Besides the abnormal six hour length of the in-person phase, what struck me was their preoccupation with consistently asking me about what they call their leadership principles. Amazon’s ranking as the most valuable company currently oscillates anywhere in the top five so there must be something to these principles that they are so fond of. As I became familiar with them I realized that these principles are already found in our mother, the Church, in a much more deep and meaningful way.

Let us therefore walk through the principles one by one and make sure that we become the following type of leader in our own local parish:

Customer Obsession

Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.

In the Church, who is our “customer”?

It’s probably not the first thing that comes to your mind. It is NOT the congregant; it is not the people who gather. Rather it is the One whom we gather to worship. He is our goal and aim. He is the One whom we seek to please.

“do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)

It is not about us. It is about Him. Worship doesn’t have to feel good or provide you with some experience. Rather, it is an encounter with the One True God.

Also, we do pay attention to our “competitors,” the demons who seek to shame us. Although we are not ignorant of the devil’s devices, our one true focus is Christ, the King of glory.

Ownership

Leaders are owners. They think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say “that’s not my job.”

Sacrificing future glory for the present indulgence is not a good investment. That’s what we do when we gratify our carnal desires instead of pursuing something to offer our Maker: “…giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7). And what is it said of he who lacks these things? He is shortsighted, even to blindness. Good leaders are not shortsighted; they think long term.

Furthermore, my sin affects my brother, my community. That is why in the early Church they would publicly confess their sins, and even to this day when someone confesses to a priest they are being reconciled with the whole body of Christ. There is no such thing as a victim-less crime.

Invent and Simplify

Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by “not invented here.” As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time.

I want view this one from the paradigm of serving in the diaspora. In the Council of Jerusalem, a dispute arose over whether new believers should be circumcised. The conclusion was “we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.” (Acts 15:19-20)

In a new culture, Christians will have to adapt and do things in different ways so that the message of the Gospel can be preached in a way the hearer can receive. Also, some traditions need to be done away with entirely as superfluous. Here I am talking about the traditions of men, and not paradosis.

Are Right, A Lot

Leaders are right a lot. They have strong judgment and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.

It would be arrogant for anyone to think they are always right, even right a lot like this particular principle is suggesting. That’s why we have the consensus of the fathers, councils of bishops, and the collective lives of the saints to learn from. Never one, always together. However there is One who is always right, and if wholeheartedly united to Him you will be too:

Stratonicos, a wise and eloquent monk, full of his intelligence, has nothing to say when Silouan, in all simplicity, asks him how the perfect speak: he suddenly realizes that he does not know the first thing about perfect speech. But his inability to speak allows him to hear, and into his humbled silence Silouan plants the message that ‘The perfect never say anything of themselves. . . . They only say what the Spirit inspires them to say.’

Source

If you are truly speaking as He inspires and walking according to the Spirit of God, you will be right in your words and deeds. However be careful of thinking, ‘you know what God is telling you’ and everyone around you is wrong. Remember, never one, always together.

Learn and Be Curious

Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them.

This one is pretty straightforward. Our Church has such richness and depth. There is an endless amount of things to learn until we come to “the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” We should not be afraid to be exposed to new ideas which we can critically examine in the Light of the Truth of Christ.

“Let books be your dining table and you shall find delight. Let them be your mattress and you will sleep restful nights.” (St. Ephraim the Syrian)

Hire and Develop the Best

Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice.

The Church has something better than Career Choice. She has discipleship. Too many church leaders are overburdened by the load they have to carry because the work is not delegated well to the rest of the people:

So the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone. (Numbers 11:16-17)

Good leaders empower others to make change. A sign of good leadership is the birth of strong, willing, and capable leaders.

Insist on the Highest Standards

Leaders have relentlessly high standards — many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to deliver high quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.

As Christians, holiness is our standard. True church leaders spurn others on to repent, not just by preaching about it but by modeling it in their own lives. If we break the chain of sin in our lives, those around us and those who come after us will be better off for it. We never lower our standard of holiness knowing that we are called to be holy as He is holy and even called to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.

Pursue … holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

Let us encourage one another to serve one another with love and humility, with Christ as the head and the goal.

Stay tuned for Part II coming next week!

“God knows every person from before the foundation of the world and provides their unique life and the specific conditions of their earthly way that are literally the best possible conditions for them.”

This is a convicting statement as Fr. Hopko explains that it is pride that leads us to say things like, if only I would have been born in this time period, or into a wealthy family, or this or that way… We think we know better than God what is best for us! It is a awe-inspiring and humbling thought to know that God has placed us exactly where and when we need to be, and given us everything we need.

Another quote that touched me was:

“…’form of life’ is not necessarily a job or profession. For example, some people may be called to suffer on this earth and to bear the results of fallen humanity in the most violent manner—to be victimized by disease, affliction, or both physical and mental disability; to be the objects of other people’s cares or disdain.”

Our vocation isn’t necessarily tied to what we do in this world, but rather who we are becoming. Being a doctor, lawyer, or engineer should not be an identity but rather a means to an end. Furthermore, we are instructed to bear illnesses that come to us patiently knowing that it is God who has allowed them and is using this vocation of suffering as a means for salvation.

This pamphlet also touches on the ‘ways of  salvation’ that the Lord has given us:

“Some will sanctify their lives being married; others will be single. Some will do it in clerical orders; others as lay people. Some will be monastic; most will live in the everyday secular world.”

But it also affirms the vocation we share in common:

“In a certain sense, every person has the same vocation, which is to be a saint… We can cooperate with God. We can share His holiness. We can become, as the saints themselves teach us, all that God Himself is by His gracious action in our lives”

These last two quotes really sum up the entire matter for me:

“In the eyes of God none is better than the other. None is higher or more praiseworthy. Each must find his or her own way and glorify God through it. Ultimately this is all that matters”

“Being faithful were we are is the basic sign that we will God’s will for our lives”

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! (download by clicking this link or read below)

Finding_Ones_Calling_In_Life

photo courtesy of Nickolay Khoroshkov

“For because you did not do it the first time,  the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him about the proper order.” 1 Chronicles 15:13

“Moreover Jehoiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors, with its bolts and bars.” Nehemiah 3:6

“Thus says the Lord : ‘Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the anceint paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls.'”Jeremiah 6:16

What do these seemingly dissimilar Bible verses have in common?

They all point in one way or another to Holy Tradition 

So what is Tradition?

The word tradition in Greek is paradosis – mentioned 13 times in the New Testament. The precise meaning is to hand down, along side.

Said another way, the word ‘tradition’ in Scriptures, ‘paradosis’; does not mean imitation of the past but rather delivering a deposit and receiving it. Take a look at these next couple of verses to see the word paradosis in context:

“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand…” 1 Corinthians 15:1

“For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13

What does this mean?

It means we live the life of Christ in the liturgy as we actively participate!

It means we can be transformed and renewed through God’s active work in us today!

It means we can unite to God who meets us in the present moment, giving us Himself freely. We can exchange our life for His own.

How is this possible? It is because

“Paradosis is the very life of the Holy Trinity as it has been revealed by Christ Himself and testified by the Holy Spirit”
-G. Debis

This is why, while the Bible is incredibly important, it is not the foundation of our faith as Orthodox believers. Look at what some early church writers note:

“By tradition, I knew the four gospels, and that they are the true ones.” -Origen (3rd Century)

“Learn also diligently, and from the Church what are the books of the Old Testament, and what are those of the New. -Cyril of Jerusalem (4th Century)

What then is our foundation of faith?

Tradition is because it is our One Source of Revelation; the Church is “built on [this] foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20).

That is why Met Kallistos Ware defines Tradition as the following:

It means the books of the Bible; it means the Creed; it means the decrees of the ecumenical councils and the writings of the Fathers; it means the Canons, the service books,  the Holy icons – in fact he whole system of the doctrine.

Heresies occur when someone takes a verse in the Bible and interprets it himself outside of the Tradition of the Church: decrees of the Councils and the understanding of the whole Church.

We have one source of authority; the Word of God, actualized and revealed in the Person, life and works of Jesus Christ:

“And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.” John 21:25

This shows that Christ didn’t come to give us a book or a written document. He came to give us Life, He came to give us Himself. In the same way parents don’t give their children a set of instructions of how to live but they lead by example.

It is by the action of the Holy Spirit that ‘the tradition of Christ’ is preserved in the Church life through the successive generation, as He always lives and acts in the Church – inspires her life and makes it a continuity of life:

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you (John 16:13-14)

This ‘you’ in the above Bible verse is the collective you of the Church and should not to be interpreted in an individual sense.

It is important to remember that the Church received the ‘word of God’ before it was written on paper therefore when the evangelists and apostles wrote Scripture by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Church accepted it, venerated and understood it as a life she has previously practiced.

Therefore, Tradition is that which Christ Himself bestowed, the apostles proclaimed, and the Fathers safeguarded. It is “what is believed always, everywhere, by everyone” (St. Vincent of Lerins) for the first 1000 years after Christ came. It is the One Source of Revelation and the living stream of the One Life of the Church. Tradition is the Gospel of Jesus Christ interpreted, guarded and passed down through apostolic succession.

Why are there so many ‘different’ meanings of Tradition? What does any of this mean? Why does it matter?

It matters because if we don’t understand these things we will not be able to experience them – we will not be able to enjoy a life in and with the Holy Trinity. It matters because if I don’t understand my faith, how will I witness to others and lead them to the joy of being in the fullness of Christ. It matters because I want to see Him as He is and not as I imagine Him.

I pray we are able to run the race in a manner pleasing to His goodness and learn, live, and pass on the true faith to the next generation!

That One Thing

I remember finding the following verse under the heading ‘Miscellaneous Laws’  in the Pentateuch before getting married and desiring and praying to have an opportunity to live it out:

“When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken.” (Deuteronomy 24:5)

Well God answered my prayer in the most unusual way and taught me something in the process: In order to do something well you have to completely and unconditionally dedicate yourself to just that one thing. God moved us from familiar people, places, culture, and even language in order to have us build a strong foundation for our marriage for as many years as God gives us together.

Oneness of Purpose

When your attentions and desires are divided you will do nothing well. As Christ said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.” I remember a conversation I had with a monk as I visited a monastery while here in Korea; I remember asking him, “Why are you here in the monastery, what do you hope to achieve?”

“Deification” came his concise reply. I was impressed not so much with his answer as the fact that he didn’t have to really think about it to respond. There was someone who knew what it was they wanted! He had dedicated himself to the monastic life to pursue union with God – to become by grace what Jesus Christ is by nature. Isn’t that the calling of each one of us? Shouldn’t that be our sole purpose as Christians? Of course, we all have different means of reaching the same goal but in order to reach the goal we first have to make it our one aim, our one focus. In all that we do, whether in eating or drinking, rejoicing or suffering, giving thanks to God for His goodness and provision or giving ourselves over to repentance we should have a goal: union with our God.

Oneness of Being

This concept of ‘one thing’ goes much deeper than it’s superficial appearance. To demonstrate this I want to reference how tears are valued in the spiritual life because they show that man has only one thought and desire – that of God:

in our natural fallen state, we are divided: we think one thing with our mind, we feel another with our senses, we desire yet another with our heart. However, when mind and heart are united by the grace of God, then man has only one thought–the thought of God; he has only one desire–the desire for God; and only one sensation–the noetic sensation of God. That is why repentance and tears are so much appreciated: they help us to find that healing, that state of integrity, because no human being can weep having two thoughts; we weep because of one thought that hurts us. If we are hurt by the thought that we are separated from God, that ‘salvation is far from the sinner’ (cf. Psalm 119:155) and all those things that inspire this pain in our heart, then, of course, we can cry; but if we have two thoughts, we cannot cry -Archimandrite Zacharias

St John Climacus recounts something similar about how it is important to call all of oneself to the worship of God:

Noticing that one of the brothers stood during the Psalm singing with more heartfelt feeling than many of the others. . . I asked him to explain. . . I have the habit, Father John, at the very beginning, of collecting my thoughts, my mind and my soul, and of summoning them, I cry to them: O come, let us worship and fall down before Christ, our King and God.

Blessed is the man who presents himself and worships God with his whole being united as one! Our Orthodox Church allows us to move towards this way of worship as “the Divine Liturgy acts upon the entire man… sight, hearing, smelling, feeling, taste…” (St John Kronstadt). The icons, chanting, incense, candles, kneeling, breast-beating, kissing, partaking in the Body and Blood of Christ … everything is meant to help us worship God with our entire selves. We offer all of ourselves in exchange for all of Him.

Oneness in Spirit

You can also look at doing ‘one thing’ in such a way that it does not need to be done again. There are several saints that model this idea of doing something in the power of the Spirit once and for all. For instance, it is said of St Ephraim the Syrian that he celebrated Liturgy only once and did not celebrate it again. “Once was sufficient for him because he lived the mystery in the power of the Spirit.” Imagine that! Just like the entire life of  Christ – every act that He did – was done once and for all, the saints of our Church leave us the same example.

Another such example is St. Mary of Egypt. From what we know of her story it seems as though she only partook in the Holy Eucharist once. This should change our mentality from how many times I can go to liturgy and take communion to how in His Presence can I be if even for a shorter time. How deeply and with how much of myself can I pray? How much will I let Him increase in me? How much can I become like Him?

Community Is Everything

“Our life and our death is with our neighbor.” -St. Anthony the Great

Another precious lesson that I learned while in Korea is that community is everything. I am not referring to the small talk had with acquaintances from work in coffee shops, but rather the discussions with other believers centered on the word of God and worshipping and partaking of the Word of God Himself in the Divine Liturgy.

True community, deep friendship is founded upon the mutual pursuit of the God of love. What’s more is that a genuine community is founded on persons who mutually give of themselves and receive of others. Yes, we should celebrate one another, encourage, rebuke, weep and rejoice with our brothers and sisters but we are called to much much more than that. We need to offer ourselves to the point of death for one another because there is no greater love. Oh that we would say with St. Paul that we could wish ourselves accursed from Christ for the sake of our brethren! Let us labor in love for one another till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Let us pray the first word of the Lord’s prayer with sincerity of heart united to our brothers in our heart.

And let us not forget the words of St. John Chrysostom:

“I do not believe that he can be saved who does not labour for the salvation of his neighbor. It profited that wretched servant nothing that he had not diminished his talent, but he perished through not increasing it and returning it twofold”

Fight Everyday

How are we to live up to the lofty calling we have received? How are we to honor the royal image that we bear? How are we to become even as He is?

We must struggle everyday

Let us not waste or lives on trivial pursuits but spend them in repentance!

The first couple of Sundays that I attended St. Nicholas Korean Orthodox Church in Seoul, South Korea the Metropolitan spoke his sermon in Greek and it was translated simultaneously into Korean and thankfully also into English. At that time I was developing the habit of taking just one main point away from the sermon and applying that to myself for that next week (see first lesson :)). Looking back, the first Sunday’s lesson was simply ‘pursue holiness’ and the second Sunday’s was ‘fight everyday.’ I put these two together and it was the general theme for the entire rest of my time there. Even in confession, His Eminence would encourage me to ‘fight everyday,’ to ‘struggle,’ to practice ‘ascesis,’ for that is the secret to the Christian life he would say – to fight everyday.

Fight to remain salty. Fight against following the crowd away from Him. Fight to give away that which you have freely received. Fight to love your wife. Fight to act on the word of God. Fight against your passions knowing that they bring about all kinds of destruction on you. Fight to help those in need. Fight to be humble as it is the foundation for true love. Fight against making excuses for yourself. Fight to cultivate within yourself a deep desire for Him. Fight to remain faithful and to persevere to the very end. Fight to have a holy marriage, to have a little church in your house. Fight to go from death to life. Fight to see the good in people. Fight to become great by keeping the gospel and obeying the commandments. Fight to be full of joy. Fight to read your Bible and go to church. Fight to pray. Fight despite your fear. Fight your self-love. Fight because the road of the cross is an exceedingly beautiful one. Fight to let Him fight for you.

Thank you to all our family at St. Nicholas for a year not soon to be forgotten.

“Courage (from latin: coeur): to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart.”

Connection with others gives purpose and meaning to our lives. It’s how we were created. Even on a physiological level it’s how we’re wired neurobiologically.

Too many of us have been conditioned to respond, “Good. How are you?” to the disingenuous but seemingly obligatory question of “How are you doing?” as we pass by an acquaintance. Side note: I actually had someone say “Good. How are you?” in response to me trying to mix things up and say “Hey man! It’s great to see you!”

Too many of us long for deep connection and intimacy but don’t want to take the risk required to expose ourselves to build the mutual trust that makes relationships worthwhile.

Too many of us prefer to numb ourselves to grief, shame, and disappointment but don’t realize that we are numbing joy, gratitude, and happiness in the process.

Where are those who desire to imitate our Lord Jesus Christ

who willingly hung naked on a cross for the world to see
who willingly asked us to come and touch His wounds
who took a risk and gave Himself up knowing that some still might reject Him

You see, vulnerability is not weakness. It is the most courageous thing you can do. To let ourselves be seen.. to let ourselves be known. For it is only when we are fully known that we can be fully loved.

Let us love with our whole hearts even though there’s no guarantee. Let us lean into the discomfort of exposing ourselves knowing that to feel vulnerable means that you’re alive. When you ask the questions,

“Can I love this person this much?”
“Can I believe in this as passionately?”
“Can I be this fierce about this?”

do not give into fear but know that this is what it means to be alive.

Let us not try to make uncertain things certain; let us have the courage to be imperfect; let us not pretend but rather present people with the most authentic version of ourselves.

Let us dare greatly and learn from failure when it comes our way instead of avoiding it by not trying at all. This is the only way to grow.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Let us follow in the footsteps of our Maker:

God takes risks. The Incarnation of Jesus was perhaps the greatest risk ever taken… God shows His true greatness when He shows His ability to be weak. To condescend – to get down on our level – is the way God makes Himself open to us. And by doing so He makes Himself vulnerable (Fr Meletios Webber in Bread & Water, Wine & Oil).

By His most human action, an action which expresses all the weakness and impotence of our created nature, Christ shows Himself to be God. The profundity of this puts one at a loss for words (Fr John Behr in The Mystery of Christ: Life and Death). 

Vulnerability is not weakness. It is strength. It is power. It is love. It is truth.. and it is truth that sets us free.

“True love is borne out of true vulnerability, and true love is humble enough to be rejected, to be crucified, to be killed. However, we need to go through the cross to get to the Resurrection and we need to go through vulnerability, through the risk of being rejected if we hope to reach the sort of relationship and communion that come from being fully known and fully accepted.”

There is something immensely enjoyable about shrinking your world down to a board with 64 checkered squares, 6 types of pieces, and just you and your opponents skill and experience.

Strategy, sacrifice, the pride of winning and the sting of defeat – the game has it all!

It’s so easy to play one game after another… after another (on chess.com you can instantly find someone to play with from around the world as soon as your current game ends). Pretty soon you are engrossed in wanting to get better – to get to the next level. The best portrait of this is Bobby Fischer who was arguably the greatest chess player of all time. I watched most of the recent movie about him, Pawn Sacrifice, but then my plane landed and I didn’t get a chance to finish it. I kept thinking about how determined he was and how there was nothing and no one who could stop him in becoming the world champion of chess. Eager to be proven right I found the following clip to the end of the movie:

I was right. He had won.

But at what cost? The footage at the very end is of the real Bobby Fischer.
Did you catch what he said?

“Chess is basically a search for truth.”

He had lived his entire life in pursuit of becoming the best that at the end of it all he ascribed the highest of value to a game. He worshipped chess. How many of us do the same? Maybe not with chess, but how many of us exchange the truth of God for the lie, and worship and serve creation rather than the Creator?

It’s so easy to become engrossed in seemingly harmless things to distract us from the present, from pain, from the struggle. But we can only meet with God in the present. We can only come face to face with the eternal in the here and now. What are the things that distract us from letting God perfect that which concerns us? What are the things that hinder us from carrying out the will of God for our lives?

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. (John 2:15-16)

Do you want to be the guy who hits the snooze button several times (lust of the flesh) or the one who is eager to faithfully seek God out through prayer and reading His word?

Do you want to be the guy known for always flipping through his smartphone checking the ‘latest and greatest’ (lust of the eyes) or the person always ready to lend a helping hand?

Do you want to be known as the best chess player of all time (pride of life) or the best version of yourself – the best follower of Jesus you can be.

Be as those who,

use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away. (1 Corinthians 7:31)

Put another way: Use this temporal world to lead you to an eternal God – not the other way around.

It is in the small victories that we prove to God that we are His.

Not many of us think we are living for money, fame, pleasure, and other trivial things that we ought to count as rubbish, but where is the proof? Where do I spend my time, energy, and money??

There is your answer.

May God grant us a spirit of repentance to turn away from worldly cares and carnal lusts and give us the grace to answer Satan every time like our Lord Jesus Christ did,

“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”(Matthew 4:10)

(The picture is from the ‘Game of the Century‘ right before Bobby Fischer makes the ultimate sacrifice to go on and win the game)

Wanted, a man who will not lose his individuality in a crowd, a man who has the courage of his convictions, who is not afraid to say “No,” though all the world say “Yes.”

Wanted, a man who is larger than his calling, who considers it a low estimate of his occupation to value it merely as a means of getting a living.
Wanted, a man who sees self-development, education and culture, discipline and drill, character and manhood, in his occupation.

Wanted, a man of courage who is not a coward in any part of his nature.

Wanted, a man who is symmetrical, and not one-sided in his development, who has not sent all the energies of his being into one narrow specialty and allowed all the other branches of his life to wither and die.

Wanted, a man who is broad, who does not take half views of things; a man who mixes common sense with his theories, who does not let a college education spoil him for practical, every-day life; a man who prefers substance to show, and one who regards his good name as a priceless treasure.

Wanted, a man “who, no stunted ascetic, is full of life and fire, but whose passions are trained to heed a strong will, the servant of a tender conscience; who has learned to love all beauty, whether of nature or of art, to hate all vileness, and to respect others as himself.”

The world wants a man who is educated all over; whose nerves are brought to their acutest sensibility; whose brain is cultured, keen, incisive, broad; whose hands are deft; whose eyes are alert, sensitive, microscopic; whose heart is tender, magnanimous, true.

The whole world is looking for such a man. Although there are millions out of employment, yet it is almost impossible to find just the right man in almost any department of life, and yet everywhere we see the advertisement: “Wanted–A Man.”

It is a sad sight to see thousands of students graduated every year from our grand institutions whose object is to make stalwart, independent, self-supporting men, turned out into the world saplings instead of stalwart oaks, “memory-glands” instead of brainy men, helpless instead of self-supporting, sickly instead of robust, weak instead of strong, leaning instead of erect. “So many promising youths, and never a finished man!”

The character sympathizes with and unconsciously takes on the nature of the body. A peevish, snarling, ailing man can not develop the vigor and strength of character which is possible to a healthy, robust, cheerful man. There is an inherent love in the human mind for wholeness, a demand that man shall come up to the highest standard; and there is an inherent protestor contempt for preventable deficiency. Nature, too, demands that man be ever at the top of his condition.

The first requisite of all education and discipline should be man-timber. Tough timber must come from well grown, sturdy trees. Such wood can be turned into a mast, can be fashioned into a piano or an exquisite carving. But it must become timber first. Time and patience develop the sapling into the tree. So through discipline, education, experience, the sapling child is developed into hardy mental, moral, physical man-timber.

If the youth should start out with the fixed determination that every statement he makes shall be the exact truth; that every promise he makes shall be redeemed to the letter; that every appointment shall be kept with the strictest faithfulness and with full regard for other men’s time; if he should hold his reputation as a priceless treasure, feel that the eyes of the world are upon him, that he must not deviate a hair’s breadth from the truth and right; if he should take such a stand at the outset, he would…come to have almost unlimited credit and the confidence of everybody who knows him.

What are palaces and equipages; what though a man could cover a continent with his title-deeds, or an ocean with his commerce; compared with conscious rectitude, with a face that never turns pale at the accuser’s voice, with a bosom that never throbs with fear of exposure, with a heart that might be turned inside out and disclose no stain of dishonor? To have done no man a wrong;…to walk and live, unseduced, within arm’s length of what is not your own, with nothing between your desire and its gratification but the invisible law of rectitude— this is to be a man.

Taken from Pushing to the Front, 1911
By Orison Swett Marden

Found in The Art of Manliness book entitled Manvotionals

]]> https://becomingfullyalive.com/wanted-a-man/feed/ 0 https://becomingfullyalive.com/the-church-reading-the-scriptures/ https://becomingfullyalive.com/the-church-reading-the-scriptures/#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2016 14:00:59 +0000 https://becomingfullyalive.com/?p=3989

The unfolding of your words gives light. (Psalm 119:130)

We all know how important it is to read the Bible in our journey towards union with God. It’s right up there with fasting, praying, and partaking in the Eucharist. As St. Clement of Alexandria puts it, “for those who have chosen to major in holiness, there is special training in the Word.”

But what if you don’t feel like it…

You feel like you have too many things to get done to read today
You’re too tired or are feeling lazy and just want to put it off

Well St. John Chrysostom has this to say to you:

What on earth are you saying? … that’s the very reason why you need to read the Bible! The more worries you have, the more you need the Bible to keep you going! People like monks and nuns who have left the troubles of the world behind are quite safe; they are like ships sailing on a calm sea, or moored in a quiet harbor. But you are in the middle of this godless world’s stormy sea, and so you need spiritual help and sustenance far more urgently. They live far from the battlefield, out of the sound of gunfire; but you are in the front line, face to face with the enemy, and you are bound to suffer frequent blows and be severely wounded. So you need the medicine-chest close at hand.

But let’s not just focus on why we should do it… let’s also remember why we want to do it.

There are more quotes than you can believe on this topic basically saying the same thing:

Constant meditation upon the holy Scriptures will perpetually fill the soul with incomprehensible ecstasy and joy in God

-St. Isaac the Syrian

I don’t know about you but ecstasy and joy in God sound like things worth pursuing!

So we know that we should read the Scriptures and even maybe want to read them, but now let’s turn our attention to how one should read.

Pray Before

Do not approach the words of the mysteries contained in the Scriptures without prayer and without asking for God’s help. Say, “Lord, grant that I may receive an awareness of the power that is within them.” Consider prayer to be the key to the understanding of truth in Scripture, says St. Isaac the Syrian.

The Church teaches us the importance of praying before reading the Scriptures as this concept is built into the liturgy itself. Fr. Alexander Schmemann writes in his book, The Eucharist:

The celebrant reads the prayer before the gospel, in which he asks God to send down the “pure light of Your divine knowledge. Open the eyes of our mind to the understanding of Your gospel teachings.” This prayer, which is now read silently, occupies the same place in the sacrament of the word that the epiklesis, the supplication for the Father to send down His Holy Spirit, occupies in the eucharistic prayer. Like the consecration of the gifts, understanding and acceptance of the word depend not on us, not only on our desire, but above all on the sacramental transformation of the “eyes of our mind,” on the coming to us of the Holy Spirit. The blessing that the priest bestows on the deacon as he is about to read the gospel testifies to this: “May God…enable you to proclaim the glad tidings with great power, to the fulfillment of the gospel…”

Read with the Fathers

The Church believes that it has one source of revelation: the Tradition of the Church.

It is important to understand that the Scriptures were given to us as part of this One Holy Tradition. If someone were to say, “I believe in the infallibility of the Scriptures” we should respond, “me too, but as long as they are explained by the fathers and lived by the saints.”

Throughout the ages, heresies have occurred when someone interprets the Scriptures using their own mind outside of the Tradition of the Church. This is why we need to read the Scriptures with the Church Fathers, and with consensus patrum, the agreement between the Fathers as to the correct interpretation.

St. Ignatii Brianchaninov sums up the matter nicely:

You ask: Why is it necessary to read the Holy Fathers? Is it not enough to be guided by the Holy Scriptures as the pure Word of God, without any admixture of human words?

And I reply: Reading the Holy Writ, one also has to read the Holy Fathers of the Church. St. Peter says this concerning Scripture: “No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (II Peter 1:20,21). So how do you wish to interpret arbitrarily the spiritual words which were uttered not from one’s own will, but as prompted by the Spirit and which, as such, prohibit any arbitrary interpretation. It is the Spirit who uttered the Scripture, and it is he alone who can interpret it. It was committed to paper by men inspired by God, the prophets and the apostles; and men inspired by God, the Holy Fathers, have interpreted it. Therefore, everyone who wished to have the true understanding of the Holy Scriptures must also read the Holy Fathers. For should you confine yourselves to reading the Scripture alone, you will try to understand and interpret it arbitrarily. And misconceptions will be unavoidable, because “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God… neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God” (I Cor. 2:14,11)… The Universal Church…has always had particular respect for the patristic writings, for they preserved the common Church tradition which had to have a commonly accepted, true and grace-giving interpretation of the Scriptures…

Read Between the Lines

The goal of reading the Bible should not be to read the Bible.

Reading the Bible should be a means to bring us into closer intimacy with Whom it is about.
We don’t worship the words of the Bible but rather the Word of God Himself.

When you read the Scriptures, do not have in mind to read page after page, but ponder over each word. When some words make you go deep into yourself, or stir you to contrition, or fill your heart with spiritual joy and love, pause on them. It means that God draws near to you.

St. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain

Just as God became incarnate and met us where we were, God veils Himself in the different versions and languages of the Bible. There is really no ‘correct’ version or proper language in which to read the Bible (although some are preferred because they are closer to the original translation). St. John Chrysostom affirms this by saying

“As when God became man in Bethlehem the eternal Word became flesh, so in the Bible the glory of God veils itself in the fleshly garment of human thought and human language.”

What’s more is that just as we eat His flesh and drink His blood in the Holy Eucharist, we partake of Him in the same way in the reading of the Scriptures. Paul Evdokimov writes, “While reading Scripture, the Fathers read not words, but the living Christ, and Christ spoke to them. They consumed words in the manner of the Eucharistic bread and wine, and the word appeared to them in its Christ dimension.”

So let us read the Scriptures with a new desire for Him and a yearning for Him to open our understanding that we might comprehend them.

I will leave you with the following passage from Kallistos Ware’s, The Orthodox Way,

The real purpose of Bible study is…to feed our love for Christ, to kindle our hearts into prayer, and to provide us with guidance in our personal life. The study of words should give place to an immediate dialogue with the living Word himself. “Whenever you read the Gospel,” says St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, “Christ himself is speaking to you. And while you read, you are praying and talking with him.” In this way Orthodox are encouraged to practice a slow and attentive reading of the Bible, in which our study leads us directly into prayer.

Check out Part VI

(Photo courtesy of Justin Sebastian)

Many of the quotes from this post came from this book: Philokalia: The Bible Orthodox Spirituality and if you want to learn more about the One Holy Tradition of the Church I encourage you to check out St. Cyril’s Society Online Certificate in Orthodox Mission

How does this have to do with you and me, you ask?

Well Satan hates God and everything that has to do with Him, including us. Because we were made in the image of God, Satan loathes us and will do anything and everything in his power to destroy us with himself by keeping us disconnected from the Bridegroom of our soul.

This would be a cause for great fear if it were not for Him who is for us, who holds the world in His loving hands.

Satan may roar like a lion but he is nothing compared to the Lion of Judah. He may be the prince of this world, but he has to ask permission from the King of Kings and Lord of Lords before doing anything. Satan may even be able to transform himself into an angel of light to confuse some, but our God is the Unapproachable Light who enlightens those who seek after Him.

Satan is an expert at waging war against mankind and his tactics are ruthless. He has had many thousands of years of experience and the war against him should not be taken lightly. However, God has not left us alone and has even allowed this warfare for our salvation. What follows are four tactics essential in fighting the enemy:

1. Never Rely on Yourself

“Not to rely on oneself is so necessary in our struggle, my beloved, that without this, be assured, not only will you fail to gain the desired victory, but you will be unable to resist the smallest attack of the enemy. Engrave this deeply in your mind and heart”

The first step is to realize that your enemy is just too strong for you. Never ever think you are safe but always expect temptation until your last breath. One of the crafty wiles of the devil is to withdraw for a time giving you the false sense that you have overcome some sin after much struggle. Then, when you have let down your guard he attacks with such fierceness that your fall is so great you cannot fathom how it happened.

It is important to remember the words spoken to St. Anthony when he asked who could overcome the snares and traps laid by the enemy. “The humble” came the gentle reply. Pride is detestable to God so He will withdraw His grace if He sees our hearts lifted up in pride when we think it is we who have overcome in our own strength. We need accountability and vulnerability with those we are fighting alongside and those who are leading us if we are to advance on the battlefield.

2. Have a Perfect Trust in God

“Together with complete renunciation of ourselves, we should plant in our heart a perfect trust in God and a complete confidence in Him”

In addition to understanding we can do nothing of ourselves we have to remember the power, wisdom, and love of God. If we hold fast to the following three truths we can establish an unwavering trust in Him:

God is Omnipotent, or all-powerful, and can do all that He chooses. Therefore He has all the power to help us in absolutely anything.

God is Omniscient, or all-wise, and knows all in the most perfect manner. He knows fully what is best for the salvation of each of us.

God is infinitely Good and comes to us with ineffable love. He, as a Good Shepherd and True Father, is always ready to help us as soon as we run to Him with firm trust in the protection of His arms. Because He loves us with an incomprehensible love, we have to know and trust that He will lead us in all things for our good and for His glory.

3. Strive without ceasing

“War should be waged ceaselessly and courageously”

There is no rest on this side of eternity. To ‘take a break from God’ is to surrender to the enemy.

“So this spiritual warfare of ours must be constant and never ceasing, and should be conducted with alertness and courage in the soul”

Never stop crying out to God saying:

“rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.” (Psalm 142:6)

Continue using weapons proven to work:

“Flog the foes with the name of Jesus for there is no stronger weapon in heaven or on earth”

Get up every time you fall with hatred for those things which ensnare you and for the love of sin which lingers in your heart. Never give up. Never surrender. Your General, your King, your Father looks with joy at your efforts. Your struggle for His Name brings sweet pleasure to His heart, and that’s worth fighting for.

4. Remain constantly in prayer

Prayer doesn’t come in one shape or size.

There was actually a heresy in the 4th century that was condemned because it taught, among other things, that the only way to salvation was solely by praying.

Prayer’s ultimate goal is union with God and there is no formula for that. There is only relationship. Here are a couple of points to drive the point home:

St. Peter of Damascus says:

The Apostle says, “Pray without ceasing.” That is, he teaches men to have the remembrance of God in all times and places and circumstances. If you are making something, you must call to mind the Creator of all things; if you see the light, remember the Giver of it… If you put on your clothes, recall Whose gift they are and thank Him Who provides for your life. In short, let every action be a cause of your remembering and praising God, and lo! you will be praying without ceasing and therein your soul will always rejoice.

We can indeed pray unceasingly if, in addition to saying prayers we become prayer. Paul Evdokimov writes, It is not enough to say prayers; one must become, be prayer, prayer incarnate. It is not enough to have moments of praise. All of life, each act, every gesture, even the smile of the human face, must become a hymn of adoration, an offering, a prayer. One should offer not what one has, but what one is.

You can practice the presence of God, sing and make melody with your heart to the Lord, serve the poor and sick for the sake of Christ, stand or even sit in silent awe at the excellence of His beauty, meditate on how great are all things that His hands have made, write or type out prayers, and talk with family and friends about His goodness.

These are all forms of prayer.

Do all things with the intention to please and love Him more, and not to please yourself. Do not approach Him out of a feeling of guilt as if you must talk to Him in order to relieve yourself of some burden. Let your heart yearn for Him! Be consistent and faithful in coming to Him because you want to.. because you get to.. not because you have to.

Let us ask Him to give us this beautiful and blessed desire to love Him and yearn for Him all the days of our lives.

So to review, the four things we can do the wage war against and overcome the enemy are:

1.) Never rely on yourself

2.) Have a perfect trust in God

3.) Strive without ceasing

4.) Remain constantly in prayer

With that being said though, let us remember the point of all of this: to grow in virtue, holiness and in the love of God. Fighting the enemy is not the goal; it is just a means to the goal, which is to grow in the knowledge of the love of God until we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.

“You don’t become holy by fighting evil. Let evil be. Look towards Christ and that will save you. What makes a person saintly is love.”

— St. Porphyrios

This post was inspired by reading Unseen Warfare. I highly recommend it!

(The photo is courtesy of Wildo Cagliani)

It is then, as appears, the greatest of all lessons to know one’s self. For if one knows himself, he will know God; and knowing God, he will be made like God

-St. Clement of Alexandria

It is of immense value to know yourself:

If you know your strengths you can focus on those areas and achieve extraordinary things.

In a similar way, if you know your weaknesses you can find ways to compensate for those areas like partnering with different people possessing the strengths that you lack.

This is all relatively straightforward, but the question then becomes how does one truly come to know oneself?

Drum roll please…

The answer isn’t as earth shattering as you might expect.

You come to know yourself in the same way you learn about anything else – through investigation and focused study.

There are several personality tests that you may or may not have heard of that I have found to be incredibly valuable in the study of yourself. Below I describe a few of them, give some starting points, and provide some resources so that you can begin your research!

Myers-Brigg Personality Test

Many of you are already aware of the Myers-Brigg Personality Types as they are referenced the most. The theory boils down to the following:

There are four possible pairs of personality traits:

-Introversion (I) or Extraversion (E)
-Intuition (N) or Sensing (S)
-Thinking (T) or Feeling (F)
-Judging (J) or Perceiving (P)

Every person leans, to a slight or extreme degree, to one side in each pair; this results in 16 possible personality profiles. A lot of people are surprised at how accurately their profile describes them as this test has helped many to see why they think and behave in certain ways. This personality test is so widely used that some people use it to find careers that they would be a good fit for or even life long partners that they are compatible with.

Take the test for free here! Once you know what you are you can just type those four letters into google and learn a variety of things about yourself.

(I’m an INFP)

There are also entire webpages dedicated to explaining the different Myers-Brigg personality types. The following videos are some of the best I’ve found as they take an in-depth look at each type. It’s definitely worth the 10 minutes it’ll take to watch the video focusing on your personal type:

There are also forums where people with the same personality type go, ask each other questions and support one another. If you go to https://www.reddit.com/r/xxxx (type in the four letters that represent your personality type in place of the xxxx) you can see one such online community for yourself. You can learn what motivates, scares, exhausts, or makes each personality type feel better. You can even see how to grow rapidly based on your type. When it comes to the Myers-Brigg personality types, resources are pretty endless.

The DiSC Assessment

The DiSC assessment is another test designed to predict how people are likely to act; it is another tool you can use to learn more about yourself. The basic premise is that there are four behavioral groups people fall into: Dominant, Influential, Steady, and Compliant.

Most people can be described using one or a mixture of two of the categories. You can take the test for free here!

Also, below you can download a really good infographic taken from Eastern Nazarene College that goes into a lot of detail about the different behavior groups. (Be sure to zoom in to see it properly!)

StrengthsFinder Test

There are several other less well-known tests out there that will give you a deeper understanding of what you’re naturally good at, your unique disposition, and why you think and act the way you do… you just have to look for them. After I bought, Living Your Strengths: Discover Your God-Given Talents and Inspire Your Community, I received an access code to take a StrengthFinders Test. Out of the 34 themes, it reported my top 5 (with my strongest at the top of the list):

1. Input (I have a craving to know more; like to collect and archive all kinds of information)
2. Intellection (I am introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions)
3. Focus (I can take directions, follow through, and make the corrections necessary to stay on track)
4. Learner (I am constantly growing as I I feed my desire to learn all that I can)
5. Restorative (I adept at dealing with problems and good at fixing things that go wrong)

This taught me a lot about myself and revealed to me why I behave in certain ways. The book goes into a lot more detail about the 34 themes. Unfortunately, the test is not free as you either have to buy the book (and receive an access code to take the test) or buy the test on it’s own here. If you don’t want to pay for the test it’s worth looking through the list of themes to see what you think are your top strengths. You might know yourself better than you think.

Not only can we use these tools to learn more about ourselves, but we can use them to understand and appreciate the differences between us and the people in our lives. As we come to understand that there is no ‘right way’ and just different ways of communicating and approaching things we come to value others for the unique perspectives, insights, and abilities they bring to the table. This allows us to grow to see our lives in the context of the people and community we belong to.

So let’s start learning about ourselves!

After looking through these materials, what have you learned about yourself from your research? Let us know below!

(Photo by Alex Zhu)