Snapshot ~ May morning

I am reading: J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion

I am listening to: Howard Shore’s “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” soundtrack

I’ve been watching: a male cardinal bring food to his mate sitting on her nest

I am thankful for: good friends, my work and WV sunrises...

I am smelling: Fred Soll’s Piñon incense

I am praying for: my niece to be healed of cancer and God’s grace to be evident in me

I have discovered: that simple acts of humility* can remove the sting of conflict

I am thinking: that I really should make an effort to hike and catch a sunrise more than once a year...

Some favorite things: listening to our son tell his grandpa about his homerun, watching our daughter swing beneath the pine tree and smelling the home cooked meal my husband made

* I take quite literally Jesus' example of washing his disciples feet and practice this in my home on occasion for my children and husband. As an act of service and humility, it really brings home for me the wise words of St. Anthony:

"I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning,

"What can get through from such snares?" Then I heard a voice saying to me,

"Humility" ."

Last, but certainly not least...Congratulations to John of PA for being the winner of my first book giveaway! I hope it will be the first of many such drawings. Thanks to all of you who responded.

Vainglory

"Men of high spirit endure offense nobly and willingly. But only the holy and the saintly can pass unscathed through praise."

St. John Climacus

Vainglory. I’ve been thinking of this a lot lately; it’s a word our culture doesn’t employ too much. Maybe we should. Maybe it would help to draw a more distinct line between self-esteem, confidence and dignity - which is good, and arrogance, vanity , vainglory and narcissism, which is bad. By definition, vainglory means “inordinate pride in oneself or one’s accomplishments; excessive vanity.” The opposite of vainglory is humility.

Maybe this is on my mind because I’m currently witnessing the negative effects of vainglory which is packaged up neatly in New Age philosophy through Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra and their ilk. The “enlightenment” of knowing thyself and listening to that voice within is not new. The terms are tweaked, Holy Scripture revised to tickle the ears of modern man and voilà, you have their bottom line: man is god. The idea is unoriginal and it’s disheartening to see how many still fall for this old lie. What was created as dignity morphs into vainglory:

“Vainglory cannot be killed; it strikes unseen by the victim, but is obvious to those around them who are often powerless to lend any assistance.” -Brian Price

The message of the Gospel is denying self in order to follow Christ; this is the only real freedom because ‘in Him we live and move and have our being’ (paraphrased from Acts 17). New Age philosophies appeal to that bedrock of our passions- desiring personal happiness & having what we want, now. This, of course, disregards anything or anyone who may get in our way. Oh,.. yeah, there’s also that little inconvenience of fact; when absolute truth is subjective, that child molester you read about in the news is justified. He’s just living out “his truth” after all. Drawing boundaries around morality includes various shades of gray.

As you can discern from my previous posts relating to chivalry, I view the ideals of the knight as closely related to life in Christ. As the knight denies self for the “higher good”, so I see the christian life. We lay down our passions - our gluttony, pride, lust, etc - in order to sink roots and blossom in this life. The fruits of which are love, peace, kindness, self-control, gentleness, patience, faithfulness and joy. One of the best articles I’ve ever read on the virtue of humility and the bane of vainglory comes not from a christian source, per se, but by Brian Price of the SCA: An Open Letter to Siobhan Medhbh O’ Roarke: On Humility.

Depicted in the artwork above is St. George.

For the purpose of this article, I think it's a great illustration of nobility suppressing vainglory.

King Oswald; sovereign with humility

"I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, "What can get through from such snares?" Then I heard a voice saying to me, "Humility." (St. Anthony the Great)

In the 7th century, a young man raised by monks on Iona, faced a tough decision.  He had resolved to march south, determined to unite Northumbria after the death of his brother.  The battle was to be fought at Heavenfield and his Welsh enemies were far superior in number.  Having converted to Christianity at a young age, Oswald decided to raise a large wooden cross on the soon-to-be battlefield and asked his soldiers to gather near to pray with him.

The battle was decisive and Oswald became king, uniting  Northumbria under his banner.  As Oswald’s popularity grew, many in this pagan land were curious about the new deity, the God of the Christians who had won their king’s obedience.   

History tells us that King Oswald was concerned not only with the restoration of Northumbria, but the spiritual state of those within his realm as well.  His sainthood is traced to the fact that he re-introduced Christianity  to this northern kingdom, sending for an evangelical Bishop from Iona to help with the task.  When St. Aidan arrived to preach the Gospel and win converts, it was the king himself who often acted as interpreter since Bishop Aidan only spoke Gaelic.

This noble king served Christ by serving his people.  He fed the hungry and brought the light of Christ to many lives.  It is said that when he lay dying on the battlefield, slain by the pagan King of Mercia, he prayed for his bodyguards who had fallen with him, the salvation of Northumbria and his enemies.

May our world leaders endeavor to follow in the footsteps of Oswald of Northumbria, ever seeking the way of the cross.

Prayer:

Lord God almighty, who so kindled the faith of your servant Oswald with your Spirit that he set up the sign of the passion in his kingdom and turned his people to your light: grant that we, being fired with the same Spirit, may ever be found faithful servants of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

written by James Kiefer

*prayer found here.

Precious is the death of His saints

Pastor Wurmbrand (Vurm'  brahnd) was a Lutheran minister of Romania who suffered many tortures during his years in communist prisons in the last century.   After his release, he authored several books, including Tortured for Christ, to give testimony and a voice to persecuted Christians around the world.  He and his wife, Sabina, started the organization Voice of the Martyrs, which continues to educate free Christians and help those who are persecuted on hostile nations.

Without doubt, reading Tortured for Christ last year left an indelible mark on my heart and mind.  It painfully awakened me to a depth of love and strength in Christ that I have never experienced in my decades of walking with Him.    Pastor Wurmbrand's story has stripped my comfortable views of sanctification, or theosis, as we call it in the Orthodox Church, and laid bare the weakness of my heart.   I cannot thank him enough for that.

Now, today, imagine my surprise to find a recording of Pastor Wurmbrand on the podcast of Frederica Mathewes-Green from Ancient Faith Radio.  What a joy! When he was in prison, he said that he was confined with people of various origins, Germans, Hungarians, Russians, etc. and he noted that Ave Maria was sung in every language except Hebrew.  He thought this was odd since Mary was a Jew and Hebrew would have been her native language.

And so, in due time, Pastor Wurmbrand translated this precious hymn to Mary in Hebrew.  It is his own voice, singing so beautifully to the Theotokos on Frederica's podcast, Here and Now.

Hearing this man, who so loved God and Blessed Mary, has been a treasured discovery today. Listening to the podcast has created an atmosphere of humilty and awe in my heart; a very suitable beginning as I look toward Great Lent.

Listen to the podcast

Thank you Frederica!