Extreme Devotion

At work today I had a salesman stop in with the St. Louis Post Dispatch. He was trying to sell me advertising spots in there newspaper, and I was doing my best to politely get rid of him. After convincing him that what he was proposing was not meeting my market needs, we began to discuss the Friday Buisness review which seemed to fit more closely with our demographic in the commercial/industrial market. It was during this part of the conversation that he made a statement that has stuck with me all day. He said, the average business executive reads 4 newspapers a day, and that is normally done between 4 and 5:30 am in the morning, so that by 7:00 am when they are sitting in there office(he referred, "like yourself"), they are up to speed with the world today. Wow...are you serious? Of course I played along like the statistic was probably true for us...."executives"...., but....you've got to be kidding me!

What Ascetism! What Devotion! I mean, I 've read stories of this stuff, but it is usually by Monastics! As a generalization I would say the paths take you in extremely differing directions, however the Passion is compelling.

Here is something I was reading tonight in The Orthodox Way, by Bishop Kallistos Ware. In light of this we were talking at coffee this morning about being "enlightened" to something new, be it a word, or circumstance, or thing, and then all of sudden you hear about it everywhere. I guess I had this experience in light of the spiritual journey in regards to my conversation with the newspaper salesman.

" The endurance required from one who climbs a mountain physically is required likewise from those who would ascend the mountain of God."

- Bishop Kallistos Ware

" God demands everything from a man--his mind, his reason, all his actions...Do you wish to be saved when you die? Go and exhaust yourself; go and labour; go, seek and you shall find; watch and knock, and it shall be opened to you."

- The Sayings of the Desert Fathers

All moments...

Particular quotes tend to resonate with me. I qouted Henri Nouwen a couple posts ago, but here are 2 more I am "chewing" on.....Lord Have Mercy!

"All moments are in this moment"
- C. S. Lewis

"Wherever you go, have God always before your eyes; in whatever you do or say, have an example from the Holy Scriptures; and whatever the place in which you dwell, do not be quick to move elsewhere. Keep these three things, and you will live"
- St. Antony of Eygpt

St. Macarius of Egypt

Today the Orthodox Church commemorates St. Macarius of Eygpt

I first learned of St. Macarius by accident, as a Free Methodist Youth Pastor, studying Wesleyan theology on a J-Term class. I was writing a paper on the Wesleyan understanding and doctrine of Entire Sanctification. I was looking for a “link” with Wesley from which he drew his understanding of Entire Sanctification. After searching the archives of the FM World Headquarters and driving all over Indianapolis to libraries in search of finding the sources of some documents, I discovered Wesley’s link with St. Macarius. He was an avid student of Macarius’s 50 spiritual Homilies, and much of his understanding of Sanctification came from Macarius teaching on Theosis.

John Wesley says of Macarius, “Whatever he insists upon is essential, is durable, is necessary. What he continually labors to cultivate in himself…is the real life of God in the heart and soul.”

I probably particularly resonate with Macarius partially because of this link that ties the heritage of my years as a Wesleyan to my journey into Orthodoxy, and largely because he was such a “champion” of the faith. What a spiritual giant, not because he never had any troubles to overcome, but because he fought all his life and always remained steadfast in his faith and love of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Over lunch yesterday I finished reading a book on the life and virtues of St. Macarius. I read about his final years of his life on earth, and then an exhortation from his “spiritual children” exhorting the reader to emulate Macarius as he “emulated” Christ.

It was said that the brethren when they came to Macarius would always go away encouraged. I re-call one story of Macarius in which a fellow monk had fallen into some sin, of which Macarius was aware. Macarius went to visit this man, and the man did not want to let him know about it. Macarius, rather than condemning, talked to the man of his own struggles with the same sin. The man finally felt comfortable to share his struggle, and Macarius helped restore this man. What a man of compassion, humility, and love. I guess I feel the same encouragement and strength that this man felt, and hopefully the ability to open myself more to God’s healing and forgiveness.

Holy Father Macarius, Pray for us Sinners!

Troparion - Tone 1

Dweller of the desert and angel in the body
you were shown to be a wonder-worker, our God-bearing Father Macarius.
You received heavenly gifts through fasting, vigil, and prayer:
healing the sick and the souls of those drawn to you by faith.
Glory to Him who gave you strength!
Glory to Him who granted you a crown!
Glory to Him who through you grants healing to all!

Kontakion - Tone 4

The Lord truly placed you in the house of abstinence,
as a star enlightening the ends of the earth,
Venerable Macarius, Father of Fathers.

St. John's Weekend in Greenville

Wow, what a weekend! That may be as deep as I am going to be able to get right away. It has been an intensive weekend of prayers, friends, catechism, ecumenical dialogue and worship with St. Paul’s Free Methodist Church and many students from Greenville College, Sunday morning prayers, more teachings, food, and lots of good fellowship.

"Active waiting implies being fully present to the moment with the conviction that something is happening where we are and that we want to be present to it. A waiting person is someone who is present to the moment, believing that this moment is the moment."

- Henri Nouwen

New Years Eve PIx

What a great New Year's! Friends, Kung Foo fighting, Diso dancing, Poker, lots of laughs, food....a lot of fun! Happy New Year!

I am working on another post which will give a little more detail into our current journey as Catechumen’s in the Orthodox Church, however I wanted to update you on some upcoming happenings.

There is not an Orthodox Church in Greenville, however from time to time we have been holding services in our house with help from friends at St. John’s in Indianapolis and most recently our Priest Father Joseph Gibson.

This weekend a large group from St. John’s will be coming down to celebrate services, retreat, pray, hang out! The main “event” for the weekend is going to be a Vesper’s service held at St. Paul’s Free Methodist Church in Greenville.

I have coffee most mornings with Rev. Rick McPeak (St. Paul’s) and John Massena, and we pray together, share our journey’s together, and of course have coffee. They have always offered there building for us to hold services, and one morning over coffee we decided it would be nice to have a joint service with St. Paul’s in which we could celebrate in a church and they would have a chance to see and participate in an Orthodox Service.

This Saturday at 4pm we are going to be celebrating Vespers at St. Paul’s Free Methodist, followed by a Potluck and time of Question and Answer. It sounds like there could be several there and we are looking forward to this event. It sounds like there could be anywhere from 10-20 from Indianapolis, which is exciting, and hopefully several from St. Paul’s, the college and town. I have a former Greenville resident/friend who is currently living in Spring Arbor and is trying to make the trip down. It should be a good weekend.

I will be sure to post next week following this weekend’s festivities!! Pray for us!

P.S. - Pictures are of our good friends the Glieges and Beechams from Indianapolis down for a weekend of services and hanging out. The other pictures are of Father Joseph Gibson, our Priest, and St. Paul's Free Methodist Church where we will be holding the service this weekend.

The Family 

Happy Feast Day!

When Thou, O Lord, wast baptized in the Jordan the worship of the Trinity was made manifest! For the voice of the Father bare witness to Thee, calling Thee his Beloved Son. And the Spirit, in the form of a dove, confirmed the truthfulness of his Word. O Christ our God, who hast revealed Thyself and hast enlightened the world, glory to Thee (Troparion).

Today Thou hast appeared to the universe, end Thy Light, O Lord, has shone on us, who with understanding praise Thee: Thou hast come and revealed Thyself, O Light Unapproachable! (Kontakion).

Hello blogging world!

Well, we did it....we entered the blogging world. I say we, because this is going to be our families blog. You might find anything here from stories about the kids, pictures of our last get together, stories, quotes, ponderings, etc. I know there will be lots of pictures since my wife love's photography, and there will be plenty of get together postings since we do that often as well. I will share about our journey at times as Pentecost of 2005 we were received as Catechumens in the Orthodox church, and are taking that journey in a small midwestern college town without an Orthodox Church. Well, Here's a pic of the family...and I guess here we go......