Goodbye and Thank You

My dear friends, I finally got around to giving this blog some closure.  It has been on my heart to do so for so much time but I was unable to do so.

I was married on June 24 and the realities of married life made it impossible to sustain the posting of the daily Lives of the Saints whom I dearly love.

This blog has been a labor of love for me all these years.  It became something other than what it began as.  At its inception this blog shared Orthodox news from around the world as well as the daily Saint's life.  I also used the blog to air out some of my thinking at the beginning on various subjects but especially dear to me was the relevance of the Orthodox Faith to me, to us, to Modern Man whether he, modern man, knew that Orthodoxy is what he needed.  I also began to see that the Faith, which to me was so crystal clear and precious was not held by everyone in the same way.  I became involved in this "debate" but usually at a distance living vicariously through bloggers of a bygone era when more people blogged rather than facebooked.

One of the reasons I began to only post the Saint of the Day was that I did not have the time to post original essays.  Owning and operating a small restaurant proved to leave very little leisure time for such projects.  Another reason I ceased from such essays was that I realized I was not as smart as I thought I was.  The established lines of demarcation would not move through sheer force of reason or goodwill and I realized the issues at stake were spiritual in nature and not rational primarily.  For this reason I began to "hide" behind the Saints. 

I will leave this blog up and continue to maintain it as it was a true labor of love that has many I think useful articles and notes and other such things.  As well it proves useful for me to check up on other blogs in the sidebar I still follow and at times I run across another site that I add to the sidebar.  I may one day resume posting on this site but who knows?  God knows.

Thank you to all who ever visited and thank you to all who have come before me and who inspired me to begin this blog.

Best,

Sophocles

"Main Posts" after Saint or Feast of the Day

Please be sure to scroll down past the Saint or Feast of the day.

After the Saint or Feast of the day I post my "Main Posts". These may be anything including original articles, book reviews, adding new blogs to my web page and just about anything new I may wish the reader to read.

Please note I do not always have "Main Posts" posted.

I tend to leave "Main Posts" up for several days.

Sophocles

"An Entire Body" film using Kyklos Greek Cafe(my little shop) for filming tomorrow November 16, 2010

Kyklos Greek Cafe is very pleased to participate in the making of the film, An Entire Body.  The crew for the film will be out on Tuesday November 16 sometime before lunch time, using Kyklos Greek Cafe for one of their scenes.


The people I have spoken with have been very kind and I look forward to Tuesday! I also look forward to seeing the film, not only because of Kyklos' invlolvement, but also I find the the storyline compelling. It promises to be a drama which is well written and the characters are well defined. I like movies like that and think that oftentimes, in many modern movies, characters do not tend to "grab me". So this is welcome indeed in a film.

Click on the link to read the synopsis as well as to see who the actors are and if you are in the neighborhood, stop on by to see the filming(and eat as well!).

Something a little different-Ever wonder how they did the music for The Good, the Bad & the Ugly?

I got this from a friend on e-mail.  Since I was a kid, thanks to my dad, I have always loved "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", along with the other two in the same genre, "A Fistful of Dollars" and "For a Few Dollars More".

The musical scores for these films have cemented their impact on me for life, it would seem.

Enjoy.

My secrets I give to Thee, o God

 image from here

The goal of the living of the Orthodox ascetical spiritual life is the revealing of the secrets I keep from myself,  knowingly or unknowingly, which hinder me from my prize:  union with Christ.  In other words, my secrets are those things I place above Christ, holding onto them rather than obtaining Him.

For example, lust, that which primarily ties Man to the Fallen Creation(1 John 2:15-17), has roots so deep in me that I often seek ways to place myself in situations where I can justify a "fall" into sin.

Christ came to reveal and undo the works of the Devil.  I, in union with Him, cooperating freely through my will, have as my goal if I follow Christ to choose to want to have revealed to me those "secret workings" within myself and once revealed to put my back to the task of eliminating them, by God's grace.

Their power is undone when I freely offer them to God, no longer tied to them.  However, as the passion(s) have taken a long time to take root and entrench themselves, they seem to be rarely, if ever, removed only offering them up once and for all.  Usually, a prolonged struggle over a long course of our lives is involved to lessen their(the passions) power and to work towards their complete removal through perfect union with Christ, the God Man.

This, it must be said, is not impossible.  The lives of many Saints show this possibility to us and it must be remembered that the Saints are like us and not initially "set apart" for the task of becoming divinized.  They chose to have themselves joined to Christ and their example is for us as well.

Hell: Refuge from the love of God

image from here.

Those who know me well are privy to a part of my life which was very bleak.

I often have described to such persons the necessity I felt to always flee from the presence of love directed towards me.  I could not be in the presence of such love, uncomfortable and scrutinizing as I would feel it.  The shell I was could easily be peered into and I felt this nakedness and avoided at all costs any such experiences if at all possible.

click on images to enlarge

I am currently reading An Orthodox Survival Guide for the 21st Century, by Victor Mihailoff. I just came across this section and thought it well worth publishing.  Bearing in mind that "God is love"(1 John 4:8), I leave the reader with the following excerpt from Chapter 17: God's Relationship with Us:

God allows us to be frightened by descriptions of hell and lets us believe that He is wrathful to the point of administering eternal punishment upon us through condemning us to hell. Hell was created as the place for fallen angels and because some people choose to follow the demons, they too spend eternity with their leaders, the demons, in hell. God does not send them there; they flee from Him and hide there from His light. The fallen-angels and some people who chose and choose to be separate from God are greatly tortured in the presence of His divine light. God's supreme purity burns sin and corruption. Those angels who fell (demons) and people who choose to remain in the state of "fallen nature" all the way up to their physical death are full of impurity. That impurity is part of what they are. God did not create them this way but they freely chose to be such because they prefer to follow their own blind-will instead of blindly (at first), following God's perfect-Will. This impurity which they chose to make part of themselves burns in the presence of God's light. To be with God in heaven, we must become pure because impurity cannot share a place with God's purity. Just as oil and water cannot form an homogeneous mixture, so too, unrepentant sinners and demons cannot live with the Holy Spirit in and around them to the extent that they combine. Their attachment to impurity gives them pain when in God's presence. God mercifully prepared a place of darkness to give them "shade" from His light. They still feel the burning of His love but not so intensely as they would in His presence. This is unavoidable because it is God's love which mercifully maintains their dark retreat without which they would suffer even more. They could not bear to spend even the shortest time in heaven. For them, that is infinitely worse than hell. To be in heaven we need to detach ourselves from impurity. If we become righteous through our own voluntary efforts (free will), even without achieving sainthood in life, we can be freed at death from the remnants of impurity through the grace of God after "purchasing" this grace, so to speak, through works of faith. God's light also burns the lesser impurities of His loyal servants and friends, but they willingly submit themselves to Him for this purpose because they know that after their sins are burned away they will never suffer again. They will be in a state of eternal joy in the presence of their loving Creator!

We then finally come to understand that God is truly merciful and offers His mercy and help to all of us. Some of us learn to humbly accept His offer and the rest do not. We should pray for them.

It is God Whom we will love most in heaven. How great it would be for us to get a head-start while here on earth.

Blooming in the Desert – Episode 10-Orthodoxy & Ecology

Listen to the podcast.
(you will be downloading the file here which may take a little time)

or,

The link to this particular post
(and you can scroll down the sidebar on the left under "Podcasts" and listen there.  Much quicker.

Blooming in the Desert Homepage.

Father George Elliot, who has been the Associate Priest to St. Paul's parish, where I attend, joined us for this episode to speak on a subject dear to his heart, Ecology.

We had a varied and lively conversation in which many subjects were broached, including St. Symeon the New Theologian, Ecology, Theosis, The Fall of Man, the Creation and many others.

This is from Blooming in the Desert on this particular show:

Orthodoxy and Ecology

As the humanistic movement continues to grow in our dying world and putting man at the center of the universe, independent from God, it is our attitude which is responsible for the rape of the natural world. It is our exploitation of Creation.

In the Lives of the Saints, we see that all Creation is only possible through God. The Saints, in their writings and teachings, are aware of their position in Creation and have a compassion and love for all Creation. They teach us that men and women who recognize the dominion of God, can have the same love for His Creation.

On this episode of Blooming in the Desert, we are blessed to have Fr. George Elliot, associate Priest of St. Paul’s Orthodox Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, to discuss Orthodox Christian Ecology and help us all understand how our treatment of the world and Creation effects each and every one of us. Please note this episode is longer then most of our episodes and if you have trouble listening to the entire thing, please email us and we will split it up for you.

The point of Blooming in the Desert is summed up thus:

Blooming in the Desert is a new and unique Podcast & Blog, that does not just explore the Orthodox Church, Her Faith, and a journey to be closer to God through love and prayer, but creates an open atmosphere of conversation and discussion for Orthodox Christians and general inquirers.

We're slowly working into a groove.  We hope to have all the Las Vegas clergy be guests on our show at one time or another. We have had ArchPriest Eric Tosi, Secretary of the OCA, on our show as well.  Father Eric is our former parish priest.  At some point we will also ask His Grace Bishop Benjamin to join us and hopefully also His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah.  We intend to also have many lay people on our show.  I would also like to interview many of my favorite bloggers.  Some of the topics will be "controversial" ones, so stay tuned.

We are hoping for feedback to let us know your thoughts, whether good, bad, indifferent or whatever.

You may visit the sidebar on this blog under "Blooming in the Desert" as well to see the catalog of shows so far.

Blooming in the Desert – Episode 10 – Pillars of Piety Series Part 4 – Forgiveness,third part

Listen to the podcast.

Blooming in the Desert homepage.

This the third and final part of our "Forgiveness" shows.  Subdeacon Jon Failla joins us for this final segment.  It turned out rather long but we did not want to do a fourth part so we went with it.  After listening, I was surprisingly pleased with this show, however.  Please do give a listen and provide a comment or two.

Not every one who says to Me "Lord, Lord"...

 Last judgement icon at the Holy Monastery of Hight Decani in Kosovo and Metohia, Serbia

 "Not every one who says to Me 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of heaven...(Matthew 7:21)

Why does this not frighten us?   Why does this saying and others like it the Lord said over and over not occupy a central part of our lives?  Why are our lives not ordered around the centrality of the inevitability of death and the standing naked before the penetrating gaze of Him Whose eyes are ever penetrating and permeating?

Is it not because perhaps we believe, each one of us-to one degree or another, that we are ourselves on the "inside track" and that this saying is addressed to someone else?  Is this not to say that we  take appearing before the Dread Judgement Seat of Christ a bit(a lot) lighter than we should?  Of what value is our soul?  He asks this to us to aid in our own asking of this of ourselves.

I say this with myself as the first culprit.

But I wonder how this hits any who call themselves "believers"?  Is there evidence that we may manifest one to another that this saying and the others like it occupy a part of our waking(and unwaking) existence, that I am frightened enough that I seek communion with Christ with everything possible in me that on that Day He may not turn His countenance upon me and declare He never knew me?


Pitied are we to be if we do not at least begin to move towards being known by Him and in the being known by Him, being healed.

The creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God

Hat tip to Alan Perry Jr.

O come, Lord Jesus, come!(Rev. 22:20)

When I see things like this I am outraged.  I hate cruelty to both humans and animals.  Watching this I was so disturbed that I cried out that Christ would return and that the creation(us, the animal kingdom, plant life and all the cosmos) would be utterly transfigured.  We ourselves suffer the corruption that must be transfigured upon the Lord's return.  But that must come in the fullness of time.

Watching this, I was reminded of this passage from St. Paul's letter to the Romans, in the eighth chapter:

18  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

19  For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.

20  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected [it] in hope;

21  because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

22  For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.

23  Not only [that], but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

WARNING!  THIS IS VERY DISTURBING!(if you find yourself angry, PLEASE remember to pray not only for the poor animals, but also for the humans under the sway of these violent passions. When one does these things, know this person is suffering horribly).

Music between Goombas Exchange

My friend VSO is currently uploading tribute videos for all his goombas.  He and I have struck up a good online friendship.

He currently has a secret identity but nonetheless, when you need to go somewhere to let someone "Tell you like it is!", visit his site.

But be forewarned: he is a caveman and in his cave there are certain criteria.  They are as follows:

The Code of the Catacombs

1. I'm the Pontifex Maximus of this blog. What I say goes. I'm Orthodox Christian, Conservative, American, hold every principle thereof and I tell it like it is. I am all of this for a reason. If you don't like that, tough shit. Don't screw with me.

2. In case you couldn't tell from Rule 1, this site contains strong, harsh, uncharitable f'n language that is not appropriate for monastics or those seriously devoted to achieving purity. Political Correctness is strictly forbidden.

3. Conduct yourself accordingly. If you do and don't espouse heresy, or attack me, the Holy Orthodox Church, the Constitution of the USA, the Bible, the Magna Carta and all the values and morals therein, we'll get along fine.

4. No victims allowed! Playing the race card, the sodomite card, or any other card is forbidden.

5. If there's still any confusion on your part, refer to the above rules.

6. If you still want to butt heads with me, but still imagine that there's some wiggle room for you, especially in light that you've read Rules 1 - 5, you're either obstinate in sin or irreversibly stupid. Either way, you are anathema. You'll be excavemunicated.

He posted this for me.  Great tune.

Plug for Pithless Thoughts and a hero for our times, Robert Lee

I check in fairly frequently at Steven Paul's Pithless Thoughts.

As I've mentioned before, I returned to the Orthodox Church not too many years ago.  In large part, Steven's old show, Our Life in Christ, was integral to my education about the Orthodox Faith.  Not merely because of the show's excellent content, but as well, I just could not get over at that time that "converts" had become Orthodox and were teaching the Faith to persons like myself- "born" into the Faith but having left.

The "converts" had found something in Orthodoxy I never had until my return.  It was wonderful for me to see all this.

Anyway, back to the reason for this post.  Some time back, Steve had posted this video,



with the follow up on how they made the commercial,




For whatever reason, I immediately identified with Robert Lee, the "hero" of these commercials and especially in relation to Kyklos Greek Cafe,  the shop I and my brothers own.  We have taken our share of hits doing this business.

Robert's attitude towards his product and the prospective buyer are almost identical to my own.

This is what I do and make and if you don't like it, that's okay.  We're not for everybody.  If you wish to be served, let me and my crew take you through our "system" and we will ensure a very pleasant eating experience in terms of service, quality and quantity.  However, if you show up determined to find fault and be unreasonable and ignorant, please, do go somewhere else and eat.  

There have been several times that after taking peoples' orders, it became clear to us that the situation was going to end badly whereupon we humbly refunded their money and told them to go elsewhere as we were not going to serve them. They could not believe it. 

Another reason I like Robert is that he operates from his many hard experiences.  There is very little fluff to detect in him.  I like that.   That is not to say that I do not see his humor, but the man has experienced some pain.

To be in a small business such as my restaurant and to offer a good, honest and consistent product day after day takes a lot more than people realize.  I don't say this to want any "understanding" from anyone but rather to point out that the endeavor to keep at it requires a very low tolerance for BS of any kind.

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Speaking of Pithless Thoughts,  here is an (really bad) attempt at an "Orthograph"(copyright Pithless Thoughts) of my own.  You can contrast this timid attempt(as evidenced by the not so bold drawing) with some of the excellent and quite clever Orthographs Steve has done on his site.  Steve has often said that he comes up with his stuff without leaving himself exempt from his humorous critiques.

This one seemed easy to do but when I sat down to do it, it was hard and I'm not sure it makes sense. Hopefully Steve will see this and possibly clarify/correct it.

Richard Gage/9-11 Truth Scares News Anchor

I ran across this clip on facebook today.  I have also seen Richard Gage discuss what he feels is the evidence against the official story on what happened on 9-11 on a much longer clip.  As well on the longer clip, there was someone who debated him and offered what I feel was good counter-evidence to refute Richard Gage's evidence.  However, I did and still do feel that what has been handed down as the official story of what happened on that day is seriously flawed.

That the buildings once stood where they were and no longer do is an indisputable fact.  But how they were taken down, by whom, and why are questions that continue to trouble me and many others.  In fact, the number of people who have begun to voice doubt is growing and I would say with good reason.

Let me just say up front that I love my country.  I pray for her and if need be, I would fight in her defense.

However, with that said, as I have progressed in the Life of the Church, the allure of this world and its kingdoms has been lessening to the proportion that I have begun to understand that Christianity is not a religion but a Kingdom.

And with this, I would have to say that the idea that outrageous things can and do happen in the world which go against all conventions of what we have in the West been raised to believe is fair and just is part of my own working knowledge of what constitutes the Fall and that evil demonic and spiritual powers are actively involved in the world.

To have a credible Orthodox Worldview, one must believe and know this otherwise the Gospel is something less than what it is meant to be.  Meaning, the Gospel does not merely offer "spiritual" solace, i.e. is not concerned with the material creation, but confronts evil incarnate, i.e. the fact that evil has real power in the creation and that there is an actual hierarchy of evil.

The Devil is not a myth.  Nor should we believe that there aren't those who wield great power and serve him actively and do his bidding.  Descending from this inner circle the true knowledge of the diabolical machinations become diffused and at some level it just merely means "the world system"i.e. what we all have brought up in and have come to consider as "normal".

Scripture and the Holy Fathers constantly bring our attention to the very real fact of this evil reality which in modern "enlightened" times has ceased to have people really take its existence seriously.

Video of the Holy Fire and a reflection

I believe something has died in Modern Man.  This includes me.  I "believe" in Miracles but I cannot help but want to look for the angle or the mystery revealed behind the scenes that is inevitably in my mind.  And I think my mind steeped in the Mind of our Age is indicative of perhaps *every* mind.  It is very difficult if not impossible to shut down my incredulity at the witnessing of videos such as the one I have posted here.

However,  when my friend George sent me this, I was pleasantly surprised to feel a certain reverence and awe at what transpired on this video.  I do not believe it is because of this particular video specifically(the Lord knows), but perhaps I may find solace in the movement within myself towards a general acceptance towards the great mysteries to be found everywhere.

In fact, in my better contemplative moments, I recognize at some level the Great Mystery that existence itself is including all the seemingly "mundane" and "rote" things that "compose" existence.

The following is the text that accompanies the footage by the one who shot it:

"RECORDED BY ME IN THE CHURCH ABOVE THE HOLY SEPLICHURE (ST. CONSTANTINE). NO ONE INCLUDING MYSELF SAW THIS IN THE CHURCH WHILE IT WAS HAPPENING. I ONLY REALIZIED IT ONCE I GOT BACK TO MY ROOM! ONE OF MANY MIRACLES THAT DAY!'

"Bring Them Back " The sculptures taken from the Parthenon and housed in Britain

 Hat tip to Ann for sending me this.
-------------------------------------------

I don't have vehement feelings on this issue.  But, I would like to see the return of the sculptures to the Parthenon in Athens.

This short video begins with a humorous mock reality where Big Ben is taken from its place by a wealthy Greek man.

Though I in general agree with the message of the video, I would like to make it clear that I do not agree with the message at the end to "utilize global opinion" towards this end as this just smacks too much of "one world government" for my taste.

This one's for the birds

I have loved birds since I was a kid.  Mango, my little sun conure, has been with with me since 1997.

Anyway, I was sent these two videos, not about sun conures, but about birds, and just had to post them.


This one is from George:



And this one was sent to me by Steve:

Down with Religion, up with "Scarface" or "No Jesus please, give me Tony"

Thank goodness that Religion is so controversial that it is being slowly taken out of the public sphere.  Of course, because Religion is entirely a matter of personal choice and therefore Religion has no truth quota apart from what each individual believes as a matter of personal opinion, it should be done away with.  You see, we as a society stand to gain artistically, morally, aesthetically and of course personally when Religion recedes from the public domain.  How else can we get to see such critically acclaimed motion pictures like "Scarface" performed by our youngsters?  I would rather have this than the Nativity Story.  Tony Montana is a hero to help us transcend this life's woes par excellence.  Defiant to the end and the motif on many a t-shirt these days, Tony is the Man.

Take a look here:



Ah, good ol' Tony. God bless America.

Blooming in the Desert – Episode 9 – Pillars of Piety Series Part 4 – Forgiveness, second part

Listen to the podcast:

Blooming in the Desert Homepage:


This is the second part of our Forgiveness episode.  Once again, Subdeacon Jon Failla joined us for a good discussion.  And to note again, with the link provided is the portion of the outline used for this program.

Blooming in the Desert presents Mother Melania: "Spiritual Wholeness: Overcoming the Passions by Strengthening the Virtues"

Every year our Orthodox clergy put together Lenten retreats for Nativity and for Great and Holy Lent.

This year we were highly privileged and honored to have Mother Melania come and do the talk, "Spiritual Wholeness:  Overcoming the Passions by Strengthening the Virtues". 

Blooming in the Desert recorded and produced the five part CD series which is available for sale but which also can be listened to on their homepage here.

It is a very worthy listen for the learning of very practical information on the living of the spiritual life.

And now for something serious. For your consideration.

Sunday begins the Great Fast:  I'm fasting from vegetables, soups, tofu, soy products...

The ingredients HAVE to have meat, dairy, eggs or I'm passing it by.  For instance, if I pick up a cucumber, I'm going to read the ingredients.  If it is not meat/dairy/or egg filled, that is one sorry cucumber.  They shouldn't make it that way.

(I posted the above on Facebook and it drew a response from a fellow Orthodox Christian, Christopher Barton, who attends my parish.  The following is a record of our conversation):

Sophocles said: 

As well, things that live in the water are gonna have to work hard for awhile to make it on my plate.

Christopher said: 

We need foods made with real carnivore ingredients. I'm already planning on acting a fool at a churrascaria.

Sophocles said: 

Dude, I feel ya. Are you gonna let the meat fall out of your mouth onto your chin and shirt?

Christopher said:

I don't want to force it, I'll just let the meat go wherever it will. The only plan is to eat until I have to wonder how I'll be able to move to make it home from the restaurant.

Sophocles said:

Well said. I guess I was being silly. Still, putting a few eggs in your pockets and some mozzarella sticks on each ear(instead of cigarettes-those are unhealthy) as you walk out should still be within the pale of good taste. Hmm...maybe I'll join you.

Christopher said:

That reminds me, whilst we all prepare for meat gorging I don't want to leave out the pillaging I am going to do to sweet, sweet dairy. Especially dairy paired with meat, I'm looking at you Pasticcio.

Sophocles said:

Not mine, I hope! I'm defending my Pasticcio!

Oh wait, we can just make sure there is a-plenty for the both of us.(Forgive me, I overreacted. I temporarily forgot the Fast is ending).

Dairy coupled with meat...what a novel idea. Pasta with meat sauce with parmesan cheese on top? Meat Lover's Delight Pizza? We shouldn't think small on this matter.

Christopher said:

One thing I have learned about Pasticcio, there is NEVER enough or plenty.

We could do pasta, on top of meat... then some sort of cream sauce? I agree, we need to run this thing to be as big as possible. Pizza is definitely on my extensive Bright Week hit list.

Sophocles said:

I like the way you think. I can see our friendship growing because you are a very wise man.

Andrew said:
Soph I am not sure if you can handle the pressure of Bright Week, I think your body and soul is too weak and you will give in to the temptations of vegetables, but if you do, stand up and repent......


Sophocles said:
Andrew, thank you. I will. Ahead of time, if I do fall, I'm asking you to be my "meat spiritual father". I may have to lean on your wisdom in this area.