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May 30, 2018August 1, 2018

70. Traveling through Time

Time and Prayer

When God created the universe, time began. The universe had a beginning and will have an ending. We know the Story well because God has revealed to us the start of the Story at the creation of the universe, the middle of the Story (that is, how He has worked and is working in human history), and the end of the Story, when Christ returns.

You were born into this world and you will experience death in the body (unless Christ returns before your death). Your time in this life is a time for repentance. There is no opportunity for repentance after this life. This is the time to become, through the Grace of God, who you want to be after this life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The wheels of a moving bicycle demonstrate our relationship with time. The wheels rotate over and over again, but they do not spin aimlessly in the air like a wheel on a stationary bike or a ferris wheel. The rotation of the wheels propels the bicycle forward on the road toward its destination. Though the cycles of services in the Church may seem repetitious, the whole Church is moving though time and history toward the return of Christ and the fulness of the kingdom of heaven. If you dedicate yourself to living the Way fully each day, week, and year, the cycles of services in the Church will move you toward a greater experience of healing, growth, and transformation. The rotating cycles of time in the Church carry you on the road toward spiritual progress.

The Church makes use of time to teach us the Way, remind us of the Way, and lead us along the Way. Use this time wisely for prayer and repentance.

The Yearly Cycle

The Church’s annual cycle of services begins with the first day of the new Church year every September 1st. The rhythm of the year is primarily provided by the 12 Great Feasts of the Church, spread out from September to the end of each year in August. The greatest feast is Holy Pascha, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Paschal Feast is so great that it is not counted with the 12 Great Feasts, but ranks above them. Here are the central feasts of the year:

1. The Nativity of the Theotokos (September 8th)
2. The Exaltation of the Cross (September 14th)
3. The Presentation of the Theotokos in the Temple (November 21st)
4. The Holy Nativity of Jesus Christ or Christmas (December 25th)
5. Holy Theophany or Epiphany (January 6th)
6. The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (February 2nd)
7. The Annunciation of the Theotokos (March 25th)
8. Palm Sunday or The Entry of Christ into Jerusalem (Sunday before Pascha)

GREAT AND HOLY PASCHA or Easter – The Feast of Feasts

9. The Holy Ascension of Jesus Christ (Forty days after Pascha)
10. Holy Pentecost (Fifty days after Pascha)
11. The Holy Transfiguration of Jesus Christ (August 6th)
12. The Dormition or Falling Asleep of the Theotokos (August 15th)

These feasts help us to remember the central events in our Story as Orthodox Christians. If we forget what God has accomplished for us in history, we forget who we are and what we are called to do. Make this cycle of services the center of your life throughout the year and, therefore, the most important events on your personal calendar.

Weekly Cycle

Every week in the year provides its own cycle of services. The days of the week hold their own special commemorations:

Monday – The Bodiless Powers of Heaven

Tuesday – The Holy Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John

Wednesday – The Precious and Life-Giving Cross

Thursday – The Holy, Glorious, All-Laudable Apostles and St. Nicholas of Myra

Friday – The Precious and Life-Giving Cross

Saturday – The Holy, Glorious, and Right-victorious Martyrs and our Venerable and God-bearing Fathers

Since Christ was betrayed on a Wednesday and Crucified on a Friday, we typically observe Wednesdays and Fridays as strict fast days (abstaining from meat, dairy, wine, and olive oil). Each week leads up to Sunday, the Eighth Day or the Lord’s Day, when we celebrate the Divine Liturgy. During the week, individually pray, fast, and repent in preparation for our family celebration of the Holy Resurrection on the approaching Sunday.

Daily Cycle

The Church commemorates the lives of different Saints or historical events every day of the year. Specific hymns and Scripture readings are prescribed each day. Every day also includes a complete cycle of services. The daily cycle begins at sundown, which is the beginning of the next liturgical day, and includes the following services:

Vespers (Evening prayer near sundown)

Compline (Prayers in the night)

Midnight Office, also called Lauds

Matins, also called Orthros (Morning prayer near sunrise)

The 1st hour (6am)

The 3rd hour (9am), when we remember the Holy Spirit’s descent at Pentecost

The 6th hour (Noon), when we remember Christ’s Crucifixion

The 9th hour (3pm), when we remember Christ’s Death on the Cross

The Divine Liturgy, the central worship services of the Church, is not part of the cycle of services. This is because the Divine Liturgy involves participation in the heavenly worship outside of our experience of time.

In a monastery church, the monastics may observe a full daily cycle of services. In parishes, few of these services may be held. If your Priest does not lead these services in your parish, you may (with his blessing) pray modified versions of at least some of these services at home or when you are traveling out of town. Whether or not you pray the home-versions of these services, be mindful of the particular times of day traditionally set aside for prayer so that you may be reminded to pray throughout the day, even if briefly.

Use your time wisely in this life. As your time began, your time will end. You do not know when your life in this world will end any more than you know when time itself will end. Walk the Way daily so that you will be accounted worthy to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Make use of the annual cycle of fasts and feasts, weekly cycle of services, and daily cycles of prayer for the benefit of your salvation. Be reminded through the cycle of services who you really are, who you have been called to be, what you have been entrusted to do, and how to fulfill your destiny. Bring your life into harmony with the regular rhythm of the annual, weekly, and daily cycles of the Church. Allow the Church’s calendar to provide the heartbeat of your daily life.

Read: Genesis 1.1; Psalm 55.17; 103.8-18; Ecclesiastes 3.1-15; Daniel 6.10; Matthew 25.1-13; John 1.1-5; Acts 1.10-11; 2.15; 3.1; Hebrews 9.27-28; 2 Peter 3.8-9; 1 John 2.15-29; Revelation 22.12-21

May 20, 2018

69. Holy Relics

Reliquary with Apostles

The bones of the Saints are kept as precious treasures within our Holy Altars and in reliquaries. Why is this?

The human being is a unity of soul and body. God became Incarnate in a human body with a human soul and raised up the physical human body with the soul to an immortal existence. We participate in the mystical and ascetic life of the Church with both soul and body. Our salvation is not complete until we receive our resurrected physical immortal bodies at the end of the age.

Since the human being is a unity of body and soul, the experience of Divine Grace affects both the soul and the body. Remember how Christ’s body shined with Divine Glory on Mt. Thabor. Even after the Saints end their lives on earth, the Divine Grace remains within their bones while their souls rest with Christ until they receive their immortal bodies at the resurrection.

The Presence of God preserves some bodies of the Saints so entirely that they do not decay. The bones of some Saints miraculously flow with fragrant oil, used for anointing the Faithful. God works wonders through His Saints, even through their bones long after they have completed this life in faith. Since the Grace of God remains in these holy bodily temples, we venerate the relics and pray that the Grace of God dwelling in them may touch, heal, and sanctify us.

You are called to participate in the Grace that makes Saints so that your soul and body may become holy, a true temple where the Holy Spirit is pleased to dwell.

Read: 4 Kingdoms (2 Kings) 13.20-21

May 16, 2018

68. Cooperating with Grace (Synergy)

hold strawberry-plant

To establish a garden, take what God has created and nurture it. God has given us the earth. Prepare the soil, dig holes, place the plants in the ground, and gently cover them up. God has given us water. Saturate the roots with the water. God provides the sunshine to feed the plants. Make sure your plants receive the proper amount of light. God waters the garden with rain. Make sure the garden drains properly. During dry periods, water the plants with what God has already given. The plants will grow as God has designed them. Fertilize, weed, and prune them to promote growth. Collect the harvest, give thanks to God, and enjoy your food. A garden offers an image of synergy, that is, God working together with us for our own benefit.

Physical therapy requires synergy between two human beings. The patient in therapy must consent to the therapy and use his energy to participate in the work. The therapist uses her energy alongside the patient, supporting him, strengthening him, and helping him in his effort so that he will heal and recover his own strength.

God desires to heal and transform you by participation in His Grace. Self-effort alone will never take you far enough. You need to use your created energy to do your part in cooperation with God’s Uncreated Energy at work within you. This is synergy.

God has called you to participate in salvation. He has created you with the free will to choose whether or not to respond to His invitation. By aligning your will with God’s will, by living a virtuous life according to His instruction, and by your effort to pray and repent, you open your heart to the Divine Grace. When you turn away from sin and focus the attention of your heart on Christ, you invite God’s Presence into your soul and give Him permission to work in you.

Read: Philippians 2.12-13; 4.13; 2 Corinthians 12.1-10

May 14, 2018May 14, 2018

67. Like Iron in Flame (Theosis)

forge metal fire

The goal of the Way is the salvation of soul and body. When Christ returns at the end of the age, all the dead will receive their immortal bodies through resurrection and, following the Judgment, everyone who belongs to Christ will enter into unending Life with Him. This is the fulfillment of salvation at the conclusion of time, but salvation is not just for the future. God has called us to experience salvation now, in this life, as a foretaste of the future Heavenly Kingdom.

We call the fullest experience of salvation in this life theosis or deification. Simply put, theosis means union with God. More precisely, theosis refers to the experience of being healed, transfigured, and united with the Holy Trinity through participation in the Divine Grace.

If a cold piece of iron or steel is placed in a hot fire, the metal takes on the properties of the fire. The metal glows bright with light and radiates heat as flame. If the metal is removed from the fire, it returns to its dull, cold state. Gold may be purified in fire. The flame refines the precious metal by separating the pure gold itself from impurities. When participating in the Divine Grace, which is the Uncreated Fire, the Orthodox Christian experiences purification, illumination, and union with God.

Christ Himself has shown us what the experience of human salvation looks like. At His Transfiguration on Mount Thabor, Christ revealed His Glory to Ss. Peter, James, and John. These three Disciples witnessed the God-Man Jesus Christ radiating, not with created light, but with Uncreated Light, that is, His own Divine Energy. Even His clothes were transfigured by contact with His Holy Illuminating Body.

Transfiguration Theophanes Greek (15th_c,_Tretyakov_gallery)

Although the Divine Glory always shined brightly from Christ, the darkened eyes of human hearts were not capable of perceiving it. On the mountain, Christ opened the spiritual (noetic) eyes of His three Disciples so they could witness His Glory. Ss. Peter, James, and John did not just behold this vision with their physical eyes. The vision of the Uncreated Light is an internal experience that affects soul and body.

Jesus Christ radiated with His own Divine Glory on Mt. Thabor because He is God by Nature. (The Son of God is God in Essence with the Father and Holy Spirit.) For us, salvation means becoming by Grace what Christ is by Nature. In other words, salvation means participating in the Divine Energy so that we are healed, transfigured, perfected, united with Him, and know Him by experience. The true human being at the height of spiritual potential is one who has been united with God. To put it yet another way, Christ shares His Glory with us so that we may be like Him. Notice that union with God, seeing the Uncreated Light, beholding the vision of Christ in Glory, knowing God with the heart, being like Christ, partaking in the Divine Nature, theosis, deification, and divinization all describe the same experience.

This is real theology, both practical and mystical. In our day, theology is often confused with the study of philosophy. A philosopher knows rational concepts related to God, but a true theologian is one who knows God by experience with his heart (nous) through prayer.

The Way of salvation may be summarized like this: Always do what is in harmony with human nature and avoid whatever is in contradiction to human nature so that you may become what is beyond human nature.

Read: Matthew 16.28-17.1-9; Luke 9.27-36; Ephesians 2.1-10; 1 Peter. 3-9; 2 Peter 1.3-4, 16-18; 1 John 3.2; Revelation 21.22-27

May 11, 2018

66. Sun & Sunlight (Essence & Energy)

spring-tree-flowers-meadow-60006

The bright sun in the sky lies far beyond us in space. Standing on the earth, we cannot reach out and touch it no matter how far we stretch up toward this distant, untouchable ball of fire. (For perspective, consider that the sun is located 93,000,000 miles away or 150 million kilometers. The sun is also meltingly burning hot at 27,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit or 15,000,000 degrees Celsius). The sun itself remains unreachable and unknowable to us by our own direct experience. God is also unreachable and unknowable to us. More precisely, the Divine Essence is totally beyond our ability to understand, absolutely unknowable, infinitely distant (transcendent), entirely unreachable, and completely inaccessible to our experience.

God is the Existing One. Only He, the Uncreated God, exists by Himself. Everything else exists because He gave it existence by bringing it into being out of nothing. All things are contained within Him, Who alone Is without boundary and limit. The Divine Essence is so indescribably distant beyond imagination from the created universe that we refer to the Essence of God as even beyond Being and beyond Existence.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are One in Essence, that is, One God. So, the Essence of God is Personalized in the Person of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There is no impersonal Divine Essence apart from the Persons. If you could know God in His Essence, then you would be God Yourself, equal to God in every way. As a new Divine Person – a fourth Person added to the Holy Trinity – you would then know God as God knows Himself (His Inner Self, so to speak). Of course, a created being cannot know or experience the the Uncreated Essence. Pantheism (the false belief that created things in the universe are divine) results from ignorance of the proper separation between the Uncreated Essence and created beings.

No one knows the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as thoroughly as they know one another because the three Persons share the same Uncreated Essence. They know each other on the level of Essence. Whoever we humans think that God is or think that God is like according to our human opinions, philosophical ideas, and creative imagination, the Divine Essence is not that. We really can say little about the Essence of God other than how far and untouchable from the created universe that the Divine Essence is.

If God is so completely unknowable and separated from us, how can we be saved? Here is the good news: God is unknowable and beyond, yet He is also knowable and near.

Although we cannot know the sun by experience directly from our place on earth, we do experience the sun’s rays. We participate in the light of the sun and the warmth of the sun through its rays. Our experience of invisible ultraviolet rays enables our body to produce Vitamin D. We are nurtured by the distant sun through the sunshine that draws near to us on Earth. While God is also completely unreachable, unknowable, and untouchable in His Essence, we can know and experience Him by His Energy, which flows from His Essence. The Energy is not a created power that connects us with God, but God Himself. We call this Divine Uncreated Energy by such names as these: the Grace of God, the Glory of God, His Power, the Uncreated Light, the Divine Presence, Uncreated Fire, or Divinity. We refer to the Energy as God’s movement, operation, condescension, action, activity, or work within the creation. We can know nothing about God other than what He reveals to us about Himself, so since He reveals Himself through His Energy, then we may refer to the Uncreated Energy as God’s revelation to us. Sometimes we refer to the Energy as plural Energies since we can distinguish between the different ways a human being experiences the Uncreated Energy as Divine Life, Light, Wisdom, Love, Humility, Healing Power, Joy, Peace, and so on.

Remember this: God is One. The Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is One Essence and One Energy. We cannot know God or experience God in His Essence, but we can know God and experience Him directly in His Energy. In fact, participating in the Divine Energy so that we are healed, transformed, and perfected by His Energy is salvation.

No analogies based on rational concepts or created things can succeed in explaining the Mystery of the Uncreated One. So, our use of the sun and its rays as a teaching concept to explain the distinction between the Uncreated Essence and Energies is helpful, but we should not overthink it. Analogies do not capture the Truth, but they keep us on the path toward the Truth so that we may pursue experiential knowledge of the Truth for our salvation.

Read: Exodus 33.1-23; Job 38.1-42.6; Matthew 11.27; John 1.18; 6.46