And for my second post of 2013...

You know...when I started blogging I got off to a super duper start.  Holy smokes, I was pumpin' stuff out like there was no tomorrow!  And now...you can hear the crickets chirping.

It's time consuming and sometimes I feel a bit guilty sitting at the computer when I have tons of housework that needs to be done.  Crazy people that they are, my family likes to eat and they appreciate clean underwear.  The kids also liked to be picked up from school when it's completed for the day.  So between driving, cooking, cleaning and other stuff, my life of blogging becomes stymied.

Well now that it is summer, I'm starting up again. I hope.

First up...I may be a little late to the party but dear Orthodox peeps you have got to get yourself a copy of Everyday Saints.  You can find every human emotion in this book..you will laugh, you will cry, you will jump out of your seat and want to hug God for being so awesome.  I can barely type the words "Egyptian Cat" and not start giggling.  Like the name implies, Everyday Saints allows you to relax just enough to realize that salvation isn't only for the spiritual superstars.  It's for bums like us too.  And if that isn't enough to convince you, Amazon has it rated 5 stars with 54 reviews.  On Amazon it looks like it only has the Kindle Version.  I know it's been selling out everywhere so a copy may be hard to come by.  I have one left at my parish's bookstore if you happen to be the area (Sts. Peter & Paul Orthodox Church in Phoenix). 

That's it for now. I think I hear an 8 year old boy attempting to make Kool-Aid by himself, so 'tis best that I leave.  See you all soon!

Suffering - Part Four - Dealing with it

There are many ways in which people deal with suffering.  Certainly this isn't new information to anyone.  Excessive drinking, drug use, isolation.  Some are very good at concealing their sufferings and some are not.   I suppose it depends on the person and the situation.  Like I have said before, I'm no trained professional, just an observer.

Also, as I mentioned in a prior post, no one is immune to suffering.  Even if you have had a minor illness, you have suffered a bit.  Or perhaps not even a physical suffering, maybe some sort of other disappointment in your life.  You cannot live on this planet and not have a time when something did not go your way.  It seems to me that sometimes the smallest of disappointments can have monumental effects on your health.   An unkind word to you as a child can sometimes hang with you for a lifetime unfortunately.  I don't agree with the saying "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me."  A broken bone will hurt but will eventually heal, however an unkind word can hurt much longer and may never heal.  We really need to be mindful on how we speak to each other and teach our children to do the same.  Bullying is no joke and kids are killing themselves.

Realizing that this blog is a public forum, I am not going to talk about myself. Quite frankly it's none of your business.  God knows, I know, some people close to me know.   Some people are comfortable talking about their lives publicly, but I'm not.

I really don't know where to go with this other than to say that healing from these sufferings is found with God.  Sufferings will never go away entirely, disappointments will never cease in this life. But the hurt and the healing of these things can be found with God, and if you are Christian, this healing is specifically made possible by Jesus Christ's incarnation, death and resurrection. We find this in the Old Testament "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed."  Isaiah 53:5.  And in the New Testament "who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed." 1 Peter 2: 23-25.  In other words, it is called salvation.

Salvation in the Orthodox Christian Church is a little bit different than what some people think.  And not different in an opposite direction, but different in that it goes a little bit deeper than the popular definition.

On the top of this blog I have posted something about salvation from the perspective of an Orthodox Christian priest.  If you are interested, click here.  Some of you may agree with this, and some may not.  America is a free country (Thank God) and we all have the right to our own opinions.   I simply offer this explanation as food for thought.

God bless you all and have a great day.