Late have I loved Thee, 0 Beauty so ancient and so new; late have I loved Thee! For behold Thou wert within me, and I outside; and I sought Thee outside and in my unloveliness fell upon those lovely things that Thou hast made. Thou wert with me and I was not with Thee. I was kept from Thee by those things, yet had they not been in Thee, they would not have been at all. Thou didst call and cry to me and break open my deafness: and Thou didst send forth Thy beams and shine upon me and chase away my blindness: Thou didst breathe fragrance upon me, and I drew in my breath and do now pant for Thee: I tasted Thee, and now hunger and thirst for Thee: Thou didst touch me, and I have burned for Thy peace. Saint Augustine "Confessions"

Episode Notes

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If Orthodox Christians seek to practice true religion then we must recognize the inherent danger of becoming Pharisaical. Of keeping the rules without paying attention to the inner disposition. We believe that we are to become holy, not just on paper but really holy, that is a dangerous belief, but we must believe it despite the risk.

In the Old they were commanded to walk but they had no legs, in the New we are commanded to fly but now we have wings.

Episode Notes

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When God created us He did not create us in motionless static position and then say chose what direction you will go. When man comes into being he is thrown into being, our coming into being is a kinetic event in which God hurls us into existence in a very specific direction. He did not throw us down like a rock in the mud. He throws us toward our beautiful and holy purpose of sharing in His fullness of being. And as long as we are ascending unimpeded in this God induced directional movement there is bliss, it is all peaceful and light, everything is beautiful and keeps getting more and more beautiful the further we progress. # Episode Notes

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Episode Notes

We often feel like we need to do God’s job for him. That’s a heavy weight to bear, being God - Judge and Jury of the cosmos. A weight we were not designed for. A weight that will crush us if we are not careful. It is a heavy burden holding everyone to account, it is a light yoke to forgive and show mercy to feel empathy for the sinner who is suffering under the weight of their own sin. This is much better than being a critical judge who is eaten up with anger and bitterness which will lead to our own destruction.

I assure you there is fire in that chalice, divine fire, the very blood of God who was made Man. There are angels all around this altar standing in awe at the great miracle. That the Glorified Crucified Lord of Heaven and Earth is with us not just Spiritually but bodily and we take him into ourselves, we eat his flesh and drink his blood and we do not even realize what we do but with some measure of fear and trepidation and joy we do it in faith.

The enemy offers a faux power, it is a power which destroys and tears down and leads to emptiness and annihilation. The power of the Spirit creates and builds up and makes something out of nothing. You have received the Eternal Spirit as your friend and comforter he who hovered over the waters in the beginning and formed the structures and order of the cosmos is in you in the most intimate way. Do you not think He is capable of ordering your life? Of making something beautiful? Is your sin and dysfunction so great that the One who set the boundaries of the seas cannot make something of your life?

Not only priest and victim He is also King and Ruler of all. And all of this as God made Man, as your elder brother as your new and true Father-Adam in whom your humanity is ransomed, crowned, and fulfilled.

How important is faith? Without it you cannot be pleasing to God. Faith is what compels you to go search for God because you believe that He exists and that He will reward you with delectable delights if you chase Him down and catch Him.

Jesus endured His cross was glorified, made immortal and went home to majesty while we remain in the polluted world that killed him and wants to kill us. This could be taken as a negative but Jesus says it is for our good and to our advantage that He go away so that He might send another comforter who will not only be with us but in us and be the instrument that will enable us to follow Jesus thru the cross into resurrection-immortality-eternal glory-union with God.

Your potential for Joy or despair depends on one thing and that is how close you are to Jesus. He has made Himself known to us in various ways, there is a way, a door, to Him if we avail ourselves. But we must also realize that there is an insidious enemy which seeks to prevent us from passing thru that door, this enemy above all else wants to keep us from being close to Jesus.