From the kontakion to the new Russian martyrs.
[2] Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité is the motto of France since the Third Republic. This also became a prominent motto of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union: “Peace, labor, freedom, equality, brotherhood, happiness for all people.”
[3] This happens to be John Truslow Adams’ definition of the American Dream (Epic of America).
[4] The Possessed, 1872. Later, Solzhenitsyn noted the exact correspondence to the number of victims of the revolution.
[5] Luke 10:42
[6] Matt. 7:16
[7] John 14:6
[8] Matt. 6:33

Read the entire article on the Pravmir.com website (new window will open).

The Byzantine Empire’s long run — 1,100 years — may seem remote from the 21st century, but a reading of its history offers at least three timeless lessons. Understanding some of the fatal weaknesses in the Eastern Roman Empire may help clarify the political and economic problems that America faces today and the choices we have in responding to them.

Founded in 330 by the emperor Constantine, the eastern half of the Roman Empire was centered in Constantinople, the New Rome. By the fourth century, the empire had endured more than a century of instability, internecine warfare, and economic decline. In that context Rome’s eastern lands, arcing around Asia Minor, the Levant, and northern Africa, were especially attractive, being richer and more settled than the comparatively backward parts of western Europe. It was in part to assure continued access to these sources of wealth that Constantine relocated his capital. By A.D. 476, Rome had been overrun by barbarian tribes, and before long only Constantinople in the East had a seat for the emperors.

The first lesson for America to take from the history of Byzantium is about individualism and freedom. While it was no democracy, nonetheless Byzantium flourished when it allowed its citizens, and particularly its soldiers, greater individual freedom and responsibility. Beginning in the early 7th century, Emperor Heraclius moved from the traditional reliance on the provinces and their civilian governors and instead established large military zones, or “themes,” in Asia Minor, which was now the backbone of the empire. Centralization was maintained through the appointment of a single official with both civil and military responsibilities, but the real innovation of the themes was how the land was settled by imperial troops.

In essence, the soldiers became permanent farmers who could be called on for military service yet would be self-sustaining. They relieved the empire of the necessity of recruiting and paying expensive and often unreliable foreign mercenaries. Moreover, while becoming the most effective frontier defense the state had ever known, as individual landholders they added enormously to the productive capacity and wealth of the empire by cultivating their tracts of farmland.

Byzantium’s strength was fatally undermined when the government lost control of the countryside and either acquiesced in or abetted the formation of private landed estates. The farmer-soldiers were steadily alienated from their land, often owing to exorbitant government taxes, and became instead tenant farmers under increasingly independent feudal chieftains. This destroyed the effectiveness of the Byzantine army and also led to a drop in productivity and in tax receipts to the central government. In crushing the entrepreneurial spirit and independence of the small farmers, Byzantium weakened its economy and hollowed out its military. Eventually, politics in the Byzantine state became a competition between what we would recognize as private-interest groups, aristocrats and feudal landlords, who reduced state policy to the padding of their pockets and the settling of personal disputes.

The second lesson from Byzantium is monetary. In addition to establishing his new capital, Constantine the Great created a currency of unparalleled stability. The gold solidus, or nomisma, maintained its value and was the primary international currency in Eurasia until the 11th century.

The strength of the nomisma contributed mightily to ensuring that Byzantium was the center of world trade for nearly a millennium. It promoted economic activity within the empire. As a currency of first and last resort, it globalized the medieval world economy. Even in times of economic weakness, the government strove to maintain the value of the nomisma, which redounded to Constantinople’s political influence in moments of crisis. However, as the great feudal lords began to deprive Constantinople of land, taxes, and citizens, the government’s finances began to collapse. By the 1040s, circumstances forced the empire to devalue the nomisma. Over succeeding decades, it increasingly added base metal.

The result was devastating to the economy. Byzantium’s currency quickly lost its value and international status. As inflation flared up throughout the empire, the government introduced new coins in an effort to stabilize the monetary system. Taxes steadily increased, in part to make up for the shortfall from reduced economic activity caused by the worthless money. Merchants and taxpayers alike were gradually impoverished. For the last several hundred years of its life, the Byzantine Empire lacked both a stable fisc and a growing trade sector, which in turn led to greater competition among its increasingly powerful interest groups.

These examples lead to a final political lesson for the United States. Despite the dismissive view of historians such as Edward Gibbon, Byzantine society remained vibrant and capable of reinvigorating itself even after centuries of disorder. What doomed it was decades of bad political decisions. Specific choices by emperors and feudal leaders weakened the economy, undercut the military, and sapped the empire’s cultural energy.

George Ostrogorsky in his magisterial History of the Byzantine State shows how the people of Byzantium rose time and again to create wealth, cultivate their intellectual capital, and achieve military success. Ultimately, though, they could not overcome the bad policy decisions that, made over the course of generations, ran counter to the proven path of political strength, cultural vigor, and economic growth. By the time Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the empire was but a shell of its former glory. For Orthodox Christians in Europe, it remained a symbol of the church, or religious commonwealth on earth, but the desolated city that greeted Sultan Mehmet II told a more sobering story of squandered wealth and misguided politics.

Michael Auslin is a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

Read the entire article on the National Review Online website (new window will open).

Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, visited the Turkish Parliament the other day. This was a first, for His All Holiness had visited the Turkish Parliament only once before, and only to attend the funeral of the late President Turgut Özal. But this time, he was invited by the Parliament’s Constitution Conciliation Commission, in which deputies from all parties work together to draft a new charter for Turkey. 

After his meeting at the commission, where he expressed his expectations from the new constitution, His All Holiness said the following to journalists:

“It is the first official invitation to non-Muslim minorities in Republican history. We don’t want to be second-class citizens. Unfortunately there have been injustices in the past. These are all slowly being rectified. A new Turkey is being born. We are leaving the meeting with hope and are extremely grateful.”

What a great summary that was. It underlined the bitter fact that throughout the history of the “secular” Turkish Republic, non-Muslims were seen as second-class citizens, if not enemies within. It also heralded that “a new Turkey is being born,” in which the anti-non-Muslim prejudices of the past were being abandoned “slowly.” (I, too, wish the change were faster.) The Ecumenical Patriarch also noted that this current transformation in Turkey made him, and his fellow Christians, hopeful and grateful.

Now, if you are among those who believe that Turkey is being drawn away from its bright secular past to an Islamist “darkness,” you might find these hard to believe. But please do believe the Ecumenical Patriarch, and let me explain to you why he is right.

His All Holiness is right, because the main threat to Turkey’s Christians and Jews has not been Islam, but Turkish nationalism. In fact Islam respects the religious rights of “the people of the book” – Jews and Christians – and that is why non-Muslims had freedom of worship throughout the Ottoman centuries. In the mid-19th century, the Ottoman Empire also gave equal citizenship rights to non-Muslims, leading to the appearance of many Christians and Jews in the Ottoman bureaucracy and Parliament. 

In the 20th century, however, both the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the nation-state model imported from continental Europe led to the emergence of Turkish nationalism. This secular yet illiberal ideology had little respect for “the people of the book” and wanted to create a non-Muslim-free Turkey – not for its love of Muslimness, but Turkishness. Hence came the ethnic cleansing of the Armenians, Greeks or the Assyrians, or the “Wealth Tax” on all non-Muslims including the Jews. 

Kemalism, the official ideology of the Turkish Republic, was the embodiment of this nationalist paradigm. Clueless Westerners often praised Kemalism for its “secularism” and “modernism,” but little they noticed that the persecution of Turkey’s Christians (and Kurds, for that matter), from which they rightfully complained, was carried out by none other than the Kemalist Jacobins and their sans-culottes. (By the latter, I refer to the vulgar ultra-nationalists of Turkey, whose ideology is a crude but natural reflection of that of the more sophisticated Kemalist elite.)

That is why post-Kemalist Turkey, just like the pre-Kemalist (Ottoman) one, will be more amiable to non-Muslims. And we are seeing the evidence of that day by day. 

P.S.: You might have noted that I did not call the Ecumenical Patriarchate “Fener Rum Orthodox Patriarchate” as the Turkish state and mainstream media does. For I believe that every religious institution has a right to define itself, a right that should be respected by others.

Read the entire article on the Hurriyet Daily News website (new window will open).

Reading is a form of human adventure that removes us from our daily toil. Regardless of the objections of some misguided, malcontented souls who insist in ascribing an extrinsic, coerced purpose – often a social/political role to literature – the heart and soul, the raison d'être of literature continues to be a form of human amusement.

Man is a storyteller.

Ironically, because we are capable of telling stories, we frequently find ourselves doing so about situations that remove us from what is too often our top-heavy human predicament. This is a good thing.

A sincere, free-spirited search for understanding always culminates in the conviction that truth is a fundamental tool of human existence. Ortega y Gasset is correct in his assessment that knowledge is only one of many tools that we embrace in order to live and prosper in the world as dignified persons.

Consider William Wordsworth’s wisdom in his majestic poem “The World is Too Much with Us,” where he beckons the reader to divest our vital, mortal energy from the trappings of the world:

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

Absent from these lines of poetry is that now pathological call to utility that is such a staple of our time. If we tally the many hours that we devote to menial tasks - concerns that the great world of social/political organization deems important - we might come to regret the number of frivolous hours that we waste away in our lifetime in the pursuit and management of pointless tasks. We ought not to forget that our time is limited.

Stated in simple terms, Wordsworth’s poem is a reflection on leisure, on the glory and curse that is the passage of time, and our handling of the latter. For, what joy is there in discovering the meaning and purpose of our lives when we are old? That belated realization seems a fool’s game. This is one sure road to regret. doesn’t it?

Literature satiates our mind and soul with everything from the ridiculous to the sublime. Literature also helps close the gap that informs these seemingly opposing poles. Isn’t this what we learn from Aesop’s Fables?

We should not be afraid to embrace the ridiculous from time to time. In doing so, we learn to laugh in the face of all those forces that we cannot comprehend or control. The road to humility is often paved with a discriminating hubris and cultivated with laughther.

I remember being struck by Cabrera-Infante’s notion that literature is the only thing that he consistently places faith in, in our troubled and confused world. The Cuban writer admitted that there was no greater pleasure for him than that which he got from literature. Sincerity still goes a long way regardless of our current penchant for pretense and phoniness.

Cabrera-Infante’s Delito por bailar el chachachá is a fine example of the heights that literature can achieve. Much has been written – by some seriously humor-depraved sourpusses – about the seriousness, often angst-ridden heaviness of literature. These are the same types who are intent on converting literature into social/political fodder.

It seems that twentieth century literature became drown by the excesses of this fashionable heaviness: Kafka, Brecht, Bernard Shaw and Pintor quickly come to mind as being kings of the very moral/spiritual sickness that affected many self-loathing intellectuals in that wretchedly violent chapter in human history.

Fortunately, for most writers, literature still remains a vocation with no face. The great hope of most sincere writers is to be heard without being seen. And, for those for whom this is not enough, there is the practice of veiling their identity with pseudo names, a nom de plume.

Cabrera-Infante’s Delito por bailar el chachachá is a raucous romp through some of the pretenses of intellectuals in the twentieth century. In fact, all his work achieves the end of being a spirited corrective to this totally corrosive disease of our age. The writer of this work takes the likes of Ludwig Feuerbach and Karl Mark, along with all the hacks who relish intellectual violence, and turns their fallacious logic on its head.

Cabrera-Infante unmasks the dreadful, bread and circus, pseudo science farce of the aforementioned intellectuals by introducing no other than Groucho Marx and his brothers to his discussion of literary and social/political pretense in mid-century. Cabrera-Infante’s narrative is moved along by whimsical laughter. This is literature in its purest, most spontaneous form. His readers are refreshed, as if reading a possessed, late twentieth century Aristophanes.

Cabrera-Infante reminds us that literature is created and enjoyed by free men and women. And, as for those who must ascribe a social/political purpose to it…such wretched souls…well, they are quickly sent packing.

We can think of literature as being another form of appropriating joy, for as Sinatra sings, “let us be happy while we can.”

How can one not take delight in Albert Camus’s sensuous description of sunlight? His inspired sentences have no difficulty in making the reader visualize "blue umbrella skies," as this is reflected in the chalky and dusty streets of Oran. This sensual exuberance is no less than a celebration of life.

As vast as the Algerian sky, is Georges Simenon’s focus in crafting criminal motivation in the roman policier. The conception and execution of his novels is vigilant of the psychological backbone of twentieth century crime. What Chesterton’s Father Brown finds to be a spiritual malaise, Simenon encounters as the moral excesses of an insipid age.

Literature needs not apologize for making us laugh, cry, and cleanse us of our maladroit stupidity. Hubris in literature is always less devastating and costly than in life.

I imagine Ian Fleming still laughing, rollicking, as his worldly character - the venerable agent 007 - inspires the chevalier fancy of his readers. In the late 1960s, Kingsley Amis, writing as Robert Markham, published a first-rate Bond novel entitled Colonel Sun.

The James Bond novels take us on such flights of fancy – remember we shouldn’t be afraid to embrace the fanciful – that in the 1980s Fleming’s literary executors invited the talented writer, John Gardner, to resurrect the dormant secret agent. Fourteen Bond novels and two film novelizations later, Gardner satiated his quest for creating popular literature like only a few writers will ever experience or enjoy.

With the proliferation of endless cheap thrills, limitless debauchery and an abundance of twenty-first century mindlessness, reading – literature – still seem a healthy way to embrace and celebrate life.

A year and a half ago, while searching for a recording of Bach’s Matthäus-Passion to share with a friend, I stumbled across a YouTube clip entitled simply: ”St Matthew Passion. No. 1.”

Filled with idle musical curiosity, I clicked away, and within moments, realized that I had discovered something extraordinary. This was breathtaking music; grandiose, yet restrained; a piece that spoke more eloquently of the sorrow and hope of Christ’s suffering than anything I’d experienced since hearing Bach’s own Matthäus-Passion for the first time. Yet despite the obvious influences of Leipzig’s Capellmeister, the piece’s sombre Russian sensibilities were equally unmistakable. Who was this composer? And why had it taken me so long to discover his work?

A bit of research revealed an answer as unexpected as was my initial (lucky) discovery: this astonishing work was written barely five years ago. And its creator, despite producing some of the most beautiful, traditionally-influenced sacred music I’ve had the pleasure to discover, isn’t even a “full-time composer.” He’s a bishop.

Meet Hilarion Alfeyev, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, Vicar of the Moscow diocese, and chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Department for External Church Relations.

Recently, the Metropolitan found some time in his (superhumanly busy) schedule to talk about his Passion and his musical influences, the unusual opportunity he has to be both composer and celebrant, and his hopes for future dialogue between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.

Crisis Magazine: Your Matthäuspassion was heavily influenced by J.S. Bach, whose music you call “ecumenical in the original sense of the word, for it belongs to the world as a whole and to each citizen separately.” What draws you to Bach’s music, and what characteristics of his compositional method — musical and spiritual alike — did you strive most to emulate in your own works?  

Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev: I do not know anything in classical music more sublime, meaningful, profound and spiritual than Bach’s works. Bach is a colossus; his music contains a universal element that is all-embracing. As the poet Joseph Brodsky said, “In every piece of music there is Bach. In each of us there is God.”

Bach was a man who managed in his creative work to combine a magnificent and unsurpassed skill in composition, rare diversity, melodic beauty and very profound spirituality. His music, even his secular music, is permeated by a feeling of love of God, of standing in God’s presence, of awe before Him. One can say that music for him was the worship of God.

Bach was a true ‘Catholic,’ in the original understanding of the Greek word katholikos meaning ‘universal,’ ‘all-embracing,’ for he perceived the Church as a universal organism, as a common doxology directed towards God, and he believed his music to be but a single voice in the choir praising the glory of God.

Bach’s music is deeply mystical because it is based on an experience of prayer and ministry to God which transcends confessional boundaries and is the heritage of all humanity.

Bach’s music is deeply Christocentric. I believe that hidden in Bach/s music filled with spiritual symbolism and spiritual content is the secret of its relevance for people of all epochs. This is a music which does not become obsolete because it touches the central themes of human life. It is addressed in the main to that which people live for – to God.

You said that my St. Matthew Passion was heavily influenced by Bach. This is so and not so. Indeed, the idea came to me to compose this piece on 19 August 2006, the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord and I first of all thought of Bach’s Passion. However, I wanted to fill Bach’s form with the Orthodox content. First and foremost I thought of conveying the atmosphere of the Orthodox divine services of Holy Week in my Oratorio which is not meant for church. May I draw your attention to the fact that, unlike Bach’s Passion, there is no libretto in my composition, but only the Gospel texts and texts from the divine services of Holy Week.

Crisis Magazine: Your “All-Night Vigil” and “Divine Liturgy” are evocative of the sacred works of other Russian greats: Tchaikovsky’s and Rachmaninov’s “Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom” come to mind, or Rachmaninov’s Vespers. How conscious was their influence on your work — or were the similarities more a result of the sacred texts for which you were composing, rather than an intentional homage to your predecessors? 

Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev: Sergei Rachmaninov is one of my favourite composers. However, I think that his All-Night Vigil would be quite difficult to perform in church; it is more suited to a concert stage. At the same time it is such a profound work, imbued with a truly ecclesiastical spirit, that it opens up much to people, including those who are not part of the Church.

In approaching the composition of the Liturgy I primarily thought of how to write such music that would enable prayer. Today many hymns are performed by choirs either too loudly, so that the priest has to drown out the choir, or too quickly, so that the priest has no time to read the appropriate prayers. And at times, on the contrary, because the singing is too slow, the service is artificially stretched out. It happens that during the service the sanctuary has its life while the choir stall has another. In the sanctuary one sacred action is taking place, while in the choir stall something completely different is happening; it is more like a concert that divine worship.

The reason for this, I think, is that the majority of composers who write and have written church music are not priests and listen to the service ‘externally,’ not from within the sanctuary. By God’s grace I am able to hear it standing before the altar, and it is this experience which I wanted to convey in the Liturgy and All-Night Vigil. I would like to write music which would not distract me from performing the sacred actions and reading the appropriate prayers, nor distract the faithful from prayerful participation in the service. The melodies which comprise the Liturgy are simple and easy to remember, they are similar to the common chant. When the composition is performed in worship, the person praying in church ought to have the feeling that he is listening to familiar chants and his ear should not be distracted by the novelty or unusual nature of the music.

Crisis Magazine: In a lecture delivered at the Catholic University of America last year, you said that “at the dawn of the twenty-first century, the best representatives of the art of music” have brought their skill “back to God, praising Him ‘with strings and pipe.’” Who gives you the greatest hope amongst the composers of our modern age?

Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev: As to the composers of our modern age who give me greatest hopes I would like to name the Estonian Arvo Pärt, the Pole Henryk Miko?aj Górecki, and the Briton John Tavener. Though there are differences in their work, much unites them not only on a musical but also on a spiritual plane. They have all experienced the profound influence of religion and are ‘practicing’ Christians: Pärt and Tavener are Orthodox, while Górecki is a Catholic. Their creative work is permeated with the theme of religion, replete with a deep spiritual content and is inextricably linked to the liturgical tradition.

Pärt’s creative life and destiny as a composer is typical of his time and is largely similar to these of Henryk Górecki. They both began in the 1960s as avant-garde composers of serialist works. Górecki moved away from his earlier modernism in the 1970s to study medieval music of the Catholic Church and composed the Third Symphony also known as Symphony of Sorrowful Songs in 1976. It became a worldwide success. Pärt withdrew from the composition to study early polyphony in search of his own style in the 1970s. The period of his voluntary silence and seclusion ended in 1976: he composed his first pieces in a new self-made technique, which he called ‘tintinnabulation’ (from the Latin tintinnabulum, a bell). The ‘tintinnabulation’ style is characterized by seeking maximum simplicity of the musical language. At the same time, this music exerts a strong impression on listeners, including even those unsophisticated in classical music. Once a hospice staff member told me that the dying people called Pärt’s Tabula Rasa an ‘angelic music’ and asked to let them hear it on their deathbed. It may be that simplicity, harmony and even a certain monotony of Pärt’s music correspond to the spiritual search of contemporary man.

After his emigration from the Soviet Union in 1980, Pärt composed only sacred music, which was meant, though, for concert performance. Between 1980 and 1990 he wrote many compositions on traditionally Catholic texts, including St. John’s Passion, Te Deum, Stabat Mater, Magnificat, Miserere, Berliner Messe, and The Beatitudes. The influence of the Catholic tradition is shown in using organ and orchestra along with the choir and the ensemble of the soloists. The influence of Orthodox church singing and Orthodox spiritual tradition has become appreciable in Pärt’s creative work since the early 1990s. He wrote many compositions on Orthodox texts, mostly for choir a capella, including Kanon Pokajanen (The Canon of Repentance) on the verses of St. Andrew of Crete, I am the True Vine and Triodion on the texts from the Lenten Triodion. His pieces for orchestra, such as  Silouan’s Song for string orchestra, are also marked by a profound influence of Orthodoxy.

Recently, I have discovered a very interesting composer, Karl Jenkins. He lives in Wales and writes beautiful music, which is bright, accessible, and simple. I regard his Requiem a real masterpiece of contemporary music.

Vladimir Martynov, under whom I studied in my youth, has composed a wonderful Requiem. It is a major requiem. Certain parts of it are an open pasticcio of Mozart or Schubert. This music is delightful, positive, light, and harmonious, which, I believe, contemporary man needs as he is tired of the negative, dissonance, and cacophony.

Crisis Magazine: The power of the Divine Liturgy is often lost upon “Western” Catholics like me who rarely have the opportunity to experience it. Your setting emphasizes a number of its more distinctive features: its reliance on the chanting of sacred texts, for example; its use of repetition; its emphasis on the mysterious, incomprehensible nature of what is taking place. What challenges do these pre-existing, unassailable characteristics present to a composer like yourself? And what are the advantages to composing for a liturgy with such a long and venerable musical tradition?

Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev: I would like to quote one of the greatest of Russian saints who lived at the turn of the twentieth century, St. John of Kronstadt: ‘The church and worship are the embodiment and realization of all Christianity: here in words, in persons and actions is conveyed the entire economy of our salvation, all sacred and church history, all that is good, wise, eternal and immutable in God… his righteousness and holiness, his eternal power. Here we find a harmony that is wondrous in all things, an amazing logical connection in the whole and its parts: it is true divine wisdom accessible to simple, loving hearts.’

These words express the essence of Orthodox worship as a school for prayer, theology and discourse on the divine. All elements of worship, including the church’s décor, the exclamations of the priest and the singing of the choir are subordinated to a single aim – to direct the believer towards prayer, to enable his heart and mind to unite with the Lord.

Regarding the differences between Christian worship in the West and in the East, I think that all of us – both Orthodox and Catholics – ought to reflect deeply on the common roots of liturgy. Indeed, when we speak of the Latin Mass, we usually picture to ourselves either the short version which was adopted at the Second Vatican Council or, not so often, the Tridentine Mass which, we ought to recall, was composed relatively recently.

And of course the worship of the Russian Church – in particular the music which is performed at it – is far from ancient.

Yet if we turn to the sources of our liturgical traditions to Gregorian chant in the West and to Byzantine and Znamenny chants in the East – we see that we have more in common than what separates us.

From the 17^th century onwards Russian church music started to feel the influence of the West. On the one hand, this led to a rupture with its medieval traditions – in particular, unison singing almost completely fell into disuse. Yet on the other hand contemporary Russian liturgical music is more comprehensible to the Westerner, and when he enters a Russian church he does not feel any ‘culture shock.’

When I wrote liturgical music I tried to draw inspiration from the music traditions of Russian Orthodoxy in all their fullness. I mean by this that in following the canons no impediments are made in the creative process; just the opposite – it helps the composer, artist, and hymnographer.

Crisis Magazine: What would be the greatest benefit of an increased familiarity amongst Eastern and Western Catholics with their alternate liturgies — a more concerted effort to, in John Paul II’s words, “breathe with both lungs”? If you were asked to describe the most fundamental characteristic of the Orthodox Church and its followers to a “Westerner” like me, what would you say?

Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev: A detailed answer to your question would take up much time. But if I am to be brief then I would say that Orthodox Christianity is a religion of beauty and freedom, a religion of love and light. Orthodoxy opens up a boundless expanse for spiritual creativity, for inner self-education and – what is most important – for an encounter with God. No one should feel that in Orthodoxy he is being constrained, deprived of air, or made to feel uncomfortable. There is a place in Orthodoxy for the scholar and the poet and the artist, for the rich and for the poor, for the gifted and for those not blessed with great talents, for the educated and the simple.

Crisis Magazine: In a recent interview following your visit with Pope Benedict XVI at Castle Gandolfo, you mentioned how encouraged you are by the pontiff’s attention to the dialogue between the Catholics and the Orthodox. What, to your mind, are the greatest theological and hierarchical hurdles that stand between our two churches? What role can we, as laypeople, play in the greatly-desired unification of the East and the West?

Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev: In dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church we proceed from the fact that this is a Church which has preserved apostolic succession in its hierarchy as well as having a doctrine on the sacraments which is very similar to our doctrine. It is also very important that both Orthodox and Catholics have the same moral foundations and a very similar social doctrine.

The theological differences between Rome and the Orthodox East are well known. Apart from a number of aspects in the realm of dogmatic theology, these are the teaching on primacy in the Church and, more specifically, on the role of the bishop of Rome. This topic is discussed within the framework of the Orthodox-Catholic dialogue which has been taking place for several decades at sessions of a joint commission specially established for this purpose.

But today a different problem is acquiring primary importance – the problem of the unity of Orthodox and Catholics in the cause of defending traditional Christianity. To our great regret, a significant part of Protestant confessions by the beginning of the 21^st century has adopted the liberal values of the modern world and in essence has renounced fidelity to Biblical principles in the realm of morality. Today in the West, the Roman Catholic Church remains the main bulwark in the defence of traditional moral values – such, for example, as marital fidelity, the inadmissibility of artificially ending human life, the possibility of marital union as a union only between man and woman.

Therefore, when we speak of dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church, I believe that the priority in this dialogue today should not be the question of the filioque or the primacy of the Pope. We should learn to interact in that capacity that we find ourselves in today – in a state of division and absence of Eucharistic communion. We ought to learn how to perceive each other not as rivals but as allies by understanding that we have a common missionary field and encounter common challenges. We are faced with the common task of defending traditional Christian values, and joint efforts are essential today not out of certain theological considerations but primarily because we ought to help our nations to survive. These are the priorities which we espouse in this dialogue.

I am convinced that the laity – both Catholic and Orthodox – can play and is already playing a most important role in this cause, each in his own place, to where the Lord has called him, by bearing witness to the values of the Gospel which our Churches preserve.

Read the entire article on the Crisis Magazine website (new window will open).

Chaplain's Corner
Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California

Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl (1975) puts forth the idea that religion can be defined "as man's search for ultimate meaning."  This implies a spiritual vision of the universe. A science without God would posit that the cosmos is nothing but something that exists in space or space-time. However, as Eastern Orthodox theologian Paul Evdokimov (2001) notes, such a position "offers no constructive explanation to deal with existence." To put it another way, it begins and ends with the question: Is this all there is?

Spiritual perception, however, would begin the search for meaning by looking at the universe and seeing that the meaning of life permeates, from within, the cosmos that we inhabit. In the words of the Psalmist: "The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands." (Ps 18: 2). But there is another way of knowing God that is beyond any glory possible to be conceived by man, because God is so much greater than the limits of man's perception. The other path for intuiting God is the path of negation. Unknowingly, this is the path many who deny God have stumbled upon.

For those with spiritual perception, such knowledge could be described as a mystical path, an antinomy that is knowledge-beyond-knowledge. The Hebrews had a sense that no word can capture God. They referred to Him as Adonai (Lord) rather than a word they would not speak, YHWH (Yahweh). St. Gregory of Nyssa (1978), describing Moses, said that when "he grew in knowledge, he declared that he had seen God in the darkness, that is, . . . he had come to know that what is Divine is beyond all knowledge and comprehension." The Book of Exodus (20: 21) tells us, "But Moses went to the dark cloud wherein God was." And David the King and Prophet writes of God: "He made darkness His hiding place; as His canopy around Him." (Ps 17: 12).

Russian Orthodox Metropolitan [bishop] Hilarion Alfeyev (2002) tells how this knowledge of God is expressed linguistically: "Using the prefix 'not-', 'in-', or 'un-' (as in not - being ... invisible, incomprehensible...by use of terms 'supra-', meaning beyond ... such as supra existent, supra-good ... [by use of contrary terms] such as divine-darkness ... finally in phrases in which one word is opposed to another: 'to see the invisible', 'to comprehend the incomprehensible' ... or 'wordless hymn'."

Historically, it can be seen that pride has led mankind to serious misunderstanding of almost 'everything'. Up to the 15th Century AD, for example, the earth was seen as the center of the universe. This concept was shown wrong by a cleric and scientist, Nicolas Copernicus. To see God as the apex of life's meaning will take overcoming our prideful inclination to see ourselves as the center of all things. We must see our correct place in the cosmos and in our relationship to God. St. Isaac of Syria (Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2011) tells us that "the man who has reached the knowledge of the extent of his weakness has reached perfect humility." The fruit of such knowing is beyond description. St. Isaac further tells us: " if [we] ask God with arduous prayer and patience, he will grant [us] His petition and open His door to [us], but chiefly for [our] humility's sake. For 'mysteries are revealed to the humble.'"

REFERENCES

Alfeyev, Bishop Hilarion, (2002). The Mystery of Faith. London, England: Darton, Longman and Todd.

Evdokimov, P. (2001). In the world of the Church: A Paul Evdokimov reader. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.

Frankl, V.E. (1975). The unconscious God. NY: Simon and Schuster.

Holy Transfiguration Monastery. (ed., trans.).  (2011). The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian (revised, 2nd edition). Boston, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

St. Gregory of Nyssa (1978). The Life of Moses. NY: Paulist Press.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Mt. 5:4)

In the first article I wrote (Morelli, 2012) on applying the Beatitudes to Orthodox Christian parenting I pointed out that it is also no accident that after Christ's time in the wilderness confronting and overcoming the temptations of Satan, the evil one, He was prepared for His public life of teaching. The first of Jesus’ teachings is the Sermon on the Mount, in which He gave us the well known Beatitudes (Mt 5: 1-12).ⁱ

Sermon on the Mount

Such a period of spiritual preparation for being aware of the enticements of the world, its adversities and how to confront them is not the usual practice of Eastern Christians awaiting Holy Matrimony. Rather, is not uncommon that in preparing for a holy and blessed marriage, the male and female shortly to become one flesh focus their attention on the worldly joy of marriage and relegate the spiritual factors to second place. An emphasis on the worldly aspects of marriage is certainly the main focus of secular society, in which a wedding is, for many, part of an elaborate booming and costly industry.ⁱⁱ Unfortunately, the focus is on merely worldly joy rather than spiritual joy In fact, however, there is an important aspect of spiritual joy that can and should be stressed in a true Orthodox Wedding. A passage in our Orthodox Marriage Service emphasizes such happiness. This is no better expressed than in the prayer sung by the choir after the sharing of The Common Cup:

O Isaiah, dance thy joy: for a virgin was with child and hath borne a son, Emmanuel, both God and man: and Orient is His name; whom magnifying we call the Virgin blessed.

What is seldom reflected on is a different and very necessary preparation for marriage and subsequent parenting. This is implied of the next verse of the prayer sung by the choir:

Ye holy martyrs, who fought the good fight and have received your crowns: entreat ye the Lord that He will have mercy on our souls.

What should be reflected on is the meaning of martyrdom in this prayer. The sense in the liturgy can be seen by the reference to having "fought the good fight." The meaning of this phrase comes right from St. Paul's Epistles to St. Timothy, which informs us what it takes to earn the crown of martyrdom. "But thou, O man of God, be fleeing these things; and be pursuing righteousness, piety, faith, love, patience, meekness. Keep on fighting the good . . . laying hold of eternal life, to which thou wast also called, and didst confess the good confession before many witnesses.” (1 Ti 6:11,12). In his second Epistle to St. Timothy St. Paul even makes it clear that any crown can only be worn after enduring adversity: “But thou, be watchful in all things, suffer hardship, ... I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course . . . Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness. . . ." [2 Ti 4:5, 7-8]

Certainly, not to disparage the joy of marriage, but unless the husband and wife, the leaders of the little Church in the home (Morelli, 2008), are spiritually prepared for confronting the evils in the world, in emulation of Christ who prepared for his public life by retiring into the desert, how are they going to understand themselves let alone convey to their children one of the most difficult to understand of Christ's Holy Beatitudes: Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Treasure And Our Attachment

Consider the words of Jesus Himself: "Cease treasuring up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth destroy, and where thieves dig through and steal; but be treasuring up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth spoil, and where thieves do not dig through nor steal. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Mt 6:19-21)

Mourning Is Related To What Is Treasured

Worldly Mourning

St. Ephraim the Syrian

Consider that a synonym for mourning is grief. Mourning is usually understood as "the passionate and demonstrative activity of expressing grief."ⁱⁱⁱ Using the word grief, St. Ephraim the Syrian (1997) gives the most succinct understanding of 'worldly' in contrast to Godly 'mourning' that I have read: "If you want to overcoming inappropriate grief [worldly mourning] never grieve over anything that is transient. If people injure you with words or upset you or dishonor you do not grieve; but, on the contrary, rejoice."

Obviously St. Ephraim is indirectly referencing Christ making the distinction between earthly treasure versus heavenly treasure. It is the loss of heavenly treasure that we should mourn. This is made explicit by St. Paul who told the Corinthians: "For the sorrow in accordance with God worketh out repentance to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world worketh out death." (2Cor. 7:10).

That the mourning talked about by Christ in the Beatitudes was not a mourning about worldly things was made very clear by St. Gregory of Nyssa (1954), the Church Father who has written most extensively - eight Homilies - on the Beatitudes, for example:

If one looks at it from the point of view of the world, he will certainly say that the words are ridiculous. . . he would enumerate the various kinds of calamities. . . widowhood. . . sad conditions of orphans. . . financial losses. . . unjust judgments in lawsuits. . . illness. . . he will show in detail every kind of suffering. . . and thus he thinks he will have made ridiculous the saying that calls blessed those who mourn.

It should also be noted that some writers on the spiritual life equate the Beatitude of mourning with compassion. Forest (2002), for example, would have the reader answer questions such as: "Do I weep with those who weep?" and "Have I mourned those in my own family who have died?" As spiritually exalted as compassion is, and as essential that it should be interiorized and practiced, this is not the Patristic [the Church Father's] understanding of mourning. Mourning is sorrow regarding our separation from God due to our sinfulness.

Godly Mourning

This is made explicit by Nicolas Cabasilas (1974) in his description of the second Beatitude when he labels it "godly sorrow." He derives his understanding that we "mourn and weep" from meditating on the deeds that Christ did for mankind. When we turn away from all that Christ did for our salvation we grieve at the loss of that which is "most precious."

Blessed Theophylact

Blessed Theophylact (2006) would see that the indifference to what Christ has done for us is sin. Such sins are not limited to ourselves but "for those of our neighbor as well." We mourn for sins, not for things of this life." In a previous article (Morelli, 2012) discussing the first Beatitude, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," (Mt 5: 3) I presented Blessed Theophylact's understanding of being poor in spirit:

Blessed Theophylact

In his explanation of The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, Blessed Theophylact (2006) tells us that being poor in spirit means that our pride is crushed and we are contrite in soul. Such virtue is based on a foundation of humility.

This shows that the second Beatitude is the logical consequence of eliminating pride and acquiring humility. The next step up the spiritual ladder, so to speak, is that now we focus on the sins we have committed due to our pride-fullness, our separation from God, and we mourn them. The saintly Theophylact tells us:

"Blessed are they that mourn" for their sins. . .Christ said, "they that mourn," that is, they that are mourning incessantly and not just one time; and not only for our sins, but for those of our neighbor. "They shall be comforted" both in this life. . . rejoices spiritually. . . and even more so in the next life.

St. John Of Kronstadt's Spiritual Meditation On Mourning

St. John of Kronstadt (2003) provides us with beautiful imagery on this Beatitude, based on the Psalm (136: 1): "Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: when we remembered Zion." Between the years c. 587-538 BC, the Hebrew people were made captive by the kings of Babylon most famous of which was Nebuchadnezzar and were exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon, that foreign land. Some of the most poignant books of Old Testament Scripture recount the exile and also provide accounts of the many saintly First Covenant precursors of Christ. These narratives may be found in the books of Daniel (1–6); Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, (Dn 13-14); the Three Holy Youths" (Dn 1-3), and the books of Tobit and Judith.

The Three Holy Youths as depicted in the Catacombs of Priscilla, Rome

St. John points out that Nebuchadnezzar can be likened to the evil one. The rivers of Babylon may help us to consider "our rapid rushing toward sin" or, alternatively, the "rivers of passion" coming forth from the evil one, the "jaws of Satan, the spiritual dragon" that we get caught up in. For the Israelites, Zion, the city Jerusalem, was the site of the 'holy of holies, the location of the Temple of Solomon, within which was Ark of the Covenant which contained the tablets of the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God Himself:

And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord into its place, into the oracle of the temple, into the holy of holies under the wings of the Cherubim. For the Cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and covered the art, and the staves thereof above. And whereas the staves stood out, the ends of them were seen without in the sanctuary before the oracle, but were not seen farther out, and there they have been unto this day. Now in the ark there was nothing else but the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. (1 Kg 8: 6-9)

The Jews wept because it was the temple of the one and true God they had lost. We Christians weep over the loss of our heavenly Zion. St. John of Kronstadt describes the meaning of Christ's Beatitude on mourning this way:

We must weep over our heavenly Zion, which is the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God, the true fatherland of Christians who have been distanced from it because of our sins.

St. John points out that for true [Apostolic] Christians there is also so much more to mourn: negligence in following God's commandments, as well as "indifference to the Body and Blood of the Lord—the heavenly manna."

St. John goes on to point out that "those who weep are really blessed." Why? Because by such mourning comes "consolation as a reward" - a Divine consolation. St. John tells us: "He [God] will send you the Comforting Spirit which will stop the attack of sin, extinguish the fire of passions and send down the dew of grace into your heart."

Mourning Is Blessed If Related To The Divine

In the spiritual perception of St. Gregory of Nyssa we can see the blessing of mourning in the context of divine thoughts "concerned with the sublime things of Heaven [rather than] that which is carnal and clings to the earth." Thus he considers mourning "a sorrowful disposition of the soul which arises from being deprived..."

St. Gregory of Nyssa on the Blessing of Mourning

St. Gregory points out, for example, that "a soul [that] bewails its wicked life. . . cannot be excluded from the sorrow that is called blessed." For him, lamenting the sins and their consequences we "would become blessed through the pain [we] would feel in [our] soul[s]." He compares this situation to illness because he indicates that its "remedy" [a word related to a medical cure] is repentance. In this regard he refers to St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians concerning those whose sin has been confronted: ^"so that, on the contrary, ye ought rather to graciously forgive and comfort him, lest such a one should be swallowed up by excessive grief. Wherefore I beseech you to confirm your love toward him."  (2 Cor. 2: 7-8). The patristic commentary  on this passage by St. John Chrysostom, as found in The Orthodox New Testament (2004), notes: “To graciously forgive” (carivsasqai), aorist middle infinitive of charizomai, meaning “to graciously bestow a favor”; it is also found in verse 10. “Graciously forgive and comfort him.” What he is saying is, ‘It is not because he is deserving, not because he has demonstrated sufficient penitence; but because he is weak, it is for this I request it... lest he should become desperate.’

The First Step In Spiritual Mourning: Knowing The True Good

The first step in true spiritual mourning is to know what is really good, without which any progress in holiness is impossible. St. Gregory of Nyssa tells us: "Therefore we must first know what is the true good. . .for only then can we attain to the mourning which is called blessed." The saint gives a very human example to aid in understanding this concept - a hypothetical situation in which two men are currently living in the dark. One of them, born blind, had never had sight, the other had been born with sight and had previously lived in a lighted area. St. Gregory points out that the "calamity" of their currently living in a dark place will have a different effect on each. The individual born blind does not, so to speak, know what he is missing. The man previously sighted "will think the loss of sight a grave matter."

With Holy Spirit-inspired insight St. Gregory tells us of the core of mourning:

Therefore I would say that the Word [Christ] does not call blessed the sorrow itself, but rather the realization of the good that produces this state of sorrow, which is due to the fact that the object of the desire [God] is absent from our life.

The Second Step In Spiritual Mourning

St. Gregory goes on to suggest what I will call the next step in spiritual mourning. He poses it as a question. "By what line of thought can this Divine goodness enter our consciousness, this goodness that can be contemplated but not seen?" This question is made more complex by considering the antinomy that is God Himself. The Saint points out that He gives being to all things, but He is Himself "ever-existing and has no need of becoming." This is as we pray in the Anaphora Prayer of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom: "for Thou art God ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, ever existing and eternally the same." But out of this seeming contradiction comes the second step. This time let me use my own, very contemporary, example. How many times on Television game shows is some coveted prize hidden and set behind a closed screen of some type? The anticipation of winning often increases as the show contestant tries to do what it takes to "win" the prize. Often, engaged viewers develop heightened expectation as well. St. Gregory suggests a similar process can occur, but on a spiritual level:

. . .the nature of the transcendent good; for it is impossible that such a thing should come within the scope of our comprehension. We have, however, gained one advantage from our examination: we have succeeded in forming an idea of the greatness of what we have sought [our hidden spiritual prize, so to speak] by the very fact of having been unable to perceive it.

The sense of sorrow of not yet attaining the prize of great value, even doing things that have hindered accomplishment [sin] of obtaining the prize, both of which are the components of mourning can spiritually motivate us to follow the counsel of St. Paul that I quoted above: "Keep on fighting the good fight" (1Ti 6:12) so that we may be comforted in the hope of winning the prize and apply to ourselves St. Paul's other words: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course." (2 Tim. 4:7).

St. Gregory's Psycho-spiritual Caveat

St. Gregory's insightful psycho-spiritual warning is related to the distinction I previously made between worldly and Godly mourning. He tells us: "It follows from this that people who enjoy the present things do not look for better ones." This means that the virtue of hope must be cultivated in such a way that we look to and value that which is Godly over that which is worldly. This wisdom is also conveyed to us by St. Isaac of Syria (Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2011) who tells us: "Let not your much wisdom become a stumbling-block to your soul and a snare before you; but [trust] in God." St Isaac tells us it is hope that has spiritual value in helping us to discern Godly versus worldly treasures: "Hold this unwaveringly in your mind, that hope for this present life may not hinder you from struggling and being victorious. For the hope in this worldly life enfeebles the thinking." Clearly, according to St. Isaac, it is hope in God that can and should guide our lives: ". . .let not your heart waver in its hope in the grace of God, lest your toil be profitless. . . ."

It would do well to reflect on the words of St. Maximus the Confessor: "Hope is the intellect's surest pledge of divine help and promises the destruction of hostile powers. Love makes it difficult or, rather, makes it utterly impossible for the intellect to estrange itself from the tender care of God; and when the intellect is under attack, love impels it to concentrate its whole natural power into longing for the divine" (Philokalia II).

Mourning Our Personal Spiritual Loss

To Teach Children, We Must First Mourn For Ourselves

Traditionally, such mourning would be called and 'examination of conscience.' Such examination would normally be done by Orthodox Christians at the end of the day, right before bedtime, certainly before the reception of The Holy Eucharist and imperatively as a preparation for participating in the Holy Mystery of Confession and receiving absolution. In fact, mourning, as I have discussed in this article, could be the ethos, that is to say, the distinctive spirit of our examination of conscience and confession. The reason that our focus is not on the prohibitions given to us by God in the ten commandments (c.f. Ex 20: 2-17),^iv but rather on the Beatitudes which show us how to attain salvation, theosis, that is becoming "partakers of the Divine Nature" (2Pt 1:4) and the sorrow, the tribulation of our minds and hearts so to speak, we need to have for having fallen short of our goal.

St. John of the Ladder

We can become enlivened by the words of St. Paul to the Corinthians that I quoted earlier in distinguishing worldly versus Godly mourning: "For the sorrow in accordance with God worketh out repentance to salvation. . . " (2 Cor. 7:10). In this we follow the counsel of St. John of the Ladder (1991). He begins Step 7 (entitled: On joy-making mourning) of The Ladder of Divine Ascent with these words:

Mourning according to God is sadness of soul and the disposition of a sorrowing heart, which ever madly seeks that for which it thirsts [theosis]; and when it fails in its quest, it painfully pursues it, and follows in its wake grievously lamenting. Or thus: mourning [strips the soul] of all attachment and all ties, fixed by holy sorrow to watch the heart.

A spiritual model for such a mournful confession can be found in the classic work The Way of a Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues His Way (c.f. Endnote v). Such an examination of conscience and confession captures the ethos of one of my pastoral articles (Morelli, 2011) - that it is the spirit that should be behind the letter of the Law.

Helping Children Understand Mourning

How Children Learn Best

Children learn best when something is presented to them in a concrete way; they discover the lesson, understand the meaning or make connections to what they already know themselves and then they come up with the way they can apply their understanding to their own lives. They learn best when using the Socratic Method,^vi that is to say, answering directed questions, the answers to which they have discovered for themselves. (Morelli, 2010b).

Linking Something Valued That Is Lost With Mourning

One approach to start might be for the parent, catechist or priest to ask children a simple question: "Think of something you really like or value, something really cherished?" Ask the children to share their answers. The answers will vary according to the age of the child, be they quite young up to adolescent age. Younger children are likely to say something like a "best-loved toy", somewhat older children may answer a "favorite video game," adolescents possibly might give an example of "cherished electronic music device." 

Then, ask them a question like: "How would you feel if [what they said they cared for] were broken?" They will answer: sadness, unhappiness, sorrow, upset" or some similar words.  The adult should positively reinforce such responses: "Good job!" or "Great answer!" or some such (Morelli, 2005, 2006a, 2006b).

Learning What Is The Highest Value

From that essential beginning step, the progression to discerning higher, and then highest values needs to be encouraged. From a purely cognitive-psychological perspective this step is the most difficult to master. God created mankind as sensory creatures.

Piaget's Epistemology

Our initial knowledge of the world is of a sensory nature. This was laid out for us in the seminal work of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1952). In fact, Piaget labeled the cognitive stage or period from birth to 18 months the “Sensorimotor Stage.” The importance of sensory aspect of the infants initial 'knowledge' of the world cannot be understated. Consider John Flavell's (1985) description:

[the infant] exhibits a wholly practical, perceiving-and-doing, action-bound kind of intellectual functioning [that] does not exhibit the more contemplative, reflective, symbol-manipulating kind we usually think of in connection with cognition. The infant "knows" in the sense of recognizing or anticipating familiar, recurring objects and happenings, and "thinks" in the sense of behaving toward them with mouth, hand, eye and other sensory-motor instruments in predictable, organized and often adaptive ways [furthermore] it is a kind of noncontemplative intelligence that your dog relies on to make its way around the world.

However, ’treasuring,' that is to say valuing the things of God and our theosis versus the things of mammon, will require advancing to higher stages of cognitive development and overcoming lower levels of cognitive processing. Piaget would call this the “Formal Operational Stage” in which the child can manipulate abstract principles, organize ideas as well as objects and is capable of perceiving beneficial as well as the punitive aspects of law. I will take up some specific ways to help this development in children after some after emphasizing some needed distinctions in how we may talk about God and Godly things.

God and Godly things

Nothing could be both more real, yet also, from a human perspective, more abstract than God Himself. St. Maximus the Confessor says of God that He is "beyond knowledge because He is infinitely beyond every intellect, whatever the knowledge it embraces." (Philokalia II). St. Maximus makes this clear when He writes of God that:

God is one, unoriginate, incomprehensible, possessing completely the total potentiality of being, altogether excluding notions of when and how, inaccessible to all, and not to be known through natural image by any creature. (Philokalia II)

St. Maximus the Confessor surrounded by his persecutors

An insight into the conundrum of God's unknowability is actually suggested by St. Maximus when he tells us:

We do not know God from His essence. We know Him rather from the grandeur of His creation and from His providential care for all creatures. For through these, as though they were mirrors, we may attain insight into His infinite goodness, wisdom and power. (Philokalia II)

We can begin to apprehend God by focusing on His qualities or attributes. Using the language of theology, this is made clear by St. Thalassios:

For example, being, divinity, goodness and whatever else we attribute to God in a positive manner, or cataphatically, are to be understood affirmatively. Unoriginateness, infinity, indefinableness and so on are to be understood in a negative manner, or apophatically. (Philokalia, II)

St. Peter of Damaskos

From a teaching standpoint we can learn from the writer of the Wisdom of Solomon who wrote: "With whose beauty, if they, being delighted, took them to be gods: let them know how much the Lord of them is more beautiful than they: for the first author of beauty made all those things." (Wis 13: 3). "For by the greatness of the beauty, and of the creature, the creator of them may be seen, so as to be known thereby." (Wis 13: 5). When using the attributes of God as a teaching tool we must keep in mind an important caveat given by St. Peter of Damaskos:

In our ignorance, however we should not identify God in Himself with His Divine attributes, such as His goodness, bountifulness, justice, holiness, light, fire, being, nature, power, wisdom. . . . (Philokalia III)

Attaining some level of spiritual knowledge of God will take a synergia, that is to say cooperation between mankind's natural cognitive-perceptual functions and God's grace, to allow us the spiritual perception of the knowledge of God (gnosis) and eventual union with God (theosis). The saints have shown us that it takes a life of great preparation incorporating discipline (ascesis) by training of the mind and body by fasting,  prayer, repentance, stillness (hesychia), watchfulness (nepsis) and partaking of the Holy Mysteries of the Church to advance to such a stage. The Church Spiritual Fathers whose writings are in The Philokalia quoted in this article and in many of my other writings are the quintessential spiritual guides of the Church. As a clinical psychologist and priest I strongly urge, as do the holy Fathers themselves, that the counsels and practices in The Philokalia be undertaken under the guidance of a true holy and experienced spiritual father or mother. I highly recommend the work of Fr. Dumitru Staniloae (2003) as an excellent secondary source describing Orthodox Spirituality. 

Abstract Terms Related To God

The Church Fathers teach that what can be known of God is that which can be known from His creation. In this they are following the inspired writers of Old Testament Sacred Scripture and the insight of St. Paul. King David wrote: "The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands. Day to day uttereth speech, and night to night sheweth knowledge. There are no speeches nor languages, where their voices are not heard.” (Ps 18: 2-4). In the Wisdom of Solomon we read: "For the greatness of the beauty, and of the creature, the creator of them may be seen, so as to be known thereby." (Pr 13: 5). St. Paul's words to the Romans echo this same way of understanding God (1:19,20 ): ". . .because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it to them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived by the things which are made, both His eternal power and divinity. . . ."

St. Gregory Palamas

In their description of God as He can be known, the Church Fathers employ abstract words. St. Gregory Palamas makes reference to God's "goodness, wisdom, power, divinity and majesty." (Philokalia IV).  He goes on to describe God as "the divine energy, intellected through created things, is both uncreated and yet not the essence." He then tells us St. Basil the Great's understanding of this from his treatise Against Eunomios: "....that created things manifest wisdom, art and power, but not essence.... Most eloquently does St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Basil’s bodily and spiritual brother, ....say.... "When we perceive the grandeur and beauty of the wonders of creation, and from these and similar things derive other intellections concerning the Divinity....”"

Helping Children To Understand God

The challenge to help children apprehend God in some way is to have them comprehend abstractions in a manner they are capable of. One way of doing this is to start with an abstract word they may frequently use and how they understand it. For example, the word beauty would be a good start. Most children develop some sense of this abstract concept rather early in age; their understanding is related to what they like and do not like, or what they find pleasant or unpleasant. For example, they may have a favorite item of clothing or they frequently hum a particular tune. Once again, reverting to the Socratic Method would aid the child discovering for themselves a deeper understanding of what they mean by beauty. Consider the following script:

"Ok, Jill, you said that you think this blouse is beautiful. Tell me, what could you or I do that would make it really ugly?"

"Jack, I hear you humming that tune; you must really like it. What could you do with the melody that you would hate it? You know, that it would sound really awful?"

If a child or adolescent is capable of giving examples of concrete things they find beautiful, good, true or wise and give the contrast, then this is a first step in cognitively processing abstract principles. Let me point out that my choice of these particular abstract terms was quite deliberate, as these are the attributes the writers of Sacred Scripture and Church Fathers have used in their understanding of God. (Morelli, 2010a)

God as the Source of Worldly Beauty, Goodness, Truth and Wisdom

The work of Albert Bandura (1986) is particularly helpful in explaining how to convey the concept that God the creator of what is valued is greater than the creation itself, and thus is of higher value. His work and that of his colleagues on modeling can be an aid in discriminating the true worth of what is valued. Citing an earlier study (Bandura, Ross and Ross, 1963) he points out: "children are much more likely to model the preferences and actions [of models] who control and dispense rewarding resources than preferences and actions of the recipients of the rewards." In the spirit of Bandura's work, children can be asked questions about the worldly objects they like or find pleasant. For example, they could be asked: Who created these objects? For the committed Christian, the answer is obviously 'God'. They then can be asked: Who has more value, (what Bandura would describe as 'efficacious rewarding power'), God who made this object or the object itself?

A Concrete Example From The Life Of A Contemporary Elder

An event in the life of Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain (Ageloglou, 1998) shows how understanding of God and His goodness as an abstraction was efficaciously applied to his life. The elder recounts this incident:

Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain

When I was a child. . .I loved Christ very much. I used to walk in the woods carrying a cross in my hands, chanting and praying. . .I met a fellow villager. When he saw me carrying the cross, he asked me: —What is this? —The Cross of our Christ, I replied. . . .Arsenios, [the elder's baptismal name] you are silly. You don't mean to say that you believe in God. He does not exist. These religious stories are made up by some priests. . . . His twisted thoughts filled my innocent soul with black heavy clouds. . .I began to think God does not exist . . .I asked Christ to give me an indication of His existence, so I could believe in Him. But He did not respond. Suddenly, a [favorable] thought. . .entered my innocent soul" —Hold on for a second! Wasn't Christ the kindest [good] man on earth. No one has ever found anything evil in Him. So, whether he is God or not, I don't care. Based on the fact that He is the kindest man on earth and I haven't known anyone better, I will try to become like Him and absolutely obey everything the Gospel says. I will even try to give my life for Him, if needed, since He is so kind.

The Loss of Beauty, Good, Truth or Wisdom

Now we can proceed to the next step. Once a child (or adult) has a sense of what these lofty abstract terms for God mean,  we can focus on understanding mourning, which is, itself, an abstract word. That is to say being sorrowful and grieving their loss of God and what we have done (sin) to have lost Him. "How would you feel if you lost God?" "How would you fee, if it were something you did that made you lose God? What we do to lose God is called sin? How should you feel about disobeying God, doing bad things, or not doing good things"?

"...for they shall be comforted." (Mt 5: 4)

Children (as well as their parents, in fact all Christians) may need help in making the connection between mourning and the eventual comfort they will receive as promised by Our Lord. Mourning is but the beginning step we have to take to reach the top step — the comfort that Christ told us we will receive. The comfort is the joy (beatitude) of reconciliation with God and all mankind.

The Prodigal Son

The penultimate example of what is required to be comforted is given to us by Christ Himself in the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15: 10-32. It assumes that the first step (sin) is not a wanted action but part of the brokenness of mankind. We should never want to sin, that is to say, voluntarily or involuntarily be separated from God or our neighbor. However, it is a consequence of our fallen state after the expulsion of our ancestral parents from Paradise (Morelli, 2006c; 2008), as we are reminded in our Trisagion Prayer for the Deceased: "for there is no man who liveth and sinneth not." Below I have highlighted in square brackets ([])some of the relevant  passages  which are the steps to reach Christ's promised comfort, what our response should be and the consequences:

Thus, I say to you, joy ariseth in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repenteth.... A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to the father, ‘Father, give to me the portion of the property which falleth to me.' And not many days after, the younger son, having gathered all together, went abroad into a distant land, [decision to separate from God] and there scattered his property, living profligately. [sin] But after he spent all, there arose a severe famine throughout that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that land; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he was longing to fill his belly from the husks, which the swine were eating; and no one was giving to him. [sorrow-mourning-repentance] But having come to himself, [metanoia-a change of heart and mind] he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father abound in loaves, and I am perishing with hunger! [mourning-loss of God] I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no longer worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants.’ And he rose up and went to his father. But when he was yet far away, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell upon his neck, and ardently kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no longer worthy to be called thy son.’ [confession-asking forgiveness]  But the father said to his slaves, ‘Bring forth the robe, the chief one, and clothe him, and provide a ring for his hand and sandals for the feet. And bring the calf, the fattened one, and slay it; and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; and he was lost and is found.’ [God's forgiviness] And they began to be merry. . . .to make merry and to rejoice was fitting, 'because this thy brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ [comfort] 

Parents, catechists and clergy (for themselves) and the children they are leading to Christ can discuss the meaning of this parable. The bracketed inserts above can serve as a guide to the application of the parable to ourselves and our children. The words of the psalmist can be meditated on: "The Lord hath heard, and hath had mercy on me: the Lord became my helper. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into joy" (Ps 29: 11-12).

Our Understanding Of Sin

All sin is a separation from God and our neighbor. St. Maximus the Confessor tells us sin is misuse of something good. He says " [We] misuse the gifts God has given us for our use. In all things misuse is a sin." (Philokalia II).  The word for sin in Greek hamartia is understood in English 'as missing the mark.' The Trisagion Prayers which start out so many prayers and services in the Eastern Church considers sin an illness to be cured.  In this prayer we cry out: "All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord cleanse us from our sins. Master, pardon our iniquities. Holy God visit and heal our infirmities for Thy Name’s sake."

The Church Our Heavenly Hospital

The Church in its wholeness and by the use of its Holy Mysteries is the place of healing. St. John Chrysostom states: "Did you commit sin? Enter the Church and repent for your sin; for here is the physician, not the judge; here one is not investigated, one receives remission of sins" (Morelli, 2008).

Bishop Alexander (Mileant)^vii reminds us that sins are "like that physical afflictions, [that] are distinguished by the magnitude of their evil and destructiveness." He makes the pastorally useful spiritual distinction between mortal sins, which break our union with God and the accumulations of daily sins that he likens to "rubbish."  He cautions, however, that the accumulation of these daily sins can eventually "become more damaging than a single mortal sin.^viii This certainly bespeaks the necessity of the use of all the healing Holy Mysteries given by Christ to His Church.

St. Isaac the Syrian with Contemporary Elders

The Godless secular world is relentless in enticing us by any means to value the things of mammon. The proliferation of high tech media, employing dazzling lights and booming sounds have brought hitherto distant lures to our fingertips. Many are mesmerized by and act as if addicted to the use of modern technology and its contents.

Now more than ever is the time to heed the counsel of The Church Fathers that has pointed out that mourning is a lifelong process. All the more reason to keep before us that it is God and our union with Him which is of the highest value and our separation from Him by sin is our greatest loss. Thus to keep in mind the words of St. Isaac the Syrian:

There is no limit to perfection, for even the perfection of the perfect is truly without completion. And for this reason repentance [mourning] is bounded neither by periods of time nor by works until a man's death.

Let all the earth fear the Lord, and let all the inhabitants of the world be in awe of him (Ps 32: 8).

Chaplain's Corner
Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California

In the mid 1960’s there was a popular folk song that played the airwaves: The Sounds of Silence. It was originally written in the wave of national grief that followed the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. However, this song actually reaches far beyond the historical event and touches a fountain of great spiritual depth. Consider a couple lines from the song: "Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again . . .The words of the prophets are written. . .And whispered in the sounds of silence." A very appropriate reflection for the start of Spring comes from the saintly Mother Teresa of Calcutta:  “We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. . . .We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

The value of silence cuts across so many religious traditions. The prophet Habakkuk (2: 20) instructed the Jews: "But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him." Buddhists find in silence the meaning of the universe: "When a man knows the solitude of silence, and feels the joy of quietness, he is then free from fear and he feels the joy of the dharma [basic principles of the cosmos].ⁱ In the Islamic tradition Rumi notes: "I implored the sage in earnest last night to unveil the mysteries of the universe. He whispered softly in my ear, "Silence! It is something to perceive but never to say."ⁱⁱ

Spring appears this month. Nature comes leaping  into  life.  The question is: do we see it? Do we hear it? Do we appreciate it? The Psalmist (18:1) tells us: "The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of His hands." But are we silent enough to see God, or are we so caught up in the cacophony that makes up so much of the modern world that we are blinded to the beauty that is God's creation?

The worth of silence for the Eastern Church Fathers cannot be overestimated. St. Isaac of Syria tells us: "What watering is to plants is exactly the same as continual silence for the growth of spiritual knowledge." (Brock, 1997). Abba Poeman of the Desert taught his monks: "If you are silent, you will have peace wherever you live." (Ward, 1975). Finally consider the wisdom of Abba Pambo, who, when told to say something that would edify a visiting Archbishop, replied: "If he is not edified by my silence, he will not be edified by my speech. (Ward, 1975).

REFERENCES

Brock, S., trans. (1997). The Wisdom of Saint Isaac the Syrian. Fairacres Oxford, England: SLG Press, Convent of the Incarnation.

Ward, B. (1975). The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Trappist, KY: Cistercian Publications.

ENDNOTES

i http://www.beliefnet.com/Quotes/Buddhist/General/B/Buddha/When-A-Man-Knows-The-Solitude-Of-Silence-And-Feel.aspx?q=silence#ixzz1kgr5ECC0

ii http://www.beliefnet.com/Quotes/Islam/Rumi/R/Rumi-The-Life-And-Thought-Of-Rumi/I-Implored-The-Sage-In-Earnest-Last-Nightto-Unve.aspx?q=silence#ixzz1kh8WDLy2

And whenever thou art praying, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, in order that they might be made manifest to men. Verily I say to you, they have received their reward.  But thou whenever thou art praying, enter into thy chamber, and after thou shuttest thy door, pray to thy Father Who is in secret; and thy Father Who seeth in secret, shall render what is due to thee openly. (Mt 6: 5-6)

From the times of my earliest memory these words of Christ were implanted on my mind.  A simple practical example of putting this into practice was the proper way of saying the Prayers at the Table,  popularly known as 'grace' before and after meals, while in public. It meant making a silent and mental Sign of the Cross and saying the appropriate prayer mentally as well.  Any public display of one's commitment to Christ, would, at that time and locale, have been considered hypocrisy.

However, the world of my early years was spiritually and culturally very different from the world that has ushered us into the second decade of the 21st Century.  Practically everyone in my hometown was a practicing Christian. There was one devout Jewish family that had a small grocery store and a travel truck to service remote areas. On any  given Sunday morning most people went to the church of their choice.  It might be said that there was a shared culture of the value of religion in daily life. If someone ostentatiously displayed some overt religiosity, in all likelihood such a display would have been considered hypocritical.

In thinking about this today, I can see a parallel to religious life during Christ's time. Although surrounded by pagan Romans, the Jewish people shared a common commitment to their Abrahamic and Mosaic heritage. Thus, singling oneself out by ostentatious display of one's Jewishness would certainly cry out for considering such showy behavior hypocrisy. This would have been especially true when one's inner disposition, that is to say one's heart and mind, contained and was motivated by just the opposite. Jesus pointed out that it was not eating with "unwashed hands" that defiles us, but what comes out of our mouths, from the heart: evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies. (cf. Mt 15: 16-20). Jesus is unrelenting in His excoriation of hypocrisy:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and  the dish, but within  they are full of plunder and incontinence. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like tombs, which have been whitewashed, which on one hand appear beautiful outwardly, but on the other hand are full of the bones of the dead and of all uncleanness within. Thus ye also on the one hand appear righteous to men outwardly, but on the other hand ye are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness within. (Mt 23: 25, 27-28)

In fact, in this regard the teaching of Christ is clear:

And when ye pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, that love to stand and pray in the synagogues and corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men: Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.  But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. And when you are praying, speak not much, as the heathens. For they think that in their much speaking they may be heard.  Be not you therefore like to them, for your Father knoweth what is needful for you, before you ask him. (Mt 6: 5-8)

The Church in the Age of Persecution

The first three centuries of the Church have come to be  known as the Age of Persecution. Christ Himself foretold this would happen when He said to His Apostles: "Keep on remembering the word which I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his lord,' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. . . ." (Jn 16: 20). The Age of Persecution began in Rome in 64 AD with the arrests, torture and executions of Christians by the Emperor Nero, and ended in 313 AD when the soon to be sainted Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan. The type of persecution undergone by the Christians of the first few centuries has been described ,in a term used by Fr. Alexander Schmemann (1977), as permeated by The Blood of Martyrs. While similar bodily persecution is undergone by Christians todayⁱ in some places in the world, today in the West we are undergoing another type of persecution.

Cultural Persecution

Interestingly, Schmemann alludes to another type of persecution undergone by the early Christians. He termed as a type of persecution the “. . . contact with the ideas and beliefs of surrounding Hellenism," pointing out that even in St. Paul's (1Cor 1: 23) comment in this regard the full text reads: ". . .but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks." 

In the late 20th and early 21st Centuries Godless secularism has replaced Hellenism in the cultural and political persecution of Christians in the West.  Consider the New York Times account of a high school girl, Jessica Ahlquist, whom the newspaper described as an outspoken atheist, who won a lawsuit in early 2012 to get a prayer taken down that had hung from the wall of her high school auditorium for 49 years.ⁱⁱ It was originally written by a student in 1963 to serve as a moral guide to other students. A facsimile of the prayer, originally written on paper had been stenciled onto T Shirts:

The Swedish Example

A recent Zenit Catholic international news agency article,ⁱⁱⁱ considers what a society that pushes the envelope of atheistic secularism would be like. Sweden points the way. The article lists some disturbing consequences. Since 1975, for example, abortion has been free on demand. In 2009 it  had the highest rate of abortion in Europe for girls between the ages of 15 and 19 (22.5 per 1,000).

I want to reassert strongly, as I have written previously (Morelli, 2009), that I eschew politics. My only concern is the morality of any issue or policy. With this proviso, let me point out that Sweden has a policy regarding healthcare providers, that is totally immoral, very similar to the policy proposed by the Obama administration healthcare plan.^iv

It should be noted that some consider even the compromise that followed this plan to be immoral. The compromise exempts religious institutions from paying for, or providing, unconscionable healthcare procedures, but requires insurance companies to cover the cost of such procedures. The moral objection is that conscientious objectors are forced to become involved, albeit indirectly, by the payment of their insurance premiums.^v

In terms of abortion, for example, Swedish law does not allow for consideration of conscience informed by morality in the healing care given to their patients. What the Zenit article termed "Conscientious objection." In 2011, the Swedish parliament, with almost no opposition, issued a decree obligating the Swedish delegation to the Council of Europe “to fight against the rights of doctors to refuse to participate in abortion.” (c.f. Endnote iii)

I am not de facto against Sex Education in the schools as long as it is scientifically factual and age appropriate. I also have the expectation that a sex education instructor would point out that there are ethical factors to be considered and practiced in sex activity for humans. Furthermore, the students should discuss these moral issues with their parents. In this regard, my hope would be that in any discussion about sexual practice Christian parents would conform their minds to the Mind of Christ and His Church (Morelli, 2007). However, this is not the way it is done in Sweden. The Zenit articles states:  ". . .sex education is graphic and compulsory, and children are taught that whatever feels good sexually is OK. The age of consent is 15." I maintain that, in this case, the Swedish state has overstepped its moral bounds; actually, the statement indicates that the Swedish state has no moral bounds in this regard.

The personhood of mankind is based on being created in God's image

The Holy Spirit-inspired writer of the first book of the Old Testament gives us the foundation of the value of the personhood that constitutes the unique nature of Man.

 "And He [God] said: Let Us make man to Our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth. And God created man to His own image: to the image of God He created him: male and female He created them." (Gn 1: 26-27)

The understanding that God "breathed into his face the breath of life (Gn 2: 27) can be taken that it is by the action of the Holy Spirit that, right at the moment of creation, mankind partakes of the Divine Nature even though in limited form. This Divine  action makes mankind above all the materially created world. Mankind's obligation and responsibility to care for creation can be understood from God's instruction, described by the writer of Genesis: "And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth" (Gn 1: 28). There is a spiritual and psychological similarity but simultaneously a uniqueness in the make up mankind.

Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev (2002) reflects on the alternate use of the singular and the plural in Sacred Scripture,^vi a seeming antinomy, in its referencing both God and mankind.

From two human beings the third, their child, is to be born: the fully realized family — husband, wife and child — which is a reflection of the Divine love of in three Hypostases [persons of the Holy Trinity]. . .This interchange emphasizes the unity of the nature of [mankind] even though each individual person is unique. 'God is a Nature and three Persons; man is a nature and "innumerable" persons; God is consubstantial and in three Hypostases, man is consubstantial [nature] and in innumerable hypostases [persons].

The Ultimate Goal of Personhood is Being "Like" God

The Holy Father St. John of Damaskos summarizes in very practical terms the meaning of personhood in mankind: a reflection of the Divine personhood:

First, every man is said to be made in the image of God as regards the dignity of his intellect and soul ... is immortal and endowed with free will, and in virtue of which he rules, begets and constructs. Second, every man is said to be made in the likeness of God as regards his possession of the principle of virtue and god-like actions... having deep sympathy for one's fellow men, in mercy, pity and love ... and in showing heartfelt concern and compassion. (Philokalia II).

St. John is emphatic in pointing out that because of our being made in God's image it is the likeness of God that we must attain. The image is but a stepping stone, so to say, to achieve our ultimate worth: being 'like God.'

But only a few — those who are virtuous and holy, and have imitated the goodness of God to the limit of human powers — possess that which is according to the likeness of God.

Furthermore, St. John distinguishes sin and its opposite virtue in terms of body and soul, with the soul being on a higher level than the body, as he says, more "excellent and precious." St. John notes that "this is especially true of those virtues which imitate God and bear His name." This leads him to the conclusion that "the vices of the soul are much worse than the passions of the body." His down-to-earth discourse on this distinction is very insightful both psychologically and spiritually:

I don't know why, but people overlook this fact. They treat drunkenness, unchastity, adultery, theft and all such vices with great concern, avoiding them or punishing them as something whose very appearance is loathsome to most men. But the passions of the soul are much worse and more serious then bodily passions [emphasis mine].  For they degrade men to the level of demons ... These passions of the soul are envy, rancour, malice, insensitivity, avarice — which according to the apostle [Paul] is the root of all evil. (cf. 1Tim 6: 10) — and all vices of a similar nature.

It is clear that St. John of Damascus is not downgrading the sins of the body, but rather astutely indicating that the sins of the soul are the source of these bodily sins and thus ultimately more primal. They indwell in the heart of the soul. As Christ Himself said "But the things which proceed out of the mouth, come forth from the heart, and those things defile a man. For from the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies. These are the things that defile a man." (Mt 15: 18-20)

The meaning of martyrdom

The word ‘martyr’ means witness.^vii  Martyrs are described by St. Diadochos of Photiki as those who "confess their faith despite all persecution." (Philokalia I, McGuckin, (2004) commenting on the "witness (martyria) or public confession" of Christ in the early Church, says that it was seen as inspired by the Holy Spirit. He notes the words of Jesus to His Apostles, Peter James John and Andrew: "And it is needful for the Gospel first to be proclaimed to all the nations. But whenever they lead you away and deliver you up, cease taking thought before what ye should say, neither be meditating. But whatsoever shall be given to you in that hour, be speaking this; for ye are not the ones who speak, but the Holy Spirit." (Mk. 13:10-11). As I pointed our previously in this article, early Christians were subjected to physical torture and death in mimesis of the passion and death of Christ Himself.

Spiritual Preparation for being a martyr-witness in the modern world

Martyrdom may be laudable, but there can be grievous spiritual danger for Christians in  public display of their commitment to Christ, as I noted in the introductory quote from St. Matthew (6: 5-6). It would do all of us well to reflect on Blessed Theophylact's (2006) commentary on Christ's teaching: "He also calls those men hypocrites who pretend they are looking to God when in fact they are only looking to men; and from men they have received the only reward they will receive." In contemporary terms we must be aware of cultivating 'purity of intention.' St. Simeon the New Theologian writes: "In brief, do everything as if you were in the presence of God, so that your conscience does not rebuke you." (Philokalia IV). We would want to purge ourselves of any witness that may be carnal, material-minded, profane or unspiritual. This would be the spiritual understanding of St. Paul's teaching to the Corinthians: "But a material-minded man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for it is foolishness to him, and he is not able to come to know it, because it is spiritually examined." (1 Cor. 2:14) In order to attain purity of heart or intention the virtue of humility must be cultivated. St. Isaac the Syrian (Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2011) counsels:

All these good things are born to a man from the recognition of his own weakness. For out of his craving for God's help, he presses on toward God . . .  and to the extent that he draws near to God in his intention, God also draws near to him through His gifts. . . .

Cultivating a Heart Enlivened by Christ

When we think of sin we think that it springs from what is in our hearts and into our thoughts, words and deeds. “For out of the heart cometh forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies.”(Mt. 15:19). So, too, to witness Christ in the modern world we have to start with our hearts, that is to say our inner disposition, and be in conformity to the mind of Christ and his Church. (Morelli, 2010a) As I have previously written:

Secularism can be defined as the marginalization of God and the Church, and in place of God and His Church, a focus on "earthly things" (Php 3:19). That is to say, the values of contemporary western world, including: radical individualism; moral relativism; and religious and political correctness, which guide individual and social behavior and inform political/public policy. (Morelli, 2010b)

Thus we must start our witness of Christ, from the depths of our personhood, with our hearts focusing on 'Godly things.' St. Hesychios the Priest is clear what must be done to bring this about:

The heart which is constantly guarded, and is not allowed to receive the forms, images and fantasies of the dark and evil spirits [earthly things] ... We should wage this spiritual warfare with a precise sequence; first, with attentiveness; then, when we perceive hostile thought attacking [worldly values], we should strike at it angrily in the heart, cursing it as we do so; thirdly, we should direct our prayer against it, concentrating our the heart through the invocation of Jesus Christ . . ."^viii (Philokalia I)

So, then, what follows from our heart is either sinful or Godly. As St. Ilias the Presbyter succinctly put it: "The soul is liable to sin in three ways: in actions, in words, and in thoughts." This suggests that if our hearts are imbued with the spirit of Christ, so, too, then will be our actions, words and thoughts. With this "armor of God," we are now prepared to face our modern martyrdom, that is to say witnessing Christ. As St. Paul reminds the Ephesians (6: 11-13):

 "Put on the full armor of God, for you to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; because for us the wrestling is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the cosmic rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of evil on account of the heavenly things. For this cause take up the full armor of God, in order that ye might be able to withstand in the day, and having counteracted all things, to stand."

 An important caveat is to recall that sin is not only what we do; it is also what we fail to do. 

Witnessing in the Modern Secular World

Example One: A Simple Personal Example

For many years in the past, when dining outside of my home, say in a public eatery, in the spirit of Christ's instruction to pray in secret (cf. Mt 6: 6) I would make the Sign of the Cross and Grace before Meals mentally. In today's world, which marginalizes God, Christ and His Church any public display of commitment to Christ it is likely to be considered worthy of castigation and surely not given honor. Thus, all the more reason for Christians to say such prayers in public and not limit themselves to private times. I now make a public confession of my commitment to Christ in this manner and strongly urge others dedicated to Christ to do likewise.

Example Two: A Public Sports Figure

The sports news that captured the attention of the media in the United States in 2011, if not around the world, was the very public acknowledgement of God by National Football League (NFL) quarterback Jim Tebow. After making a favorable play, he would drop to his knee and bow his head. The act generated a new word in American English language; it came to be called "Tebowing."^ix

This act has been copied by others:

Can we not see this as drawing people to God and helping to re-establish the importance of God in society and our personal life? At a time in which Christ and his followers are being disparaged,  deprived of fundamental rights, ignored and sidelined from public life and political policy, this display is a welcome witness.  It should be noted that the witness that Tim Tebow gives is Christ-centered. While in college play he had the number  "Jn 3:16" on his sun protection eye black, a reference to the well-known Gospel verse: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that everyone who believeth in Him should not perish, but may have everlasting life.] The use of any number or text for under-eye sun protection is not allowed in the NFL. However Tebow's Christian orientation was made known. In fact, he commented that:  "It just goes to show you the influence and the platform that you have as a student-athlete and as a quarterback at Florida".^x May I comment on how much influence any of us could have who are true witnesses to Christ in our lives? Consider Christ's direction: “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what ye hear in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops." (Mt 10:27) The eyes of the world are around us and upon us.

Example Three: Engaging Moral Issues

It goes without saying that if Christians are in political life or have societal leadership of any kind, they are to follow Christ’s moral teachings in what they legislate, propose, support, vote on, execute or adjudicate.  To name but a few contemporary political-social issues that have moral implications: abortion, same sex marriage, and torture, such as waterboarding. These activities are a grave illness, infirmity, missing of the mark, that is to say sin, and are thus antithetical to Christian moral teaching; not worthy of sincere Christians, and should be against the conscience of those who claim to be Christians.^xi

What about the rest of us, however, who are not politicians, business executives or who, like me, actually eschew politics?  Let us recall the ways of participating in sin. We are culpable by: counsel, command, consent, provocation, praise or flattery, concealment, partaking, silence or defense of the sin.^xii Permit me another personal example. I was recently exiting a market when I was approached by a young lady. She asked me: Do you support civil rights for gays, lesbians and bi-sexuals? Without hesitation, very directly and firmly, but in charity, I answered: "I certainly, do. . . equal pay for equal work, etc. . . . (by God's grace working on my intuition as she was asking the question, I discerned the motive behind her question and where it was leading, so I continued responding with no pause whatsoever). . . but not same-sex marriage, that is a moral issue, not one of civil rights; marriage can be only between a male and female, and blessed by God." Let me say, she was stopped in her tracks. I guess my Christ-centered response-witness was certainly unexpected. I had a genuine smile and said something like: "Take care and God bless!" Let us recall on the ways I have acted in a similar way when confronted by others supporting un-Christlike moral issues. Psychologically what I was doing was responding assertively. (Morelli, 2006). I might call such encounters 'assertiveness for Christ.'

A shame for Christians that many who deny Christ have no problem witnessing

It is well known that many who deny Christ as true God and true man have no problem publically witnessing their view. In Europe, this view of a young lady is a common sight:

Public Schools Toronto Canada allow formal prayer services for Moslem students during the day in the schools^xiii:

In fact, among Moslems it is a duty to perform public worship.^xiv

It is well known that in some Moslem countries any public display of commitment to Christ is prohibited and harshly dealt with.^xv I saw a video a couple of years ago of a world known Orthodox bishop who had to wear a sport shirt and pants while in Turkey, because his clerical garb was not permitted. Unless under Church obedience, I have no intention of ever visiting a country that will not permit me to wear my appropriate clerical garb and possess my Sacred Scripture, readings of the Church Fathers and service books. I pray that God would give me the strength that if ever I were somehow forced into being in such a location, I would be a witness-martyr in this regard even unto death.

Our Baptismal Vocation and Responsibility: Being a Martyr for Christ

The last words of Christ to His eleven Apostles as recorded by St. Matthew (Mt. 28:18-20) is this instruction: “All authority is given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you; and behold, I am with you all the days until the completion of the age. Amen." All those baptized into Christ, as we chant in the Baptismal Hymn: "As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia," means that now all the baptized are of the royal priesthood. They themselves are called to make those of all nations become committed, baptized followers of Christ. Writing to the persecuted Churches in Asia Minor St. Peter told them, "But ye are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for a possession,” that ye might “tell forth the virtues” of the One Who called you out of darkness into His wondrous light, who once were “not a people,” but now are “a people of God. . . .""  (1Pt 2:9-10)

Now, God has created us with different personalities and different gifts. As St. Paul told the people of Corinth: "Now there are distributions of gifts of grace, but the same Spirit, there are distributions of ministrations, and the same Lord. But to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given to the profit of all. . . ."  (1Cor. 12: 4,5,7) One gift that we all share is the gift to witness-to martyr Christ.  At the very least, we can all make the Sign of the Cross, say a prayer, and (with discernment) say that something we may encounter is contrary to the teaching of Christ. Let us remember Christ's words to St. Paul, and his response: "My grace is sufficient for thee; for My power is being made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses, that the power of the Christ might dwell upon me. Wherefore I am well pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in straits, for Christ’s sake; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor 12: 9-10)

Blessed are they who have been persecuted on account of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.

Blessed are ye whenever they reproach you and persecute you, and say every evil word against you falsely on account of Me.

Be rejoicing and be exceedingly glad, for your reward is great in the heavens. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  (Mt 5: 10-12)

Sometimes, matters of faith have a quiet yet powerful way of influencing history.

Take, for example, the behind-the-scenes story that preceded the entry of the first African-American player to major league baseball more than six decades ago.

That player, of course, was the legendary Jackie Robinson, who shattered the big-league color barrier when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. The story of faith belongs to the baseball executive who signed Robinson, the equally legendary Branch Rickey, and to a New York minister who played a quiet role in a major decision.

And the telling of that story spans generations and families, from the minister’s wife, who wrote it down, to the couple’s granddaughter who uncovered it many years later among her late grandmother’s writings.

“I had no idea that I would find a story that linked my grandfather to a part of U.S. history,” the granddaughter, Donnali Fifield, told CNN. “But as soon as I read it, I knew it was historically significant.”

What Fifield read was an account by June Fifield of her husband, the Rev. Dr. L. Wendell Fifield, and his encounter with Rickey as history was about to be made.

[... More]

Read the entire article on the CNN website (new window will open).

On February 20, 2012, Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the DECR and rector of the Sts Cyril and Methodius Post-Graduate and Doctoral School, visited the Moscow theological schools to deliver the following lecture for the faculty and students:

Your Eminence,

Dear Members of the Faculty of the Moscow Theological Academy,

Brothers and Sisters:

The theme of my lecture is the situation of Christians in the countries in which they constitute a minority. Today this issue has become especially relevant and acute. Our era is rightly called an era of new martyrdom, for in a whole number of countries, Christians are subjected to mass persecution and discrimination.

From November 30 to December 1, 2011, a conference on Freedom of Faith: The Problem of Persecution and Discrimination Against Christians was held at the conference hall of the Danilovskaya Hotel. I made a report to that forum, citing numerous facts of discrimination committed against Christians in various countries.

Last week, Sedmitsa.ru launched a special new section on ‘Persecution of Christians’ ¹. ^. It is called to introduce readers online to the facts of violence against Christians in various parts of the world. I would like also to enumerate several English internet resources. These are mostly websites of human rights organizations specializing in monitoring the situation of Christians and providing materials and legal support to persecuted Christians.

1) Christian solidarity Worldwide, an international organization for protecting persecuted Christians (http://www.csw.org.uk). It gives statistics concerning the persecutions according to regions, analytical materials and numerous video clips. Based in Great Britain, this organization also provides legal support for Christians persecuted in countries in which the Christian confession is prohibited in this or that form.

2) International Christian Concern, a US human rights organization maintaining at http://www.persecution.org an internet resource called ‘Persecution’. It is an important resource which includes a detailed survey according to world regions and particular countries.

3) Barnabas Fund, an international organization (http://www.barnabasaid.org) which publishes the latest news about facts of the killing and persecution of Christians in the world. There is a solid bulk of related news concerning the latest events in Syria and Egypt. This organization is one of the few ones which organize continuous help to Christians in Syria whose situation is getting worse with every day because of the actions of militants.

4) Open Doors, an international organization (http://www.opendoorsuk.org) which places on its website detailed surveys according to countries and continents. Recently it has published an annual list of 50 countries in which Christians are subjected to the severe discrimination, the so-called ‘World Watch List’. Countries are divided into four groups according to the extent of pressure brought to bear on their Christian communities.

The Christian Church began to be persecuted since the very first years of its existence. The Church is a divine-human organism; it belongs at the same time to the upper and lower worlds. The Archenemy cannot reconcile himself to its nature being not of this world. The Lord Jesus Christ said on several occasions that Christians would be persecuted in the world: ‘If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also (Jn. 15:20).

The Lord predicted the persecution of Christians in the world: ‘They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake…’ (Lk. 21:12).

In my report on the Persecution and Discrimination of Christians in Today’s World: Causes, Scale, Prognoses for the Future’ made at the above-mentioned conference on November 30, 2011, in Moscow, I cited many facts of the persecution of Christians. Therefore in this survey of the situation in the world I would like to make today, I will dwell mostly on the facts that have taken place since that time.

A matter of the greatest concern is the recent increase in anti-Christian actions in the two countries in which Christians comprise at least 10% of the population, namely, in Egypt and Syria.

According to the 2007 data, there were 107 million people in Egypt, most of them being Arabs – 91,9%. Almost all of them (90% of the population) confess Islam. Christians live mostly in Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities. They comprise about 10% of the population.

After the events of January-February 2011, a clear tendency has developed to make the sharia the only legal system in that country. It should be taken into account that those who demand the introduction of the sharia today are usually adherents of radical views whereby Christians are equated with pagans and should be converted therefore to Islam. I believe the sharia should be applied to Muslims alone; it by no means should be applied to Christians. It is my conviction that both Christians and Muslims should have the same rights and guarantees granted by the state.

Throughout 2011, Christians in Egypt continued to be objects of attacks. In my report I have cited many examples of this. The authorities of that country, instead of protecting Christians, have sometimes themselves become sources of violence towards them. On October 9, the Copts organized a demonstration in the Egyptian capital, but armed forces under the command of the Egyptian Military Council broke it up and as a result over 20 Christians were killed and over 200 injured. Christians were literarily crushed by military vehicles.

After the January parliamentary elections, which resulted in the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafites getting a majority of seats, the situation of Christians became even worse. The Freedom and Justice Party (?izb Al-?urriya wa Al-’Adala), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, won 230 seats out of 498. The Salafite Nour (Light) Party occupied the second place, obtaining in total some 120 seats. It should be noted that the Muslim Brotherhood has recently adopted a policy of protecting the Copts. Thus, during Christmas and New Year celebrations this year, young members of the Muslim Brotherhood set up local committee for protecting Christian churches against the attacks of the Salafites who believe the Christmas and New Year celebrations to be anti-Islamic.

The same Salafites, addressing Christians, declared that, in accordance with the sharia, they were either to pay juzia (poll tax) as non-Muslims should, or leave the country. The Salafites destroyed churches and Christians’ houses and killed them. They established a Committee for Encouraging Virtue and Preventing Vice in Egypt, like the one acting in Saudi Arabia. In September 2011, the report of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights stated that in the period from January to September 2011, the harassment by the Salafites made 100 thousand Copts flee the country.

If before the above-mentioned elections there were numerous, though uncoordinated anti-Christian raids of radicals, after coming to power the radicals started the ‘cleansing’ of whole settlements from Christians. Here are some examples.

On January 27, the Copts in the al-Ameria district near Alexandria were attacked by some 3 thousand Muslims led by Salafi leaders who burnt down their houses and shops. On January 30, a crowd of Mulsims attacked the Sharbat village for the second time, setting to fire three Christian houses before the eyes of law-enforcement officers. After that Islamic representatives demanded that Luis Suleiman, a rich Coptic businessman, should be driven away from the village, accusing him and his sons of shooting in the air when their house was set on fire. Suleiman’s family denied that they used guns, the more so that nobody was injured. Nevertheless, the police drew on Suleiman’s sons an arrest warrant. On February 1, the Salafites demanded that several Coptic families should be driven away from al-Ameria and suggested that the property of the Suleiman family be sold out under supervision of the Salafite sheikh Sherif al-Havari. Otherwise, they threatened, the village would be immediately attacked once again and then all the Coptic houses would be burnt down.

In February, a crowd led by Salafite leaders set on fire the Coptic church and Christian houses in the Meet Bashar village north-east of Cairo.² Taking part in another act of violence against Christians were about 2 thousand Islamic extremists. As a result, the church of St. Mary at the Meet Bashar village in Zagazig, Sharkeya Province (some 50 km north-east of Cairo) was burnt down.

Muslims and Christians of various confessions – Orthodox, Roman and Syro Catholics, Maronites and Armenians – co-existed in Syria through centuries. Until recently Syria was a model of wellbeing as far as interreligious co-existence was concerned. There were no interreligious conflicts; Muslims and Christians lived side by side in mutual understanding; Christian holy places were open to pilgrims. Syria has accepted over 2 million refugees from Iraq, with several thousands of them being Christians. They hoped to escape there from persecution in their homeland.

Today Syria is going through a difficult time. External forces seek to enkindle a conflict between communities and religions. We are especially concerned for the fate of the religious minorities in Syria, especially Orthodox Christians who represent the oldest religious community among those existing in the Syrian land.

It is possible already now to speak of an external military interference in that country as thousands of extremist militants in the guise of opposition forces have unleashed a civil war in the country. Extremist groups, the so-called jamaates consisting of militant Wahhabites armed and trained at the expense of foreign powers are purposefully killing Christians.

On January 15, two Christians were killed in a breadline. A 40 year-old Christian was shot to death by three armed people when he was driving his two small sons. The Russian Church was deeply grieved by a report about the tragic death of Fr. Baselios Nassar of the Epiphania diocese of the Orthodox Church of Antioch on January 25 and the shelling of the ancient Saydnaya Monastery from a portable gun.

Last week at least 200 Christians including small children were killed in the city of Homs. The abduction of Christians and other non-Sunni people has acquired a major scale. Two Christians, 28 and 37, were kidnapped and later found dead. One was hanged, his body bearing numerous wounds, another was dismembers and thrown into the river. His pregnant wife survived him. Four more Christians were abducted and the perpetrators have threatened to kill him if a ransom was not paid in time.

These recent reports about anti-Christian violence very strongly remind me of those which became customary since US troops invaded Iraq in 2003. All this arouses serious fears for the future of Christians in Syria.

After the UN General Assembly adopted, despite Russia’s protests, a resolution directed against the Syrian government, an opportunity has been opened for foreign military forces to move in the country, as was the case with Libya. In this case, a large-scale civil war may begin to last many years with scores of innocent people killed. Many Muslims will associate the foreign invasion with interference by the Christian world, while local Christians, just as it was during the Crusades, would have to account for the aggressors’ actions, sometime by their own deaths. Christians will become hostages and the first victims of this military conflict.

Reports are coming that several thousands of Christian civilians have already become victims of armed extremists and the cases of the abduction of Christians for ransom have become more frequent. There is a threat that any further destabilization will dramatically affect the fate of religious minorities, especially Syrian Christians.

On November 12-12, 2011, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill made a visit to Syria. During his meetings with His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatios and the Supreme Mufti of Syria Ahmed Badr-ad-Din Hassoum and the Minister of Waqfs Abd-as-Sattar Said, he underscored that a solution of the present problems of the Syrian people is possible only through peace dialogue and that any manifestations of extremism and violence were inadmissible.

Let us address the situation in the countries in which the interreligious balance has been violated as a result of the interference of external forces. After Muammar Gaddafi’s regime was overthrown in Libya and the Transitional National Council took over, Libya has become a place from which Christians have been actively driven away. Before the foreign interference in this country, Christians – Copts, Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Anglicans and members of other Protestant denominations – comprised about 3% of the population. According to the Open Doors human rights organization, 75% of Christians in Libya, most of them being guest workers, left the country during the armed conflict.

Until 2003, in Iraq there were over one and a half million Christians. At present, almost nine-tenth of them have either fled or were killed while those who have remained live daily with a fear for their lives. Among Iraqi Christians there are members of the Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholics, Armenians, Syro Catholics and Orthodox Christians. As recently as ten years ago, Christians in Iraq could feel relatively safe. With the foreign military intervention, Islamic militants launched terror actions against Christians. The latter found themselves the most unprotected stratum of the population.

Hundreds of Christian families have fled to the northern Kurdish regions in Iraq or neighbouring countries. Recently I have met some leaders of Sadr the Second’s Movement, an Iraqi Shia religio-political movement. They assured me that Christians living in areas controlled by their movement, namely, southern parts of the country and some quarters in Baghdad were protected by this movement.

Last September, with my blessing, a DECR representative visited northern Iraq including the cities of Erbil, Duhok, Semel, El-Kush and others. Ethnically, the 6 million-strong North Iraq is populated mostly by Kurds and Ezides. The Christian population in this region is small but it has increased in recent years with the migration of Christians from the south and Arab regions. For instance, in Duhok the number of Christians – Assyrians and Chaldeans, is 30 000, that is, 10% of the city’s total population. The authorities in northern Iraq, which is de facto a self-governed region, seek to ensure the safety of Christians. Our representative met with Christian refugees from the south who told him how Islamists had broken in their houses and demanded from them large amounts of money so that they could buy weapons to fight American aggressors. They beat up their family members, killed or kidnapped some of them. The attackers concealed their faces under masks – an indication that they were neighbours or acquaintances. In recent years, abdications of Catholic clergy have become more frequent, with abductors demanding that the Vatican pay a ransom of as much as several hundred thousand dollars. The ransom for kidnapped ordinary people cost from 10 to 15 thousand dollars.

The wave of violence against Christians in Iraq, regrettably, has not abated in recent months. On December 5, 2011, after the sermon of a certain imam, some Islamists, excited by his words, destroyed scores of shops, houses and other facilities belonging to Christians in Zakho, a town with 200 000 inhabitants. After the pogroms against Christians in Zakho, violence spread to neighbouring towns.

In December 2011, in the Iraqi city of Mosul, one of the Christian minority centers in the country, members of an Islamist group shot to death a Christian married couple. A few days before that, a group of armed militants set on fire Christian shops in Zakho and Duhok. At least 30 people were injured. On January 11, a terror attack was carried out on the residence of the Chaldean Catholic archbishop in Kirkuk.

In Iran, there are at least half a million Christians, mostly Assyrians and Armenians. These Christians have their own churches there and an opportunity for confessing their faith. The government shows tolerance towards other religious minorities as well, for instance, Zoroastrians. An Orthodox church has been acting in Tehran for almost 70 years now. It belongs to the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church. However, cases of discrimination against Christians have happened there too. For instance, a public outcry was aroused by the decision of the court of the Islamic Republic of Iran made on September 22, 2010, sentencing 32 year-old evangelical pastor Yusef Nadarkhani to death for his conversion from Islam to Christianity. Nadarkhani was arrested in 2009. His arrest was preceded by his appeal to the authorities, disputing the law of the Gilyan Province whereby all schoolchildren, his son among them, were obliged to study the Qur’an. According to the investigation, the pastor conducted church services in his house, preached the gospel and baptized those who embraced Christianity. He directed the work of 400 home churches in Iran. In June 2011, the court ordered that the execution be postponed and his case be referred back to Gilyan for a review. It was repeatedly suggested to Pastor Nadarkhani that he should renounce the Christian faith so that he could escape execution but he refused to do it. At present Nadarkhani’s fate depends on the Supreme Leader of the country, Ayatollah Khamenei, who is to deliver an official final verdict.

Pakistan is an example of the full suppression of the Christian population. Out of approximately 162 million Pakistanis, Christians, half of them being Catholics, make up only 2,45% of the population. According to the Open Doors organization, there are 5,3 million Christians in the country. The data published by the Pakistani government this January shows that the number of Christians in the country is approximately 3,8 million. Their condition today can be described as catastrophic. In 1986, a law on blasphemy was adopted in Pakistan to become a tool for persecuting religious minorities. This law is often used to squaring personal accounts and to seize other people’s property. This law has become a tool for the tough persecution of religious minorities, especially Christians. Last year, at least 161 people were sentenced under the law of ‘blasphemy’ in Pakistan. Nine people accused of ‘blasphemy’ and ‘outrage against Islam’ were executed extrajudicially. Even Muslim legal scholars admit that 95% of all the accusations of ‘blasphemy’ are false.

Christians are deprived of their rights under this law because a Muslim can report an outrage against Islam without providing witnesses or proof. The law on ‘blasphemy’ demands that the accused should be immediately sentenced. Recently the death sentence for Asia Bibi – who, asked about her faith, replied that she was a Christian and was accused of ‘blasphemy’ – was reconfirmed. As of February 1, 2012, over 580 000 people in 100 countries signed an appeal to the Pakistani government to release Asia Bibi. At present, her health is in critical condition.

In 2011, Aslam Masikh, a 30 year-old Christian, died in a Pakistani prison. He too was arrested on the charge of ‘blasphemy’.  For several months he was denied medical aid because of ‘safety considerations’. Recently two more Christians became victims of false accusations – the Protestant bishop Joseph Pervez and Pastor George Baber. They were forced to escape the country after they were incriminated ‘blasphemy’ and threatened by extremists. Both Christians planned to found an organization for the protection of the Christian community in Pakistan.

Radical Muslims do not stop even at violence against children. In November 2011, they attacked a school in Peshawar. Two people were killed and 14 injured, including 7 children. In January 2012, the Pakistani authorities destroyed the church and charity building in Lahore, which belonged to a Catholic community with close ties to the Caritas.

Many Christian women in Pakistan are forcefully married off to Muslims and forced to change their faith. In 2011, the Asian Human Rights Commission reported that annually about 700 Christian young women in Pakistan are forced to embrace Islam due to pressure or unwanted pregnancy. More often than not, such crimes remain unpunished. After an 18 year-old Catholic girl was killed early this year for her refusal to adopt Islam, the General Vicar of Faisalabad, Fr. Khalid Rashid, stated in his interview to the Fides agency that ‘cases like this one happen in Punjab every day’. Thus recently, the European mass media wrote about Sonya Bibi, a 20 year-old Christian who was beat up and raped by a group of Muslims and about Rebecca Bibi, 12, who lost sight after she was beat up by her Muslim employer.

According to the Conference of Catholic Bishops in Pakistan, over 700 cases of forceful conversion to Islam are registered annually in Pakistan today. The report entitled‘ Monitoring Human Rights-2011’ records numerous cases of human rights violations and discrimination against Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan. In January 2012, a Catholic priest who had served in the country for eight years was arrested in Pakistan ³.

According to Open Doors, about 10 thousand people confess Christianity out of 28,4 million inhabitants of Afghanistan. The last commonly accessible Christian church in Afghanistan was demolished in March 2010. Most of today’s Christians in the country are urban people who had been baptized before the US troops moved in the country, or young people who came to know the Christian teaching during their trips abroad or through their contacts with Christian visitors to Afghanistan. They have to conceal their beliefs and have no legal opportunity for opening churches, thus having to worship in private houses. Most of Christian Afghanis are Catholic or Protestant. Conversion from Islam to other faith is viewed as a grave crime, and Christians are often subjected to persecution by extremists.

In 2010, an Afghani Christian by name of Said Mousa, the father of a large family who worked at the Red Cross medical center in Kabul, was put on trial for participation in Christian rites. Said Mousa was not the first Christian to be put on public trial in recent years. Investigators succeeded in making him renounce his faith in public. It was shown on the national TV but recently his letter has fallen into the hands of human rights workers, from which it appears that he is still under arrest in one of the prisons in Kabul and is subjected to beating and sexual assaults by his cellmates. In his letter Said says that he deeply regrets his renunciation of Christ.

Let us address the situation in other countries in Africa.

In Algeria, for the last five years the authorities have not permitted to open Christian churches. Since recently, ‘a law on blasphemy’, similar to the Pakistani one, has been enforced there. According to official information, there are some 11 thousand Christians, most of them Catholics, live in the 36 million-strong Algiers. According to non-official information, the number of clandestine Christians is many times as many. A law adopted in 2006 forbids mission among Muslims. In 2011, the authorities of the Bedjaya Province closed 7 Christian churches. In recent months, there have been an increasing number of cases of religious intolerance towards Christians. In early February 2012, unknown people under the cover of night attacked an Evangelical church in the city of Ouargla 700 km away from the capital. The house-beakers penetrated into the church territory, destroyed the cast-iron crucifix on the terrace roof of the church and damaged the gates. In doing so, the pastor says, the attackers yelled threats ⁴.

In North Sudan, from which South Sudan separated in summer 2011, acts of violence against Christians continue unabated. The new authorities of the country have stated that ‘the Sharia and Islam will now become in Sudan the basis of a new constitution, with Islam as the official religion and Arabic as the official language’. Reports are coming from North Sudan about numerous purposeful attacks on Christians who have had to flee to South Sudan.

The authorities have failed to take measures for the protection of Christians. Almost a year ago, a 15 year-old Christian girl was kidnapped in North Sudan. Her mother said that she had repeatedly appealed to the police to open the case and to begin a search for her daughter. But as a reply she heard only demands that she should first embrace Islam and only after that seek help from the Islamic police. On June 8, 2011, armed extremists fired at a Catholic church during the mass.

Radicals are standing behind the persecution of Christians in another African country, 150 million-strong Nigeria. Today this most densely populated country in Africa is experiencing another bloody crisis. The country is actually divided into two halves – the Muslim North and the Christian South. In the North Nigeria, there are 27 million Christians out of the 70 million population and they are subjected to systematic elimination by radical groups.

Since the sharia was introduced in the 12 northern states in 2000, thousands of people have been killed in numerous clashes in recent years. In the captured areas, sharia courts are established and sharia ‘justice’ is administered. Militants of the local extremist organizations, the most notorious among them being the Boko Haram group, have regularly attacked Christian settlements. In summer 2011, radicals burnt to the ground Christian churches and houses and robbed Christian households. In August 2011, 24 Christians were killed in an attack of armed Islamists on Christian villages in the central part of the country. In early November 2011, over 150 people were killed in terror actions at the towns of Maiduguri and Damaturu. Almost all the Christians had to flee from these regions. During the Christmas night of December 25, 2011, another monstrous act of terror was committed. The number of Christians killed in Nigeria’s city of Jos exceeded 80. In addition, over 200 people were injured in 9 explosions that shook the city.

On January 22, bombs blasted again in two Christian churches in Nigeria. One of them is the Catholic parish in Bauchi state in northern Nigeria. An increasing number of Christians have to flee from North Nigeria to other parts of the country. About 35 000 Christians have fled from North Nigeria during the last weeks after Boko Haram issued an ultimatum demanding that Christians should leave the territories with the predominant Muslim population. In 2011, the Boko Haram militants killed at least 700 people in North Nigeria. In total, over 13 000 people, most of them Christians, have been killed in the last 10 years in interreligious clashes.

In Somalia, the number of Christians is estimated to make up 1% of the total population of approximately 5 thousand people. Most of these Christians were either Muslims in the past or their parents were. Therefore, the majority treats them as betrayers of their faith. There are no organized Christian communities, and Christians live in permanent fear and an atmosphere of terror. It is especially dangerous to raise one’s children in the Christian tradition. The radical group Ash-Shabaab controlling almost the entire territory of the country has openly stated its intention to eradicate Christianity in Somalia. The official government, while declaring the right to religious freedom, has done nothing to protect Christians. Many Christians were killed last year. In January 2012, a Christian woman was sentenced to 40 lashes. The corporal punishment was carried out before the eyes of thousands. She lost consciousness but survived and was handed over to her family ⁵. On February 10, extremists from Ash-Shabaab killed a 26 year-old Christian at a place near the capital city of Mogadishu ⁶.

In Somalia there lived one of the martyrs of our days, Mourta Farah. This 17 year-old girl was shot to death in November 2010 for her conversion to Christianity. It happened only 200 metres away from the house in which she stayed with her relatives. Mourta’s parents, in the attempt to make her renounce Christ, tied the girl to a tree at day-time and at night put her in a small dark room. But they tried in vain. Then her parents decided that she went mad and tried to ‘heal’ her by special medicines. But in May 2010 she managed to escape to her relatives and after that she was killed.

In the semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar, a part of Tanzania, Christians live under continuous pressure from the Islamic community. Many Christians are forcefully converted to Islam and they are refused employment. Early this year, a Christian in whose house a Bible was found was sentenced to 8-month imprisonment.

In the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Christianity is under a ban everywhere. Guest workers are Christians, mostly from Philippines, who are at least a million and a half. They are subjected to persecution. There are also Christian converts from Islam who have to carefully conceal their faith. According to Open Doors, this country occupies the third place in the world in the level of Christian persecution. In 2011, there was a series of arrests of Christians for their joint prayers at private houses. In January 2011, the Christians Johan Nes and Vasantha Sehar Vara were arrested. The police cruelly beat them up and placed them in horrific conditions.

Thirty five Ethiopian Christians were arrested during a police raid in Djidda in December 2011, when Christians assembled for a common prayer. New agencies have reported that these Christians are still confined and forced to convert to Islam. Human Rights Watch has circulated reports that in prison they are abused by prison guards. The women were subjected to humiliating examination; the men were beat up. The fate of these Christians has not been decided as yet. In this connection, demonstrations have been conducted at the Saudi Arabia embassies throughout the world.

Let us address the situation in South and South-East Asia and the Far East. According to Open Doors, in North Korea about 70 thousand Christians are now serve sentences in 30 labour camps. Out of 24 million inhabitants of the country, some 400 thousands are Christians. State statistics points out that 4 thousands among them are Catholics. The rest are mostly Protestants of various denominations.

Religious freedom remains a taboo in the Maldives. The Sunnite form of Islam was declared the official religion in Maldive Islands by the 1997 Constitution. This provision was also reconfirmed by the 2008 Constitution. The proclamation of other religions except Islam is forbidden. One can be imprisoned for keeping a Bible. On the one hand, the island state positions itself as a center of world tourism and seeks to attract tourists from all over the world. On the other hand, it pursues the policy of intolerance and religious discrimination, arresting innocent people.

The situation in Bangladesh is a matter of great anxiety. The lands and property of Christians in the mountainous region of Rangamati and in the Gulishahali Region are taken away. According to Fides, most often these criminal actions have been committed by Muslims who predominate there and have not been punished. Neither the police nor the civil authorities guarantee the protection of the rights of ethnic and religious minorities.

Anti-Christian forces have become more active in Indonesia. At present this country is the most densely populated Muslim country.  Out of 228,5 million inhabitants of Indonesia 86% are Muslims, 6% are adherents of various trends of Protestantism, and 3% confess Catholicism. There are several scores of Orthodox parishes. Since 2006, 200 Christian churches were attacked in Indonesia, with 14 of them attacked only for the first five months of 2011. On February 24, 2011, the Orthodox church of St. Catherine was attacked by extremists at Bojolali in the Island of Java.

In Philippines, most people confess Catholicism. However, in the Islands of Jolo and Mindanao inhabited by Muslims, a movement called Abu Sayyaf appeared in the 1990s and established relations with Al-Qaeda. For the last 10 years 120 thousand people were killed in Mindanao as a result of the activity of terror groups, and 500 thousand people have become refugees.

About 70% of the people in Laos confess Buddhism, 30% are heathens and 1,5% are Christians. Christians are deprived of the right to occupy public posts and have little chance to enter a university. In 2009, the leader of Salawan Province gathered together all the rural dwellers and announced to them that ‘Christianity is forbidden’. He also said that ‘the worship of spirits’ was the only acceptable cult for them. At his instruction, cattle were confiscated from local Christians. Repressions continue to this day.

In one of the most densely populated country of the world, India, Christians suffer from radical Hindu organizations. India’s population total 1,1 billion. Over 2% of the people are Christians. In total in India there are 23-24 million Christians of various denominations. Some 70% of the Indian Christians come from the untouchables. In the state of Orissa where a great proportion of the untouchables live, the number of conversions to Christianity has considerably grown in the last decade. In some areas of the state, the proportion of Christians has doubled in this period. In 2008, the state became a place of mass killings of Christians and pogroms of Christian churches and houses which lasted for two months.

During the pogroms in 2008 in India, 500 Christians were killed. The opposition Hindu nationalist party ‘The Bharataya Janata Party’ (BJP), which actually controls several states, has waged an active war against Christianity. On February 20 and 21, 2011, a wave of clashes between extremists and the Christian minority swamped Batala in the state of Punjab. Members of Christian communities in India continue to be attacked by organized groups of radical Hindus.

In 2011 in India, there were 2141 registered cases of violence against Christians. According to the report presented by the Catholic Secular Forum, attacks on Christian by extremist Hindu groups are taking place at present in almost all the states of India. The authors of the report assume that the real number of cases of anti-Christian violence in India which took place last years must be three times as many. The statistics they presented is based on the information publicized by the mass media. In 2012, new cases of discrimination against Christians and attacks on Christian educational institutions were registered in India. Early in February, about 100 Hindu radicals attacked the campus of the Jesuit University of St. Joseph in Anekal near Bangalore, Karnataka state.

I should address the causes of the growing persecution of Christians in the recent years.

Since your schooldays you remember that the causes of the persecution of Christians in old times can be divided in the three groups: social, religious and political. To a considerable extent these causes have remained the same, with certain reservations.

We understand by social causes the poorly motivated hatred of the crowd. Heathen writers and Christian apologists unanimously testify that the emergence and spreading of Christianity was met by the population of the Roman Empire with unanimous hatred on the part of both the lower strata of the society and the educated class. ‘What damage do we do to you, Hellenes? Why do you hate us like the most out-and-out scoundrels who follow the word of God?’ Tertullian questioned. ‘How many times the mob hostile to us has attacked us, thrown stones and burnt our houses. They do not spare Christians, even dead ones, pulling out dead bodies from coffins to abuse them, to tear them to pieces’, cried out this Christian writer of the 3d century. The hatred of the throng towards Christians grew especially at times of social troubles. In some sense, the events repeat themselves since the psychology of the crowd, if this crows is consumed with hysteria, does not change whatever the religion those who make up the crowd may be. The crowd needs an enemy to take it out on him; the otherness of Christians excited and excites the hatred of ‘this world’.

Religious causes lied in that in antiquity the heathen society saw in Christianity an inadmissible religion whose followers were believed to challenge the predominant religious or quasi-religious ideology. Today, the most irreconcilable attitude to Christians is characteristic of the countries in which the Sharia laws are established. According to the American commission for religious freedom in the world, out of ten countries in which Christians live in the hardest situation, nine are Muslim ones.

The political causes of the aggravation of Christians’ situation are, in my view, the principal ones. In the early centuries of the life of the Church, Christians were persecuted because they were seen as enemies of the Caesar because they refused to worship him. The legal system of the Roman Empire made on confessors such demands that could not be accepted if they wished to remain Christian. The same demands unacceptable to Christians are made in some countries which adopted laws on ‘blasphemy’. Under this law, the very confession of Christ as God is declared a blasphemy, which puts Christians before the choice to remain Christian and suffer, may be even to death, or to renounce their faith.

Today Christians are becoming hostages to a big political game around the geo-strategic redivision of the Middle East and Africa. The richest countries of the Arabian Peninsula, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have invested millions of dollars in the destabilization of the situation in other countries of the region. The radical Islam of the Wahhabi school has been exported to the countries of which it has never been characteristic. Actually, Wahhabism is a political doctrine which makes use of religious vocabulary. It is political extremism and a hate ideology with religion as a cover.

There are a great deal of books and internet resources created by those who claim to be Muslims, who preach hatred and call to kill people of other religions, especially Christians. In spite of the Qur’an’s prohibition of violence towards Christians as ‘a people of the Book’, they have appropriated the authority and right to decide which followers of Christ deserve death. The ideologies of radical organizations call to the total elimination of all Christians. At best, Christians may be allowed to live as third-rate people provided they pay a special tax for the Muslims’ right to live on earth. It is indicative that these people victimize not only Christians but also Mulsims who, being adherents to the traditional schools of Islam, are declared ‘apostates’ or ‘hypocrites’.

The export of Salafism, a radical Islamic school, began in the 1970s. It came from the Arabian Peninsula to the neighbouring regions and later to more remote countries. By 2000, its adherents have spread throughout the world, and today Salafism has come to play an important role in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Sudan and Afghanistan. The supporters of this movement seek to achieve the political goal of building a universal Islamic state (caliphate) so that the life of the society could be built on the sharia postulates alone in its extreme form, the Hanbalist school. The distinctive features of the political doctrine of Salafism include implacable attitude to the secular civil society, desire to replace it by an Islamic one based of the sharia, inadmissibility of a separate existence of religion and state, the contrasting of the Islamic world to the rest civilization models, negation of all the non-Islamic laws and desire to eliminate Christianity which is equated with paganism. In the 1990s, Salafi grouping appeared en mass in almost all the areas where Islam is prevalent. At present there are at least half a thousand of such associations, the most well-known among them Al-Qaeda, Jihad in Egypt, Islamic Jihad in Palestine, Ansar al-Islam in Iraq, Jemaah Islamiya, which has been active in Malaisia, etc ⁸.

Today this religio-political ideology is propagated with the help of modern information technologies, such as social networks, etc. In my view, radicalism is generated by ignorance. When people have a poor knowledge of their faith and, even worse, the faith of their neighbours, their ignorance gives grounds for aggression against Christians. Human beings have a sinful nature; they are prone to the impact of the aggressive principle and religious motives are used to give vent to it.

Islamic societies with their low level of religious education have proved to be the most vulnerable to Wahhabism, another Islamic school. For its followers traditional Islam points to the need to overcome aggressive emotions. It is not accidental that A. Ignatentko, an authoritative Russian specialist in Islamic studies, describes Wahhabism as an ideology of hatred because it is built on the postulate that the faithful should cultivate hatred as prescribed from above.

Regrettably, the Islamic society has not yet found a way of effective struggle with the propagation of religious extremism. In some countries, when representatives of this school come to power, the persecution and even total extermination of religious minorities begin.

It would be wrong however to place responsibility for these developments only on ignorant extremist fanatics who act in a spontaneous and disorderly way, almost single-handed. More often than not, standing behind them are forces whose primary aim is to profit from the situation of chaos and confusion. The success of these people is paid by blood.

Another political factor aggravating the situation of Christians is Western interference in the affairs of the region. The systems which have restrained radicalism in the last decades have been destroyed by the military force of the USA and NATO as was the case in Iraq and Libya or by incited revolutions as was the case in Egypt and other Arab countries.

There are also other causes of the growing discrimination of Christians in recent years. It should be mentioned that among the reasons for the aggravation of relations between Christians and Muslims in several countries, especially in Africa, is the practice of aggressive mission used by evangelical churches whose preachers have carried out an active work among local Muslim populations with the purpose to convert them to Christianity. If the preaching allows of destruction of Islam, it adds more fuel to the fire. Besides, foreign missionaries, as we know from the experience of our country, can also pursue political aims.

Clearly, we should also take into account various incentives motivating the persecutors of Christians in each country. For instance, while in Egypt Christians are attacked and killed and their churches and houses are burnt down, in Iraq they are more often kidnapped, made to pay ransom or taken hostage, though reports are often coming about blasting Christians churches in this country too.

One of the indirect causes that have triggered the mass persecution of Christians is Europe’s renunciation of its own Christian identity. The process of secularization has led to the situation in which most Europeans have ceased to relate their life to the Gospel and begun to live up the secular standards of ‘consumer society’. In the eyes of traditional societies, such as Islamic peoples, this ‘post-Christian’ civilization is losing any meaning or value. Muslims have begun to attribute to Christians the blame that has nothing to do with them but either with the US policy in the Middle East countries or the pernicious influence of ‘consumer society’. I mean the intensified imposition of secular standards and norms of life on bearers of traditional cultures. The protest against this imposition has sometimes resulted in anti-Christian actions.

Another cause of anti-Christian moods is the fact that some Protestants in the West, especially charismatics, have committed a deep distortion of Christianity. Regrettably, Muslims have often identified their views with common Christian ones. We can see today how leaders of various charismatic sects who name themselves Christian churches provoke people to commit ill-considered actions for the sake of their own PR image. This leads to a distortion of the image of Christianity, just as actions of Islamic sects present Islam in a corrupted form.

In recent years, public and governmental organizations in Europe have given some attention to the problem of discrimination against Christians in the world, though it appears insufficient.

Last June, when in Budapest I met with a representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Prof. Massimo Introvigne from Italy, who has studied this issue for several years. Last autumn, we invited him to Moscow for a conference ‘Freedom of Faith: the Problem of Discrimination and Persecution against Christians’. Quite recently an Observatory for Religious Freedom has been established in Rome. This year it will conduct a conference devoted to the protection of religious minorities in various countries.

On January 20, 2011, the PACE adopted a Resolution on the Situation of Christians in the Context of Freedom of Religion, which condemns the killing and discrimination of Christian in various countries, in particular, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and Philippines. The resolution addressed to the governments and parliaments in these countries was adopted by a majority of votes. Voting for it were representatives of all the political parties present in the European Parliament. The deputies agreed to set up a standing body at the European External Action Service to monitor the religious freedom situation in the world and to present annual reports to the EU and public at large concerning the cases of infringement on freedom of conscience by authorities or public forces in various countries.

This resolution of the European Parliament is important for several reasons. First, European politicians spoke out on the problem which had so far been voiced only on the periphery. Thus, the existence of persecution of Christians in the world was recognized by one of the major political bodies of the European Union. Secondly, for the first time a close attention was given to the work of those engaged in collecting objective information about the persecution of Christians in the world. Thirdly, in its resolution the European Parliament proposed specific ways of influencing the situation. Their principle is simple: money and business in exchange for compliance with human rights. Economic agreements between the European Union member states and countries with registered violations of the religious freedom of Christians and other religious minorities should be concluded only if they improve the situation of religious groups whose rights are infringed. Fourthly, the resolution gives much attention to the need to observe religious freedom as fixed in the fundamental international and European conventions and contains a proposal to establish mechanisms for monitoring religious freedom. At the same time, these important and timely calls will lead to desired results only if they are followed by the establishment of an effective and regular mechanism of dialogue between religious communities and national and international structures.

On September 22, 2011, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called to oppose the discrimination against Christians, underscoring that prejudice concerning particular persons based on religious identity is inadmissible. The Committee on Political Affairs of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly at its meeting on November 15, 2011, in Paris adopted a statement concerning the violent actions against Christians in Egypt. This statement was prompted by the events which took place on October 9, 2011, in Cairo: ‘This violence, which was duly condemned by the President of the Assembly, is of course unacceptable and the first declarations of the Egyptian authorities and their subsequent lack of action fail to convince that they are genuinely committed to dealing effectively with recurrent inter-religious violence’.

We are convinced that it is necessary to create, on the basis of international mechanisms of the protection of religious minorities, some standing effective centers for collecting and studying information about persecutions on religious grounds with the task to monitor the situation in this area and to prepare appropriate decisions for the executive bodies of international structures. The UN can and must see to it that the governments in some of its member states observe the commonly accepted norms of religious freedom. This should apply not only to Christians but also believers of any other religion whose freedom of conscience and faith needs to be secured legally and protected against encroachments by extremists.

It is not for the first time that our Church speaks of the persecution of Christians in the world. In May 2011, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church adopted a document in which our Church not only condemned the persecution of Christians but also called the world public to give close attention to this problem and to work out together common measures for the struggle with discrimination against Christians.

The Russian Orthodox Church spoke out and will continue speaking out against any form of xenophobia, religious intolerance and extremism. We understood the indignation of Muslims at the publication of caricatures of Mohammed in one of the Scandinavian magazines. We supported them after France adopted a law forbidding Muslim women to wear hijabs in public institutions. With sincere interest we are ready to discuss with our Muslim brothers the issues of public morality and to maintain cooperation with them in the most pressing areas, in a word, to develop an open and honest dialogue.

An intensive interreligious and intercultural dialogue is one of the ways of combatting the discrimination of Christians. It can play an important role in creating conditions necessary for normalizing interreligious relations in the troubled regions of the world.

A unique experience of peaceful coexistence of religions traditional for Russia has been accumulated in our country. And this experience can be useful for other countries and peoples as well.

Conducting dialogue with people of other religions, we work to overcome inter-ethnic, political and interreligious conflicts. This dialogue allows us to come to a better understanding of each other and to overcome false stereotypes which often generate hatred and aggression towards people of other faiths.

It is only through common efforts that it is possible to oppose the manifestation of extremism on religious grounds, which, among other things, generates confrontation and conflict between adherents to different religions. It must be taken into account that persecutions on religious grounds are committed not only against Christians but also people of other traditional religions – Muslims and Jews. Defending ones, we should not forget others wherever particular believers may need such protection.

We often hear today that it is necessary to create for persecuted Christians the conditions allowing them to freely emigrate to third countries. It is my conviction that such efforts will only profit their persecutors. Their aim is precisely to oust the Christian population, to force them to emigrate. On the contrary, all those who claim to be people of good will and peace should help Christians feel safe in the land of their forefathers and make their own contribution to the prosperity of their homeland. They should not feel themselves second-hand citizens or ‘the fifth column’ of the West. Christian youth in these countries should be given to understand that their future is linked with their homeland, that they do not live in it as undesired guests whose existence is merely tolerated by the majority but rather as equal sons and daughters.

It should be noted that the joint actions already undertaken by Churches and international and public organizations to improve the situation of Christians in countries where they constitute a minority have already brought their fruits. We are convinced that all the states are called to ensure to people a guaranteed opportunity for confessing their faith, raising their children in Christian faith and representing and defending their position in public, without being persecuted.

The Russian Church sincerely hopes that the governments of European countries, whose culture and traditions have been formed on the basis of Christian values, will demand that the states where Christians are persecuted follow the international principles of religious freedom and ensure it. Just as in European countries, the rights of religious minorities should be invariably protected by law.

We also appeal to the leaders of the countries belonging to the canonical jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church to consider the issue of discrimination against Christians in their relations with the countries where this discrimination takes place.

At the recent meeting of Prime Minister and presidential candidate V. Putin with leaders of the traditional confessions in Russia, I expressed the wish that the Russian foreign policy had as one of its directions the systematic protection of Christians living in countries where they are persecuted today. I told the prime minister that strong Russia is Russia that defends Christian minorities in these countries, demanding guarantees for the observance of their rights in exchange for political support or economic assistance. Responding to this statement, Mr. Putin said, ‘Do not doubt that it will be as you said. No doubt whatsoever’. And he called to further activization of interreligious dialogue.

I have told you all this, dear Brothers and Sisters, so that you could understand that the situation in today’s world is very difficult and that we in our country live in relatively peaceful conditions. But we should know what happens in other regions not only because it is necessary to know for our general development but also because we should understand that today’s world is a comprehensive whole. The globalization process has gone so far that the processes taking place in one region today are impossible to separate from those happening in other regions.

For us it is very important to export our own experience of interreligious cooperation, the experience our country has accumulated for centuries, to other countries. We can show to people that the existence of different confessions in one country does not mean her necessary susceptibility to conflicts. And we should understand that the struggle with extremism and radicalism has to be waged not only on the level of interreligious dialogue but within every religious confession. It is the task that faces us all.

Thank you for your attention

¹ [Go to original site]

² According to AsiaNews

³ http://www.sedmitza.ru/news/2759192.html

⁴ A report by Radio Vatican

⁵ According to International Christian Concern

⁶ According to Compass Direct News

⁷ Cit. in [Go to original site], 1991. ?. 87.

⁸See, [Go to original site]. 2003. ? 5 (14).

Read the entire article on the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church website (new window will open).

“No single event since Eve took the apple has been as consequential for relations between the sexes as the arrival of modern contraception,” writes Mary Eberstadt in the introduction to her new book Adam and Eve After the Pill: Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution (Ignatius). A research fellow at the Hoover Institution and consulting editor to Policy Review, Eberstadt’s writings have appeared in a variety of newspapers, magazines, and online journals, including First Things, the Weekly Standard, National Review, National Review Online, the Claremont Review of Books, and the Wall Street Journal. Her previous books include The Loser Letters: A Comic Tale of Life, Death, and Atheism (Ignatius). She recently spoke with CWR about her latest book, the far-reaching consequences of the sexual revolution, and what the Catholic Church has to offer in today’s debates over birth control and in the still-raging battle of the sexes.

Catholic World Report: In a recent op-ed in the New York Times, retired law professor Louise G. Trubek wrote, “Can we still be arguing about a woman’s ability to control her own fertility?” How is your book a response to that sort of attitude? Do we really need to being arguing over contraceptives? Isn't that a matter of private choice and personal preference?

Mary Eberstadt: It is indeed fascinating that America is arguing over contraceptives. But pace certain retired law professors, the deeper meaning of that argument is not what the fear-mongers say it is. Torquemada 2.0 is not about to go slinking into college dormitories, filching pills and condoms from cowering college students. That’s not what this argument is about.

The argument is instead over something much larger. In the short term, as many have pointed out, and in the specific matter of the HHS mandate, it is indeed an argument over religious freedom. Many capable people, starting with certain other law professors and including the US bishops, have explained the dispute over the HHS mandate clearly and well.

Beyond that, though, there is an even wider meaning to the manifest unease over these issues that everyone thought settled. That is the legacy of the sexual revolution, whose consequences in one realm after another are only beginning to be understood. As the founder of Harvard’s sociology department, Pitirim Sorokin, once observed, it is a revolution that in the long run may have more influence on the world than any other—and we’re only beginning to understand it.

In that sense—and in a way that the sexual liberationists and their allies really don’t get—it doesn’t matter where you stand on the matter of religion. You could be a Wiccan. You could be a Carmelite. You could be Lady Gaga’s biggest fan. No matter what, you are still affected by the sexual revolution in more ways than can be counted—economically, politically, personally, and otherwise, for reasons I try to explain in the book.

I’m just pointing out that to say the sexual revolution amounts to a “woman thing” is absurd. And this is true leaving aside the question of morality altogether. One way or another, regardless of where individuals stand, the Western world and the rest of the world will have to grapple with the legacy of the revolution—and not just now, but centuries from now. Reducing this enormous phenomenon to something personal, a mere matter of women’s prerogatives, is just that: indefensibly reductionist.

CWR: Why do so many people—especially (but not only) those secular elites who dress themselves in the cloaks of science and reason—either ignore or deny outright both the statistical and anecdotal evidence demonstrating the serious personal and social damage wrought by the sexual revolution?

Mary Eberstadt: The first thing we need in order to get some clarity on this issue is compassion—including for the fact that many people of good intentions initially thought that the sexual revolution would be a good thing. They couldn't have foreseen all the consequences that would flow from it.

The revolution is like a big party that a lot of people initially looked forward to, but that’s now gotten way out of control. So the people who had high hopes for the party, who have defended it against those who said it would go wrong sooner or later, are now in a difficult spot. Nobody wants to be the first to leave, and nobody wants to tattle on anyone else—but everybody knows that what’s happening isn’t good. The word we commonly use for that kind of resistance is denial. It's a good word, and everyone’s susceptible to it—intellectuals as well as everybody else.

CWR: How can the Catholic Church point the way through the current spiritual desert and social wasteland that so many people inhabit today?

Mary Eberstadt: It’s so hard to see the Church constantly take the rap for being “bad on women,” when the moral and empirical truth is completely the reverse. It’s also hard because the Church has so much wisdom, developed over many centuries, about relations between the sexes.

Which way of looking at the world holds men and women in higher esteem: one that assigns them the sort of human dignity that the Church does, or one that says—as the secular world seems to say—that we’re all just animals with iPads and opposable thumbs, nothing more? Which way of explaining human beings do you think resonates better with young people—or would, assuming they were exposed to it? Well, which would anybody rather be—elevated and cared-for and cherished, someone whose choices actually matter in the world, or the opposite?

People, especially young people, often don’t understand what Judeo-Christian teaching actually is—because many years of attacks have successfully misrepresented that teaching in the public square. I know I didn’t, until I made it my business to read up. But that doesn’t mean the misunderstanding is inevitable. Compassion and clarity are the keys.

CWR: The final chapter of your book is on Humanae Vitae. What is most striking to you when you consider Pope Paul VI's arguments and explanations?

Mary Eberstadt: I didn’t read Humanae Vitae itself until a few years ago, and when I did, I was amazed for the reasons described below. I wish every party to the debate over HHS would read that document too. There would be a lot more clarity in this discussion if people were even just a little more informed about what they think they know.

The single most striking thing about that document is this: its predictions about what the future would bring have been thoroughly vindicated—and I’m not talking about theology here, but about secular social science.

Humanae Vitae said that men would lose respect for women in a world where contraception was ubiquitous. At a time when illegitimacy rates approach the 50 percent mark around the Western world, and have passed it in some places (most recently, Great Britain), it’s hard to argue that Humanae Vitae got it wrong. After all, what’s a better measure of respect than sticking with the mother of your child—even if not for the child’s sake, but simply for hers?

But you don’t always need social science to get the point. If you read, say, contemporary women’s literature, fiction and non-fiction, you get a long litany of complaints about men—how hard it is to find a good one, how women need to strike out on their own, how they even need to have children on their own because men can’t be counted on, etc., etc., etc. I go through a lot of that kind of literature in the book, because it represents evidence of a different sort that something has really run amok between the sexes.

So if the Pill (metaphorically) has liberated everybody once and for all from the chains of human nature, as liberationists have always said it did, then why aren’t people happier? Why, to the contrary, does it seem as if modern Western women are less content than they used to be—as is also strongly suggested by a fascinating recent sociological study on “The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness,” also discussed in the book?

Whether you look at popular culture or social science, the predictions of Humanae Vitae hold up better than almost anyone gives it credit for. And the fact that Humanae Vitae is nevertheless and simultaneously the most globally reviled document of our time means that we are looking at an enormous paradox here. That’s the central paradox of the book, and from it many others radiate outward.

Read the entire article on the Catholic World Report website (new window will open).

Man’s Disorder and God’s Design, published by Harper and Brothers in 1948, is a remarkable collection of essays prepared for the first assembly of the World Council of Churches at Amsterdam. The authors include some of the most respected theological voices of the 20th century: Karl Barth, H. Richard Niebuhr, George Florovsky, Gustaf Aulén, and Lesslie Newbigin. Sober reflection on what European churches learned from Nazi persecution and the war years is a dominant theme in the book.

A powerful section, “The Shame and the Glory of the Church,” provides one of the most moving accounts of Church life which I have ever read, written by Edmund Schlink, who was a professor of systematic theology at Heidelberg. This essay on the life of the Church under Hitler speaks, as the editors say, “for the Church upon whom fell the first and the hardest part of the struggle to manifest God’s glory amidst man’s disorder” (p. 77).

Schlink reminds us that at first the persecution of the Church was camouflaged as “positive Christianity,” which claimed through the use of quotations from the Bible to be fulfilling God’s commandments: “They thus built up an enormous propaganda-machine, which resulted in a general inflation of values, because it sanctified anything it wanted to, so that finally nothing remained sacred” (p. 98). Only then did the full persecution come. The Nazis shut down the Church’s influence on public life, banned the printing of Bibles and hymnbooks, prohibited large Church assemblies, and pressured men and young people to join the party. Theological faculties atrophied, hundreds of evangelical pastors and Roman Catholic priests were sent to the camps, some to suffer martyrdom, and “even the women and children who went to church were watched” (p. 98).

Schlink reports that there was a great falling-off among Christians. Many people became ashamed of the name of Christ and stopped attending church. Some preferred the neo-pagan ceremonies offered by the state to baptism and marriage in the Church. “Families were torn asunder: children denounced their parents, husbands opposed their wives, brothers and sisters took opposite sides in the cleavage between faith and error. Love grew cold in many hearts. Its place was taken by delusions and hardness of heart” (p. 98). The defections reached into the clergy: “Many became preachers of the anti-Christian myth and entered the service of the Nazis to replace the loyal pastors and church leaders that had been deprived of office. Many became false teachers and then persecutors of the Church” (p. 98).

For Schlink, even more stunning than the apostasy was “the way in which it was usually taken for granted with an easy conscience. When the Nazi philosophy began to influence Christians, many of them did not even notice that this Nazi talk about ‘the Almighty’ and His ‘providence’ had nothing to do with the Living God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, but that it was directly opposed to Him. … It became evident that people were not all that clear about Christian teaching. In many churches, even before the Nazi regime, preaching had become an arbitrary religious explanation of personal destiny and world events. Otherwise, when the crucial moment came, it would have been impossible for a man of our own time to gain such an ascendancy and for him, with his personal philosophy, to become the object of such widespread faith and hope” (p. 99).

The German Church’s accommodation of the Nazi regime reveals an appalling failure of basic Christian preaching and teaching. In Schlink’s understanding the failure of the churches was not so much caused by the persecution as revealed by it. “The forces outside the church showed up what was real in the life of these churches, and what was only an empty shell” (p. 100).

By God’s grace an astonishing renewal of the Church occurred as well. “The renewal began when the Church recognized the enemy’s attack as the hand of God … and when resistance to injustice became at the same time an act of repentance and of submission to the mighty hand of God” (p. 100). As the contrast with anti-Christian propaganda became more intense “the Church’s ears were re-opened to the Word of God. … But at the same time God’s Word challenged us, questioned the reality of our own religion, and forced us to recognize God simply and solely in His Word. Under the attack of neo-paganism, but especially through the power of God’s Word, its promises, and its demands, our usual attempts to see God’s revelation in other historical events and forms, ideas and words, save in the historic event of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ, completely broke down. … Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, was recognized and acclaimed afresh as the sole Word of God” (p. 100).

One consequence of this sifting was the emergence of a strong Bible movement in the German Church carrying through into the post-war years. There also emerged a new feeling for the sacraments of the Church. Before the war, Communion services were infrequent and the number of communicants small. “People gathered afresh around the sacraments. The number of communion services and communicants increased. In the midst of all the tribulation and distress there awakened a new longing for the concrete, personal experience of receiving the body and the blood of the Incarnate Son of God Who has given Himself for us. … These communion services echoed the joy of the early Christians, to whom the body and blood of Christ were objects of the greatest joy and praise” (p. 101).

There were other signs of renewal. Schlink reports that under the persecution there emerged a great sense that the Church was the fellowship of those who confess and bear witness to the lordship of Christ. The term brother came very naturally into common use again as Christians discovered their solidarity across denominational lines. The liturgy was reshaped so that common prayers for those exiled and imprisoned were a more prominent feature. There was greater attentiveness to saying the creeds and ancient prayers which expressed the identification of the people with the Church of the ages. “Through these prayers we realized that across all distances and even across the war-fronts, we were one people with the worshippers in all nations” (p. 102).

The clergy experienced renewal. There was a new focus on the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments as the chief work of the clergy, “which takes precedence over all other tasks. But it became especially clear that the Church cannot be led by anything but the voice of the Good Shepherd, as preached in the Word of God” (p. 102). There was a renewal in lay ministry. “Many elders then began to understand their task in a new way as that of watchmen. Many who had only listened to the Word before, now came forward to read to the congregation, or to give their own exposition of a passage of scripture. Many, who had never thought of doing so before, accompanied bereaved persons to the cemetery, so that the body should not be laid in the earth without a reading from scripture and a prayer. In addition to the old office of deacon, new duties were assumed; readers, catechists, both men and women, undertook the care of the poor and pastoral work, while young people taught the children” (p. 103). There was a new recognition that ordinary people in the daily work in factory, school and the military were presented with both the challenge and peril of Christian ministry and witness. “Hesitatingly, but with growing confidence, the Church in the Third Reich began to proclaim that in every sphere of life we owe obedience to God in Christ, proclaiming its message in the face of the world and helping the persecuted” (p. 104).

And then comes the stunning conclusion to Professor Schlink’s report. “All of this proved that the Church can only help, in the middle of the disorder of the world, by really being the Church. Its most important duty to the world consists in allowing itself to be re-made by the Word of God. When the Church derives its life solely from the Word of God made flesh, the witness of that word within the Church is bound to have effect in saving and bringing order into the world around. But if the Church bears witness to something other than this Lord, however well intentioned its advice, warning, help and sacrifice may be, it will only increase the disorder of the world” (p. 104).

In a time when the disorder of humankind asserts itself both in the Church and the world and the Church is again being sifted and sorted, albeit not as fiercely as under the Nazis, what can we say upon hearing this testimony of the German Church to us except amen and please God grant us their repentance and renewal.

The Rev. Leander S. Harding is dean of church relations and seminary advancement and associate professor of pastoral theology at Trinity School for Ministry.

Read the complete article at The Living Church website (new window will open)

President's Message for the St. John Chrysostom Society — Western Region, an ecumenical fellowship or Catholic and Orthodox Christians.

In past President's messages I have not focused on the non-Apostolic Churches and their ecumenical situation, as that might seem irrelevant to our SSJC-WR concerns. However, in my past President's messages I have talked about moral alliances that both Catholics and Orthodox can form. Such alliances have been proposed by Pope Benedict XVI and Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev for example.

Whether formally established, or just expressed informally, such alliances assume a set of common principles or moral viewpoint, easily possible between Catholics and Orthodox, but not necessarily between “Christian” groups. An example of this came to my attention recently in an Australian news source report on a disturbing statement issued by an Australian ecumenical council of churches: "The community needs to know that there is a range of views held on many topics in the Christian tradition. . . ."

The news report indicated that this statement was issued in opposition to the moral viewpoint and position of another mainly Protestant group that calls itself the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL). However, an overview of the stance on the moral issues of the day held by the ACL indicate they are in substantial agreement with the teachings of Christ that have been practiced continually in the holy tradition of the Apostolic Churches.

On the other hand, it would appear, we have little in common with the so called "Council of Churches" which aims to: "honor the diversity in our community." Interestingly, the Council cites same sex marriage as an example. In a shameful sellout to Godless secularism the council proudly announces: “We don’t have a position on the issue of same-sex marriage.”

Well, the Apostolic Churches, the Eastern and Western Catholic Churches, Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodox Churches certainly do have a position on the issue of same sex marriage, as well as on such issues as abortion, bioethics and family ethics, etc. The community, even the world, needs to know there is no range of views on such issues.

Except for their unfortunate rejection of the sacramental gifts given by Christ to the Apostolic Churches, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and held on to by our Churches to this day, e.g., Holy Chrismation, the Holy Priesthood (and male priesthood at that, as Christ Himself is male) and the Holy Eucharist (the true Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ Himself), some Protestant groups such as the ACL apparently remain faithful to many of the moral teachings of Christ and His Church. At the very least we can support their stand.

May our Society of St. John Chrysostom members pray for such courageous and morally clear-visioned communities. For these communities, and also for those whose understanding and teachings on Christian moral principles has become overtaken by secularist thinking, that all may be guided by the Holy Spirit to return to the Sacramental Church founded by Christ.

Fr. George Morelli is the President of the St. John Chrysostom Society — Western Region.

Read the entire article on the Light of the East website (new window will open).

When Christian Smith and his fellow researchers with the National Study of Youth and Religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill took a close look at the religious beliefs held by American teenagers, they found that the faith held and described by most adolescents came down to something the researchers identified as "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."

As described by Smith and his team, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism consists of beliefs like these: 1. "A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth." 2. "God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions." 3. "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself." 4. "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem." 5. "Good people go to heaven when they die."

That, in sum, is the creed to which much adolescent faith can be reduced. After conducting more than 3,000 interviews with American adolescents, the researchers reported that, when it came to the most crucial questions of faith and beliefs, many adolescents responded with a shrug and "whatever."

As a matter of fact, the researchers, whose report is summarized in Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Eyes of American Teenagers by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton, found that American teenagers are incredibly inarticulate about their religious beliefs, and most are virtually unable to offer any serious theological understanding. As Smith reports, "To the extent that the teens we interviewed did manage to articulate what they understood and believed religiously, it became clear that most religious teenagers either do not really comprehend what their own religious traditions say they are supposed to believe, or they do understand it and simply do not care to believe it. Either way, it is apparent that most religiously affiliated U.S. teens are not particularly interested in espousing and upholding the beliefs of their faith traditions, or that their communities of faith are failing in attempts to educate their youth, or both."

As the researchers explained, "For most teens, nobody has to do anything in life, including anything to do with religion. 'Whatever' is just fine, if that's what a person wants."

The casual "whatever" that marks so much of the American moral and theological landscapes—adolescent and otherwise—is a substitute for serious and responsible thinking. More importantly, it is a verbal cover for an embrace of relativism. Accordingly, "most religious teenager's opinions and views—one can hardly call them worldviews—are vague, limited, and often quite at variance with the actual teachings of their own religion."

The kind of responses found among many teenagers indicates a vast emptiness at the heart of their understanding. When a teenager says, "I believe there is a God and stuff," this hardly represents a profound theological commitment.

Amazingly, teenagers are not inarticulate in general. As the researchers found, "Many teenagers know abundant details about the lives of favorite musicians and television stars or about what it takes to get into a good college, but most are not very clear on who Moses and Jesus were." The obvious conclusion: "This suggests that a strong, visible, salient, or intentional faith is not operating in the foreground of most teenager's lives."

One other aspect of this study deserves attention at this point. The researchers, who conducted thousands of hours of interviews with a carefully identified spectrum of teenagers, discovered that for many of these teens, the interview itself was the first time they had ever discussed a theological question with an adult. What does this say about our churches? What does this say about this generation of parents?

In the end, this study indicates that American teenagers are heavily influenced by the ideology of individualism that has so profoundly shaped the larger culture. This bleeds over into a reflexive non-judgmentalism and a reluctance to suggest that anyone might actually be wrong in matters of faith and belief. Yet, these teenagers are unable to live with a full-blown relativism.

The researchers note that many responses fall along very moralistic lines—but they reserve their most non-judgmental attitudes for matters of theological conviction and belief. Some go so far as to suggest that there are no "right" answers in matters of doctrine and theological conviction.

The "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism" that these researchers identify as the most fundamental faith posture and belief system of American teenagers appears, in a larger sense, to reflect the culture as a whole. Clearly, this generalized conception of a belief system is what appears to characterize the beliefs of vast millions of Americans, both young and old.

This is an important missiological observation—a point of analysis that goes far beyond sociology. As Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton explained, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism "is about inculcating a moralistic approach to life. It teaches that central to living a good and happy life is being a good, moral person. That means being nice, kind, pleasant, respectful, responsible, at work on self-improvement, taking care of one's health, and doing one's best to be successful." In a very real sense, that appears to be true of the faith commitment, insofar as this can be described as a faith commitment, held by a large percentage of Americans. These individuals, whatever their age, believe that religion should be centered in being "nice"—a posture that many believe is directly violated by assertions of strong theological conviction.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is also "about providing therapeutic benefits to its adherents." As the researchers explained, "This is not a religion of repentance from sin, of keeping the Sabbath, of living as a servant of sovereign divinity, of steadfastly saying one's prayers, of faithfully observing high holy days, of building character through suffering, of basking in God's love and grace, of spending oneself in gratitude and love for the cause of social justice, et cetera. Rather, what appears to be the actual dominant religion among U.S. teenagers is centrally about feeling good, happy, secure, at peace. It is about attaining subjective well-being, being able to resolve problems, and getting along amiably with other people."

In addition, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism presents a unique understanding of God. As Smith explains, this amorphous faith "is about belief in a particular kind of God: one who exists, created the world, and defines our general moral order, but not one who is particularly personally involved in one's affairs—especially affairs in which one would prefer not to have God involved. Most of the time, the God of this faith keeps a safe distance."

Smith and his colleagues recognize that the deity behind Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is very much like the deistic God of the 18th-century philosophers. This is not the God who thunders from the mountain, nor a God who will serve as judge. This undemanding deity is more interested in solving our problems and in making people happy. "In short, God is something like a combination Divine Butler and Cosmic Therapist: he is always on call, takes care of any problems that arise, professionally helps his people to feel better about themselves, and does not become too personally involved in the process."

Obviously, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is not an organized faith. This belief system has no denominational headquarters and no mailing address. Nevertheless, it has millions and millions of devotees across the United States and other advanced cultures, where subtle cultural shifts have produced a context in which belief in such an undemanding deity makes sense. Furthermore, this deity does not challenge the most basic self-centered assumptions of our postmodern age. Particularly when it comes to so-called "lifestyle" issues, this God is exceedingly tolerant and this religion is radically undemanding.

As sociologists, Smith and his team suggest that this Moralistic Therapeutic Deism may now constitute something like a dominant civil religion that constitutes the belief system for the culture at large. Thus, this basic conception may be analogous to what other researchers have identified as "lived religion" as experienced by the mainstream culture.

Moving to even deeper issues, these researches claim that Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is "colonizing" Christianity itself, as this new civil religion seduces converts who never have to leave their congregations and Christian identification as they embrace this new faith and all of its undemanding dimensions.

Consider this remarkable assessment: "Other more accomplished scholars in these areas will have to examine and evaluate these possibilities in greater depth. But we can say here that we have come with some confidence to believe that a significant part of Christianity in the United States is actually [only] tenuously Christian in any sense that is seriously connected to the actual historical Christian tradition, but is rather substantially morphed into Christianity's misbegotten step-cousin, Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."

They argue that this distortion of Christianity has taken root not only in the minds of individuals, but also "within the structures of at least some Christian organizations and institutions."

How can you tell? "The language, and therefore experience, of Trinity, holiness, sin, grace, justification, sanctification, church, . . . and heaven and hell appear, among most Christian teenagers in the United States at the very least, to be supplanted by the language of happiness, niceness, and an earned heavenly reward."

Does this mean that America is becoming more secularized? Not necessarily. These researchers assert that Christianity is either degenerating into a pathetic version of itself or, more significantly, Christianity is actively being colonized and displaced by a quite different religious faith.

This radical transformation of Christian theology and Christian belief replaces the sovereignty of God with the sovereignty of the self. In this therapeutic age, human problems are reduced to pathologies in need of a treatment plan. Sin is simply excluded from the picture, and doctrines as central as the wrath and justice of God are discarded as out of step with the times and unhelpful to the project of self-actualization.

All this means is that teenagers have been listening carefully. They have been observing their parents in the larger culture with diligence and insight. They understand just how little their parents really believe and just how much many of their churches and Christian institutions have accommodated themselves to the dominant culture. They sense the degree to which theological conviction has been sacrificed on the altar of individualism and a relativistic understanding of truth. They have learned from their elders that self-improvement is the one great moral imperative to which all are accountable, and they have observed the fact that the highest aspiration of those who shape this culture is to find happiness, security, and meaning in life.

This research project demands the attention of every thinking Christian. Those who are prone to dismiss sociological analysis as irrelevant will miss the point. We must now look at the United States of America as missiologists once viewed nations that had never heard the gospel. Indeed, our missiological challenge may be even greater than the confrontation with paganism, for we face a succession of generations who have transformed Christianity into something that bears no resemblance to the faith revealed in the Bible. The faith "once delivered to the saints" is no longer even known, not only by American teenagers, but by most of their parents. Millions of Americans believe they are Christians, simply because they have some historic tie to a Christian denomination or identity.

We now face the challenge of evangelizing a nation that largely considers itself Christian, overwhelmingly believes in some deity, considers itself fervently religious, but has virtually no connection to historic Christianity. Christian S