Hatred: The Devil’s Poison

Does It Really Matter What We Believe?

On the seventh Sunday of Pascha, the Orthodox Church commemorates The Holy God-bearing Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, a feast which has been celebrated from ancient times. 

Historically it seems that when external persecutions of the Church subside, heresies and false teachings arise within the Church itself. So on this day when we commemorate the First Ecumenical Council of the Church which took place in 325 A.D., we ask ourselves: 

“Does it really make any difference what we believe?”

In consideration of this question, I suggest five key scriptural passages:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV).

How many things could be left out and still fulfill this command? Would fifty-percent or seventy-five percent or even ninety percent qualify for everything? The words of our Lord to His followers clearly commanded the Church was to teach and observe one hundred percent of Christ’s apostolic doctrine.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21 NIV).

Claiming allegiance is insufficient. Saying is no substitute for obeying. How much of God’s truth can be compromised or rejected and still meet the standard of doing the Father’s will?

“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” (John 8:31-32 NIV).

Since only the truth sets free, how much error can be mixed with truth before it ceases to be the truth? Can we change any of the doctrines of the apostolic Faith? Let us recall that the devil added only one word to God’s original command in Genesis 3:3–4, but it ruined Eve. Rat poison is deadly although it is ninety-nine percent wheat and only one percent poison.

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!” (Galatians 1:6-8 NIV).

Different gospels bring a curse. The fullness of truth delivered to the apostles and preserved in the doctrinal teachings of Christ’s Church is grace-filled and salvific; false teachings or false gospels are not.

“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll” (Revelation 22:18-19 NIV).

In light of this, should we accept any new doctrines or omission of any doctrines that contradict the apostolic teachings of the original Church? Is it safe to change, add or omit what has consistently been taught throughout the centuries by the Church established by Christ?

Throughout history, the Church has passed through difficult struggles against the enemy of our salvation. During times of persecution, holy women and men have endured great hardships and suffered immeasurably to preserve the truths of the apostolic faith. Many have paid the ultimate sacrifice to preserve the purity of faith, dying as martyrs rather than compromising truth. Such sacrifices have been particularly witnessed during the Roman persecutions during the first three centuries of the Church, during the communist persecutions in the twentieth century, and during the persecutions in our own day, especially now being witnessed in the Middle East.

And so, we return to the importance of today’s Commemoration of the First Ecumenical Council of the Church in 325 A.D., where 318 bishops representing the early Church from various lands gathered together at Nicea. Among the assembled bishops were many confessors who had suffered during the persecutions and who bore the marks of torture upon their bodies. The emperor Constantine presided over the sessions of the Council. In his speech, responding to the welcome by Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, he said:

“God has helped me cast down the impious might of the persecutors, but more distressful for me than any blood spilled in battle is for a soldier, is the internal strife in the Church of God, for it is more ruinous.”

In the Nicean Creed, the holy Fathers set forth and confirmed the apostolic teachings regarding Christ’s divine nature. After resolving this chief dogmatic question, the Council also issued twelve canons on questions of ecclesiastical administration and discipline. Also decided was the manner by which the date for celebrating Holy Pascha, the Lord’s Resurrection, was to be determined.

Based upon the foregoing, I think it is safe to conclude that it really does make a difference what we believe!

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10 Tips for Recovering From Major Disappointments in Life*

Sometimes life throws curves at us that take the wind from our sail. If we aren’t careful we can allow the injury to haunt us for life; never regaining what we have lost.

Have you lost a job recently? If you’re not careful, you will falsely assume that you could never get as good of a job again.

Have you had a business failure? If you’re not careful, you’ll keep yourself from ever taking a ride again.

Did you suffer from divorce? If you’re not careful, you’ll believe you can never recover or receive God’s grace.

Did your spouse have an affair? If you’re not careful, you’ll never risk intimate love again.

The Devil loves when you doubt yourself.

What steps should you take to get back on track and succeed again after a major disappointment?

Here are 10 tips to consider during the recovery process:

• Reconnect with God. This is always a wise idea, but it becomes a necessity at times like this. Times of disappointment can cause us to emotionally pull away from God. Our faith may still be intact, but our daily trust waivers. We may know God is able, but we have a harder time trusting Him to do what needs to be done. Evaluate your life. Use this time to reevaluate the decisions you have made in life and what got you in the situation you are in today. Are there changes that you need to make? If so, be willing to change. If you did nothing wrong in this case, release yourself from responsibility.
• Create some new dreams. Don’t allow past mistakes to keep you from discovering your passions in life. Keep those creative forces going in your mind so you’ll be ready when the next big opportunity comes along. Give yourself permission to believe the impossible. God does.
• Call in the advisors. Others can usually see things we cannot see. They approach our life from a different perspective. Give someone you trust, who has your best interest at heart, access to the painful part of your life…and the freedom to speak into your life.
• Don’t take your pain and anger out on others. It doesn’t make things better (usually worse) to hurt others because you are hurting. Innocent people shouldn’t be subjected to the wrath of your pain.
• Take a break. Don’t expect to recover immediately. Your situation and the emotions and struggles because of them probably didn’t start overnight and they will not end overnight. Give yourself time to heal.
• When it’s time, be willing to risk again. Yes, you may get hurt again, but just as life is full of disappointments, it’s also full of joy and discovery. Remember that everyone is not the same and every situation is different. Don’t hold your past experiences against others who weren’t even there or against a future that hasn’t come.
• Don’t let failure or disappointment define you. Be defined by God’s love for you and His plan for your life.
• Do something. Rest yes, but at some point, just do something to stay busy and occupy your mind. It’s true that the “idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” If you lost your job, find somewhere to volunteer until you find another job. If you lost a relationship, find non-sexual relationships through church or civic activities to keep from being alone. If nothing else, start journaling as a way to release your thoughts. Do something.
• Get back in the game. Choose your next steps carefully and don’t keep repeating the same mistakes, but at some point it will be time to enjoy life again. Life was not meant to be lived on the sidelines.

What steps do you have for recovering from disappointment?

*By Ron Edmonson

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The Ascension: It’s Meaning and Importance

On the Feast of the Ascension, the Orthodox Catholic Church does not merely commemorate an historical event in the life of Christ. On this day, the Church celebrates Christ’s physical departure from the world and His glorification with God.

For forty days after His Resurrection, Jesus remained on earth. Filled with the glory and honor of His divinity, He appeared to His disciples at various times and places. By eating and drinking with His followers and conversing with them about the Kingdom of God, Jesus assured them that He was truly alive in His risen and glorified body.

On this day, Jesus appeared to His disciples and gave them His last commandment – to preach the Kingdom of God and the repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name to all nations, beginning with Jerusalem. Then He led them out of Jerusalem toward Bethany to the Mount of Olives. He lifted up His hands and blessed them. As His disciples were looking on, He was lifted up – or “ascended” – and a cloud took Him out of sight. While they were looking up, two angels in white robes appeared and said to them:

“Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking into the sky? Jesus, Who has been taken up from you into heaven, this same Jesus will come back in the same was as you have seen Him go there.”

When we ponder the icon of the Ascension, the distinction between heavenly peace and worldly confusion is most apparent upon the Mount of Olives. The Apostles look up in a combination of fear and wonder, their arms waving like the olive trees on the mount. In the center, the two angels “in white apparel” exhort the men to cease their gazing into heaven and return to Jerusalem to receive the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. Between the two angels stands Mary, the Mother of God, hands raised in prayer, not staring up, but peacefully toward us. Already overshadowed by the Holy Spirit since Christ’s conception, Mary appears to understand the deep mysteries of her Son’s birth, death, resurrection and ascension, already hoping on Christ’s return. This hope brings her the divine peace shared by Jesus Christ and the angels: they all have halos signifying the grace and glory of God, whereas the disordered Apostles do not.

The Ascension is, therefore, a sign and symbol of the Second Coming. Christ will return to the earth in the same manner as He left it. When the risen Lord returns again in glory, God’s will for humanity will be fulfilled. In ascending, Jesus raises earth to heaven with Him!

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FREE ROSARY OFFER: Rule of the Mother of God (Byzantine Rosary)

The Rule of the Mother of God (Byzantine Rosary) is the Marian Rosary in a form which is indigenous to the Byzantine East, especially the Russian Orthodox Church. In the Encyclopedia of Orthodoxy (Moscow 2003), the Russian Orthodox Church commends the Rule of the Mother of God (Rule) to all of the the Orthodox faithful. The daily praying of the Rule is a most appropriate and authentic devotion in the Byzantine spiritual tradition.

Here is a brief account of its history and significance:

“It is well known that Saint Seraphim of Sarov (1759 – 1833) prayed a form of the Rosary. Saint Seraphim’s Rule of the Mother of God consisted in one hundred and fifty repetitions of the Angelic Salutation, divided into fifteen decades. He said the Our Father only once at the beginning. The theotokion Open unto us the gate of compassion and a specific petition to Our Lady followed each decade. He ended his Rule with It is truly meet.”

Saint Seraphim maintained that this rule of prayer had been given by the Mother of God to a monk in the Thebaid of Egypt in the early eighth century. He also lamented that the Orthodox had forgotten about it. He taught all his spiritual children to pray the Rule, claiming that this prayer is more important for obtaining Our Lady’s protection than any other devotion in her honor, including akathists and canons. In his cell he kept a book in which he recorded the many miracles reported to him as a result of its practice.

A plan of meditations which embrace the whole life of the Mother of God was devised by Saint Bishop Seraphim (Zvezdinsky) of Dmitrov. He prayed the complete fifteen-decade Rule daily and encouraged all Christians to do likewise. Murdered by the Communists in 1937, he is a Holy New Hieromartyr of the Russian Church.

To help propagate this devotion, the Orthodox Catholic Monastery of Our Lady Joy of All Who Sorrow is offering a FREE ROSARY for simply paying the cost of shipping and handling. The rosary is constructed of cross-imprinted beads with a wooden Orthodox-style Cross. To obtain your free rosary, please click on the following link: FREE ROSARY

A copy of the Rule as prayed at the Poustinia and by the Seraphs of Saint Seraphim of Sarov can be found and downloaded at: RULE OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

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Passion-Bearer Alan Turing

On June 7th, the Orthodox-Catholic Church of America commemorates Alan Turing, who was one of the great mathematical minds of the 20th century and spread his talents to philosophy and chemistry, as well. He was both autistic and gay and was out to himself at a fairly young age. When his first love interest died from complications from Bovine TB while he was a teen, his faith was shattered. Turing obtained a degree in mathematics and at the ripe age of 24 published a paper pushing some of the boundaries of computability theory. He was sent to Princeton to study at the Institute for Advanced Studies under Alonzo Church and received his Ph.D. in 1938.

Soon after WWII broke out, Turing played a key role in the war, becaming the star cryptoanalyst of British intelligence and eventually of Allied intelligence. He invented a machine that cracked the German Enigma cipher (which was designed to be constantly changing). Turing was the key to Allied cryptological superiority that significantly contributed to the Allied victory. That was the first time he changed the world, although it was kept strictly confidential for decades. Turing changed the world again by devising the world’s very first compiling program and by designing on paper an electronic computer that could run any program. Turing’s invention of the compiler program is probably the closest thing there is to the beginning of modern computing; and, by founding modern computer science, he changed the world again.

We also sadly recall his shame and martyrdom. In 1952, one of his lovers helped an accomplice break into Turing’s house, and in the police investigation Turing admitted that he had slept with the man, which was illegal in Britain in 1952, but rarely prosecuted and rarely punished heavily. The judge in the case was particularly upset that Turing had not enlisted and helped his country in its time of desperate need, and demanded clarification. Turing begged the government for a letter, that without giving away the secrets of just how much Turing had helped in WWII, would say that Turing had served his country and that his government was happy with his service. They refused. And although he had been awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1945 for his war-time service, he was forbidden to share this fact with anyone without high-security clearance. The judge publicly called Turing a coward and a reprobate, sentencing him to 10 years in jail. Shortly afterwards, his lawyers cut a plea deal to suspend the sentence in return for house arrest and an experimental “chemical castration” hormone treatment.

From 1952-1954 Turing was despondent, friendless, isolated, depressed and emotionally and physically volatile in response to the drugs. On June 7th, 1954 he was found dead of cyanide poisoning with a half eaten apple nearby that was never tested for poison and without any note.

There are many theories about what exactly happened. The inquest ruled that Turing had committed suicide. If so, his recent trial, public shaming, arrest, enforced experimental drug-regime, and inability to defend himself without violating national security are surely to blame. His mother argued that his poisoning was accidental, and resulted from incautious handling of the chemicals he was researching with in his lab. Some have speculated that he was assassinated by National Security forces to keep some secret or to prevent him from inventing something else potentially dangerous, like a new code or a new code breaker. Another theory is that he intentionally re-enacted the scene from Snow White with the poison apple.

Turing has been honored in many ways since his death. He ranked 21st in a 2002 BBC poll of the 100 most influential Britons of all time. In 1999, Time named him one of 100 most influential people of the 20th century, saying:

“The fact remains that everyone who taps at a keyboard, opens a spreadsheet or uses a word-processing program, is working on an incarnation of a Turing machine.”

On Sept 10, 2009 Prime Minister Gordon Brown publicly apologized for the British Government’s failure to intercede on Turing’s behalf at his trial and thanked him once again for his many services to his country and to the free world.

The Orthodox-Catholic Church of America considers Alan Turing a Passion Bearer to the culture of secrecy and societal oppression. Alan Turing was one of the smartest, most genuine and noble persons who ever lived. Alan Turing’s work lead the team that broke the code generated by the Enigma Machine and saved countless lives during World War II. He is arguably more important than any other single individual in developing the computer. Alan Turing was officially arrested and condemned for being gay; however, his arrest also resulted from his autism. He made the mistake people with autism often make: trusting others too much and giving them too much information. So, in the end, he was martyred because he was autistic and gay.

As family and friends know, I often cry while watching movies or during the evening news. I also frequently cry because of the stupidity, bigotry, and desperation that subject people to unjust pain and suffering for simply being true to their God-created uniqueness. I cry today in remembering Alan Turing, who did as much positive work to create the modern world in which we live as any other individual in history. Please remember him and all those who have died in shame while doing good, even if their contributions have not come to light, as Turing’s eventually did.

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Life’s Sufferings and Trials

If the whole of your life has passed smoothly and without care,
weep for yourself.
For both the Gospel and human experience
assert with one voice that no one has,
without great sufferings and trials,
left behind any great work on earth
or been glorified in heaven.
If your earthly road has been bathed in sweat and tears
for the attaining of righteousness and truth,
rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will indeed be great in heaven.

Never entertain the foolish thought
that God has forsaken you.
God knows exactly how much you can bear,
and measures your sufferings and trials accordingly.
‘When men know,’ says St. Nil Sorsky,
‘how much weight a horse can carry, or a donkey or a camel,
and load them according to their strength;
when a potter knows how long to leave the clay in the kiln
for it to be neither shattered nor under-cooked,
how could God not know
how much temptation a soul can bear
to make it ready and fitted
for the Kingdom of Heaven?’

— Prologue from Ochrid

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