Perhaps another reason…

to think about how wedded we are to our society’s electric nipple. As I get older the lure of convenience just doesn’t seem as important as interacting with real people. And it’s not that I’m doing anything wrong, its that I don’t want to be tracked across the grid because  its none of their business. I want to choose how far I wish to be exposed and if that makes me a throwback or a luddite then so be it. Even if I don’t make use of it much there’s something precious about the right to be left alone.

A passage I was pondering today…

Revelation 21

 1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

 3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

 4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

 5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

 6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

 7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

 8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

 9And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

 10And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

 11Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

 12And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

 13On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

 14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

 15And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

 16And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

 17And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

 18And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

 19And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

 20The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

 21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

 22And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

 23And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

 24And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

 25And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

 26And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

 27And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Music notes…

I’m scheduled to be at the J and S Bean Factory (two blocks east of Randolph and Snelling in St. Paul) on Sunday, July 31, starting at 3 p.m.. I’ll also be playing at a benefit for National Night Out at Hazel Park UCC (Van Dyke and Minnehaha in St. Paul) on Tuesday, August s, starting at 6 p.m.. I’m going to be at a benefit for the Hattie Q. Brown Food Shelf on Thursday, August 18, at 6 p.m. located at St. Paul Reformation Lutheran Church (Dale and 94 in St. Paul).

If you’re in the area consider dropping in.

 

Wisdom…

by Saint Seraphim of Sarov
(Excerpts from the book: Little Russian Philokalia, Vol. 1: St. Seraphim of Sarov)

One must by every means strive to preserve peace of soul and not to be disturbed by offences from others; for this one must in every way strive to restrain anger and by means of attentiveness to keep the mind and heart from improper feelings.

And therefore we must bear offences from others with equanimity and accustom ourselves to such a disposition of spirit that these offences seem to concern not us, but others.

Such a practice can give quietness to the human heart and make it a dwelling for God Himself.

An example of such angerlessness we see in St. Gregory the Wonderworker, from whom a certain prostitute in a public place asked recompense, as if for a sin he had committed with her; and he, not becoming in the least angry with her, meekly said to a certain friend of his: give her quickly the sum she demands. The woman had no sooner taken the unjust recompense than she was subjected to the attack of a demon; and the Saint drove the demon out of her by prayer.

If, however, it is impossible not to be disturbed, then at least one must strive to restrain the tongue, according to the Psalmist: I was troubled, and spoke not (Ps. 76:5).

In this case we may take as an example Sts. Spyridon of Trimithoundos and Ephraim the Syriam. The first bore and offence thus: When, at the demand of the Greek Emperor, he entered the Palace, one of the servants who had been in the Emperor’s chamber, taking him for a beggar, burst out laughing at him, did not allow him into the chambers, and then hit him on the cheek. St. Spyridon, being gentle, in accordance with the word of the Lord, turned the other to him also (Matt. 5:39). St. Ephraim, while fasting in the wilderness, was deprived of food by a disciple in this fashion: The disciple, carrying food to him, accidentally shattered the dish on the way. The saint, seeing the sorrowing disciple, said to him: Do not be sad, brother; if the food did not desire to come to us, then we will go to it. And he went, sat down beside the shattered dish and, gathering the food, ate it: so without anger was he.

And in what fashion to vanquish anger one may see from the life of St. Paisius the Great, who asked the Lord Jesus Christ, Who had appeared to him, to free him from his anger; and Christ said to him: If you wish to vanquish anger and rage together, desire nothing, neither hate anyone nor belittle anyone.

In order to preserve peace of soul, one must remove from oneself despondency and strive to have a joyful spirit and not a sad one, according to the word of Sirach: For sorrow has killed many, and there is no profit therein. (Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus, 30:23).

When a man has a great insufficiency of those things needed for the body, it is difficult to vanquish despondency. But this, of course, is applicable to weak souls.

For the preservation of peace of soul one must likewise by every means flee from judgment of others. By not judging and by silence peace of soul is maintained: when a man is in such a state, he receives Divine revelations.

In order to free oneself from judging, one must take heed of oneself, not to accept outside thoughts from anyone and to be dead to everything.

For the preservation of peace of soul one must more often enter into oneself and ask: where am I?

At the same time one must watch that the bodily senses, especially sight, serve for the inner man and do not distract the soul by the means of sensuous objects: for they only receive grace-bearing gifts who have interior activity and are vigilant over their souls.

Wisdom…

 

Be mindful of God, so that in every moment He may be mindful of you. If He is mindful of you, He will give you salvation. Do not forget Him, letting yourselves be seduced by vain distractions. Do you want Him to forget you in your times of temptation? Stay near Him and obey Him in the days of your prosperity. You will be able to rely on His word in difficult days, because prayer will keep you safe in His continual presence. Remain constantly before His face, think of Him, remember Him in your heart. Otherwise, if you only meet Him from time to time, you risk losing your close friendship with Him.

St. Isaac of Nineveh, 7th century

This is going to sound mean…

but when a celebrity succumbs to addiction and dies it’s sad but definitely not heroic. We have this way of trying to make such people into heroes but that’s just whitewash by a media that fed on these people during their lives and needs to find a way to feed on them after they’re gone.

Talented? Yes. Tragic? Yes. Heroic? No. Elvis died on his bathroom floor with his pants around his ankles. Amy Winehouse stopped her own heart with a mixture of street chemicals yet to be determined. There’s nothing romantic or heroic about any of it. It’s just sad, a waste, and we don’t want to face that so we pretend otherwise.

Do you know what is heroic? It’s the person calling their AA sponsor right now because they’re struggling with their addiction but they love their kids so much they’ll do whatever it takes to fight for a day of sobriety. It’s the person praying their heart out to keep from going out on the streets because they know the hell that waits them and have no desire to go back. Those, and others like them, are the heroes. The rest are just celebrities whose lives got messed up in the spotlight.