Disconnected Jottings has come to the end of it's useful life. It was the story of my journey from Atheism to Orthodoxy. I don't plan on posting to it again, but I don't plan on deleting the articles either.
However, I am about to start a new web log to help me get my head round the new ideas I discover as I go deeper in orthodoxy. It's called Epektasis.
Wednesday 2 June 2010
Wednesday 19 May 2010
Holy Orthodoxy
This will be just a short post to bring things up to date.
As you will know, if you have followed this blog from it's beginnings in October 2009, I have been moving gradually to Holy Orthodoxy. Well, in January during Theophany, I asked Fr John to prepare me for formal acceptance into the Orthodox communion. Since then I have been attending Divine Liturgy every Sunday and, during Great Lent, one or two services of Matins or Vespers during the week.
I was formally accepted as a catechumen on Sunday 7th February, incidentally the feast of my patron saint Richard of Wessex (+722), and my 60th birthday.
The plan was to be chrismated at the Paschal Liturgy, but in the end I had last minute concerns during the intensity of Holy Week, and I was actually chrismated on The Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, May 2nd 2010.
So now I can truly say that I have arrived at the beginning....
Love in Christ,
Richard.
As you will know, if you have followed this blog from it's beginnings in October 2009, I have been moving gradually to Holy Orthodoxy. Well, in January during Theophany, I asked Fr John to prepare me for formal acceptance into the Orthodox communion. Since then I have been attending Divine Liturgy every Sunday and, during Great Lent, one or two services of Matins or Vespers during the week.
I was formally accepted as a catechumen on Sunday 7th February, incidentally the feast of my patron saint Richard of Wessex (+722), and my 60th birthday.
The plan was to be chrismated at the Paschal Liturgy, but in the end I had last minute concerns during the intensity of Holy Week, and I was actually chrismated on The Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, May 2nd 2010.
So now I can truly say that I have arrived at the beginning....
Love in Christ,
Richard.
Saturday 20 March 2010
Wisdom, Faith, and Repentance
I was lying in bed, half in prayer and half asleep, when it came to me that there are a number of linked ideas that have worried me for ages. So I wrote this to get them off my chest a couple of days ago.
Knowledge, as an example, is only of any benefit if it is used for good. Knowledge about God, is pure hell if it is not accompanied by knowledge of God - this is exactly where Lucifer is right now. And confession of one's sins is only of benefit, only works it's healing grace, if accompanied by true repentance and a firm resolve not to repeat the offence.
And in the case of addictive, possibly just habitual, sins there is a great problem. We confess, and indeed repent, after each offence, but we know that there is no chance of avoiding recidivism without external help. We can resolve away, but we are incapable of breaking the cycle of sin. It's all very well for the Fathers, like Abba Sisoes, to say when you fall again, stand up and start again "Until you have been seized either by virtue or by sin.", but from here it looks like a pattern that will be repeated forever, and that offers no hope - indeed we are already seized by sin. And hope is essential - without hope there is no faith.
So now, how do we approach confession of such sins? Can we truly stand before Christ the Judge and say that we repent, knowing that we will probably repeat the offence later that very day? And here it seems to me that we should find the greatest benefit of Sacramental Confession: even though Christ, to whom we confess, never sinned, the priest who stands beside us did, and does, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, his advice and guidance are, perhaps, just that is needed to break the cycle.
No, we probably can't say with honesty that we have confessed every sin of which we are aware, we certainly can't say with honesty that we will not sin again, but we can confess what we can, and receive forgiveness, and maybe more important: inspired advice from our spiritual father. This will be the external help that we need to break the cycle. Perhaps not this time round, but one day soon. And there is the Hope, and Faith.
OK, that's the theory. But if one (just one of many) of your big sins is all about how you perceive other people see you, then there is a great hurdle to cross even to get to Sacramental Confession. Here is this man, your father, who you respect more than anyone living, and you are going to tell him about these dirty filthy things you do habitually. For sure his opinion of you is going to be changed forever, isn't it? How can you do this to yourself? Because, and here's the rub: the self will not let you do this to it. The sin of pride. You can even write about it (sinfully, in the hope that the reader will think you humble) - but actually do it? No? Well we'll see, because that is the next step for me.
I begin to perceive, dimly, what God meant when he told Saint Silouan the Athonite to "keep his mind in hell, and not despair."
Knowledge, as an example, is only of any benefit if it is used for good. Knowledge about God, is pure hell if it is not accompanied by knowledge of God - this is exactly where Lucifer is right now. And confession of one's sins is only of benefit, only works it's healing grace, if accompanied by true repentance and a firm resolve not to repeat the offence.
And in the case of addictive, possibly just habitual, sins there is a great problem. We confess, and indeed repent, after each offence, but we know that there is no chance of avoiding recidivism without external help. We can resolve away, but we are incapable of breaking the cycle of sin. It's all very well for the Fathers, like Abba Sisoes, to say when you fall again, stand up and start again "Until you have been seized either by virtue or by sin.", but from here it looks like a pattern that will be repeated forever, and that offers no hope - indeed we are already seized by sin. And hope is essential - without hope there is no faith.
So now, how do we approach confession of such sins? Can we truly stand before Christ the Judge and say that we repent, knowing that we will probably repeat the offence later that very day? And here it seems to me that we should find the greatest benefit of Sacramental Confession: even though Christ, to whom we confess, never sinned, the priest who stands beside us did, and does, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, his advice and guidance are, perhaps, just that is needed to break the cycle.
No, we probably can't say with honesty that we have confessed every sin of which we are aware, we certainly can't say with honesty that we will not sin again, but we can confess what we can, and receive forgiveness, and maybe more important: inspired advice from our spiritual father. This will be the external help that we need to break the cycle. Perhaps not this time round, but one day soon. And there is the Hope, and Faith.
OK, that's the theory. But if one (just one of many) of your big sins is all about how you perceive other people see you, then there is a great hurdle to cross even to get to Sacramental Confession. Here is this man, your father, who you respect more than anyone living, and you are going to tell him about these dirty filthy things you do habitually. For sure his opinion of you is going to be changed forever, isn't it? How can you do this to yourself? Because, and here's the rub: the self will not let you do this to it. The sin of pride. You can even write about it (sinfully, in the hope that the reader will think you humble) - but actually do it? No? Well we'll see, because that is the next step for me.
O Lord, break my spirit, so that I can be saved.
I begin to perceive, dimly, what God meant when he told Saint Silouan the Athonite to "keep his mind in hell, and not despair."
Tuesday 16 February 2010
The Great Fast
Well here we are again, back in the Great Fast of Lent. I wanted to share three things with you:
Firstly, for my Lenten studies this year I decided to revisit some of the writings of the early Fathers. I have told you before how moving I find them. I was pointed by a friend to a Lent reading list on the Internet which gives a reading for each day, and I'm trying to follow this pattern.
On Shrove Tuesday, which for the Orthodox is actually the second day of Great Lent, it having started with the Vespers of Forgiveness Sunday, I came immediately on this little phrase from the letter to Diognetus (Chapter 6):
It reminds me of Jill Edward's excellent article in the February 2010 Binsey Beacon, where she calls on us to pray for our nation, to make intercession, to meet with God on behalf of the world.
Now the letter is generally dated about 130AD, so it is not completely impossible that the author was taught by one of the Apostles, most probably St Paul, as the language is generally Pauline.
So during Lent of all times, let us prepare ourselves to celebrate the Passion, and most particularly the Resurrection, of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, by doing what we were made to do. In this then we will be in His image.
Secondly, one of the customs of Forgiveness Sunday is to ask forgiveness of everyone, just in case something you have done as caused offence. So I ask your forgiveness, and say in all sincerity to you, that should you have cause me offence, I forgive you too. At Vespers we do this by each kneeling before the other, and saying 'Forgive me', then rising to kiss the other on the cheeks. Consider yourself prostrated to, and kissed.
And finally, during Lent the Orthodox add the Prayer of St Ephrem the Syrian to our daily office, it's worth sharing:
Love in Christ, Richard.
Firstly, for my Lenten studies this year I decided to revisit some of the writings of the early Fathers. I have told you before how moving I find them. I was pointed by a friend to a Lent reading list on the Internet which gives a reading for each day, and I'm trying to follow this pattern.
On Shrove Tuesday, which for the Orthodox is actually the second day of Great Lent, it having started with the Vespers of Forgiveness Sunday, I came immediately on this little phrase from the letter to Diognetus (Chapter 6):
"To sum up all in one word: what the soul is to the body, that are Christians to the world."
Isn't that a wonderful thought?It reminds me of Jill Edward's excellent article in the February 2010 Binsey Beacon, where she calls on us to pray for our nation, to make intercession, to meet with God on behalf of the world.
Now the letter is generally dated about 130AD, so it is not completely impossible that the author was taught by one of the Apostles, most probably St Paul, as the language is generally Pauline.
So during Lent of all times, let us prepare ourselves to celebrate the Passion, and most particularly the Resurrection, of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, by doing what we were made to do. In this then we will be in His image.
Secondly, one of the customs of Forgiveness Sunday is to ask forgiveness of everyone, just in case something you have done as caused offence. So I ask your forgiveness, and say in all sincerity to you, that should you have cause me offence, I forgive you too. At Vespers we do this by each kneeling before the other, and saying 'Forgive me', then rising to kiss the other on the cheeks. Consider yourself prostrated to, and kissed.
And finally, during Lent the Orthodox add the Prayer of St Ephrem the Syrian to our daily office, it's worth sharing:
Lord and Master of my life, give me not a spirit of sloth, faint-heartedness, lust for power and idle talk, but give me rather a spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love. O Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults and not to judge my brother or sister: for blessed art thou to the ages of ages. Amen.
Love in Christ, Richard.
Sunday 17 January 2010
Public Prayer
Previously I've posted concerning private prayer and a person's life of unceasing prayer in and around their normal life of work and family. In this post I want to look at the prayer of The Church, the public prayer of The Christians together.
The central pivot of the Church's prayer is called the Divine Liturgy, or Holy Mass, or Holy Communion. The word Liturgy, which is the word used by the Orthodox, comes from an ancient (pre-Christian) Greek concept leitourgia, which meant that the rich would take on some extra duties which the poor could not afford to do. This is exactly what we are doing in the Holy Communion, we are making an offering on behalf of the whole world, and receiving from God, both ourselves personally, but also our community and the rest of creation, the Holy Gift, Jesus.
The other word we hear is the Greek noun eucharistía which literally means “Good Favour”. The Greek word Eucharistéō is the usual verb "to thank". The word “Mass”, by the way, comes from the final prayer of the Latin rite: Missa est, it was just a dismissal, but has been given an implication of “mission”, an icon of the missionary nature of the Church.
We appear to offer bread and wine, together with ourselves and our service, in return God comes to us himself and makes us anew. We are empowered, indeed commanded, to make this offering as we are the Royal Priesthood; commanded by none other than Christ Jesus himself. How Jesus comes to us as the Gift of God is a mystery, and this is why we call this a 'sacrament' - a Latin translation of the Greek Mysterion.
I call Holy Communion, the pivot because all other public prayer surrounds it and depends on it. In the early days of the church, the people of God lived in close communities and met for a common meal every day where the Holy Offering could be made (bread and wine offered), and the Gift received in fellowship. As Christianity spread wider into the community the custom of meeting for the Offering became a weekly event on the Lord's Day. This pattern is still maintained in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic communions, and this is also mostly true in the protestant churches of the classical reformation (for instance, the Lutherans, and Church of England), sadly it has died out in many modern reformed groups.
Our other public prayers are derived from the monastic tradition of praying every hour. Clearly nothing much would get done in the world if like monks and nuns, everyone stopped to pray for 15 minutes every hour, and even in monasteries the Hours are run together. But in truth these formal prayers are part and parcel of the Holy Liturgy – they are the Holy Liturgy in the daily and hourly life of The Church. Not everyone can be at every service, but by joining the public prayer in some way, we are joining ourselves to the offering of the Church.
There are then certainly two parts, equally important, to prayer: our own personal dialogue with God; and the great work of the Church as we make the Holy Offering together. Because we have Christ, we are the rich ones, and so we can afford to offer the leitourgia: in truth then we offer Him, the one and only worthy offering. And in return the whole world, the whole of creation, receives the Holy Gifts - not received because we are worthy, but because God loves us. Remember He loves everyone: those who know Him and love Him; those who once knew Him, but seem now to have forgotten Him; those who never knew Him; even those who know of Him but hate Him.
Love to you all,
Richard.
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