How Great a God as Our God?
A rather scattered reflection...forgive my scrambled thoughts and sloppy writing:::
Thursday morning I spent the majority of my day at Transfiguration Monastery for the celebration of the feast of St Herman of Alaska. It was quite a special morning. The Divine Liturgy and a wonderful visit (over lenten lunch) with the Mothers and Sisters of the monastery. I also had the chance to visit with Fr Tom Hopko, a well known speaker in the Eastern Orthodox Church in America. All in all, Thursday was a wonderful day. A feast day, a happy day.
The next day, Friday morning, I was a keynote speaker at a breakfast for a business organization. My goal was to talk about my experiences in different aspects of life, and how one thing always impacted another. The speech was about 35 minutes and I had no idea if I had any impact on the group I was speaking to. But after I finished my speech, it was a matter of minutes before half of the room had formed a long line to greet me and talk with me. To say the least, it was a humbling experience.
I never thought I'd react to their interest, kindness and enthusiasm in such a way. In the moment I kept wondering why my head wasn't growing and why I wasn't tooting my own horn. But when I stopped to think about it, I realized that I seemed to be able to say something that inspired others, the same as how others inspire me. So I took it as God using me as a vessel to have certain experiences so that I may grow, but also so others might grow.
Later on that day while at home, I was getting something to eat. Both of my younger siblings are home schooled, so as they quietly did their work at the table, I walked past them and made myself a delicious tuna sandwich. I turned on the TV to see what was on the news, and to my horror, reports of a shooting in Connecticut were being broadcast. Within minutes, the fatality count rising, I began to get worked up. And then, realizing the bulk of fatalities were children... Memory Eternal.
December 14, 2012 started as a normal day for most Americans. Children woke up and went off to school, parents went to work... the sun shown brightly. God blessed the world with another morning of life.
My dearest reader, I can't express how important it is to show love and appreciation for your parents, siblings, grandparents and family. I cannot stress the importance of being a friend to those you call a friend. I cannot stress the importance of loving those who love you, as well as loving those who do not love you.
We learn by tragedy how fragile life is. We learn how easy it is to take a life and rob somebody of a future. The absolute terror of Columbine, the Kent State Massacre, Virginia Tech shootings, Chardon High School shooting (in Ohio) and now, the shooting at a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school. Memory Eternal.
20 Children were ripped from the lives of loving parents. And 20 children entered into Paradise. A teacher hid her children in a closet and told the gunman her students were in gym. The gunman killed the teacher. Memory Eternal. She's a hero. She gave her students another day to wake up to.
You know, I simply do not understand what it will take for people to open their eyes and see how desperate the world is in need of God. Maybe it will never happen.
At the end of the day, I write this article to encourage everyone to pray for the victims of such a terrible tragedy and to pray for their friends and families. Pray for the recovery and rehabilitation of those who are affected. Pray for a renewal in love and spirit and for a deeper relationship in God & Jesus Christ. And for those who do not know Christ, that they may come to know Him.
My fellow Christians, we must put our differences aside. We must put politics, personal lives, denominations and any other dividing factor aside and start to come together as Christians. We must begin to introduce the Love and Nurture of Christ back into the corrupt world we live in. It's no easy task. In fact, expect to get slapped in the face. In times of need, we must persevere. Today I was watching the news and heard the father of a student who was killed speak the most unique words. He said something along the lines of: I'm not mad at God. God created us all with free will, and He will not infringe on our free will. The gunman had free will, and used it in the way he wanted. What strength this man must have to be able to speak in such a way. God bless him.
We can all learn something from children, like the ones who were unexpectedly taken from the world. We can learn love, innocence, creativity, honesty, candidness, care, wonder, how to smile and what it's like to be amazed by the little things. The world needs more children, and not just in the literal sense. The world needs more innocence, not blind maturity. The world needs more creativity and honesty, not replicas and deceit. The world needs more care and wonder, not carelessness and knowledge about everything. The world needs more smiles, not frowns, tears and fears.
And the million dollar question is: How can we (on an individual level) make a difference in the world? It seems nearly impossible to make a difference in a world that is filled with people who all have different beliefs and understandings about what life is. So how do we work with that? What can we do to be proactive in starting the worlds healing process? I can assure you I do not have any answers. I have personal beliefs and meek suggestion. But I'm not writing this to give my opinion and suggestion, but rather, for you to consider what I'm saying. Maybe we all, both you and me, need to look at ourselves critically and think about how we can do something for the betterment of the world. Whether it be working a soup kitchen for the hungry. Or collecting gifts for children who don't have a family. Or even if it means paying for someones lunch or dinner at a restaurant, unexpectedly, out of kindness.
In the spirit of Christmas, and despite the terrors of the recent Connecticut, think of something you can do (big or small) that will instill the feeling of love and kindness into the hearts of fellow human beings. Because that's what we need right now. As a nation, we need love and kindness. Love and kindness stems from all Who is Good. God is Good. And through our actions of love and kindness, we shall become beacons of light; we will be illumined with the radiance of Gods love and mercy.
As said by Fr Stephen in Divine Liturgy this morning, (and I'm paraphrasing)... We were created by God as rational creatures, created by love. That's why we can understand things which are good and rational. We were not created to understand what is irrational and not of God.
This is why we can never understand the reasoning and mindset behind the shootings that happened last Friday. We cannot rationalize or understand the things which are not good. It just doesn't make sense. All we can do is turn everything terrible and find something good in it. What a terror for 20 young children to be gunned down... and yet, what a blessing that 20 children entered the Kingdom of Heaven.
Please continue to pray for the families affected. Please continue to pray for the gunman and his family. Pray for the life and peace of the world. Pray for the enlightenment of all people.
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Thursday morning I spent the majority of my day at Transfiguration Monastery for the celebration of the feast of St Herman of Alaska. It was quite a special morning. The Divine Liturgy and a wonderful visit (over lenten lunch) with the Mothers and Sisters of the monastery. I also had the chance to visit with Fr Tom Hopko, a well known speaker in the Eastern Orthodox Church in America. All in all, Thursday was a wonderful day. A feast day, a happy day.
The next day, Friday morning, I was a keynote speaker at a breakfast for a business organization. My goal was to talk about my experiences in different aspects of life, and how one thing always impacted another. The speech was about 35 minutes and I had no idea if I had any impact on the group I was speaking to. But after I finished my speech, it was a matter of minutes before half of the room had formed a long line to greet me and talk with me. To say the least, it was a humbling experience.
I never thought I'd react to their interest, kindness and enthusiasm in such a way. In the moment I kept wondering why my head wasn't growing and why I wasn't tooting my own horn. But when I stopped to think about it, I realized that I seemed to be able to say something that inspired others, the same as how others inspire me. So I took it as God using me as a vessel to have certain experiences so that I may grow, but also so others might grow.
Later on that day while at home, I was getting something to eat. Both of my younger siblings are home schooled, so as they quietly did their work at the table, I walked past them and made myself a delicious tuna sandwich. I turned on the TV to see what was on the news, and to my horror, reports of a shooting in Connecticut were being broadcast. Within minutes, the fatality count rising, I began to get worked up. And then, realizing the bulk of fatalities were children... Memory Eternal.
December 14, 2012 started as a normal day for most Americans. Children woke up and went off to school, parents went to work... the sun shown brightly. God blessed the world with another morning of life.
My dearest reader, I can't express how important it is to show love and appreciation for your parents, siblings, grandparents and family. I cannot stress the importance of being a friend to those you call a friend. I cannot stress the importance of loving those who love you, as well as loving those who do not love you.
We learn by tragedy how fragile life is. We learn how easy it is to take a life and rob somebody of a future. The absolute terror of Columbine, the Kent State Massacre, Virginia Tech shootings, Chardon High School shooting (in Ohio) and now, the shooting at a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school. Memory Eternal.
20 Children were ripped from the lives of loving parents. And 20 children entered into Paradise. A teacher hid her children in a closet and told the gunman her students were in gym. The gunman killed the teacher. Memory Eternal. She's a hero. She gave her students another day to wake up to.
You know, I simply do not understand what it will take for people to open their eyes and see how desperate the world is in need of God. Maybe it will never happen.
At the end of the day, I write this article to encourage everyone to pray for the victims of such a terrible tragedy and to pray for their friends and families. Pray for the recovery and rehabilitation of those who are affected. Pray for a renewal in love and spirit and for a deeper relationship in God & Jesus Christ. And for those who do not know Christ, that they may come to know Him.
My fellow Christians, we must put our differences aside. We must put politics, personal lives, denominations and any other dividing factor aside and start to come together as Christians. We must begin to introduce the Love and Nurture of Christ back into the corrupt world we live in. It's no easy task. In fact, expect to get slapped in the face. In times of need, we must persevere. Today I was watching the news and heard the father of a student who was killed speak the most unique words. He said something along the lines of: I'm not mad at God. God created us all with free will, and He will not infringe on our free will. The gunman had free will, and used it in the way he wanted. What strength this man must have to be able to speak in such a way. God bless him.
We can all learn something from children, like the ones who were unexpectedly taken from the world. We can learn love, innocence, creativity, honesty, candidness, care, wonder, how to smile and what it's like to be amazed by the little things. The world needs more children, and not just in the literal sense. The world needs more innocence, not blind maturity. The world needs more creativity and honesty, not replicas and deceit. The world needs more care and wonder, not carelessness and knowledge about everything. The world needs more smiles, not frowns, tears and fears.
And the million dollar question is: How can we (on an individual level) make a difference in the world? It seems nearly impossible to make a difference in a world that is filled with people who all have different beliefs and understandings about what life is. So how do we work with that? What can we do to be proactive in starting the worlds healing process? I can assure you I do not have any answers. I have personal beliefs and meek suggestion. But I'm not writing this to give my opinion and suggestion, but rather, for you to consider what I'm saying. Maybe we all, both you and me, need to look at ourselves critically and think about how we can do something for the betterment of the world. Whether it be working a soup kitchen for the hungry. Or collecting gifts for children who don't have a family. Or even if it means paying for someones lunch or dinner at a restaurant, unexpectedly, out of kindness. In the spirit of Christmas, and despite the terrors of the recent Connecticut, think of something you can do (big or small) that will instill the feeling of love and kindness into the hearts of fellow human beings. Because that's what we need right now. As a nation, we need love and kindness. Love and kindness stems from all Who is Good. God is Good. And through our actions of love and kindness, we shall become beacons of light; we will be illumined with the radiance of Gods love and mercy.
As said by Fr Stephen in Divine Liturgy this morning, (and I'm paraphrasing)... We were created by God as rational creatures, created by love. That's why we can understand things which are good and rational. We were not created to understand what is irrational and not of God.
This is why we can never understand the reasoning and mindset behind the shootings that happened last Friday. We cannot rationalize or understand the things which are not good. It just doesn't make sense. All we can do is turn everything terrible and find something good in it. What a terror for 20 young children to be gunned down... and yet, what a blessing that 20 children entered the Kingdom of Heaven.
Please continue to pray for the families affected. Please continue to pray for the gunman and his family. Pray for the life and peace of the world. Pray for the enlightenment of all people.
Glory to Jesus Christ!
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