I can relate to your feeling of jealousy towards people who embrace Christ at the eleventh hour. A dear friend of mine essentially did that. He was an overly reason-based intellectual who - while his brain still worked - could not bring himself to accept that there was only one Truth and that it was Christ. But once he descended into dementia, all that resistance slowly dissolved and he finally wanted to be baptized at the age of 84. He only lived another four years and was basically past the point - mentally and physically - of being able to fulfill the commandments. But Christ accepted him as he was and washed away all of the serious sins of his youth at the very end of his life, through the sacrament of Holy Baptism, when he was no longer capable of committing new sins. When I reflect on this beautiful unfolding, it leaves me in deep awe of Christ great goodness. He truly loves us more than we love others or ourselves. And since my friend was baptized, I was able to give him an Orthodox Christian funeral and burial, and have him formally prayed for in all the ways the Church offers to believers, which has given me great peace.
Your message comes the day before our fifty-second wedding anniversary, so I have some thoughts. For some, deathbed confessions have been preferable to extended public ridicule as probably could have been witnessed in St. Constantine, but he had a job to do that involved arbitrating peace within the church as well as the empire, so he chose to do him, and has been revered for it. Nowadays, a pop culture saying, “You do you.” , comes to mind. As for longevity in marriage, what some call success is just day to day living for others. Everyone is on a spectrum of some kind that they hope works for them. Lent helps remind us that we do until we’re done.
The last minute, Hail Mary pass has a lot to recommend it. My concern is that it’s a lot like trying to cross eight lanes of heavy traffic to get to that exit to the right just ten yards ahead. It might work, but it’s likely that you’ll miss it. More to the point, I’d miss out on growing in my understanding of God’s love. The great news for folks like me is that you can fail forward in Grace because God is more loving than I am faithful. Thank God.
"In the end salvation is as simple (and as hard) as this: Learning humility to accept the love of God as a gift whether it takes fifty years of tedious, monotonous, repetitive, uninspiring existence or a dramatic, revelatory, tragic moment of desperation."
There's a book that started my journey back to Christianity after a multiyear hiatus a little over 15 years ago that sums it up well in the title, "All is Grace". I was thinking about preparation for receiving the Eucharist recently and it occurred to me, at least going off the pre-communion prayers, that getting 'prepared' is really just about recognizing that you're not prepared and are really incapable of being truly 'prepared'.
"I stand at the gates of They temple and yet I refrain not from my evil thoughts"
"O Lord, I know that I am unworthy to receive they Holy Body and Precious Blood..."
"And grant, O Lord Jesus Christ, my God, that the partaking of They precious and Life-giving Mysteries may not be to my condemnation..."
"O Lord, have compassion on me and make not an example of me, thy sinful servant..."
"O Lord my God, I know that I am not worthy nor sufficient that Thou shouldest enter under my roof into the habitation of my soul..."
There is a teaching that one's capacity for "seeing God" is dependent on the purity of our heart (Matt. 5/Beatitudes), so it is not a "level of heaven" as a reward but a matter of how we are capable of experiencing "heaven" which is the presence of and our union with God.
Ah... that's not a reference to "heaven" as you're thinking about it, it is the Jewish cosmology (earth and sky, kind of like Psalms saying "the waters above the heavens"). Third heaven was like saying "I was really dead and gone from this world".
Yes, but sometimes living a holy life is very difficult and done under hard circumstances. Sometimes we get the grace of experiencing peace and joy in hard times, sometimes it's just a struggle and God lets that happen in his will.
I’m trying to live a holy life and it is difficult because the world the flesh and the devil contend against me mightily. Even yell and cuss at me. Stop that f—king s—t!!!
I can relate to your feeling of jealousy towards people who embrace Christ at the eleventh hour. A dear friend of mine essentially did that. He was an overly reason-based intellectual who - while his brain still worked - could not bring himself to accept that there was only one Truth and that it was Christ. But once he descended into dementia, all that resistance slowly dissolved and he finally wanted to be baptized at the age of 84. He only lived another four years and was basically past the point - mentally and physically - of being able to fulfill the commandments. But Christ accepted him as he was and washed away all of the serious sins of his youth at the very end of his life, through the sacrament of Holy Baptism, when he was no longer capable of committing new sins. When I reflect on this beautiful unfolding, it leaves me in deep awe of Christ great goodness. He truly loves us more than we love others or ourselves. And since my friend was baptized, I was able to give him an Orthodox Christian funeral and burial, and have him formally prayed for in all the ways the Church offers to believers, which has given me great peace.
Your message comes the day before our fifty-second wedding anniversary, so I have some thoughts. For some, deathbed confessions have been preferable to extended public ridicule as probably could have been witnessed in St. Constantine, but he had a job to do that involved arbitrating peace within the church as well as the empire, so he chose to do him, and has been revered for it. Nowadays, a pop culture saying, “You do you.” , comes to mind. As for longevity in marriage, what some call success is just day to day living for others. Everyone is on a spectrum of some kind that they hope works for them. Lent helps remind us that we do until we’re done.
The last minute, Hail Mary pass has a lot to recommend it. My concern is that it’s a lot like trying to cross eight lanes of heavy traffic to get to that exit to the right just ten yards ahead. It might work, but it’s likely that you’ll miss it. More to the point, I’d miss out on growing in my understanding of God’s love. The great news for folks like me is that you can fail forward in Grace because God is more loving than I am faithful. Thank God.
🕊️
Thank you.
God, I love you.
I love you too, man. (Construction dude shoulder punch....)
"In the end salvation is as simple (and as hard) as this: Learning humility to accept the love of God as a gift whether it takes fifty years of tedious, monotonous, repetitive, uninspiring existence or a dramatic, revelatory, tragic moment of desperation."
There's a book that started my journey back to Christianity after a multiyear hiatus a little over 15 years ago that sums it up well in the title, "All is Grace". I was thinking about preparation for receiving the Eucharist recently and it occurred to me, at least going off the pre-communion prayers, that getting 'prepared' is really just about recognizing that you're not prepared and are really incapable of being truly 'prepared'.
"I stand at the gates of They temple and yet I refrain not from my evil thoughts"
"O Lord, I know that I am unworthy to receive they Holy Body and Precious Blood..."
"And grant, O Lord Jesus Christ, my God, that the partaking of They precious and Life-giving Mysteries may not be to my condemnation..."
"O Lord, have compassion on me and make not an example of me, thy sinful servant..."
"O Lord my God, I know that I am not worthy nor sufficient that Thou shouldest enter under my roof into the habitation of my soul..."
There seem to be different levels in heaven. Does doing the holy work afford one a higher level? Thoughts, please.
There is a teaching that one's capacity for "seeing God" is dependent on the purity of our heart (Matt. 5/Beatitudes), so it is not a "level of heaven" as a reward but a matter of how we are capable of experiencing "heaven" which is the presence of and our union with God.
I’m thinking of Paul reference to being caught up into the third? Heaven. Does that mean the purer the heart, the closer one is to God?
Ah... that's not a reference to "heaven" as you're thinking about it, it is the Jewish cosmology (earth and sky, kind of like Psalms saying "the waters above the heavens"). Third heaven was like saying "I was really dead and gone from this world".
Is it then that living a holy life gives one a foretaste of heaven but not a “better “ place in heaven?
Yes, but sometimes living a holy life is very difficult and done under hard circumstances. Sometimes we get the grace of experiencing peace and joy in hard times, sometimes it's just a struggle and God lets that happen in his will.
I’m trying to live a holy life and it is difficult because the world the flesh and the devil contend against me mightily. Even yell and cuss at me. Stop that f—king s—t!!!
Thanks