There are two different roads, one broad and easy, the other hard and narrow. And there are two guides vying with each other to attract the traveler’sÂs attention. The easy undisciplined way of life leads to pleasure to be enjoyed now, not later; the way of salvation is hard, but promises a beautiful future. The soul is confused and dithers in its calculations. It prefers pleasure when it is looking at the present; it chooses virtue when its eye is on eternity.
— St Basil the Great
NEW YORK — Britney Spears will guest star on an episode of “Will & Grace,” NBC announced Tuesday.
The pop star will appear as a Christian conservative sidekick to Sean Hayes’ character, Jack, who hosts his own talk show, on the April 13 episode, the network said.
Jack’s fictional network, Out TV, is bought by a Christian TV network, leading to Spears contributing a cooking segment called “Cruci-fixin’s.”
Activists go H E R E.
Many will probably just go H E R E.
And, in other news:
We must remember also that we do not grow into the likeness of Jesus all at once. We must study His life, and if we do not find in our life the qualities He possessed, then we must try to attain them. We have in the Scriptures a list of the things we should have in our lives. Let us go over them carefully and see how many we can really find in our own lives (Gal.5:22 – 23). These qualities are:
Love — Read the thirteenth chapter of 1st Corinthians.
Joy — Do you scatter joy and happiness wherever you go? Do you feel a joy in your heart because you are trying to live the Christian life? A Christian, even in the midst of trouble, should be glad, because he has Jesus near, and be able to have this Christian joy in his heart.
Peace — Are you disturbed by things that happen around us? Jesus is the only One who can give us, and keep us in, perfect peace. We are told we must keep our mind on God, then we can obtain peace.
Longsuffering — Can you tell how Paul suffered for the Lord and yet never complained? He was glad to do it, and was happy and rejoiced, even in the midst of deepest persecution.
Gentleness — We learn this lesson from our mothers. How gentle they are and kind.
Goodness — Trying always to do the right thing.
Faith — Always believing in God … even though other people do not. Trusting in Him at all times as we trust in our parents.
Meekness — Not boastful and desiring the best place, but doing our best without boasting and wanting to be seen. Being silent when others are having an argument, unless we know our word is true and will not add to the strife.
Temperance — How we need to study this question now when so much temptation is being placed in our path. Let us try to be temperate in all things.
Taken from an old book, “The Most Useful KNOWLEDGE for the Orthodox Russian-American Young People,” compiled by the Very Rev’d Peter G. Kohanik, 1932-1934.
The following quotes are from my seminary days — Ascetic Theology 2 — with Bishop Brother John Charles.
A couple from Dom John Chapman:
“Pray the way you can — not the way you can’t.”
“The only prayer you’ll ever have is the prayer you have today — muddled and confused — but if you don’t pray it, you’ll never pray at all.”
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“Prayer doesn’t change things. Prayer changes people & people change things.”
“Crises do not change us — they simply reveal to us what we’ve become.”
“One can bear almost anything for 24 hours.”
Prayer: “Lord, let me behave.”
Prayer: “Lord, I’m at your disposal.”
“God can do anything He likes … but, normally He acts normally.”
“He’ll normally let you do anything you like while you come to your senses.”
“God doesn’t coerce people. He waits for a response of love to His love.”
“Be thankful for someone who is driving you mad. It won’t change them, but it’ll change you.”
“Be thankful & be happy.”
“My age is the right age — and it increases annually.”
“If you can’t be thankful for where you are — you aren’t gonna be thankful anywhere.”
To be continued …
Orthodox Youth Outreach (OYO) has hired Jordan Henderson to serve as its new Program Director. OYO is a ministry of NAC Teen SOYO which has been designed to provide local parishes and youth workers with the resources necessary to involve junior and senior high students in local community service and short-term missions projects.
The purpose of the program is to encourage our youth to live out their faith through service to others. OYO provides opportunities for youth to get involved with outreach at different levels and help them grow into positions of student leadership.
Henderson comes to OYO after serving over three and a half years as the Associate Mission Teams Director and Health Care Coordinator at the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC).
“It has truly been a blessing to serve at the Mission Center,” says new director Henderson. “I hope to take the experience and knowledge I’ve gained over the last few years to build up a program that will instill a heart for proclaiming the Gospel and reaching out to the poor in today’s Orthodox youth.”
“Mr. Henderson brings a wealth of experience to OYO,” adds Father Kevin Scherer, Executive Director of Orthodox Youth Outreach. “We hope through his involvement to create amongst Orthodox youth a passion for reaching out to others, so that in the future, groups like the Orthodox Christian Mission Center, International Orthodox Christian Charities, and the Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry will have a pool of workers to draw from, whose hearts and minds have been shaped, from their youth, to live out their faith through service to others.”
Henderson’s work at the Mission Center has involved coordinating short-term mission teams and developing the health care ministries of the Mission Center. Since 2002, he has helped train and coordinate over 25 mission teams, sending over 200 people to work on short-term projects in various countries throughout the world. He has also participated on numerous mission teams to Guatemala and rural Alaska, as well as OYO trips to South Central Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Houston.
A graduate of the University of Memphis holding an undergraduate degree in History, Henderson is currently enrolled in the St. Stephen’s Course in Orthodox Theology, hoping to attain a Master’s of Arts degree in Applied Orthodox Theology from Balamand University in Lebanon in the spring of 2008.
Congrats to Jordan last seen round H E R E (and occasional funk commentator on this blog).
