Worth Reading…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

From an article entitled “We Need More Than Liturgy”

As Smith notes in his first book, “our Christian colleges and universities generate an army of alumni who look pretty much like all the rest of their suburban neighbors, except that our graduates drive their SUVs, inhabit their executive homes, and pursue the frenetic life of the middle class and the corporate ladder ‘from a Christian perspective’” (Desiring the Kingdom). This kind of formation bleeds into our churches as well. What evangelicalism has long taken for granted—that good teaching and Scripture reading are sufficient for creating disciples—is negated by the vast numbers of evangelicals who can say all the right things while practicing all the wrong behaviors.

Read more here…

Hat tip to Apollos…

Some Will See…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

the pain and the struggles of the world and respond with despair or cynicism. Others will hear the call of God in the cries of struggle and answer it by joining the effort to live a holy life and do good things on the face of the earth. One will know the fleeting safety of that comes with a life behind closed doors and the other will taste the sweetness of the Kingdom of God.

A Good Word…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

In Kiswahili and English.

Msiwe na wasiwasi mkisema, “Tutakula nini?” au “Tutakunywa nini?” au “Tutavaa nini?”… Baba yenu wa mbingui anafahamu kwamba mnahitaji yote hayo. Lakini uta futeni kwanza Ufalme wa mbinguni na haki yake, na haya yote mtaongezewa. Kwa hiyo msihangaike kuhusu kesho, kwa sababu kesho itajihangaika yenyewe. Kila siku ina shida zake za kutosha.

Do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?”… for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

– Matthew 6:31-34

Wisdom…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

“We cannot ask God and His holy saints that they remove all the difficulties from our missionary road and everything that causes us moral suffering. We can only pray that He help us carry the cross, and enable us to survive the difficulties and sufferings that await us on our missionary road. Our service is giving birth to spiritual children for God; and what birth is not accompanied by pain? And for this we must be prepared in advance. But we have a source of great consolation. To serve with energy and success we must have confidence beforehand that our labor is not in vain and that our work will be crowned with success.”

(St. Nicholas of Japan)

On Food and Thoughts…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

What we eat becomes part of us, for good or ill. It can bring health and it can cause damage. This is why we have labels on food so we know what it is we’re consuming and make choices.

In the same way, the thoughts we allow into our lives, the images that become our focus, the ideas and concepts upon which we dwell, can become part of, as it were, our soul and transform us.

In our culture there are so many images of things that are dark, sad, unholy, and given to our baser instincts (after all there’s a lot of money to be made on baser instincts) that it can be overwhelming to try to guard our eyes and our thoughts from such things. They come at us as from every angle and they are, sometimes it seems, omnipresent.

Perhaps it is one of the martyrdoms of our time to attempt to stand in the face of such a flood and choose to fill our hearts and minds with that which is holy and good. It takes deliberate and conscious effort and often profound struggle to be that kind of person, a person who stands in a world of darkness with a heart only for the Light. Yet, I suppose if we’re going to be anything like what God wants us to be, stand we must.

 

The Journey Continues…

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I received a phone call yesterday from OCMC (Orthodox Christian Mission Center) asking me to consider if I could move my participation in a Uganda Health Team from mid August to early September. It was for a good reason, they had health care practitioners that could only make it for the mission team at that time. I, however, could not.

It isn’t a complete loss because I simply moved my application and my funding to place me in Tanzania later this year, helping the local clergy and sharing the Faith. Yet it was kind of disappointing as well because I had prayed, fundraised, prepared, planned, researched, and sent letters overseas in the hope that in just a few weeks I would be in Uganda. A part of my heart was already there. I thought the hand of God was in this.

So now comes the task of untangling myself and rearranging all the details. It can be done. I’ve done it before. I’m grateful for the quick assistance of my Senior Priest and Bishop who enabled me to make a quick decision by their blessing. OCMC will change all the travel arrangements. No money will be lost. Good work will still be done. The next months will be spent learning about Tanzania, picking up some of the language, and finding out how I need to serve.

I may, however, never know the movements of God behind all of this. Originally I had hoped to go to Ghana and then a pregnancy in my office changed the whole schedule and rerouted me to Uganda where everything was ready to go until the last minute. Then it changed. It is, as we Orthodox like to say, a mystery and the answer may never come.

Yet I need to trust that the hand of God is working in my life even if I don’t always see it or understand the specifics. Perhaps I’ll know in time. Perhaps not until that day. Still, there is a reason and all I can do is pray and take one step in front of the other.

The next week brings the untangling process. I’ll need to rearrange the travel insurance. There’s a Metropolitan Bishop in Uganda to whom I have to send my regrets. I have to check the paperwork and relearn details.  On the whole I would rather have been on cruise control in these coming weeks. Now I need to start over.

Yet, its not my will but God’s be done and one step in front of the other.

The Pope Says…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

that work and business free Sundays are a good idea for the faithful and non faithful.  He’s right. Even if you don’t take time off for religious observances on Sunday, a day free from business and hard work is recuperative, strengthening, and helpful. Those old “Sabbath” laws have, I believe, a basis not just as spiritual exercises but as a good for the sake of the whole human being. Work? Yes. But not all the time, ever day, and everywhere.

I do remember as a child noticing that almost everything was shut down in my hometown in Wisconsin on Sundays. Basic services like police, fire, and hospitals were, of course, up and running but not much else. I’m not sure that even all of the gas stations were open. Sunday was a church day, a family day, a day to exhale from the past week and rest for the one to come.

Fast forward to now where commerce and business is a 24 hour a day, seven days a week, proposition. We chase money all day, every day, and never seem to have any time to catch our breath. Even Orthodox Christians will keep the shop or restaurant open on Sundays, sometimes skipping Liturgy and valuable rest to squeeze out another dollar or two from the public. Why? I suppose because that’s the prevailing wind these days but sometimes the crowd is wrong and even the breeze that blows strongest is a foul one.

God asked us to take a day to rest. No, as Orthodox Christians we are not obliged to be as specific and detailed about the whole thing as our Jewish ancestors decided to be. Yet, the principle still remains. Take a day to rest, to make room for God, to be with those who are closest to you. A hundred years from now nobody will care that your place was opened up on Sunday, but giving time to things that matter, the things eternal, will make a difference now and bless you forever.

Mindful Meditation…

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is good for you, so the article says. Well, we Orthodox Christians have been “mindfully meditating” for over 2000 years and have a very well developed tradition in this area. One of the great tragedies in our Faith  is that so many Orthodox have less than a clue about the rich meditative tradition of their own Faith. They will seek out gurus, yoga teachers, pundits, and new age practitioners unaware of the deep riches into which they were baptized. The very things they will pay money to discover are those things which Orthodox Christian Faith has given away to seekers since Christ walked the Earth.