"an angel that walks amongst us"

Read an excellent article today:

Australian "Angel" Saves Lives at Suicide Spot

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/14/world/main6580981.shtml

And also this one is important:

http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com/2010/10/advice-on-confession.html

And I'd say, the title of this my blog post applies to the second article, too.

marriage vs. monasticism

According to Matthew (19 - 9:12), our Lord Jesus taught:

“And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery."

The disciples said to him, "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry."

But he said to them, "Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven."

For a long time I thought of the last paragraph talking of monasticism (which is true in the italicized words) and placing it above marriage. And whenever someone said that monasticism is just another possible way, equal to marriage and not superior to it, I always thought the real thought behind it to be: “Yes, monastic life is tough and you’re not strong enough, so I’m just trying to comfort you.” And I think I’m not the only one who thought or thinks that way.

Today I read an article that actually states the opposite. The words “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given” are actually a response to the disciples’ marvel on difficulty of being married and keeping it whole. Indeed, the marriage can be difficult; so difficult that it’s not for everyone and for someone it’s better to stay unmarried than to take on this responsibility, the vows and the crown, and then fail miserably and torture your spouse and children.

If you think of it, men may have got a tougher job in the marriage, even though people sometimes think that obedience of wives makes the relationship unbalanced.

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her... (Ephesians 5 - 22:25)

Men are called to love their wives and little churches (families) same way as Christ loves the Church: meaning not ruling over it, but first of all complete sacrifice, even unto own death.

trip to library

Today I finished re-reading a few books by Clifford Simak. It was pleasing and relaxing read, philosophical mixture of science fiction and fantasy. Looking at other books by Simak, I decided “that’s it for now” and thought of moving on to another author. Re-reading Simak’s works was triggered by recalling at some point what books I read in my young – high school and college – years. Along with Simak I remembered Robert Heinlein and Jack London. So today, before moving on to completely new (for me) books, I thought I’d read a bit of London first. I went to the local library and on the way to London’s shelf I stumbled upon the books by Robert Ludlum about Jason Bourne, the famous film trilogy is based on those books. Both Vera and I loved the movies, their twisting plots captured our attention. But on the book shelf there was another book, in addition to the original three: “The Bourne Deception”. I became interested in reading it and wanted to see what people say about it. Being a modern IT guy, I had my phone with me which enabled me to find the book on Amazon and see readers’ comments. I was surprised to learn that this book was not any good compared to the original three. More than that, it was written by a different author – Eric van Lustbader, who decided to follow in Ludlum’s successful footsteps and wrote 6 (!) books continuing the story of Jason Bourne. Interestingly, last names of both authors start similarly, so “The Bourne Deception” was on the same shelf next to Ludlum’s original books. So, if you likes the original books and/or movies – don’t fall for this one. :)

I also saw a book titled “Banishing Verona” which caught my interest, and the plot description was attractive but still I was not sure if it’d be a good read for me. So, once again I searched for it on Amazon and saw great commentaries this time, but then noticed they were made by mostly women. Now, here’s the question: is it that there are more readers (and reader review writers) among women than men? or is this book really intended for female readers? :) If anyone read this book or heard something related to that, please share your thoughts.

As a result, I was undecided on that book and came back to the office with a book by Jack London “To Build a Fire and Other Stories”, which I’m sure I’ll enjoy. I guess, I’m just too conservative/not adventurous, and so I stick to classics or someone I already know. For now, the next book on my “list” is “Norwegian Wood” by Haruki Murakami; I already read two of his books and loved them.

“Whoever believes... will be saved"

I often thought of a certain contradiction in the Gospel, at least the way I saw it. On one hand, our actions are important for our salvation. But we’re not saved by our actions, as they do not make us worthy enough of this God’s gift, so whoever believes (that Christ is Son of God) is saved even if he’s short of good deeds and the sins are forgiven and blotted out. And this makes our actions not important for our salvation... confusing?

Well, today I read the new thoughts from father Stephen Freeman which clarified this for me:

"To believe the truth is not the same thing as having a correct opinion – indeed the two have almost nothing to do with one another. And this is a great difficulty – for most of the things that we think of ourselves as believing – we in fact only hold as opinions. What a man believes, in the way the word is used in the New Testament, is not seen or heard in the syllogisms he is willing to confess, but rather in how he lives his life.

In the Orthodox service of Holy Baptism, the candidate (or sponsor) is asked: “Do you unite yourself to Christ?” It is a peculiar phrase. It is more than asking, “Do you give consent to the following propositions?” It is asking someone if they are willing to live as a branch to which Christ is the vine.

St. Paul uses the image of a body and its head. Are we willing to live as a body lives in relation to its head?..."

Here’s how I phrase it for myself:

“believing” = “being in the corresponding way”

Now the words “if you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15) mean a lot more to me! It doesn’t mean “please, keep My commandments” or “keep My commandments if you want to prove or show that you love Me”. It means: if you love Me, you will naturally, automatically keep My commandments, without even thinking about them.

Christian is not someone who simply agrees that Christ is Son of God. Christian is the person who is completely changed by that discovery: all his actions, words and thoughts, every tiny detail of his life becomes based on or related to this truth. Not because the person wants to do things that way, but because the person is that way. “Not what we Do, but what we Are.”

“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)

Lord, help us all become Christians some day. For a man it is impossible, but not for You.

patience

Father Stephen in "Why Would Anyone Want to Forgive an Enemy?":

In the face of sin, we repent (seek to yield ourselves to God’s grace), confess our sins, make communion, give alms, and make efforts to do good to our enemies. The work of grace sometimes seems glacial in its speed. A glacier moves but a few feet a year, but it changes the face of the earth. And so the Apostle tells us, “Let patience do its complete work” (James 1:4).

faith under fire: Russia, 5 decades ago

This is a story from Russia under Soviet government, it occurred around 1960.

Nikita Khrushchev was the Prime Minister at that time and he tried to finally put an end to the Church and faith in Soviet Union. The efforts were made at all levels of the social life, and there was a play written to that extent and staged in one of the Moscow’s theatres. The stage was decorated as a dark and dirty low profile bar with barrels of wine. By the script, visitors crowded in that place were monks, priests along with prostitutes and other “low life” characters and criminals. They would drink heavily, sing blasphemous songs and do all kinds of dirty things. From time to time, one of the characters would make a few shaky steps struggling not to fall down, pour more wine from the barrel into the mug and shout something like “here’s where I found the meaning of life and complete truth!” Everybody would laugh and keep drinking and dancing dirty among litter and empty bottles scattered on the floor. There was even the cross on top of decorations, to mimic the cross on top of a church, made out of bottles.

And into this crowd comes “Christ”. He looks at the monks behaving insane and shouts at them: “Hey you! Listen up, I’m going to read now! Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the mourners...” – and so on, he read the first three Beatitudes. But, seeing that not a single person is paying attention, he yawns and throws Bible on the floor saying: “Oh, I’m so tired of this stuff... Hey, anyone, give me wine! and make it a big mug!” Someone gives him wine from the same barrel, “Christ” drinks all of it in one shot and joins the bacchanalia.

For the opening performance many highly-ranked government and party officials were expected to attend, including the P.M. – Khrushchev. According to his desire, the role of “Christ” was supposed to be played by a young actor, Khrushchev’s protégé. The actor, being an atheist just like all around him, was very glad to receive an invitation to play that role. Such performance suggested a great monetary reward from the government and a great push for his career. Someone found Bible in Russian for this occasion (Bibles were destroyed and not allowed to possess in the country at that time) and everyone started to work on the play.

So, here comes the scheduled day for the first performance, the audience is full of V.I.P.s, the expectations and importance of the event are high. The curtains part and the audience sees the scene as described – monks and priests with prostitutes, barrels of wine and the cross made of the bottles. The festivities are going full speed, and there enters “Christ”. He stops in front of the audience, says “people, listen!” and starts reading the Beatitudes. He reads the first one, and the second one, and the third one... and goes on with the fourth one, and the fifth one, and so on. By the script, the Book should be already on the floor and “Christ” should have already joined others in drinking, but he keeps reading – all of the Beatitudes. And then the complete 5th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew. And then the 6th chapter. People in the audience understand that probably the reading was supposed to be shorter and something’s gone wrong. Even the other actors on the stage stopped “drinking” and shouting and moving around. Everyone was silent, listening. The actor finished reading the Sermon on the Mount, turned to the cross made of bottles, crossed himself and, saying “Remember me, o Lord, when You come into Your kingdom!”, left the stage.

The scandal was huge. But the state was very efficient and powerful at controlling the information, so the story was suppressed and known only to select people in Russia until decades later. There is a rumor though that there was an article about it printed in Argentinean newspaper whose international reporter witnessed the event, but I don’t have any reference to that. The young actor was, without a doubt, imprisoned for life and/or killed. We do not know his name, but we can still ask the martyr to pray for us.

terrible words

What terrible God's words to the whole people!

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!

Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'

(Luke 13, 34-35)

What terrible words to a (my?!) soul that many times rejected her Lord, Creator and Savior by her deeds: that's it, I'm leaving you alone forever.

Aldebaran Robotics Nao Robot Show

The movements looks so "natural", sometimes it's hard to believe those are machines and not costumed humans.

Take a look at the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIuRc1r_N34

school girls & boys

Last year, my daughter was in 3rd grade and often had home work from school that directed her to tell about something she did or some family activity, and then to also describe her feelings about that. Sometime she was even given a hint on what to talk about. Looks like she just often lacked fantasy (on a given topic) and the events she mentioned were dull, so she just tried to use the keywords she picked up in the assignment itself. As a result, some very funny statements came out, such as:

“It was cold in the morning and I dressed warmer. I was amazed that I dressed warmer.”

or

“Last weekend we went to a grocery store. I was tickled pink by the fact that we went there.”

Now that Vera is student-teaching, she brings home funny stories from the other side of the elementary school scene – that is, as a teacher. She was explaining to a girl, an ESL student, the word “slug”. What we all learned that day, by the way, is that “slug” is not only a noun but also a verb, and with a very unexpected – compared to the noun – meaning:

strike heavily, especially with the fist or a bat; "He slugged me so hard that I passed out"

(according to Princeton’s online dictionary)

So, once the girl looked like she understood the word, she was asked to produce some phrase using the word. And the phrase was:

“He punched me like a slug.”

So, Vera has her funny moments at school, and she brings them home. And I tell you – we were all laughing as if punched by a slug.

And my son just turned 6. We started celebrating the weekend before that - with our kids' grandparents. Then we celebrated in just our immediate family on the actual birthday, and we also plan to celebrate with kids – his friends – on Saturday. I guess it confused him a bit, since I heard him saying to his friend on the actual b-day:

"Today is my birthday! and on Saturday I'll turn 6."

It's fun to have kids!

Share your stories?

Antiochians celebrating

I've been to Matins at a local Antiochian parish today. They celebrated their 100 years of the parish, so a lot of clergy and simply visitors from other parishes attended. The singing was... "magical" - 6 or 7 young men singing byzantine chants in Greek, Arabic and English. The church building is unusually - for me - big and has great acoustic properties, so the chanting filled it and sounded by the doors in the back same well as standing next to the chanters.

I noticed some parishioners/lay people wearing unusual - big and decorated - crosses suspended on wide bright red ribbons. I wonder what those signs are of. I did some research online and one version is that they are of a St. Ignatius' Order, but I'm not sure. Anyone knows what this is about?

When I arrived at the very beginning of the Matins there were only 20-30 people there, in addition to the chanters and the serving clergy. By the end of the service the church was full. The bishop also arrived at some point during the Matins. Too bad I couldn't stay for the Liturgy.

"Beautiful Boys" by Yoko Ono

In addition to the previous post on boys inside men, here's a beautiful song from "Double Fantasy" album - "Beautiful Boys":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAb-7-G5eBA

The photos are interesting, especially because of John's 70th birthday tomorrow, but they are kind of distracting, diverting attention from the song itself. So, it might be better to listen with eyes shut.

Also, if you don't like the music or singing style, or just want to follow the words along with the music, here is the song's poetry:

You're a beautiful boy,
With all your little toys,
Your eyes have seen the world
Though you're only four years old.
And your tears are streaming
Even when you're smiling,
Please, never be afraid to cry.

You're a beautiful boy,
With all your little ploys,
Your mind has changed the world.
And you're now forty years old,
You got all you can carry
And still feel somehow empty.
Don't ever be afraid to fly.

All you beautiful boys,
Creating multiple plays.
You like to fence in your world
And settle down when you're old.
You can run from pole to pole
And never scratch your soul.
Don't be afraid to go to hell and back,
Don't be afraid to go to hell and back,
Don't be afraid to be afraid.

"the little child inside the man"

Watching “The Icarus Factor” episode of “Star Trek” a few days ago, this conversation between ship’s counselor Troi and ship’s doctor Pulaski caught my attention (here’s an excerpt):

Troi: In adulthood, fathers continue to regard their sons as children...

Pulaski: It's almost as if they never really grow up at all, isn't it?

Troi: Perhaps that's why men remain so attractive.

This reminded me of a story. Last year I visited a monastery where one of the monks (who is about 50 years old, by the way) had his mother visiting him from Russia. I was talking to her at some point and asked how long she plans to stay here before going back to Russia. She answered: “Why would I go back there? My baby is here.” Certainly, mothers also “regard their sons as children” too, maybe even more so, and that’s not a secret to anyone,

One of my favorite John Lennon’s songs is “Woman” from “Double Fantasy” album by him and Yoko. In fact, the album to me seems better, deeper, more mature than all the other “Beatles” albums, although I’m sure many would not agree with that. So, in that song he sang:

Woman, I know you understand

The little child inside the man.

Please remember: my life is in your hands...

I know my woman also understands – and loves – the child in me.

Well, I am definitely glad we remain attractive to our women because of the child inside, according to all of these described here. But I also believe it is not attraction only for the opposite gender; staying a child – although in a good, not infantile, way – is an important feature of any person. As I think of it, people that l like the most have preserved that sincere and uncorrupted child inside them pretty well.

And looks like we need to stay children, also, to inherit the Heavenly Kingdom.

Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 18:3)

As I understand, this “conversion” means true humility: understanding that we are but little children who are completely dependent on the Loving Father’s help Who is quick to help, and living simplicity and in joy of giving and receiving, loving and being loved. May we be that way.

not what we Do, but what we Are

It is not what man does which counts in eternal life, but what he is; whether he is like Jesus Christ, our Lord, or if he is different and unlike Him.

(St. Symeon the New Theologian)