Reflections on the Wisdom of Elder Porfyrios

Another day, when I was upset because certain people did not respond to me with love, the Elder said, “Today, people ask to be loved and that is why they are disappointed. The right thing to do is not to care whether they love you or not at all, but rather, whether you love Christ and other people. This is the only way in which the soul is filled.

Elder Porfyrios of Greece

To be a child of God — that is, to accept the Grace of Holy Baptism, Chrismation, and the Life-giving purification of the Holy Eucharist — it is necessary to love. In the above quotation, the Elder rightly notes that we too often confuse the Christian witness to love with a Western, politically correct, emphasis on being a “nice person”. In this confusion, we come to believe that we are living a Christian life when we ’get along’ with everyone and others in return are nice to us. Our idea of the Godly life becomes one of merely finding a social common ground that leads to peace and the absence of conflict with others.

Yet the Divine Love which we are called to live requires much more of us. It requires a higher standard of Love in us that does not turn a blind eye to sin, nor leaves us silent in the presence of evil and temptation. This Love may often bring us into conflict with the world wherein the spirit of the age wishes to incline us to the “easy path” and a tendency to bend all ’rules’ towards a ’common good’ that admits no absolutes.

Therefore, the Christian life is a challenge. We reject the notion that all morality is relative. This may often lead us into conflict with others; indeed, with society itself. In such circumstances we instead commit ourselves to a Love so powerful that it does not shrink from recognizing sin as sin. We sacrifice the ’easy path’ for a love that seeks a better way for others (as well as ourselves); one that wells up to Eternal Life. In this spirit, we can accept the rejection of others, those who have not experienced to true Love and therefore live diminished lives. We accept it because by means of it we offer to others a vision of humanity that is itself divine and able to offer a greater freedom and life that that offered by a sterile and corrupt world.

Finally, in living life as children of God, we can glimpse at the true personhood of those who are spiritually crippled and so unable to love us. We also find our own personhood revealed in the Grace that fills us and enables us to love those whose lives are otherwise unlovable. We experience a fullness of life that the world cannot offer. This live brings healing and renewal. It changes us and provides the invitation to change in others. Life becomes filled with value and purpose; the sufferings of this present world become opportunities to discover that we are more than animals reacting to the passions of the moment. We begin to live the life for which we were created when the Holy Trinity “formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the spirit of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen 2.7) In short, we experience redemption and salvation.

Thanks be to God.

Personal Update - Memory Eternal

Dear beloved readers of this humble blog:

With deep sorrow I must inform you that my wife, Presbytera Karen, fell asleep in the Lord this morning at about five a.m.. As some of you know, Presbytera had been suffering from a brain tumor (GBM IV), which evolved into several, with one inoperable. After surgery on 1 June and a longer than expected stay at the hospital due to complications, she spent a short time in a rehab hospital, and came home on the Feast of the Nativity of St John the Forerunner for hospice care.

The family and I kept vigil last night with prayers, holy anointing, and reading of the Psalms until her passing. In all, we sought to honor her final hours by expressing our trust in the promises of our Lord and in providing care worthy of the dignity of her personhood. Life is truly a precious gift from God from conception to natural death.

I wish to extend my thanks to each and all of you for your God pleasing prayers for Matushka and our family. We have been deeply touched by the love expressed in those prayers and have treasured them each and all. I humbly ask your continued prayers for our family as we face the difficult days ahead.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr Titus Fulcher
AKA The Byzantine Rambler



Post Script: My sincere thanks to all of you who have offered condolences and prayers. May our Lord the Holy Trinity bless you each and all.

From Salt of the Earth Words of Wisdom and Life

Hat Tip to Andrew of the Salt of the Earth blog for this wonderful quotation from St John of Kronstadt. Salt of the Earth is a good blog to check daily for many pearls of wisdom and reflections on orthodox life. Whether one is an Orthodox Christian, a Byzantine Catholic, or Roman Catholic - indeed, no matter one's spiritual persuasion - Salt of the Earth will challenge, enlighten and comfort the soul in a most efficacious way.

As for the quotation, it is taken from “My Life in Christ”, a book for which the cliche "a classic" doesn't come close to conveying its richness and spiritual depth.

Saint John of Kronstadt on Peace and Despair
July 2, 2009 by Andrew

St. John of Kronstadt
Sometimes in nature a warm, healthful wind blows, pleasantly and lightly, permeating and coming in contact with the body, and the sky is serene; whilst at other times a cold wind blows, one feels, somehow, distressed and feverish, the wind pierces to the very bones and affects the body unpleasantly, the earth and sky are darkened; or else sometimes the state of the atmosphere is warm and warmth-giving, and at other times cold, benumbing. It is likewise in the spiritual life: sometimes our soul is surrounded and penetrated by a light, pleasant, warmth-giving, vivifying breath, we feel ourselves happy and tranquil; whilst at others our heart is touched by a heavy, deathly breath, accompanied by complete spiritual darkness. The first state proceeds from the Spirit of God, the second from the Devil. It is necessary to accustom ourselves to everything: as in the first case, not to grow self-conceited, so in the last, not to fall into despondency, into despair, but to fervently have recourse to God.

* This excerpt was taken from the book “My Life in Christ” by St. John of Kronstadt

As is sometimes the case, this particular passage speaks closely to me in the present circumstances in which my life currently finds itself.

Pray that this News is Real and the Results Beneficial

(ANKARA) - Turkey is planning to re-open a Greek Orthodox seminary that was shut down nearly four decades ago, Turkey's culture minister was quoted as saying Sunday.

The European Union, which Turkey is seeking to join, and the United States have long pressed Ankara to re-open the theology school on the island of Halki, off Istanbul, to prove respect for the rights of its tiny Christian minority.

Culture Minister Ertugrul Gunay said the government was inclined to re-open the school, even though a final decision was not yet made, the mass-selling Milliyet daily reported.

"Both my personal conviction and the general inclination I see is that the school will be opened," Gunay was quoted as saying.

"The school does not currently fit into our university system, but another formula will be worked out... There is no political problem," he said.

The minister explained the authorities were grappling with "the technical problem" on whether the seminary should have the status of a university or a vocational high school.

The century-old seminary was closed down in 1971, depriving the Eastern Orthodox Church, seated in Istanbul since Byzantine times, of its only facility to train clergy in Turkey.

The closure was the result of legislation bringing institutions of higher education under state control, an arrangement into which the seminary did not fit.

Gunay conceded that Turkish-Greek tensions over the island of Cyprus at the time were also a prominent factor behind the move.

"What happened in the past is left behind... We need to say new things now," he said.

Keen to boost its struggling EU membership bid, Ankara has in recent years moved to improve the rights of its tiny non-Muslim minorities, mainly Greeks, Armenians and Jews.

Metropolitan KALLISTOS Ware - What is Prayer?