04.26.06
Posted in Uncategorized at by mountzionryan
I have a spot in my heart saved for Africa. I don’t know why. Someday I am going to go on a mission trip to Africa, probably through the OCMC. I feel as sure of this as I was about converting to The Holy Orthodox Church.
In the meantime I found this. It is about a movie and a movement called Invisible Children.
The rough cut of the movie is here.
I don’t really have the words right now. Instead I’ll say. Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy.
The most important thing I do is be a good father to my children. One of the most fulfilling/fun activities I’ve had in the past few years is the privilege of coaching my daughter’s soccer team. I love kids. I love being around them. And this just breaks my heart.
Holy Theotokos save us!
Do something. Tell your friends, donate time and money. Pray, most importantly pray.
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04.12.06
Posted in Uncategorized at by mountzionryan
The discussion at Orthodorks went about where AI suspected it would. Good.
Please for give me if I stumble through this, I’m still unsure of my footing.
To me our obligation as Christians is spelled out in a few key places:
Luke 10 25-37, Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said unto him, “What is written in the law? How readest thou?”
27 And he answering 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.’”
28 And He said unto him, “Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live.”
29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said unto Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 And Jesus answering said, “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his raiment and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was. And when he saw him he had compassion on him, 34 nd went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host and said unto him, `Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay thee.’
36Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?”
37And he said, “He that showed mercy on him.” Then said Jesus unto him, “Go and do thou likewise.“
Matthew 25:34-40
34 Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, `Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I hungered, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in; 36 naked, and ye clothed Me; I was sick, and ye visited Me; I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.’
37 Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, `Lord, when saw we Thee hungering and fed Thee, or thirsty and gave Thee drink? 38 When saw we Thee a stranger and took Thee in, or naked and clothed Thee? 39 Or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee?’
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, `Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.’
**************
Pretty clear stuff there: love your neighbor, your neighbor includes your enemies and you should show them mercy, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, take in strangers, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned. What else? Hold demonstrations to protest how immigrants are treated? No, show them mercy, if they are in need give them succor. Not as a class, as individuals. I’m coming to think this is one facet of Christianity should be personal and individual. Give succor, show mercy, simply love on a personal scale.
Should we disengage from any organized charity? No, not necessarily. But we shouldn’t allow that to be the only way we engage with the least of our brethren. Likewise, we don’t need to go out of our way to find people to love. We need only live our life in a God-pleasing way, treating those we encounter with the Love of God flowing from us.
St. Theophan the Recluse said as much in a letter. His spiritual child was asking what charity fellowships she should join, should she be doing more. The Saint said, no, don’t go looking for charity, just please God in all that you do. Please God by doing is at hand in a Godly manner.
I am not done with this topic.
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04.06.06
Posted in Uncategorized at by mountzionryan
Right.
So it’s been, what five or six years since my last post. Sheesh, what a loser. I don’t deserve a Faithful Four.
Updates: We are moving into my grandmother’s house (she died about a year ago). Part of moving was cleaning out her house. As she was a heavy smoker and last redecorated in the earlier Seventies, we had to paint everything and pull up the carpet. The place is looking good, but all the extra work has stretched out The Move to a multi-week endeavor. I pray this is the last time I ever have to move.
MZSFR is about to publish the second issue! Woot! It’s bigger and better than the first one. The downside is that with the move going on we’ve basically been on hiatus for about three weeks. We’re behind our publication schedule, but hopefully it will be worth the wait.
Paul, age 3, is starting to sound Orthodox. We’ve been reading How the Monastery Came to Be on Top of the Mountain by Alvin Alexi Currier and The Story of Mary the Mother of God by Dorrie Papademetriou (I was going to give you a link, but keep getting an error when I try to reach St Vlad’s Press, they publish it). Now he knows the “Fee-oh-toh-kos” when we see her. And he even know that she is Jesus’s mommy. Kewl.
Sophie, age 10-in-one-week, is another story. She has shown no interest in Orthodoxy at all. This is a kid who loves history, thinks Native Alaskans are cool (Julie of the Wolves, Island of the Blue Dolphin), and once told me that my church was more like heaven than mom’s. I am at a loss.
Stacy just posted a new entry at Orthodorks that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. I’ll keep it in mind to post soon. In the meantime, maybe they’ll get a good discussion going.
Philippa has tagged me for a meme. I’ll do it. But my responses wont be all that interesting.
1. How many bibles are in your home?
Hmm. Five or six.
2. What rooms are they in?
They were in the living room and my office. Now they’re in boxes.
3. What translations do you have?
NKJV, KJV, RSV, NIV
4. Do you have a preference?
RSV, except for the Nativity passages, which sound blasphemous unless I hear them in King James English. Thank Charles Schultz.
5. Nominate an interesting verse:
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
Reminds me of a sermon Father gave comparing the beatitudes and the definition of Love as describing God is and how we should strive to be. Really helped me keep perspective in my own mixed household. Especially: “Love…bears all things, believes al;l things, endures all things.”
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