Preparing for Nativity

This season of Nativity should be a time of preparation for all of us who profess ourselves to be Christians. From before time God was preparing to come to be born within human history as a man. Mary and Joseph had to prepare, in many ways, for the birth of God's Son: through prayer and piety, through traveling to Jerusalem, through making a place in that cave for the birth.

The great second century Christian thinker, Origen, wrote of preparation in

a sermon, beginning with the words of the Forerunner John: "The voice cries, 'Prepare ye the way of the Lord'. Which way shall we prepare for the Lord? A way on the earth: Can the Word of God travel such a road" Or rather must we not prepare the way within us, setting up in our hearts a straight and true way? This is the way through which the Word of God enters, and comes to rest within the bounds of the

human body. And great indeed is the heart of man, wide and spacious as if it were a world in itself… See than that no small thing is the heart of man which can contain so much. And see also that its greatness is not in body quantity, but in the power by which it can receive such knowledge of the truth… Let us consider this. Through whatever cities we may have passed, we have still within our minds the style and the shape of their squares and house and walls and buildings, stored in our memory. We keep within us, as in a picture, the roads, we have traveled. The sea we have voyaged over we can recall in moments of quiet recollection. No small thing, as if I have said, is the heart of man. If then it can contain so much, and is not something small and narrow, then let a way for the Lord be prepared in it, and let His path be made straight, so that the word of God and His Wisdom may enter there. Prepare this way by a worthy manner of living. and with good works make straight the path so that without hindrance the Word of God may tread this way to you, and give you understanding, both of His Coming and of His Mysteries, to Whom be glory and empire forever and ever. Amen."

Let us not let the practicality of his admonition be lost on us. Our heart stores up all that it is exposed to. Like a computer, it is filled with data, some of which is useful, some of which is not, some of which is useful, some of which is junk. As Deacon Dorotheos said to me recently on a Turkish mountain top: "time is very important". We can use our time to store up eternal things in our heart, or we can store up things that one day will be burned.

Many years ago, a very pious friend of mine while speaking in a store front church in my hometown launched into a perfect rendition of Hank William's "Your Cheatin' Heart". He nailed it, perfectly. Then he said, "I learned that song many years ago. But, it is completely useless to me. How much more better off would I have been reading the scriptures rather than listening to that song?" Mason was right. He hadn't even tried to learn that song, but it forever was implanted in his heart, just like all of the things that Origen spoke about so many centuries ago. Where we allow ourselves to be, in body or in mind, has a great bearing upon what we store up. Our preparation is how we live our life, each day, minute by minute: where we travel, what we do, what we think.

As we approach the Nativity of our Lord, as this Nativity fast enters its final days, let us think more perfectly about how we can prepare our hearts for His coming to us, and our coming to Him.

Behind Barbed Wire and Barriers

The Ecumenical Patriarchate is housed in a walled, barbed wire lined compound lying within a stone's throw of the Golden Horn in the city that is now called Istanbul. Just over the wall is a minaret, from which the Moslem call to prayer is broadcast regularly and loudly.

The Ecumenical Patriarch, in other times known as the Pope or Archbishop of Constantinople (or New Rome), was second in rank (among spiritual equals) only to the Pope of Rome. With the Great Schism, this Patriarch became the ranking Patriarch in the Orthodox World. Although he is, by necessity, cloistered behind a guarded wall, he is still the leader of the Orthodox World.

As I walked past the Turkish guardhouse, and past the door

(that remains locked) where the Patriarch Gregorius was hung by the Ottomans in 1821 I was reminded of something I heard the Patriarch of Jerusalem say a couple of months ago: "we are here to be a presence". It is probably not a coincidence that many of our Orthodox Patriarchs are a "presence" in a hostile environment. Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, and Istanbul (with Rome, the sites of the five ancient Patriarchates) are not exactly friendly territory. Three are contained within Islamic states and the fourth is the site of

constant turmoil between Israelis and Palestianians. All are dangerous, especially if one chooses to openly express any signs of Christian faith on the wrong street corner. Of course, this is not new. When Gregory of Nazianzus came to Constantinople in the fourth century to be the new Archbishop he was entering a hostile Arian environment from which he rescued the city with his Orthodox teaching and example.

We are told in the scriptures not to keep our light under a basket. I was recently reminded that the "light" in Jesus' day was not a fluorescent light. It was a candle or oil lamp that had to be constantly tended in order to give out light. Our "light" requires constant attention if it is going to do what it is intended to do. The tending in the Orthodox Church is accomplished through attending the services of the church, prayer, fasting, and looking out for the needs of those around us. These Patriarchs are all a great example to us of how to shine, even in a hostile environment. We would do well to emulate their behavior.

Hagia Sophia: The Great Church of Byzantia

Riding on the ferry to and from the Princes' Islands last week gave me a different perspective on Hagia Sophia in New Rome, that great church that was the largest in the world until St.

Peter's was built in Old Rome. Leaving the Istanbul terminal, the ferry skirts the coastline, with the

Bosporus to your back, the Golden Horn to your right. The ferry is moving into

the largeness of the Sea of Marmara, and you are immediately surrounded by large ocean going vessels. You see at once the importance of this piece of real estate, and how it has impacted trade and fortunes, and why much blood has been spilled in it.

And, on that high hill on your right, between the Golden Horn and the Sea, stands Hagia Sophia. In the thousand years of the great Byzantine Empire this magnificent structure would have been the one thing that would stand out. In the days of Constantinople it would have been framed by the Imperial buildings (fitting when

you consider the healthy relationship between Church and State that we don't have or understand in our country) of the Empire. Whether one was a sailor returning home, a fisherman

tending his nets, or a stranger just passing through en route to the Black Sea or the Mediterranean, one could not help but be touched by the appearance of such a grand sight. What a lighthouse is to a ship, this beacon of hope was to a soul. The view lingers for a long time regardless of which direction one is going.

When I approached on foot I did not know what to expect. It is huge. It is beautiful. After passing the minarets (that were built around it after the Empire fell into Ottoman hands), and after passing through the ticket line (for now it has been reduced to a tourist attraction) I found myself inside. The huge entry way stones are worn down from centuries of use. It epitomizes Orthodox worship. It is open, and expansive, and it does appear to reach to heaven. The dome is 101 feet in diameter, and 160 feet tall. Thankfully, many Orthodox mosaics have survived. (Apparently, it was easier to plaster over them than it was to destroy them.) The sight of this place in the midst of a Divine Liturgy, with thousands of singers, and thousands of worshippers (including the Emperor) was enough of a sight turn Russia to Orthodoxy. I believe it. A couple of days later I was in St. George's Church at the Patriarchate for a Divine Liturgy on St. Andrew's feast day. It was overwhelming. How much more would such a service have been in such a grand place. In our world we marvel over thousands in attendance at a sporting event, or the light and sound show of a rock concert. How much more is the spectacle of something that really means something.