December 2016 - Bible-Belt Orthodoxy

FLAPJACKS

Whenever we have the opportunity to eat pancakes, syrup must play a vital part of the meal. My wife and I have very different techniques in enjoying our flapjacks. I carefully place a glob of butter in between the top and bottom layer and then circle the cake with just enough syrup to touch and flavor each and every bite, occasional adding fresh berries or a little jelly to enhance the experience. And when I am enjoying my last bite, my plate has been wiped dry, not wasting a drop.

Now for my wife, there is never enough syrup. When we visit our favorite breakfast place, Bob Evans, even before the waitress is able to land all the saucers and plates of what we have ordered on the table, my wife briskly informs her that she will need more syrup! She enjoys her pancakes totally submersed and wringing wet with the sugary maple liquid we call syrup. It seems as though she should order syrup with a side order of pancakes. And when she has finished, there is still a lake of syrup in her plate, awaiting anything else that she could chose to submerse. Well for my wife and me, we do not associate eating flapjacks without adding syrup!

As a human being, we too need ingredients added! What did Saint Paul’s instruct to the church in Galatia! For if we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, than we must possess the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. [Gal. 5:22-23] Without these qualities it is like a plain ole pancake without any toppings! Blessed Jerome writes: “What deserves to hold the first place among the fruits of the Spirit if not love? Without love other virtues are not reckoned to be virtues. From love is born all that is good.” [“Epistle to the Galatians,” 3.5.22, P.L. 26:419B-420B (510-512), cited in ACC, VIII:89.]

When people get to know you, are you a plain ole pancake without any toppings or are you wringing wet with the sweetness of Christ-like love? In this season of Nativity we are reminded that everything should be covered with the syrup of love! For it is love that God sent His Son into the world and it is love that the Son sacrificed himself for you. You are loved! You have a purpose in this life! Be like my wife’s flapjack, wringing wet with the syrupy sweetness of love covering everything and everybody you encounter in your life with prayerful love, warmth and joy.

Fr. Gabriel Weller 12/25/16

Reflector or Refractor

Now that we are settling into our cabin we are trying to get use to the 8 foot descent of our driveway. It is somewhat gradual but none the less it is a drop. At the bottom of the driveway is our porch. There is a 12 inch thick 12 foot tall retaining wall holding our driveway and garage in place. Well, that leaves quite a drop off so we installed a guardrail to help prevent anything or anybody from going over the wall!

When we arrive home at night as we descend down to our cabin, the guardrail is hard to see so I installed reflectors on the posts to readily help us identify the possible danger. The soft reflected glow of light alerts us to the possible danger and helps ensure our safety.

In town, reflectors are everywhere. We see them on bicycles, construction workers, vehicles, joggers and pedestrians. I even noticed them around the edge of a stop light. All of these products reflect a light source usually bouncing it back to the light source. When light is reflected, there is a loss associated with the bouncing back due to the change of direction of the light, the type of material of the reflector and the working condition of the reflector. Obstacles or dirt on the reflector, weather such as fog, snow and rain and physical damage to the device greatly affect the performance of how much light is bounced back as well.

We humans are also reflectors. In the epistle reading from Ephesians, we here: “walk worthily of the calling in which ye were called, with all humility and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” We reflect the light of the Creator in our day to day walk in life. We are instructed in Eph. 5:8 to “Be walking as children of light”. The world is being seduced by darkness and desperately needs His reflectiveness.

For the safety and sanctity of life, we need to brilliantly reflect the Light of Christ. Not obstructed by dirt and debris by missing church services but shining as a beacon in the midst of a mighty storm, keeping our lens polished by the reading and study of the bible and writings of the church fathers, and the cleansing of our soul with confession and the Body and Blood of Christ continually washing away the layers of weathering life has applied to our heart.

There is a lot of danger in the world today and we are descending down a dark treacherous slope leading us farther and farther away from the safety of our great Sheppard. May the uncreated light of Christ reflect in your life brilliantly and protect you and your loved ones from the entanglements and snares of the evil one. Be a great reflector! Glory to Thee!

Fr. Gabriel Weller 12-11-16

The Chance Of Monopoly

The parable in the Gospel reading this morning takes me back to a board game I use to play many years ago. When the weather was bad or darkness arrived way before bedtime, my sisters and I would play the game of Monopoly for fun. Having two older sisters kept me on my toes as they wheeled and dealed their way into financial security. Often times we had to reference the rules to ensure no one was cheating or bending the rules and taking advantage of the little guy!

One of things I most liked about that game was the uncertainty or chance we took with every move we made on the board. Much like life, we never know what is around the corner and what decisions we may face. Around and around the board we go as the years of our life hurry by.

In the game of Monopoly, the person with the most stuff wins! In reality of this life we live, the one who loves God more than stuff and more than oneself is the winner. However, “stuff” can bring blessings and bare spiritual fruit if we are thankful and use our possessions in a Godly way. There is a famous quote from a desert Father “he who has received a gift from God, and is ungrateful for it, is already on the way to losing it”.

St. John Chrysostom compares the good wealth of a man to the Manna sent by God to the Jewish people as they were wandering in the Desert of Sinai. The people were allowed to take as much as they wanted and were satisfied. We know that many of them were greedy and desired to collect more to be put into storage. They discovered that the excess food molded quickly and went to waste. Selfishness brings rot and waste to our blessings from God. St. Peter of Damaskos wrote: “when God is thanked, He gives us still further blessings, while we, by receiving His gifts, love Him all the more and through this love attain that divine wisdom whose beginning is the fear of God.”

In the Gospel, “But God said to him, ‘Fool, this night they demand thy soul from thee; and what thou didst prepare, for whom shall it be?’ “Thus is the one who treasureth up for himself, and is not rich toward God.” [Lk. 12:19-21] Saint Basil instructs us in this manner: “Are you not a grasper of everything? Are you not a robber? You who treat as absolutely yours what you receive that you might dispense to others. He who strips another man of his clothing, is he not called a robber? And he who does not clothe the naked when he could, should he not be called the same? That bread you hold in your clutches that belongs to the starving. That cloak you keep locked in your wardrobe that belongs to the naked. Those shoes that are going to waste with you, they belong to the barefooted. The silver you buried away, that belongs to the needy. Whomsoever you could have helped and did not, to so many have you been unjust. I have spoken to you as best I could. For you who respond, the blessings are ready that were promised you. For you who do not respond, the sentence is already written; and I pray most earnestly that, reflecting upon this bitter counsel I am giving you, you may escape those penalties; that your riches may become instead the price of your redemption, and that you also may attain to those heavenly good things.” [Ib., III:332, §§ 7, 8.]

As we navigate around the board in life, we are to invest out gifts wisely by keeping what we need and giving generously to those in need. For if we give God control of our monopoly, there is no such thing as chance, only ample opportunity. You cannot out give God!

Fr. Gabriel Weller 12/4/16