parresia

spiritual leaders

Priests as Spiritual Fathers

Hebrews 13
17Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they know they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this joyfully and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit. (NLT)

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. (NASB)

From an Orthodox perspective it is impossible to read these words and not think of the role of the Priest as a spriritual father.

In Orthodoxy, the Priest is not merely the person who gives the "witty, and often funny" sermon. The Orthodox Priest is not merely the guy who is in charge of arranging church activities and "socials." The Orthodox Priest is not merely a man who is "righteous enough" to offer the Lord's Supper. The Orthodox Priest is not merely any one of these nor merely all these things.

The Orthodox Priest has been ordained by the laying on of hands by men who had been ordained by the laying on of hands going all the way back to the Apostles, literally. The Orthodox priest is in the God given role of spiritual father; he is expected to preserve the truth of God's word, he is to edify, admonish, chastize, counsel, and teach the laity entrusted to him.

The Orthodox priest also takes confession. He is given the special role of being able to relate with you at one of the most intimate of levels: your sin. He is, from this vantage point, able to offer you Christian counsel; he is able to act in many ways just as a father would, a father who knows his child-- this relation and connection cannot be taken too lightly.

No, the Orthodox priest is not just the "boss" of the church; he is the loving steward in submission to Christ. I praise God that in the Orthodox church the words above (Paul's words perhaps) are taken seriously, and literally-- they find their expression in the role of true spiritual leaders who are not merely trained to be such, but have been ordained in the Holy Spirit in the lineage of those men who have been hand picked as heirs of that godly task by the Apostles.

flashback

What happened to the great morbid music of the late eighties? You know, that music that was the precurser to "death rock." I popped in the classic Smiths album Louder Than Bombs yesterday-- lyrics like

"I wear black on the outside, because black is how I feel on the inside"

reminded me of just how great depressing music really is.

Here's some other fine lines from Smiths' songs of sad thought:

I know I'm unlovable; you don't have to tell me.

"Call me morbid call me pale I've spent six years of my life on your trail, and if you have five seconds to spare then I'll tell you the story of my life: Sixteen clumsy and shy; I went to London and I booked myself in at the Y.W.C.A. I said, 'I like it here. Can I stay? And do you have a vacancy for a back-scrubber?'"

Burn down the Disco. Hang the blessed DJ. Because the music they constantly play, It says nothing to me about my life. Hang the blessed DJ.

I was happy in the daze of a drunken hour, but Heaven knows I'm miserable now....In my life, why do I give valuable time to people who don't care if I live or die?

The good life is out there somewhere...but I know my luck too well, and I'll probably never see you again

Will the world end in the day time? (I really don't know)
Will the world end in the night time? (I really don't know)
And is there any point ever having children? I really don't know; all I do know is we're Here and it's Now...

See, the life I've had would make a good man bad. So for once in my life, let me get what I want. Lord knows it would be the first time.

Cheery enough for you? :-) And all those lyrics come off of ONE album! Imagine all the wrist-slitting lyrics one could amass if one threw into the collection bands like The Cure, Depeche Mode, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Bauhaus!

Ohhh, those were the days!

cherubic hymn

Hymn of Preparation before Holy Communion

We who mystically represent the Cherubim sing the thrice holy hymn to the life giving Trinity. Let us set aside all the cares of life that we may receive the King of all . . .invisibly escorted by the angelic hosts. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

My favorite hymn comes just prior to the Lord's Supper, and is used to remind the participants that they are joining the GRAND liturgy already taking place around the throne of Heaven. Scripture tells us that the Angels are continually singing God's praise.

Similarly, the laity and clergy together, during the Liturgy, represent the praise and worship that is always taking place before the King of kings.

We who mystically represent the Cherubim sing the thrice holy hymn

The "thrice holy hymn" or "Trisagion" is "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us."

to the life giving Trinity

Acknowledging God's sovereignty and mercy.

Let us set aside all the cares of life

Admonishing the participant to meditate on God alone, to sing His praise, to trust in Him, and to understand and believe that the worldly cares are trifles compared to the power and love of God.

that we may receive the King of all . . .

And why all this "pomp and show," as my mother says? Because we are not partaking of mere bread and wine, but are receiving the very gift of life (John 6): we are receiving the body and blood of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

invisibly escorted by the angelic hosts.

Reminding us once again of the GRAND Liturgy of which we are a mere part and it is with such solemn reverence we ought to approach worship.

Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia

Praise be to YaWeH! Lord of Hosts!

Saint's example

First Century Advice to follow the example of the Saints

Clement of Rome (A.D. 30-100) writes the following in his letter to the church at Corinth. (Chapters 17 and 19)

Let us be imitators also of those who in goat-skins and sheep-skins went about proclaiming the coming of Christ; I mean Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel among the prophets, with those others to whom a like testimony is borne [in Scripture]. Abraham was specially honoured, and was called the friend of God; yet he, earnestly regarding the glory of God, humbly declared, "I am but dust and ashes." Moreover, it is thus written of Job, "Job was a righteous man, and blameless, truthful, God-fearing, and one that kept himself from all evil." But bringing an accusation against himself, he said, "No man is free from defilement, even if his life be but of one day."Moses was called faithful in all God's house; and through his instrumentality, God punished Egypt with plagues and tortures. Yet he, though thus greatly honoured, did not adopt lofty language, but said, when the divine oracle came to him out of the bush, "Who am I, that Thou sendest me? I am a man of a feeble voice and a slow tongue." And again he said, "I am but as the smoke of a pot."

Thus the humility and godly submission of so great and illustrious men have rendered not only us, but also all the generations before us, better; even as many as have received His oracles in fear and truth. Wherefore, having so many great and glorious examples set before us, let us turn again to the practice of that peace which from the beginning was the mark set before us; and let us look stedfastly to the Father and Creator of the universe, and cleave to His mighty and surpassingly great gifts and benefactions, of peace. Let us contemplate Him with our understanding, and look with the eyes of our soul to His long-suffering will. Let us reflect how free from wrath He is towards all His creation.

God has indeed blessed His church with men and women of example-- may we not neglect such a treasure in our history, all too easily limiting "the saints" to those written about in the pages of the Old and New Testaments.

Church Tradition gives us not just those Saints within the Bible, but also hundreds and hundreds of others who have lived from the time Clement wrote the words above to our current era.

Consider how much we have learned from the biblical examples of men and women like Elisha, David, Esther, and Jeremiah-- how much more is there to learn from post-biblical Saints including Justin Martyr, Katherine of the Wheel, Basil the great, and Philip of Moscow?

Indeed, how can we be "imitators of the Saints" if we know nothing about them?

inspiration

Inspiration

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
~~Luke 12:32-34

"God would have all men equal...With him there is neither servant nor master. If he is the same Father to all, we are all with the same right free. So no one is poor before God, but he who is destitute of righteousness; no one rich, but he who is full of virtues."
~~ Lactantius (4th Century)

props for the author

Props for The Author

It is always a thrill for me to come across others who share the same passion and appreciation, some might say we share the same "awe," of the great Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Read the influencial German Philosopher:

Dostoyevsky, the only psychologist, by the way, from whom I had anything to learn: he is one of the happiest accidents of my life, even more so than my discovery of Stendhal. This profound human being, who was ten times justified in despising the superficial Germans, found the Siberian convicts in whose midst he lived for a long time, nothing but the worst criminals for whom no return to society was possible, very different from what he himself had expected-- he found them to be carved out of about the best, hardest and most valuable timber growing anywhere on Russian soil.

Later Nietzsche writes:

One has to regret that no Dostoyevsky lived [during Christ's time]; I mean someone who could feel the thrilling fascination of such a combination of the sublime, the sick and the childish.

Indeed, Dostoyevsky's writing is truly profound, full of so much insight into the human character: sinner before God, condemned and suffering, yet aware of immense Grace all around.

Antony

Apostolic Bishops and Pagan Philosophers somtimes see the same truth.

In an article admonishing Orthodox Christians to live their faith, entitled, "Praxis as Incarnation and Kenosis," Metropolitan Anthony (Presiding Hierarch of the Diocese of San Francisico) writes as follows:

True theology cannot remain merely at the level of the "word," of abstract propositions requiring merely mental acquiescence. True theology must be enfleshed, incarnate in time and space. It must become praxis...Our theology, therefore, must constantly reflect this movement from "word" to "flesh," from abstract to concrete, from intangible to the human touch.

Similarly, yet so contrary, the mad-man Nietzsche writes the following in his tirade against Christianity The Anti-Christ.

It is false to the point of absurdity to see in a 'belief', perchance the belief in redemption through Christ, the distinguishing characteristic of the Christian: only Christian practice, a life such as he who died on the Cross lived, is Christian... Not a belief but a doing, above all a not-doing of many things, a different being.

So obvious a truth, yet so difficult to subject oneself to-- we are called to live out our Christianity, not merely to believe. For lo, even the demons of Satan believe that there is but one God! (James 2:19). Monk Evagrios is quoted by Anthony as saying,

"...the way of prayer is twofold: it comprises practice of the virtues [praxis] and contemplation [theoria]"

...remember the Saint's words: faith, without works, is dead.

Psalms

Reflecting on God's mercy
Psalm 102 (103)

Bless the Lord, O my soul! May all that is in me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all the gifts from him.

Who pardons all your sins and heals all your infirmities.

Who ransoms your life from corruption and crowns you with his love and mercies.

...He has not dealt with us as our sins demand, nor does he repay our evil deeds.

For as high as the heavens stand over the earth, so far has the Lord extended his love for those who fear him.

As far as the East is from the West, so far has he removed our sins from us.

As a kind father is to his children, so is the Lord to those who fear him.

For He knows well how we were formed: remembers: we are only made of dust...

Indeed, we are but made of dust...and yet we may cry out and he will hear our plea!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.