| “Look At How Much They Love Each Other” The Development of Church Social Life The social life of the early Christians is not like our own. Many of us travel some distance to get to Church. And already Church on Sunday takes up much of the day. But there are ways to develop a Church-based social life today, a social life so fundamental to effective and efficient Christian education programs in our Orthodox parishes. It can be done but first it must be willed and planned to happen. Our North American lifestyle is too complicated to let it happen " by accident. " Source: The Orthodox Church in America Youth When the Church was very young, when the death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus was fresh in the memory of His friends, and when the classical world was at the zenith of its power and influence, how was it possible for unlettered, unschooled, poor urban workers and their families to “turn the world upside down” as it is described in the Acts of the Apostles? An early Christian writer named Tertullian quoted a pagan official say about the Christians: “look at how much they love each other!” Love is the wisdom and power of God. Love was the power of early Christian witness to the Resurrected Christ. Love was the fire of the martyrs. Jesus said: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus, as he was going to his voluntary and life-giving sacrifice on the Cross, gathered his disciples together a last time, told them not to weep and lament that he would leave them, and then he “called” them friends. And St. John, the beloved friend of Jesus, poignantly shares with us Our Lord’s feelings at leaving his friends: “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” As I read my Bible I am struck by the fervor of friendship, fellowship, and love that the Christians had for each other. It jumps out at us in every letter of St. Paul. He goes to great pains to remember to greet everyone he meets in the Lord, to exhort his friends to “greet each other with a holy kiss,” to pass on news from one church to the next. He says to the Corinthians: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” Does this statement sound familiar? At the Liturgy the priest says these same words to his parish as they are gathered into a divine community to commune with all the saints and to join together at the Eucharistic cup to become one body, the Church. In the Book of Acts we read: “And day by day, attending the Temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” There is no secret! People wanted to love and be loved the way the Christians loved and were loved. |
| Soon after the Rastorguevs business recovered and things improved. From this time onwards news of Michael " s clairvoyance begin to spread through the region. People of all backgrounds and social standing came, some for advice and instruction, others for comfort and help in their misfortunes. Everywhere he was known as blessed Mishenka, which everyone who knew him called him till his repose. He did not receive everyone the same way. Some he received with a kind of childlike joy, which manifested itself long before the person " s arrival. Those who visited him he instructed to read spiritual books, canons, akathists and to sing Church hymns, which he later learned and sang in seclusion. Among these hymns he especially liked to sing the irmosi of Holy Pascha. Sometimes he manifested special gifts. For example the story of G: " I loved to frequently converse with the sick one and once heard him foretell the death of my wife. I was extremely saddened by this news and began even more often to visit Mishenka, who in between talks would make me read and sing. Once during a reading he began to give me a directive, which seemed to be impossible to fulfill. " What are you thinking about? " he asked. Before I could answer he told me to hand him the New Testament in Russian, which I brought with me. He turned a few pages of the Holy Writ and pointed with his finger at one text, ordering me to read it. The text indicated concerned my thoughts and resolved what was upsetting me. Keep in mind that the ailing Michael could not read or write and never went to school. " Here is yet another incident. One peasant from the village of Panov (in the Arzamarzk district) who was a contractor for the construction of stone buildings suddenly lost his mind. His relatives attributed his misfortune to the curses of jealous associates. As is the custom among simple folk they unfortunately turned to witch doctors and fortune tellers and received no relief from them. The old man, the father of the sick person, was at a loss. Once while in his sorrowful state he saw a monk in a dream who ordered him to take his sick son to the Vyezdnaia Sloboda, to the boy Michael. He immediately fulfilled this command. When the sick man was brought to suffering Michael he right away strictly reprimanded his father and relatives for turning to sorcerers and quacks. By doing that he told them they had only brought more harm to the sick man and spiritually ruined themselves. He then gave them Holy Theophany water, which he ordered them to give the sick man for six weeks and to daily commemorate the sufferer during that time in nine churches at Liturgy. They fulfilled all of this exactly and at the end of this period the sick peasant was cured and came to thank suffering Michael for the good advice. |
| Parish Last Updated: Feb 8th, 2011 - 05:50:02 " Look At How Much They Love Each Other " The Development of Church Social Life By Rick A. Michaels Jul 20, 2009, 10:00 Discuss this article Printer friendly page Source: The Orthodox Church in America Youth When the Church was very young, when the death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus was fresh in the memory of His friends, and when the classical world was at the zenith of its power and influence, how was it possible for unlettered, unschooled, poor urban workers and their families to " turn the world upside down " as it is described in the Acts of the Apostles? An early Christian writer named Tertullian quoted a pagan official say about the Christians: " look at how much they love each other! " Love is the wisdom and power of God. Love was the power of early Christian witness to the Resurrected Christ. Love was the fire of the martyrs. Jesus said: " By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. " Jesus, as he was going to his voluntary and life-giving sacrifice on the Cross, gathered his disciples together a last time, told them not to weep and lament that he would leave them, and then he " called " them friends. And St. John, the beloved friend of Jesus, poignantly shares with us Our Lord " s feelings at leaving his friends: " having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. " Photo: Orthodox Christian Youth UK, http://orthodox.youth.uk.googlepages.com/home As I read my Bible I am struck by the fervor of friendship, fellowship, and love that the Christians had for each other. It jumps out at us in every letter of St. Paul. He goes to great pains to remember to greet everyone he meets in the Lord, to exhort his friends to " greet each other with a holy kiss, " to pass on news from one church to the next. He says to the Corinthians: " The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. " Does this statement sound familiar? At the Liturgy the priest says these same words to his parish as they are gathered into a divine community to commune with all the saints and to join together at the Eucharistic cup to become one body, the Church. In the Book of Acts we read: " And day by day, attending the Temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. " There is no secret! People wanted to love and be loved the way the Christians loved and were loved. |
| About Pages Проекты «Правмира» Raising Orthodox Children to Orthodox Adulthood The Daily Website on How to be an Orthodox Christian Today Twitter Telegram Parler RSS Donate Are You a True Christian? Navigation Ten Important Things To Do While On Vacation It is important that our vacation time serve as a path to Christ, so that the time given us would not fly by unnoticed; it should be spent well and with spiritual benefit. Archpriest Alexander Iliashenko 27 May 2012 It is important that our vacation time serve as a path to Christ, so that the time given us would not fly by unnoticed; it should be spent well and with spiritual benefit. An Elder of exalted spiritual life was asked: “How did you spend your time away?” He replied: “Prayerfully.” I think the following recommendations can be offered: 1. Make every effort to improve your health: try to get enough sleep; go for walks in the fresh air as often as you can; put your daily regime in order. Having a bad time off and not restoring your strength can lead to difficulty in doing your work with proper concentration over the course of the year. 2. Expand your prayer rule by adding something that you do not normally have time to read: prayers, psalms, or a chapter from the Gospels. Or read your usual rule with greater attention and concentration. 3. Read at least one book about the faith: something by one of the Holy Fathers (for instance, St. John Chrysostom) or by a contemporary theologian. 4. Try to visit a monastery and venerate its sacred objects. Do not allow yourself to miss the Sunday Liturgy, justifying yourself by saying you are on vacation. 5. An information break is also essential. Put aside a few days of your vacation time that will be entirely free from the Internet, social networks, and frequent text messaging. Reduce the amount of time you spend reading the news or watching television. Hold out for as long as possible! 6. Communicate on a serious and deep level with members of your family – wife, husband, parents – without hurrying and without being distracted every five minutes by the telephone. Talk about life, joys, problems, and plans; rejoice in one another’s company. |
| • Turn off the television, radio, and stereo for the entire lenten season, except for news and serious or educational programs. • Do not visit or engage in outside activities for their own sake. Keep useless talking to a minimum. Do only necessary business, good works, and acts of charity. • Examine and measure every aspect of your life—family, work, society, politics, economics, values, and desires—against the model set forth by the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. • Question yourself in regard to love, truth, honest, purity, humility, peace, forgiveness, justice, mercy, hungering, and thirsting for God, wisdom, and knowledge. • In the name of Jesus Christ, forgive all who have offended you and seek forgiveness from those whom you have offended. If it will not be embarrassing or misinterpreted as an act of self-righteousness, express yourself as concretely as possible. Visit, make a phone call, and so forth. • Set aside and give a sizeable portion of your resources to others; the parish, the poor, a social or educational agency. Tell no one what you have done. Ask no gratitude and forgo requesting a receipt. Do not advertise what you are doing. • Fast strictly at all times. Eat no meat, as the basic minimum. Suit your fast to your work, but avoid luxury. Again, tell no one. Do not advertise or discuss your fasting with anyone and avoid judging others who may not be fasting with you. • Pray at home at least at one fixed time each day. Choose a brief rule of prayer, but keep it faithfully. • Read the scriptures in the same brief, yet regular way. You may wish to follow the Church’s calendar, read a chapter of a given book on a daily basis, or simply read and reflect upon passages which you happen upon. In addition, meditate upon these: 1 John; Romans 12-14; Matthew 5 – 7, and John 14-17. • Be faithful to Christ’s gospel in every word, action, and thought—even the smallest or most insignificant. • Participate in all of the weekly lenten services, especially the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, Saturday evening Great Vespers, and the Sunday Divine Liturgy, confessing seriously and receiving Holy Communion frequently. |
| Have We Joined Satan’s Side? A civil war has begun and it is not connected with any side’s political power, but with our inner rupture with Christ. In reality, war does not begin when people start shooting at one another. It begins when certain convictions, upsurges in awareness, or news darken people’s reason and they stop seeing what is most important in those near them. They stop understanding that within the person near them – or not near them but, relatively speaking, “on the other side of the barricade” – there is much more to love than to hate. Something terrible is happening to us now, when we stop seeing in our neighbor that which is most important, profound, and authentic. As a result, Satan is running the show. We are only giving occasions for the demons to rejoice, for their revelry, when, during our Pascha, we say “Christ is Risen!” to someone, but at the same time write terrible things about others on Facebook and rejoice that someone has “knocked off” someone else, and so forth. Hell is triumphant. While His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill, appeals to all for peace , for not allowing violence, for not allowing arms to be taken up; while priests and hierarchs, such as Metropolitan Onuphrius, plead for people not to behave like madmen , to stop the spilling of blood, we kindle bloodshed within ourselves. It turns out that we want bloodshed. We do not have a desire simply to stop, to cease splashing one another with a sulfuric acid of words, emotions, and indignation. We have no desire to understand that, in this situation – when people hate one another – there can be no right side. There will never be victors in this fight among us, within our family, or on Facebook. We are not divided according to the principle of “good” or “bad,” but according to the principle of Satan to “divide and control, and mock Christians who hate one another.” It is painful for me to hear and experience all this. I, of course, read the news on the Internet and social networks, but force myself not to read the commentary. I follow the happenings, but try all the while, after reading information about some tragedy or misfortune, to turn my heart to God, understanding that the world lies in evil. We Christians must stop ourselves, change, and cease defaming and labeling one another. We must turn to prayer, including for our enemies (that is, those whom we consider to be our enemies). Otherwise, we will completely forget about Christ, about love, about forgiveness, and even about the reason that the Lord gave us. |
| A few days ago, after hearing a very distressing bit of social news, I found myself saying, “I don’t want to be here anymore.” It was a voice of despair and sadness. The occasion had been a public altercation in which a stranger spat at a woman. It was the sort of thing that belongs among the lowest of human actions. But it happened. My topic is my own reaction. I found my mind tossed about, looking for comfort or escape. At the end of the day, I shared my thoughts with my wife and said aloud, “I don’t want to be here anymore.” I was taken aback by my own words. The goodness of creation had disappeared in a dark act of senseless anger. My distress was also a cry for something better, to be free of the darkness. The truth is that the darkness was slowly drawing me down. Our social strain is manifesting itself in many ways, many of them revealing the profound disease that underlies our culture. And this is nothing new. In 532 A.D., in Constantinople, over the course of a week, large parts of the city were destroyed by rioting and fires (including an earlier Church of Hagia Sophia). This was in the early years of Justinian the Great’s reign. To read the story of this event is to enter a part of Byzantine culture often overlooked or ignored (particularly by the Orthodox). The city had deep divisions between two semi-political sports-factions, the Blues and the Greens. Sports riots were quite common. The factions also had connections to various nobles and senators with designs on the empire. Justinian was at a low point in popularity. The riots began in the Hippodrome, following the 22 nd chariot race of the day. The palace was placed under siege, and the rioters set fires. Justinian thought to flee, but his wife, Theodora, talked him out of it and encouraged him to fight it out. I think Justinian was at a point of, “I don’t want to be here anymore.” With a bit of intrigue and a massive show of brute force, Justinian brought the city under control. The massacre that ended the riots is said to have resulted in over 30,000 deaths. Later that same year, construction began on the present Church of Hagia Sophia. Five years later, with its completion, as well as numerous other projects, Justinian had transformed the city towards the glory that would make it renowned throughout the world. |
| – Without strict restrictive measures, it will not work to close people at home. And when deciding on these measures, it is important to take into account the balance of benefits and harms. In this case, there are health benefits, but also harm to social tension. Imagine that now the authorities have introduced the same strict measures as last time. Last time, we were ready to endure restrictions to contain the epidemic, but this did not happen. Now we are in a completely different emotional state, and there will be many times more resistance to restrictive measures. Focus on Small Things and Do Not Read the News – What advice would you give to people who are now thinking: “Well, that’s it, if I have to stay locked up for another three months, I will definitely go crazy.” – It is important to support yourself in the long term. Covid is really scary. This is some kind of incomprehensible invisible thing, and the most terrible and destructive for the psyche is to fight an invisible enemy. If we really hate, then it is important for us to hate someone specific. The virus is invisible, intangible, we can only trust the doctors or the authorities who say that if you do certain procedures, you will not face this enemy. But the practice of the current year showed that we still met with him, maybe not personally each of us, but nevertheless we did. This is truly very disturbing, destructive and exhausting for the psyche: to sit and be afraid of an invisible enemy, who either comes or does not come. A vaccine appears in some form, but how effective it is is not yet clear. There is basically nothing you can do to defend yourself. Advice like “you should stay at home, wash your hands more often and wear a mask” is no longer comforting. Therefore, you need to support yourself. Focus on the little things we can do not to protect ourselves from the virus, but to support ourselves in these uncertain conditions. This is the work on increasing stress resistance, which, in principle, needs to be carried out, regardless of the pandemic: to establish social ties, maintain them, monitor somatic and mental health. To sleep, eat, walk as long as possible, maintain physical activity. That is, to do everything in our power so that our body, and therefore our spirit, were in a prosperous state. |
| However, the first point (about being calm) already makes everything inside me boil, and the second one (about never getting tired) makes me want to break something heavy. What am I? A robot?! I have feelings! I have the right to get tired! I am very much alive, actually! That is what it is all about: about the talent to be both a normal person and a perfect mom. My children will never have a perfect mom, until I, as a person, take care of myself as a perfect parent. I understand that the equation is complex, but it has a solution. I know it. Though, I solved it not so long ago. My older children (they are 18 and 21 now) were less fortunate than my younger son (he is 11). There is more good news: even if you solve your complicated equation with three unknown variables (a perfect mom, a person, and a perfect inner parent) long after your children are born, they (your children) will still be fine. This good news is formed not from my own experience, but from a hundred of client stories, in which women and men have learned to solve similar problems. The mother screams because of exhaustion, but the child is not at fault The next time you find yourself exhausted, drinking water, after grandly yelling at your child, do not get overcome with guilt right away: “I am a terrible mother/I am a worthless father”, and having calmed down, turn back the time: what was happening an hour, a half a day, or a day before the incident? Yet, remember all the events of your life, not just your relationship with your child. By doing this, you will realize that the statement “it was the child who drove me mad” is completely baseless. For example, I am totally exhausted (I will not even list all the things that I manage to do and have to do in a day), my physical state is awful, my husband is not at home (he is always on business trips), my seminar sales are unsuccessful, while social networking I read a comment that had me unsettled, my apartment smells because of my neighbor who smokes on the balcony in our stairwell… |
| I read a comment by a Russian journalist from Syria. She wrote that the best part of Syrian society – people who can work – is now going to Europe. According to her, the Syrians have always been craftsmen, hardworking, and have never been idlers. What is your impression: is that really the case? I would like to agree with her because, so far as I can judge by looking at our refugees, many of them are already fully integrated into society. Not the current influx, today, but those who arrived in Germany earlier. They have adapted better than many of our Russians, who have been living here for twenty years. Of course, today’s refugees will find employment quickly: the government, taking into consideration their knowledge of German, will give them work. Are refugees headed to Germany because of the good benefits? Yes, because of the benefits. Many people are trying to get into Scandinavia, because there are higher wages and more benefits there. I was recently in Malmö, which is a Swedish border town, and there is a large number of Syrians working there everywhere, both in restaurants and at cafes. They speak both English and Swedish fluently. That is, they are seeking to integrate, and not to live in separate closed groups? Yes, they successfully integrate into society. They learn the language, want to learn, and want to work. I repeat that, unfortunately, many Russians have lived in Germany for twenty or twenty-five years, simply receiving social benefits, without even knowing the language. When one looks at photos from the news agencies and at news reports on television, one sees many pictures which leave a sinking feeling: a Syrian refugee walking with a little girl on a railroad track, or people sitting on the floor at railroad stations and platforms. What is actually happening? A picture, as you yourself understand, is the choice of the press. I personally have not seen this. I have been traveling through Europe for five days already and have not seen anything of the kind. Yes, there are traffic jams and closed borders. But I have not seen such chaos or pitiful scenes. In Hungary everything is calm, and in Romania it is calm. There is absolutely no panic: we talk with people and local priests, and there are no negative conversations about these issues. |
|
|
