"As Those Long Dead"

At some point in my teenage years I decided to read Lamentations just because it was there (and because I couldn't recall ever reading it). I had no idea what I was about to read. At the time I was painfully unaware of the definition of "lament", nor had I practiced such an action as lamenting to God. I wasn't quite connecting with the book until I began the 3rd chapter.

"He causes me to dwell in darkness as those long dead..."

-Lamentations 3:6

As a read the words that spoke of pain and suffering; the expressions of feeling abandoned by God, I began to cry. The words resonated in my soul and I ceased reading before I finished the chapter. These were the darkest words that I had ever read outside of my own prayer journal, and they were in the Bible! What was I to think of this? Was I reading it right? How could there be scriptures of such pain and misery?

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."

-Lamentations 3:21-23

The Orthodox have a belief that the life of the believer is one of rhythms and patterns. We go through time of Darkness - and that Darkness can be overwhelming at times! - but it placed in our paths to lead us out of self-destruction and sin; to strengthen us and lead us in to deeper knowledge of God and into states of holiness. Yes, it is painful to walk in shadow and to feel as though God has abandoned you, but He will not let it last forever. Faith, Hope and Love at the gifts that God grants those who ask, and these gifts are the tool that get us through! 

"Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I shall fear no evil..."

-Psalm 23:4

Walk through the Shadows; stay in the Light.

Grace and Peace,

Stephen

"When Life Gives You Lemons..."

There is an old saying that goes, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!" The problem is that this metaphor breaks down pretty quickly; unless life also gives you sugar and water then you are pretty much just making lemon juice (a.k.a. you're screwed). The meaning is to take a bad situation and make it good. Better yet, profit from it! What do you do, however, when bad things happen and you can't find the bright side? What happens when you can't turn a profit?

The fact is that when you face tragedy or despair, sometimes you can't just "make lemonade." What is the bright side of a miscarriage? Of a family members death? Of a marriage gone up in flames? These are things that plague our lives and we struggle and fight to smile through these circumstances. Yes, God may use these to grow us and to make us better/holier, but is that reality enough to make us smile? Should it? Should we be able to look at death in the face and say "I'm happy because I know God will use this for my good!"? I'm not so sure that that is what is supposed to be our reaction to struggle.

Anger, sadness/sorrow are emotions that God gave us as gifts to understand the world around us and to process reality. Yet we so often reject these emotions as being holy and pure, writing them off as sinful or as signs of spiritual lacking. "Have faith" some say, and others, "go pray!", but I see few who acknowledge the legitimacy of one's emotions and their role in life. So what do we do?

God called Israel to lament and to mourn. He led His people to have these seasons, and we as the new Israel must do the same. Lent is a set season of lament and mourning, but there are times of intentional lamenting that take place throughout the course of our lives and it is a act we need to more fully embrace, while also not letting it drown us.

What I'm saying is that you can't always make lemonade. Sometimes you just have to drink the lemon juice.

Grace and Peace,

Stephen

Joyful Lament: Preparing for the Season of Advent

We are but a week away from the month of December and from the liturgical time of Advent! In the midst of overwhelming commercialism it is easy to lose the beauty and meaning of this holiday season. It's unfortunate that the holidays have too often become about selfishness and greed.

In the upcoming cold and desolate month we will be buying gifts, hanging ornaments, verbally and emotionally assaulting each other over costs and item availability, stuffing our faces, destroying our teeth, and complaining about getting the wrong color for the iPod Touch we asked for. It's incredible that the symbol of Christmas is a Bishop/Saint and yet the Church often goes unremembered and Christ is neglected.

Christmas and Advent is, and will always be, a Christian holiday. People get angry when politicians have "holiday" trees instead of Christmas trees. If they aren't Christians then they can call them whatever they want, the holiday has no real significance or importance to them anyways.

The giving of gifts is a beautiful tradition of Christmas. I am by no means saying that gift-giving should be eliminated from this holy day since it is the day God gave the greatest gift of all: His Son...Himself. We live in the realm of ungratefulness, never remembering the true beauty of Christ's coming. Advent is to be a time where we celebrate and rejoice in the greatness of God and His love for us, but it should also be a reminder of the darkness that was before Christ came into our lives. This reality should also bring our minds to the harshness of sin that still remains in the world and all that is yet to be brought into full subjection to Christ. There are still millions of people who have yet to even hear of Christ!

That said, Advent should be a time of lament, but it should also be a time of repentance; remembering that the reason Christ came was to save us from the sin that destroys our society, culture, economy, and
government. He came so that He would die and usher in the age of the Church, and God forbid that we eat and drink in celebration of His coming without first falling on our knees in humility and fearful trembling in the revelation of our sinful state.

May we all be fasting and praying as we approach the day set aside in memorium to Christ's birth.

Grace and Peace,

Stephen