Patient Bearing of afflictions

Mr. Husband and I were given a book recently
by Archimandrite John Krestiankin
of the Pskov-Caves Monastery in Russia
entitled
May God Give You Wisdom! 
The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin
which I have been reading over the last days...
his letters speak of many things...
one of the themes that struck me is the
 speaks of enduring under one's Cross
without murmuring
and with faith and hope in God.
*
I am enjoying these letters;
I find that I often find letters by various holy people
in the Orthodox church to be very uplifting.
You can read parts of these letters here.
*
Listening to this podcast by Fr. Thomas Hopko
today while I try to clean our home,
I found the same theme...
salvation will be found through endurance of affections.
*
Fr. John Krestiankin was, it seems, asked many times by many
people for their life path in the
traditional Orthodox paths of either
marriage or monasticism.
He spoke of both being of a Cross and
of the cutting of one's will.
*
Fr. Thomas Hopko speaks of bearing with
each other in love and being kind to everyone.
*
I found myself thinking of many of those who I love
who are married with children
and how there are a lot of every day afflictions that
we endure ~ now a lot of my friends have young children
and that has it's on challenges of exhaustion and not much
if any break from the constant effort that is called for
in the raising of children.
*
Or others who are in
increasingly difficult work situations
or are in other painful and grief-filled situations.
*
Or those who are just trying to make their way
through things and find life currently bewildering
and without clarity or focus.
*
Or those who are suffering from illnesses.
*
Or those needing work...
*
Or those who are in more than one of the above categories.
*
There are many struggles in our life...
*
This theme continues throughout this year for me ~
those who endure to the end will be saved.

Thought we could all use a taste of summer

Just look at that yellow colour...

Winter sure can be a bit of a slog,

can it not?

Lots of slush on the sidewalks here

snow melting into puddles upon puddles

all to be avoided

when walking to church.

*

I am helping a friend with her paper

for school and am thrilled to be

helping her

in her very significant endeavour.

*

Um, I can feel Lent is coming;

I love Lent for it's focus

for being in church more

for standing in church with my spiritual father

praying the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete

and going to the presanctified liturgies on Fridays.

*

Lent is also a time of great temptation

and for me often a time of great personal

loss or pain.

So as much as I long for lent,

being with my church family more,

focusing my life,

giving what Fr. Thomas Hopko calls

our tithe to the church,

the tithe of the year

*

I think I need to listen/read that podcast again

(on the tithe of the year).

*

Noah continues to struggle.

*

So many need our prayers...

*

May God be our help and protection.

Wanted to recommend to you...

I have listened to these three podcasts of Fr. Thomas Hopko

and was really blessed by them:

Does God play favorites?

(Why is there suffering, why do some people seem to be holy with ease,

why do I feel neglected, does God favour others above me? All from a

well-articulated letter that a woman wrote to Fr. Thomas Hopko.

I praise God for this woman who wrote the letter,

as so many of us can benefit from what

Fr. Thomas has given us in this

and the following two podcasts

that have come after this initial one.)

Predestination, Providence and Prayer

(how does prayers to God work when God is all-knowing and sovereign)

The Canonization of Saints

(about why every Christian is a Saint but may not be canonized on a church calendar)

***

I thank God for teachers like Fr. Thomas Hopko!

Librarians, we share things

Well. Hello again blog world, it feels like a long time, the day or so away.

Library land is going a bit better for me - someone at work has been lending a huge helping hand for one part of the work. The rest - well - it is not yet done. But I sure answered a LOT of reference questions!

So in library fashion, it is time to share from my blog reading.

I comment on an increasing amount of blogs, but I still read more than I comment on.

One of these, that I appreciate a lot, is by a man named John, who is aware of the world, various cultures, has traveled, and whose outlook on life I respect. Just wanted to mention his latest post, which reviews an article and outlines some of the challenges of a world that continues to misunderstand Christianity. It is well worth reading. His blog makes me think of friends whom one is better by having.

I also read this very lovely titled blog - Lost in-Elegant Cogitations where Phillipa gave a wonderful quotation (that I repeat below); see this post for an interview with Archbishop John of Belgorod. One of the many things I love about the Orthodox Church is the difference you find in perspective:

"It’s hard not to grumble when we deal with illness or sorrow. But here one can remember what an old woman crying by the church said. When the priest asked her what she was crying about, she answered, “I think God has forgotten about me: this year I have never been taken ill and there has been no sorrow in my life.” "

This reminds me of a quick blurb I heard on Ancient Faith Radio when Fr. Thomas Hopko challenged us to be thankful for the sorrow in our lives.

When ever I think of monasteries and Orthodox Fathers, including Fr. Thomas Hopko, I am very reassured. There are people, by the mercy and grace of God, who can teach us, who we can trust.

I find this shocking when I think of it (I am too often too busy, tired or distracted to remember, to my shame) that I have met, seen and heard spiritual fathers and mothers who are trustworthy and who show deeper Christianity than I once knew*. The small amount of faith I do have, I know is because of ones like these. And they are worth trusting because they know humility is of Christ.

*(I will have to do a post someday on the struggle to explain why I feel I have been given more in the Church than when I was a Christian but not in the Orthodox Church. Between the huge relativism found in parts of post-modernism and my dearly beloved Protestant Christian friends who, for the most part, would say what I have found was where I used to be, I find it a challenge to articulate where I now see myself; not to even begin to explain the Orthodox Church.)

Trusting God

My sister took this picture and posted it on facebook. I had forgotten that snowflakes are so intricate and how each one has exquisite individual detail. When talking to her on the phone, we both found that we had thought - how can anyone not believe in God as Creator after seeing snowflakes!?

Notice that one of these looks like a flower!

We all have painful events and situations in our lives. We all have struggles, fears and hangups. I know I do - things that seem impossible to change, get over or do. We can feel so overwhelmed that any possible action or way to move forward seems either non-existent or fruitless; we fall into despair.

It is then that I need to remember the God who loves us. The God who makes snowflakes. The God who gave us the Church. The God that Fr. Thomas Hopko talks about, teaching us that life is good and worth living (in his "Commencement" podcast).

It is this God that I must turn to now, when I wake in the middle of the night, sleepless again.

If God cares enough to be able to make snowflakes so beautiful, He can care about us and be taking care of us, right now, no matter where we find ourselves.

Icon Corners - my old and new apartments

My longtime (almost 11 years!) friend Tamie asked for pictures of my new place. I will try to do so sometime this week. First though I feel like I need to finish staying goodbye to my old apartment.

The picture above is from my Icon corner in my now former smaller cute apartment. I knew I would miss my former Icon corner and I do. It was this cute little room and I would light it with candles year round in the morning; it gave me a lot of hope, light and comfort during many hard and difficult times.

My new Icon corner is being assembled; the same shelf with the same Icons is up - a good friend of mine put it up for me the same afternoon that I moved. But it is different!

I picked the wall colour itself - a light blue - it almost seems too flat or dry looking. Perhaps I would of liked a glossier sheen, even though that is not what is typically done. And it looks so bare and empty still. And way to clean looking - by which I mean I do not yet have my prayers, lists and quotes up.

However, at least I have a start. And my Icon of my Patron Saint, Saint Irene of Chrysovalantou, is now up as well. Patron Saints are really important - they pray for us and can be Mothers and Fathers to us. Of course I do not know how to explain why or how this is, but I know it to be true. St. Irene is especially known for her prayers for peace; Irene means peace. I struggle to stay at peace, so she is a real gift to me.

About the Icon Shelf in the picture. The Icons from Left to Right are:

St. John of Rila, Patron Saint of Bulgaria

The Resurrection of Christ

The Crucifixion of Christ

St. Xenia of Petersberg

The Theotokos

Christ

St. Nicholas of Myra

St. John of Rila can teach us about prayer and the love of God.

St. Xenia prays a lot for provision of us - homes, jobs, families - and was a fool-for-Christ. This Icon was the first one I ever bought and is from St. Herman's.

The Theotokos is also referred to as the Mother of God - to understand Christ as Incarnate God and Man one has to understand that His Mother bore the Son of God and is His Mother. She can also be our Mother and prays mightily to Christ Her Son for us. I got this Icon from Holy Dormition Monastery shortly after I was chrismated.

The Icon of Christ was a gift from a fellow parishioner at St. Herman's. I remember looking at this Icon and the Icon of St. Xenia and wondering what I do with them. So I just looked at them a lot. To be honest, for a start, I think this was the best thing I personally could of done. I have a lot of tender memories of this beginning in my life. St. Herman's was the best place for me to have begun my journey into the Orthodox Church!

St. Nicholas of Myra - I was chrismated at his Church in Michigan and this Icon was a chrismation gift. St. Nicholas is also known for his prayers for financial provision and for protection. As a Bishop, spiritually he has been a Father to many through the centuries through the Holy Spirit and prayer.

I have been supported by so many over the past year in prayer - looking for work, the foot injury of this past summer, and starting a new job and moving. I hope I have been humbled by this, as I have seen how much others have interceded for me and I have struggled to do the same.

I know there are seasons in our lives and that we cannot always maintain things as we want to. I remember appreciating Fr. Thomas Hopko's comment about doing and praying as we can, not as we wish we could!

Thank God for His mercy and that there are Saints who can pray to Christ for us!

Books, podcasts and tea

I am still slowly reading Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life by Kathleen Norris. I will try to blog about this. For now suffice to say that I keep thinking I need to quote or tab (I can't bring myself to write in a first edition) on every page. It is a book that is worth reading slowly.

I am re-reading Agatha Christie's Murder at the Vicarage; I love mysteries and really felt like reading one with Miss Jane Marple.

I listened to two podcasts by Fr. Thomas Hopko on Ancient Faith Radio - really good. One on the saints and their intercessions and one on what he would say for a commencement address. I found myself listening and thinking why did no one tell me what he is telling me when I was in University!!

Must go to bed early; feel like I could get a cold again and am to fly to Halifax DV this weekend. I bought a box of lemon tea in hopes of avoiding sickness. It does not help that my apartment building does not have the heat turned on yet and it is COLD. There is a Frost Warning for tonight. Did I mention that I am moving?

Thank God for such blessings in books, podcasts, good teaching on the spiritual life, and the simple enjoyment of a cup of lemon tea.

here again

Summary:

about the foot:

1. foot still broken
2. wound not infected - got better
3. appointment with specialist for foot exam this Wednesday

about my new job:

1. work did not realize how injured I was and sent me home early from training
2. they say I am to be on the payroll and that I cannot work until I am better
3. doing paper work tomorrow...

about daily life:

1. crutches - I am walking better on them
2. lots of $ spent on taxi rides
3. it is hard to make food to eat when I have one hand free (other one holding on to something so I do not fall as I am on one foot).

conclusion:

1. need God's mercy
2. need prayer
3. need food. (friend is making me food tomorrow)

on other notes...

1. liturgy tomorrow! St. John the Baptist (And His Mom, St. Elizabeth!) (old calendar)
2. Cleo the Cat really misses the normal routine and having me walk around... I can't do as much for her or play with her. a SERIOUS problem in her view.
3. I heard Fr. Thomas Hopko and Frederica M-G speak this past week. This was great.

Sound advice - Found via two blogs

http://whenwefast.blogspot.com/2008/04/55-maxims-for-christian-living.html

http://sttheophanacademy.blogspot.com/2008/04/good-advice.html

So today I have done various blog searching and additions to my bloglines feed. I found this list that was complied by Erin's husband (see first link) and then I found it on the second link.

It is incredible. As in I should print this out and put it somewhere on my Prayer Wall.

This was from Ancient Faith Radio talk by Fr. Thomas Hopko.

55 Maxims for Christian Living
by Fr. Thomas Hopko

Here it is:

1. Be always with Christ.
2. Pray as you can, not as you want.
3. Have a keepable rule of prayer that you do by discipline.
4. Say the Lord’s Prayer several times a day.
5. Have a short prayer that you constantly repeat when your mind is not occupied with other things.
6. Make some prostrations when you pray.
7. Eat good foods in moderation.
8. Keep the Church’s fasting rules.
9. Spend some time in silence every day.
10. Do acts of mercy in secret.
11. Go to liturgical services regularly
12. Go to confession and communion regularly.
13. Do not engage intrusive thoughts and feelings. Cut them off at the start.
14. Reveal all your thoughts and feelings regularly to a trusted person.
15. Read the scriptures regularly.
16. Read good books a little at a time.
17. Cultivate communion with the saints.
18. Be an ordinary person.
19. Be polite with everyone.
20. Maintain cleanliness and order in your home.
21. Have a healthy, wholesome hobby.
22. Exercise regularly.
23. Live a day, and a part of a day, at a time.
24. Be totally honest, first of all, with yourself.
25. Be faithful in little things.
26. Do your work, and then forget it.
27. Do the most difficult and painful things first.
28. Face reality.
29. Be grateful in all things.
30. Be cheerful.
31. Be simple, hidden, quiet and small.
32. Never bring attention to yourself.
33. Listen when people talk to you.
34. Be awake and be attentive.
35. Think and talk about things no more than necessary.
36. When we speak, speak simply, clearly, firmly and directly.
37. Flee imagination, analysis, figuring things out.
38. Flee carnal, sexual things at their first appearance.
39. Don’t complain, mumble, murmur or whine.
40. Don’t compare yourself with anyone.
41. Don’t seek or expect praise or pity from anyone.
42. We don’t judge anyone for anything.
43. Don’t try to convince anyone of anything.
44. Don’t defend or justify yourself.
45. Be defined and bound by God alone.
46. Accept criticism gratefully but test it critically.
47. Give advice to others only when asked or obligated to do so.
48. Do nothing for anyone that they can and should do for themselves.
49. Have a daily schedule of activities, avoiding whim and caprice.
50. Be merciful with yourself and with others.
51. Have no expectations except to be fiercely tempted to your last breath.
52. Focus exclusively on God and light, not on sin and darkness.
53. Endure the trial of yourself and your own faults and sins peacefully, serenely, because you know that God’s mercy is greater than your wretchedness.
54. When we fall, get up immediately and start over.
55. Get help when you need it, without fear and without shame.