| There are several stages to the rehabilitation process. During the first stage, residents at the center “come round” and write reflective essays on three standard topics – the story of their addiction, their denial about their dependency (how they justified their dependency), and their powerlessness in the face of their addiction (a description of their inability to deal with their drug dependency, and with dealing with their own thoughts, actions and mistakes concerning their addiction). The second stage is the spiritual component. The recovering addicts spend several months learning how to deal with their addiction through ascetic self-denial, learning the meaning of fasting, prayer, obedience and the holy sacraments. The third stage is adaptation, which some also call the “half-way house.” The recovering addicts, without losing touch with their mentors, begin to establish a life outside the center – finding jobs, building social contacts and learning how to live in a drug-free world. The average rehabilitation period in the parish is between a year and a year-and-a-half. No one is kept against their own will. Once residents feel they are able to live in a secular environment, they discuss it with a priest before leaving. The priests of the St. George’s parish believe that the rehabilitation method they have developed for treating addiction is successful, although they are not rushing to translate that success into statistics. “We no longer bother keeping numbers,” says Mefody. He believes this is a thankless task, as dependency remains latent for life: one can never tell when someone might falter. This is why the former residents refer to themselves as “recovering,” instead of“recovered.” Even so, Rev. Silvanus claims that more than half of their former patients remain “clean.”Those who slip back are not taken back at the parish: they set a bad example for the other inmates, and indulging them might derail the others. First published in Russian in Gazeta.ru . Source: RBTH |
| The average narcissist is, of course, ego-centric with a massive swale of insecurities hiding below the façade of grandiosity. The Christian fundamentalist has these traits but brings an obsessive-compulsive narrowness of interests, to the party as well. He is fixated on his latest revelation from God; he has found a scripture to match and has decided that the whole world needs to hear about it. You get the picture. He is not to be confused with the evangelical Christian. Though the fundamentalist often claims rank with the evangelical, he is in a class of his own. In fact, he is often so disturbed by the lack of revelation, faith, and Holy Spirit around him that he eventually grows tired of efforts to convert his pastor and fellow churchgoers and starts his own church instead. There is no way to map this statistically, but I would not be surprised if 90% of random, self-appointed, start-up ministers in America were of this personality type. I want to give a possible theory as to why civil discussions with the Christian fundamentalist is difficult at best, and often impossible. There are likely many more factors at play, but I hope to tease out a couple of the more obvious ones. One of the hallmarks of the Christian fundamentalist (and fundamentalism in general, regardless of the religious or secular forms it takes) is that he does not appreciate discussion of differing views. If you watch closely you will often notice a marked discomfort or irritation sweep over him very early in a religious discussion. There is a palpable resistance to opposing views, and one is wise to pick up on it early, particularly if one has regular dealings with this person (family, work, school, church) and wishes to maintain peace. The question is: what animates this resistance to open discussion? I believe the answer is two-fold. First, the fundamentalist adopts views not because of their truth, but because of a particular power they gain from it. Second, and similarly to the narcissist, they have emotional insecurities that are threatened by disagreement. |
| After his transfer to Seattlés Orthopedic Children " s Hospital and later to Seattlés Medical Center, Dr. Morse began to systematically examine the question of dying. He questioned many children, who had experienced clinical death, comparing and documenting their accounts. Additionally, he remained in contact with his young patients through adulthood observing their mental and spiritual maturity. In his book Closer to the Light, Dr. Morse insists that all the children whom he studied grew up to be more serious, moral, and spiritual than the average adult. All of them accepted their experiences as a manifestation of God " s mercy and a sign from above that they should live in uprightness. Until most recently, such accounts of the afterlife could only be found in the realm of religious literature. Worldly magazines and medical journals, as a rule, avoided publishing such material. An overwhelming majority of physicians and psychiatrists reacted very disapprovingly to any spiritual accounts and did not acknowledge the existence of the human soul. It is only within the last twenty years, at the very, so-called triumph of materialism, that some doctors and psychiatrists have begun to seriously examine the existence of the human soul. A catalyst for this movement was Dr. Raymond Moody " s well-received book Life after Life published in 1975. In it, Dr. Moody collected a series of first-hand accounts of near death experiences. Initially, Dr. Moody " s interest in the subject was sparked by stories related to him by some of his friends. As he began to collect these stories, he realized that there were large numbers of people who had out-of-body experiences during the time they were clinically dead. This shocked him. However, many of these people, did not relate their stories to anyone to avoid embarrassment or worse, the questioning of their sanity. Soon after the appearance of Dr. Moody " s book, the sensation-hungry press and television media widely publicized the contents of his book. A firestorm of discussions and public debates on life after death issues followed. This caused a flood of doctors, psychiatrists and spiritual leaders, some of whom felt their field of expertise had been infringed upon by an incompetent source, to launch independent investigations to review the data and results published by Dr. Moody. Many of them were very surprised when the accuracy of Dr. Moody " s observations were verified. Specifically, that upon a person " s death, their existence does not cease, but on the contrary their soul continues to hear, think and feel. |
| Concerning the pilgrimages, in recent years they have been organized in a more centralized way. The groups of pilgrims go to the Holy Land, Greece, Rome, Egypt and different places in Russia. This has taken place more often in recent years. Generally, the world “became smaller”. Besides, many parishioners go on pilgrimage by themselves. – The necessity of frequent communion is being discussed more often in the Russian Orthodox Church. Also frequent confession before taking Communion is being reconsidered for those who take communion often. What does ROCA think about it? – It is difficult to answer this question in general. As in Russia, there are priests who follow different ideas concerning this issue. Moreover, we often deal with the faithful of other Orthodox churches, for instance, with Greeks, who have a completely different tradition of confession and taking Communion. I follow the instructions of my longstanding master and predecessor from our parish, the deceased bishop Alexander (Mileant), who tried to have Communion more often without neglecting confession before it. Only if a person leads an active Christian life and is stable in it, and takes Communion once a week, then he or she is allowed to confess once in three weeks or when they have something on their conscience. Communion is not a reward for “a good behavior”, but a cure which can heal us; it is as bread for our soul which can give us strength. After all, this is according to the direct commandment of Christ. Confession before Communion is sometimes the only possibility for us to talk seriously to people who seldom have a chance happen to attend church, to awaken them somehow, to console them. Almost every Sunday there are three or four people at confession who have not confessed for over ten years, and we surely cannot refuse this most valuable tool of our pastor’s practice. – It is known that Orthodox churches have different traditions of a daily prayer rule. For example, Greeks have shortened the canonical services (Orthros and Compline) with affiliated prayers. What prayer rule does an average parishioner of your church have? |
| In this 2010 NASA satellite image, vast dust storms can be seen dispersing the light soils of Syria. (NASA) In addition to causing violent dust storms, high temperatures cause a lessening of rainfall. This U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration map of the Mediterranean shows the drought conditions of 2010. Except for small areas of Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon, the whole eastern Mediterranean was severely affected (shown in red). U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Even the relatively favored areas had rainfall of just 20 to 40 centimeters (8 to 15 inches)—where 20 centimeters (8 inches) is regarded as the absolute minimum to sustain agriculture—and the national average was less than 10 centimeters (4 inches). Worse, rain falls in Syria mainly in the winter months when it is less beneficial for crops. Thus, areas with less than 40 centimeters are heavily dependent upon irrigation. Ground water (aquifers) have been so heavily tapped in recent years that the water table in many areas has fallen below what a farmer can access, while the country’s main river, the Euphrates, is heavily drawn down by Turkey and Iraq. Consequently, as of the last year before the civil war, only about 13,500 square kilometers could be irrigated. Last year, according to the World Bank, agriculture supplied about 20 percent of national income (GDP) and employed about 17 percent of the population. Before the heavy fighting began, Syrian oil fields produced about 330,000 barrels per day, but Syrians consumed all but about 70,000 of that amount. Sales supplied about 20 percent of GDP and a third of export earnings. Production subsequently fell by at least 50 percent, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Syria’s oil is of poor quality, sour, and expensive to refine. Industry, (mainly energy-related) employed about a third of the adult male population and provided a similar percentage of the national income. Before the war, moves were being made to transport oil and gas from farther east across Syria to the Mediterranean; obviously, these projects have been stopped. Now there is a sort of cottage industry in crude refining of petroleum products for local use and smuggling. |
| The establishment of the pro-abortion mindset in society has almost entirely eliminated the possibility to correctly understand pregnancy crisis, the alternatives to abortion and the fact that supporting a woman in pregnancy crisis is the natural thing to do. People have practically developed indifference to women in pregnancy crisis and no legal steps have been taken to stimulate alternatives to abortion. The pro-abortion public mindset has had the following consequences in society: Under these circumstances, for lack of information and support, women are practically pushed to abort their babies, while protecting the unborn is regarded as uncivil attitude. In fact, abortion itself is uncivil attitude, lack of compassion, lack of respect, and lack of love for the woman and the child! Abortion has harmed Romania more than any war In year 2018, Romania will celebrate 100 years from its 1918 Unification. Romania’s involvement in the First World War, which ensured its Unification, meant losing 1,125,000 Romanian lives, sacrificed to make possible the Proclamation of December 1 st , 1918. But it is not into this war 3 that most Romanians have lost their lives. In fact, the most Romanians ever to have lost their lives to an unnatural cause are those who have lost their lives to abortion: in total, Romania has already seen 22,742,952 surgical abortions only in its state hospitals: The average abortion number for the first 6 months of year 2016 was 185.4 surgical abortions daily only in Romanian state hospitals. To these data one must add the following categories of abortions unaccounted for in Romanian statistics: Also, the number of illegal abortions remains unknown—both during the communist regime and after 1990. Should the above-mentioned unregistered abortion categories be taken into account, the total number of abortions would probably be double the actual statistics. In the Republic of Moldova, whose population on January 1, 2016 was of 3,553,056 inhabitants, statistics show 2,112,158 surgical abortions in state hospitals between year 1960 and January 1, 2016. These numbers place the Republic of Moldova in 10th place in the world in terms of total number of abortions compared to its actual population. Real statistics in this country should also include chemical abortions and abortions made by women of reproductive age working abroad. |
| In addition to its emergency and refugee response efforts, IOCC also supports long-term economic development projects. In Greece, where an estimated one-third of the population now lives below the poverty line, IOCC provides essential food and school supplies to 5,000 struggling Greek families and works to stimulate agricultural output in the north to create sustainable employment for 2,000 farmers. In the Western Balkans, IOCC has assisted more than 1.5 million people through refugee return and assistance, agriculture and food production, community development, education and business development programs. IOCC’s micro-credit program in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which began in 2002, has invested million into 13,000 loans for micro-businesses with an average monthly repayment rate of 99%. Mark D. Stavropoulos, IOCC’s Chairman of the Board, leads a diverse group of philanthropists and community leaders, all of whom represent IOCC’s pan-Orthodox constituencies. He commented on IOCC’s silver anniversary: “It has been my deep privilege to serve alongside my fellow Board members, IOCC’s dedicated staff across the globe, our exceptional partners in the Orthodox Church, and our partner organizations to help those in need. We take care to select projects that are able to achieve the longest possible impact amongst the highest number of beneficiaries. And though our programs are meant to provide for others, our inspiring beneficiaries provide the entire IOCC team with immeasurable love, hope, and wisdom that keeps us humble in our work.” For more information, please visit the IOCC web site . Tweet Donate Share Code for blog IOCC: Celebrating 25 years of philanthropic outreach Natalya Mihailova This year, Orthodox Christians in the United States will commemorate 25 years of global philanthropic outreach by International Orthodox Christian Charities [IOCC], the official humanitarian agency of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America. IOCC was formed in ... |
| Earlier the Orthodox Church expressed concern about people setting themselves alight, a new phenomena in this former Communist country. It also revived memories in what is now the Czech Republic where in 1969 Jan Palach set himself on fire to protest shortly afyer the Soviet invasion there. CALL AGAINST HOPELESSNESS Bulgaria’s newly-elected Patriarch Neofit appealed to the faithful however not to take their own lives “under any circumstances.” He said: “Bulgarians must not fall victim of hopelessness ” Bulgarians also try to comfort families of those who died in the recent, poverty-fuelled, suicides, including an unemployed father who told doctors in one of his final words that he could no longer by bread for his child. The most famous case was that of 36-year-old artist Plamen Goranov. He died last month after setting himself on fire in the Black Sea port of Varna while holding a poster protesting against the city’s mayor. With many now searching from answers from God, the country’s leadership and aid workers hope suicide rates will come down. Some 200 people already killed themselves this year in Bulgaria, said Dr. Vladimir Nakov of the National Health Centre. Public hospitals even provide free psychological counselling to those to desperate to continue living. SHAKING POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT The ongoing protests over low incomes and a political elite accused of maintaining a corrupt system since the collapse of communism in 1989, has shaken up the political establishment. In February, government led by Boiko Borisov was forced to resign following weeks of protest over high electricity bills, poverty and corruption. Though Borisov’s centre-right GERB party is expected to win early elections next month, it is unlikely they will command a majority and will have to try and form a coalition. People earn on average less than a month and pensions are less than half of that, while prices continue to rising as the country embraced a Western style market economy and is forced to adopt crucial reforms. |
| He also hoped that Westerners would not “forget our brothers and sisters whose faith is, quite literally, under fire; not to forget the unimaginable barbarity”. “He’s very conversant with the issues,” John Pontifex says. “We’ve been very impressed by his knowledge. He has a great deal of understanding. He’s aware of the sensitive issues between the different communions. His understanding is far greater than the average person might expect.” He adds: “In a world marked by religious illiteracy and which lacks confidence in talking about religion, here is a figure who does get it, and the role Christianity plays as a bridge-builder. He’s hastened the day when you can truly say we have woken up to the reality of the situation.” Charles is a deeply religious man. When he ascends to the throne he will be arguably England’s most theologically literate monarch since the union. While his faith is not straight-down-the-line Anglicanism, it isn’t as esoteric or wacky as the press has long made out. Born to be supreme governor of the Church of England, Charles was baptised in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace 30 days after his birth by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher. At university in Cambridge he corresponded with the Anglican Bishop of Southwark, Mervyn Stockwood, a leading liberal who spoke of “the Saviour’s oneness with nature” and encouraged clergy to wear jeans in public. Later Charles was influenced by the mysticism of his great mentor, the South African writer Laurens van der Post, who encouraged the Prince “to see the old world of the spirit”. The Prince’s formative years gave him awide-ranging interest in religions and what unites them. Cardinal Vincent Nichols has said that Prince Charles seems “thoroughly at home” in Westminster Cathedral and that “when he is abroad he happily goes to Mass, and is at peace with that”. Charles is also fascinated by Judaism and, especially, Islam. He believes that “the future surely lies in rediscovering the universal truths that dwell at the heart of [Abrahamic] religions”. |
| Could all these observations also have been made twenty years earlier, in the year 588/87 B.C.E., which according to the chronology of the Watch Tower Society’s Bible dictionary Insight on the Scriptures corresponded to Nebuchadnezzar’s thirtyseven th regnal year? 272 The same dictionary (page 456 of Vol. 1, where VAT 4956 is obviously alluded to) acknowledges that “Modern chronologers point out that such a combination of astronomical positions would not be duplicated again in thousands of years.” Let us consider one example. According to this diary, on Nisanu 1 of Nebuchadnezzar’s thirtyseventh year the planet Saturn could be observed “in front of the Swallow,” the “Swallow” (SIM) referring to the southwest part of the constellation of the Fishes (Pisces) of the Zodiac. 273 As Saturn has a revolution of c. 29.5 years, it moves through the whole Zodiac in 29.5 years. This means that it can be observed in each of the twelve constellations of the Zodiac for about 2.5 years on the average. It means also that Saturn could be seen “in front of the Swallow” 29.5 years previous to 568/67 B.C.E., that is, in 597/96 B.C.E, but certainly not 20 years earlier in 588/87 B.C.E., the date the Watch Tower would like to assign for Nebuchadnezzar’s thirtyseven th regnal year. That is simply an astronomical impossibility, even in the case of this one planet. But there are five planets that figure in the diary’s astronomical observations. Add, therefore, the drfferent revolutions of the other four planets, the positions of which are specified several times in the text, along with the positions given for the moon at various times of the year, and it becomes easily understood why such a combination of observations could not be made again in thousands of years. The observations recorded in VAT 4956 must have been made in the year 568/67 B.C.E., because they fit no other situation which occurred either thousands of years before or after that date! VAT 4956, now in the”Vorderasiatisches Abteilung” in the Berlin Museum, gives detail on about 30 positions of the moon and the five then known planets for the 37th year of Nebuchadnezzar (568/67 B.C.E.), establishing that year as the most reliable absolute date in the sixth century B.C.E. – Reproduced from A. J. Sacks & H. Hunger, Astronomical Diaries and Belated Texts from Babylonia, Vol. I (Wien: Verlag dcr osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1988), Plate 3. Photo used courtesy of the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin. |
|
|
