Orthodixie

Links from 2007 retreat found here; most recent retreat — Parts One, Two, Three, Four. Let me say, once again, these are my notes, filtered through my slowly moving hand and weak mind.

Continuing from the previous posting (concluding Stage Two) …

As Man’s divine experiences proceed, he experiences his own kenosis.

This elevated spiritual stage is reflected in his prayer for the whole world — which he would not have been able to bear before he was filled with Christ.

Stage Three

Stability: Man’s total receptivity of God’s Divine Will.

Not even death can separate (for man has tasted death in the Second Stage).

The presence of the Grace of the Holy Spirit is so prominent that he is void of all passion and filled with the universality of His Love. Man is, thus, liberated from every inner battle with the Passions.

In this stage, Man attains personhood = a divine human being.

St Silouan: “Man is only able to enjoy such a state for the briefest period.”

More later …

How My Karma Ran Over Your Dogma*

The humor that I tried to make
Has caused the heads of some to ache,
The Lord, they say, not once did smile,
Lenten humor doth God revile.

The views of holy men I praise,
Though not them all to dogma raise.
If Christ on earth was somber e’re,
The yoke he broke did clear the air.

As sons and daughters, we are free,
To celebrate this liberty.
My karma’s triumph e’er the tomb,
Has just run o’er your dogma’s gloom.

In words of Germans born of old,
To harmless humor’s joy I hold.
Wes Brot ich ess, des Lied ich sing:
Whose bread I eat, his song I sing,

The Bread of Life’s a tender glee
From which a laugh need never flee.
Eternal life we seek with care
Yet e’re with cheer this duty bear!

*A poem, written in reaction to the humorless, by Archbishop Chrysostomos of Etna; used by permission.

You can back up to the last part for previous links.

“The Stages a Christian goes through to realize hypostatic nature — to come to the mystery of the Christ”

Man is called by God.

There is a specific calling for every person.

This calling is implanted in created nature; it is the hope of the hypostatic principle.

God seeks man at every stage of his life, wherever he may be.

And man only has to open to Him and He will begin the process of rejuvenation.

The heart may also be moved by the loving prayers of the Saints.

The First Stage is accomplished by feelings and experiences in the heart:

— undertakes every good work with ease
— knows sweet peace of reconciliation with God
— “Personal Pascha” (from death to life)
— initial grace similar to the perfect; the grace of the Saints

Second Stage:

— withdrawal of grace (if not schooled in this withdrawal, man may be akin to an unbeliever)
— God allows the temptations that follow to be for our regeneration
— man undergoes chastening as a son
— unless the Lord teaches us, we cannot see that we are immature
— God, in His providence, chastises us in His absence (to prove His perfect will)
— the most obvious result of God’s withdrawal is our own pride. God cannot tolerate it; He must abandon so as to allow Man the perfect freedom
— man can no longer return to the blissful ignorance he knew before grace
— eternal life has been revealed to him as the only [goal] of this temporal life
— suffering is the sign of election.

— God never ceases calling Man into His heavenly kingdom
— the final stage of Man’s spiritual struggle is Christ Himself
— it is through grace that deification is accomplished

This second stage teaches us that salvation is a gift from God, we cannot attain it on our own.

— when Christ is within us it is easy to pray
— when He withdraws, if you continue blessing and glorifying Him, even unto threats of death, this shows that our life is one that overthrows death

More later …

I‘ve been meaning to give a shout out to some folks working diligently to make the Orthodox Blogosphere safe and sane.

FIRST … Prudence True: A little esoteric, but chock full of thought provoking insight.

NEXT … She’s not new, but I’ve been slothful in mentioning: Matushka’s Blog, where you’ll find perspective and humor from a Homeschooling-Orthodox-Mission-Minded-Matushka in South Carolina.

THEN THERE’S … Orthodox Healing, from Subdeacon Symeon Kees — who is no stranger to the ‘sphere.

Image Source

Click here for part one, part two; here for past retreat notes (’07) — and remember, these notes are filtered through a slow moving hand and noggin:

On the manifestation of the hypostasis – both in God and Man — in the teaching of Elder Sophrony …

1) Christ is a true person revealed to Moses
2) Man – a person created in the Image and Likeness
3) The hypostasis of the Son of God was manifest by his love to the end (KENOSIS)
4) In man, the hypostasis is manifest when he acquires love for God and self-hatred

KENOSIS – the expression of God’s Love to the end

The Lord’s prayer in Gethsemane incorporates all Mankind – as does the high priestly prayer in John’s Gospel. In Gethsemane, Christ’s prayer makes manifest the perfection of human will in uniting with Divine will.

Just as in the Incarnation (Kenosis), Christ empties himself to become Man, in Gethsemane, as perfect Man, He offers himself to God for all humanity.

Final stage of Christ’s Kenosis … His descent into Hell.

To live a Christian life is impossible – to live a Christian life is to die … daily.

Detest yourself because of love for God, and you will embrace all that exists in your love.

More later …