How much of the world's nonsense did you buy this year for Christmas?

Today’s Gospel Reading: Luke 14:25-35 - At that time, great multitudes accompanied Jesus; and he turned and said to them, "If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build, and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace. So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill; men throw it away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Today is the fourth day of Christmas. Have you chosen to follow Christ or are you still a slave to the worldly things? Did you attend Liturgy for Christmas, or was your Christmas merely a celebration of gift-giving and family feasting around a decorated tree. Were you so “tired of Christmas” by the time December 25^th FINALLY arrived that you were glad to wake up on December 26^th so you could start packing up your decorations for next year? The world has much to say about how we “should” behave as citizens, but much of it is nonsense and should be ignored.

Your willingness to ignore the worldly advice is the essence of today’s Gospel reading. When Christ says, “If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life...” He is speaking about your willingness to ignore the secular advice the world was trying to sell you during the holidays. How much of the world’s nonsense did you buy this year?

We Hold Ourselves to a Higher Standard

We live in a world, much like the Christians of the first century, in which morality is based not on the teachings of Christ, but the teachings of darkness. Daily, it seems, our world is stepping further away from the way of life of Christ and His Church, as is evidenced in the daily news reports. In a world in which the terminally ill are invited to take their own lives with “dignity,” or in which there is no longer a distinction between males and females, we must strive to hold ourselves to a higher standard. We are encouraged by Saint Paul to coexist peacefully in this world, all the while never faltering in our commitment to live a life worthy of Christ. Holding ourselves to a higher standard doesn’t mean abandoning nonbelievers to hell; rather it means being in a constant state of prayer that their hearts may be softened. Of course, we understand the Gospel message will fall sometimes on deaf ears, but that does not give us license to live according to the same fallen standards of the world. We hold ourselves to a higher standard. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

It’s All About Family

When you were baptized and chrismated into the Church, you became a child of God. Our God is the only God who allows His people to call Him Father, and He has given us a Mother, the Church, to guide, protect, and comfort us as we grow perfecting holiness as sons and daughters of God. Christ invites us, “Be merciful like your Father is merciful.” Are you willing to live as a child of God?

Our Journey from Childhood to Adulthood

When Jesus called His Disciples, He said to them, “You will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” (Luke 6.35-36) Saint Paul, quoting the Old Testament, reminds us that God had promised to become our Father long before He called His disciples. “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6.18, 2 Kingdoms 7.14)

Once we are Baptized and Chrismated into Christ, we ARE the children of God, but just like “normal” childhood, we still have some growing to do. This is why Saint Paul said, “Therefore having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7.1) Our Christian life is a journey from childhood to adulthood.

Every child is guided by teachers, mentors, and parents to become the most they are meant to be, and in every way we are children of God. He has given us His Church as teacher, mentor, and mother to guide and shape us as we become children of God. We are never quite complete; as Saint Paul says, we are “perfecting holiness” through the life of the Church. However, even though we may still be children, we are STILL children of God, and He will never abandon us on our journey.

Divorce is Still Broken

In a recent Huffington Post article about “blended families” I came across this opening quote, “Just because your family has been through a divorce does not mean it is broken. In fact, it's quite the opposite.” I cannot disagree with this statement strongly enough. Even IF you don’t agree with the Orthodox Christian understanding of marriage, how divorce can EVER be considered anything other than broken is beyond logical. But then again, I don’t look to the Huffington Post for logic, especially when it comes to Christian ideals. But hey....did you notice I had to use the term “Orthodox Christian” understanding of marriage? We can’t even say “Christian” anymore since a growing number of Christians are fleeing from the Holy and Sacred Traditions of the Faith.

But, more about why I am so upset about this article. First, by way of disclaimer, my parents never divorced, so I don’t have FRIST HAND knowledge of what it means to grow up in a broken family. BUT that doesn’t mean I haven’t seen the pain and struggle, especially of children, in the wake of divorce. One friend, speaking with someone who’s father had died said, “At least you have a grave to visit.” Her parents were divorced and what she had known as a father in her family was no longer a realty. Who would DARE tell her that her family was not broken?

 

In our fallen world, we are tempted to continually rationalize away the pain, struggle, and brokenness of the world. The result is a false sense of security that we are “wholesome” to borrow the hash tag from the Huffington Post article. If we are not broken, then we have no need for healing. If we do not need to be healed, then....who needs God anymore? But there’s one problem...

WE ARE BROKEN....

And when we feel the pain, which is quite real, we can’t reconcile the pain we feel with the lie that we are not broken. In the book “Generation Me” author Jean Twenge, points out that once we encounter the TRUTH that we are broken, despite the promises of society, we can’t cope.  One reason she offers for the large number of medicated and depressed young adults in America, is this often life-threatening realization that we have been lied to our entire life.

So, please....if you really love your friends and families who have struggled, are struggling, or will struggle, with divorce (or any other brokenness of our fallen human state)....please have enough love and compassion for them by telling them the truth. “Yes Johnny, the family is broken, but God still loves you, and the love of God can soothe any pain in your heart.” But...you have to admit something is broken before He can help.

Courage and Hope

The media coverage this week presents us with the opportunity to witness true Christian courage and hope. In the face of struggle and illness, our faith is challenged, sometimes to the extreme. We may even find ourselves at the end of the line. It is at those moments that Jesus reminds us that faith the size of a mustard seed is enough to move mountains. It will be enough to get you through the struggles your face.

Questions and Answers: Wedding Rings and the Meaning of Marriage

Did you know there was a reason why the Priest placed your wedding ring on your right hand? Are you one of the many who have changed your ring to your left hand to “fit in” to our American society? In this week’s episode of Be Transfigured! we will answer the question, “Why do Orthodox Christians wear their weddings on their right hand?” You may be inspired to change it back...if you have the courage. 

An Unhealthy Heart is Not Healthy

When we think of the human heart, it goes without saying that, with the assistance of modern medicine, we can easily distinguish between and unhealthy heart and a healthy heart. Well trained doctors can even tell the age of a heart based upon “normal aging patterns” that are manifest in various tests. But the fact still remains, an unhealthy heart is never considered healthy. At the very most, a wounded heart might be considered “a typical 70 year-old heart” or with some other modifier. But it would be deadly for a physician to evaluate the human heart as healthy if it is not. To this point, I’m pretty sure every reader will agree.

Source http://greenolivedigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Healthy-Vs-Unhealthy-Heart.jpg

BUT...

What happens if I said an unhealthy family is not healthy? Would I receive equal levels of agreement? I doubt it, not because families are always healthy, but because when we discuss families within today’s social context, we no longer speak about something that is as “cut-and-dry” as the human heart muscle. The mere implication that a family might be unhealthy is predicated upon an underlying agreement that there even exists “a healthy family” model after which we can evaluate other families.

Please allow me to explain. I am attending this year’s Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America 42^nd Biennial Clergy-Laity Congress, which bears the theme, “The Orthodox Christian Family: A Dwelling of Christ and A Witness of His Gospel.” During the Keynote Address of His Eminence Archbishop DEMETRIOS of America, he stated, “If everybody and everything is a family, then nobody is truly a family in any meaningful sense.”

Hearing this profound statement is when it occurred to me. Our society has been calling an unhealthy heart healthy. What the Archbishop is trying to help us understand as a society, (and I HIGHLY recommend reading his full address) is that before we can heal what is wounded in our families, we must first appreciate that our families are wounded in the first place. And the only way to accomplish this is to acknowledge there DOES exist a model of a healthy family.

As divinely revealed, a healthy family includes father and mother, along with their children. Anything outside of this model, is not a healthy family. What do I mean? Am I suggesting that a husband and wife without children, not a healthy family? Is a single parent family not a healthy family? Each family has a condition, a range of healthy, if you will, just as a heart might be “healthy for a 70 year old smoker.” But if that same heart was in a twenty year old college student, it would be considered unhealthy.

Does a husband and wife not have children because of medical circumstances? Then we might say, “a healthy family for someone who cannot bear children” as an indication that the family is dealing with a wounded model. Then the Church can minister to the wound. Of course, this is just one example, as there would be many examples of wounded or otherwise unhealthy families.

SO....

It isn’t to suggest that members of a healthy family are somehow “better” than members of an unhealthy family. Just as one wouldn’t say a man with a healthy heart is “better” than a man with an unhealthy heart. It merely allows us to identify wounds which are in need of spiritual attention within our journey to Christ.

Yet in our attempt to fight for “equality” in any definition of family by defining “everybody and everything as a family” (using His Eminence’s expression), we have ultimately told the heart patient he is perfectly healthy, when in fact his heart is in great physical distress.

In our attempt to allow something unhealthy to be considered healthy, we in fact put all those who are members of that family at great spiritual risk. Since they no longer see their situation as in need of healing, the Church is unable to minister to them, and as such, every time members of that particular family hear the teaching of the Church, they will reject the teaching as either being “mean spirited” or not relevant to their situation. Keeping our heart analogy, if a patient is told their heart is healthy, they will ignore a physician when he speaks about heart healthy as not relevant.

THEREFORE...

If you truly desire to grow closer to Jesus Christ and live with Him forever in Heaven, then you must begin to ACCEPT that you are wounded. In your particular situation, it may not be your family. It might that you are wounded in your Church Community relationship. It might be that your relationship with your friends is unhealthy or wounded.

WE ARE ALL WOUNDED by nature of living in a fallen world, and Jesus Christ is the physical of our souls and bodies. At least we should trust His healthy model and evaluate our reality against His.