Log Cabins

I remember traveling to Walden Pond when I was living in Boston, where Henry David Thoreau lived two years, after which he wrote his how famous thoughts about simplistic living. Seeking to leave the patterns of life, he unfortunately discovered he had created his own patterns. Since I have been asked to write about log cabins, I thought of my visit ten years ago, and our daily struggle as Orthodox Christians to live simply in a often chaotic society.

In our busy world, we are driven by unforgiving schedules, hard-paved roads, imitation nightlights, foods out of season from far away places, instant chat through the internet with family and friends on opposite sides of the world. There are theories that this way of life, considered by many to be a sign of superior human development, might be one cause, among others, of cancer. Whether it is or not, I don’t know, but I do know this hectic way of life is not health spiritually speaking.

We have exchanged family dinners with take out and drive through.

We have exchanged personal conversation with rapid text messages.

We have exchanged spending time reading the Holy Fathers and Holy Scriptures with 30 second sound bites of cable news networks.

We have exchanged going to Church with going shopping.

We have in fact exchanged God with the world.

Maybe it’s time for us to follow Thoreau into the wilderness and rediscover our true humanity.

Maybe it’s time for us to enter the forest and listen to God’s creation which was originally meant to assist in finding Him.

Maybe it’s time for us to allow the Church calendar and schedule of services to shape our daily and weekly routine.

Maybe it’s time for us to stand in front of our family altar (if we even have one) and converse with God.

Maybe it’s time for us to embrace prayer, fasting, and almsgiving and follow Christ.

It’s a thought anyway…..

This post is written for the 40 Days of Blogging Challenge sponsored by the Preachers Institute. You may find other blogs participating in this challenge. I hope you enjoy this year’s Advent journey.