A "To Heavy" Blog
OK! OK!
I Get it! Yes ... I have been a little heavy on the spiritual side for a Blog that was suppose to be a Photo-Blog.
But, before I get started let me say that today is the 14th Sunday after Pentecost (I should say was, not is) and we were honored to celebrate in panegyrics that hero, that giant, that messiah, that God-Seer and Prophet Moses. How wonderful to be with him today. And, I couldn't but in amazement think of Jews, Christians and Muslims as he was celebrated. He means so much to all three religions yet they all three differ in their veneration of him. What a world we live in. And, as an Orthodox Christian Clergyman I couldn't help but pay attention to the comments of Pope Benedict of the Roman Catholic Church addressing the peoples of the world about his comments during his quoting of a "Byzantine" (pronounced Bizz-an-teen, not Bye-zan-tine) Emperor concerning Muhammad the founder of the Muslim Religion. I think he answered quite correctly. Boy! Do the Muslims have a "Tizzy-Fit" if they even hear that someone has said something about them. It reminds me of the homosexuals having a riot of a tizzy when Harvey Milk was murdered in San Francisco. I'm going to have to start having Tizzy-Fits. It sure gets a lot of attention.
So, I took this old body on a trip to see my son Alexis for his 25th birthday. It's only once that a person can say that they have lived a quarter of a century. His sweet and lovely fiancee Elizabeth and I were able to pull off getting him a digital camera. He's like me - an SLR-Darkroom man. But we are losing the battle to the pixel. If you can't beat them ... join them. Beside, real photography will probably be against the law very soon. Almost everything else is now against the law. OH! THAT'S RIGHT! Not heavy but very easy.
So it worked havoc on this old man but I consider it worth it and I also pixelated it. I'm told pixelate is not a word. If I confessed that I were capturing digital pixels I might go to jail for kidnaping - so - I wasn't doing that.
So her
e we are: Father and Son 25 years into it. How come the older I get the more I look like Bozo the Clown? I haven't been reading any man-ga-zines like he used to do.
AND HERE SHE IS FOLKS! TAH DAH!!!
This is the fiancee of the day, the dear of the year, and soon the wife for life, dear sweet and lovely Elizabeth. What a smile Uh? Yeah! Yasure! Yabetcha! If she only knew I plan on moving in with them during the time they are on their honeymoon. No! I will remain where I am. I am just delighted that they are only about 130 miles away. Still, with the cost of gasoline, it is a $60.00 minimum trip. And, that's if I don't eat, add oil to the car or add coffee to the monk.
And see, they do fit together. You will also notice that Alexis is still sleepy but that he is still happy too. No! I think the problem is the photographer. It's like my Dad's friend Stan Olsen would tell me in about 1971. I was always having car trouble. He would always tell me the problem with my vehicles was simple to fix. He said that the nut behind the wheel had screwed loose. If the nut behind the wheel would tighten up and not be so loose my problems would be solved. My problem was that back then I listened to no one.
And so here is a good shot of the boy and his toy. So as you can see ... I have lightened up my posting. But the truth is that I haven't. It is heavier now than at any other time. This is because my flesh and blood, my children, are the most powerful force for God in my life. I never pray as intensely for anything as I do for my children. If it has to do with my children I'm a fanatic on it and all over it. In Wounded by Love a book about Elder Porphyrios(+1991) of Kavsokalyvia on Mt. Athos (a book Alexis gave me for Fathers Day) the Elder calls it insanity. He calls it a Godly insanity for it stems from zeal for Christ-God.
In the eyes of the world we seem to be totally whacked out. This same Father calls it a Divine intoxication and he uses as his example the writings of the Apostle and Evangelist Luke in Acts Chapter one and two. What did the people say about the infant Orthodox Church? They said "These men are full of new wine." They supposed we were intoxicated. Thus today they say the same thing about us.
All I know is that I want to be with God First and with my Children Second for all of ETERNITY. Eternity! Now there's a concept. Is it to live forever? Do we come into being and live from that point on forever? No. I don't think that is it. God the Holy Trinity existed outside time and space before there was time and space. He is the God that called time and space into being. God created time and space out of nothing. God has told us that there will be an end to time and space. Therefore to be with God for eternity can't be from now onward and forever. Now that is a good reason to be with God and in fact, I think in ways past knowing God still exists outside time and space even now. With such a God as Our God the living of eternal life must be unending in both directions, forever in the future and forever in the past. This is eternity: a lack of time or a reality of timelessness.
Great is the Godhead. Being outside time and space and at the same time having united Himself to human flesh which He took from the Virgin and as such He was dwelling as the self aware Son of God inside the Virgin's womb. Truly the womb of the Theotokos is "More spacious than the Heavens" for she carried in her womb in the full essence of His Deity He that is so great that He is everywhere present and fills all things. And, yes ... He is to large for time and space to hold Him. But, the Virgin Mary's womb was large enough to hold within herself that which the universe can not. Truly, Most Holy Mother of God you are a "Living Temple". Far greater than all the temples made by men for the dwelling of the creator. God is present in all his temples of the Orthodox Faith. But in a special and ineffable way God dwelt in His fullness within the Virgin's womb. Oh living temple, most Holy Theotokos, surely your prayer to your son and our God is pleasing to Christ your child. Oh most Holy Theotokos, you do not redeem us but we call upon you to save us, to deliver us from ourselves and all the evil machinations of the world. Pray to your son and our God to have mercy on Father Lawrence and his children Alexis, Elizabeth, Seraphima, Shaunna and Alexandra. Amen.
Oh! I can't help it. There will be a "Post Lite" next time.
But, before I get started let me say that today is the 14th Sunday after Pentecost (I should say was, not is) and we were honored to celebrate in panegyrics that hero, that giant, that messiah, that God-Seer and Prophet Moses. How wonderful to be with him today. And, I couldn't but in amazement think of Jews, Christians and Muslims as he was celebrated. He means so much to all three religions yet they all three differ in their veneration of him. What a world we live in. And, as an Orthodox Christian Clergyman I couldn't help but pay attention to the comments of Pope Benedict of the Roman Catholic Church addressing the peoples of the world about his comments during his quoting of a "Byzantine" (pronounced Bizz-an-teen, not Bye-zan-tine) Emperor concerning Muhammad the founder of the Muslim Religion. I think he answered quite correctly. Boy! Do the Muslims have a "Tizzy-Fit" if they even hear that someone has said something about them. It reminds me of the homosexuals having a riot of a tizzy when Harvey Milk was murdered in San Francisco. I'm going to have to start having Tizzy-Fits. It sure gets a lot of attention.
So, I took this old body on a trip to see my son Alexis for his 25th birthday. It's only once that a person can say that they have lived a quarter of a century. His sweet and lovely fiancee Elizabeth and I were able to pull off getting him a digital camera. He's like me - an SLR-Darkroom man. But we are losing the battle to the pixel. If you can't beat them ... join them. Beside, real photography will probably be against the law very soon. Almost everything else is now against the law. OH! THAT'S RIGHT! Not heavy but very easy.
So it worked havoc on this old man but I consider it worth it and I also pixelated it. I'm told pixelate is not a word. If I confessed that I were capturing digital pixels I might go to jail for kidnaping - so - I wasn't doing that.
So her
e we are: Father and Son 25 years into it. How come the older I get the more I look like Bozo the Clown? I haven't been reading any man-ga-zines like he used to do.Alexis is just sleepy. Sleepy but happy. They don't give our children a chance to even go to the bathroom anymore. He works full time, goes to college and attends all the services at his parish and still society calls on him to do more. I never was called to do so much. But I was part of the Pepsi Generation. That lasted until Michael Jackson started his head on fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial. I guess that's where the innocence went "Up in Smoke"!!!
AND HERE SHE IS FOLKS! TAH DAH!!!
This is the fiancee of the day, the dear of the year, and soon the wife for life, dear sweet and lovely Elizabeth. What a smile Uh? Yeah! Yasure! Yabetcha! If she only knew I plan on moving in with them during the time they are on their honeymoon. No! I will remain where I am. I am just delighted that they are only about 130 miles away. Still, with the cost of gasoline, it is a $60.00 minimum trip. And, that's if I don't eat, add oil to the car or add coffee to the monk.
And see, they do fit together. You will also notice that Alexis is still sleepy but that he is still happy too. No! I think the problem is the photographer. It's like my Dad's friend Stan Olsen would tell me in about 1971. I was always having car trouble. He would always tell me the problem with my vehicles was simple to fix. He said that the nut behind the wheel had screwed loose. If the nut behind the wheel would tighten up and not be so loose my problems would be solved. My problem was that back then I listened to no one.
And so here is a good shot of the boy and his toy. So as you can see ... I have lightened up my posting. But the truth is that I haven't. It is heavier now than at any other time. This is because my flesh and blood, my children, are the most powerful force for God in my life. I never pray as intensely for anything as I do for my children. If it has to do with my children I'm a fanatic on it and all over it. In Wounded by Love a book about Elder Porphyrios(+1991) of Kavsokalyvia on Mt. Athos (a book Alexis gave me for Fathers Day) the Elder calls it insanity. He calls it a Godly insanity for it stems from zeal for Christ-God.In the eyes of the world we seem to be totally whacked out. This same Father calls it a Divine intoxication and he uses as his example the writings of the Apostle and Evangelist Luke in Acts Chapter one and two. What did the people say about the infant Orthodox Church? They said "These men are full of new wine." They supposed we were intoxicated. Thus today they say the same thing about us.
All I know is that I want to be with God First and with my Children Second for all of ETERNITY. Eternity! Now there's a concept. Is it to live forever? Do we come into being and live from that point on forever? No. I don't think that is it. God the Holy Trinity existed outside time and space before there was time and space. He is the God that called time and space into being. God created time and space out of nothing. God has told us that there will be an end to time and space. Therefore to be with God for eternity can't be from now onward and forever. Now that is a good reason to be with God and in fact, I think in ways past knowing God still exists outside time and space even now. With such a God as Our God the living of eternal life must be unending in both directions, forever in the future and forever in the past. This is eternity: a lack of time or a reality of timelessness.
Great is the Godhead. Being outside time and space and at the same time having united Himself to human flesh which He took from the Virgin and as such He was dwelling as the self aware Son of God inside the Virgin's womb. Truly the womb of the Theotokos is "More spacious than the Heavens" for she carried in her womb in the full essence of His Deity He that is so great that He is everywhere present and fills all things. And, yes ... He is to large for time and space to hold Him. But, the Virgin Mary's womb was large enough to hold within herself that which the universe can not. Truly, Most Holy Mother of God you are a "Living Temple". Far greater than all the temples made by men for the dwelling of the creator. God is present in all his temples of the Orthodox Faith. But in a special and ineffable way God dwelt in His fullness within the Virgin's womb. Oh living temple, most Holy Theotokos, surely your prayer to your son and our God is pleasing to Christ your child. Oh most Holy Theotokos, you do not redeem us but we call upon you to save us, to deliver us from ourselves and all the evil machinations of the world. Pray to your son and our God to have mercy on Father Lawrence and his children Alexis, Elizabeth, Seraphima, Shaunna and Alexandra. Amen.
Oh! I can't help it. There will be a "Post Lite" next time.
posted by Father Lawrence | 4:09 AM
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