but these little links are important, especially for the Antiochian Orthodox who may wander on to this small spot on the www.

We are ancient Christians in an internet age and the resources we have, and their potential pitfalls, are simply amazing. Very little can be done or said, even on the other side of the globe, without near instant access and things that would long ago take weeks of months to disseminate now takes seconds.

There are discussions in and among us about the status of Bishops, financial accountability, and a host of issues and the temptation is to see these as esoteric stuff, things far removed from our experience. They are not. Who the Bishop is and how their role has been defined has a direct bearing on the Priests and Deacons they call to serve you. The money you work hard for and then most generously give to the Church is important and so is how its handled. All of us who consider ourselves Orthodox within the Antiochian Archdiocese are stakeholders, whether we’ve been told we are or not, and our being aware and conscious of what is happening is part of our responsibility to the Church and to each other and by it we are, in fact, our brother’s keeper.

The process of coming to conclusions on issues in the Church is often very messy. Because these things are important there are emotions involved and thoughts and ideas fly about. This is not a sign that we are abandoned by God but rather that we are finite humans coming to terms with the stewardship of things eternal. As distasteful as this process might seem it is still incumbent on us not to abandon it in the hope of easy answers or push it away from ourselves in the hope that ignorance is bliss.

While there is a unique teaching and administering role for the Bishops of our Church there is no magisterium. All the faithful of the Orthodox Church are called to be involved, aware, and to, when necessary, defend the Faith once given.  Thus the links are presented in the hope that you will read, pray, and do what you believe you can for the better state of the Church. Knowledge is power and touched by the grace of God it becomes wisdom. And if anything else this time in the life of our Archdiocese cries out for people of wisdom.

on the status of Anglican / Orthodox relations. Hat tip to Ad Orientem.

on the recent meeting of the Holy Synod of Antioch concerning the status of Bishops in North America. Worth the read.

regarding the recent decision of the Holy Synod of Antioch regarding the status of Bishops.

of people joined together in some kind of endeavor crazy things are bound to happen. We’re mortal and some times being in a group actually amplifies that mortality.

Such is the way of things in the Church. We have the reality of Kingdom of God within us, we are, in fact that Kingdom, but its ideals are often elusive because we are also a collection of humans perpetually in need of transformation. Alone or collectively the process of turning sinners into saints can be a very messy thing.

Yet there is also within this Kingdom the very means of transforming darkness to light, of exposing the shadows, and applying truth to the deceits within. It is a great mystery, a collection of the broken, desperate, and ill who by grace find together the fountain of immortality. “Where could we go” St. Peter asked “For you (Jesus) have the words of eternal life.” And so it is.

And it’s those words, that truth, that light, the faith that established the universe that will save us. When we see the darkness within or the struggles without, it is precisely at that moment that we need not to abandon the Faith but to go deeper into its graces. The culture, the world outside, even, unfortunately, the ecclesiastical powers may not understand, but where else could we go, only Christ has the eternal life we need.

In the end it is our connection to Him that will see us through, give us the strength to confront the darkness within and without and help us to find our way home. And perhaps this is something of the still small voice we seek in the sound and fury.

allowing the scandals and challenges that have plagued Orthodoxy in the United States these past few years?

All I have is opinion, of course, and whatever I say should be taken in that light. Yet I have been pondering and I often wonder where the still small voice is in all the sound and fury.

I wonder if the Church has become sterile, ethnic, institutional, too much like the rest of the world but with better vestments. I wonder if we who are in positions of authority have forgotten that we are stewards and not possessors of these graces. I wonder if we have forgotten that authority is service, to those who follow and not to us.

Perhaps we have forgotten our first love. Perhaps we need to be reminded that the Church is about seeking first the Kingdom. Perhaps we’ve created temples without Presence. Perhaps we have built structures without Life. Perhaps we have been weighed in the balance and found wanting.

And is it possible that God, in love, is tired of this state of affairs and exposing us to heat, struggle, and pain to call us back to the things that matter, to be the people we were called to be. Could it be that God is slowly but surely exposing our sores, forcing open our dusty recesses, and showing us the darkness within so that we may, if we choose, become clean.

One things seems certain. An old order of things is giving way and the process is, like so many transitions, jarring and painful. We focus on the events and the issues, and we should, but larger forces are at play. Perhaps to understand it all we need to address the circumstances for sure but also listen to the greater call.