- 6 weeks ago
world view today
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00:00Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
00:14Today we share with you a work from Father Seraphim Rose, entitled The Orthodox World
00:20of View. Before beginning my talk, a word or two on why it is important to have an Orthodox
00:30worldview, and why it is more difficult to build one today than in past centuries.
00:40In past centuries, for example the 19th century Russia, the Orthodox worldview was an important
00:47part of Orthodox life, and was supported by the life around it.
00:54There was no need even to speak of it as a separate thing, you lived Orthodoxy in harmony
01:01with the Orthodox society around you, and you had an Orthodox worldview, provided by the
01:07church and society.
01:11In many countries, the government itself confessed Orthodoxy.
01:16It was the center of public functions, and the king or ruler himself was historically the
01:23first Orthodox layman, with a responsibility to give a Christian example to all his subjects.
01:32Every city had Orthodox churches, and many of them had services every day, morning and evening.
01:39There were monasteries in all the great cities, in many cities, outside the cities, in the countryside,
01:49in deserts, and the wilderness.
01:53In Russia, there were more than 1,000 officially organized monasteries, in addition to other more
02:00or unofficial groups.
02:01Monasticism was an accepted part of life.
02:07Most families, in fact, had somewhere in them a sister or brother, uncle, grandfather, cousin,
02:15or someone who was a monk or a nun, in addition to all the other examples of Orthodox life.
02:22People who wandered from monastery to monastery, and fools for Christ.
02:30The whole way of life was permeated with Orthodox kinds of people, of which, of course,
02:38monasticism is the center.
02:40Orthodox customs were a part of daily life.
02:46Most books that were commonly read were Orthodox.
02:51Daily life itself was difficult for most people.
02:55They had to work hard to survive.
02:58Life expectancy was not great.
03:01Death was a frequent reality, all of which reinforced the Church's teaching on the reality
03:08and nearness of the other world.
03:12Living an Orthodox life in such circumstances was really the same thing as having an Orthodox
03:18worldview, and there was little need to talk of such a thing.
03:25Today, on the other hand, all this has changed.
03:29Our Orthodoxy is a little island in the midst of a world which operates on totally different
03:35principles, and every day these principles are changing for the worse, making us more and
03:42more alienated from it.
03:45Many people are tempted to divide their lives into two sharply distinct categories.
03:52The daily life we lead at work, with worldly friends, in our worldly business, and Orthodoxy,
03:59which we live on Sundays, and at other times in the week, when we have time for it.
04:06But the worldview of such a person, if you look at it closely, is often a strange combination
04:14of Christian values and worldly values, which really do not mix.
04:19The purpose of this talk is to see how people living today can begin to make their worldview more
04:28of one piece, to make it a whole Orthodox worldview.
04:36Orthodoxy is life.
04:38If we don't live Orthodoxy, we simply are not Orthodox, no matter what formal beliefs we
04:45might hold.
04:45Life, in our contemporary world, has become very artificial, very uncertain, very confusing.
04:57Orthodoxy, it is true, has a life of its own, but it is also not very far from the life of
05:03the world around it, and so the life of the Orthodox Christian, even when he is being truly
05:09Orthodox, cannot help but reflect it in some way.
05:15A kind of uncertainty and confusion have also entered into Orthodox life in our times.
05:24In this talk, we will try to look at contemporary life, and then at Orthodox life, to see how better
05:31we might fulfill our Christian obligation to lead otherworldly lives, even in these quite
05:38terrible times, and to have an Orthodox Christian view of the whole of life today that will enable
05:45us to survive these times with our faith intact.
05:51Life today has become abnormal.
05:54Anyone who looks at our contemporary life from the perspective of the normal life lived by people in
06:03earlier times, say Russia or America or any country of Western Europe in the 19th century,
06:10cannot help but be struck by the fact of how abnormal life has become today.
06:16The whole concept of authority and obedience, of decency and politeness, of public and private
06:25behavior, all have changed drastically, have been turned upside down except in a few isolated
06:33pockets of people, usually Christians of some kind, who try to preserve the so-called old-fashioned
06:40way of life.
06:43Our abnormal life today can be characterized as spoiled, pampered.
06:50From infancy, today's child is treated, as a general rule, like a little god or goddess in the family.
06:59His whims are catered to, his desires fulfilled.
07:05He is surrounded by toys, amusements, comforts.
07:09He is not trained and brought up according to strict principles of Christian behavior, but
07:15left to develop whichever way his desires incline.
07:21It is usually enough for him to say, I want it, or I won't do it, for his obliging parents
07:28to bow down before him and let him have his way.
07:31Perhaps this does not happen all the time in every family, but it happens often enough to
07:40be the rule of contemporary child-rearing, and even the best-intentioned parents do not
07:46entirely escape its influence.
07:50Even if the parents try to raise the child strictly, the neighbors are trying to do something else.
07:56They have to take that into consideration when disciplining the child.
08:03When such a child becomes an adult, he naturally surrounds himself with the same things he was used to
08:10in his childhood, comforts, amusements, and grown-up toys.
08:15Life becomes a constant search for fun, which, by the way, is a word totally unheard of in any other vocabulary.
08:26In 19th century Russia, they wouldn't have understood what this word meant, or any serious civilization.
08:35Life is a constant search for fun, which is so empty of any serious meaning that a visitor from the 19th century country
08:45looking at our popular television programs, amusement parks, advertisements, movies, music,
08:53at almost any aspect of our popular culture, would think he had stumbled across a land of imbeciles
09:00who have lost all contact with normal reality.
09:05We don't often take that into consideration, because we are living in this society, and we take it for granted.
09:13Some recent observers of our contemporary life have called the young people of today the me generation,
09:22and are times the age of narcissism, characterized by a worship of, and fascination with, oneself
09:29that prevents a normal human life from developing.
09:33Others have spoken of the plastic universe, or fantasy world, in which so many people live today,
09:42unable to face or come to terms with the reality of the world around them, or the problems within themselves.
09:52When the me generation turns to religion, which has been happening very frequently in the past several decades,
09:59it is usually to a plastic or fantasy form of religion,
10:03a religion of self-development, where the self remains the object of worship,
10:09of brainwashing and mind control, of deified gurus and swamis,
10:16of a pursuit of UFOs and extraterrestrial beings,
10:20of abnormal spiritual states and feelings.
10:24We will not go into all these manifestations there,
10:30which are probably familiar enough to most of you,
10:34except to discuss a little later how these touch on the Orthodox Christian spiritual life of our days.
10:42It is important for us to realize,
10:45as we try ourselves to lead a Christian life today,
10:49that the world which has been formed by our pampered times
10:52makes demands on the soul,
10:55whether in religion or in secular life,
10:58which are what one has to call totalitarian.
11:03This is easy enough to see in the mind-bending cults
11:07that have received so much publicity in recent years,
11:10in which demand total allegiance to a self-made holy man,
11:15but it is just as evident in secular life,
11:18where one is confronted not just by an individual temptation here or there,
11:24but by a constant state of temptation that attacks one,
11:28whether in the background music heard everywhere in markets and businesses,
11:33in the public signs and billboards of city streets,
11:36in the rock music which is brought even to forest campgrounds and trails,
11:41and in the home itself,
11:43where television often becomes the street ruler of the household,
11:47dictating modern values, opinions, and tastes.
11:53If you have young children, you know how true this is.
11:57When they have seen something on television,
12:00how difficult it is to fight against this new opinion,
12:03which has been given as an authority by the television.
12:06The message of this universal temptation that attacks men today,
12:14quite openly in its secular forms,
12:16but usually more hidden in its religious forms, is,
12:20live for the present, enjoy yourself, relax, be comfortable.
12:27Behind this message is another, more sinister undertone,
12:31which is openly expressed only in the officially atheist countries,
12:36which are one step ahead of the free world in this respect.
12:41In fact, we should realize that what is happening in the world today
12:46is very similar,
12:48whether it occurs behind the Iron Curtain,
12:50or in the free world.
12:53There are different varieties of it,
12:56but there is a very similar attack to get our soul.
13:01In the communist countries,
13:03which have an official doctrine of atheism,
13:06they tell quite openly that you are to
13:08forget about God in any other life but the present.
13:13Remove from your life the fear of God
13:15and reverence for holy things.
13:18Regard those who still believe in God
13:20in the old-fashioned way
13:22as enemies who must be exterminated.
13:25One might take,
13:28as a symbol of our carefree,
13:30fun-loving,
13:31self-worshipping times,
13:33our American Disneyland.
13:36If so,
13:37we should not neglect to see behind it
13:39the more sinister symbol
13:41that shows where the me generation is really heading,
13:45the Soviet gulag,
13:47the chain of concentration camps
13:49that already governs the life
13:51of nearly half of the world's population.
13:53Two false approaches to spiritual life.
14:02But what,
14:03one might ask,
14:05does all this have to do with us,
14:07who are trying to lead,
14:09as best we can,
14:10a sober, orthodox,
14:12Christian life?
14:14It has a lot to do with it.
14:16We have to realize
14:19that the life around us,
14:21abnormal though it is,
14:23is the place where we begin
14:25our Christian life.
14:27Whatever we make of our life,
14:29whatever truly Christian content we give it,
14:32it is still,
14:33has something of the stamp
14:34of the me generation on it,
14:36and we have to be humble enough
14:38to see this.
14:40This is where we begin.
14:41There are two false approaches
14:45to the life around us
14:47that many often make today,
14:50thinking that somehow
14:51this is what orthodox Christians
14:53should be doing.
14:56One approach,
14:57the most common,
14:58is simply to go along with the times,
15:01adapt yourself to rock music,
15:04modern fashions and tastes,
15:06and the whole rhythm
15:07of our jazzed up modern life.
15:09Often,
15:12the more old-fashioned parents
15:14will have little contact
15:16with this life,
15:17and will live their own life
15:19more or less separately,
15:21but they will smile
15:22to see their children
15:23follow after its craze,
15:25and think that this is
15:27something harmless.
15:30This path is total disaster
15:33for the Christian life.
15:35It is the death of the soul.
15:36Some can still lead
15:40an outwardly respectable life
15:42without struggling
15:43against the spirit
15:45of the times,
15:46but inwardly,
15:48they are dead or dying,
15:49and,
15:50the saddest thing of all,
15:52their children
15:53will pay the price
15:54in various psychic
15:56and spiritual disorders
15:57and sicknesses
15:58which become more
16:00and more common.
16:01One of the leading members
16:04of the suicide cult
16:05that ended so spectacularly
16:07in Jonestown
16:09four years ago
16:10was the young daughter
16:11of a Greek Orthodox priest.
16:16Satanic rock groups
16:17like KISS,
16:19Kids in Satan's Service,
16:21are made up of
16:22ex-Russian Orthodox
16:23young people.
16:25The largest part
16:26of the membership
16:27of the Temple of Satan
16:28in San Francisco,
16:30according to a recent
16:31sociological survey,
16:33is made up
16:34of Orthodox boys.
16:37These are only
16:39a few striking cases.
16:41Most Orthodox young people
16:42don't go so far astray.
16:45They just blend in
16:46with the anti-Christian world
16:48around them
16:49and cease to be examples
16:50of any kind of Christianity
16:52for those around them.
16:56This is wrong.
16:57The Christian must be
16:59different from the world,
17:01above all from today's
17:02weird, abnormal world,
17:05and this must be
17:06one of the basic things
17:07he knows
17:08as part of his
17:09Christian upbringing.
17:12Otherwise,
17:13there is no point
17:13in calling ourselves
17:15Christian,
17:15much less
17:16Orthodox Christians.
17:20The false approach
17:21at the opposite extreme
17:23is one that one might call
17:24false spirituality.
17:27As translations
17:29of Orthodox books
17:30on the spiritual life
17:31become more widely available,
17:34and the Orthodox vocabulary
17:35of spiritual struggle
17:36is placed more and more
17:38in the air,
17:39one finds an increasing
17:41number of people
17:42talking about
17:43hesychazism,
17:45the Jesus prayer,
17:46the ascetic life,
17:48exalted states of prayer,
17:49and the most exalted
17:51holy fathers
17:52like St. Simeon,
17:54the new theologian,
17:55St. Gregory Palamis,
17:57and St. Gregory the Sinai.
18:00It is all very well
18:01to be aware of this
18:02truly exalted side
18:04of Orthodox spiritual life,
18:06and to have reverence
18:08for the great saints
18:09who have actually lived it.
18:11But unless we have
18:12a very realistic
18:13and very humble awareness
18:15of how far away
18:16all of us today are
18:18from the life
18:19of hesychazism,
18:20and how little prepared
18:22we are even to approach it,
18:25our interest in it
18:26will be only one more expression
18:28of our self-centered
18:30plastic universe.
18:32The me generation
18:35goes hesychazist.
18:37That is what some
18:38are trying to do today,
18:40but in actuality,
18:42they are only adding
18:43a new game
18:44called hesychazism
18:45to the attractions
18:46of Disneyland.
18:50There are books
18:51on this subject
18:52now that are very popular.
18:55In fact,
18:56Roman Catholics
18:57are going in very big
18:58for this kind of thing
19:00under Orthodox influence,
19:01and themselves
19:02influencing other
19:04Orthodox people.
19:06For example,
19:07there is a Jesuit priest,
19:09Father George Maloney,
19:11who writes all kinds
19:13of books
19:13on this subject
19:14and translates
19:15St. Marsanius the Great
19:17and St. Simeon
19:18the New Theologian
19:19and tries to get people
19:21in everyday life
19:22to be hesychists.
19:25They have all kinds
19:26of retreats,
19:28usually charismatic.
19:30People are inspired
19:31by the Holy Spirit,
19:32supposedly,
19:33and undertake
19:34all types of these
19:35disciplines,
19:36which we get
19:37from the Holy Fathers,
19:38and which are far
19:39beyond the level
19:40at which we are today.
19:44It is a very
19:45unserious thing.
19:47There is also a lady,
19:49Catherine de Huc,
19:50de Hirti,
19:51in fact,
19:52she was born in Russia
19:53and became a Roman Catholic,
19:55who writes books
19:57about Piostinia,
19:59the desert life,
20:00and Mokhani,
20:01the silent life,
20:03and all these things
20:04which she tries
20:05to put into life
20:06like you would
20:08have some fashion
20:09for a new candy.
20:13This, of course,
20:15is very unserious
20:16and is a very tragic sign
20:18of our times.
20:19These kind of
20:22exalted things
20:23are being used
20:24by people
20:25who have no idea
20:26of what they are about.
20:29For some people,
20:31it is only a habit
20:32or a pastime.
20:34For others,
20:35who take it seriously,
20:36it can be a great tragedy.
20:40They think
20:41they are leading
20:42some kind of
20:43exalted life,
20:44and really,
20:45they have not come to terms
20:47with their own problems
20:48inside themselves.
20:52Let me re-emphasize
20:54that both of these extremes
20:56are to be avoided,
20:58both worldliness
20:59and super-spirituality,
21:02but this does not mean
21:03that we should not have
21:05a realistic awareness
21:06of the legitimate demands
21:09which the world makes upon us,
21:11or that we should cease
21:12respecting and taking
21:14sound instruction
21:15from the great
21:16Hesychist fathers
21:17and using the Jesus prayer
21:19ourselves
21:20according to our
21:21circumstances
21:22and capacity.
21:25It just has to be
21:27on our level,
21:28down to earth.
21:31The point is,
21:33and it is a point
21:34that is absolutely
21:35necessary for our survival
21:37as Orthodox Christians
21:39today,
21:40we must realize
21:41our situation
21:42as Orthodox Christians
21:44today.
21:44we must realize
21:46deeply
21:47what times
21:47we live in,
21:49how little
21:49we actually
21:50know and feel
21:51our Orthodoxy,
21:52how far we are
21:54not just from
21:55the saints
21:56of ancient times,
21:58but even from
21:59the ordinary
22:00Orthodox Christians
22:01of a hundred years
22:02or even a generation
22:04ago,
22:04and how much
22:05we must humble
22:06ourselves
22:07just to strive
22:09as Orthodox Christians
22:10today.
22:11what we can do
22:16more specifically,
22:21what can we do
22:22to gain this
22:23awareness,
22:24this realization,
22:26and how can we
22:27make it fruitful
22:28in our lives?
22:29I will try to
22:32answer this
22:32question in two
22:33parts.
22:34First,
22:35concerning our
22:36awareness of the
22:37world around us,
22:39which, as never
22:40before in the
22:40history of
22:41Christianity,
22:42has become our
22:43conscious enemy.
22:45And second,
22:46concerning our
22:47awareness of
22:48Orthodoxy,
22:49which, I am
22:50afraid,
22:51most of us know
22:52much less than
22:53we should,
22:54much less than
22:55we have to know
22:56if we wish to
22:57keep it.
22:59First,
23:01since whether we
23:02wish it or not
23:03we are in the
23:04world,
23:05and its effects
23:05are felt strongly
23:07even in a remote
23:08place like our
23:09monastery here,
23:10we must face it
23:11and its temptations
23:13squarely and
23:14realistically,
23:16but without giving
23:17in to it.
23:18In particular,
23:19we must prepare
23:20our young people
23:21for the temptations
23:22facing them,
23:23and, as it were,
23:25inoculate them
23:26against these
23:27temptations.
23:27We must be
23:30aware that the
23:31world around us
23:32seldom helps
23:33and almost
23:34always hinders
23:36the upbringing
23:36of the child
23:37in the true
23:38Orthodox spirit.
23:41We must be
23:42ready every day
23:44to answer the
23:44influence of the
23:45world by the
23:46principles of a
23:47sound Christian
23:48upbringing.
23:49upbringing.
23:52This means that
23:53what a child
23:54learns at school
23:55must constantly
23:56be checked
23:57and corrected
23:57at home.
24:00We cannot
24:01assume that
24:02something he is
24:03going to learn
24:04at school
24:04is simply
24:05something that
24:05is profitable
24:06or secular
24:07and has nothing
24:09to do with
24:09his Orthodox
24:10upbringing.
24:11He may be
24:13taught useful
24:14skills and
24:15facts.
24:16Although many
24:17schools in
24:17America today
24:18are failing
24:19miserably even
24:20at this,
24:21many school
24:21teachers tell
24:22us that all
24:22they do,
24:23all they can
24:24do,
24:24is keep the
24:25children in
24:26good order
24:26in class
24:27without even
24:28teaching them
24:28anything.
24:29But even
24:30if he gets
24:31this much,
24:32he is also
24:33taught many
24:34wrong attitudes
24:35and philosophies.
24:36A child's
24:40basic attitude
24:41towards an
24:41appreciation of
24:43literature,
24:44music,
24:45history,
24:45art,
24:46philosophy,
24:47even science,
24:48and of course
24:49life and
24:50religion,
24:51must come
24:52first of all
24:52not from
24:53school,
24:54for the school
24:55will give you
24:56all this mixed
24:57up with modern
24:58philosophy.
24:59It must come
25:00first from the
25:01home and
25:01church,
25:03or else he
25:04is bound to
25:04be miseducated
25:06to today's
25:07world,
25:07where public
25:08education is
25:09at best
25:10agnostic,
25:11and at worst
25:12openly
25:13atheistic,
25:14or anti-religious.
25:18Of course,
25:19in the Soviet
25:20Union,
25:20all this is
25:21forced upon
25:22the child,
25:23with no
25:23religion
25:24whatsoever
25:25and an
25:25active program
25:27of making
25:27the child
25:28an atheist.
25:31Parents
25:32must know
25:32exactly what
25:33is being taught
25:34their children
25:35in education
25:36courses,
25:37which are
25:37almost universal
25:38today in
25:39American schools,
25:40and correct it
25:41at home,
25:43not only by a
25:44frank attitude
25:44to this subject,
25:46especially between
25:46fathers and
25:47sons,
25:48a very rare
25:49thing in
25:49American society,
25:51but also by a
25:52clear setting
25:53forth of the
25:54moral aspect
25:55of it,
25:56which is
25:56totally absent
25:57in public
25:58education.
26:00Parents
26:01must know
26:01just what
26:02kind of music
26:03their children
26:04are listening
26:04to,
26:05what is
26:06in the
26:06movies they
26:07see,
26:08listening and
26:09seeing together
26:09with them
26:10when necessary,
26:11what kind of
26:12language they
26:13are exposed
26:13to,
26:14and what kind
26:15of language
26:15they use,
26:16and give the
26:17Christian attitude
26:18to all this.
26:21Television,
26:22in households
26:23where there is
26:24not enough
26:25courage to
26:26throw it
26:26out the window,
26:28must be
26:28strictly controlled
26:30and supervised
26:31to avoid
26:32the poisonous
26:33effects of
26:33this machine,
26:35which has
26:35become the
26:35leading educator
26:36of anti-Christian
26:38attitudes and
26:39ideas in the
26:40home itself,
26:41especially to
26:42the young.
26:44I speak
26:45about the
26:46raising of
26:47children because
26:47this is where
26:48the world first
26:49strikes its blows
26:51at Orthodox
26:51Christians and
26:53forms them in
26:54its image.
26:55Once wrong
26:55attitudes have
26:56been formed in
26:57a child,
26:58the task of
26:59giving him a
26:59Christian education
27:00becomes doubly
27:02difficult.
27:04But it is not
27:05only children,
27:06it is all of us
27:07who are facing
27:08the world which
27:09is trying to
27:10form us in
27:11anti-Christianity
27:12by means of
27:14schools,
27:15television,
27:16movies,
27:17popular music,
27:18and all the
27:19other influences
27:19that pound in
27:20upon us,
27:21most of all
27:22in the big cities.
27:25We have to be
27:26aware that what
27:27is being pounded
27:28in upon us
27:29is all of one
27:30piece.
27:31It has a certain
27:32rhythm, a certain
27:33message to give
27:34us.
27:35This message of
27:36self-worship, of
27:37relaxing, of
27:38letting go, of
27:40enjoying yourself,
27:41of giving up any
27:42thought of the
27:43other world in
27:44various forms,
27:46whether in music,
27:47or in movies,
27:48television, or
27:49what is being
27:50taught in schools,
27:51the way subjects
27:52are emphasized,
27:53the way the
27:54background is given,
27:55and everything else.
27:56there is one
27:57particular thing
27:59which is being
28:00given to us.
28:02It is actually
28:04an education in
28:05atheism.
28:07We have to fight
28:09back by knowing
28:10just what the
28:11world is trying
28:12to do to us,
28:13and by formulating
28:14and communicating
28:15our Orthodox
28:16Christian response
28:17to it.
28:20Frankly,
28:21from observing the
28:22way Orthodox
28:23families in
28:24today's world
28:24live and pass
28:25on their
28:26Orthodoxy,
28:27it would seem
28:28that this battle
28:29is more often
28:30lost than won.
28:32The percentage
28:32of Orthodox
28:33Christians who
28:34retain their
28:34Orthodox identity
28:36intact and are
28:37not changed into
28:38the image of
28:39today's world
28:40is small indeed.
28:43Still, it is not
28:45necessary to view
28:45the world around
28:46us as all bad.
28:49In fact, for our
28:51survival as
28:52Orthodox Christians,
28:53we have to be
28:54smart enough to
28:55use whatever is
28:56positive in the
28:57world for our
28:58own benefit.
29:00Here, I will go
29:02into a few points
29:03where we can use
29:04something in the
29:05world which seems
29:06to have nothing to
29:07do directly with
29:08Orthodoxy in order
29:10to formulate our
29:11Orthodox worldview.
29:14The child who
29:16has been exposed
29:16from his earliest
29:17years to good
29:18classical music and
29:20has seen his soul
29:21being developed by
29:22it will not be
29:23nearly as tempted
29:24by the crude
29:25rhythm and message
29:26of rock and
29:27other contemporary
29:28forms of suedo
29:30music as someone
29:31who has grown up
29:32without a musical
29:33education.
29:36Such a musical
29:37education, as
29:38several of the
29:39Optina elders have
29:40said, refines the
29:42soul and prepares
29:43it for the reception
29:44of spiritual
29:45impressions.
29:46humans.
29:47The child who has
29:49been educated in
29:50good literature,
29:51drama, and poetry
29:52and has felt their
29:53effect in his own
29:54soul, that is,
29:56has really enjoyed
29:57them, will not
29:58easily become an
29:59addict of the
30:00contemporary movies
30:02and television
30:02programs and cheap
30:04novels that
30:05devastate the soul
30:06and take it away
30:07from the Christian
30:08path.
30:10The child who has
30:12learned to see
30:13beauty in classical
30:14painting and
30:15sculpture will not
30:16easily be drawn
30:17into the perversity
30:18of contemporary
30:19art or be
30:21attracted by the
30:22garish products of
30:23modern advertising
30:24and pornography.
30:27The child who
30:28knows something of
30:29the history of the
30:30world, especially
30:31in Christian times,
30:33and how other
30:33people have lived
30:34and thought, what
30:36mistakes and
30:37pitfalls people have
30:38fallen into by
30:39departing from God
30:40and his commandments,
30:41and what glorious
30:42and influential lives
30:44they have lived
30:45when they were
30:45faithful to him,
30:47will be discerning
30:48about the life and
30:49philosophy of our
30:50own times, and
30:51will not be inclined
30:52to follow the first
30:53new philosophy or
30:55way of life he
30:56encounters.
30:58One of the basic
31:00problems facing the
31:01education of children
31:02today is that in
31:03the schools they are
31:04no longer given a
31:06sense of history.
31:08It is a dangerous
31:10and fatal thing to
31:11deprive a child of a
31:13sense of history.
31:15It means that he
31:17has no ability to
31:18take examples from
31:19the people who
31:20lived in the past.
31:23And actually, history
31:24constantly repeats
31:26itself.
31:28Once you see that,
31:29it becomes interesting
31:31how people have
31:32answered problems,
31:33how there have been
31:34people who have
31:35gone against God,
31:36and what results
31:37came from that,
31:39and how people
31:39changed their lives
31:41and became exceptions
31:42and gave an example
31:44which is lived down
31:45to our own times.
31:48This sense of history
31:50is a very important
31:51thing which should be
31:53communicated to
31:54children.
31:56In general, the
31:57person who is well
31:58acquainted with the
31:59best products of
32:01secular culture, which
32:02in the West almost
32:03always has definite
32:04religious and Christian
32:06overtones, has a much
32:08better chance of
32:09leading a normal,
32:10fruitful Orthodox life
32:11than someone who
32:13knows only the
32:14popular culture today.
32:17One who is converted
32:18to Orthodoxy, straight
32:21from rock culture,
32:22and in general anyone
32:23who thinks that he can
32:24combine Orthodoxy with
32:26that kind of culture,
32:28has much suffering to
32:29go through, and a
32:30difficult road in life
32:32before he can become a
32:34truly serious Orthodox
32:35Christian, who is
32:37capable of handing on
32:38his faith to others.
32:41Without this suffering,
32:43without this awareness,
32:44Orthodox parents will
32:45raise their children to
32:47be devoured by the
32:48contemporary world.
32:51The world's best culture,
32:53properly received,
32:55refines and develops
32:56the soul.
32:57Today's popular culture
32:59cripples and deforms the
33:01soul, and hinders it
33:02from having a full and
33:03normal response to the
33:05message of Orthodoxy.
33:08Therefore, in our battle
33:10against the spirit of
33:11this world, we can use
33:13the best things the
33:14world has to offer in
33:15order to go beyond
33:16them.
33:17Everything good in the
33:18world, if we are only
33:19wise enough to see it,
33:21points to God, and to
33:22Orthodoxy, and we have
33:24to make use of it.
33:28The Orthodox Worldview
33:30With such an attitude, a
33:35view of both the good
33:36things and the bad
33:37things in the world, it
33:39is possible for us to
33:40have, and to fire, an
33:42Orthodox worldview, that
33:44is, an Orthodox view on
33:46the whole of life, not
33:48just on narrow church
33:49subjects.
33:51There exists a false
33:53opinion, which
33:54unfortunately is all too
33:56widespread, that it is
33:58enough to have an
33:59Orthodoxy that is
34:01limited to the church
34:02building and formal
34:04Orthodox activities, such
34:06as praying at certain
34:07times or making the sign
34:09of the cross.
34:10In everything else, so
34:12this opinion goes, one
34:14can be like anyone else,
34:16participating in the life
34:17and culture of our times
34:19without any problem, as
34:21long as we don't commit
34:23sin.
34:23Anyone who has come to
34:27realize how deep
34:28Orthodoxy is, and how
34:30full is the commitment
34:32which is required of the
34:33serious Orthodox
34:34Christian, and likewise
34:36what totalitarian demands
34:38the contemporary world
34:40makes on us, will easily
34:42see how wrong this
34:43opinion is.
34:46One is Orthodox all the
34:48time, every day, in
34:51every situation of life,
34:52or one is not really
34:54Orthodox at all.
34:57Our Orthodoxy is
34:59revealed not just in our
35:01strictly religious views,
35:02but in everything we do
35:04and say.
35:06Most of us are very
35:08unaware of the Christian
35:10religious responsibility
35:11we have for the
35:13seemingly secular part
35:15of our lives.
35:17The person with a truly
35:19Orthodox worldview lives
35:21every part of his life
35:23as Orthodox.
35:26Let us, therefore,
35:27ask here, how can we
35:29nourish and support
35:30this Orthodox worldview
35:32in our daily life?
35:36The first and most
35:38obvious way is to be
35:40in constant contact
35:41with the sources of
35:42Christian nourishment,
35:44with everything that the
35:45Church gives us for our
35:46enlightenment and salvation.
35:48the Church services and
35:51Holy Mysteries,
35:52Holy Scripture,
35:53the lives of the saints,
35:55the writings of the
35:56Holy Fathers.
35:58One must, of course,
36:01read books that are on
36:02one's own level of
36:03understanding, and apply
36:05the Church's teaching to
36:07one's own circumstances in
36:08life.
36:10Then, they can be fruitful
36:11in guiding us and
36:13changing us in a Christian
36:14way.
36:14But often, these basic
36:18Christian sources do not
36:20have their full effect on
36:22us, or don't really
36:23affect us at all,
36:25because we don't have the
36:26right Christian attitude
36:27towards them, and
36:28towards the Christian life
36:30they are supposed to
36:31inspire.
36:33Let me now say a word
36:35here about what our
36:36attitude should be if we
36:38are to obtain real
36:39benefit from them, and
36:41if they are going to be
36:42for us the beginning of a
36:43truly orthodox worldview.
36:48First of all, Christian
36:50spiritual food, by its
36:52very nature, is something
36:53living and nourishing.
36:55If our attitude towards
36:57it is merely academic and
36:59bookish, we will fail to
37:01get the benefit it is
37:02meant to give.
37:05Therefore, if we read
37:07orthodox books, or are
37:09interested in orthodoxy only
37:11to gain information, or
37:13show off our knowledge to
37:15others, we are missing
37:16the point.
37:17If we learn of the
37:18commandments of God, and
37:20the law of his church
37:21merely to be correct and
37:23to judge the incorrectness
37:25of others, we are missing
37:26the point.
37:29These things must not
37:30merely affect our ideas,
37:32but must directly touch our
37:34lives and change them.
37:36In any time of great crisis
37:40and human affairs, such as
37:42the critical times right in
37:44front of us in the free
37:45world, those who place
37:46their trust in outward
37:48knowledge and laws and
37:49canons and correctness will
37:51be unable to stand.
37:55The strong ones, then, will
37:57be those whose orthodox
37:58education has given them a
38:00feel for what is truly
38:02Christian, those whose
38:03orthodoxy is in the heart and
38:05is capable of touching
38:06other hearts.
38:10Nothing is more tragic than
38:11to see someone who is
38:13raised in orthodoxy, has a
38:15certain idea of the
38:16catechism, has read some
38:18lives of the saints, has a
38:20general idea of what
38:21orthodoxy stands for,
38:23understands some of the
38:24services, and then is
38:26unaware of what is going on
38:28around him.
38:30And he gives his children
38:32this life in two
38:33categories.
38:34One is the way most people
38:36live, and the other way is
38:38how orthodox live on
38:39Sundays, and when they are
38:41reading some orthodox text.
38:45When a child is raised like
38:47that, he is most likely not
38:49going to take the orthodox
38:50one.
38:51It is going to be a very small
38:53part of his life, because the
38:55contemporary life is too
38:56attractive.
38:57Too many people are going for
38:59it.
38:59It is too much a part of
39:01reality today, unless he has
39:03been really taught how to
39:04approach it, how to guard
39:06himself against the bad
39:08effects of it, and how to
39:09take advantage of the good
39:11things which are in the world.
39:15Therefore, our attitude
39:16beginning right now must be
39:18down to earth and nominal.
39:21That is, it must be applied to
39:23the real circumstances of our
39:25life, not a product of fantasy
39:27and escapism and refusal to
39:30face the often unpleasant
39:32facts of the world around us.
39:36And orthodoxy that is too
39:38exalted and too much in the
39:40clouds belongs in a hothouse and
39:42is incapable of helping us in
39:44our daily life, let alone saying
39:46anything for the salvation of
39:48those around us.
39:50Our world is quite cruel and
39:53wounds souls with its harshness.
39:55We need to respond first of all
39:57with down-to-earth Christian
39:59love and understanding, leaving
40:01accounts of hesychasm and
40:04advanced forms of prayer to
40:06those capable of receiving
40:07them.
40:09So also, our attitude must be not
40:12self-centered, but reaching out to
40:15those who are seeking for God and
40:17for a godly life.
40:20Nowadays, wherever there is a
40:22good-sized orthodox community,
40:25the temptation is to make it into a
40:27society for self-congratulation
40:29and for taking delight in our
40:31orthodox virtues and achievements,
40:34the beauty of our church buildings
40:36and furnishings, the splendor of our
40:38services, even the purity of our
40:40doctrine.
40:43But the true Christian life, even
40:45since the time of the apostles, has
40:47always been inseparable from
40:50communicating it to others.
40:51An orthodoxy that is alive by this
40:56very fact shines forth to others, and
40:59there is no need to open a department
41:01of missions to do this.
41:03The fire of true Christianity
41:05communicates itself without us.
41:08If our orthodoxy is only something we
41:13keep for ourselves and boast about it,
41:16then we are the dead burying the
41:18dead, which is precisely the state of
41:21many of our orthodox parishes today,
41:24even those that have a large number of
41:26young people, if they are not going
41:28deeply into their faith.
41:29It is not enough to say that the
41:33young people are going to church.
41:36We need to ask what they are getting
41:38in church, what they are taking away
41:41from church, and, if they are not
41:43making orthodoxy a part of their whole
41:45life, then it really is not sufficient to
41:49say that they are going to church.
41:54Likewise, our attitude must be loving
41:56and forgiving. There is a kind of
41:59hardness that has crept into the
42:01orthodox life today. That man is a
42:03heretic. Don't go near him. That one is
42:06orthodox, supposedly, but you can't
42:09really be sure. That one there is
42:11obviously a spy.
42:15No one will deny that the church is
42:17surrounded by enemies today, or that
42:20there are some who stoop to taking
42:22advantage of our trust and confidence.
42:26But this is the way it has been since
42:29the time of the apostles, and the
42:31Christian life has always been
42:33something of a risk in this practical
42:35way. But even if we are sometimes
42:39taken advantage of and do have to show
42:42some caution in this regard, still, we
42:45cannot give up our basic attitude of
42:47love and trust without which we lose
42:49one of the very foundations of our
42:51Christian life. The world, which has no
42:56Christ, has to be mistrustful and cold, but
43:00Christians, on the contrary, have to be
43:02loving and open, or else we will lose the
43:06salt of Christ within us, and become just
43:09like the world, good for nothing, but to be
43:12cast out and trodden underfoot. A little
43:16humility in looking at ourselves would help
43:19us to be more generous and forgiving of
43:22the faults of others. We love to judge
43:26others for the strangeness of their
43:28behavior. We call them cuckoos or crazy
43:31converts. It is true that we should beware
43:36of really unbalanced people who can do us
43:39great harm in the church. But what serious
43:44orthodox Christian today is not a little
43:47crazy. We don't fit in with the ways of
43:51this world. If we do, in today's world, we
43:55aren't serious Christians. The true
44:00Christian today cannot be at home in the
44:02world. He cannot help but feel himself
44:05and be regarded by others as a little
44:08crazy.
44:08Just to keep alive the ideal of other
44:14worldly Christianity today, or to get
44:17baptized as an adult, or to pray
44:19seriously, is enough to be put into a
44:23crazy house in the Soviet Union and in
44:25many other countries, and these countries
44:27are leading the way for the rest of the
44:29world to follow.
44:30Therefore, let us not be afraid of being
44:36considered a little crazy by the world, and
44:39let us continue to practice the Christian
44:41love and forgiveness which the world can
44:44never understand, but which in its heart it
44:47needs and even craves.
44:50Finally, our Christian attitude must be
44:53what, for want of a better word, I would
44:56call innocent. Today, the world places a
45:00high value on sophistication, on being
45:03worldly wise, on being a professional.
45:09Orthodoxy places no value on these
45:11qualities. They kill the Christian soul.
45:16And yet these qualities constantly creep
45:19into the church and into our lives.
45:22How often one hears enthusiastic converts
45:27especially express their desire of going to
45:31the great Orthodox centers, the cathedrals
45:33and monasteries, where sometimes thousands
45:36of the faithful come together and
45:38everywhere the talk is of church matters, and
45:41one can feel how important Orthodoxy is, after
45:44all. That Orthodoxy is a small drop in the
45:50bucket when you look at the whole society.
45:53But in these great cathedrals and
45:55monasteries there are so many people that
45:58it seems as though it is really an
45:59important thing.
46:02And how often one sees these same people
46:05in a pitiful state after they have
46:07indulged their desire, returning from the
46:10great Orthodox centers, sour and
46:13dissatisfied, filled with worldly church
46:16gossip and criticism, anxious above all to
46:19be correct and proper and worldly wise
46:22about church politics.
46:26In a word, they have lost their innocence,
46:28their unworldliness, being led astray by
46:31their fascination with the worldly side
46:34of the church's life.
46:37In various forms, this is a temptation to
46:40us all, and we must fight it by not
46:42allowing ourselves to overvalue the
46:45externals of the church, but always
46:47returning to the one thing needful, Christ
46:51and the salvation of our souls from this
46:53wicked generation.
46:56We needn't be ignorant of what goes on in
46:59the world and in the church.
47:01In fact, for our own selves we have to
47:04know, but our knowledge must be practical
47:07and simple and single-minded, not
47:10sophisticated and worldly.
47:11Conclusion
47:14It is obvious to any Orthodox Christian
47:20who is aware of what is going on around
47:22him that the world is coming to its end.
47:27The signs of the times are so obvious
47:30that one might say that the world is
47:32crashing to its end.
47:34What are some of these signs?
47:41The abnormality of the world.
47:45Never have such weird and unnatural
47:48manifestations and behavior been accepted
47:50as a matter of course as in our days.
47:53Just look at the world around you.
47:58What is in the newspapers?
47:59What kind of movies are being shown?
48:02What is on television?
48:03What it is that people think is
48:05interesting and amusing?
48:07What they laugh at?
48:08It is absolutely weird.
48:11And there are people who deliberately
48:13promote this, of course, for their own
48:16financial benefit, and because that is the
48:18fashion, because there is a perverse
48:20craving for this kind of thing.
48:24The wars and rumors of wars, each more
48:28cold and merciless than the preceding,
48:30and all overshadowed by the threat of
48:33the unthinkable universal nuclear war,
48:36which could be set off by the touch of a
48:38button.
48:40The widespread natural disasters,
48:43earthquakes and now volcanoes,
48:44the newest one forming not far from here,
48:48near Yosemite Park in central California,
48:50which are already changing the world's
48:52weather patterns.
48:55The increasing centralization of
48:58information on and power over the
49:00individual, represented in particular by
49:04the enormous new computer in Luxembourg,
49:07which has the capacity to keep a file of
49:10information on every man living.
49:12Its code number is 666, and it is
49:16nicknamed the Beast by those who work on
49:19internet.
49:22To facilitate the working of such
49:23computers, the American government plans
49:26to begin, in 1984, the issuance of social
49:30security checks to persons with a number,
49:33apparently including the code number 666,
49:38stamped on their right hand or forehead,
49:40precisely the condition which will prevail
49:43according to the Apocalypse, chapters 13,
49:45during the reign of Antichrist.
49:48Of course, it doesn't mean that the first
49:52person to get himself stamped 666 is the
49:56Antichrist, or the servant of Antichrist,
49:59but once you are used to this, who will be
50:03able to resist?
50:05They will train you first, and then they will
50:08make you bow down to him.
50:09Again, the multiplication of false
50:14Christs and false Antichrists.
50:17The latest candidate just this summer
50:20spent probably millions of dollars
50:22advertising his impending appearance on
50:24the world television, promising to give at
50:26that time a telepathic message to all the
50:30world's inhabitants.
50:31Quite apart from any occult powers that
50:37might be involved in such events, we
50:39already know well enough that opportunities
50:42for presenting subliminal messages by radio
50:45and especially by television, as well as the
50:47fact that this can be done by anyone with
50:49the technology for breaking into normal
50:51radio and television signals, no matter how
50:54many laws there might be against it.
50:56The truly weird response to the new movie
51:01everyone in America is talking about in
51:03seeing E.T., which has caused literally
51:06millions of seemingly normal people to
51:10express their affection and love for the
51:12hero, a savior from outer space, who is
51:16quite obviously a demon, an obvious
51:19preparation for the worship of the
51:21coming of Antichrist.
51:22As incidentally, the movie editor of the
51:27official Greek Archdiocese newspaper in
51:30America, an Orthodox priest, has heartily
51:33recommended this movie to Orthodox people,
51:36saying that it is a wonderful movie which
51:38can teach us about love and everyone
51:41should go see it.
51:43There is quite a contrast between people
51:45who are trying to be aware of what is
51:47going on and those who are simply led into
51:50the mood of the times.
51:54I could go on with details like this, but
51:56my purpose is not to frighten you, but to
51:59make you aware of what is happening
52:01around us.
52:03It is truly later than we think.
52:06The apocalypse is now.
52:09And how tragic it is to see Christians, and
52:12above all Orthodox young people, with this
52:15incalculable tragedy hanging over their
52:18heads, who think they can continue what is
52:21called a normal life in these terrible
52:23times, participating fully in the whims of
52:27this silly, self-worshipping generation,
52:30totally unaware that the fool's paradise we
52:33are living in is about to crash, completely
52:37unprepared for the desperate times that lie
52:40just ahead of us.
52:41There is no longer even a question of being
52:45a good or a poor Orthodox Christian.
52:48The question now is, will our faith survive
52:52at all?
52:55With many, it will not survive.
52:58The coming Antichrist will be too attractive,
53:00too much in the spirit of the worldly things we
53:03now crave, for most men even to know that they
53:06have lost their Christianity by bowing down to
53:09him.
53:11Still, the call of Christ comes to us.
53:15Let us begin to heed it.
53:18The clearest expression of this call today is
53:21coming from the enslaved atheist world, where
53:25there is real suffering for Christ, and a
53:27seriousness of life which we are rapidly losing
53:31or have already lost.
53:32One Orthodox priest in Romania, Father George
53:38Calcleu, is now near death in a communist prison
53:42for daring to challenge young seminarians and
53:46students to put off their blind allegiance to the
53:49spirit of the times and come forward to labor for
53:52Christ.
53:54After speaking of the emptiness of atheism, he
53:58tells today's young people, I call you to a much higher
54:02flight, to total abandonment, to an act of courage
54:07which defies reason.
54:10I call you to God, to the one that transcends the world, so
54:16that you might know an infinite heaven of spiritual joy, the
54:20heaven which you presently grope for in your personal hell, and
54:24which you seek even while in a state of non-deliberate
54:28revolt.
54:29Jesus has always loved you, but now you have the choice to
54:33respond to his invitation.
54:37In responding, you are ordained to go and bear fruit that will
54:41remain, to be a prophet of Christ in the world in which you
54:47live, to love your neighbor as yourself, and to make all men
54:52your friend, to proclaim by every action this unique and limitless
54:58love, which has raised man from the level of a serf to that of
55:02a friend of God, to the prophets of this liberating love, which
55:08delivers you from all constraint, returning you your integrity as
55:13you offer yourself to God.
55:16Father George, speaking to young people who had little inspiration to
55:21serve Christ's church because they had accepted the worldly opinion, common
55:25also among us in the free world, that the church is only a set of buildings or a
55:30worldly organization, calls them and us to a deeper awareness of Christ's
55:36church and of how our formal membership in it is not enough to save us.
55:42The church of Christ is alive and free.
55:46In her, we move and have our being, through Christ who is her head.
55:54In him, we have full freedom.
55:57In the church, we learn of truth and the truth will set us free.
56:01You are in Christ's church whenever you uplift someone bent down in sorrow, or when you give
56:07alms to the poor or visit the sick.
56:09You are in Christ's church when you cry out, Lord, help me.
56:15You are in Christ's church when you are good and patient, when you refuse to get angry at
56:20your brother, even if he has wounded your feelings.
56:24You are in Christ's church when you pray, Lord, forgive him.
56:27When you work honestly at your job, returning home weary in the evenings, but with a smile
56:33upon your lips.
56:34When you repay evil with love, you are in Christ's church.
56:39Do you not see, therefore, young friend, how close the church of Christ is?
56:46You are Peter and God is building his church upon you.
56:51You are the rock of his church against which nothing can prevail.
56:57Let us build churches with our faith, churches which no human power can pull down, a church
57:03whose foundation is Christ.
57:06Feel for your brother alongside you.
57:08Never ask, who is he?
57:11Rather say, he is no stranger, he is my brother.
57:15He is the church of Christ, just as I am.
57:18With such a call in our hearts, let us begin really to belong to the church of Christ, the
57:26Orthodox Church.
57:28Outward membership is not enough.
57:30Something must move within us that makes us different from the world around us, even if
57:36that world calls itself Christian and even Orthodox.
57:40Let us keep and nourish those qualities of the true Orthodox worldview, which I mentioned
57:45earlier.
57:46A living, normal attitude, loving and forgiving, not self-centered, preserving our innocence
57:53and unworldliness, even with a full and humble awareness of our own sinfulness and the power
57:59of the worldly temptations around us.
58:02If we truly live this Orthodox worldview, our faith will survive the shocks ahead of us and
58:09be a source of inspiration and salvation for those who will still be seeking Christ, even
58:15amidst the shipwreck of humanity which has already begun today.
58:19Through the prayers of Blessed Father Seraphim, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.
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