Gay protesters harass an elderly woman. To begin to help the world to become what it should be we must see it as it actually is. When I saw this I had images in my mind of the men of Sodom demanding that Lot turn over his angelic guests for their dark pleasures and I also saw people so deeply immeshed in their own struggles that they thought nothing of harassing a woman for the “crime” of disagreeing with them. Either way we desperately need to be, myself first, the kind of people God wants us to be and we need to understand that if we care about our society we must come to our senses, awaken from our sleep, turn our hearts to God, and let our lights shine. Pray for those who are abusing this woman and the woman herself.

Sometimes you’re the hand and sometimes your the puppet.

The air is cold now and the sky is gray and full of snow. I heard we might get an inch or two today, earlier then the past few years but right on time for Minnesota in November.

Yesterday was all about the last things to do on the list. Clean up the leaves one last time so they’re not found wet and cold next spring. Mow the lawn level. Take out the remains of the climbing plants. And yes, set up the lights for Advent even though its still a week away. The rumors are its going to be a cold and snowy one this year, the kind of winter we had when we were kids, so now is the time to get things done.

On November 15 the TV goes dark and the fast begins. I’ve got things to do and books to read for all that down time. I think I’ll start weaning myself off the box tonight. There’s plenty of vegetable soup for meals and I had one last hamburger on the way down to LaCrosse this past Saturday. Now that the house is in order it seems like its time to get myself in order for the weeks to come, weeks I need right now to get everything back to where it needs to be.

One of the great gifts of Orthodoxy are the fasting times. Its so normal for my life to get all out of whack and the fasts call me back to sanity, winding up all the loose ends and untying the knots. And I need this one in particular, this post election, post church vandalism, post busy stuff at work, post everything nativity fast. Now that I’m buttoned up on the outside I need to be buttoned up on the inside.

Looking out of my window I see the snow has begun to fall. And so it begins.

A SERMON BY C.S. LEWIS

Some years ago I preached a sermon at a Pan-Orthodox gathering right after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom decided to disregard California law and begin allowing same sex weddings. I spoke of how his actions were prophetic in that they were a foretaste of what would come. My point was that the disintegration of morals and the culture were, in part, because Orthodox Christians were absent from the real world and I reminded them the world is the way it is in part because we are not who we are called to be.

Now news is coming from California about protests following the passing of Proposition 8 in California, a constitutional amendment that returned California law to its historic understanding of marriage and family. Religious buildings have been defaced, people have been verbally and physically attacked, and marchers have threatened both people and institutions they believe supported the proposition.

Amazing, isn’t it, how some of the proponents of “tolerance” and “inclusivity” get angry and violent when they don’t get their way. If you think that the movement towards same sex marriage is completely benign and simply about “equal rights” do a Google search on this and take a look at the faces of the people in these protests. Take a look, as well, at what some “activists” have done, in countries where same sex marriage is the law of the land, to harass and intimidate those they cannot indoctrinate. Witness, again, the wholesale purge of traditional clergy and parishes currently underway by the very people who have come to power in the Episcopal Church by seeking “dialogue” and “openness” in the areas of sexuality and the church. The information can be startling.

Because of our Faith we cannot respond in kind or act out of fear but we do need to be wise. Underneath the gentle hand of “tolerance” and “inclusivity” there can be hard balled up fist aimed right at your face if, as a traditional Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, or Buddhist for that matter, you dare to oppose the new regime. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, seek in love to reach out and be a channel of grace, and always be ready to pray for even those who would, if they had the chance, silence you.

Traveling north through Red Wing, Minnesota the clouds began to give way and lo and behold the sun, missing for nearly a week, reappeared. With the air fresh and cold and the sun aglow I decided to take advantage of it all and clear the last, hopefully, leaves from the yard into piles. Tomorrow, if the weather holds, they will be shredded and set aside for next spring’s mulch.

But the sun, what a relief to see it, even for the briefest time, in November!

Well they got rid of the political ads but the Christmas ads are already up and going!

Are you sure you don’t want to turn off your TV on November 15th? Or sooner?

A sample…

The death of religion, of the true Christian religion, occurs when the God who became flesh and dwelt among us, is seen as the God who has removed Himself (having accomplished His work here) and is found only in the distance of theological thought. It is little wonder that in the sterility of Christian atheism the vacuum of a true spiritual life should be filled with the vacuity of the political life.

The Republican party is dead. The Democratic party is dead. Neither of them can give you life. They belong to a world that is passing away. What remains is what has been established by God and still sails before the winds and on the tide that obey His voice.

There is a Kingdom of God, found in communion with the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. It is not removed from us but has come among us. It breaks forth in human lives and burns with spiritual fire in the sacraments of the Church. It heals the sick, raises the dead, casts out demons and gives freely what it has freely received. It knows no economy other than the fullness of God who causes the barren woman to be the joyful mother of children, who brings forth water in the desert and changes water into wine.

Religion is not dead – only the false pretense of religion begotten in the delusion of the modern world.

The rest is here…

What would happen if Orthodox Christians turned off their televisions for Nativity Lent?

Now I know you’re not supposed to advertise your fast but what would it be like if Orthodox Christians just quietly turned off their televisions on November 15th? No fanfare, no press releases, just a click of the remote and everything goes silent.

What could we do with the time? How would we live with our society’s umbilical cord cut? What would change about us in that month and a half when we have hours of our day freed from the background noise of our lives? How would we relate to each other? Would we be physically better or worse? How about spiritually, intellectually? And what about the withdrawl symptoms? What would they be and how could we overcome them?

I haven’t developed my thoughts about this yet but I’m thinking about taking the plunge. How about you?

There’s snow in the Dakotas working its way east. We’ll see it here tomorrow.

And so it begins…