It is a joy and encouragement to see the cosmic embrace of Orthodoxy affirmed. So often what we hear is the pinched and condemning side of all our various traditions, drawing lines, excluding, and claiming (daring!) to uphold God's holiness. (Remember Uzzah, y'all?) We do well to remember that God is the all-competent and all-adequate defender of Godself. Our task is to love and reverence God and proclaim God's passionate desire for the sanctification and transformation of all, not to presume that God will suffer without our protection. Sheesh.
Truth and leniency always go together. If you want to separate truth from leniency, separate them for your own self! But then, know it, you will hear the truth without leniency!
— Archimandrite Joel Giannakopoulos
Pray for our Orthodox siblings throughout the world and for the folks at JN1034.
--the BB
4 comments:
Truth and leniency. I love that.
Thanks for remembering our witness. At times, it's harrowing (at others, gleeful). But you know this cyclical nature, too. The martyrdom of the present Orthodox Church, as with the Anglican Communion (and TEC) - and perhaps some in Rome, even! - evidences the brewing newness of the Holy Spirit in spacetime despite calcified superstitions and by-gone customs. This is why we beg for a theology of the future, of a horizon yet sketched, for all. And, of course, we are all attacked. We've our good moments, and our times of fear, doubt, self-indulgence. Then, through the grace and mercy of the Holy Spirit comes a faint voice of hope, and we hear the BB sigh deeply, and urge us: Onward! Upward! Outward! Thanks, Paul.
Paul,
thank you for reminding me to visit JN1034's site more often: a wonderful witness.
Prayers ascending for those who stand and pray for a better world.
Post a Comment