Sunday of The Publican and the Pharisee

Tomorrow begins our preparation for Great and Holy Lent. It is the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. Fr. Lev Gillet, of blessed memory, in his book entitled "The Year of Grace of the Lord" says much about this parable:

-it may be the most dangerous of all the parables

-the Pharisee was doing many good things, he fasts, tithes, and avoids the grosser sins

-the Pharisee does not take credit for his own good actions

-but, the Pharisee was not aware of his own shortcomings

-and, the Pharisee dares to compare himself, through pride, with another

-the publican confesses his sin, and stands humbly before God

-the publican throws himself completely at the mercy of God

Fr. Gillet questions whether we can completely condemn the Pharisee. Do we have his good works?

Fr. Gillet questions whether we can place ourselves on the level of the justified publican. Is our attitude exactly like that of the publican? Do we have the publican's humility and repentance?

These are questions that we would all do well to ask of ourselves as we begin the preparation for this Great and Holy time of our liturgical year.

On Color

Sipping a cup of coffee, I glanced out my window and noticed a blue jay on my deck rail. I am not particularly fond of blue jays. They do not exhibit the best of attributes when around birds of other feathers. But, I was struck with how colorful he was against the backdrop of a monochromatic January morning. He was striking. All of that blue against all of that brown.

Imagine what it was (or is) to live in a culture where there are no unnatural colors: television and theatre images, artwork, polished stones, or refined precious metals. Without these things, there has to be a greater appreciation for sunsets and sunrises, flowers, beautiful birds and other colorful creatures. Man craves color because it is beautiful, and sometimes scarce. He is drawn to it. Left to his own devices he sometimes worships it, or kills for it.

When man is in harmony with his Triune Creator he can come to appreciate color for what it is: a gift to remind him of from Whom he has come, a gift to remind him of what is to come.

The Greening of Me

I was never aware of exactly why I was against what was, at one time, called the Ecology Movement, and is now called the Green Movement. But, in recent months, as I have had the opportunity to meet personally with the "Green Patriarch" and to read his writings and to incorporate his thoughts with my thoughts and my readings of patristic sources, it has become clear as to me.

My disdain for ecological movements had more to do with those people and groups who were pushing the agenda than it did with the agenda itself. In my thinking, Earth Day in the 1970's was a time for the lunatic fringe to come out and smoke some all natural dope, bake a cake for the earth (and have the wind blow it out), hang some magic crystals from the nearest tree, and then rant and rave about the Military Industrial Complex. These people did not believe in the same God that I did (if they believed in a personal God at all.) In more recent years (because of my disdain for much of the liberal Democratic agenda) I have had a very hard time hearing the ecological words of Al Gore. I have appreciated the words and involvement of Bono on the subject, but he still seems to lead the life of a rock star....

As an Orthodox Christian I need to judge the message and not the messenger. Thankfully, there is enough within the Orthodox tradition on the topic to focus on. Man is seen as the nexus between the spiritual and the material world.

St. Maximus the Confessor (6th century) wrote: "Man is not a being isolated from the rest of creation. By his very nature, he is bound up with the whole of the universe.... In his way to union with God, man in no way leaves creatures aside, but gathers together in his love the whole cosmos disordered by sin, that it may be transfigured by grace."

St. Basil the Great wrote: "I want creation to penetrate you with so much admiration that wherever you go, the least plant may bring you a clear remembrance of the Creator.... One blade of grass or one speck of dust is enough to occupy your entire mind in beholding the art with which it has been made." I would hope that we might encourage the growth of more green plants, that there would be more to contemplate. Most of us might have an easier time contemplating grass than dust.

St. Gregory the Theologian wrote, "All creation sings the glory of God in wordless strain, for it is through me that God is thanked for all his works. In this way their hymn becomes our own, since it is from them that I take my song. Now the whole of the animal kingdom is smiling and all our senses are at feast." I would hope that we would not silence that voice of creation around us: the songs of the birds, the winds in the trees, the gurgle of a mountain stream.

Our Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has written much on the topic including, "the ecological problem of pollution is invariably connected to the social problem of poverty; indeed, all ecological activity is measured and properly judged by its impact and effect on the poor."

I am coming to realize our individual and corporate responsibility on this topic. I am looking for the outlets for involvement. I am still coming to terms with the proper way to interact and co-work with individuals and groups who may share a love for the planet, but perhaps may not love it for the same reasons that I should.

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.

The Day I Met Tarzan

The day Johnny Weissmuller came to my hometown is near the top of my list of childhood memories. Boys from my generation grew up watching black and white movies of Tarzan on black and white television sets. And who was the greatest Tarzan? No question, hands down, Johnny Weissmuller was it. He was the voice, he had the rugged look. And, we insiders knew that he was a REAL hero. After all, in the 1924 and 1928 Olympics, he had won five gold medals as a swimmer. We knew that he really WAS Tarzan. No child of today could possibly understand the magnitude of seeing such a hero in the flesh.

I was too young to understand why a man who was an Olympic star in the 1920's, and a Hollywood star in the 1930's, 40's and 50's, would now be hanging out at a mobile home dealer's business in a small town in Virginia in the 1960's. When I came into his presence I found an older man, dressed as his Jungle Jim character of later years: pith helmet, khakis, and sunglasses. He was larger than life to me. I tried to strike up a conversation with him about his life as Tarzan, his sidekick Cheetah, and other things that a youngster would be thinking about. I remember that as he signed multiple autographs for me he seemed detached, and more than a little sad. He answered my questions in a polite, dignified manner. He was probably happy to have the attention of a young starry eyed boy rather than the glances of adults who probably could figure out something of what must have gone wrong. Years later, one can read of the multiple bad business decisions, and multiple wives that are a part of his story. Life seems to have gone all downhill after the Olympic days. He was in two unforgettable films after I saw him, you can't even find them on Netflix. I understand that he ended up in an unmarked grave in Acapulco.

All of us have to deal with the fortunes and misfortunes of this life: those we make and those we inherit. Our faith (or lack thereof) determines what we make of it. When life doesn't go our way, it is up to us to respond in a moral and faithful manner. We have to have the proper faith. If we believe in a false Christ, if our belief system is heretical in any way, our decisions (at best) will be flawed. Bad data in, bad data out. In Orthodoxy we have the true Christ, we have the true faith. And, having this, we must behave in the proper way.

Protopresbytyr Michael Pomazanky writes: Our "moral life is directed by the exploit of Christ on the Cross. This path is our personal struggle in the name of the Cross of the Lord…. The very concept of the spiritual Cross contains in itself not only the various forms of personal struggle, but also the involuntary sorrows of life which are accepted in humility before the Providence of God."

If we struggle in the shadow of the Cross we will triumph. No matter what comes: bad health, bad economy, faithless friends or family, we will triumph. We cannot allow ourselves to succumb to the amoral/immoral "easy" choices that appear before us. Oh, that reminds me of a great old movie, "The Devil and Daniel Webster" starring Walter Huston. But, that's grist for another day at the mill.