Things I Think About

St. Ignatius

2012-01-28T23:24:00.000-08:00

Until I heard his name at vespers earlier tonight I hadn't noticed that today (Orthodox Christians begin the day at sundown) is the feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch. St. Ignatius is one of the people who lead me to Orthodox Christitianity. In his seven letters, which he wrote in the 1st century while under arrest and on his way to be fead to lions (I found the letters on the shelves of the library at Peninsula Bible Church), I learned that the bishop, working together with the priests and deacons, rules his diocese like a father rules hisfamily (letter to the church at Magnesia), I learned that bishops work together to serve the whole Church (Letter to Polycarp), that the bloodless sacrifice is the central event of Christian worship (Letter to the church at Ephesus). I even saw, in the difference between the letters to the six churches and the letter to Polycarp how a metropolitan addresses churches in his metropolia and how he adresses a bishop outside his jurisdiction. In short, St. Ignatius' letters caused me to doubt the church structure of my Protestant Christianity and primed me to recognize ancient Church structure when I saw it a couple of years later in the Orthodox Church.

But my favorite thing said by St. Ignatius is something all Christians agree with. It is from the letter to the Trallians:

"Stop your ears, therefore, when any one speaks to you at variance with Jesus Christ, who was descended from David, and was also of Mary; who was truly born, and did eat and drink. He was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate; He was truly crucified and died, in the sight of beings in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. He was also truly raised from the dead, his Father having raised him up, as in the same manner his Father will raise up us who believe in him by Christ Jesus, apart from whom we do not possess the true life."

So, we Orthodox Christians give praise and honor to our father in the Holy Faith, Ignatius of Antioch.

Troparion

By sharing in the ways of the Apostles,

you became a successor to their throne.

Through the practice of virtue, you found the way to divine contemplation,

O inspired one of God;

by teaching the word of truth without error, you defended the Faith,

even to the shedding of your blood.

Hieromartyr Ignatius, entreat Christ God to save our souls.

Kontokion

The stirring celebration of your victorious fight

Is an announcement of the One who is to be born of the Virgin.

In your eagerness to possess Him forever,

You hastened to be devoured by the wild beasts.

Therefore, O glorious Ignatius, you were called the bearer of God!

Tattle-tales and Love

2012-01-15T16:42:00.000-08:00

The boys have been bothering me with their tattleing on each other. So I got the Icon of St. Peter down off the wall, and with the icon in my lap and each boy sitting beside me, I read to them a sermon on Love and Peter preached by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh. Then we taked about love and not rejoicing in the misdeeds of others. And, beeseching the prayers of St. Peter we asked God to help us love each other like Peter loves Jesus and Jesus loves Peter. Basil was in tears by the end, but I think Anselm still wants to tattle.

Something I Wish the Orthodox Had: A Call to Artists

2012-01-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

Every month the leaders of my Cub Scout Pack meet in the science cassroom of a Roman Catholic school. On the wall is a poster of their liturgical calendar. I look at it with envy every month. I wish such a thing existed for Orthodox kids, so they could see how the year fits together. Our calendar poster would be much more detailed, with weekly tones, fasts & feasts, etc.

The other thing I wish we had was a books of the Bible poster like the Protestants had when I was a boy. It was a simple thing. It showed two book cases, one the left was the OT, on the right was the NT. Shelves on the left were labeled "Law", "History", "Poetry", "Major Prophets", & "Minor Prophets". The shelves on the Right were labeled "Gospels", "History", "Epistles", and "Prophecy". The poster showed each book of the Protestant Bible as a book on one of these shelves.

I don't think I am up to making a poster of the Calendar but I might try the poster of the books of the Orthodox Holy Scriptures. I don't think it would be too hard. And, I think, there is a need for this kind of stuff. It helps kids learn who they are and what is important.

Rquired Reading for Spring Semester

2012-01-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

After a year off, I am starting back to work on the masters degree in history. It will be a lot of work, but it ought to be fun. At least the reading list looks fun. In fact, I've already read some of these books.

Roberts, John M., A Short History of the World (Oxford University Press)
Standage, Tom, History of the World in Six Glasses (Walker & Company)
Burke, Peter, French Historical Revolution: The Annales School, 1929-1989 (Stanford University Press)
Manning, Patrick, Navigating World History: Historians Create a Global Past (Palgrave)
Davis, Leo Donald, The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787) (Michael Gazier, Inc.)
Ostrogorsky, George, History of the Byzantine State (Rutgers University Press)
Hollister, W., Medieval Europe: A Short Sourcebook, 4th Ed. (McGraw-Hill)
Bennett, Judith, Medieval Europe: A Short History, 11th Ed. (McGraw-Hill)

If the papers I write are any good, I'll post them here.

The Kingdom of God is Within You

2012-01-10T06:23:00.000-08:00

From the Detailed Rules for Monks by Saint Basil the Great, bishop
(Resp. 2, 1: PG 31, 908-910)
The ability to love is within each of us

Love of God is not something that can be taught. We did not learn from someone else how to rejoice in light or want to live, or to love our parents or guardians. It is the same-perhaps even more so—with our love for God: it does not come by another’s teaching. As soon as the living creature (that is, man) comes to be, a power of reason is implanted in us like a seed, containing within it the ability and the need to love. When the school of God’s law admits this power of reason, it cultivates it diligently, skillfully nurtures it, and with God’s help brings it to perfection.

For this reason, as by God’s gift, I find you with the zeal necessary to attain this end, and you on your part help me with your prayers. I will try to fan into flame the spark of divine love that is hidden within you, as far as I am able through the power of the Holy Spirit.

First, let me say that we have already received from God the ability to fulfill all his commands. We have then no reason to resent them, as if something beyond our capacity were being asked of us. We have no reason either to be angry, as if we had to pay back more than we had received. When we use this ability in a right and fitting way, we lead a life of virtue and holiness. But if we misuse it, we fall into sin.

This is the definition of sin: the misuse of powers given us by God for doing good, a use contrary to God’s commands. On the other hand, the virtue that God asks of us is the use of the same powers based on a good conscience in accordance with God’s command.

Since this is so, we can say the same about love. Since we received a command to love God, we possess from the first moment of our existence an innate power and ability to love. The proof of this is not to be sought outside ourselves, but each one can learn this from himself and in himself. It is natural for us to want things that are good and pleasing to the eye, even though at first different things seem beautiful and good to different people. In the same way, we love what is related to us or near to us, though we have not been taught to do so, and we spontaneously feel well disposed to our benefactors.

What, I ask, is more wonderful than the beauty of God? What thought is more pleasing and wonderful than God’s majesty? What desire is as urgent and overpowering as the desire implanted by God in a soul that is completely purified of sin and cries out in its love: I am wounded by love? The radiance of divine beauty is altogether beyond the power of words to describe.

This Is Why I Am Orthodox

2012-01-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

Back in the 1990s my very good and wonderful, full of love, and committed to the Bible church, Peninsula Bible Church in Cupertino (home of some of the best preaching I ever heard), lost it's worship pastor, and for a long time it was without one. There were a lot of people who came through as temps or try-outs. I remember one was very academical and tried to direct the congregation like it was a choir. Another, who came up for the weekend from southern Caifornia, lead us in singing Desperado. (I'm not making that up.) And there were alot of discussions among the people about what exactly worship should be. I guess it was the summer of 1998 or, maybe, 1999 that I first stepped into an Orthodox church and was blown away by what I saw and heard and smelled. I remember thinking, "this is the kind of setting where God is likely to appear".

Sometimes, when people ask me why I became Orthodox I jokingly say "I came for the baklava but stayed for vodka." In reality, I came for the worship. I stayed for the truth. Or, something like that.

The Polyeleos (greek for "many mercies") is an example of that worship: Scriptural, joyful, reverent, beautiful. It is a blending of two Psalms with "alleluia" inserted in between the verses.

The Christian Parent

2012-01-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

Metropolitan EPHREM of Tripoli said
1) The role of a Christian parent is to help his children to pass from earthly life to heavenly life;
2) A Christian parent’s one and only concern is for the salvation of his children;
3) A Christian parent seeks above all to help his children to be filled with the Grace of the Most High; and
4) A Christian parent is supposed to be moved by the Spirit of God and not by that of the world.

Atai Parthenos (Today This Virgin) A Coptic Orthodox Hymn

2012-01-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

هذه العذراء نالت اليوم كرامة هذه العروس نالت اليوم مجد، هذه الملتحفة بأطراف موشاة بالذهب مزينة بأنواع كثيرة.
Today, this virgin received honor. Today, this virgin received glory. Her clothing is woven with gold and adorned with many colors.

داود حرك الوتر الأول من قيثارته صارخا قائلا: قامت الملكة عن يمينك أيها الملك. (مز ٤٥:٩)
David moved the 1st string of his harp crying out and saying: At your right hand stands the queen O king (Psalm 45:9).

وحرك الوتر الثاني من قيثارته صارخا قائلا: اسمعي يا ابنتي وأنظري وأميلي أذنك وانسي شعبك وبيت أبيك. (مز ٤٥ : ١٠)
And he moved the second string from his harp crying out and saying: Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your own people also, and your father's house (Psalm 45:10).

وحرك الوتر الثالث من قيثارته صارخا قائلا: كل مجد ابنة الملك من الداخل مشتملة بأطراف موشاة بالذهب. (مز ٤٥ : ١٣)
And he moved the third string from his harp crying out and saying: The royal daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is woven with gold (Psalm 45:13).

وحرك الوتر الرابع من قيثارته صارخا قائلا: يدخلن إلي الملك عذاري خلفها. (مز ٤٥ : ١٤)
And he moved the forth string from his harp crying out and saying: Virgins shall enter to the king after her (Psalm 45:14).

وحرك الوتر الخامس من قيثارته صارخا قائلا: عظيم هو الرب ومسبح جدا في مدينة إلهنا علي جبله المقدس. (مز ٤٨ : ١)
And he moved the fifth string from his harp crying out and saying: Great is our Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain (Psam 48:1).

وحرك الوتر السادس من قيثارته صارخا قائلا: أجنحة حمامة موشاة بفضة ومنكباها بصفرة الذهب. (مز ٦٨ : ١٣)
And he moved the sixth string from his harp crying out and saying: The wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold (Psalm 68:13).

وحرك الوتر السابع من قيثارته صارخا قائلا: جبل الله الجبل الدسم الجبل المجبن الجبل الدسم. (مز ٦٨ : ١٥)
And he moved the seventh string from his harp crying out and saying: The mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan (Psalm 68:15).

وحرك الوتر الثامن من قيثارته صارخا قائلا: أساساته في الجبال المقدسة، أحب الرب أبواب صهيون. (مز ٨٧ : ١و٢)
And he moved the eighth string from his harp crying out and saying: His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion (Psalm 87:1, 2).

وحرك الوتر التاسع من قيثارته صارخا قائلا: تكلموا من أجلك بأعمال كريمة يا مدينة الله. (مز ٨٧ : ٣)
And he moved the ninth string from his harp crying out and saying: Glorious things are spoken of you O city of God (Psalm 87:3).

وحرك الوتر العاشر من قيثارته صارخا قائلا: الرب اختار صهيون ورضيها مسكنا له. (مز ١٢٢ : ١٣)
And he moved the tenth string from his harp crying out and saying: For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation (Psalm 122:13).

Saturday Soundtrack: My Ten Least Favorite Christmas Pop Songs and my Favorite Christmas Pop Song

2011-12-17T08:21:00.000-08:00

10. Jingle Bell Rock - Really? This is the best thing you can think of doing on Christmas?
9. My Grown Up Christmas List - Wow! What a self-righteous trip this song's writer must have been on.
8. It's a Marshmallow World - except for the live version with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin)
7. Christmas by the Bay - Well, yes, it is the best City in the world, but really, can't we think about someone other than ourselves on Christmas?
6. Santa Clause is Coming to Town - What is a "rooty-toot-toot"?
5. Feliz Navidad - The is my son Basil's favorite Christmas song, and I dig the the whole South of the Border thing, but I think it's too repetitive.
4. Wonderful Christmas Time - Paul McCartney's worst song ever. Someone, please, unplug that synthesizer.
3. My Favorite Things - The Sound of Music is one of my all time fave plays, but this song isn't about Christmas.
2. Happy Christmas (War is Over) - What a dismal song. It's like the opposite of Paul McCartney's Christmas song, but not in a good way.
1. Last Christmas - Isn't a song about the sex life of that guy from Wham! what you wan't to sing about on Christmas?

This is my fave Christmas pop song. It contains the whole Gospel plus you can dance to it!

Beauty

2011-12-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

I don't know why, perhaps it is because someone recently challenged my practice of venerating Mary, saying the Orthodox Church's exaltation of her is a remnant of paganism, but tonight at the vigil I found this song very moving...

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.
   More honourable than the Cherubim, and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim, thou who in virginity didst bear God the Word; thee, true Mother of God, we magnify.
For He has regarded the humility of His handmaid. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
   More honourable than the Cherubim, and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim, thou who in virginity didst bear God the Word; thee, true Mother of God, we magnify.
For He Who is mighty and Whose Name is holy has done wonders for me. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
   More honourable than the Cherubim, and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim, thou who in virginity didst bear God the Word; thee, true Mother of God, we magnify.
He has shown His strength with His arm, He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
   More honourable than the Cherubim, and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim, thou who in virginity didst bear God the Word; thee, true Mother of God, we magnify.
He has put down princes from their thrones and has exalted the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent empty away.
   More honourable than the Cherubim, and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim, thou who in virginity didst bear God the Word; thee, true Mother of God, we magnify.
He has taken Israel as His child in remembrance of His mercy, as He promised our fathers, Abraham and his sons forever.
     More honourable than the Cherubim, and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim, thou who in virginity didst bear God the Word; thee, true Mother of God, we magnify.

Here it is in a slightly different translation but sung...

Eclipse, Welding, Advent, Book

2011-12-10T07:23:00.000-08:00

Eclipse Welding Christmas Book

Athanasia and I woke the boys up early this morning, and we went out and watched the lunar eclipse. We were able to see the last sliver of the moon go dark just before it slipped below the clouds and fog on the Santa Cruz mountains. Athanasia and the boys are back in bed now, but I'll wake them up in an hour so Anselm can get ready to go on his first hike with a Boy Scout Troop. He is aWebelos now, and is making the transition from Cub Scout to Boy Scout. I can hardly believe how fast these years are flying by. It seems like yesterdy that he fisrt put on that blue uniform and said the Cub Scout Promise.

The other day my boss asked me if I know how to weld. I had to tell him I don't know. I hated that. Sometimes I feel so useless at work. I am sure that if it wasn't for my braun and enthusiasm they would have let me go a long time ago. Anyway, I checked out a company called TechShop and am signed up to take welding classes when my company closes for the first week of Christmas. I'm very excited about it. In a couple of weeks, if my boss needs something welded I'll be able to do it.

We are reading The Advent Storybook again this year. Every day of December Benjamin Bear opens another door on his Advent Calendar, and his mother tells a story about what he finds in the calendar. The first day he opened a door and saw a star, so his mother began the story about a little bear who begins to follow the star to Bethlehem. Each day the little bear encounters whatever Benjamin Bear finds in his advent calendar. Each day, through pictures and words a little bit more of the Gospel is revealed. Sometimes it is subtle, such as last night when the only hint of the Gospel was the number of men (three) traveling in a caravan toward Bethlehem. Other times it is more obvious. It is a good book for our family. The daily readings are short, and there are layers of meaning so Anselm Samuel picks up on stuff that Basil Wenceslas (he is six) doesn't, and then he explains it to Basil.

Popcorn Balls

2011-11-21T21:37:00.000-08:00

Last night my god daughters and their parents came over. It was a grand good time. The kids made lanterns out of glass jars, and they made fairies out of pipe cleaners and artificial flowers. They seemed to have a lot of fun. We mulled wine and cider.

Today after dropping Athanasia off at work and the boys off at school I was able to go to church for about an hour. I was present for the end of Matins and the 1st half of the Divine Liturgy. Then I had to leave to go to an appointment with a physician.

She said I'm doing better and the hole in my leg should be all healed in two more weeks if I can keep infection at bay. I'm doing my best.

Athanasia made blue popcorn balls, in honor of the Theotokos' feast day today. She is the best mom.

The Advent Wreath

2011-11-19T22:54:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, after the Divine Liturgy, Basil's Sunday School class made Advent wreaths. Or, at least, started making Advent wreaths. Today, Athanasia and the boys completed it with greenery from redwood, juniper, holly, pine, and orange trees. I brought six candles home from church to put in the wreath.

Tonight as we shall for all six Sundays leading up to Christmas, we sung a little service at home.

With all of us standing around the table, with the Advent wreath on the table, Basil Wenceslas lit the first candle. We faced the Icon and sang O Heavenly King, as Orthodox always do before lessons.

Then, sitting, I reminded the boys about our ancestors' expulsion from the garden and how they lost true wisdom and knowledge of God. But I also told them that God was not content for us to have our minds darkened, and he promised to send a redeemer, the Messiah. I read them the promise in Genesis 3:15, and explained that God repeated the promise, and even made a people, Israel, whose job it was, in part, to keep knowledge of that promise alive. And we talked about how sometimes Israel didn't do a very good job and God sent prophets to remind them, and that lead us into Anselm Samuel reading the prophecy of Isaiah

And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORDAnd shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth.

And we talked about how Christ means anointed or chrismated, and that Jesus is called Christ, which in Hebrew is Messiah, because he is anointed with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Wisdom resides in him, and that with his wisdom he lifts the darkness from our minds and teaches us to be wise, not like our ancestors who gave up wisdom, that is fellowship with God for mere knowledge of good and evil, but wisdom born out of fear of God.

Then Athanasia prayed this English translation of the first O-Antiphon...

O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,

reaching from one end to the other mightily,

and sweetly ordering all things:

Come and teach us the way of prudence.

Then we all sang this verse from O Come O Come Emanuel

Oh, come, our Wisdom from on high,

Who ordered all things mightily;

To us the path of knowledge show,

and teach us in her ways to go.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to you, O Israel!

And then Basil Wenceslas blew out the candle until next Saturday night when he will light two.

Three Children's Christmas Books

2011-11-13T19:06:00.000-08:00

Basil's Cub Scout Den visited the fire house on Saturday. The fire fighters were a great bunch of guys. This was the second time we visited this fire house. The first time, two months ago they had to respond to a fire just as the wee Cub Scouts arrived for their tour. This time there were no emergencies so the boys got the whole tour. Their favorite part? The brass pole the fire fighters use to get from upstairs to downstairs. Really. They liked the fire engine. They liked the helmets. But the LOVED the idea of grown men sliding down the pole.

After the tour Basil and I walked to the library just 100 yards up the road. While there we listened to two harpists. We heard Morning Has Broken, And Can It Be, and Greenesleeves (We learned Greenesleeves was written by Henry VIII.) before Basil got squirmy and we went and looked at books.

I made a mistake of picking two books by their covers. Santa's Snow Cat and Santa's Snow Kitten are worth avoiding. Maybe, if you really like cats you'll like these books, but Basil couldn't get into them, and I also thought they were boring. It seems the chief virtue of the books is that on every page there is a picture of a wide-eyed yet emotionless cat. I have trouble thinking of predators sympathetically, but if you like pictures of cats and can look past the destruction cats visit on the wildlife of North America you might like these books.

A far better book is The Gingerbread Baby. This book has a story that is familiar but has an unexpected ending. It isn't deep and meaningful, but it is fun. And the illustrations are beautiful and rich. Basil and Anselm both liked this book.

I have a stuffed pumpkin in the oven. Have been enjoying Strauss Family Creamery's egg nog. The Nativity Fast starts soon and the egg nog will be sold out by the time Orthodox can drink milk again, so these first few days of november are the only time we can drink it. But that's okay. I can make my own egg nog, which I'll do during Christmas.

So much to write about

2011-11-09T22:05:00.000-08:00

Well, let's see.... I've been working as a pump and compressor mechanic for a few months now. I like it. I think the most interesting thing I've learned how to do is sweat copper tubes for air, water, and oil lines. I did hurt myself pretty bad with a diamond bladed cutter about 2 months ago. It cut out a horrible gash in my leg (I lost part of my left tibia) and it hasn't completely healed yet. It was a very dirty cut and it got infected. That slowed healing. But I am okay. It is mostly healed now.

For the bast couple of weeks my son Billy has very much been on my mind. I had the trisagion for the departed served for him after the Divine Liturgy last Sunday. I miss him. I haven't heard anything from my son Devon in months. I hope he is okay. I hope if he isn't that he'll let me know.

We celebrated the anniversary of our conversion to Orthodoxy on Nov. 3. It is hard to believe it has been 9 years. I hope I have made progress but I don't see it, if I have.

I've been searching for a 16 pocket wrench roll. I want it to be leather, made in the U.S.A., and have a pocket large enough for a 1 1/4" combination wrench. I haven't found what I am looking for. But I did find this cool blog that tells how to make a wrench roll.

Over the past couple of months I've been reading The Lord of the Rings to Anselm. I just finished it last week and was trying to decide what to read now. Then I thought that this year, because we have amassed such a large collection over the years, I should start reading Christmas books early. I started last night with reading aloud the first few stories of The Animals' Merry Christmas. Hopefully, I'll be finished by Theophany.

Orthodoxy and Monarchy

2011-10-23T15:40:00.000-07:00

Today, after the liturgy, I was talking with a reader and a subdeacon over coffee. We were talking about books when the reader said, "The introduction to [A Gathered Radiance] contains the best explanation of why the Orthodox Church prefers a monarchy." I expressed surprise at the idea and he the reader said, "Well, can you imagine Tolkein's last volume of Lord of The Rings set in a world of Republics? Return of the Prime Minister just doesn't have the same power as Return of the King."

Beauty

2011-10-09T22:59:00.000-07:00

Even though it falls short, it is worth watching. I especially like that names modern architecture a crime.

Update on job and a C.S. Lewis Quote

2011-09-19T00:23:00.000-07:00

My job is pretty amazing. Everyday is filled with doing things I have never done and never thought I would do. I even managed to cut out a bit of my left tibia with an angle grinder. I use blow torches, sledge hammers, and giant wrenches pretty often, but the thing I enjoy doing most is the fine work of re-building Graco Fire Ball Pumps. There is something very satisfying about taking a broken machine apart, cleaning it, figuring out what is wrong with it, and fixing it. I have a few of them sitting on my work bench in the shop. I work on them when I'm not out on a job site, which is where I usually am. As I fix them my employer sells them to customers. The goal is for parts and labor to be less than 70% of the selling price. So far I have done one at 88% (The first one I did) and one at 61%. I'd like to get good enough so that most of them are at 50%. The hard part, is figuring out exactly what's wrong with them, but I should get better at diagnosis as time goes by.

Oh, while I'm here I should share with you this quote from C.S. Lewis' essay "Modern Theology and Biblical Criticism."

All theology of the liberal type involves at some point — and often involves throughout — the claim that the real behaviour and purpose and teaching of Christ came very rapidly to be misunderstood and misrepresented by His followers, and has been recovered or exhumed only by modern scholars. Now long before I became interested in theology I had met this kind of theory elsewhere. The tradition of Jowett still dominated the study of ancient philosophy when I was reading Greats. One was brought up to believe that the real meaning of Plato had been misunderstood by Aristotle and wildly travestied by the neo-Platonists, only to be recovered by the moderns. When recovered, it turned out (most fortunately) that Plato had really all along been an English Hegelian, rather like T.H. Green. I have met it a third time in my own professional studies; every week a clever undergraduate, every quarter a dull American don, discovers for the first time what some Shakespearian play really meant. But in this third instance I am a privileged person. The revolution in thought and sentiment which has occurred in my own lifetime is so great that I belong, mentally, to Shakespeare’s world far more than to that of these recent interpreters. I see — I feel it in my bones — I know beyond argument — that most of their interpretations are merely impossible; they involve a way of looking at things which was not known in 1914, much less in the Jacobean period. This daily confirms my suspicion of the same approach to Plato or the New Testament. The idea that any man or writer should be opaque to those who lived in the same culture, spoke the same language, shared the same habitual imagery and unconscious assumptions, and yet be transparent to those who have none of these advantages, is in my opinion preposterous. There is an a priori improbability in it which almost no argument and no evidence could counterbalance.

New Job

2011-08-07T17:36:00.000-07:00

Last week I started a new job. I am learning to be a service technician for a company that installs and services the big machines used in automobile repair shops. So far, I've installed one hydraulic lift, learned how to sweat copper, rerouted a bunch of oil, waste oil, and air lines, and done a bunch of other interesting things. I am very grateful for the job. It is a big change from advertising and property management. I'm not sure my 43 year old body can take it for more that 5 or 10 years. All of the other techs are younger that 35. Most are in their early 20s. Nevertheless, I did astound a couple of them with what they though was a feat of great strength. Really, it was a feat of moderate strength and much knowledge of the laws of physics. It's a fun job. I am getting a chance to do things I've never done.

Vacation in Mendocino County

2011-07-23T23:50:00.000-07:00

Home. We are home from a week in a tent near the mouth of Russian Gulch. The boys had a great time.

Anselm took the opportunity to learn how to use a topographic map and a compass. He completed the requirements for the Cub Scout Map and Compass Pin. One of the things I did for him was set up a simple land navigation course. He had to shoot azimuths and walk from point to point until he found his destination. It was fun for all of us. Basil went with him and his mother was waiting at the destination point.

Basil kept a diary each day, thus completing the requirements for the Cub Scout Reading and Writing Belt Loop. He hates writing, so this activity was not much fun for anyone.

We did a in addition to the usual things we do up there, this year we did a couple of different things. Because it was rainy one day we went to see a movie in Fort Bragg, about 6 miles up the coast from where we were camped. We also ate at the North Coast Brewing Company Tap Room and Grill. They have really good food. We also had a 4-beer sampler (you can get a 12 beer sampler) or their 4 darkest beers. We liked the lightest. Thy have amazing french fries. Guess what they do? They bread them before they fry them!

Oh, talking about the tap room reminds me: On the way to the coast we stopped in Booneville at the Anderson Valley Brewing Company where Athanasia and I each had a pint and sat in a swing under a mighty oak tree. When I finished my pint I played frisbee golf with the boys. WOW! What a hard game. All the "holes" were par 3 but I didn't make it to any of the baskets in less than 4. Most were 6 or 7.

On Wednesday, Athanasia stayed in the camp and knit Christmas presents while I took the boys to Portuguese Beach, which I've always known as Driftwood Beach. But what do I know. The guide books say it is Portuguese Beach so that is what it must be.

On Thursday Athanasia took the boys to the beach near our campsite while I went into Medocino to mail some postcards and walk around. I didn't walk around a lot, but I did buy some books for the boys, and I finished "The Loved One" by Evelyn Waugh. It was funny, but the book was also mean-spirited. I don't think I'll read anymore Waugh. I have a feeling that he was a witty man, but probably cruel, too. While I was in town I saw Mic Fleetwood walking with his arm around a woman.

We drove home the long way, meaning we drove north. When Hwy 1 gets passes Rockport it turns away from the coast, which the engineers who built Hwy one thought was too difficult to build a highway on. It must be amazingly rugged for if you see some of the other places they built bridges and tunnels you will understand that those men let little stand in their way. Now, the area north of Rockport but south of Humboldt County is called the Lost Coast by most people, but the government calls it the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park.

There are a few roads that lead into it, but they are the kinds of roads with big warning signs. High clearance 4x4 vehicles only. And don't even think about going in there in wet weather. And did I mention the bears? People die in there. Obviously, in our heavy laden PT Cruiser we did not tempt God. We stayed on Hwy 1 till it joined Hwy 101 in Legget.

In Legget we drove through a 2,400 year old redwood tree. Really. Here is the picture.

People have been driving thorough this tree since 1922 but it is still living and full of green. It is possible to buy potted cuttings of the tree but we contented ourselves with the picture. It really was a lot of fun. We mailed some more post cards there and then turned south for San Jose and home.

You know, its kind of funny, but this trip made me feel patriotic. I felt like I was ding something Americans do. I'm sure europeans go camping, but do they do it like American's do? Do they have vast state and national parks? How can they? Their countries are so little. And they don't have the wilderness or frontier heritage American's have. I'm not running people down in the Old World, its just that they have so many people on such little territory. I mean, Mendocino County is so big they have at least two county fairs: The The County Fair and Apple Show in Booneville (where they also have the Wool and Fiber Festival), and the Redwood Empire Fair in Ukiah, the county seat. As a boy I had a lot of fun at the Redwood Empire Fair. I saw a demolition derby there when I was 11. As we drove by late Friday night they were having go cart races on the 1/4 mile dirt track. I bet they have fairs in Hopland and Willits, too.

Oh, speaking of Willits, we stopped there to eat at a place called "The Lumberjack". HUGE portions of really good food. Also, they had big screen teevees in the two dining rooms on which they showed timbersports competitions. That was a lot of fun. And a little scary. I was sure someone was going to lose a leg. They were doing things with chainsaws the manuals very clearly instruct one to never do. At least the college student competitors wore steel armor on the legs and feet. The pros, however, wore no protective equipment.

We got home early this morning and didn't do much. I got a hair cut (I have a job interview the day after tomorrow) and then Athanasia and I went to see the movie Midnight in Paris.

Basil lost another tooth. It is under his pillow. I guess I ought to go see if the tooth fairy has stopped by and then go to bed.

They Lie and People Believe Them

2011-07-14T22:26:00.000-07:00

Have you heard about how George W. Bush squandered the Clinton budget surplus? I heard it again today and am shocked people still believe this fabrication. Starting with FY 1993, the last G.H.W. Bush budget here are all the totals for the National Debt and the yearly Budget Deficit. If any year had been in surplus the National Debt for that year would have been smaller the the National Debt at the end of the previous year. But that was never the case. Here are the facts:

Fiscal Year	Year Ending	National Debt	Deficit
FY1993	09/30/1993	$4.411488 trillion
FY1994	09/30/1994	$4.692749 trillion	$281.26 billion
FY1995	09/29/1995	$4.973982 trillion	$281.23 billion
FY1996	09/30/1996	$5.224810 trillion	$250.83 billion
FY1997	09/30/1997	$5.413146 trillion	$188.34 billion
FY1998	09/30/1998	$5.526193 trillion	$113.05 billion
FY1999	09/30/1999	$5.656270 trillion	$130.08 billion
FY2000	09/29/2000	$5.674178 trillion	$17.91 billion
FY2001	09/28/2001	$5.807463 trillion	$133.29 billion

So you see? Even in his best budget year Wm. J. Clinton, working with the brilliant lights in the U.S. Congress, still added $17.91 billion to the U.S.'s National Debt.

Looking for work and other things

2011-07-13T01:23:00.000-07:00

I've been out of work since February or March. I was a contractor at a company called BarNone, but got very sick and eventually lost my hearing, which meant I couldn't work. I went out on medical leave. Which because I was a contractor was unpaid. After a few weeks of horrible drug therapy and Holy Unction Imy sense of hearing was restored during Bright Week. But just a few days before, during Holy Week the whole department I worked in had been let go. So no work for me. And because I was, legally, a self employed contractor, I do not get unemployment insurance payments. Financially, we are hard against it. Savings is gone. Our little real estate investment has been sold. Athanasia is working but that isn't enough to pay expenses. If I don't get work by the middle of August I think we will have to seek bankruptcy protection. Although, our debts are mainly Federal Student Loans, which can not be discharged by bankruptcy, so bankruptcy might not do anything for us.

I've applied for many many jobs but most of them I don't hear from. Some have told me I am over qualified. I have had three interviews in the last couple of weeks that seem somewhat promising:

1) An ad agency is looking for a Sr. Account Executive. I made it past the phone interview, and then met with them in person. I think I answered all the questions right, but I don't think we are going to be a good cultural fit. I was the only man in the office, the only one over 35, the only one not wearing jeans. I met with them last Thursday but haven't heard anything since then.

2) Today I had a great interview with a company that installs and repairs hydraulic lifts, tire balacing machines, oil replacing machines, etc. at mechanics shops. The interview was like a cross between a Car Talk puzzler and Martin Gardner's old columns in Scientifc American. He asked me questions about hydraulic theory, pressure couplings and O-rings, diaphram pumps, and ball-valves. It was more fun than I've had in a long time. It was fun to show off knowledge I've had for decades but have never used. More than any of the three jobs I'm writing about here, this is the one I want.

3) The other job I've interviewed for, and I have been through three interviews (including an informal bar-b-q with the District committee) with them so far, is with the Santa Clara County Council of the Boys Scouts of America. It is a volunteer owned and run organization, but they have a few paid full-time staff who do special things that volunteers typically don't have the time or skills to do. It doesn't pay much, and the hours are long, and the work is behind the scenes and thankless, but I'd love to do it. Unfortunately, I am not sure they'd love to have me. It seems that after the last interview things kind of haven't gone anywhere. They said they wouldn't be making a decision until mid August, so maybe I am seeing rejection where there isn't any. Must stay positive.

Last day of Twilight Camp

Speaking of Cub Scouts, I have had many Cub Scout Activities the last few weeks. Let's see....

1.Basil went to Twilight Camp and I was his Den Leader for that (something I couldn't have done if I'd had a job). It was amazing fun. I wrote about it previously so I won't go into any detail. But it was fun, and Athanasia and I made some friends among adult leaders of other Packs. But wait! There's more Scout Stuff!

The Four of Us at Friend's Court of Honor

2. A friend of mine, the son of friends of mine was made an Eagle Scout and we attended his Court of Honor during the week Basil was at Twilight camp.

2. We attended Scout Night at a San Jose Giants baseball game, where we camped on the outfield, watched Sand Lot on the Jumbotron.

3. We went on a hike with our Pack in the Rodeo Lagoon in the Marin Headlands part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. We taught the boys, mostly 5 year old Tiger Cubs, how to identify poison oak, wild strawberries, black berries, fennel, and camomile. For most of them it was their first hike and earned them the first of the S.F. Bay Trail Trekker series of patches for their uniforms. Basil Wenceslas was the only bot to get hurt. I'm not sure how it happened but he fell and got a nasty puncture wound in the palm of his left hand. Thankfully, Atanasia was there. She's Red Cross trained and caries the First Aid kit. He was bound up like a mummy in less time that it takes me to tell you about it.

4. We attended, together with many hundreds of other Cub Scouts from various Packs, Scout Night at a San Jose Earthquakes soccer game. Anselm Samuel was chosen to carry the flag onto the field at the beginning of the game. I lead the the remaining Cub Scouts from our Pack in the "cheer tunnel" which was two files of Cub Scouts who welcomed the players onto the field. It was fun, but in spite of the game played on the field, which ended with a score of 0-0. When we got to our seats in the stands after opening ceremonies the boys had cotton candy, and there was a section of the stands where a gorup of perhas three score young men jumped up and down and sang bood curdling fight songs and banged on drums for the whole game. I have no idea why, since their singing/yelling/jumping/drumming seemed completely unrealated to anything taking place on the field of contest. Nevertheless, as an object of anthropological interest they were fascinating. In short, I think soccer is a horrible waste of magnificent athletic ability. Someone, please, give those poor men a better game to play. Perhaps, beach volleyball or motorcycle racing.

Well, I might not file for bankruptcy. There is another optoion but I am loathe to go that route. I could borrow more money from the United States and complete the M.A. degree I started. Thate will put all of my existing student loans into differment and give me more time to find work. That might be better. I thnk that is what I will do. But I sure hate borrowing more money to pay for a degree, I have become convinced, will not help me make money. Oh, man. What a pit I am in. But I'm not feeling blue. There is food to eat and the rent is paid.

The Basic Elements of Victorious Christian Life

2011-07-04T01:14:00.000-07:00

On Saturday a clerk in a store in that sells Orthodox stuff and I were chatting and he said, "Hey come with me out to my truck for a minute I have something I want to give you." I went with him and what he gave me was a piece of paper with some instruction from Fr. Thomas Hopko inscribed thereupon.

The Basic Elements of Victorious Christian Life
55 Maxims by V.Rev. Fr. Thomas Hopko

1. Be always with Christ.
2. Pray as you can, not as you want.
3. Have a keepable rule of prayer that you do by discipline.
4. Say the Lord's Prayer several times a day.
5. Have a short prayer that you constantly repeat when your mind is not occupied with other things.
6. Make some prostrations when you pray.
7. Eat good foods in moderation.
8. Keep the Church's fasting rules.
9. Spend some time insilence every day.
10. Do acts of mercy in secret.
11. Go to liturgical services regularly.
12. Go to confession and communion regularly.
13. Do not engage intrusive thoughts and feelings. Cut them off at the start.
14. Reveal all your thoughts and feelings regularly to a trusted person.
15. Read the Scriptures regularly.
16. Read good books a little bit at a time.
17. Cultivate communion with the saints.
18. Be an ordinary person.
19. Be polite with everyone.
20. Maintain cleanliness and order in your home.
21. Have a healthy wholesome hobby.
22. Exercize regulary.
23. Live a day and a part of a day at a time.
24. Be totally honest, first of all with yourself.
25. Be faithfull in little things.
26. Do your work, and then forget it.
27. Do the most difficult and painful things first.
28. Face reality.
29. Be grateful in all things.
30. Be cheerful.
31. Be simple, hidden, quiet, and small.
32. Never bring attention to yourself.
33. Listen when people talk to you.
34. Be awake and attentive.
35. Think and talk about things no more than necessary.
36. Speak simply, clearly, firmly, and directly.
37. Flee imagination, analysis, figuring things out.
38. Flee carnal, sexual things at their first appearance.
39. Don't complain, mumble, murmer, or whine.
40. Don't compare yourself with anyone.
41. Don't seek or expect praise or pity from anyone.
42. Don't judge anyone for anything.
43. Don't try to convince anyone of anything.
44. Don't defend or justify yourself.
45. Be defined or bound by God alone.
46. Accept criticizm gratefully but test it critically.
47. Give advice to others only when asked or obligated to do so.
48. Do nothing for others that they can and should do for themselves.
49. Have a daily schedule of activities, avoiding whim and caprice.
50. Be merciful with yourself and with others.
51. Have no expectations except to be fiercely tempted to your last breath.
52. Focus exclusively on God and light, not on sin and darkness.
53. Endure the trial of yourself and your faults and sins peacefully, serenely, because you know that God's mercy is greater than your wretchedness.
54. When you fall, get up immediately, and start over.
55. Get help when you need it, without fear and without shame.

Cycles

2011-07-02T03:04:00.000-07:00

A Protestant friend of mine, who also had very little expereince of the Orthodox Church once asked me if I get tired of doing the same thing in Church all the time. It was kind of funny to me then, and still is now. I explained to him how our services are like a series of interlocking wheels of various diamaters so that every service is actually different from every other service, and that the same service won't repeat for several centuries.
In fact, they are so different from each other that a choir director friend of mine prepares "Choir Cues" for every Sunday Divine Liturgy of the year. (I'll put an example of them at the end of this post.)

So, what are these interlocking wheels?

1. The Daily Cycle - From sundown to sundown, every day is filled with the possibility of many services, each with their own changeable and unchangeable parts . The unchangeable parts are dictated by which service it is. The changeabe parts are dictated by the other cycles. The services of the daily cycle are:
a. Vespers ( Ἑσπερινός ) - emphasis on the setting sun contrasted with the Light of Christ. Served at sunset.
b. Compline (Ἀπόδειπνον ) - emphasis on preparing for death. Though the Greek name for the service literally means "after supper" it is served at bedtime.
c. The Midnight Service (Μεσονυκτικόν ) - emphasis on Divine mercy, the second comming of Jesus, and encouragement to remain faithful to him. Served at midnight. (This is my favorite service to do at home.)
d. Matins (Ὄρθρος) - emphasis on the resurrection of Jesus. Served at dawn.
e. The 1st Hour (Πρῶτη Ὥρα) - emphasis on the creation and fall, and on Jesus trial before the high priest. Served at 7 a.m.
f. The 3rd Hour (Τρίτη Ὥρα) - emphasis on the descent of the Holy Spirit. Served at 9 a.m.
g. The 6th Hour (Ἕκτη Ὥρα) - emphasis on the crucifixion of Jesus. Served at noon.
h. The 9th Hour (Ἐννάτη Ὥρα) - emphasis on the death of Jesus. Served at 3 p.m.
i. The Divine Liturgy - the main eucaristic service of the Orthodox Church is not thought of as part of the Daily Cycle but can be served every day (required on Sundays and major feasts). On days when it is served it is served in the morning and 3rd and 6th Hour precede it.

2. The Fixed Cycle - Commemorations, scripture readings, and hymns that are tied to specific dates on the Calendar. For example, today is July 2. On this date we commemorate 6 saints and two historical events, sing two prescribed hymns that are sung on no other day of the year, and read Romans 3:28-4:3 and Matthew 7:24-8:4. Some dates have more or fewer saints of historical event to commemorate. Some have more hymns, but none has fewer than two. Some dates have more Scripture readings, but none has fewer than two.

3. The Musical Cycle - each week has a tone (family of melodies is the best way to think of it) assigned to it. There are eight tones and the hymns are sung to these melodies. The tone changes each week, and the Cycle repeats every eight weeks. So, for example, on today, 2 July 2011, the prescribed tone is Tone 1. But next year the prescribed tone for July 2 will be a different tone. So, the words of the hymns will be the same but the tones will be different.

4. The Weekly Cycle - Every day of the week commemeorates someone or something different and for each day there are specific prayers and hymns inserted into the services. Also, the weekly cycle regulates which Kathisma are read during the services on each day so that the entire Psalter is read each week.
Sunday - the resurrection of Jesus
Monday - the holy angels
Tuesday - St. John the Forerunner
Wednesday - Mary and the Cross
Thursday - The Apostles and St. Nicholas of Myra (AKA Santa Claus)
Friday - Mary and the Cross
Saturday - All Saints and all dead Christians

5. The Cycle of the Sunday Matins Gospels - As mentioned above, the Matins service and every Sunday emphasise the resurrection of Jesus. That means that Sunday Matins are especially comemorative of the Resurrection. Part of that emphasis is reading the eleven accounts of Jesus post-resurrection appearances found in the Gospels. This cycle repeats every eleven sundays, beginning on the Sunday after Pentecost.

The Sunday Matins Gospels are:

Matthew 28:1-16
Mark 16:1-8
Mark 16:9-20
Luke 24:1-12
Luke 24:12-35
Luke 24:36-53
John 20:1-10
John 20:11-18
John 20:19-31
John 21:1-14
John 21:15-25

Right before the reading of these Gospels are hymns and readings from the Psalms pertaining to the resurrection of Jesus, each Gospel having its own particular hymn and Psalm reading. And following the reading of the Sunday Matins Gospel the deacon says:

"Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one. We venerate Thy cross, O Christ, and Thy holy Resurrection we praise and glorify. For Thou art our God, and we know none other than Thee. We call on Thy name. O come, all ye faithful, let us venerate Christ's holy Resurrection. For behold, through the cross joy hath come into all the world. Ever blessing the Lord, we praise his Resurrection: for by enduring the cross, he hath slain death by death."

Exceptions to this cycle are when one of the Great Feasts (i.e. Christmas, Ascension, Annunciation, etc.) falls on a Sunday. Each of the Great Feasts of Jesus has it's own Matins Gospel, and the Matins Gospel for Great Fests of Mary is always Luke 1:39-49

6. The Moveable Cycle - This is a cycle of observances regulated by the occurance of Pascha. According to the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325), Pashca, the anual celebration of the resurrection of Jesus be observed by all Chrisstians on the same Sunday. Though he left out some important details, the basic idea of when Pascha is to be celebrated is stated by St. Bede as "The Sunday following the full Moon which falls on or after the [vernal] equinox will give the lawful Easter." Thus Pascha can fall early as April 4 and as late as May 8.

But the date of Pascha determines the dates of many other important feasts and commemorations. In fact, they are too many for me to discuss them with any detail, but they all have their own hymns, music, prayers, and Scripture readings layed on top of those from the other cycles. Some of the observances of the Moveable Cycle are:

Sunday of Zaccheus
Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee
Sunday of the Prodigal Son
Sunday of the Last Judgement (last day to eat meat)
Sunday of Forgiveness (last day to eat dairy)
Lent (40 days of fasting and special services that are served no other time during the year)
Palm Sunday
Holy Week
PASCHA
Bright Week
Ascension (40 days after Pascha)
Pentecost (50 days after Pascha)

So, there they are; breifly explained with no detail (The detail is contained in many large books with strange sounding names. Example: The information for the Fixed Cycle is contained in 12 volumes called the Menaion.) at all, the six Cycles that keep me from getting bored with having to do the same service over and over again.

----------------------------------------------------
Example of "Choir Cues" by Reader Philip Sokolov

SUNDAY, JULY 3

3rd SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Tone 2. Martyr Hyacinth of Caesarea in Cappadocia.

Sunday Readings:

Epistle: (88) Romans 5:1-10

Gospel: (18) Matthew 6:22-33

Martyr Hyacinth of Caesarea in Cappadocia (108). Translation of the Relics of Hieromartyr Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow (1652). Ven. Anatoly (Anatolius) of the Kiev Caves (Near Caves—12th c.), and Ven. Anatoly (another), Recluse, of the Kiev Caves (Far Caves—13th c.). St. Vasily, Bishop of Riazan’ (1295). Rt. Blv. Princes Vasily and Constantine of Yaroslavl’ (13th c.). Ven. John and Longinus, Wonderworkers of Yarensk (Solovetsky Monastery—1544-45). Bl. John of Moscow, Fool-for-Christ (1589). Ven. Nicodim (Nikodemus), Abbot of Kozheyezersk (1640). Martyrs Diomedes, Eulampius, Asclepiodotus and Golinduc, who suffered with Hyacinth (2nd c.). Martyrs Mocius (Mucian) and Mark (4th c.). St. Alexander, Founder of the “Unsleeping Ones” (ca. 430). St. Anatolius, Patriarch of Constantinople (458). Monk Martyr Gerasimus (1812). Icon of the Most-holy Theotokos, the “MILK-GIVER” of Chilandari Monastery on Mt. Athos.

READER AND CHOIR CUES

HOURS

At All Hours:

Troparion, Resurrection

Glory…

Troparion, Saint

Now and ever…

Theotokion from the Horologion

Kontakion, Resurrection

DIVINE LITURGY OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

BEATITUDES TROPARIA on 8, Tone 2: All Resurrection.

In Thy kingdom remember us, O Lord, * when Thou comest in Thy kingdom.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, * for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, * for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, * for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, * for they shall be filled.

8. We offer Thee the voice of the thief / and cry aloud to Thee: / Remember us, O Savior // in Thy Kingdom.

7. We bring Thee the Cross / for the forgiveness of offenses. / For us hast Thou accepted it, // O Lover of mankind.

6. We venerate, O Master, / Thy tomb and Thy rising, / through which Thou hast delivered the world from corruption, // O Lover of mankind.

5. By Thy death, O Lord, death has been swallowed up, / and by Thy Resurrection, / O Savior, // has the world been saved.

4. Risen from the tomb / Thou hast met the women bearing myrrh / and told the disciples // to proclaim Thy Rising.

3. Those sleeping in darkness / have seen Thee, the Light, / and they have risen // out of the nethermost parts of hell, O Christ.

2. Let us all glorify the Father, / worship the Son / and faithfully sing // the praises of the Holy Spirit.

1. Rejoice, O Throne in the form of fire: / Rejoice, O unwedded Bride. / Rejoice, to you O Virgin // who has brought forth God for man.

TROPARIA & KONTAKIA

Troparion, Resurrection, Tone 2: When Thou didst descend to death, O Life Immortal, / Thou didst slay hell with the splendor of Thy Godhead! / And when from the depths Thou didst raise the dead, / all the powers of heaven cried out: // O Giver of Life, Christ our God, Glory to Thee!

[Troparion, Church (if of Theotokos or Saint(s))]

Troparion, Saint, Tone 4: Thy holy martyr Hyacinth, O Lord, / through his suffering has received an incorruptible crown from Thee, our God. / For having Thy strength, he laid low his adversaries, / and shattered the powerless boldness of demons. // Through his intercessions save our souls.

Kontakion, Resurrection, Tone 2: Hell became afraid, O Almighty Savior, / seeing the miracle of Thy Resurrection from the tomb! / The dead arose! Creation, with Adam, beheld this and rejoiced with Thee! // And the world, O my Savior, praises Thee forever.

[Kontakion, Church (if of Saint(s))]

Glory…

Kontakion, Saint, Tone 6: Thy martyr, O Christ, having acquired Thy Faith / like a tree of life in the midst of his soul, / became more honorable than the Garden of Eden, / boldly destroying the tree of the serpent’s deception by his spirit; / and he was crowned with Thy glory, // O greatly Merciful One.

Now and ever…

[Kontakion, Church (if of Theotokos). If not, then:]

Theotokion, Tone 6: Steadfast protectress of Christians, / constant advocate before the Creator; / despise not the cry of us sinners, / but in your goodness come speedily to help us who call on you in faith. / Hasten to hear our petition and to intercede for us, O Theotokos, // for you always protect those who honor you!

EPISTLE

Reader: The Prokeimenon in the 2nd Tone: The Lord is my strength and my song, He has become my salvation.

Choir: The Lord is my strength and my song, He has become my salvation.

Reader: The Lord has chastened me sorely, but He has not given me over to death.

Choir: The Lord is my strength and my song, He has become my salvation.

Reader: The Lord is my strength and my song,

Choir: He has become my salvation.

Reader: The Reading from the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Romans.

[(88) Romans 5:1-10] Brethren: Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. * Through Him we have obtained access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. * More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, * and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, * and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. * While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. * Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man — though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. * But God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. * Since, therefore, we are now justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. * For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.

Priest: Peace be unto you, reader.

Reader: And to your spirit.

Deacon: Wisdom!

THE ALLELUIA

(PAUSE before first verse)

Reader: In the 2nd Tone, Alleluia.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Reader: May the Lord hear you in the day of trouble! May the Name of the God of Jacob protect you!

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Reader: Save the King, O Lord, and hear us on the day we call.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

GOSPEL

[(18) Matthew 6:22-33] The Lord said: “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; * but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! * No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. * Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? * Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? * And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his stature? * And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; * yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. * But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? * Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ * For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. * But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”

COMMUNION VERSE

Praise the Lord from the heavens! Praise Him in the highest!

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Economics of Children

2011-06-30T23:33:00.000-07:00

Anselm Samuel traded two rolly-polly bugs, one moth and one lady bug for three pokemon cards at camp today. He seems to think it was a good trade.

From the CSA we got a huge amount of carrots

2011-06-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

PICKLED SWEET CARROTS

8 c. carrots, sliced (about 2 lbs.)
2 c. cider vinegar
2 c. sugar
1 tbsp. whole cloves
1 tbsp. whole allspice
2 sticks cinnamon

Peel and slice carrots into 3/4 inch long pieces. Cover and cook in a small amount of boiling salt water about 5 minutes or until just tender. Drain. Combine vinegar, 1 1/2 cups water and sugar in a kettle. Add spices tied in cheesecoth. Bring mixture to a boil. Add carrots, cover, and let stand at room temperature overnight. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 3 minutes. Remove spices and pack carrots into clean hot pint jars. Fill to within 1/2 inch of top with hot syrup. Seal immediately. Process 30 minutes in boiling-water bath.Makes about 4 pints.

Boy Scouts

2011-06-25T00:48:00.000-07:00

I have had a very full plate of Boys Scouts this week. Monday night through Friday night was our local Council's Cub Scout Twilight Camp. From 4:30 to 8:30 I led an ad hoc Den of 11 Cub Scouts, aged 5 to 8 from station to station where they shot BB guns, played kickball, made and launched model rockets, played vollyball, learned how to shoot bows and arrows, sang songs, acted in skits, conducted flag raising and lowering ceremonies, made crystals, buit a wooden model of the space shuttle and played soccer. On the first day they made their Den flag and a different boy carried it at the head of our formation from station to station. And we yelled our Den Yell the whole time we were marching from station to station.

As much as I enjoyed working with the kids I think the best part for me was meeting all the adult leaders. There are about 45 families in my Pack. And they are pretty good. They get their kids to the meetings on time, and some of them volunteer to help out and run the pack. But for the most part Scouting isn't very important to them. It's just another one of their kids activities, along with soccer, little league, and school. They are in it for their kids but don't really think of themselves as part of the Scouting movement. But the people who volunteered to run the Twilight Camp were amazing. Their dedication to Scouting is as near to total as it can be. It was inspiring to be around them.

The other Scouting related thing I did this week was that I interviewed for an executive position at the Council. (The BSA is mostly a volunteer organization. The Council serves more than 30,000 youth members in hundreds of Packs, Troops, and Crews but only has 7 paid employees.) They had applicants from all over the country and norrowed it down to 20. I was one of the 20 they interviewed. I think it went well, but they have a four part hiring process and I only just completed part one. I won't know anything for a couple of weeks.

Tonight after Twilight Camp, Basil and I raced to the baseball park to join the rest of our Pack (We were the only ones from our Pack to go to Twilight Camp.) for the last two innings of the SJ Giants (2010 Cal. League Champions) game against the Stockton Ports. We lost 8-5 but it was fun. Tomorrow night we will join with Scouts from lots and lots of packs for the official Scout Night. After the game we will spend the night in a tent on the outfield!

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

2011-06-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

I woke up from my post liturgy nap feeling a little sad. I had been dreaming of my Dad, my Mom, and my oldest son: All in the grave. It got me to thinking about their funerals, and how a friend of mine was surprised that I took my youngest sons to their funeral. She is someone whoe doesn't think its right to expose children to the harsher realities. And that reminded me of a woman who, when I was teaching 4 year olds at Peninsula Bible Church, asked me to skip the part about God killing people in the flood.

"Let the children come unto me", Jesus comanded. Is there another way to come to Jesus than by repentence? Is there another way to come to him than by asking for mercy? How can a child seek salvation if he doesn't know what he has to be saved from? It seems to me that not letting children know about death, the consequence of sin, is the same as keeping them from Jesus. Mourning the death of those he knows and loves is one of the steps to blessedness.

Part of that blessednes Jesus taught us about, probably all of it, is in the command to "come unto me". We gather around Jesus. We gather around the one who conquored death. An Orthodox monk called Elder Ephraim said mere human sorrow becomes isolating and destructive. When we keep children from the funeral of their loved ones we guide them away from Jesus and force them to moun alone. If we keep children from funerals we keep them from Godly mourning, we keep them in isolation, we keep them from Jesus.

What God Hates: A Helpful List of What to Avoid

2011-06-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

I was thinking today about the Congressman who resigned, and about how some people have suggested that his wife should divorce him. I tend to think that if she can stay with him she should. What he did was wicked, but it seems to me that adding another divorce, which God hates, to the total sins of the world only makes the world a worse place. And thinking about God hating divorce made me think about what else God hates. Here is a list, in order of appearance in the Bible, of the 44 things, persons, and behaviors God hates.

1. Homosexual acts (Leviticus 18:22).
2. Humans having sex with animals (Leviticus 18:23)
3. Idols, and the materials used to make idols (Deuteronomy 7:25)
4. Sacred pillars (Deuteronomy 16:22)
5. Blemished sacrifices (Deuteronomy 17:1)
6. Worshipping the sun, moon or stars (Deuteronomy 17:3-4)
7. Divination (Deuteronomy 18:10)
8. Astrology (Deuteronomy 18:10)
9. Enchanters (Deuteronomy 18:10)
10. Witches (Deuteronomy 18:10)
11. Charmers (Deuteronomy 18:11)
12. Wizards (Deuteronomy 18:11)
13. Necromancers (Deuteronomy 18:11)
14. Transvestitism (Deuteronomy 22:5)
15. Prostitution (Deuteronomy 23:18)
16. Remarriage to a former wife after she has been married to another man (Deuteronomy 24:4)
17. Dishonest scales (Deuteronomy 25:13-16)
18. Workers of iniquity (Psalm 5:5)
19. The wicked (Psalm 11:5)
20. Those who love violence (Psalm 11:5)
21. The perverse (Proverbs 3:32)
22. A proud look (Proverbs 6:16-17)
23. A lying tongue (Proverbs 6:17)
24. Hands that shed innocent blood (Proverbs 6:17)
25. A heart that devises wicked imaginations (Proverbs 6:18)
26. Feet that are swift in running to mischief (Proverbs 6:18)
27. A false witness who speaks lies (Proverbs 6:19)
28. Anyone who sows discord among brethren (Proverbs 6:19)
29. Lying lips (Proverbs 12:22)
30. The sacrifices of the wicked (Proverbs 15:8)
31. The ways of the wicked (Proverbs 15:9)
32. The thoughts of the wicked (Proverbs 15:26)
33. The proud in heart (Proverbs 16:5)
34. Those who justify the wicked (Proverbs 17:15)
35. Those who condemn the just (Proverbs 17:15)
36. Vain sacrifices (Isaiah 1:13)
37. Feasts and New Moons (Isaiah 1:14, Amos 5:21)
38. Robbery for burnt offering (Isaiah 61:8)
39. Idolatry (Jeremiah 44:2-4)
40. Evil plans against neighbors (Zechariah 8:17)
41. False oaths (Zechariah 8:17)
42. Esau (Malachi 1:1-3; Romans 9:13)
43. Divorce (Malachi 2:14-16)
44. The deeds of the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:6, 15)

California

2011-06-16T23:50:00.000-07:00

A hilarious comment on an article about California being ranked at the bottom for personal liberty:

"Ha! You laugh at California now, but wait till we get the $45 billion bullet train between Modesto and Bakersfield completed. That will be the biggest money maker you have ever seen. People will come from all over the world to ride it, and many thousands of jobs will come back to our state. You will see"

Evangelism

2011-06-14T13:36:00.000-07:00

This is interesting. I didn't know this organization existed.

Sadness Continues

2011-06-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

One of the problems of our age, which I think should be called "The Media Age", is that we are aware of so much sadness and suffering. In the past, there was a lot more death. Most most children did not live to see their first birthday. But sadness was, for the most part, local. We didn't hear about a tribe sliding off an ice shelf. We didn't hear about a village being burried by a mudslide. We didn't hear about a misbehaving bishop. We didn't hear about every cocaine addled musician. We didn't hear about every sex-addicted politician. Today we do.

A couple of years ago I mentioned Sly and the Family Stone breaking up dut to the effects of drug abuse. Sly is still at it. Still filling his body with those horrible chemicals. Still suffering. Still hurting himshelf and others. And the sadness just seems to spread.

Maybe, all of this bad news could cause Christians to pray more. If so, then maybe what I now think of as the "Media Age" could become known as the "Prayer Age".

Lord, have mercy.

Good news

2011-06-09T22:34:00.001-07:00

I don't have cancer. Very relieved.

Funny

2011-06-07T01:14:00.000-07:00

I saw this on one of my favorite blogs: Cartego Delenda Est (The author of the blog is also the major reason I am Orthodox today.)

A Darwinist (D) having a conversation with an ID proponent (ID)

D: Naturalistic forces are sufficient for producing biodiversity.

ID: Can you provide any evidence to support your claim?

D: It’s all over the place.

ID: Could you point me to one of those places?

D: Well, sure if you insist. Here is the evidence for Macro Evolution.

ID: Please try to focus. We are not talking about Macro Evolution. The issue is whether or not naturalistic forces are “sufficient” to produce it.

D: Please tell me why you think an intelligent agent was responsible.

ID: Again, I must ask you to stay on topic. We are discussing your claim, not mine.

D: I believe that my neo-Darwinistic theory is adequate. Eventually, matter in motion will produce life and leave the appearance of design, even though that design is not real.

ID: I understand that you believe in the neo-Darwinism paradigm, but I am asking you if you have any good reasons for believing in it.

D: ID is not a rigorous science.

ID: ID is rigorous enough that its proponents can produce empirical evidence that lends itself to scientific measurement. Do you have any empirical, measurable evidence to support your position?

D: Please define “information.”

ID: I will be happy to do that at another time, but I am, at the moment, interested in finding out if you can make a rational case for your argument.

D: I think evolutionary processes resemble intentional intelligent processes very closely.

ID. That is an interesting claim, but I am still hoping that you will defend your original claim, which you seem to have forgotten.

D: Well, if you must know, I find the Darwinistic explanation more parsimonious?

ID: But do you have any reason to believe that this parsimonious explanation reflects reality or is consistent with the evidence?

D: Yes, thousands of scientists believe it.

ID: But that is precisely what all the fuss in about. Those scientists, like you, cannot support their beliefs, which is why we are having this discussion.

D: Well, I’ve been busy, and I’ve slightly lost track of the challenge. But yes, I do think that unintelligent processes can generate intelligent ones. I don’t see any good a priori reason to think they couldn’t.

ID: But do you have any evidentially-based reasons for believing that?

D: I have already presented the evidence?

ID: Again, you have presented summaries of arguments on behalf of Common Descent? You have not, in any way, presented an argument to support the proposition that naturalistic forces can take life through all the taxonomic levels or produce even one new body plan.

D: Please define “naturalistic forces.”

ID: They are what you thought they were when you said they were “sufficient.”

Saturday Soundtrack: 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover

2011-06-04T23:05:00.000-07:00

At the age of 7 I didn't really understand what this song was about, or how silly the advice given in the song was. I guess I was a teenager before I understood what the song was about. I just liked the chorus

Just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy
O, you hop on the bus, Gus
Don't need to discuss mucth
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free

In a way, it's a very 1970s song, isn't it? Very selfish. Admittedly, I do not know Paul Simon, but I always pick up this very sefish vibe from his songs.

Anyway, I remember, like with so many other songs, first hearing it while riding in my brother Mark's car.

The album, Still Crazy After All These Years, was the fourth released by Simon after his break up with Art Garfunkle, and produced three top 40 hits. (Interestingly, one of those hit songs, though not the subject of this blog post was written and recorded with Garfunkle.) And the album was noted then and now for certain unusual and innovative musical techniques. On this song it is Steve Gadd's drumming.

Dream Come True

2011-06-03T21:37:00.000-07:00

Tonight, after supper, Anselm got out his music book and recorder and asked if he could show me how to play Miss Masey, which he learned how to play in school. I played on the ukulele. Then he asked his mother to play on her recorder. Then Basil wanted to play something. First he tried the cabasa, but that took a little more skill than he was able to muster, so I switched him to the tamburine. And then we four played music!!! I was so happy. The boys are asleep now. I can hardley wait until moring when we will play again.

Trees

2011-06-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

We walked to the library today. Something I love about where I live is that the neigborhood is full of trees. Most streets in Willow Glen are overarched by branches so that walking or driving along them is like going through a green tunnel. At oak trees I tell the boys about Abraham and Sarah being visted by the Holy Trinity at the Oaks of Mamre. At a particular sycamore where they swing on ropes someone has hung from stout limbs I tell them about Zacheus and Jesus. At the junipers, which are not my favorite tree, they climb high in the branches as I tell them about Elijah and the prophets of Baal, and how after that great miracle he was afraid of Jezabel and ran and rested (hid?) under a juniper. At the fig tree I tell them about Jesus cursing a fig tree for not bearing fruit. There are some cedars, so tall they are easy not to notice, and at those I tell them about King Hiram supplying the lumber for Solomon's temple. I live in a good place for teaching my boys about the love of God.

A guide to Orthodox Seminary Education

2011-06-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

St. Tikhon's : You go here to learn how to use a censer.
St. Vladimir's: You go here to learn the meaning of a censer.
Holy Cross: You go here to learn how to raise money to pay for a censer.
Holy Trinity: Their censer is more Orthodox than your censer.
St. Herman's: Would someone, please, buy them a censer?

The Fable of the Horse and the Stag

2011-05-26T00:32:00.000-07:00

Aesop: AT ONE TIME the Horse had the plain entirely to himself. Then a Stag intruded into his domain and shared his pasture. The Horse, desiring to revenge himself on the stranger, asked a man if he were willing to help him in punishing the Stag. The man replied that if the Horse would receive a bit in his mouth and agree to carry him, he would contrive effective weapons against the Stag. The Horse consented and allowed the man to mount him. From that hour he found that instead of obtaining revenge on the Stag, he had enslaved himself to the service of man.

Question: Which of the three characters in the fable would you replace with "America"?
Question: Which would you replace with "Bin Ladin"?
Question: Which would you replace with "Pakistan"?

Guitars

2011-05-17T01:29:00.000-07:00

21 years ago this month I was in Nashville, Tennessee. Beside the stage door of the Ryman Auditorium is another door. And going through that door is like stepping into a different world, a world where only music matters. I walked into Gruhn Guitars to sell the little Martin guitar my mother gave me when I was 16. She got it from my uncle Harry Powers. He had a guitar but wanted an organ. My mother had an organ but wanted a guitar. About forty years before that Harry Powers was leaving Bible college and needed to sell the trailer he was living in. Roy M. Chapell, who later in life would be the head of the PCG, had just arrived at Bible college but didn't have a place to live. But he had a guitar. They traded: Guitar for trailer. How it killed me to say good-by to that guitar. But I had two little boys and no money to pay the rent. But there was consolation. Gruhn Guitars was like nothing I'd ever seen. I opened the door and was overwheled by the music. It was like an unending song as customer after customer, some of the best musicians in the world, picked up instruments to join in the symphony and test the instruments. I only knew 13 or 14 chords and none of them were F. So, I wasn't nearly good enough to join in that music. But I could listen and be amazed. And I knew someone better than me would get my guitar and make better music. I know Vince Gill, Eric Clapton, and Amy Grant have bought guitars there. So, though I have always been sad for my loss, I've also thought that, maybe, the little Martin guitar was on its way to its telos that day, and I was comforted by that. And by having a roof over my family's head for a couple of more months.

Cecelia: A Saturday Soundtrack Post

2011-05-07T01:50:00.000-07:00

Some people think this song is about a songwriter's relationship with St. Ceclia, a patron saint of musicians. I have no idea if that is true, or not, but I've always liked the song. In the spring of 1986 I and a few other of Drill Sergeant McCain's privates in 1st platoon, B-4-5 at Ft. Dix New Jersey began singing it, and before we knew it, the whole platoon was marching around us in circle. Yes, we had turned a Simon and Garfunkel song into an Army marching cadence.

It's not Saturday but, what the heck, here's part of the Soundtrack.

2011-05-06T03:31:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago I was in the bathroom of a certain establishment on Hwy 9. The walls and ceilng of the the bathroom were covered with album covers from the late '60s and early '70s, which was a very amazing time in the music business. It seemed like everyone knew everyone else. For example, Delaney and Bonnie, who were connected to Eric Clapton (Clapton said Delaney taught him how to sing.), Rita Coolidge, George Harrison, Joe Cocker, and many others worked as backup musicians for Delaney and Bonnie, and their concerts were known as some of the best parties in the world.

For a band that was so deeply enmeshed in the music scene of the time, that was so influential in the later careers of so many, Clapton and Harrison especially, you'd think more people would know about them, that their songs would get more airplay on the "oldies" stations. Well, you know how there are bands that can only make records but flop when they perform live? Delaney and Bonnie had the opposite problem. Jerry Wexler said the studio album they recorded for him "didn't quite catch the fire of their live performances". None of their albums did.

Delaney and Bonnie divorced in 1973. Their daughter Bekka Bramlett joined Fleetwood Mac in the 1990s.

This song, Never Ending Song of Love, has been recorded by everyone. And almost everyone's recording of it is better than Delaney and Bonnie's original. It is part of their 1971 album Motel Shot, which was recorded "live" in the studio with only acoustic instruments. It was an attempt to catch the fire of their live performances. The album cover was stapled above and to the left of the wash basin in the bathroom.

Obtaining Mercy

2011-05-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

Every Sunday we hear that Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy." But sometimes it is hard to be merciful. If we give money to a charity, such as Feed the Children, can we be sure we are being merciful? Or, is most of the money given being spent on fundraising and salaries of employees?

Thankfully, the Church does give us guidelines to help us be merciful, and in many instances, it seems to me, these works of mercy are best performed by individuals or by by families, but not by large charity organizations, or even by parishes.

The corporal works of mercy:

To feed the hungry;
To give drink to the thirsty;
To clothe the naked;
To harbour the harbourless;
To visit the sick;
To ransom the captive;
To bury the dead.

The spiritual works of mercy:

To instruct the ignorant;
To counsel the doubtful;
To admonish sinners;
To bear wrongs patiently;
To forgive offences willingly;
To comfort the afflicted;
To pray for the living and the dead.

Of these, it seems to me, that only burying the dead requires group effort, unless one is unusually rich and able to buy land for the poor.

This Day in Willow Glen

2011-04-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

I have been enjoying being able to hear again. Yes, I can hear in one of my ears! It has been this way since Pascha. Holy Week was so dim for me but now I hear. I am happy.

Today, Bright Saturday, Anselm Samuel, Basil Wenceslas, and I went downtown. The people my little neighborhood of Willow Glen call it "downtown", which I think is funny, since San Jose, wherein Willow Glen is located, has a downtown with skyscrapers, hotels, and museums, the RC Cathedral, theaters, etc. It is about a 1/3 mile length of Licoln Avenue stretching from the bridge over Los Gatos Creek at the north end (where we live) to Willow Glen Elementary School at the shouth end.

We set out, the three of us, by different modes. I was on foot. Basil was on his scooter. Anselm was on his bicycle. This last I want to talk about a bit. Anselm rode his bicylce on the street (it is four lanes wide and has much traffic), in the traffic, changing lanes, giving hand signals. I told him, "you have the right to be on that road. That is the law. Just obey the traffic laws and don'to not let the cars intimidate you." At one point, when a woman passed him and yelled, "Shouldn't you be on the side walk?" he just ignored her and went about his business. He was afraid of all the cars, he said, but he did what needed to be done. I am proud of him.

The first place we went was the Bagel store. I thought it would be wonderful to taste cream cheese on a bagel again, for the first time since before Lent, but I was wrong. You see, I've been eating paskha on kulich all week. Cream cheese on a bagel just can't compare. But it was nice just the same. The boys and I read the paper while eating our bagels. Anslem read the comics aloud to Basil while I read about the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton that happened yesterday. At one point one of my Cub Scouts came in. It was his first time to see me outside of a Cub Scout activity. He just kept looking at my clothes, like he never thought I might wear something other than a uniform.

When we finished the bagels we went up the street to a toy store named Treehouse in the Glen, to buy some more marbles and chalk. We played some games while we were there. Basil beat me at this crazy version of Tic Tac Toe in which you can capture your oponents squares. It wouldn't have been so bad, but he beat me four times!

After that we went to Basil's favorite store, the Willow Glen Collective. Its a really neat little shop. You can buy plates stamped "Made in Occupied Japan", carnival glass, old tobacco tins, bakelite jewelry, art decco lamps... It's really like a little museum and the stock turns over all the time so there is always new stuff to see. Today they had in an old apothacary balance. The boys had a lot of fun with that. And I think I found a Mother's Day present for my wife!

The next place we stopped was the elementary school. We drew a chalk circle and played marbles. We played several games. Anselm won them all. Then the boys raced around the school yard on their vehicles for a little while before we left to go home.

We stopped at Starbucks and got iced tea, since it is a warmish day, maybe in the mid-70s. Well, I got iced tea. The boys just wanted water. Then we went a couple of doors down to Hicklebee's, the best childrens bookstore I've ever seen. We looked around there for a while, but I didn't buy anything. We have many books at home still that have yet tobe read.

We came home after that, and Anselm oiled his bike chain while Basil rode his scooter for a while longer. While Basil was riding up and down our street he met our neighber, the one with thelemon tree. He came home with two lemons and I made them into lemonade for him and Anselm. The key to lemonade is having twice the volume of simple syrup as lemon juice. I think most people don't like home made lemonade becuse they have more lemon juice than simple syrup.

While I am writing this the boys are eating a late lunch of Manhattan clam chowder and french bread. Well, Basil isn't. He says he hates it and wants me to make New England clam chowder instead. Well, he can go hungry. I'm not a short order cook. I'll try to make something he likes for supper.

Ron Paul: The New Ronald Reagan?

2011-04-26T23:06:00.000-07:00

In 1976 Ronald Reagan ran for President of the United States but lost the Republican nomination to Gerald Ford. Ford was one of the nicest men to ever serve as President. He was an Eagle Scout, a war hero who charged below decks to fight a fire after the order to abandon ship had been given, a boxer and a football player, and nobody didn't like him. (Very impressivley, he's one of three U.S. Presidents about whom there has never even been a roumor of adultery.)

After a hard fought campaign for the nomination of the Republican Party, in a geasture of peacemaking and friendship that I think was genuine, Ford invited his opponent for the nomination to speak to the Convention. In just a few words, Ronald Reagan pointed out that the future of humanity depended on what that Convention did, and on who America chose to be President. And the feeling in the auditorium, according to people who were there, even the supporters of Gerald Ford who had worked so hard to defeat Ronald Reagan, knew they had just nominated the wrong man.

Gerald Ford lost the general election and Jimmy Carter presided over a national malaise that lasted until 1981 when Ronald Reagan finally moved into the White House. Ronald Reagan, who summarized his position on the global communist conspiracy with the words "We win. They lose." was able to cut through all the verbage politicians like to hide behind. He identified the Soviet Union as an evil empire. While in office he wrote and published a book on the national sin of legalized abortion. He saw threats to life and liberty, and he drew a line in the sand.

But line drawers are not often liked. They are often hated by people who just want to go along and get along. But sometimes, after sounding the warning, after staying on message year after year, of not getting distracted, even in the face of electoral defeat a line drawer is elected. Ronald Reagan was one of those men. Ron Paul is such a man.

Ron Paul, is not a lawyer, which means he is not professionally trained to be mealy-mouthed. His position on communism in America is known. He says it is wrong. His position on abortion is known. He says it is wrong. His position on the hubris of elected officials is known. His postion on fiscal irresponsibility is known. His position on oppressive taxation is known. His positions on the federal leviathan, on internationalism, on war for money, and on fiat currecny are known. He says they are wrong. He won't have to appoint a commission a month like President Obama does before he can say what he thinks is right. Why? Because he is 76 years old and has spent his life doing what is right.

And, like Ronaldus Magnus, he has run for President and lost. He lost but didn't give up. In fact, he lost twice but did not give up. And each time he ran the message of small government, human dignity, fiscal restraint, and individual responsibility become more popular. Ronald Reagan, an actor from California saved America from malaise in 1981. It is possible that Ron Paul, an obstetrician from Texas can pull America back from the brink of oblivion in 2013.

Vespers and Matins

2011-04-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

I still don't understand why we shift the times on all the services for Holy Week, but it was very conventient for us this year. Yesterday, Great and Holy Friday, were able to get to Vespers of the Deposition at St. Nicholas Church in Saratoga at 3 p.m. and then drive to San Francisco for Matins of Burial at 7 p.m. at Holy Trinity Cathedral.

This was my first time to go to Vespers on Holy Friday. It was surprising to see the priest and deacon take the Icon of Jesus down from the cross and wrap it in a shroud. Sometimes, I think the troparion for this day, "The Noble Joseph" about Joseph of Arimathea burying Jesus is the most beautiful song in the Church.

The noble Joseph, when he had taken down Thy most pure body from the Tree,
wrapped it in fine linen and anointed it with spices, and placed it in a new tomb.

He loved God, and took care of his body, even when it looked like God was dead. That is faith. (You can here a sample of the music here.)

Summary of Fr. Basil's homily: Though Jesus was resting inthe grave on this Most Blessed Sabbath, it was a very active rest. Jesus went to hades and searched out our first Adam and Eve. Even when the situation looks hopeless, He never gives up on us.

We met our friend Alison at St. Nicholas and gave her a ride up to San Francisco. I sat in the back seat with the boys, while she and Athanasia sat in the front and talked on the way up. I couldn't hear most of what they were talking about so I just sat in the back seat thinking about the service we had just expereinced.

When we got to HTC Bishop Benjamin, Archpriest John, Deacon Brendan, and all the choir and altar servers were in the kitchen. The bishop had made a pot of beans and baked bread for all of them to eat between services. (He is a very thoughtful pastor.) We had about 1/2 hour to visit with everyone before the start of Matins. It was really nice to see old friends again.

I stood by the choir so I could hear the singing of the 118th/119th Psalm, a Psalm that we cant at all funerals. Because this is Jesus funeral, and because we are Orthodox think the Psalm isn't long enough even though it is the longest Psalm in the Bible, we add extra verses to it. In between verses of the Psalm we stitch in other verses called praises. It goes like this:

Verse 1 . Blessed are the blameless in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.

In the tomb they laid you,
you, O Christ, who are Life;

in amazement angel armies lift up their song
as they glorify your self-abasement, Lord.

Verse 2. Blessed are those who search out his testimonies, they will seek for him with their whole heart.

Life, how can you perish,
or how dwell in a tomb?

Yet the royal hall of Death you now bring to nought,
and from Hades’ realm you raise the dead again.

Verse 3. For the workers of iniquity have not walked in his ways.

Now we magnify you,
O Lord Jesu, our King,

we pay honour to your Passion and burial
for from foul corruption you saved us through them.

But as the Psalm progresses the prases grow shorter...

Verse 174. I long for Thy salvation, 0 Lord, Thy law is my delight.

The mind is affrighted at Thy dread and strange burial.

Vesrse 175. Let me live, that I may praise Thee, and let Thy ordinances help me.

The women with spices came early at dawn to anoint Thee.

Verse 176. I have gone astray like a lost sheep, seek Thy servant, for I do not forget Thy commandments.

By Thy resurrection grant peace to the Church and salvation to Thy people!

I don't know how it is sung by other parsihes, but at Holy Trinity Cathedral the tune for the prasies is dfferent from the tune for the Pslam verses and it is sung at lightning speed. It can be overwhelming. I, because of my poor hearing was only able to understand a little of what was being sung.

Singing the Praises was, next to Bishop Benjamin's short homily at the end, my favorite part of the service.

Oh, Wait! How can I say that? There was the Canon. I won't relate the whole thing here because most of you already know it and will hear it again tonight, just before the Paschal Liturgy begins but WOW! what an ending?!

Let the creation rejoice excedingly, let all those born on earth be glad:

for hell, the enemy, has been despoiled.

Ye women, come to me and meet me with sweet spices:

for I am delivering Adam and Eve with all their offspring, and on the third day I shall rise again. (The last little bit of the Ninth Ode of the Canon for Holy Saturday).

I know, I'm silly, and on Pascha I'll say the Paschal Canon is my favorite, but the few lines of the Canon for Holy Saturday I was able to hear (You might have read that I've lost quite a bit of my ability to hear.) were amazingly beautiful and right now that Canon is my favorite.

Then there was the procession. That is Basil Wenceslas' favorite part of any service. I don't really understand what a lot of processions are for. I guess, the one on Pascha is in rememberance of the Myrrh Bearing women, but I don't really know. I should look it up.

Except for a little bit of the Gospel I couldn't understand any of the Bible readings.

Today we didn't go to liturgy. The boys, Anselm and Basil are at a Giants game with their uncle and aunt. (I think it's hat day.) Athanasia is making kulich. It's on the second rise right now. I got some carrots a dill in the CSA box. I think I'll pickle them before I have to get ready to go to Paschal Matins and Liturgy tonight.

The Biggest Christmas Ever: Chapter 1 (draft 1)

2011-04-22T00:49:00.000-07:00

You might want to read the Prologue before you read what is below.

Chapter 1

In which a decision is made.

All Spring and into the Summer Claudia had been reading Christmas books. Max and Leslie liked to had teased her about how she had become a library nerd, bringing home arm loads of books that hadn't been checked out by anyone in years and years, but she just went into her hiding place in the rafters of the garage and read. Then one evening in the middle of July, at the dinner table Claudia, trying hard to sound casaul and not as nervous as she really was,said "Hey, this year let's have a more Traditional Christmas."

“A more traditional Christmas?”, their mother asked with her eyebrows raised?

“Yeah, with caroling and a real Christmas dinner, and 12 days, and church…

“A real Christmas dinner?”, querried Ben, who’s favorite food was fried chicken.

“12 Days!” Interjected Dad who hated taking time off from work.

“Church?” questioned Mom who always made fun of people who went to church.

“Um…yeah", Claudia answered hesitantly. "I think it would be good to do it at least once in our life – to have a full Advent and Christmas experience."

Dad said, “No, Claudia, that won’t work. If we do a traditional Christmas your Uncle Raul and Aunt Piper can’t be with us because they always go to his parent’s house for December 25.”

Claudia took a deep breath. She had never argued with her father before, but this was so important to her that she decided to press on. “But that’s okay, Dad, because if we do Christmas like this there are lots and lots of days to get together with people. We’ll probably see Uncle Raul and Aunt Piper more this year because we do it the traditional way than if we do it the way we always do.”

“And that’s a good thing?” Said Ben sarcastically.

“Yes, it is,” said said Mom, who couldn't stand her children being sarcastic.

Up to this point Max had sat silently, eating his spaghetti listening to Claudia talk about Christmas. He hadn’t thought about Christmas in months, and he wasn’t too excited about talking about it in the middle of summer. After dinner there would be two more hours of light and he wanted to go play basketball with his friends. But as they kept talking he began to get more excited about the prospect of a big huge Christmas that lasted for twelve days. And he said, “I think we should do it. It will be like the Christmases we see on TV or in books. And besides, I like singing. And Bill from school said he and his family went caroling and people gave them hot chocolate and apple cider.”

“We are not caroling,” said Ben who hated being seen in public with anyone from his family.

Claudia was thrilled by Max’s support and began to think Mom and Dad might go for it. But then Mom said, “What do you think, Honey?” and Claudia knew it was all but settled. She only ever asked that question when she wanted Dad to do something she wanted.

“I think it will be expensive and time consuming”, Said Dad, resigned to the idea. “And besides that, how are we going to do Christmas for Twelve Days, when all the presents are opened on one morning.

Claudia, jupmped up and ran around the table to hug her Dad, “You’ll see. There will be so much to do you’ll think 52 days isn’t enough to hold it all!”

Leslie, Max’s twin sister, who had been listening but was too hungry after Softball practice to interrupt eating to talk, was shocked by that, “Fifty-two days? I thought we were talking about twelve!”

Max answered, “I think the Advent thing she mentioned is before the Twelve Days of Christmas. Is that right?”

“That’s Right!, answered Claudia excitedly. “You’ll see, doing it the old fashioned way will be amazing fun! First there are forty days of Advent, then 12 days of Christmas.”

“Why don’t we just do the Christmas part this year and leave off the Advent part? You know, just see how it goes this year, and if we like it we can add Advent next year. Just ease into it”, Ben suggested reasonably.

“That makes sense to me”, Max agreed.

“We could do that, but part of Advent is getting ready for Christmas. And if we wait till next year, Ben will be in college. He won’t even be here. I really really want all of us to do this together, just one time. Please”, Claudia begged her Dad.

Dad was silent for a minute. Took the last bight of his last meatball, swallowed it and said, “Okay. All 52 days. We’ll do it. Just this one time.”

Four Weddings and a Funeral

2011-04-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

Do you remember that movie from about 20 years ago, the one with Hugh Grant and that heartbreaking poem? Well, this has almost nothing to do with that. (You should watch these in order.)

Come Forth!

One of the best wedding homilies I've heard.

Sad because it's real.

Hillarious because it's just pretend.

When I lived in S.F. I heard them lead funeral processions past my window all the time.

Catching up

2011-04-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

The last few months have been hard. I've been sick. I haven't sold much at work since Christmas. And worst of all, my hearing has gotten so bad from the illness (Doctors think it was just exhaustion and flu) that haven't been able to work much at all in March and April. My job is 100% telephone dependent, and if I can't hear I can't work.

Needless to say, I am worried about money. Probably going to have to crack open the IRA. Athanasia is looking at the budget tomorrow and will let me know if I need to call the broker. Thankfully, the value of the IRA has grown dramatically in the last two years (oil and silver ETFs, and undervalued stocks. I'm long on National Grid, if you are interested.), so there is money to take out. Too bad about the early withdrawl penalties.

I don't know if I mentioned that I dropped out of grad school. I did. I was just spread too thin. Between illness, work, Cub Scouts (more on that below), the kids school. I feel kind of bad about it since I had finished half the program and had an A average. But as I said, I was spread too thin.

Last week Anselm and I, and the rest of the Cub Scout Pack spent the night on the retired air craft carrier, the U.S.S. Hornet, known the the Imperial Japanese Navy as the Gray Ghost. It was an amazing time. One of the engine crew from the 1960s was a docent. He and Alnselm hit it off and Anselm got the tour to end all tours of the engine room. It was really neat. The old chief and my son were crawling through tight spaces, looking at ball bearings the size of pumpkins, turning wheels, talking to each other through those horn things. The kids were kept busy busy busy. Just before lights out one of the docents told ghost stories. Some people think the ship is haunted and this crew member told what he saw and what others have told him. When it was over I asked Anselm, "Are you scared?" With utter contempt for the idea he said, "of dead people?" It was as though I had asked him the stupidist question ever.

Anslem has been working up a storm to get Cub Scout stuff done before summer. He has officially completed all the requirements for bear rank and will be promoted tomorrow night at the Pack meeting. He completed all the training through the Red Cross to earn the Boy Scouts of America Emergency Preparedness Pin, too. At first I didn't know it was that big of a deal. But Athanasia, who is a Red Cross emergency responder, went though the Basic Aid Training with him and told me that the pin is a license from the Red Cross to assist in disaster and emergency relief. I'll have to buy him a hard had and a good flash light now. He'll recieve that pin tomorrow night, too.

Today after Church, Anselm and his mother made paper mache masks. It was the 50th and final elective activity he had to do to earn all the Arrow Points he said he wanted to earn. Last year he earned 1 gold and 3 silver. He said he wanted one more this year, so he has been busy doing wood crafts (he made his own tool box), looking up information on planets and giving reports on them, collecting coins, learing about maps, and a whole buch of other things. So, with todays paper mache mask making he met his personal goal.

We visted the Sacramento Valley a few days ago. My wife was interviewd for a position at the University of California, Davis. She doesn't think she'll get the job because they have a strong internal candidate but it was a fun little trip. We listend to Kenneth Brannagh's ex-wife reading Nanny McPhee all the way there and back. The family was very kind and played it VERY loud so I could hear it too. While Athanasia was at her 5 hour long interview the boys and I investigated the little town of Davis. We spent a couple of hours at Central Park, where I took a nap on a bench and the boys played with some other kids.

The park has a really neat garden. It is designed to inspire the local population into doing one of several kinds of gardens. My fave part, and the boys favorite part, too, was the section devoted to plants that attract beneficial insects. It was buzzing with lady bugs, bumble bees, honey bees, praying mantises, etc. One thing I thought was especially neat is that the gardeners left one aphid infested fava bean plant right in the middle of the garden. I asked one f them about it and she said, "have you ever tried to keep lady bugs in a garden when there are no aphds for them to eat?" Well, I had. So I knew exactly what she was talking about. She said that one plant keeps so many lady bugs in the garden that aphids can't get a start on any other plants. I looked and she was telling the truth. The infested plant was covered in black aphids (being gobbled up by voracious lady bugs) but I didn't see one aphid on any other plants, not even the plants nearest the infested plant had aphids.

Another neat part of the garden was full of plants that attract bees and humming birds. I think that might have been my favorite part of the garden (I love bees and humming birds) but for the littlest part of the garden where all of the grain crops grown in the Valley had been planted. Corn, several varieties of wheat, rice, oats, and rye all growing together in a multi-colored plot of grouned no more than 25 feet square. It was beautiful.

Since I've lost my hearing and don't know when or if I'll get it back (I see a ear specialist on Tuesday, and will recive the mystery of Holy Unction on Wednsday, so who knows?) I've been applying for jobs that don't require hearing as much as my current job. Lots of them are out there: Material handler, tool room clerk, copywriter, etc. Later this week I'll apply to become an apprentice electrician. I'm looking at a machinist training program, too.

Basil is pretty excited about something. The Pack meeting this week will be the last time he wears his "Little Scout Buddy" shirt and hat. Then, at the May Pack meeting he will wear a real Cub Scout uniform. It is almost all he can talk about. He asked me, "When i get my uniform can I start earning beltloops like Anslem?" I said, "Yep. In fact, would you like to earn one right now?" And we spent a couple of hours with the chess board. By the time we were though he had completed all the requirements for the chess Belt Loop. He was very happy and excited. I just can't believe how fast my little boys are growing up.

Yesterday, Lazarus Saturday, we went up to San Francisco and ate caviar with my God daughters and their parents. It is an anual tradition and much much fun. Of course, we also drank ENORMOUS AMOUNTS of champagne and vodka. Hours with them seem like mere minutes. It was a welcome respite from the challenges of life and Lent. Today, Palm Sunday, Athanasia did not wake me up for church. She thought she was being nice, assuming I would have a hangover, but I didn't. I think I woke up just as she and the boys were driving off to the service. I was sad to miss Palm Sunday, but as it turns out, I probabaly would not have enjoyed it had I gone. What do I mean? Well, tonight I went to Bridegroom Matins but could hear nothing. If it hadn't been for people crossing themselves I don't think I would have recognized the "Glory to the...". I stuck around for a little while, but I couldn't hear anything and I became to distracted by worry for my hearing. So I just came home.

The Double-Breasted Jacket

2011-04-03T23:33:00.000-07:00

The allure of the double-breasted jacket is that it has always had an unaccountable dash and romantic aura about it. It possesses an undeniable jauntiness, which is the reason dandies have always favoured it. Victoria's consort, Prince Albert, gave his interest and his name to a version: a short-waisted, double-breasted frock coat that he was particularly fond of wearing (although it must be admitted that Albert, clothes-horse that he was, was fond of wearing everything from bright tweed knickers to suits of armour). And the Edwardian dandies--Max Beerbohm, Oscar Wilde, and of course Edward VII himself--were addicted to their double-breasted velvet smoking jackets, broadcloth morning suits, worsted barathea frock coats, and even boldly checked double-breasted tweed lounge suits--often worn with matching tweed spats and golf cap.

However, the great age of the double-breasted suit did not arrive until the 1930s, when the sartorially resplendent likes of the then Prince of Wales, Louis Mountbatten, Fred Astaire, Douglas Fairbanks, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Walker took it as their uniform. Whether in sporty brown glenurquhart plaid, chalk-striped oxford-grey flannel, or the dressier navy worsted, the double-breasted suit with its long-roll, low-buttoned peak lapels, full shoulder and chest, and bladed back made every man an elegant boulevardier. The English-cut double-breasted "blade" suit, perhaps better than any other masculine garment, defined the years between the wars.

- G. Bruce Boyer, Elegance (1985)

Hair cuts and roly-poly bugs

2011-04-02T16:21:00.000-07:00

Basil (age 5), Anselm (age 9) and I are, more or less, deaf from the illnesses of the the past few months. The doctors say our hearing will return to normal in a few weeks or months, but for the time being, "WHAT?" is oft heard in our house. All the neighbors must hate us for yelling at each other when we talk.

Today the boys and I walked up the the barbershop and they each got haircuts. At first, after consulting the "Official Hair Styles for Men and Boys" they both wanted the "Flat top with fenders". But at the last oment they went with the "Professional". They both look like a million bucks.

We walked by the dry cleaner and I picked up my clothes. And then we walked home. It's nice to live within walking distance of places we like to go. Just a few days ago we walked to the ice cream parlor for rainbow sherbet. I hadn't tasted rainbow sherbet for many years. In fact, I remember the last place I had it before this week.. It was at Swensen's in Sonora. I was with my parents. I was 9. 34 years later rainbow sherbet tastes the same as it did then, which is not at all like a rainbow.

Anselm built a tool box out of wood today. He joined the pieces together with hot glue and nails. He painted it black and says as soon as the black paint is dry he'll paint his name on it in red. It is a project for Cub Scouts. While Anselm was doing that Basil was collecting roly-poly bugs. Then the two of them built a house for the roly-poly bugs out of moss and twigs. Basil calls them his pets.

The Patriarch of Constantinople and Abortion

2011-04-02T00:06:00.000-07:00

There are two U.S. Senators who like to say they are Orthodox Christians. One of them was even honored by the Patriarch of Constantinople. Yet both of them are pro-aborts. Their public statements and their voting records do not comport with the teaching of the Church Fathers, to wit:

Letter to Diognetus: (describing Christians) "They marry, as do all others; they beget children but they do not destroy their offspring".

The Didache: "You shall not slay the child by abortions."

Letter of St. Barnabus: "You shall not destroy your conceptions before they are brought forth; nor kill them after they are born."

Letter of St. Clement: "Those who use abortifacients commit homicide."

From St. Basil the Great: "The woman who purposely destroys her unborn child is guilty of murder. The hair-splitting difference between formed and unformed makes no difference to us."

From St. Augustine: "Sometimes their sadistic licentiousness goes so far that they procure poison to produce infertility, and when this is of no avail, they find one means or another to destroy the unborn and flush it from the mother’s womb. For they desire to see their offspring perish before it is alive or, if it has already been granted life, they seek to kill it within the mother’s body before it is born."

From St. John Chrysostom: "Why do you sow where the field is eager to destroy the fruit? Where there are medicines of sterility? Where there is murder before birth? You do not even let a harlot remain only a harlot, but you make her a murderess as well. Indeed, it is something worse than murder and I do not know what to call it; for she does not kill what is formed but prevents its formation. What then? Do you condemn the gifts of God, and fight with His laws? What is a curse you seek as though it were a blessing. Do you make the anteroom of slaughter? Do you teach the women who are given to you for a procreation of offspring to perpetuate killing?"

So how do these two Orthodox Christian Senators flout the Tradition of the Church? I don't think I fault them as much as I fault their bishops, especially the Patriarch of Constantinople who seems to care more about a tree being cut down than about a child being killed. Has ever writien an encyclical that can be thought of defending the unborn from abortion? If he has there is no link to it on his website. But he did write a book. In that book he says:

"I also encounter many and diverse issues related to the sanctity of life from birth through death. Those issues range from sensitive matters of sexuality to highly controversial questions like the death penalty. In all such social and moral issues, it is not one or another position that the Orthodox Church seeks to promote in a defensive spirit. Indeed, we would normally refrain from expounding a single rigidly defined dogma on social and moral challenges. Rather, it is the sacredness of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God, that the Church at all times seeks to underline."

Wow. He actually said that in moral issues the Orthodox Church doesn't take one or another position. Can you believe that? Well, thank God we do not depend on the bishops to lead us to Heaven, for if we followed Patriarch Bartholomew, the most senior of all the bishops, we might not make it. Rather, we follow the Holy Spirit who has spoken though the mouths and pens of His Saints. He has told us what position to promote: The positian that abortion is wrong. Always. What part of "You shall not slay the child by abortions" does the Patriarch not understand? Does he really think there is room for equivication in there? Is the language too difficult for him? Does he need a dictionary?

And in the July 20, 1990 San Francisco Chronicle he is reported as having said this...

"We are not allowed to enter the bedrooms of the Christian couples. We cannot generalize. There are many reasons for a couple to go toward abortion."

No. That is wrong. That is not the Gospel. It is Satan.

He should repent or be deposed.

The most important thing I learned when I was seven years old.

2011-03-24T22:09:00.000-07:00

First base - Who
Second base - What
Short stop - I don't care
Third base - I don't know
Pitcher - Tomorrow
Catcher - Today
Left field - Why
Center field - Because
Right field - undefined

Hedge and Donna: Saturday Soundtrack

2011-03-19T23:55:00.000-07:00

Hedge Carson and Donna Capers released several LPs from 1968 to 1973 (most of them on Capitol Records) and were popular touring artists. Most interesting to me is hearing the melesmatic quality of Donna's voice. It is the same powerful tremor heard in Annie Herring's earlier music, the stuff she recorded in the mid 70s with 2nd Chapter of Acts. I wonder if Annie Herring got it from listening to Hedge and Donna. A big mystery is what ever happened to them. After their last album release in 1973 (I think "Guava Jelly" was the only good song on that record.) they disappeared from the public eye.

My favorite Hedge and Donna song was released this this song the year I was born (Album: All The Friendly Colours. Publisher: Capitol Records). I have no idea what it is about, but it seems like a congeries of two songs. Here it is:

Mixed Marriages

2011-03-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

I have several friends, Orthodox Christian women, who are married to, or are dating, or are engaged to pagan or heterodox men. All of them, for whatever reason, have chosen to walk down a difficult path, one St. Paul says to stay off of. I am sad for every one of them, but also hopeful. For every mixed marriage I have seen end in divorce I have seen several more result in happy marriages, and even in the conversion of the unbelieving husband.

Centuries ago a bishop in Rome named Boniface wrote to a Christian queen married to a pagan king. St. Bede thought the letter worth saving for all posterity and included a copy in his book about the history of the Eglish people.

THE COPY OF THE LETTER OF THE MOST BLESSED AND APOSTOLIC BONIFACE (V), POPE OF THE CITY OF ROME, TO ETHELBERG, KING EDWIN'S QUEEN.

"To the illustrious lady his daughter, Queen Ethelberg, Boniface, bishop, servant of the servants of God. The goodness of our Redeemer has in His abundant Providence offered the means of salvation to the human race, which He rescued, by the shedding of His precious Blood, from the bonds of captivity to the Devil; to the end that, when He had made known His name in divers ways to the nations, they might acknowledge their Creator by embracing the mystery of the Christian faith. And this the mystical purification of your regeneration plainly shows to have been bestowed upon the mind of your Highness by God's gift. Our heart, therefore, has greatly rejoiced in the benefit bestowed by the bounty of the Lord, for that He has vouchsafed, in your confession, to kindle a spark of the orthodox religion, by which He might the more easily inflame with the love of Himself the understanding, not only of your illustrious consort, but also of all the nation that is subject to you.

"For we have been informed by those, who came to acquaint us with the laudable conversion of our illustrious son, King Eadbald, that your Highness, also, having received the wonderful mystery of the Christian faith, continually excels in the performance of works pious and acceptable to God; that you likewise carefully refrain from the worship of idols, and the deceits of temples and auguries, and with unimpaired devotion, give yourself so wholly to the love of your Redeemer, as never to cease from lending your aid in spreading the Christian faith. But when our fatherly love earnestly inquired concerning your illustrious consort, we were given to understand, that he still served abominable idols, and delayed to yield obedience in giving ear to the voice of the preachers. This occasioned us no small grief, that he that is one flesh with you still remained a stranger to the knowledge of the supreme and undivided Trinity. Whereupon we, in our fatherly care, have not delayed to admonish and exhort your Christian Highness, to the end that, filled with the support of the Divine inspiration, you should not defer to strive, both in season and out of season, that with the co-operating power of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, your husband also may be added to the number of Christians; that so you may uphold the rights of marriage in the bond of a holy and unblemished union. For it is written, 'They twain shall be one flesh.' How then can it be said, that there is unity in the bond between you, if he continues a stranger to the brightness of your faith, separated from it by the darkness of detestable error?

"Wherefore, applying yourself continually to prayer, do not cease to beg of the long-suffering of the Divine Mercy the benefits of his illumination; to the end, that those whom the union of carnal affection has manifestly made in a manner to be one body, may, after this life continue in perpetual fellowship, by the unity of faith. Persist, therefore, illustrious daughter, and to the utmost of your power endeavour to soften the hardness of his heart by carefully making known to him the Divine precepts; pouring into his mind a knowledge of the greatness of that mystery which you have received by faith, and of the marvellous reward which, by the new birth, you have been made worthy to obtain. Inflame the coldness of his heart by the message of the Holy Ghost, that he may put from him the deadness of an evil worship, and the warmth of the Divine faith may kindle his understanding through your frequent exhortations; and so the testimony of Holy Scripture may shine forth clearly, fulfilled by you, 'The unbelieving husband shall be saved by the believing wife.' For to this end you have obtained the mercy of the Lord's goodness, that you might restore with increase to your Redeemer the fruit of faith and of the benefits entrusted to your hands. That you may be able to fulfil this task, supported by the help of His loving kindness we do not cease to implore with frequent prayers.

"Having premised thus much, in pursuance of the duty of our fatherly affection, we exhort you, that when the opportunity of a bearer shall offer, you will with all speed comfort us with the glad tidings of the wonderful work which the heavenly Power shall vouchsafe to perform by your means in the conversion of your consort, and of the nation subject to you; to the end, that our solicitude, which earnestly awaits the fulfilment of its desire in the soul's salvation of you and yours, may, by hearing from you, be set at rest; and that we, discerning more fully the light of the Divine propitiation shed abroad in you, may with a joyful confession abundantly return due thanks to God, the Giver of all good things, and to the blessed Peter, the chief of the Apostles.

We have, moreover, sent you the blessing of your protector, the blessed Peter, the chief of the Apostles, to wit, a silver looking-glass, and a gilded ivory comb, which we pray your Highness to accept with all the goodwill with which it is sent by us.

It's the Cheese

2011-03-02T05:53:00.000-08:00

The week of Cheesefare is always a lot of fun. Probably, the Church fathers didn't design it to be fun but it is, regardless of their intention. It's a week that is like Great Lent but isn't. Bishop Savas of Troas explains it below:

How is the week “kind of like” being in Great Lent?
· We fast all week, but in the most unique way of the entire year, fasting from meat only, with all other foods being allowed, even on Wednesday and Friday.

· We are using hymns from the Triodion in Vespers and Matins services throughout the week, and they are decidedly Lenten in tone.

· On Wednesday and Friday, we do not celebrate the Divine Liturgy, just as in Great Lent we do not celebrate it on most weekdays. The readings on Wednesday and Friday are of a Lenten character; we do not read the usual Epistle and Gospel, but instead read from the Old Testament (on Wednesday, all the selections are from Joel, and on Friday, from Zechariah). We follow the Lenten format of having a reading during the Sixth Hour and Vespers.: The Gospel readings on days when the Divine Liturgy is celebrated are all taken from the Passion account of St Luke. We will return to these readings during Holy Week.

· Daily Vespers on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday begin in a “non-Lenten” way just as during the rest of the year, but the end of Vespers is ”Lenten” with the usual prayers with bows after the Aposticha, and the prayer of St Ephrem.· Wednesday and Friday Vespers are Lenten in tone, with an Old Testament Reading, and the prayer of St Ephrem, but the ending is non-Lenten in tone.

· The quintessential prayer of Great Lent, the “Prayer of St Ephrem”, is said at every weekday Vespers beginning on Tuesday evening.

How is the week “kind of like” being outside of Great Lent?
· Sunday and Monday evening Vespers are just like in “regular time”, but there are selections from the Triodion for Vespers and Matins, which definitely point us toward Great Lent.

· All days except Wednesday and Friday we can serve Divine Liturgy, with its usual Epistle and Gospel readings.· As noted above, we are “kind of” fasting, and “kind of” not fasting.

The Holy Orthodox Church – a wine press not a rule book

2011-02-24T05:14:00.000-08:00

Christ in a winepress, Hours of Catherine of Cleves

The Householder plants a vineyard: his holy Orthodox Church, where he gives his own Precious Blood in the wine that changes us into more than we are. Around the vineyard he sets a hedge of true Orthodox doctrine; above it, a tower where men set apart to be bishops and priests oversee the making of the wine: the salvation of human souls. Most importantly, he digs his wine press: so that human souls may be living grapes, changed by Orthodox worship – the true worship of the temple – into the new wine of his eternal Kingdom. A vineyard, not a court of law. A wine press, not a rule book." - Fr. Alexander Tefft

Grandmother was shocked

2011-02-22T14:43:00.000-08:00

"Do not be proud of the fact that your grandmother was shocked at something which you are accustomed to seeing or hearing without being shocked…It may be that your grandmother was an extremely lively and vital animal and that you are a paralytic." - G.K. Chesterton

When I was a boy in school I heard often about the possibility of searing my conscience. When I was a kid I thought that was silly, after all, I was free in Christ and could do anythnig I wanted to do. I was wrong.

Slowing down some

2011-02-20T23:31:00.000-08:00

We've decided we are doing too much. I've gone to working only three days a week. Athanasia has dropped out of her M.A. program. (It would have been a second masters and she she was never sure she wanted it to begin with. It's just that her employer was paying for it and who likes to pass up something like that?) Our pace just wore us down. Two full time jobs, two M.A. programs, and no childcare which meant juggling crazy schedules and not getting any housework or laundry done. Even the boys were worn out by it. Anyway, I think our slowing down was none too soon, as we all got sick last week, and except for Athanasia, we are all still sick. I'm still in my M.A. program. And, I still work a little at home on my days off. I just feell free not to if I have other things I have to do. It is much better.

This afternoon, we were all feeling a little better so we went for a walk through the redwoods. I think it might have been a mistake. When we came home Basil was shooting liquid out both ends, Anselm had a fever, and I had lost my voice again. But we hadn't been outside since Thursday morning and we were starting to feel a little stir-crazy. When you are used to living life out of doors being cooped up for three days in a little apartment, with three other sick people, can feel like prison.

The boys are in school. Basil is doing okay, but I've decided that Anselm Samuel's class is moving waaaay to slowly in math. They've been on long division since before the Christmas break. He is starting to get bored with it, and math has always been his favorite subject. So, in the last couple of weeks I've introduced him to fractions and simple algebra. He likes it.

I learned that my son Devon is living in the south Korea, I guess, with his girlfriend. I wrote to him but haven't heard back. I don't know if I ever will. If you are reading this and contemplating divorce, keep in mind that you run a great risk that your children will hate you forever, and it doesn't matter who's fault the divorce is.

A couple of weeks ago I helped all the Cub Scouts in Anselm Samuel's den earn their whittling chips. That was a lot of fun. Only one boy got cut, and that was because his mother wouldn't let him use a sharp knife. That was kind of frustrating. I gave him a knife that was razor sharp and would require almost no effort to use, and she replaced it with a knife that was dull because she was afraid he would cut himself. And, just as predicted, he was struggling through the wood, forced the knife, and cut open his finger. Blood went everywhere and he screamed but it wasn't that bad of a cut. He still managed to complete the tasks and earn the chip. His mother wasn't happy, but she's the one who didn't follow instructions.

Last Tuesday was our Pack's Blue and Gold Banquet. We didn't have enough money to have it catered this year so we did a pot-luck. There were about 20 lasagnas. It was very funny. Athanasia recreated, in cake, my telling of the "Legend of the Hairy Toe" at the camp out last October. Her cake won the "Judges Favorite" trophy.

I've been chanting the Third and Sixth Hours before the DL at church on Sundays. I missed today because of illness but I really like it. I was asked to take on the job of Parish Warden but I had to turn it down. In my parish it seems to be a job requiring 10 to 15 hours per week. I wish I had the time, mostly, because I really want to be of service to the parish, but, in part, so I have an excuse to buy one of those really cool churchwarden pipes. (Isn't that cool? What other ecclesiastical office has a pipe named for it?) But I had to turn down the job. Maybe, when I am finished with school...

Papers papers papers

2011-02-13T23:57:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to decide on paper topics. I'm juggling 5 and am not sure which two to go with. Maybe you can tell me in what you'd like to know about and that might help me decide. Here are the topics I'm considering:

1) The Synod of Whitby: Why did it happen and what did it accomplish?
2) The relationship between the Imperial Army and the Church as suggested by the Yassi Adda nautical excavation and the possible connection between that relationship and the schism of the non-Chalcedonian churches
3) A comparison of the Byzantine theory of Symphony and the experience of Anselm of Canturbury's resistance of the king's will
4) The role of evangelistic marriages, wherein Christian princesses [i.e., Ethelburga] were married to pagan kings, in the conversion of Europe
5) The roots and decline of western European Arianism

Patton Speaks Today

2011-02-03T23:29:00.000-08:00

Satan Hates People

2011-02-02T10:57:00.000-08:00

Saturday Soundtrack: Freaked out by an "older woman"

2011-01-29T01:23:00.000-08:00

More than 30 years ago, when I was 9 or 10 years old, there was a girl a couple of years older than me who sang this this to me. She just walked up to me in front of God, the 4th grade, and everybody, and sang this song, which totally embarrassed me and overwhelmed me. I mean, what little 4th grade boy is ready to hear words like this from a 6th grade girl? I could have died! Especially since I had the world's biggest crush on her and could barely stand to be in her presence. Later, I figured out that she must have known about my crush on her, and was just teasing me.

Since then I've come to like the song. Actually, I don't think I ever didn't like the song. It's by a Floridian named Roland Kent Lavoie, better known as Lobo, and was his biggest hit (#2 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart) in 1972. I don't think of the song very often, but, for whatever reason, I found my self humming the tune while walking from the train station to my office yesterday.

A Missionary Tale

2011-01-28T08:41:00.000-08:00

"Stafeev described in detail how he introduced these two Ahtna to Orthodoxy: "I baptized them at my home. After the baptism I took them to the chapel, showed them icons with images of major feasts, and explained to them the meaning of baptism, the Nativity and other feasts. I also spoke about and showed them the icon depicting martyr Nestor. The old man liked icons so much that he did not want to leave the chapel for a long time. He especially enjoyed looking at the images of the Savior and Kazan Mother of God. After this I treated them with tea and cakes (prianiki). Then the Mednovtsy passionately thanked me for everything, first for the baptism, then for my talk in the chapel and finally for the tea and cakes. Yet, these two savages somehow had already learned quite enough earlier, specifically how to make the sign of the cross and even knew how to recite the prayer 'Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit." We may assume that they had received this rudimentary knowledge of Orthodoxy from their Dena'ina neighbors." (Read the whole thing here.)

By Birthday List

2011-01-26T22:59:00.000-08:00

My birthday is comming up in a few days and my wife asked me to give her a list of things I might like for a birthday present.

Here it is, Sweetie.

1. A sling for my shotgun
2. An orange blaze fedora, available at Cabellas (Note: I do not like camo pattern. The whole point of the hat is to be seen!)
3. A plain Zippo lighter (Key word: Plain)
4. Any of Eikona's CDs.
5. A tin of Captain Black: White Label
6. A bottle of Royall Lyme cologne
7. An 8" clay pipe
8. A wood handled shower brush
9. A map of Narnia
10. A bottle of Taylor of Bond Street No. 74 Cologne
11. Some of Bernard Kliban's cat posters for our bedroom
12. Hardcover boxed set Lord of The Rings (I think the boys would enjoy hearing them.)
13. A bottle of Glenmorangie
14. A butter churn
15. A couple of pair of Boy Scout socks (I always have trouble finding the pair I have now.)
16. Several bottle's of St. Peter's Cream Stout

Any one of the above items would be much appreciated. But don't feel like you have to get me anything.

What is Holy Tradition?

2011-01-24T16:07:00.000-08:00

"The Church of Christ determined the truths of the faith, according to the long course of Tradition, through the teachings and canons of the holy Oecumenical Councils, decrees and the Symbol of Faith [The Creed], and with confessions [of Faith] by holy and wonderworking hierarchs such as were made at the many local synods which have been held continuously since the days of old. At these synods the authenticity and genuineness of the holy Orthodox Faith was firmly established, primarily therein where it was attacked by the existing heresies of the time. From the totality of such synods appears the irrevocable and inalterable content of Holy Tradition. This is understood when you examine closely the essence of the following conditions:
- Do not sanction conceptions that contain inconsistencies amongst themselves or contradictions with the apostolic Tradition and Holy Scripture. (A teaching is to be considered worthy of “Tradition” when it stems from the Saviour or the Holy Apostles and is directly under the influence of the Holy Spirit.)
- The Tradition is that which has been safeguarded from the Apostolic Church and has an uninterrupted continuity until today.
- The Tradition is that which is confessed and practiced by the entire universal Orthodox Church.
- The Tradition is that which is in harmony with the greatest portion of the fathers and ecclesiastical writers.
When a tradition does not fulfil these stipulations, it cannot be considered true and holy, and consequently cannot be considered admissible or fit to be observed."

-Elder Cleopas of Romania

Words

2011-01-18T00:40:00.000-08:00

The Book of Common Prayer (1559) funeral service began with these words:

"Man that is born of woman hath but a short time to live and is full of misery."

I can not help but think our divorce rate would be lower if more marriages in this day began with the same words.

Chicken & Apple Pot

2011-01-15T22:58:00.000-08:00

I've seen many bloggers blog though cook books but it isn't something I've ever attempted. But this last Christmas I received a cook book, Casseroles: Comforting and Warming Recipe Ideas as a Christmas present from my boss. So, I thought, "Okay! Let's blog it!"

Tonight we made Chicken & Apple Pot. It isn't the first recipe in the book, but the thirteenth (on page 36). The reason we chose it for tonight is that we had most of the ingredients on hand. The boys and I walked over to the market to buy the needed celery, a yellow bell pepper, and chicken stock.

Though U.S. law does not allow for the copyrighting of recipes, I won't reproduce the whole thing here. I'll just say that apples, onion, and chicken were the main ingredients. It was very sweet (raw brown sugar, apple juice and honey) and very soupy. Not like what I think of as a casserole at all. I mean, it didn't include any Campbell's cream of mushroom soup! There was no cheese in it at all!

The boys hated it. Basil would only eat the chicken. Anselm ate the chicken and a few of the apple slices, but made it clear that he would rather have eaten something else. Athanasia and I agreed it was good and that we'll make it again, but I felt bad about all the liquid going to waste. Next time I'll present the casserole on a bed of rice, which will absorb all the liquid and become very very yummy.

Make again: Yes

Serve to company: Probably not

Difficuly level: If you can skin chicken and core apples this is an easy dish to make.

9 Ways Your Parish Can Serve and Become A More Integrated Part of the Local Community

2011-01-07T18:30:00.000-08:00

It is very easy for an Orthodox parish to be invisible in a community, especially if the parish is set back in a quiet residential district, or is a commuter parish. Our services are not exactly seeker friendly (even educated Christians from other churches have difficulty following what's going on in our services), nor should they be. And for most of us, our one big community outreach event each year is a fundraiser where we invite the non-Orthodox to buy ethnic food and help pay our bills. I'm not criticizing parish festivals. I went to two last year and had a lot of fun. I'm just saying that I don't think they are the best way to serve the communities where our parishes are located. So, here is a list of things I think we can do that, I think, are completely selfless, serve the people who live around us, build the reputation of the Church, and provide a way for people to become acquainted with us.

1. Host a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, or American Heritage Girl unit. About all they need from the parish is a room big enough for 100 people to meet once a month. The kids in your parish will probably be part of the unit, the non-church families will become aquainted with the parish, and begin to view it as an important part of their lives. They might even begin to follow Jesus because of their exposure to you.

2. Host a flu-shot clinic in the parish hall. Because of the proximity of flu season to "The Holiday Season" have schedules of Nativity services available.

3. Are there homless people in the neighborhood? Send a deacon around on Sunday morning to invite them to coffee hour. Thy probably won't come to a service but I bet they'll come to the parish hall for a free cup of coffee and some food. And, eventually, they might start comming to services.

4. Let the county government know the parish hall is available for use as a polling place. Again, have information about the parish available. Maybe even have someone from the clergy available to answer any questions.

5. Most of our parishes have pretty nice kitchens that are only used once a week. Maybe, and I don't know the health laws so this might not fly, ask local under-employed chefs if they would be interested in using our kitchens for cooking classes.

6. Make our space available for kids to go after school and do homework. (There might be liability issues with this, though, so I'd talk to a lawyer before doing this one.) Maybe, parishoners could volunteer to be tutors.

7. There is also my plan for evangelism. (It might or might not be God's plan, also, I've yet to try it myself.)

8. Does your parish have a parking lot? FARMERS MARKET! This is especially handy in urban areas where there might not be good crocery stores. Added benefit: The parish can have a booth, too! Sell baklava and pierog every week not just once a year!

9. Does your parish have bells? Offer a bell ringing class to the people in your neighborhood. I bet every kid within 6 blocks comes to learn how to ring them. What an opportunity! Not only does this give the parish and the surrounding people a chance to get to know each other, but it can help diffuse the conflict that sometimes surrounds our ringing of the bells.

Money by Religion in America

2011-01-07T02:48:00.000-08:00

1. I was surprised to see Orthodox Christiansare so rich. It hasn't been my experience in the parishes I attend. Must be the other jursidictions.

2. Not surprised by the Jews' wealth.

3. At first I was surprised by the Hindu wealth, but when I thought about it I realized every Hindu I know is a software devolper, car dealer, gold merchant, or real estate investor. I think their wealth in this country is a function of our immigration policies.

4. Not surprised by Evangelical Christians lack of wealth. Despite the visibility of a few dozen rich mega-churches and their leaders the vast majority of the Evangelical churches are tiny (fewer then 50 attendees) and poor.

5. I am shocked by the Mormon numbers. I had always thought of them as rich.

Larger picture is here.

Enchanted April

2011-01-07T01:56:00.000-08:00

Back in 1992 I saw a film that can only be described as beautiful. I just saw it again tonight. The story of four unalike, except that they are unhappy, English women who do not know each other yet decide to rent and share a seaside Italian castle for a month is, as improbable as it seems, almost completely uncontrived.

I should be ashamed of myself if I ruined the movie for you by relating the story here but there are some things about the movie I love. Perhaps the most lovely is how providence uses an intended evil to prevent another evil, and thereby sets straight the paths for several people.

A smaller thing about the movie, but utterly delightful is the character of the oldest of the four women. She delivers many overstuffed but perfectly fitting lines. Once, when one of the younger women remarks on seeing a dead writer this old woman says, "I hope you're not in the habit of seeing dead people, no matter how distinguished. It's not in the best of taste." On another occasion, when one of the women is talking about sleeping arrangements when her husband and another guest are going to arrive, she says, "In my day husbands were take very seriously. They were seen as the surest defense against sin." I'm not sure that last line is a very healthy view for women to take of men, but it is, certainly, a reputation husbands should attempt to earn, don't you think?

Though a romance, this movie does not lose sight of the suffering in this world. Other movies from about this same time, I have in mind Belle Epoque and Much Ado About Nothing, attempt to capture a similar feeling of rural Mediterranean happiness but fail. The former fails by glorifying evil, suggesting it has no undesireable consequenes. The later film though cinimatically and musically beautiful, almost completey ignores the presence of evil in the world, suggesting it is overcome by a few songs and an arial shot of a vinyard. The suffering of war, the lonliness of widowhood, the destructiveness of adultery, the undermining of marriage by insidious demands of carreer and class are all acknowledged in Enchanted April. But the joy in the film is not overcome by these evils. If you have an opportunity to see this very good film, I think you better had.

Thy Nativity O Christ

2010-12-23T22:59:00.000-08:00

Love.

2010-12-17T22:22:00.000-08:00

Tonight I read this story to Anselm. He didn't understand it. Someday, I hope, he shall.

A Christmas Present for a Lady
by
Myra Kelly

    It was the week before Christmas, and the First Reader Class, in a lower East Side school, had, almost to a man, decided on the gifts to be lavished on "Teacher." She was quite unprepared for any such observance on the part of her small adherents, for her first study of the roll book had shown her that its numerous Jacobs, Isidores, and Rachels belonged to a class to which Christmas Day was much as other days. And so she went serenely on her way, all unconscious of the swift and strict relation between her manner and her chances. She was, for instance, the only person in the room who did not know that her criticism of Isidore Belchatosky's hands and face cost her a tall "three for ten cents" candlestick and a plump box of candy.

    But Morris Mogilewsky, whose love for Teacher was far greater than the combined loves of all the other children, had as yet no present to bestow. That his "kind feeling" should be without proof when the lesser loves of Isidore Wishnewsky, Sadie Gonorowsky, and Bertha Binderwitz were taking the tangible but surprising forms which were daily exhibited to his confidential gaze was more than he could bear. The knowledge saddened all his hours, and was the more maddening because it could in no wise be shared by Teacher, who noticed his altered bearing and tried with all sorts of artful beguilements to make him happy and at ease. But her efforts served only to increase his unhappiness and his love. And he loved her! Oh, how he loved her! Since first his dreading eyes had clung for a breath's space to her "like man's shoes" and had then crept timidly upward past a black skirt, a "from silk" apron, a red "jumper," and "from gold" chain to her "light face," she had been mistress of his heart of hearts. That was more than three months ago. How well he remembered the day!
    His mother had washed him horribly; and had taken him into the big red schoolhouse, so familiar from the outside, but so full of unknown terrors within. After his dusty little shoes had stumbled over the threshold he had passed from ordeal to ordeal until, at last he was torn in mute and white-faced despair from his mother's skirts.
    He was then dragged through long halls and up tall stairs by a large boy, who spoke to him disdainfully as "greenie," and cautioned him as to the laying down softly and taking up gently of those poor, dusty shoes, so that his spirit was quite broken and his nerves were all unstrung when he was pushed into a room full of bright sunshine and of children who laughed at his frightened little face. The sunshine smote his timid eyes, the laughter smote his timid heart, and he turned to flee. But the door was shut, the large boy gone, and despair took him for its own.
    Down upon the floor he dropped, and wailed, and wept, and kicked. It was then that he heard, for the first time, the voice which now he loved. A hand was forced between his aching body and the floor, and the voice said:

    "Why, my dear little chap, you mustn't cry like that. What's the matter?"

    The hand was gentle and the question kind, and these, combined with a faint perfume suggestive of drug stores and barber shops -- but nicer than either -- made him uncover his hot little face. Kneeling beside him was a lady, and he forced his eyes to that perilous ascent; from shoes to skirt, from skirt to jumper, from jumper to face, they trailed in dread uncertainty, but at the face they stopped -- they had found rest.
    Morris allowed himself to be gathered into the lady's arms and held upon her knee, and when his sobs no longer rent the very foundations of his pink and wide-spread tie, he answered her question in a voice as soft as his eyes, and as gently sad.
    "I ain't so big, and I don't know where is my mama."
    So, having cast his troubles on the shoulders of the lady, he had added his throbbing head to the burden, and from that safe retreat had enjoyed his first day at school immensely.
    Thereafter he had been the first to arrive every morning, and the last to leave every afternoon; and under the care of Teacher, his liege lady, he had grown in wisdom and love and happiness, but the greatest of these was love. And now, when the other boys and girls were planning surprises and gifts of price for Teacher, his hands were as empty as his heart was full. Appeal to his mother met with denial prompt and energetic.
    "For what you go and make, over Christmas, presents? You ain't no Krisht; you should better have no kind feelings over Krishts, neither; your papa could to have a mad."
    "Teacher ain't no Krisht," said Morris stoutly; "all the other fellows buys her presents, und I'm loving mit her; it's polite I gives her presents the while I'm got such a kind feeling over her."
    "Well, we ain't got no money for buy nothing," said Mrs. Mogilewsky sadly. "No money, und your papa, he has all times a scare he shouldn't to get no more, the while the boss" -- and here followed incomprehensible, but depressing, financial details, until the end of the interview found Morris and his mother sobbing and rocking in one another's arms. So Morris was helpless, his mother poor, and Teacher all unknowing.
    And now the great day, the Friday before Christmas, has come, and the school is, for the first half hour, quite mad. Doors open suddenly and softly to admit small persons, clad in wondrous ways and bearing wondrous parcels. Room 18, generally so placid and so peaceful, is a howling wilderness full of brightly colored, quickly changing groups of children, a11 whispering, all gurgling, and all hiding queer bundles. A new-comer invariably causes a diversion; the assembled multitude, athirst for novelty, falls upon him and clamors for a glimpse of his bundle and a statement of its price.
    Teacher watches in dumb amaze. What can be the matter with the children? They can't have guessed that the shrouded something in the corner is a Christmas tree? What makes them behave so queerly, and why do they look so strange? They seem to have grown stout in a single night, and Teacher, as she notes this, marvels greatly. The explanation is simple, though it comes in alarming form. The sounds of revelry are pierced by a long, shrill yell, and a pair of agitated legs spring suddenly into view between two desks. Teacher, rushing to the rescue, notes that the legs form the unsteady stem of an upturned mushroom of brown flannel and green braid, which she recognizes as the outward seeming of her cherished Bertha Binderwitz; and yet, when the desks are forced to disgorge their prey, the legs restored to their normal position are found to support a fat child -- and Bertha was best described as "skinny" -- in a dress of the Stuart tartan tastefully trimmed with purple. Investigation proves that Bertha's accumulative taste in dress is an established custom. In nearly all cases the glory of holiday attire is hung upon the solid foundation of every-day clothes as bunting is hung upon a building. The habit is economical of time, and produces a charming embonpoint.
    Teacher, too, is more beautiful than ever. Her dress is blue, and "very long down, like a lady," with bands of silk and scraps of lace distributed with the eye of art. In her hair she wears a bow of what Sadie Gonorowsky, whose father "works by fancy goods," describes as "black from plush ribbon -- costs ten cents."
    Isidore Belchatosky, relenting, is the first to lay tribute before Teacher. He comes forward with a sweet smile and a tall candlestick -- the candy has gone to its long home -- and Teacher for a moment can not be made to understand that all that length of bluish-white china is really hers "for keeps."
    "It's to-morrow holiday," Isidore assures her; "and we gives you presents, the while we have a kind feeling. Candlesticks could to cost twenty-five cents."
    "It's a lie. Three for ten,'' says a voice in the background, but Teacher hastens to respond to Isidore's test of her credulity:
    "Indeed, they could. This candlestick could have cost fifty cents, and it's just what I want. It is very good of you to bring me a present."
    "You're welcome," says Isidore, retiring; and then, the ice being broken, the First Reader Class in a body rises to cast its gifts on Teacher's desk, and its arms round Teacher's neck.
    Nathan Horowitz presents a small cup and saucer; Isidore Applebaum bestows a large calendar for the year before last; Sadie Gonorowsky brings a basket containing a bottle of perfume, a thimble, and a bright silk handkerchief; Sarah Schodsky offers a penwiper and a yellow celluloid collar-button, and Eva Kidansky gives an elaborate nasal douche, under the pleasing delusion that it is an atomizer.
    Once more sounds of grief reach Teacher's ears. Rushing again to the rescue, she throws open the door and comes upon woe personified. Eva Gonorowsky, her hair in wildest disarray, her stocking fouled, un-gartered, and down-gyved to her ankle, appears before her teacher. She bears all the marks of Hamlet's excitement, and many more, including a tear-stained little face and a gilt saucer clasped to a panting breast.
    "Eva, my dearest Eva, what's happened to you now?" asks 'Teacher, for the list of ill chances which have befallen this one of her charges is very long. And Eva wails forth that a boy, a very big boy, had stolen her golden cup "what I had for you by present," and has left her only the saucer and her undying love to bestow.
    Before Eva's sobs have quite yielded to Teacher's arts, Jacob Spitsky presses forward with a tortoise-shell comb of terrifying aspect and hungry teeth, and an air showing forth a determination to adjust it in its destined place. Teacher meekly bows her head; Jacob forces his offering into her long suffering hair, and then retires with the information, "Costs fifteen cents, Teacher," and the courteous phrase -- by etiquette prescribed "Wish you health to wear it." He is plainly a hero, and is heard remarking to less favored admirers that "Teacher's hair is awful softy and smells off of perfumery."
    Here a big boy, a very big boy, enters hastily. He does not belong to Room 18, but he has long known Teacher. He has brought her a present; he wishes her a merry Christmas. The present, when produced, proves to be a pretty gold cup, and Eva Gonorowsky, with renewed emotion, recognizes the boy as her assailant and the cup as her property. Teacher is dreadfully embarrassed; the boy not at all so. His policy is simple and entire denial, and in this he perseveres, even after Eva's saucer has unmistakably proclaimed its relationship to the cup.
    Meanwhile the rush of presentation goes steadily on. Other cups and saucers come in wild profusion. The desk is covered with them, and their wrappings of purple tissue paper require a monitor's whole attention. The soap, too, becomes urgently perceptible. It is of all sizes, shapes, and colors, but of uniform and dreadful power of perfume. Teacher's eyes fill with tears of gratitude as each new piece, or box, is pressed against her nose, and Teacher's mind is full of wonder as to what she can ever do with all of it. Bottles of perfume vie with one another and with the all-pervading soap until the air is heavy and breathing grows laborious, while pride swells the hearts of the assembled multitude. No other teacher has so many helps to the toilet. None other is so beloved.
    Teacher's aspect is quite changed, and the "blue long down like a lady dress" is almost hidden by the offerings she has received. Jacob's comb has two massive and bejeweled rivals in the "softy hair." The front of the dress, where aching or despondent heads are wont to rest, is glittering with campaign buttons of American celebrities, beginning with James G. Blaine and extending into modern history as far as Patrick Divver, Admiral Dewey, and Captain Dreyfus. Outside the blue belt is a white one, nearly clean; and bearing in "sure 'nough golden words" the curt, but stirring, invitation, "Remember the Maine." Around the neck are three chaplets of beads, wrought by chubby fingers and embodying much love, while the waist-line is further adorned by tiny and' beribboned aprons. Truly, it is a day of triumph.
    When the waste-paper basket has been twice filled with wrappings and twice emptied; when order is emerging out of chaos; when the Christmas tree has been disclosed and its treasures distributed, a timid hand is laid on Teacher's knee and a plaintive voice whispers, "Say, Teacher, I got something for you"; and Teacher turns quickly to see Morris, her dearest boy charge, with his poor little body showing quite plainly between his shirtwaist buttons and through the gashes he calls pockets. This is his ordinary costume, and the funds of the house of Mogilewsky are evidently unequal to an outer layer of finery.
    "Now, Morris, dear," says Teacher, "you shouldn't have troubled to get me a present; you know you and I are such good friends that -- "
    "Teacher, yis, ma'am," Morris interrupts, in a bewitching rising inflection of his soft and plaintive voice; "I know you got a kind feeling by me, and I couldn't to tell even how I'm got a kind feeling by you. Only it's about that kind feeling I should give you a present. I didn't" -- with a glance at the crowded desk "I didn't to have no soap nor no perfumery, and my mama; she couldn't to buy none by the store; but, Teacher, I'm got something awful nice for you by present."
    "And what is it, deary?" asks the already rich and gifted young person. "What is my new present?"
    "Teacher, it's like this: I don't know; I ain't so big; like I could to know" -- and, truly, God pity him! he is passing small -- "It ain't for boys -- it's for ladies. Over yesterday on the night comes my papa on my house, and he gives my mama the present. Sooner she looks on it, sooner she has a awful glad; in her eye stands tears, und she says, like that -- out of Jewish -- `Thanks,' un' she kisses my papa. a kiss. Und my papa, how he is polite! he says -- out of Jewish, too -- `You're welcome, all right,' un' he kisses my mama a kiss. So my mama, she sets and looks on the present, und all the time she looks she has a glad over it. Und I didn't to have no soap, so you could to have the present."
    "But did your mother say I might?"
    "Teacher, no ma'am; she didn't say like that un' she didn't to say not like that: She didn't to know. But it's for ladies, un' I didn't to have no soap. You could to look on it. It ain't for boys."
    And here Morris opens a hot little hand and discloses a tightly-folded pinkish paper. As Teacher reads it he watches her with eager, furtive eyes, dry and bright, until hers grow suddenly moist, when his promptly follow suit. As she looks down at him, he makes his moan once more:
    "It's for ladies, und I didn't to have no soap."
    "But, Morris, dear," cries Teacher unsteadily, laughing a little, and yet not far from tears, "this is ever so much nicer than soap -- a thousand times better than perfume; and you're quite right, it is for ladies, and I never had one in all my life before. I am so very thankful."
    "You're welcome, all right. That's how my papa says; it's polite," says Morris proudly. And proudly he takes his place among the very little boys, and loudly he joins in the ensuing song. For the rest of that exciting day he is a shining point of virtue in a slightly confused class. And at three o'clock he is at Teacher's desk again, carrying on the conversation as if there had been no interruption.
    "Und my mama," he says insinuatingly -- "she kisses my papa a kiss."
    "Well?" says Teacher.
    "Well," says Morris, "you ain't never kissed me a kiss, und I seen how you kissed Eva Gonorowsky. I'm loving mit you too. Why don't you never kiss me a kiss?"
    "Perhaps," suggests Teacher mischievously, "perhaps it ain't for boys."
    But a glance at her "light face," with its crown of surprising combs, reassures him.
    "Teacher, yis, ma'am; it's for boys," he cries as he feels her arms about him, and sees that in her eyes, too, "stands tears."
    "It's polite you kisses me a kiss over that for ladies' present."
    Late that night Teacher sat in her pretty room -- for she was, unofficially, a great pampered young person -- and reviewed her treasures. She saw that they were very numerous, very touching, very whimsical, and very precious. But above all the rest she cherished a frayed pinkish paper, rather crumpled and a little soiled. For it held the love of a man and woman and a little child, and the magic of a home, for Morris Mogilewsky's Christmas present for ladies was the receipt for a month's rent for a room on the top floor of a Monroe Street tenement.

The Christmas Tree

2010-12-10T23:00:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, after a mostly unrewarding day trying to talk to car dealers, we drove up into the Santa Cruz Range, and into the cloud cover that has blanketed our valley all day. We were racing the sun, trying to get up "The Hill" before sunset. We barely made it, and were very excited. We drove through fog and rain, through dense forest, on winding single lane roads. We sang Christmas carolson the way. I was feeling grouchy, though. It was difficult for me, even on this happy occasion, to be pleasant. I could blame lack of sleep, a slight feever, sore lungs, and worry about work, but none of those were the real problem. The real problem was "the passions". Only later, when we got home, and I began to be thankful, and to pray for my family did my grouchiness go away. I still have a headache, a slight fever, and sore lungs but those don't have to make me a grouch. Jesus was full of love, as ever he was, when the nails were pushing through his feet and hands.

When we got to the farm there was no one there. But that was okay. They operate on the honor system. Near the trees were some saw and a box in which to put money. Athanasia picked out a white fir, I felled it, and tied it to the roof. Anselm and Basil asked for a small tree for their bedroom. We gave our assent and brought home the two trees, together with many scrap boughs with which to deck the halls. The boys were soaked from running around in the dripping trees. I was damp from the fog. Driving down "The Hill" after dark with foggy windows from all the water in our clothes was not exaclty relaxing.

At one point we caught a glimpse of Silicon Valley through two peaks. It isn't something we see at night very often. The lights were beautiful. Basil, at first, didn't believe me when I said that we lived down there.

When we got home we trimmed the tree and decorated it. Isn't it interesting that I remember where we got every ornament? The the largest single source was my parents. I carried them out of their last home when my mother died. Then there are the ornaments Athanasia and I bought after we were married. And the ornamnets Athanasia and the boys made. And finally, a few that were given to us as gifts.

We had mulled cider after the tree was put up. And Athanasia and the boys worked on some Christmas presents they are making. Then, I read to them. Since my wife has, lately, been knitting mittens, I read "The Mitten Tree". And I read tonight's portion of "The Advent Story Book". And at last I read to them a story from "The Animals' Merry Christmas". They are all asleep in bed now. I shall join them. Good night. Blessed Advent.

Make and Age

2010-12-08T23:23:00.000-08:00

Last year I made this fruit cake. It was an amazing experience. The alcohol vapors kept exploding, blowing the oven door open and rattling the windows. I over cooked it but it was super good. It is adapted from a recipe that was adapted from the Joy of Cooking.

INGREDIENTS

-4 cups all-purpose flour

-2 tablespoons cinnamon

-1 tablespoon nutmeg

-1/4 teaspoon ground clove

-1 teaspoon mace

-1 1/2 teaspoon salt

-7 pounds dried fruit (I used 1lb mission figs, 2lbs dates, 1lb raisns, 1lb currants, 1lb appricots, and 1lb cranberries)

-1 pound brown sugar

-1 pound butter plus one half stick

-15 eggs

-1/2 cup red wine

-a 750ml bottle of Evan Williams bourbon

This recipe makes about TWELVE POUNDS OF FRUIT CAKE!!! I baked it in disposable aluminum loaf pans: a small one that holds about 1 pound, and a large one (almost full bread loaf size) that holds about 2 pounds.

TOOLS

-Pastry brush or paper towel for buttering pans

Electric mixer

-Loaf pans

-Mixing bowls

-Big paper bag

-Scissors (they are really good for cutting up the fruit quickly)

INSTRUCTIONS

-Preheat oven to 300F

-Put one cup of flower in the paper bag

-Cut up the fruit, remove pits, and put the fruit in the paper bag

-Close the bag and shake until the fruit is coverd with flower (You'll be sorry later if you skip this step.)

-Put one pound of butter on the stove (use low heat) to melt.

-While butter is slowly melting, sift remaining flower and all the spices into LARGE mixing bowl

-Mix brown sugar into the melted butter

-Mix the flour/spices, eggs, and wine into the LARGE mixing bowl and mix with the electric mixer until completely smooth

- Dump the fruit from the bag into the LARGE mixing bowl annd mix mix mix

- melt the 1/2 stick of butter and use it to grease the loaf pans

- Plan on baking for two hours. Every 10 to 15 mintues you haveto splash the loaves with bourbon. DO NOT LET THE TOPS OF THE CAKES DRY OUT!!!

When you take them out of the oven pour more bourbon on the cakes. When they are cool enough to dump out of the pans wrap in plastic foodwrap andaluminu, foil. Every day for a week add more bourbon. Not a lot, just enough to keep the loaves very moist butnot soggy. If you run out of bourbon GO BUY MORE!!!

A Date Which Shall Live in Infamy

2010-12-07T22:24:00.000-08:00

If you were wondering why the flags were at half staff today, this is why.

Sunday

2010-12-05T23:49:00.000-08:00

We were up so late last night that we didn't get the boys up for church today. It would have been waaay too difficult managing them in the service. So, Athanasia stayed home with the boys and I went to the Divine Liturgy. I delivered Christmas wreaths to people at church who ordred them. (Hopefully, tomorrow we'll deliver the last of the wreaths.)

After the Liturgy the parish had a fund-raising lunch for Our Lady of Kazan Skete in Santa Rosa. I was surprised by the amount of money raised. It was such a huge amount that a couple of women started dancing in the hall. Much happiness for Mother Susanna and the sisters at the skete.

During the dinner Matushka sat next to me and we talked about many things. I had heard she makes excellent mincemeat so I asked her for the recipe. She explained that there isn't enough time between now and Nativity to age the mincemeat so SHE GAVE ME A QUART JAR OF MICEMEAT she made a few months ago! There is an inch of beef tallow at the top of the jar. I've never had real meat-containing mincemeat before. I can hardly wait to taste it.

After I got home from church we concentrated on cleaning the house in anticipation of Nativity. Also, Anselm worked on part of his Cub Scout stuff. He had to plan, shop for, and cook a meal. He made sushi, shrimp cocktail, fillets of cod, asparagus, and baked french fries. (Can you tell it's a fish day?) I was very impressed. He had no help other than his mother keeping him on schedule.

After the table was cleared we chanted the Vigil for the Feast of St. Nicholas. It was just a readers service since we aren't priests but it was good. Anselm Samuel read the Trisagion prayers, Athanasia read the Bible readings, Basil Wenceslas was responsible for all the instances of Glory to..., Both now and ever..., and Lord have mercy. I read the rest. Then we played music on our recorders and sang some songs, followed by my reading to them this night's installment of "The Advent Story Book". Then the boys put their shoes by the front door, spread out their sleeping bags to wait for St. Nicholas, and I put "A Christmas Story" on the computer for them to watch. They made it to the end of the movie but have been asleep for about 1/2 an hour.

Well, I have to wake up in 5 hours and catch a train. I better put candy in those shoes and go to bed. Good night.

Advent, work, and other things

2010-12-04T12:59:00.000-08:00

We have been so busy. Yesterday and today we delivered Christmas wreaths Anslem sold for his Cub Scout Pack. He sold more, by far, than anyone else in the Pack, and that is really great for him and the Pack. But the downside is having a house full of boxes of Christmas wreaths and delivering them all over the place. Oh, there is also a nice feeling when we drive up and down the streets of our neighborhood and see the wreaths on front doors.

Anselm has been busy with school in addition to Cub Scouts. He made a diorama and wrote a report about oceanic life. He did a good job. It interesting to me how things change. When I was in the third grade my big report was on WWII in general, and the Battle of Britain in particular. I'll never forget what the Queen said when asked if her children would be evacuated during the blitz: "The children won't leave without me, I won't leave without the King, and the King will never leave." Such bravery. They whipped the Nazis in 6 years. We haven't defeated the Taliban in 9. Something is dreadfully wrong.

We drove to SF tonight. Had to deliver some Christmas wreaths and we got to have dinner with my God daughters' family. That was much fun. The kids made ginger bread houses. They are so cute. The one Anselm and Basil made even has Hansel, Gretel, and the witch.

I've fallen behind in my Advent reading. I only just finished Mark. I need to catch up. Hmmmm. I havn't noticed these fasts making me any better or stronger or spiritual, just more aware of the fact that I really need improvement. I guess that's something.

Happy Hanukkah!

2010-12-01T16:30:00.000-08:00

Then Judah, his son, who is called Macabee, arose in his stead...and gladly they fought Israel's war.

~ 1 Macabees 3:1-2

Hayo, haya, melech rasha, melech rasha.
Charbo chada, umlutasha, umlutasha
Mihu? Antiochus, Antiochus.

Let us remember reign of terror, reign of terror
King who murdered pain forever, pain forever
Who then? Antiochus, Antiochus
Antiochus, Antiochus

The blood he spilled, Jerusalem, Jerusalem
So many killed, gone all of them, gone all of them
Who then? Antiochus, Antiochus

Our hearts he broke, he burned the Torah, burned the Torah
Ash and smoke, the crushed menorah, crushed menorah
Who then? Antiochus, Antiochus

Arise our hero, Judah save us, Judah save us
Prize so dear, the vict'ry gave us, freedom gave us
Who then? Macabeus, Macabeus

Oh sing our songs and praise the Torah, praise the Torah
Right the wrongs and light menorah, light menorah
When then? Chanukah, Chanukah

~Traditional Jewish song with new words by Peter Yarrow and Robert DeCormier

Akathists

2010-11-26T23:49:00.000-08:00

I was looking for a copy of the Akathist for the Nativity of Jesus when I cam across this surprising writing by Bishop Hilarion (Alfeyev):

"All that has been said so far about the theological authority of liturgical texts relates to those found in the daily, weekly and annual cycle of services in the Service Book, the Book of Hours, the Octoechos, the Lenten Triodion, the Pentecostarion and the Menaia. Unfortunately, however, the contents of these books are not always accessible to the average Orthodox believer for several reasons. First of all, the majority of these services are not celebrated in churches that do not have daily services, and even in those that do, they are abbreviated (the Synaxarion, for example, is left out almost everywhere). Secondly, liturgical texts are read and sung in Church Slavonic, which not everyone can understand. Thirdly, many hymns are sung in church only once or a few times during the year, and are difficult to understand when heard, even if one knows Church Slavonic. Fourthly, Orthodox liturgical texts are essentially works of Byzantine liturgical poetry translated into Slavonic many centuries ago, and are therefore quite difficult to understand without a knowledge of the original language or the rules of Byzantine poetics. Even if all liturgical texts were to be translated into Russian they would hardly become immediately understandable to everybody.

The only way to explore the riches of the Orthodox Church’s liturgical poetry is to study the texts systematically, just as one studies music, mathematics and other subjects. There are several ways to do this. One is to go to church every day and follow the service books as they are read and sung. Another is to read and sing in a choir. The third is to read liturgical books at home, and still another is to study Greek and Slavonic and compare the original text with the Slavonic translation.

But are such luxuries available to most Orthodox Christians? Of course, not. Typically, the majority are content with what they manage to understand during the services. Or, they try to make up for the lack of spiritual nourishment in church by resorting to various “uncanonical” services and prayers not contained in the Church’s prescribed liturgical books mentioned above. These other services and prayers include molebens and akathists that have entered our church practice over the past two or three centuries and are very popular among believers. Unlike the Byzantine hymns that are difficult to understand, these molebens and akathists do not demand a specialized intellectual effort or theological education for their understanding, since their content is quite simple. However, their theological value is incomparably lower than that of canonical liturgical texts since they contain, as do many Protestant and Catholic hymns, much “piety” but little theology.

What exactly is a moleben? The Orthodox Typicon knows of no such service. In essence, the moleben is the matins service abbreviated beyond recognition and almost totally devoid of theology. The theologically richest sections of matins are the stichera and canons which, as a rule, are totally discarded during the moleben except for refrains, such as “Most Holy Mother of God, save us”, “Our Holy Father Nicholas, pray to God for us”, and the like. In my opinion, the nearly ubiquitous practice of serving molebens in Russia does not at all attest to the development of liturgical piety in the correct, “Orthodox” direction, but rather the opposite. We can say that processes are taking place in the Russian Church similar to those that occurred in Protestantism and Catholicism at various periods, during which ancient, theologically rich, liturgical texts were replaced by more easy-to-understand chorales, hymns and chants. The final stage of this process of liturgical impoverishment and simplification in the Catholic Church was marked by the reforms of Vatican II. In Protestantism, similar reforms were carried out at the very moment of its appearance in history. In both cases, treasures of theological content were sacrificed for the sake of ease of comprehension. As a result, their services ceased to be a school of theology and meditation on God and remained at most a school of piety.

The widespread practice of serving akathists also does not argue for great optimism. The Orthodox Typicon knows of only one akathist – that served on Saturday of the fifth week of Great Lent. Other remarkable examples of this genre, such as those to the Most-Sweet Jesus and St Nicholas, were written in a similar manner. However, many akathists to saints written at a low theological and literary level appeared in the 18th and 19th centuries, in which theology was replaced by piety and meditation on God by “talking about God”. These are of questionable taste.

Currently many speak of the need to reform Orthodox services in order to make them more understandable and palatable. But if this is to be accomplished by the further removal of canonical liturgical texts and their replacement with works of popular art, I fear that such “reforms” will only bring forth bitter fruits.

I am deeply convinced that there is less a need to “revise” services as one to conform liturgical practice to the Typicon. In this way the faithful will have the possibility of rediscovering the treasures of Orthodox theology contained in canonical liturgical texts. In order to make them more understandable, Slavonic translations could be simplified. Of this much was spoken and written already in the 19th century. Several very difficult texts could be read or sung in Russian, although, in my opinion, a total russification of the services is inadmissible. In addition, one could print these liturgical texts in Slavonic with a parallel Russian translation and hand them out to the congregation before the beginning of services. Thus, not reforms of Orthodox services, but measures to help make their riches more accessible, are necessary.''

Might as well say "Be ye perfect for your Father in Heaven is perfect."

2010-11-22T23:18:00.000-08:00

"An Orthodox person is austere in his life, a monk in his household furnishings, in his labor, in his clothing, chaste in his senses and his thoughts. This is because he desires the Lord, loves his neighbor, has an open heart and an open mind to those of all religions and all ideologies though he holds strongly to his own belief. He denies himself. Here someone might hasten to ask, “Are these virtues not found in every Christian, even with every good person?” We answer: in Orthodoxy this spirit predominates. It is the inclination above all other inclination. The love of God dominates over the love of the world. The Orthodox person does not allow a worldly institution or even the law or the system to get a hold over him, to rule over him, to have exclusive power over him. A powerful inclination streams grace into his heart, ignites a fire in his heart." - Metropolitan Ephrem Kyriakos of Tripoli

Things I Think About

St. Ignatius

Tattle-tales and Love

Something I Wish the Orthodox Had: A Call to Artists

Rquired Reading for Spring Semester

The Kingdom of God is Within You

This Is Why I Am Orthodox

The Christian Parent

Atai Parthenos (Today This Virgin) A Coptic Orthodox Hymn

Saturday Soundtrack: My Ten Least Favorite Christmas Pop Songs and my Favorite Christmas Pop Song

Beauty

Eclipse, Welding, Advent, Book

Eclipse Welding Christmas Book

Popcorn Balls

The Advent Wreath

Three Children's Christmas Books

So much to write about

Orthodoxy and Monarchy

Beauty

Update on job and a C.S. Lewis Quote

New Job

Vacation in Mendocino County

They Lie and People Believe Them

Looking for work and other things

The Basic Elements of Victorious Christian Life

Cycles

Economics of Children

From the CSA we got a huge amount of carrots

Boy Scouts

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

What God Hates: A Helpful List of What to Avoid

California

Evangelism

Sadness Continues

Good news

Funny

Saturday Soundtrack: 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover

Dream Come True

Trees

A guide to Orthodox Seminary Education

The Fable of the Horse and the Stag

Guitars

Cecelia: A Saturday Soundtrack Post

It's not Saturday but, what the heck, here's part of the Soundtrack.

Obtaining Mercy

This Day in Willow Glen

Ron Paul: The New Ronald Reagan?

Vespers and Matins

The Biggest Christmas Ever: Chapter 1 (draft 1)

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Catching up

The Double-Breasted Jacket

Hair cuts and roly-poly bugs

The Patriarch of Constantinople and Abortion

The most important thing I learned when I was seven years old.

Hedge and Donna: Saturday Soundtrack

Mixed Marriages

It's the Cheese

The Holy Orthodox Church – a wine press not a rule book

Grandmother was shocked

Slowing down some

Papers papers papers

Patton Speaks Today

Satan Hates People

Saturday Soundtrack: Freaked out by an "older woman"

A Missionary Tale

By Birthday List

What is Holy Tradition?

Words

Chicken & Apple Pot

9 Ways Your Parish Can Serve and Become A More Integrated Part of the Local Community

Money by Religion in America

Enchanted April

Thy Nativity O Christ

Love.

A Christmas Present for a LadybyMyra Kelly

The Christmas Tree

Make and Age

INGREDIENTS

-4 cups all-purpose flour

A Christmas Present for a Lady
by
Myra Kelly