What Christmas is All About

We can be inspired by the example and courage of this young boy reminding the viewers what Christmas is all about, directly from the Holy Gospel! OK, so it is a cartoon, then we can be inspired by Charles Schulz' courage in the presentation, many artists these days could learn from his example!  

always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you
- 1 Peter 3:15 NKJV

Stand up and listen to the Holy Gospel, a reading from the Holy Gospel according to our teacher Saint Luke (as read by Linus) . . .

Luke 2:8-14 (KJV)


From  Charlie Brown Christmas

An Insight on Nationalism in the Church

As an American/Egyptian convert to the Coptic Orthodox Church, I am constantly seeking insight into the balance between living as a Christian in balance with national identity. This is a balance, that I find in my personal experience, is often a challenge in Orthodox Christian communities. In attending St. Barbara's Church in Chester, I was encouraged by the insights from Saint Paul found in the below sermon on the Epistle Reading (Romans 10:1-10) for the day, in which Saint Paul balances his love for his own Jewish heritage with his love for the Roman gentiles in the context of the Gospel.

Sermon on the Epistle Reading
From today's apostolic reading we learn, on the one hand, about St. Paul's love for his own Jewish people and followers of the old Law; and on the other, we hear explicitly that our salvation comes not through the Law but from Christ, whose followers we are in our capacity as Christians. There are two sets of distinct moral teachings resulting from today's first reading:

1. As Christians and therefore as followers of Christ, we need to respect and love the nation through which we came into the world with a true and healthy sense of patriotism which must never degenerate into a nationalistic approach. St. Paul himself loved his own people and sho should we, each one of us, in our double capacity as children of the Church and also as children of our own nation. But as Christians we are obliged at the same time to love all people, because all people, irrespective of skin colour or language are our brothers and sisters in Christ, being made in the same image of God as we are ourselves. This is why St. Paul, while praying for his own Jewish people, nevertheless calls 'brothers' all Christian gentiles of Rome whom he wants to bring into the light and truth of God. The Apostle's example is therefore vividly clear: on the one hand love for his own people while on the other brotherhood to all peoples.



2. Today's reading reminds us all that we all have, at our own disposal the means for personal salvation as well as for moral Christian conduct: the Church with its hierarchy, whereby we receive the necessary Divine and uncreated Grace of God, the Holy Scriptures, the Holy Tradition of the Church containing its own living memory of all that the Lord has done and said for our salvation, and the teachings of our Arch-Pastors who teach us the word of the Truth, i.e., Christ Crucified and Risen from the dead, Who lives and remains with us in the Holy Spirit to the end of the ages. Amen.

27 June 2010, Bulletin of Spiritual Edification
Ecumenical Patriarchate Archdiocese of Thyatereira & Great Britain
Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Barbara the Great Martyr
Chester, UK

Your Calling - A Gift for You and Others

I was struck by some of the dialogue in Krista Tippet's interview with the late Irish poet and philosopher John O'Donahue on Speaking of Faith - The Inner Lanscape of Beauty. Here are some notes I took while listening to the program.

We spend so much time at work, and the loneliest scenario is when you find someone who is in the wrong type of work and they do not have the courage to move on to work that is more in line with what is in their heart and demonstrates the strength and gifts within that person. In Greek, beauty is calling. Beauty is not a neutral thing, but something that is actually calling you. This calling is the heart of our creativity. A person following their calling is a gift to those around him. Such a person's work is an expression of their inner gift and provides an incredible service to us all.

The struggles that we have, the suffering, are things that we push against towards manifesting beauty in our lives. There is a tendency to think that growth should be delivered when it is actually struggled towards as we push against the negativity that surrounds us. The negativity is an impetus that spurs us onward. Following our calling can help us to transfigure what has hardened or been wounded within us.

Good wise leadership is leveraging this kind of imagination in the workplace, usually practical imagination, but the real fruit comes when you stand back and see that the spirit and soul dimmensions are not luxury items, but are the source for enabling everything to flow and unfold in a new way. The invisible world can be leveraged for spirit and guidance in areas of ourselves that have been forgotten.

Key Questions:

• When is the last time you had a great conversation in which you overheard yourself things that you never knew you knew, or you received something that filled a space within you that was empty?
  
• What are you reading? Why do we read books? That is where the wisdom is. Go back to the sources and trust your own encounter with them.

The Dangers Before Us

Our Biotech Future by Freeman Dyson

I came across the above article by one of my favorite scientists, Freeman Dyson.
He talks about the approaching possibilities around the domestication of
biotechnology and being able to apply genetic engineering at home (pets,
gardening, etc).

What are the implications here for a Christian who is participating in the redemption of the creation?

Discussion (audio) of Wendell Berry's Life is a Miracle - An Essay Against Modern Superstition.

The Key to Success!

4th Sunday of Pentecost

May 25, 2008

St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church - Washington D.C.

from the sermon given by Father Bishoy Andrawes

after the Gospel Reading for the 4th Sunday of Pentecost

the sermon and handout are available online at orthodoxsermons.org

Light is the Word of God (Holy Bible)

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path
- Psalms 119:105

Walking is practicing (living) the Word of God

The key to success: Walking in the Light = Living the Word of God

This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
- Joshua 1:8

Therefore, whowever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
- Matthew 7:24

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
- Mark 8:36

Why do we have the bible? To live by it EVERY single day of my life.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
- James 1:22

How to live by God's Word (Walk in the Light)?

1. I have to HEAR the Word of God and KEEP it.
KEEP it . . . take it with you and apply it in your entire life. It doesn't stop in the Church, KEEPing the Word of God with you as you go out into the world is when your real worship really starts.

Jesus . . . said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word."
- John 14:23

"And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
- Deuteronomy 6:6-9

"While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.
- John 12:36

2. Always understand the " Personal Message " (in every reading)

My relationship with God, my relationship with myself, my relationship with other people.

The message has to be:

• Personal - specific to me
• Practical - can practically be acted upon
• Possible - not too high, step by step, reachable, acheivable
• Provable - can see results, that it is done, that we can be encouraged by its accomplishment

Practical Application:

I will .

If you know these things, blessed (happy) are you if you do them. - John 13:17

Personal Comments:

Personal comments and notes from the sermon are included in italics.

Never start your day without turning the Light on. Start and end each day by turning on the Light.

Decorate your room with scriptures contained herein as a reminder of what must be done and share what I have learned here with others.

The key is to act on what has been heard and read.

If you know these things, blessed are you if you DO them. - John 13:17

Making Hope Happen - Four Principles

Making Hope Happen series @ NeXus Church
My personal notes from Pastor Jeff Park's sermon
March 16, 2008 (evening service)

Frogs and the power of Hope.

Two sets of frogs were tested and the test demonstrates the power of hope. The first set of grogs were placed in a tank of water and forced to swim to stay alive. They swam for about 5 hours before giving up and drowning. The second group of frogs was left to swim until just before they gave up. They were then removed from the tank, fed, cared for and given a chance to rest and recupperate. Then, they were placed again in the tank. They held out for 30 hours before giving up. Holding out on the hope that they would be saved as they had been before. That is the power of HOPE.

The word hope as used in scripture is translated from the greek elpis which means "confident expectation."

For we were saved in this hope (in God),
but hope that is seen is not hope;
for why does one still hope for what he sees?
Romans 8:24

When we begin to hope, we see a destination, then we have hope that enables us to see the PROCESS, the PATH, to get to that destination and we can then begin to take steps to make it happen. This is a living hope in which you can see the destination and the steps you need to take (action). But sometimes, circumstances beyond our control intervene.

Hope Empowers, Failed Hope Deflates

Hope deferred makes the heart sick."
Proverbs 13:12

The Enemy focuses our attention on the negative, stirring in us worry and anxiety, using FEAR to take away our hope . . . "the thing I feared came upon me." Job ??:?? verify

Four Principles for Making Hope Happen

1. Realize hope is a CHOICE, an act of will

Why are you cast down, O my soul, hope in God.
Psalm 42:5

They set their hope in God
and forgot not the works of God.
Psalm 78:7

David told himself to hope in God, to stop worrying and being depressed, to exercise hope in God. David also encouraged all people of God to hope in God and not forget what God has done.

2. Do not base hope in circumstances

Circumstances change . . . . this is akin to building on sand!

You have moved my soul far from peace,
I have forgotten prosperity . . .
My sould still remembers . . .
. . . therefore I have hope.
Lamentations 3:17:21

3. Our Hope is based on God's Character and Presence

I am persuaded that God is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day.
2 Timothy 1:12

May the eyes of your understanding be enlightened to know the hope of His calling.
Ephesians 1:18

Christ in you, the hope of glory."
Colossians 1:27

Ask God to show you His purpose.

4. Receive the hope of those who care for you

Our hope for you is steadfast
2 Corinthians 1:7

Without counsel, purposes are disappointed.
Proverbs 15:22

Tossed Salads, Melting Pots, or Integration

As a living example of the "Melting Pot," I've often struggled with conflicts between the different cultural heritages that I have inherited and adopted. Although early in my life, I tended to reject one and embrace the other, when I moved to Egypt, we were given orientation as new students at Cairo American College and I was first introduced to the notion of culture shock and that there were steps I could take to integrate the two cultures that were colliding. They actually called us third-culture kids for the 3rd culture that was formed out of what parts we chose to integrate from the two we were bringing together through the experience of originating from one culture and then being planted in the middle of another. Since that time, I've strived more and more towards integration.

When a friend of mine introduced me to the following quote from Thomas Merton, it resonated with me as articulating the path I've been trying to navigate since I first began to realize that I have a choice in how I confront the different and sometimes conflicting cultures that I have encountered and embraced.

The one who has attained final integration is no longer limited by the culture
in which he has grown up. He has embraced all of life. He passes beyond all
these limiting forms, while retaining all that is best and most universal in
them, finally giving birth to a fully comprehensive self. He accepts not only
his own community, his own society, his own friends, his own culture, but all
humanity. He does not remain bound to one limited set of values in such a way
that he opposes them aggressively and defensively to others. He is fully
"Catholic" in the best sense of the word. He has a unified wisdom and experience
of the one truth shining out in all its various manifestations, some clearer
than others, some more definite and more certain than others. He does not set
these partial views up in opposition to each other, but unifies them in a
dialectic or an insight of complementarity. With this view of life he is able to
bring perspective, liberty and spontaneity into the lives of others. The finally
integrated person is a peacemaker, and that is why there is such a desperate
need for our leaders to become such persons of insight.

Thomas Merton
Final Integration -- Toward a "Monastic Therapy"
Contemplation In A World of Action

Peacemaker is one way that I have been told my name translates to English, and when I'm in the best frame of mind, I can certainly relate to it. The different perspectives provide a place from which, as a third party, alternate views can be perceived objectively and there is more clarity towards how the two views can find common ground.