Imagine what would happen if the people in the Church decided to become the kind of Christians they expect their Bishops to be?

I think, some times, there are people sitting in the streets by the gates of our parishes, hungry for all that is within, even a crumb, while our principal occupation seems to be arguing among ourselves over who gets the biggest piece of dessert.

Speaking of his own endeavors with the Jesus prayer, St. John writes: “When you have Christ in your heart, make sure you do not lose Him and together with Him your inner tranquility, for it is bitterly hard to begin anew; all your efforts to attach yourself once again to Him after falling away will be hard and will cause many bitter tears. Cling to Christ with all your might, attach yourself to Him and do not lose your sacred connection with Him. Christ, introduced into the heart through faith, dwells there in peace and joy. When you notice that your heart is cold and unwilling to pray – stop and warm your heart with some dynamic vision – for example, of your iniquity, of your spiritual poverty and blindness, or of God’s great and continuous blessings upon you and all of mankind, especially Christians, – and afterwards continue to pray unhurriedly, with warm feeling; even if you do not have time to finish all your prayers, that does not present a problem, since much greater benefit accrues from warm and unhurried prayer than from reading all the prayers without any feeling. It is well to pray continuously, but not all are capable of such an effort, thus to each his own. Whoever is unable to cope with lengthy prayer should preferably pray briefly, but with an ardent soul. One should ceaselessly address the Lord and be with Him every single moment, in order to avoid being overcome by demonic irritation or dejection. By using the spirit of dejection, the enemy has led many people away from the narrow and salvific path and unto the wide and smooth path of perdition. While praying count yourself for nothing and accept prayer as a great gift from God. Pray without any hesitation, with heartfelt simplicity: just as it is easy to think, so should it be easy to pray. Prayer is the breath of the soul just as air is the breath of the body. Our souls breathe with the Holy Spirit. One cannot utter a single heartfelt word without the Holy Spirit. While praying you are conversing directly with the Lord, and if your heart is open through faith and love, you will at the same time breathe in the spiritual blessings issuing from Him. Learn to pray, force yourself to pray; at first it will be hard, but afterwards, the more you force yourself, the easier it will get, but initially you must always force yourself. When you pray to God, look with the eyes of your heart inside yourself, at your soul. The Lord is there, in your thoughts and in the movements of your heart, just as He is outside of you and everywhere. The heart’s insensitivity to the genuineness of the words of prayer comes from disbelief and insensitivity of one’s one sinfulness, which comes, in turn, from a hidden feeling of pride. From his feelings during a prayer a person can discover whether he is full of pride or humility: the more ardent is his prayer, the humbler he is, and the more insensitive the prayer – the greater his pride.”

Whoever says that it is impossible to be saved with a wife and children is a deceiver. Abraham had a wife and children and three hundred and eighteen servants, and also much gold and silver, and he was called the friend of God! Many servants of the Church have been saved, and many lovers of the desert; many aristocrats, and many soldiers; many craftsmen, and many farm laborers. Be devout towards God and loving towards men, and you will be saved.

St. Niphon

The Church, Vertical and Horizontal

Father Vladimir Berzonsky – Word Magazine, May 1967

 “Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with . . . ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at table. But when the disciple saw it, (they said) “Why this waste? This ointment might have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor. Jesus said … ‘She has done a beautiful thing to me.   For the poor you always have with you, but you will not always have me.’”   (Matt. 26:6)

Generally, there are two types of critics of the Church, both of whom see the Church imperfectly.

On the one side, there are the activists, whose idea of Christianity is almost exclusively that of social welfare. They see the need for action and reform at every level of society. Salvation as a goal is replaced by human improvement. Christianity is to witness to the world its concern for humanity.

The Church for the activists fails because it concerns itself with dogmatic Truths that are not “relevant” for “modern man.” The Church as an institution no longer “relates” to society; therefore, it must redeem itself.

At the other extreme are the contemplatives, who see everything in the light of eternity. This world is sinful and corrupt; it has always been so, and will be this way until the Second Coming. All this will pass, so there is no need to be concerned about world conditions… “God will provide” is their motto, so we waste our time getting involved in the world.

These people see no relation between the Holy Altar and the beggar at the church steps. For them, society is irrelevant. Even the care and provision for the Church’s welfare is not their concern. If we have Faith, we will endure until the end.

Neither the activists nor the contemplatives are right. Each without the other distorts the meaning of Christianity.

We must remind the activists that Christ came not just to improve the world, but to change it radically from within. He calls for a transformation, a total death and rebirth. We agree that He identifies Himself with the poor, the sick, the thirsty, those in prison, and “the least of these, my brethren;” (Matt. 26:45). Yet, this is not enough. Charity and concern are Christian virtues, but they do not exhaust the meaning of God’s Plan for redemption in Jesus Christ.

In His every act and word, Jesus Christ was presenting the Kingdoms of God. Those with eyes and ears open could contrast that Kingdom with this world. The impact of His coming can never be reduced to social welfare.

On the other hand, the implications of the Incarnation make us aware that God is concerned for every atom of His universe. This world is worth saving and helping. Everything matters. To love God is to love His world, and every living thing in it. We have to be concerned, because He is crucially concerned.

The Church is vertical, looking to God and waiting on His mercy, and at the same time it is horizontal, sharing the gracious gifts of God with those who share our world. The Church must always reach out in both dimensions.

in Minnesota we call a “gawker’s block”. It’s about what happens on the commute when an accident occurs and everyone slows down or stops to take a look. The police are there, the ambulance is present, the fire department is on scene but somehow we feel that our own presence is needed to make everything better.

There are more and more sites on the www dedicated to the various troubles in various Orthodox jurisdictions here in the US. To the extent they may be the first ones to dial 911 at the scene they probably provide a service. But after that I think they rapidly become more like “Gawker’s Block”, just a bunch of people staring at the wreckage and slowing up traffic in the process.

Yes, sometimes I’m bothered by what I see and I want to do what I can to help. I speak. I write. I pray. Yet slowing down and staring at the scene, I’m not sure how helpful that is. God knows what’s going on, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed matter how long or short your title may be.

Just pray, and drive on.

An old man said: For nine years a brother was tempted in thought to the point of despairing of his salvation, and being scrupulous, he condemned himself, saying, “I have lost my soul, and since I am lost, I shall go back to the world.” But while he was on the way, a voice came to him on the road, which said, “These nine years during which you have been tempted have been crowns for you; go back to your place, and I will allay these thoughts.” Understand that it is not good for someone to despair of himself because of his temptations; rather temptations procure crowns for us if we use them well…