My New Computer Situation, Part II

I just wanted to let you all know that (a) there have been some changes in my computer situation, and (b) I FINALLY know why.  The changes are simply this:  I can't use the computers in the night (the latest would be around 9:00), and can only use them, to quote the administration, "sometimes, not systematically."  I.e., I can use them at these times when for a really good reason I can't get what I need done at earlier times.  Of course, before 5:00 I can still use them whenever, as that's when they're open for all people at the school.  Now I couldn't figure out why this would be the case.  I had heard before stuff about being scared the computers would be stolen, and also had it suggested that perhaps the cost of electricity was a problem.  In reality, it's the former.  Now my previous inability to understand stemmed from the fact that if I was in the room when it was open in the night, then told the night guard when I left, so that he could lock it, I didn't see the problem:  it was locked after I was gone, and I was in it when unlocked, so it was never left unattended.  However, their worry is that thieves could come and knock me out or something in order to steal the computers, as I am alone in the room when I'm here after hours.  That I can understand, and it was why there's been this misunderstanding for so long about if there's a problem and why, if so.  Of course, I would think that most thieves would be deterred by seeing the lights on in the room, and moreso by seeing that someone is actually in the room.  I would think they would lay aside all plans and determine to try for another night, because it's obviously easier to steal when you don't have to knock someone out and risk a dangerous fight (not that I would resist or fight back, physically; but they wouldn't know that) or me yelling out and the night guard hearing or something of the like (it's quite obvious from the outside of the school when the lights are on in here).  But though I thus wouldn't really worry about such a situation, I can understand their worries and appreciate their intentions, of course.


So what's that mean, in the long run?  I will only be able to Skype with people on (my time) Thursday morning before 10:35 or so and after 9:00 (sometimes; when it's planned beforehand--and also keep in mind that some mornings, especially, the internet is quite finnicky), weekdays after around 1:15 and before about 5:00, and when really necessary, after that but before 9:00 at latest.  In Washington State times (now with the daylight savings change 11 hours behind us), that's (again, occasionally) between 9:00 and 11:35 Wednesday nights, weekdays from 1:15 to 5:00 AM, and when necessary and planned beforehand, after 5PM, but ending at latest around 9:00.  Keep in mind that I'm not promising to be on Skype these times; it's just when I can make myself available, when it's planned out beforehand.  So it looks like email will be the norm from hereon out (it's been the primary means of reaching me all along, of course), and Skype will be much more difficult, and thus generally only for when it's really important, or if you really want to get up before 5AM.


In Christ,
Teopile/Theophilos Porter

Spring and New Life

Well, spring is here (finally).  Yesterday it was nice and warm, and I took a walk to the end of the road (and discovered that it's only about 30 minutes to the foothills of the mountains), which was wonderful--once you're out of town, you can see the flat valley extending as far as the eye can see that is eastern Georgia, and the length of the mountains which enclose it.  Today it's been showering, but other than being a bit chilly, that's no problem--I am, after all, from western Washington.  The plants are making sure to me that spring is finally here to stay--things are budding, we have lots of violets, and the garlic and onions (we have tons, at least of the garlic) are growing.  Ever have not just the onion bulb or garlic cloves, but the whole plant, green shoots and all?  Very tasty.  We got another baby cow yesterday (the other cow had one a few months ago, and I don't know about that one, but this one was totally unexpected), which is absolutely "dear," to quote my host sister.  When I got up this morning, it was jumping and butting heads with its brother playfully; unfortunately, by the time I got out there with my camera, my host father had fed them, so they were just munching away happily.  We've had a ton of eggs lately (perfectly coinciding with the beginning of Lent, of course), which means that those of us not fasting are eating a lot of them.  The rest are being saved (apparently, eggs are still good after almost fifty days of refrigeration, which I wouldn't have guessed).  We also just took fifteen of the fertilized ones (I now know two means of telling the difference), and put them down for the hens to lay on, so we should have some cute new chicks soon, too [I thought they said a couple weeks, but it is only now that we're getting some, in mid-April].  I've really come to love this natural lifestyle, with so much coming from the plants and animals here on the property.  It's wonderful food-wise (both as concerns healthiness of the food and its consistency and flavor--no matter what anyone says, it is very noticeable of a difference) and also in general for the joy of animal life, of seeing things grow, and of seeing new life born into the world.  A season of growth and life, spring is here.


In Christ,
Teopile/Theophilos Porter

A New Saint in the Orthodox Church

Saint Alexander Schmorell 

(from the Flickr page of Jim Forest)

I was thinking, as I have been writing a lot recently about Orthodoxy, theology, and so forth, that it might be interesting to some to hear that the Orthodox Church in February recognized Alexander Schmorell as a saint.  He wrote out against the Nazi regime, was captured, and finally beheaded.  For more on his life, I'll leave you to better sources than myself:


From the blog of Jim and Nancy Forest, an Orthodox couple who live in Germany and attended the canonization, about St. Alexander's life.


From the Russian Church Outside Russia's webpage, about his life.


An account of the canonization itself, from the same Jim and Nancy Forest.


And pictures of the canonization, from the same.


Enjoy!


In Christ,
Teopile/Theophilos

Appendix C to My Series on "Love Wins": On OT Sacrifice

I was reading Leviticus 16 today, and thought it, along with the footnotes found in the Orthodox Study Bible I was reading it in, might help show forth more of what I was talking about in my critique on the "Dying to Live" section of my series on "Love Wins"  Here's Leviticus 16, starting from verse 3, the footnotes given being set in:

     Thus Aaron shall come into the holy place with a young bull of the oxen as a sin offering, and 

     a ram as a whole burnt offering.

               Here begins the description of the annual Day of Atonement, the single most important 

               day in the calendar of Ancient Israel.  Virtually every detail of this day was a type of the 

               work of Christ and His atonement for our sins.  It is rewarding to give careful attention to 

               the specific details of this day.

     He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a 

     linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired.  These are holy garments.  Therefore 

     he shall wash his body in water and put them on.

               Aaron was to thoroughly wash himself in water.  Here was not only a type of baptism in 

               general, but also of the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.  Jesus 

               said to John the Baptist, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all 

               righteousness" (Mt 3:15; words in italics in the Orthodox Study Bible are additions for 

               clarity in translation).  The true High Priest was preparing to go into the holy of holies 

               for the sins of the whole world.  He only is without sin, so it was not for His own sins that 

               He was baptized, but for the uncleanness of the people for whom He would suffer.

          "Then he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as

     a sin offering, and one ram as a whole burnt offering.

               Five animals were offered on this day, a bull for a sin offering for himself, a ram for a

               burnt offering, two male goats as a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.  Each 

               animal offered provided types of the work of Christ.

     Aaron shall offer the young bull as his sin offering, to make atonement for himself and his 

     house. 

              An offering must be made for the priest and his household before he could carry out his 

              duties of the day.  So too, the clergy of the Church should never assume they do not 

              need cleansing, for they too--and their households--sin as do others.  The role of the 

              clergy is unique, but they are still sinners in need of a sacrifice.  It is not only the people 

              who confess themselves to be chief of sinners at every Divine Liturgy--the clergy do as 

              well.

     He shall take the two kids and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of 

     testimony.  Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two kids:  one lot for the Lord and the other lot for 

     the scapegoat.

               Both goats together are one sin offering.  Aaron cast lots over the two goats.  The one 

               on which the lot fell was for the Lord, and was to be slain.  The other would be the 

               scapegoat, to be let go into the wilderness.  It takes both goats to make clear as one 

               picture what was happening.

               [St.] Theodoret [of Cyrus] writes regarding these two goats, "I will however mention the 

               sacrifice in which two goats were offered, the one being slain, and the other let go.  In 

               these two goats there is an anticipative image of the two natures of the Savior; in the 

               one let go, of the impassible Godhead, and in the one slain, of the passible manhood

     Aaron shall bring the kid on which the Lord's lot fell and offer it as a sin offering.  But this kid 

     on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make 

     atonement upon it, to let it go as the scapegoat into the desert.

         "Then Aaron shall offer the young bull as his sin offering, to make atonement for himself 

     and his house.  Thus he shall kill the young bull as his sin offering.  He shall then take a censer 

     full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of the incense 

     compound, beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil.  He shall put the incense on the fire before 

     the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat on the testimonies, lest he dies.  

     He shall take some of the young bull's blood with his finger and sprinkle it upon the east side 

     of the mercy seat seven times.

          "After that, he shall kill the kid of the sin offering before the Lord on behalf of the people, 

     and bring some of its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the 

     young bull, and sprinkle it upon the east side of the mercy seat seven times.  So he shall 

     make atonement in the holy place because of the impurities and injustices of the children of 

     Israel, for all their sins; and thus he shall do this in the tabernacle of testimony, built among 

     them in the midst of their uncleanness.

               Blood from the young bull was sprinkled seven times on the east side of the mercy 

               seat--the symbol of completion.  This was to cleanse the holy of holies--to make 

               atonement for the holy of holies itself, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel.  

               Similarly, Christ sprinkled His own blood in the heavenly holy of holies so we might 

               enter there in worship (Heb 9:23-24).

     There shall be no man in the tabernacle of testimony when he goes in to make atonement in 

     the holy place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, his household, 

     and all the congregation of the children of Israel.  Then he shall go out to the altar before the 

     Lord and make atonement upon it; and he shall take some of the blood of both the young bull 

     and the kid and put it on the horns of the altar all around.  Then he shall sprinkle some of the 

     blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse and sanctify it because of the 

     impurities of the children of Israel.

          "When Aaron shall finish making atonement in the holy place, the tabernacle of testimony 

     and the altar, and shall also cleanse matters concerning the priests, then he shall bring the 

     living kid.  Aaron shall place his hands on the head of the living kid, confess over it all the 

     transgressions of the children of Israel, and all their lawlessness, and all their sins; and he 

     shall put them on the head of the living kid, and send it away into the desert by the hand of a 

     suitable man.

               The high priest laid his hands on the head of the live goat.  In so doing, he laid the sins 

               and transgressions of the sons of Israel on the head of the goat.  The goat, an innocent 

               victim, bore on itself all the iniquities of the people.  The goat, taken by a designated 

               person, was then sent off into the wilderness.

               The picture is clear.  As the goat goes into the wilderness, so do the sins and 

               transgressions of the people--never to be seen again.  This reminds us of the 

               Psalmist's words, "As far as the east is from the west, / So he removes our 

               transgressions from us" (Ps 102:12).  This marvelous reality is part of the foundation of 

               what the Orthodox priest says in the Sacrament of Confession:  "And now, having no 

               further care for the sins you have confessed, go in peace."

                    I want to speak briefly on Confession in Orthodoxy, since it is brought up in this 

                    footnote.  Unlike in Roman Catholicism, it is clearly to God, and the priest even says 

                    that he is nothing but "a witness" in the prayers before Confession.  To quote the 

                    Orthodox Study Bible's footnote to James 5:16-18,

                         Some allege that confession sins to God before a priest is not biblical.  The 

                         ancient Christian custom was to "confess your trespasses to one another" (v. 16).

                         When a Christian was guilty of sin, the matter was confessed before the whole 

                         Church as an act of repentance.  As the Church grew, and those not part of the 

                         community came to observe, the pressure in such public confession became so 

                         great that the priest, instead of the entire community, heard the confession, 

                         representing the people.  What is not taught in Scripture is a private confession 

                         only to God, which refuses to acknowledge sin to the community (1Jn 1:8, 10).  

                         Thus, the Church has effected healing through such works of faith as confession 

                         of sins and the power of intercessory prayer.

                    If we're members of the Body of Christ, when we sin, we sin against and estrange 

                    ourselves from the other members of that body, and must thus confess within the 

                    community, before the community, to God.  Indeed, the holy fathers teach that no sin 

                    is every truly personal, but rather the consequences of every sin reverberate through 

                    the entire cosmos.  So it must be just as here in Leviticus, where the priest 

                    confesses the sins of all Israel, within the community, before the community, over the 

                    type of the Lamb of God.  The only difference is, we confess to God and this 

                    sacrificial Lamb, as they are One.

     The kid shall bear on itself all their wrongdoings to an uninhabited land. Thus he shall send 

     away the kid into the desert.  Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of testimony and 

     take off the linen garments he put on when he went into the holy place; and he shall leave 

     them there.  He shall then wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, and 

     come out to offer his whole burnt offering and the whole burnt offering of the people, to make 

     atonement for himself, his house, the people, and in matters concerning the priests.  The fat 

     of the sin offering he shall offer on the altar.  He who sent away the kid which was set apart for 

     remission shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come 

     into the camp.  The young bull and the kid for the sin offerings whose blood was brought in to 

     make atonement in the holy place shall be carried outside the camp; and they shall burn them 

     in the fire:  their skin, their flesh, and their offal.

               The bull of the sin offering and the goat, the blood of which was taken into the holy of 

               holies, both were taken outside the camp and burned.  Another type of Christ:  "For the 

               bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest 

               for sin, are burned outside the camp.  Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the 

               people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.  Therefore let us go forth to Him, 

               outside the camp, bearing His reproach" (Heb 13:11-13).

     Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; and afterward, 

     he may come into the camp.

          "This shall be an ordinance forever for you:  In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the 

     month, you shall humble your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own 

     country or a resident alien who dwells among you.  For on that day the priest shall make 

     atonement for you, to cleanse you from all your sins before the Lord.  Thus you shall be clean.  

     It is a Sabbath of Sabbaths, a rest for you, and you shall humble your souls.  It is an ordinance 

     forever.  So the priest who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father's 

     place shall make atonement

                    To make it painfully obvious, I'll rephrase in terms of its fulfillment:  So the Great High 

                    Priest Who is Christ (which means, "Annointed One") and Consecrated to minister 

                    as Great High Priest in His Father's House shall make atonement

     and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments.  Then he shall make atonement in the most 

     holy place, the tabernacle of testimony and the altar; and he shall make atonement for matters 

     concerning the priests and all the congregation.

               The atonement granted this day to the people of Israel could only picture in a limited 

               way--as is true of all types--what Christ would do in His suffering and death.  This old 

               covenant offering could not make the conscience of the worshiper perfect (Heb 9:8-9), 

               though it did cleanse from all sin.

               But our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, entered the heavenly holy of holies, where He 

               sprinkled His sacrificial blood to deal fully with our sins.  Today is the Day of 

               Atonement.  Today is the eighth day--the day after which there are no more days.  In the 

               old covenant, the high priest went into the holy of holies once every year, and 

               necessarily came back out immediately.  Not so of Christ.  He went into the heavenly 

               holy of holies with His own blood to atone for our sins, and thus to reconcile us with 

               God.

     So this shall be an ordinance forever for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for 

     all their sins; and he shall do this once a year," as the Lord gave orders to Moses.

We don't believe in the gnostic monster-god of the Old Testament who is different from Christ.  These are holy types of the sacrifice of the Holy One.  It is unnatural that we should slaughter innocent animals, yes--because death, slaughter, and so forth are unnatural in general.  All was created without death (as opposed to the evolutionary view of "Adam" and "Eve" being descended from millenia of death and pain), and the animals as our servents, we as their loving masters.  At the fall came death and all the other consequences of sin; these sacrifices took our place, taking on our sins--in remissions and to remind us of the reality of the consequence of sin as death.  Anything that takes on sins must die, for death is the result of sin, and these sacrifices even more so had to die because the sin must also die for there to be remission.  So God, while showing the ultimate Justice intrinsic to Him and the reality of the consequences of sin that we chose for ourselves, even so gave mercy in the Old Testament remissions of sin for us, foreshadowing its complete fulfillment in He Who is Offered, Offering, and accepting the Offering, God Himself, who in the Person of the Son, though without sin took on and became sin that it might die once and for all in the Sacrifice on the Cross.  From the Orthodox Study Bible's page on "Sacrifice":  "The word 'sacrifice' means to make holy or sacred."  Sacrifice is a necessary part of our lives, for we must sacrifice all of our selves to Him, depriving our will, that it may fully be emptied and then be filled again as nothing more than a vessel of His Perfect Will.

In Christ,

Teopile/Theophilos Porter

Appendix B to My Series on "Love Wins": A Quick Quote from St. Basil the Great

From St. Basil the Great in his “Hexæmeron” (“Six Days,” i.e., of Creation), when discussing how the luminous bodies could come to exist after light itself:

     And let no one suppose it to be a thing incredible that the brightness of the light is one thing, 

     and the body which is its material vehicle is another. First, in all composite things, we 

     distinguish substance susceptible of quality, and the quality which it receives. The nature of 

     whiteness is one thing, another is that of the body which is whitened; thus the natures differ 

     which we have just seen reunited by the power of the Creator. And do not tell me that it is 

     impossible to separate them. Even I do not pretend to be able to separate light from the body 

     of the sun; but I maintain that that which we separate in thought, may be separated in reality 

     by the Creator of nature. You cannot, moreover, separate the brightness of fire from the virtue 

     of burning which it possesses; but God, who wished to attract His servant by a wonderful 

     sight, set a fire in the burning bush, which displayed all the brilliancy of flame while its 

     devouring property was dormant. It is that which the Psalmist affirms in saying “The voice of 

     the Lord divideth the flames of fire.” Thus, in the requital which awaits us after this life, a 

     mysterious voice seems to tell us that the double nature of fire will be divided; the just will 

     enjoy its light, and the torment of its heat will be the torture of the wicked.

I thought it would prove interesting, as it did to me, and compliments some of the things I mentioned in the “Love Wins” series.

In Christ,
Teopile/Theophilos Porter

Sakartvelos or Siberia?

It's been quite cold the last few days--first sun but a lot of wind, then yesterday less wind but no sun, and today, guess what...snow again.  (Sarcastic) yay!  I love snow, but I must say, lack of heating or any real form of insulation does change one's perspectives on things.  I now understand people not being happy when it snows--moreover I understand those people (who I could not, previously) who long for life in places like Hawai'i, Africa, or even simply the Southern US--indeed, if I didn't have good heating in the future, I would really consider moving to a tropical environment.  I'd rather be, I think (now this is very unlike anything I would have ever said with my American conveniences, and should also be tempered with the knowledge that I'm saying it in winter, and with the good old "grass is always greener..." axiom), in a warm environment that's sometimes sweltering than a cool environment that's sometimes bone-chilling.  Georgia gets all four seasons in a way that western Washington State doesn't, to the same extent, which is really nice--but winter is lingering forever this year.  I had to (jokingly) apologize to the accusation of bringing the snow from America, because "there was never snow in Georgia" before I came, to quote my host mother.  But as I write this, being burnt to a crisp by the stove (it's a fun game in winter to see how long you can stay in one place without either burning or freezing), knowing I'll soon be freezing, and knowing that (as the snow is falling well, and sticking despite it being supposedly 3C outside) the cold will continue a while longer, at least I know that it will be beautiful when I awake tomorrow (as it will probably keep snowing all or most of the night, from past experience; it's about 5:30 now) [if I recall correctly, I was wrong, and it stopped snowing about an hour after writing this], and can hope this long winter means I won't have to endure too much heat in June and July before I leave [again, I was wrong in my hope; it's already hot half the time, and it's only early April].


Anyway, I just wanted to update you all as a footnote to my last weather blog.


In Christ,
Teopile/Theophilos Porter

Appendix A to My Series on "Love Wins"

From the blog of Abbot Tryphon of All-Merciful Saviour Monastery (http://morningoffering.blogspot.com/), specifically the March 9, 2012 post.  The only things I edited were due to grammar, and, as always, are noted in brackets:

"God's Love Consumes All


"It is good to remember that in Orthodox teaching, heaven and hell are not about places, but about relationship. God is everywhere, and He did not create a heaven for some, and a hell for others. We choose how we will experience the presence of God in the afterlife. God can not be absent from [any place], and those who have chosen, in this life, to ignore God, will, nevertheless, be in His presence for all of eternity.

"At the age of sixty-six (I can't believe I'm this old), I'm beginning to see a thinning in the ranks of my friends. I've lost a number of close friends, a few younger than myself, as well as both my parents. I've also lost relatives whom I dearly loved, and although my faith has been a very important part of my life since early childhood, I'm aware that some of those whom I've lost to [death were] not people who placed any importance whatsoever [in] having a relationship with God.

"Although some of my Evangelical friends would hold to the view that anyone who has not committed their life to [Christ will] be damned, I am personally comforted with the knowledge that God is a loving, compassionate, and merciful God, and that He desires all [to] be saved. I rely on His mercy, and I trust in His [ever-abiding] love. There is comfort in knowing His mercy even extends to those who've ignored Him. I believe God will take into account the hearts of those who have not placed Him as the center of their lives, and that if they loved others, and put others before self, God will take that into account.

"God's love permeates the cosmos, and some experience His presence as blissful joy, while others experience His presence as a burning fire, and as emptiness. As to how we will feel about those whom we've loved in this life, but who have entered eternal life without a relationship with God, we can not know. We do know the prayers of the saints are heard by God, and and are a comfort and support to even those who've died in a state of estrangement. We also know that our loving God hears our prayers, and that our intercessory prayers bring comfort to even those who have pass[ed] this life without having developed a relationship with God. Our roll as intercessors is just as important as that of the saints, and if I must take my [neighbor's] salvation as seriously as my own.

"All this being said, I am not a proponent of the idea of universal salvation. I am simply sharing my heartfelt gratitude for a personal God Who has been merciful to me, a sinful and unworthy monk of almost thirty years.

"Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon"

I should note that when talking about people who haven't made God or Christ an important part of their lives that there is a difference between (a) not making a named, personified God the center of our lives (whereas it is possible to still love Love Himself, Who is the same as that personified God of Christians, but not to understand that they are one and the same) and (b) not even making Love a part of our lives, which truly estranges us from everything that He is.  If there is repentance, all is possible, even after death, and this is why we Orthodox never cease to pray for even those in the foretaste of hell.  However, at the Second Coming, all is finished.  There is limited time, and we know not when will come the cry saying "Behold the Bridegroom"--"the end is nearer than you think," and shall come as "a thief in the night," when no one is expecting it, save those who always expect it.

In Christ,

Teopile/Theophilos Porter

Weather

Theoretically, spring was coming, but at this point I'm not sure.  I doubt it will snow much more (though it did a couple days ago, the snow didn't stick), and the temperatures are generally warmer, but when the sun isn't out, it's still quite cold.  Because the clouds and snow aren't around to insulate, it can get quite cold at night.  And the last couple days have been cloudy during the day (and really wind today, I might add), but clear at night, helping it to get even colder by not giving us the sun during the daylight hours and not insulating at night.  But overall, spring, I think, is coming, just slowly.  (The last day I saw snow on the ground, by the way, was last Wednesday, I believe, not including the snow that didn't stick a couple nights ago; which, for those counting, was 43 consecutive days of snow.  Impressive, huh?  Don't think that's normal for Georgia, though--it was a real anomaly.  Of course, mountainous regions like Svaneti are still getting more, as are the mountains near here.)  Just thought I'd let those of you who are interested know.


In Christ,
Teopile/Theophilos Porter