Orthodixie

Why do they put rubber tires with inner tubes on cars? So that they give in, to collapse a little with every little stone or pothole on the road, and in this way they pass obstacles. If the wheels were firm and unyielding, the car wouldn’t be able to move forward. It would fall apart after a short distance because of the vibration from the small inconsistencies of terrain. The same things happens with yielding to others in the family. In this way many problems are surpassed and continuous spiritual progress is assured.

Elder Epiphanios of Athens

(Stolen from Fr Josiah Trenham’s Daily Devotional)

… than to be in Carolina in the morning” (as the song goes).

“Be prepared.” I used to be a Boy Scout. My family went camping Sunday afternoon through Tuesday afternoon at a place called Bear Den in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. We usually camp in a tent. But since the forecast, thanks to Hurricane Jeanne, was calling for rain on Monday and Tuesday, we opted for a little rustic cabin. It was basically two rooms, with a full sized bed in the front room and a set of bunks in the back. No facilities/utilities — save it did have electricity! Being a camping purist, I was a little disappointed with the electricity part, but I acquiesced.

Sunday was beautiful and the camping grounds were basically deserted except for a family from Raleigh with kids the same ages as our own. We grilled out BBQ chicken on the Coleman, as the fire pit was not suited for cooking. Enjoyed watching the clouds race past an almost full moon as the effects of the tropical storm headed our way. It was supposed to begin raining on Sunday evening.

Nope.

When I awoke to the quiet sounds of no rain, again being a camping purist, I told my wife, “Now that we’re in this cabin … it had better rain!” We cooked bacon, eggs, grits, and toast on the Coleman. It was sprinkling during meal prep — which allowed me to play chef in my new poncho. After breakfast it began to rain in earnest. Yeah!

We headed toward Linville Caverns only to find the road was washed out and impassable thanks to the past couple hurricanes. Turned back and our alternative route was also impassable. Called the Caverns and they got us there via another way. The kids really enjoyed being in the caverns. Thanks to the road mess, we were the only folks there and got our own private tour! We’d also hoped to visit Linville Falls or Linville Gorge, but road blockage would have made for long detours.

After grabbing lunch in downtown Spruce Pine and grocery shopping, we headed back to our cabin in the rain. (Purist or no, it sure is nice to walk into a dry cabin versus a damp tent on such a rainy day!) We had a few hours before dinner and Helen, the two year old, was napping in the back. What to do? Well, twelve years ago, my wife and I went to Paris. We’d heard there were McDonald’s restaurants in Paris and, perish the thought, had vowed not to eat there! We did … on three different occasions. In the same vein, I never thought I’d do this, I popped a DVD into my laptop for the two older kids to watch … and me and the missuz retired to the porch to read and enjoy the rain in the forest.

Thank God for Coleman burners & stoves! Hotdogs for dinner. We’d actually planned to have Brats — which, like they do in Wisconsin, we prep by simmering in beer with onions. Guess what? The counties we were in were dry (no alcohol). Being a Nashotah grad and thus Brat purists, we opted for hotdogs. With it pouring rain, we were all in bed by 9:30 pm.

On Tuesday morning the sky cleared up and it was beautiful and windy. Plan A had been to visit & hike around Grandfather Mountain. The rain invited Plan B: To travel to Blowing Rock and eat at Woodlands BBQ & Picking Parlor. This was a favorite restaurant of ours when my wife and I were dating. In fact, they catered our rehearsal dinner. From there, we’d planned to go to the Candy Barrel — which is near the original Mast General Store in Valle Crucis.

The Northern Mountains are stunning this time of year — even when rainy, windy, and foggy. But we got to the Candy Barrel … and it was closed. The parking lot was nothing but mud and debris. The sign said, “Closed due to flooding. Hope to reopen Oct 1st” — seems the damage from hurricanes is omnipresent in Western North Carolina. The kids, especially Mary Catherine (age 10), were very disappointed. We rode by the church where we were married (Nov.28.1997), Holy Cross Episcopal, and headed out of Valle Crucis toward home.

Thanks be to God — safe travel (and no news anchors)!

Over on Catechumen’s Walk there’s been a discussion of the nature of the Holy Trinity (Inner-Trinitarian Relationships, 9/22/04). Here follows St Basil the Great, whose treatise “On the Holy Spirit” is a classic exposition of trinitarian doctrine:

When the Lord taught us the doctrine of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, He did not make arithmetic a part of this gift! He did not say, “In the first, the second, and the third,” or “In one, two, and three.” He blessed us with the knowledge given us by faith, by means of holy Names. We are saved through faith; numbers have been invented as symbols of quantity. These men bring ruin on themselves through every possible source; they have even turned man’s ability to count against the faith! Numbers cannot change the nature of anything, yet these men honor arithmetic more than the divine nature, lest they give the Paraclete more honor than He is due! But the Unapproachable One is beyond numbers, wisest sirs; imitate the reverence shown by the Hebrews of old to the unutterable name of God. Count if you must, but do not malign the truth. Either honor Him Who cannot be described with your silence, or number holy things in accord with true religion. There is one God and Father, one Only-Begotten Son, and one Holy Spirit. We declare each Person to be unique, and if we must use numbers, we will not let stupid arithmetic lead us astray to the idea of many gods.

If we count, we do not add, increasing from one to many. We do not say, “one, two, three,” or “first, second, and third.” God says, “I am the first and I am the last.” We have never to the present day heard of a second God. We worship God from God, confessing the uniqueness of the persons, while maintaining the unity of the Monarchy. We do not divide divine knowledge and scatter the pieces to the winds; we behold one Form (so to speak) united by the invariableness of the Godhead, present in God the Father and God the Only-Begotten. The Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son; what the Father is, the Son is likewise and vice-versa — such is the unity. As unique Persons, they are one and one; as sharing a common nature, both are one. How does one and one not equal two Gods? Because we speak of the emperor, and the emperor’s image — but not two emperors. The power is not divided, nor the glory separated. One is the dominion and authority over us; we do not send up glories to God, but glory; the honor given the image passes to the prototype. The image of the emperor is an image by imitation, but the Son is a natural image; in works of art the likeness is dependent on its original form, and since the divine nature is not composed of parts, the union of the persons is accomplished by partaking of the whole. The Holy Spirit is one, and we speak of Him as unique, since through the one Son He is joined to the Father. He completes the all-praised and blessed Trinity. He is not ranked with the plurality of creation, but is described in the singular; this is sufficient evidence of His intimacy with the Father and the Son. He is not one of many but one only: just as there is one Father and one Son, there is one Holy Spirit. Reason demands that the singular is separated from the plural or compound; therefore He does not share created nature. He is united to the Father and the Son as unit dwells with unit.

There’s more where that came from. It’s a wonderful study in theological debate of the time — its lessons for all time.

Well by now you all know that I’m going camping with Hurricane Jeanne … and, of course, Dan Rather … for the next few days. Do not believe whatever he says or does not say regarding my participation in the camping trip on the Evening News. I’ll have a full report upon returning. Probably singing a new song to an old tune: “Camping in the Rain!”

One of my favorite stories …



During a press conference, the pious Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, was once asked how long he prayed each day.

“About one minute,” he replied.

Those gathered were aghast! He continued …

“But it takes about two hours to do it.”

Sounds pretty Orthodox to me.