Stop Racism Right in its Tracks!!

I am long past being tired of hearing the "racist" complaint being used to justify violence and social disruption. Mostly people who talk about racism are the ones who are racist, and yet they dare to blame others. The more you stir the chamber pot, the worse it smells. If you can't stand to ignore it, carry it outside and use it for fertilizer. It's an idea which deserves to be forgotten, unlike the history that retains the lessons that we should have learned by now, but we have failed to teach the whole story.

Let me digress, for an abbreviated lesson:

Slavery was an unjust social system that failed to recognize the value and dignity of every individual. Nonetheless, it was not the same everywhere, nor at all times in history. Indeed, its origins go far beyond ancient, and it is generally wrong to place the blame for it on any people. Christians did not invent it, but were often slaves themselves. The good news of the Christ was deliberately spread among the poor and oppressed in the Roman Empire. Yet, they were told to submit and accept being others' servants, to wait patiently for God to fulfill the time, which they expected to be short. Therefore, they were sometimes trusted, and allowed to earn their freedom.

The Jews remembered having once been slaves in Egypt, and they had rules to keep slaves from being abused, and limited the time they could be held. A man became a slave either by war or economics. A war captive might have been allowed to earn his price and buy his way to freedom. If another became a slave because of failed debt or extreme poverty, he bartered seven years of his life to pay his debts and earn his keep, and that of his family if necessary. At the end of those seven years, he was to be set free, unless he chose to stay with a beloved master. A permanent slave would have a gold ring to pierce his ear. And in time, all debt slaves, as well as all leased and/or mortgaged properties, were to be set free and clear in the year of Jubilee, so that families could start over with a fair chance of success.

In Islam, the oppression of slavery took a really bad turn. No one ever willingly sold himself to a Muslim as a slave, as it was well known how badly they were treated. Muslims were allowed to beat slaves without mercy, or to have sexual relations with their female captives. And they had a habit of castrating male slaves "to protect the virtue of their wives and daughters." Muhammad kept many slaves, and traded them all his life. And he had a favorite, Mary, a Coptic Christian, who was his regular partner, even though he had plenty of wives. Further, the only way to get out of being a slave in Islam is to become a Muslim, which only one of Muhammad's slaves ever did. As it turned out, it was the Muslims who kept the slave markets on the west coast of Africa. They were the source where the Americans bought their slaves, who were captives taken in war, and then brought them to work in both North and South America.

The legacy of slavery in America is far from forgotten. The slaves brought here were often treated as no more than work horses or mules, and were bred and sold like cattle. Many were abused without mercy. And here, it somehow came to be a curse passed on to later generations, as few would believe that a black man was freed. No one should try to make excuses for the institution of slavery in America. But not all slave owners were cruel, and some continued to care for their former servants after slavery was legally and finally abolished, because "their coloreds" chose to stay nearby. And when they could make it on their own, they were wished well as they departed, often with a debt of gratitude for having been appreciated on both sides.

But it's a cruel world out there, and we seem to have a way of making it harder for ourselves. "Jim Crow" was one of those ways, breeding resentment and hatred. Rather, there should have been efforts to uplift those who needed only a fair education, and the respect that goes to any who would try to make something of themselves. But instead, racism has been perpetuated far past its supposed expiration date.

Your patience has been appreciated.

They often say that "a black child has to work twice as hard as a white child in order to achieve the same success." Maybe so, but that is excellent fertilizer. Today, it is often the children of the poor, struggling to get by, who try harder and achieve success and respect. The better your achievements, the more respect you deserve, and your worthy contributions will eventually overcome the prejudice. Stop whining about racism. It only serves to provoke hatred. Get up and work on improving your character. Perhaps some day soon, God willing, a man will be fairly judged by the content of his character, and not by the color of his skin.

If we complain that having to work twice as hard is not fair, that's only a matter of perception. Life is difficult for most people, and always has been. Diligence and struggle, and the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom, have been the real keys to success for thousands of years. This does not come easy for anyone. If another person has wealth, they have worked hard and been blessed, or they have other problems that strike at their peace of mind. Lots of folks, whites included, don't work very hard on their character, and as a result, they are turning out "plenty ornery." It's a great disappointment for the people who care about them. Don't you let your Grandma down, "Act Christian, for Jesus' sake!"

As for the perception that blacks have to "give in, in order to get along" and they have to compromise the values they care about ... that's just whining. All I have to say about that is, "welcome to the real world." This is not an issue unique to your race, nor common only among those who are oppressed and downtrodden. It's just ordinary life for all in a civilized society. Everyone has to give a little, just to get by from day to day. And our values are so valuable precisely because we have to struggle to maintain and rebuild them when they are eroded by the powers and social pressures that we all face in dealing with our civil institutions.

The only directly effective way to deal with racism in our daily lives is to suppress its impulses within ourselves. Every time those thoughts and feelings arise, stop, and take a deep breath. Don't act on them.  And don't teach these sentiments to your children. Don't justify your anger. God knows when we suffer, but He only asks us to pray for those who persecute us. Your enemies may not know that they are perpetuating cruelty. They probably just think it's the usual way of the world, and that only one person can do little to fix it. If that person really is bad inside, God will handle it, and your resistance will only aggravate the situation.

Why do you think that there are people who withdraw from society, to pray for the salvation of the world? Monks and hermits have been aware for thousands of years that life in society demands compromises that are painful to one's conscience. But when they withdraw, it is not to a life of leisure, but to work for their living. They take it for granted that they have to work twice as hard as people in the towns, just to get by every day. And they do that, just so they can spend enough time in prayer, not for their personal salvation, but for the transformation of the world into one that works for justice and peace, and cares for all of its citizens fairly.

And they don't protest even one word about how racism is an unjust and oppressive system. Rather they take the world's woes to God in prayer. And they examine their own lives and consciences to see how much they may be adding to those problems. Confession is good for the soul. Indeed! And repentance is as good for the world as it is for those who stop sinning. Look at yourself, and see the man in the mirror. How much do you need to change?

American Civil Religion: a Secular Faith

Here in the United States of America, we have a generally recognized, and usually participated in, civil religion. It is not held up as mandatory, and it is intentionally designed to avoid contradicting any other religion or faith of anyone who may come here as an immigrant. Many of our earliest founders came here to escape religious persecution, and we continue to value our freedom of conscience. In most instances, it is your right to ignore the celebration of our national pride, and many of us do, on occasion, forget its holidays. But we do accede to the demands that tend to keep the peace, and ask that our visitors do so as well. If you wish to stay for a while in America, you would be well-advised to become familiar with our secular, and even admittedly artificial "civil religion." It is widely viewed as an essential part of our cultural identity.

OUR FUNDAMENTAL IDEALS:
Judaeo-Christianity
Freedom of Religion
Democratic Republic
Freedom & Frontiers
Pursuit of happiness
Rugged individualism
Technological innovation
Space Colonialism*
    (*Our Moral Equivalent of War, but with no enemy to destroy)

WHAT WE HOLD SACRED:
The Declaration of Independence
The Constitution of the U.S.A.
The Bill of Rights
Betsy Ross' Flag (13 stars in a circle)
Liberty Bell
Founding fathers
martyrs & fallen soldiers
veterans

HOW WE PARTICIPATE:
The Star Spangled Banner
America the Beautiful
Pledge of Allegiance
Scouting clubs
Peace Corps/Vista
Military service
Astronaut Corps
Political parties
Voting/Elected office
Paying Taxes

OUR NATIONAL HOLIDAYS:
1. New Year's Day -- Jan
*. ML King Jr Birthday -- Feb*
2. Presidents' Day -- Feb
3. Easter/Passover -- Mar/Apr
4. Emancipation Day -- Apr
*. Mothers' Day -- May*
5. Memorial Day -- May
6. Flag Day -- Jun
*.  Freedom Day - Jun* ("Juneteenth")
*.  Father's Day -- Jun*
7. Independence Day -- Jul
*. Apollo Landing Day -- Jul*
8. Purple Heart Day -- Aug
9. Labor Day -- Sep
*. Patriots Day - Sep*
10. Constitution Day, Sep 19
11. Columbus Day -- Oct
12. Veterans' Day -- Nov
13. Thanksgiving Day -- Nov
14. Christmas/Hanukkah -- Dec
     (*special interest participation*)
[Perhaps we should make room for one more holy day: Yom Teshuvah, the Day of Repentance. A day of prayer and fasting, when we confess and turn away from our national, collective and personal sins and wrong habits, and ask God for forgiveness. Maybe on the last Friday of August. P.S., It's not an actual Jewish holiday.]

OUR CORE VALUES:
1. E Pluribus Unum
      - allegiance to the Constitution
      - melting pot of citizenship
      - participation, not conformity
      - consent, not compulsion
2. Liberty
      - personal autonomy
      - capitalize on your talents
      - if it's not forbidden, you can try
      - be smart, but play fair
3. In God We Trust
      - choice of religion
      - allow for different observances
      - respect for reason
      - freedom from persecution
4. Self-reliance
      - be diligent & resourceful
      - follow your dream
      - plan for success
      - work to be prosperous
5. Progress & Innovation
      - progress builds the future
      - improve the process
      - science & invention
      - dare to be creative
6. Community
      - polite, examplary behavior
      - public education
      - responsibility for justice
      - evolution toward utopia
7. The American Dream
      - get the best education you can
      - own your own home
      - run your own business
      - go into a profession
          - politics, law, medicine, professor
      - build an inheritance for your kids
          - pass down some land
      - raise your social status
      - retire with wealth and leisure
      - be remembered by the community

The integration of immigrants is the reason why we have a "civil religion."  After all, America is a land of immigrants, much to the chagrin of the natives who were here first. Thus, the refusal to assimilate should be sufficient reason to be refused citizenship by naturalization. No matter where in the world you are from, nor any consideration of race, creed or ethnicity, if you don't want to become an American, nor wish to live in peace with us, you should go home. And any intent or attempt to weaken or overthrow the US Constitution is nothing less than treason.

And, yes, the US was founded as a Judaeo-Christian nation, because our founders came mostly from Christian Europe. But they took a stand on secularism and the separation of Church and State because so many came here to seek freedom from persecution for religious beliefs. We have historically been a majority Protestant Christian nation as a result. Thus, we cannot tolerate the persecution of anyone for their beliefs, but neither can religion be used as a shield to protect those who would want to undermine and attack our society.

The Jews, in their various denominations, have always had a debate among themselves about how much to become assimilated, without losing their peculiar identity. This is not unique to the Jews in America, but has always been the case wherever they go. But they have never tried to infiltrate and influence the host society in an attempt to transform it into their own image. As a result, they have become a model for being unique in a respectful and pluralistic society, one which every other ethnic group would do well to emulate in their own fashion. It is not their intent to draw special attention to their differences, but neither do they try to hide them, because they know that there is nothing to fear. Anyone who persecutes them will be viewed as criminal by the society at large.

Unfortunately, there is one exception:

Muslims have always been anti-American. Our very first war, after independence, was against Muslim state-sponsored pirates and slavers. And the relationship between us has remained in constant tension. Only our dependence on the oil fields held in Arab lands has forced us into somewhat more tolerant relations. Recently however, ill-conceived political agendas have unwittingly allowed the infiltration of islamic political ideology into our country, under the guise of seeking peace and freedom as refugees.

Meanwhile, the Muslims who have come here have done little to maintain any kind of respectful relationship with the other members of our society. Rather, they have created exclusive enclaves, flouted our traditions, taken offense at our public values, and attempted to change our legal processes. Their tactics have often been disruptive and occasionally violent. And they claim to be doing this in the name of tolerance and religious freedom, but actually, they are using our own values to undermine us and subvert our freedoms.

It is now increasingly clear that Islam's intention is to disestablish our traditional foundations and overthrow our Republic. Constitutional government is abhorrent to them because it is not subservient to their view of God. Therefore, their hidden wish is to replace our society with one enslaved by Islamic Sharia law. This should never be allowed, nor can any incremental move in that direction be in any way tolerated. Nor can the claim to profess a "moderate" form of Islam be believed. Even apparently "westernized" muslims know that they are told to lie in order to protect Islam, and so they can be radicalized at any time. Moreover, Islam does not believe in freedom of religion, or even free speech. They have only contempt for our tolerance. The entire Islamic agenda is antithetical to our history and our Constitution as a free people.

Therefore, we must keep a sentry at the gate.

If anyone should be barred from entry into America, they are those who carry Islam, with its indivisible political-religious ideology, as part of their cultural baggage. This is fair, as it is neither the establishment of any religion, nor is it intolerance of any honest faith in God. It is only forbidding an inimical political agenda and ideology, for the sake of preserving our nation and its identity as a beacon of hope, religious freedom and liberty of human conscience.

Only those who can agree to assimilate, as much as their own conscience may allow, and to support our country should be allowed to immigrate. And those who can swear without any mental reservations or hidden agendas to willingly sacrifice in order to preserve our beloved nation and its Constitutional government are welcome to become full citizens.

For further investigation:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_civil_religion
and:
Religion for Breakfast, YouTube, "American Civil Religion Series"

The Great Theodrama:

In our world today, we have been taught by our societies that the meaning of life is whatever we make of it. We are told to follow our dreams, that if we make a career out of what we love doing, we will never work a day in our lives. We are encouraged to choose the values that we want to pursue, and find our personal value in that pursuit. This is just like choosing your patron god or goddess from the pantheon in classical Greek and Roman times. We have been given wide-ranging authority to write our own story, and try to bring it to a happy ending. It's an ideology of political correctness, supported by the state.

But this has led to a cacophony of voices, all trying to out-shout one another. Like a street market lined with the stalls of many merchants, everyone wants to recruit some customers to help them build their dreams. But upon closer inspection, these small dreams are merely personal narratives. They lack any broader scope for bringing the world together in a grand vision, or for leading everyone forward to find joy in our daily lives.

By way of contrast, when we look around with an open heart, seeking to embrace the biggest Truth we can find, we discover that there is a God who created the world. And that God has been writing his own story, through every age. Unfortunately, the very earliest parts of the story didn't quite go as planned. He made Adam and Eve, and gave them free will. Those first parents of all humanity made a mistake, and ruined the first chapter of the story. The vast majority of people after that didn't want to listen to a God telling them how to live.

After that, God had to wait until He found the person who could be the father of a people whom He could lead. Finally, He found someone, right at the beginning of civilization. He started by talking to a man named Abram, and He gave him promises. God promised that this man's children and descendants would be cherished by God Himself, and be on stage in every great act of history. Abram agreed, so God changed his name to Abraham, and his descendants have been on the world stage ever since.

The children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have had several of their own chapters in history, culminating in God joining in and playing his own part as a man. Then from among those who listened and believed, He chose a few others to teach everyone else around the world about his plan. He promises shalom, blessing and salvation to all who will follow Him. The Jews mostly did not understand. But now in our days, some more of God's chosen people are understanding the sweep of his story, and agreeing to play a central part again.

And this is an outline of the story of that plan, a Drama composed by God, in many Acts and Revelations:

I. Creation - our job was to lead all creation in a chorus of praising the Creator.
  - we could enjoy companionship with God.
  - we would cultivate the Garden of Eden.
  - we were stewards, ordering nature in shalom.
  - we were meant to expand our handiwork and God's glory over the whole world.

II. The Fall - we looked away from God to instead follow our own agendas.
  - it compromises who we are.
  - our ability to imitate God is broken.
  - our tasks become onerous.
  - we can't get ourselves free from the debilitating consequences of sin.

III. Emerging Israel - God chooses a people to lead and teach how to live.
  - He wants us to learn how to walk in His ways.
  - He asks us to worship and relate to Him as He desires.
  - He is trying to shape a Holy people's hearts and minds.
  - we are still longing for a righteous king to lead us with wisdom and justice.

IV. Jesus Arrives - empowering the growth and fulfillment of Israel's mission.
  - He pronounces justice AND mercy.
  - God is here, walking with us.
  - He is a king who won't fail to follow God.
  - He is a brother and friend who understands us and knows our limitations.

V. Building the Church - we are sent to carry God's word out to all the world.
  - we are following with our hearts and minds.
  - we are being transformed into His likeness.
  - we are trying to establish justice in our societies.
  - let us build a spiritual kingdom of holy relationships among friends.

VI. The Rapture - many shall be chosen to ascend into the glory of the Heavens.
  - we shall build the physical kingdoms of God.
  - we would divide sheep from goats (and cast out wolves).
  - we want to live together in peace and caring.
  - we may someday learn how to overcome the plagues caused by sin and selfishness.

VII. Welcome Home - we shall spread the beauty of life throughout all creation.
  - angelic ambassadors come to visit.
  - we are given a choice: peculiarity or assimilation.
  - we can make barren wastelands bloom.
  - we may join God's Realm, living with consensus, collaboration and shared intention.

This is what could be, if we turn back from our stiff-necked insistence upon our own agendas, and stop seeking our own self-aggrandizement of power, wealth and the praise of men. Rather, let us follow the path of true wisdom, play our appointed parts in the divine drama, and trust Him. We must do as Jesus points the way, to "seek first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all of these things will be added unto you."

God's story has always been an interactive drama, in which at every point, the players are given a choice, to have faith and follow instructions, or trust in their own wisdom and go their own way. Of course, fools think they are wise, but God accepts the return of those who ask forgiveness. God continually warns us of times of tribulation and winnowing, when we shall suffer for the sins that we refuse to let pass away. But He would far rather give us blessings and the fulfillment of his promises, and come to share with us in companionship. He rejoices when He can fill our hearts with gladness.

As usual, God has divided our tasks in this world from his, as creator of the Cosmos. He gives us the purpose for doing things, according to his "why," so that we can follow his will. But He leaves for us to do the "how," and to figure that out in our own time, whenever we are ready to understand it, spiritually as well as scientifically. We must be persistent enough to dig out the secrets we need to accomplish it.

Moreover, He can't give this future to us if we grasp after it unworthily, and try to take it for ourselves without acknowledging Him. That was the cause of our original fall from grace. If we do that, we will end up fighting among ourselves, and in so doing, we may bring about our own last judgment. We are so close to meeting our challenge, about to embark upon a new era. Let us not proceed in haste, but with prayer and wisdom. We are almost ready to begin to enjoy the first fruits of salvation, if not yet the ultimate glory of Heaven.

May God have mercy upon us, and defend us against our own foolishness, as well as against the interference and provocation of our adversaries. Amen.

Who is the Holy Spirit?

We say that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Divine Trinity, but the Church's explanation has always seemed to fall flat to me. Their analogy of the other two persons breathing out their love for each other, and that breath being the subsistence of the Holy Spirit, just doesn't feel like there's a real "person" there. It feels like something is lacking, that this third aspect of Divinity is less complete. And that should never be so. The real misunderstanding must be my fault.

But I have to think of everything I know about the Holy Spirit, what Jesus said about Him. First, the Spirit comes to teach us about Jesus and the Father, but He never speaks about Himself. Now, clearly, both the Father and the Son are persons (distinct, but not separate, etc.), because we have experienced knowing them in action. But the Spirit never reveals anything about Himself. One must wonder if He has a self, or a personality. Jesus does: He gives Himself for us to be saved. The Father does: He desires to draw all people to Himself, to cherish and protect them. But the Holy Spirit seems totally self-less, with no autonomous will. Indeed, if any will exists, it must be to eternally effect a consensus of collaboration and shared intention between the divine Trinity.

When the Father and the Son look at each other, they see ultimate perfection, and thus aspire to emulate and share the image and illuminating likeness of each other. The Holy Spirit is that aspiration. But that does not seem to me to have the aspect of a person. And then, I remember another thing. We are meant to be the Temple of God, with the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, and from there, He wants to teach us how to emulate and share the image and likeness of God with which we were created.

The only thing that the Holy Spirit desires is to live in our hearts and to help us to transform our lives into the likeness of Jesus. He wants to teach us how to be selfless, in service to God. Thus it occurs to me that only when the Spirit is at home in his temple does He fully become a person. I hesitate to say it, but that person is us. As the body of Christ, we are the indwelling of the Trinity, because they are inseparable, but it is the person of the Holy Spirit who is meant to help transform us into God's likeness. Still, to be sure, we must remember that the Holy Spirit never speaks of Himself, and we must never think of ourselves as being any more than human. We become, at best, saintly, not Godlike... not in this world. Our ego must never proclaim that "l am" which reveals the Father, nor dare to speak with the authority of the Son, rather we hope to become as selfless as the Spirit, speaking only to teach about the nature and will of the others in the Trinity.

When we are overflowing with the Holy Spirit, someday in Heaven, and we are drawn into the Divine embrace to share in God's love for each other, then the Spirit will have and be the person that He appears to lack. As his Temple, we offer the Spirit his individual personhood, when our will is conformed perfectly, and  we desire only a consensus and collaboration with a shared intention, not without influence but neither with any insistence upon deflection toward our own "self-ish" agenda. Rather, our whole self will desire to be transformed so it can reflect the image and likeness of what we observe in the other two persons of the Holy Trinity. It is now, and always has been, our destiny to become fully like unto God Himself. But first, we have to rid ourselves of our own egos, and follow Him.

Yet, this is not an individual apotheosis. It is only as members of the community, the Church, incorporated into the Body of Christ, that we can be "transubstantiated" by the infusion of the Holy Spirit. We do not come to be deified as who we are now, but collectively as the communion of all of the saved. God does not want only one person to come and join with Him, but all of his people, the children of Abraham, the nation of Israel, the community of saints, the Body of Christ. We come as a people who have learned to love, and to submerge our own selves into a collective, by consensus, collaboration and shared intention. The distinction of the person of the Holy Spirit is that He is much more than a unity, rather, He is a multitude in unison, like a choir in perfect harmony performing under an expert, master conductor. We are all singing together.

Indeed, this is yet another way to illustrate how the three distinct persons of God don't do anything alone, separately. Even the events of Jesus' earthly life often required the participation of all three persons. In his birth, because of his kenosis (withdrawing his divine powers) He needed the help of the Holy Spirit, and the agreement of the Father in order to be conceived. In his teaching, Jesus only spoke what he heard from his Father, through the Holy Spirit. In his miracles, their effectiveness was a sign of the sharing of divine authority. And in his resurrection, who do you think the two angels were, who came down to roll away the stone and help to raise him from the dead? This is not a sign of any lack of God's power as an individual person, but a manifestation of their perfect unity, their continuous commitment to togetherness, their inseparability. They simply do all things together, always.

And we are offered the opportunity to be participants in that activity, according to the divine plan. Even from the beginning, that was the intention of God, when He created Adam. God walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, talking and planning what they wanted to do, and sharing their image and likeness in the imitation of the perfection which each one perceived in the others. Of course, Adam and Eve were created in perfection. How else does God do things? God wants to be like a perfect human, just as we want to be like a perfect God. And the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is how that is supposed to be accomplished.

And that is why our prayer, asking for the Holy Spirit to come into our hearts, and to help us to become transformed by the imitation of Jesus, never fails. God wants to bring us his gifts, and to fill us with his love, to walk with us each and every day, and teach us all that we need to know. That has been the whole point of creation, ever since the beginning.

A Plea for Hope Amid Despair

"Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed."

Oh hear me Jesus, Messiah God!
Say the Word, O' My Lord, and heal this deadly wound which debilitates my soul.

Give your Light to my blind eyes, and speak hearing to my deaf ears. Touch my lips but with a kindly knuckle, and loose this knotted tongue that forbids my speech.

My God! I am swimming in misery and tears. I beg of you! Reach out thy hand to a drowning man, as you once did for Peter in a storm. I trust in you, my Lord.

Do not cast me out, for my repulsive face, but feed me, Lord, with a morsel of Thy Living Bread, and raise to Life this leprous corpse!

If Thou dost will, you can give life to my paralyzed limbs. Give me hope, that I might stretch out my withered hands. Lift me up, Lord! Thou canst make firm the tottering gait of my crippled feet.

Oh Christ, when thou dost look at me, do not pass by and leave me fruitless and accursed, as you did the barren fig tree.

I have waited here all of my life for your shadow to pass over me, to maybe hear your voice speak my name. I know Thou canst make me clean and wholesome to behold. Have mercy on me, Jesus!

Thou art my chiefest desire, above all else. Do not despise my tears, my God, but save me for Thyself, that I might come into thy presence to adore Thee. Let me walk by thy side and sit at thy feet to listen to your words of eternal life, and let me live among thy people in your City on a Hill, Jerusalem, in Heaven.

I love you, my Lord, for you first loved us.
Amen.

-- based on a sermon preached by
St. Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390 AD)

As Saint Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans (7:24): "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" We should all know that we are spiritually dead, if we do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Adam and Eve were created in the image and likeness of God. Yet while the image is good and permanent, the likeness was to be learned and earned, by walking with God in the Garden of Eden, by having a long term relationship with Him. They had to learn by imitation and discussion about how they should live, even in the Garden.

But there was a trap in the Garden, put there by the Deceiver, Satan. God warned them to avoid it. They didn't listen. By succumbing to temptation and sin, after listening to Satan, all of their learning to be like God was corrupted. Their likeness was broken, and their relationship with God was also broken. We still have the ability to learn to be like God, but now it is broken,  and desperately needs to be fixed.

That is why Jesus came to Earth, so that He could call us back from the brink of despair. He calls us to turn back from listening to the Deceiver. He promises to forgive our foolishness, and wants to fix those parts in us that are broken. He wants to show us how to live correctly, even in this fouled up world.

That is why we must be "born again" by the Baptism of water and the Holy Spirit, so that we can refuse to listen to Satan, and choose to stay in a restored relationship with God. By the rebirth of Baptism, our ability to learn how to be like God is fixed.
We have been reoriented to look toward Jesus, and to listen to his words in the Gospels, until we find that we can speak to Him ourselves and hear Him reply. From there, we can make progress in learning and growing in the likeness of God.

Salvation is our renewed journey, our walk with God in a restored relationship. We spend our time generously to be with Him, as with our closest friend, and among his other friends, the Church. In this way we begin anew the transformation of our hearts and minds into his likeness. We already have his image. That is what makes us eternally valuable and gives us dignity as human beings. But the likeness needs to be restored by pursuing that relationship that Jesus wants to have with us. That's what atonement means, to begin again in a reconciled relationship. We have a new friend! God! Spend your time to get to know Him. If you learn to imitate Him, it will change your life.

But we do not yet have the full likeness of God in ourselves. Rather, we still have our ignorance, our old habits and our mental baggage, which we must struggle to overcome. As a result, we still have an obdurate stumbling block of human fallibility, which repeatedly causes us to sin. Most of us never get completely past that, and even the saints say that they continue to struggle with it.

"For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do." (St. Paul, Romans 7:19)

But Jesus, because He was God coming down to save us, gives us the power to be conquerors, each day resisting temptation. And He no longer counts it against us when we nevertheless fail, each and every day. We have this hope, that He will finally remove our fallibility, and heal our bruised and stumbling ability to follow Him. We believe that He will do this when it is our turn to die. Because of sin, we are mortal. But He is ready, when that time comes, to raise us to eternal life.

And on that day, if we have sought to know God, and asked for a restored relationship with Him and with his Church, then we can knock confidently upon the gates of Heaven and know that they will be opened to us. And Jesus will be waiting to renew our humanity without the stumbling blocks that have thus far caused our earthly fallibility. So that, in Heaven, we shall be able at last to achieve our own full likeness to our Creator and Saviour, in accord with the Holy Spirit who guides us from within. And without the sin in our lives, there will be no further cause for death. We will have eternal life.

Amen. Let it be so, Lord.
(A personal meditation on the Eastern Orthodox theology of Resurrection and Salvation... a different perspective)