Orthodixie

I don’t know if I know her or not, such is the blogosphere, but it’s nice to have another Orthodox voice / female perspective at Dree’s World.

Fr Andrew, I know. I have the pleasure, when back home, of serving in his home parish. He and others have put up a new site — Christ in the Mountains.

Finally, there’s Fr James Early. About his venture into blogging, he writes:

“I myself was originally skeptical about blogs. My sinful and cynical nature originally led me to the conclusion that people who write blogs have too much time on their hands; that they need to find other, more productive things to do.

I know that I have been inspired at least to some degree by people like Fr. Joseph Huneycutt and Frederica Mathewes-Green, whom I feel are two of the most talented Orthodox writers currently alive. Both of them have excellent blogs of their own. I know that I am not even 1/2 of the writer that either of them is. I guess what I am trying to say is that I am not commencing this blog because I feel that I am God’s gift to the Orthodox world, especially not as a writer.”

Oh come on! What can I say? Really … I mean: Frederica?!

Heh heh.

Don’t hold that against him. (You gotta admit, he knows how to get a plug!)

Visit Saint James’ Kids.

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When the Saracens told the generals that Mahomet was a true prophet and Christ was not, the generals asked them:

“If two men were to quarrel about a field, with one saying:’It’s mine!,’ and the other saying: ‘No; it’s mine!,’ and one had many witnesses that it was his field and the other had not a single witness but himself, what would you say – whose field was it?”

The Saracens replied: “His, of course, who had the many witnesses.”

“You have judged right,” the generals answered them.

“So it is with Christ and Mahomet. Christ has many witnesses: the ancient prophets, whom you also recognise, from Moses to John the Baptist, witnessed to Him, but Mahomet only witnesses to himself that he is a prophet, and has no other witness.”

The Saracens were confounded, but attempted then to defend their faith thus:

“That our faith is better than Christianity is seen in this: that God has given us victory over you, that He gives us the best lands on earth and an empire much greater than the Christian.”

To this the generals replied:

“If that were so, then the idol-worship of Egypt and Babylon, and of Greece and Rome, and the fire-worship of Persia, would have been true faiths, for at some time each of these peoples has conquered others and governed them. It is obvious that your victory and power and wealth do not prove the truth of your faith. We know that God sometimes gives victory to Christians, and sometimes leaves them in torture and suffering to correct them and bring them to repentance and cleansing from sin.”
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TROPARION IN THE THIRD TONE
Let us honor the forty-two martyrs, the chosen
company of God the Word; they fought with
one accord. United in grace and faith, they
stood in invincible array. They proved to be
heirs of Christ when they bore witness to His grace.

KONTAKION IN THE FOURTH TONE
Let us crown with praises the new warriors of the
Faith who have zealously contended for Christ. As
pillars and guardians of all Christians they intervene
with Him for us.
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The Holy Forty-Two Martyrs of Amorion, commemorated on March 6th, are worthy for us to call upon for patient endurance in affliction.
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For this day, March 6th, St Nikolai (Velimirovic) offered the following REFLECTION:

For as long as you are on earth, consider yourself a guest in the Household of Christ. If you are at the table, it is He who treats you. If you breathe air, it is His air you breathe. If you bathe, it is in His water you are bathing. If you are traveling, it is over His land that you are traveling. If you are amassing goods, it is His goods you are amassing. If you are squandering, it is His goods that you are squandering. If you are powerful, it is by His permission that you are strong. If you are in the company of men, you and the others are His guests. If you are out in nature, you are in His garden. If you are alone, He is present. If you set out or turn anywhere, He sees you. If you do anything, He remembers. He is the most considerate Householder by Whom you were ever hosted. Be careful then toward Him. In a good household, the guest is required to behave. These are all simple words but they convey to you a great truth. All the saints knew this truth and they governed their lives by it. That is why the Eternal Householder rewarded them with eternal life in heaven and glory on earth.
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ICXC NIKA

Visit H E R E for more beautiful icons like the one pictured above.

I don’t have Cable, so y’all will have to suffer the show without me. You know the show — the overly hyped Discovery Channel’s airing of James “JC” Cameron’s earth shakingly titanic discovery which claims mo’ betta nuttiness (just in time for the Bunny … the Bunny … ewh, I love the Bunny)?

Which does, of course, raise a question: If Cameron’s claims are true, what affect will it have on chocolate sales this time next month?

Though I wish the man no harm, my bent mind keeps creeping back to the quip about Nietzsche, paraphrased here:

“Jesus is Dead.”
— JC

“JC is Dead.”
— Jesus

Some stuff …

In Canada, ignorance abounds …

In the New Testament, when Jesus was asked how to attain eternal life, he said follow the commandments, particularly the command to “love your neighbour as yourself.” That is the essence of Christianity. He did not say “believe that my mother was a virgin.”
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Y’all? Sigh.

One of the good things that usually comes out of such wicky-wacky-moo-moo is that sound minded, right-believing folks step up to the plate to introduce reason — even honest-to-goodness truth — into otherwise vapid discussions. Then there’s guys like the one quoted above who truly challenge us. We have a lot of work to do.

For instance, here Pastor Ann speaks the truth …

The Rev. Ann Van Cleef, pastor of Orient Congregational United Church of Christ, said she would “absolutely not” preach about the movie. “I preach out of the Bible, which has truth in it,” she said. “I might save this one for a sermon on sin.”

Then there’s the facts to disperse scientific darkness …

Likewise, the so-called family tomb of Jesus, originally discovered in 1980 was immediately dismissed as to it authenticity by credible archeologists and biblical scholars. It took two filmmakers looking to make a buck and take a slap at Christianity to bring this story back to life. When the tomb was discovered in 1980, a team of archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority was dispatched to examine its authenticity. Archeologist Amos Kloner summed up the findings of the team saying, “It was an ordinary middle-class Jerusalem burial cave. The names on the caskets are the most common names found among Jews at the time.” Commenting on Cameron and Jacobovici’s “documentary” Kloner says, “It’s impossible, it’s nonsense. There is no likelihood that Jesus and His relatives had a family tomb. They were a Galilee family with no ties in Jerusalem.”
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Gary Burge,professor of New Testament at Wheaton College: “This is really a brilliant example of archaeological sensationalism. It happens again and again in the Holy Land that people win their 15 minutes of fame by discovering some new burial cave.”

Part of the collateral damage caused by the loss of the idea of absolute truth in our culture is the rise of ideologically driven pseudo-science masquerading as fact-based truth. Claims made by the scientific community concerning the absolute fact of evolution, global warming, and the so-called “gay gene” which causes people to be born homosexuals, and the communities utter disdain for any dissenting voice demonstrates the total ethical bankruptcy of their discipline. I guess we can now add some archeologists to the growing list of scientists who resemble the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz who kept his standing in the community by projecting an overblown and totally made up image.
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And, just when it seemed sane Christians live only in Africa …

“We are millions of us who believe in Jesus Christ but we don’t subscribe to such imaginary lies that belittle the world’s saviour.”
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Comes news of Jesus and Mary … currently on tour.

Did I mention that we have a lot of work to do?

He ate every night. He fasted from oil every lenten period. As a confessor he was not strict about fasting, though when it concerned himself, he was very strick. One day someone gave him a little chocolate and told him it was fastworthy. He took it in his hand, looked at it closely and said, “Just to be sure, take it back!”

Another time some people where discussing politics at a certain house. “So, what do you say, Father?” they asked him. Once he recovered from the depth of his thought, he wanted to say something. “Who is governing now?”

Thanks to FWD from Peter Elgohary.

MORE.

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Jim Kushiner, Executive Editor of Touchstone, writes:

“I have a very special appeal to make at this time: I have to begin making staff cuts, but we can avoid this if we can somehow find $18,000 in the next week or so. I’ve spent time cutting some expenses; some writers have kindly chosen to donate their articles in current issues of Touchstone. The amount of money needed would be a lot more had we not received good news this week that we have received a grant of $25,000 from a foundation this year. Even so …”
Read it all]

What a difference a day makes …

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Mr Mills Made My Mornin’

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Now which neighbor was it that I was supposed to love?

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