orthodox psychotherapist blog!!!

http://orthodoxpsychotherapist.blogspot.com/

great new blog enjoy!!

Psalm 146:7-10 To Think Spiritually is to Believe Concretely

(The LORD) Secures justice for the oppressed [calling all to salvation], gives food to the hungry [communion]. The LORD sets prisoners free [crushing down death by death]; the LORD gives sight to the blind [wisdom]. The LORD raises up those who are bowed down [exalts the penitent]; the LORD loves the righteous [those who keep the statutes]. The LORD protects the stranger [catechumen], sustains the orphan [those without faith] and the widow [those who have lost faith], but thwarts the way of the wicked [anyone who would turn a chosen one away]. The LORD shall reign forever [King of Kings], your God, Zion, through all generations! Hallelujah! – Psalm 146:7-10

Compelled by our association with the fatih we must assist in the good work by feeding the hungry by nurishing the soul, freeing the prisoners through our corporate intercessory prayer, giving sight to those who are spiritually blind by admonishing one another in psalm and approaching righteousness in our own living, and growing God's church by welcoming the stranger (to the faith).We take from this life only what we invest in our spiritual relationship to God and to one another.

Be the Church Be Well Versed



Hagiographos Elias Damianakis, Archon Maestor



We are the Church so to be the Church be well versed. We are not called to ignorance but to the knowledge of God. There just is no substitute for reading The Word. Podcasts, audio tracks, Christian radio, lectures and workshops all enrich our understanding and the broader Christian community but they are not replacements.

To cozy up with a well read Bible is about as good as we are going to find it. Even the church fathers and elders will only clarify what has already been established. Now please don't interpret my commentary as some refashioned sola scriptura or a lopsided adoration. This is simply a reality that everything else seems to clarify and frame the text. What good is the context without the content. Exercise your soul and invigorate your spirit everyday with Bible readings. Cozy up not just with a good book but The Good Book. I venture to say reading daily even the smallest verse will vastly improve the quality of your life and your relationship with God the Great I Am. If we wait to find time we will soon realize that time has run out. That we have allowed the cares of this life to choke off our spiritual body. Remember Orthodox brethren we ARE the Bible Belt.

Euthanasia or A Good Death: Fr. Stanely Harakas Orthodox Ethics

Since the long suffering of my father-in-law with emphysema advanced care directives, DNR, POA, health care agents and alike became the dreaded conversation and even the unspoken preoccupation. The discussions themselves were veiled in superstition and may have been perceived as the ultimate betrayal. Honest questions regarding the Church position and private ethics about what actually constitutes appropriate medical inventions at all cost to keep the (person) body alive and the juxaposed position of comfort measures only for someone who has no hope for improved health can divide families. When is a 'good death' distinguished from euthanasia? What is unreasonable or invasive?

 Father Stanely Harakas the premier Orthodox mind and person on the subject draws clear distinctions and is helpful for families and individuals going through end of life issue and even post mortem as we (they) move through the mourning and grief process. Guilt, fear, anxiety, loneliness, and loyalty can cloud sound judgement and understanding I firmly assert that Father Stanely who himself personally has had to address such issues is the foremost authority.

Fr. Harakas:

The traditional definition of physical death is "the separation of soul and body." Such a definition is not subject to objective observation. Thus it is not within the province of theology to determine the medical indications of death and the onset of the dying process. However, in reference to the terminally ill person, certain distinctions can be made. Physical life is generally understood to imply the ability of the person to sustain his or her vital activities. Physical death begins when interrelated systems of the body begin to break down. Death occurs when the systemic breakdown becomes irreversible. It may well be that physical life and death are events in a continuum in which it is impossible to discern when the dying process actually begins. Nevertheless, the bias of the Church and the traditional bias of the medical practitioner (cf. Oath of Hippocrates) is to do everything possible to maintain life and hinder the onset of dying and death. The medical use of drugs, surgical operations, and even artificial organs (mechanical kidneys, lungs, hearts, etc.) are considered legitimately used when there is a reasonable expectation that they will aid the return in due time to normal or close to normal functioning of the whole organic system.

The special case arises in that it is now medically possible to keep the body "alive" with a complex array of artificial organs, medications, transfusions, and the like. Under these conditions it may not be feasible to expect, with any degree of probability, the restoration of the organic functioning of the body. When, especially, there is no evidence of brain activity in conjunction with the systemic breakdown, we can safely say that the patient is no longer alive in any religiously significant way, and that, in fact, only certain organs are functioning. In such a case there is no moral responsibility to continue the use of artificial, means. It is of interest that the Prayer book of the Eastern Orthodox Church includes a whole service devoted to those in the process of dying. In the case of the individual whose death is prolonged and attended by much "struggling to die," the key sentence in the prayer calls upon God to separate the soul from the body, thus giving rest to the dying person. It asks God "to release your servant (name) from this unbearable suffering and this continuing bitter illness and grant rest to him" (Mikron Euchologion, p. 192).

However, it must be emphasized that this is a prayer directed to God, who, for the Orthodox, has ultimate dominion over life and death. Consequently, the preceding discussion in no way supports the practice of euthanasia. Euthanasia is held by some to be morally justified and/or morally required to terminate the life of an incurably sick person. To permit a dying person to die, when there is no real expectation that life can sustain itself, and even to pray to the Author of Life to take the life of one "struggling to die" is one thing; euthanasia is another, i.e., the active intervention to terminate the life of another. Orthodox Christian ethics rejects the alternative of the willful termination of dying patients, regarding it as a special case of murder if done without the knowledge and consent of the patient, and suicide if it is permitted by the patient (Antoniades, II, pp. 125-127). One of the most serious criticisms of euthanasia is the grave difficulty in drawing the line between "bearable suffering" and "unbearable suffering," especially from an Eastern Orthodox perspective, which has taken seriously the spiritual growth that may take place through suffering (Rom. 8:17-39).

Ethical decision making is never precise and absolute. The principles that govern it are in a measure fluid and subject to interpretation. But to elevate euthanasia to a right or an obligation would bring it into direct conflict with the fundamental ethical affirmation that as human beings we are custodians of life, which comes from a source other than ourselves. Furthermore, the immense possibilities, not only for error but also for decision making based on self-serving ends, which may disregard the fundamental principle of the sanctity of human life, argue against euthanasia.

Generally speaking, the Orthodox Church teaches that it is the duty of both physician and family to make the patient as comfortable as possible, to provide the opportunity for the exercise of patience, courage, repentance, and prayer. The Church has always rejected inflicted, and unnecessary voluntary suffering and pain as immoral; but at the same time, the Church also has perceived in suffering a positive value that often goes unrecognized in the "logic of the world."

The only "eu-thanasia" (Greek for "a good death") recognized in Orthodox ethics is that death in which the human person accepts the end of his or her life in the spirit of moral and spiritual purity, in hope and trust in God, and as a member of his kingdom. True humanity may be achieved even on a deathbed.

From: For the Health of Body and Soul: An Eastern Orthodox Introduction to Bioethics

English Subtitles, Endnotes, Footnotes, Drafts All is Vanity

Life had become inundated with footnotes, endnotes and drafts. Our Church life is overrun with subtitles and parenthesis and brackets. Every thought and declaration a revision of some prior edition. Each seeking to outdo, out clarify, out pray.

Countless hours are spent in a fatal attempt to legitimize editions by demonizing sages, customs  and discrediting the original (the gold standard). These keepers of the way who maintain the path paved the way with crimson blood of the martyrs are to be embraced not banished or slandered for being loyal to sacred traditions and canons. If the copy or translation contained the essentials of the original endless notations would be unnecessary. It is essential to make the concerted effort to bring the wisdom to believers though education not negation.

Bring the Traditions and the Bible in the vernacular of the people certainly as one would to babes but then broaden and deepen understanding by including the original reference. Distancing personal revelation from the keepers of the faith is precarious if not suicidal.  This is the problem with harvesting our clerics from first generation converts who are vested in remaining authentically 'whatever they were before'. I fail to understand why clerics would not see it as their obligation to their vows to learn the language of the Church and to encourage their flock to learn what they can. They choose rather to insert themselves into artificial arguments of morality and ethics the lesser issues of man. Focus rather on healing and illumination. It is a prideful ethnocentrism if you will permit the broad usage of the term to cling to their traditions of linguistic affections and secularism.

Bondservant Reclaim Your Dignity

Vanquished are the days when man did not waver from obligation

Lost is the era where the mind of man expressed Christian dignity
Loyalty the ultimate inconvenience to self-interest and ambition.

The path of conscience has become the way of ease and slothfulness
Vanity and pride corrupt; separating man from his bond and conversion.
Jargon and rhetoric expel honor; and the Christian from his station.

This theology of prosperity and liberation has entangled and enslaved.
Duals have lost their civility with legal charters of double minded men.
Oaths dismissed and contracts rendered subvert rather then asure.
This disorientated citizenry now without liberty a slave to egotism.
Impulsively cast to and fro and exiled from the Kingdom by obstinacy .
Prisoners of vice and greed; mankind now feeble-minded, frail and homeless.

the omnipresence of God and alienation

This theme has been surfacing a lot during Lent. The conviction on the omnipresence of God is a deep consolation and abiding comfort which often can only be understood as an act of faith as it were. There are times when we all have an inability to relate, connect or feel imbued with His presence even during a formal service. While discipleship is a constant goal in life it can be derailed only by my own ineptitude or fatigue. I am learning in praxis the value of vigils and fasts but am grossly lazy.

God is everywhere and fillest all things at all times TRUE but it is in relation to His nature and not mine. He is inaccessible at times because I am unable to find Him within me buried beneath shortsightedness and sin. Prayer fatigue or attention deficit disorder of the major kind. So far removed from my original state that I could confuse this detachment as part of my true nature. This is a very common condition which is why I share it in this forum. I don't find it rational to pressume that talking aloud to God in my car that I am actually connecting with God. it seems more like a talking to myself in fact to think otherwise seems anthropocentric (and delusional) as if God exists in relation to me. I see God around me but not in me always. To experience and acknowledge these thoughts of  alienation is to begin to persue a prayerful watch. I try to attach myself to Him and dedicate myself to His church but I don't feel Him in the objective sense as readily as I would like. I have come to believe that there is a distinction between a preoccupation and a relationship. Now I think I know that prayer is not by nature emotive but from whence comes the confirmation that I have indeed gone out to meet Him? This is not about doubt it is about process.

Prayer A Divine Call And The Human Response

This blog is not written or hosted by a person of note or spiritual dynamism. I am simply a pilgrim on the way to the Savior. I am one of many journeymen being transformed by prayer and for moments re-joining the heavenly hosts in their natural state and transcendent ministry. "Let us who mystically represent the Cherubim. And who sing the Thrice Holy hymn...".

Prayer is the single most powerful tool and state of being. It need not be complicated but it is not easy and yet it is simple. Pray is not tame and cannot be man handled as it were. It contains within it its very own essence and structure and is not dependant on the human 'feeling'  anything or experiencing objectively 'a difference'. In this way it is very much an act of faith.

Through prayer our sorrow is eased, our sadness lifted, our hopelessness relieved. By answering the call to prayer from God we become receptive to the absolute transformative power of the Almighty no matter how imperceptible it may appear. We cannot be in the presence of God and not be changed that is logical and to believe otherwise is irrational. Without God's intervention our own effort is futile.

Although there is no outward tangible gain from prayer the renewal and transformative reshaping of our sinful state is taking place. All prayers for the beginner are "give me" prayers. And as a collective church we are compelled to pray for one another. It is our duty to intercede and make our supplications individually for one another that we should "bear one anothers burdens".

Prayer is the Mystical relationship the perpetual calling of God of us back to Paradise to our perfected state. The most basic form of prayer is our outward response our hearing and heeding that call. According to Matthew the Poor "Prayer then has two forms: a perpetual, vague urge, and an open, intermittent response. In both its forms together, prayer is made whole as a divine-human action a call and a response".

Church Attendance the Holistic Way

Holistic Church participation can be explained in the most concise term Orthopraxis. The unfortunate truth is that too many approach their Orthodox Faith and perhaps Christianity in broader terms by limiting their focus and attention to compulsory Church attendance. This nominal Christianity is tragic and a rejection of the profession of Faith.

This attitude is encouraged by a society which misrepresents secularism as a twisted protection of Religios Freedom. This secularism is actually a demand of freedom FROM religion and relegates ones religiosity as it where to Sunday mornings. The public square which wishes to openly acknowledge homosexuals insists on closeting people of Faith; particularly everything Christian. As dutiful citizens we accept this without reservation and compartmentalize the implications of our Faith. If Orthodoxy does not midigate our path we have failed. We banish every extension or integration of Church life into our actual living; and chop off every sprout or fruit of the Spirit. We hide our Faith where we can scarcely find it to dust it off for Sunday service.

To live holistically we can only find true meaning by embracing our Church as a fundamental member of our very being. We must consider and have within and before us, the Church and the Way. An holistic approach to Orthodoxy understands that we are to concern ourselves with the long effort of returning to the true order of things as it were. We must consider the other 22 hours in our Sundays and each and every hour and other day between services. If we fail to do this good work of bearing fruit and shining forth we are Christian only in name and have replaced our self identification of Orthodox Christian with nominal christian.

Church services are training sessions or like time spent at the gym. Our training doesn't end when we stop our workout actually it only begins there. Our diet, mindset and activity all affect your Christian living (Orthopraxis). It may seem a dense point but there is holism to Church to Orthodoxy itself. The Orthodox method is the 'correct' intervention for what ails the soul. Take another approach and naturally the intervention is changed and the cure further removed.

Unfortunately too many believers will affirm that only the monastics can fully apply Christian standards of prayer and fasting to their lives. This is not true. Living in the world is challenging in obvious ways but we are given in marriage to find our helpmate and together we join with our Church Whose sole purpose is to prepare, to heal and to serve the Faithful spiritual nourishment for the long journey. 

Dismissiveness Fasting and Misery

Dismissiveness will not assist on our journey to unity and integration with God. To dismiss the benefits of fasting for example as a ritualistic, archaic practice without any practical benefit aside from dietary adjustments, is fool hearty. Generally those who would function from this posture have not bowed their head in repentance or inclined their hearts to humility. Only those who are well on their journey homeward understand the benefit of self control and denial of what is natural. I believe the surest solution is to fast to simply practice the fasts as prescribed and wait and watch. It will not be possible to change something as central to a person as eating and not experience a change in mind, body and spirit.

To have a "know all" and then cavalier attitude toward the tools of the Church is to demonstrate complete ignorance and unwillingness to apply what is painfully clear to those who have begun and are well on the road to illumination. Oddly enough it is generally the loudest protesters and first to point to hypocritically at others, who is most miserable and alone in their knowledge of misery.

A Christian Must Not Be Fanatic Elder Paisios the Athonite

Elder Paisios the Athonite

A Christian must not be fanatic; he must have love for and be sensitive towards all people. Those who inconsiderately toss out comments, even if they are true, can cause harm.

I once met a theologian who was extremely pious, but who had the habit of speaking to the (secular) people around him in a very blunt manner; his method penetrated so deeply that it shook them very severely. He told me once: “During a gathering, I said such and such a thing to a lady.” But the way that he said it, crushed her. “Look”, I said to him, “you may be tossing golden crowns studded with diamonds to other people, but the way that you throw them can smash heads, not only the sensitive ones, but the sound ones also.”

Let’s not stone our fellow-man in a so-called “Christian manner.” The person who – in the presence of others – checks someone for having sinned (or speaks in an impassioned manner about a certain person), is not moved by the Spirit of God; he is moved by another spirit.

The way of the Church is LOVE; it differs from the way of the legalists. The Church sees everything with tolerance and seeks to help each person, whatever he may have done, however sinful he may be.

I have observed a peculiar kind of logic in certain pious people. Their piety is a good thing, and their predisposition for good is also a good thing; however, a certain spiritual discernment and amplitude is required so that their piety is not accompanied by narrow-mindedness or strong-headedness. Someone who is truly in a spiritual state must possess and exemplify spiritual discernment; otherwise he will forever remain attached to the “letter of the Law”, and the letter of the Law can be quite deadly.

A truly humble person never behaves like a teacher; he will listen, and, whenever his opinion is requested, he responds humbly. In other words, he replies like a student. He who believes that he is capable of correcting others is filled with egotism.

A person that begins to do something with a good intention and eventually reaches an extreme point, lacks true discernment. His actions exemplify a latent type of egotism that is hidden beneath this behavior; he is unaware of it, because he does not know himself that well, which is why he goes to extremes.

Conflict Resolution Rules of Engagement (marriage)

Relationships all have defined rules of engagement. There are clear boundaries and expectations in every relationship professional or personal. When such criteria are dismissed or violated it is a game changer and perhaps a deal breaker. Steal at the office and you find yourself vamping up your resume. Mistreat friends and you'll find yourself in a very exclusive club. Abuse your family and shop the real estate market for the neighborhood adult living facility. Leave the Church and poison your being.

The most gratifying and meaningful relationships are intimate and the ability to engage in a healthy  dyad (triad, familial system,...) is not natural and requires a skill set not always obvious. This is painfully obvious between most in-laws. The road map to relationships which enhance the quality of life require rules and strategic plans. Respect, trust, goodwill and honesty are key ingredients to any full long lasting mutually satisfying relationship.  Undermine these principles and the relationship will steadily grow in toxicity.

I personally maintain specific rules of engagement with all my relationships including the most casual encounter. I expect my grocer not to change the 'sell by' date for example. Because people are not generally honest there are regulations which secular institutions enforce. Likewise the more personal the relationship the more vital those principles because regulations are only in place to deal with the most obsene circumstance. The emotional scarring of even the most casual encounter can be debilitating.

Resolving disappointment and unfulfilled expectations can only be accomplished when ideally all parties are acting in good faith. A company which sells an inferior product must be willing to honor warranties and be willing to address liability where applicable. Likewise the public trust cannot be betrayed with poisonous products or unfair legal systems. A friendship which may dissolve obruptly can be done respectfully and honestly. If one party feels rejected and refuses to concede the relationship or the terms of its dissolution it can erode self esteem and quality of life. If said party is unwilling or unable to accept the reality, it can lead to obsessiveness and irrational behavior. In a marriage each spouse must believe regardless of argument particulars that the other in the end is not out to disparage or hurt the other. Children must accept in principle that their parents have their interest in mind even if it fails to appeal to their limited understanding.

Discourse can be robust and full of opposition but it must be fair and respectful of the humanity of the other party, person or persons. This is a Christian ideal because even in disagreement and vehement opposition, the humanity of the other is never demeaned; thereby respecting the image and likeness of God. I respond harshly when the rules of engagement are ignored or dismissed. I have zero tolerance for violence or the perceived aggression toward my family. Intent is difficult to gauge and is irrelavent in public circles for the most part but in the private sector is can be the be all and end all.

The Bridge of Dreams

The bridge of dreams is the stuff of youthful fairy tails. When did my robust 'can do' attitude toward living begin to recede. When did I get so old. What has really changed perhaps only the clarity with which I percieve. Where my dreams just the naivite of adolescence? I requires a lifetime to carve out a proper place. My end point is Christ the Rock of my salvation but I have yet to find my thrust my proweness I am but an other. Did I get a reality check suddenly learning the true limits of my ability. Is my mediocrity boundless; my tranfigurment disfiguring? When I was young starting out everything seemed possible; life was still giving; still making room for me to make my mark. Now it seems that loss is more likely; expected even. My ordinary life has become representative of a gross neglect or complete incompetance. Sadly I am only half the woman I thought myself to be. I used to believe that I was an ego maniac with a serious inferiority complex and now I realize that I am simply inferior. I was deluded by my own concete.
To percieve the futility of ambition is growth. But is it a deranged maligancy or epiphany.

St. Christopher, Tama and Papou

This blog entry is a re post from http://www.elgreca262.blogspot.com/.  Yesterday at 6:55 pm my fathe- in-law Nikitas died of respiratory failure due to emphysema. He was survived by his wife of 46 years; his four children and ten grandchildren. He had his family with him as he left this life. Although bed ridden he never lost his enthusiasm for having his grandchildren close from 16 years to 9 months.We are all thankful for the additional three years of blessings, laughter and his good looks.

i headed out at almost five pm and finished 2:45.47 hours later. my intention was 4. the thought of 8 i couldn't bear and my 6 mile course was not appealing. as it turned out i ran and ran and ran. from my home to seven springs blvd, to keystone/mcmullen, to 580 onward mease dunedin hospital to visit my father in law [he had been hospitalized for complications from his emphysema]. i called my husband from tire kingdom, just north of landsbrook, and told him to get ready and pack the kids to go visit his dad and i'd meet them there. with no water or fuel, this was definitely something i felt, in the moment, called to do. just my ipod, my prayer, my intention and determination. i have learned not to talk about what i will do but to just do.

i drank from the water fountain at tire kingdom (gross). then my husband stopped and met me twice where i drank some flavored h20 and took one dollar for a candy bar that i could pick up at mile 15. i purchased a snickers from a drive-thru convenience store ( i find that funny). i was driven to run. my father-in-law can't hardly breath or move; but i can and did, somehow for the both of us. the last three miles seemed like six; not knowing any of the distances until the return trip in the car. it was my time with God and it was all i felt i could do to really help. i hoped and believed that the effort of my running made my prayer more sincere.

inspired in part by saint christopher who before his conversion was a cannibal and a giant of a man. he carried travelers (for a price) across the river (or lake) i can't recall. then one day he carried a small child. he couldn't hardly manage the weight he felt. he didn't understand why this giant of a person (think like andrea the giant) was so weighed down and exhausted. the folk law explains then when he looked up at this small child who was heavier then any man he carried it was Jesus. (think of the apostle paul his on the way to damascus). Saint Christopher then converted to Christianity. He is traditionally depicted carrying a small Jesus. he is also depicted with the face of a dog or donkey because he was so ugly. i felt that i could at least in spirit, carry my bony butt, father in law, with me on this journey. after all st joseph carried the Savior. the greek people call this type of prayer or commitment a "tama".

 

see you all on sunday! what is the mileage? by the way, you all did great at your half. i can't wait for the marathon when we can all do our very best.

I am a Runner?

It is behavior not intentions that make us who we are. Very recently I came to the realization I am a runner. The fact that this is a  sudden revelation is startling as I have been running regularly since January 2004 (with two exceptions: time off before and after my brain surgery and then during my third pregnancy). Why should this concept be such an epiphany? Although my preformance is mediocre by any objective standard; to consider myself a novice is not founded in reality.  Having touted the non-judgmental space of my running (opting out of a  preoccupation with stats: time, distance, place or pace) has been a classic case of Reaction Formation (see Defense Mechanisms Anna Freud).  I consciously denied 'judgment' precisely because I discounted my effort almost entirely. In fact the only anchor I had to legitimize my running was that I chose to run marathon and therefore had the credential of marathoner. To consider myself as a runner is revolutionary indeed.

So how is it that I this average or below average runner has been so preoccupied with this sport or recreational activity. I suppose it could simply be defined as a hobby and yet it has transformed my outlook and approach to many aspects of my life. Mediocrity being unacceptable but my reality was veiled beneath the banner of the marathon. I realize that I have vested more time and energy on this effort then on my professional aspirations which shifted course about ten years ago only to become a experiment in lip service and nothingness.

Self Examination and the Workplace



Elias Damianakis, Hagiographos
Archon Maestor of the Great Church of Christ



It is vital when aspiring to produce anything thing or provide any service to take make a candid and honest examination of  how we contribute or undermine the effort. Understanding how we interact with others: staff, consumers and the broader community is essential.

Generally speaking, individuals are resistant to actually taking on this type of assessment because of its negative connotations. It is almost always assumed it is a process of trouble shooting where personal and professional shortcomings are the focus. This should have nothing whatsoever to do with personal attacks; and the perception or misapplication of this protocol is an unfortunate bias and error. Taking an accounting of our professional inventory is the key to success: any kind of success really, precisely because it truthfully evaluates in real time what is actually happening. In contrast a personal inventory is private and the sole responsibility of the person. It should be part and parcel of our personal standard and code of ethics but it is not part of the business plan or assessment protocol.

The only overlap of these two distinct assessments is that both professionally and personally we can undertake with regularity an examination of how we are concretely contributing or hindering  the effort in terms of the quantitative and qualitative value of our behavior and our perception. This is manner of proceeding assesses not only risks but assets. It is not about assigning blame or regret which can be destructive but rather it is about letting the light in and acknowledging the situation with a critical eye which provides unforeseen opportunity opening the door for brainstorming, troubleshooting and change. This discussion should resemble a dialogue not a debate nor should it be a time of unwarranted flattery and excessive complimenting. Remember keep it professional about the work not personal.

This outcome of procedural assessments should address the measure of behaviors and aptitudes if possible. To avoid defensiveness or overstating strengths it would be beneficial to address the outcome measures dispassionately like a label on a contain or listing product information: what it does (the actual product) , warnings about potentially harmful additives (poor work habits), active (time and talent) and inert (unnecessary or unprofitable habits) ingredients.  Success is about the product. What is actually produced and how is it received by your consumer and your staff. An honest look at the action plan will accentuate the positives, the negatives and those characteristics or behaviors which are not merely inert but distractions and which squander resources. With change comes the opportunity for excitement, improvement and hope which too often is sorely lacking. It is astonishing the images we carry with us and uphold as objective realities or truths which have absolutely nothing at all to do with conditions on the ground.  

On a final note as with any system there must be the facilitator the primary individual who by skill, vision and dedication spearheads the project. This individual must be the most qualified and the most sensitive not only to the process but to the people he/she relies on to do the menial and skilled tasks as well as understanding the target group. This individual must not only be self assured but clear headed. An impatient, defensive facilitator is a dictator who ultimately will drive down productivity and undermine the integrity of the work. If not clearly apparent at the onset it will become painfully obvious. When the risk assessment and procedural assessment is complete if a course correction is necessary it is imperative that workers are receptive to the change and criticism. Each individual is responsible to first start with the man in the mirror.

Affect Flat Mood Blunted

Emotional deadening is a real phenomena. It exemplifies the individuals inability to register concise thoughts, to brainstorm or process solutions and ultimately to feel emotion. The absence of empathy is not the result of insensitivity but hyper-sensitivity.

It represents an emotional overload. To over state the case, it is like an 'acute' episode of Aspergers Syndrome in an otherwise healthy individual who sorely lacks the ability to process information, to organized data and appropriately integrate emotional responses which significantly jeopardized functioning. Emotional supplies are depleted and the strength of the ego defenses are reduced to base functioning. There is little room for personal choice and all efforts for the survival of mental facilities seems to determine the course. Recourse is dominated with reactive deflections from perceived indictments and a barrage of disparaging remarks. Saturated synapses produce the perfect conditions for paralysis where irrationality abounds.

The deadening of our resolve and enthusiasm is unavoidable. A tsunami of personal crisis decompensation is of a seismic proportion and is decimating. Relationships erode and hope dissipates it will require a nuclear option to blast the culture of learned helplessness. Irrationality replaces sound thinking as alternate and insoluble solutions which are haphazardly applied in  faulty attempts to try something. That something often exacerbates an already tenuous situation which is developing into a spiritual syndrome.

On the Road to Marathon and Damascus

Dead legs is a condition where despite all the will in the world your legs won’t run; the turnover rate is at a virtual standstill. In a Marathon it is the infamous Wall. During prolonged exertion mental fatigue erodes focus, fuel stores are depleted and lactic acid builds up; resulting in the seizing of the muscles. The demanding nature of endurance events are that ultimately they overwhelm the body’s ability to recover from the ongoing workload and are so taxing that cognition becomes compromised resulting in confusion and poor form. This is precisely the point of your epiphany. When you have spent all that you have and continue to endure the hardship and continue the course.

If such adventures are not approached with a serious plan and if you foolishly get over zealous you will come up short. To use an example from the Bible if like the Foolish Virgins, set out too quickly or attempt to tackle too much you will run out of oil. Train too little and take your preparation too lightly and you come up short; overtrain and you get injured. On race day, should you abandon your plan, and let your emotions run the race, you will hit the Wall guaranteed.

Our spiritual journey which begins with our soul and engages our body requires the same plan discipline and effort. It is good spiritually to make pilgrimages to the monasteries if we can and to read Patristic writings but to attempt to artificially induce or replicate their lifestyle is prideful, unrealistic and destined to bring failure. There is no hocus pocus remedy to running a Marathon or becoming perfected spiritually as it were. There are natural limits precisely because it is a natural process. There is a road map and regime for spiritual awakening also. Even when addressing Paul’s Damascus moment we must remember he did not just head back out and preach Christ Crucified. Even then we must further consider that Paul was no ordinary man he was an Olympian of his faith and was simply doing a course correction. He had already been purified but now was being illuminated.

The Ten Virgins are a great example of this point: all ten were chaste; committed; training and seeking; but the Foolish Virgins didn’t choose the plan that would keep their oil burning long enough. It is not clear whether they trained too little or ran out too quickly on race day as it were. Additionally The Wise could not simply give their own share; it is understood this is a journey we do as individuals. We can train together, we can enter an event together and run the same course but we must each find out way. If through misguided zeal you set out too fast and don’t pace yourself with the Holy Spirit  Who knows what you can do and in what time; you will burn out and get dejected. At the beginning and even in the middle of your event you will have a false sense of accomplishment and confidence only to hit the wall at mile 20 or 22 and lose what you thought you gained and more. Learn well the road to Damascus is very much like the road to Marathon.

Broken and Bruised

It is when we can't recognize the brokenness in us that we become sick. Gossip functions as a bi product of affluent living. There is a luxury associated with the condition.

i muddied my statement as i was reflecting how how civilizations are developed.

We are all plagued with such introspective waste. There is a distinct difference between pastoral guidance and clinical practice. The qualifications are different, as are the professionals and the context of the work. Clinical work is an ongoing process and requires regular counsel. Never attach person to a diagnosis as it becomes a source of anxiety and pain for the individual. Deal rather with the person in the proper environment including how the person integrates such information. In clinical practice there is the practical matter of payment for services rendered but they are of no consequence to treatment save underwriting the financial burden. When pasturing or consulting there is no need for a diagnosis but there is a real need to be aware of the various conditions and subset of conditions. With consulting and pasturing there is no clinical barrier there is just the journey. Depression seems to be a pandemic in the states but in fact it is endemic in our society. It functions as a disease and a bi product of affluent living. There is a luxury associated with the condition. The isolation and fractured existence of individuals removed from a community creates existential anxiety. Communal life and even parish life is a way of controlling the existential anxiety: isolation from others opens the individual to many malformities which include, meaningless, alienation, purposelessness, pain as an inevitability. We are all plagued with such introspective waste.

Depression is expected to cover an enormous range is it acute or chronic. Is it a normal malaise or is it more conditional. There is a normal reaction to certain events like death. Transitional periods like grief resolve itself over time. If there is no disruption in the course of the life of the person then its more organic or a learned condition. Clinically it is taken for granted that it is organic but that is a huge 'leap of faith'. It is maintained that medications can manipulate the problem. Medication or self medicating is a natural result of this thinking. Psychotropics do not cure the condition but rid the person of the symptoms. The symptom however can be helpful to the person because it forced there hand to deal with the condition. Removing the emotional pain is not the cure or answer. Think and heal the cause of the pain root out the cause. Get the message and then do something about it. Removing the thorn is not the answer to what really ails the person. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel drives the methodology of the diagnosis and therefore drives treatment. There is the debate over the actual conditions sited. if the conditions are so pervasive that the larger population has it then you are not describing illness but sociological conditions or state or characteristics. Lethargic heaviness or slothfulness, laziness is the dominant factor of depression. people in their right mind do seek help. it's when you fail to recognize the need for intervention that you are out of your mind. substance is often lacking but the need to incite attention is present for them. they are not anchored. medication can normalise the pendulum and reduce the swing. then intervention is more possible. demonstration measurement: proof. Depressed people lack motivation to cure themselves. The chasm between the mind and the heart is to pray. We are broken but we are glorious.

(This is largely the influence and brain child of Abbot Meletios. I need to basically insert entire entry into one footnote. This is like a humble summary of this subject.)

Terms Every Orthodox Christian Should Know

Orthodox living requires a basic understanding of how we work out our salvation. It is about our journey closer to God.

The word fortitude is tossed about so casually I don't think it means what most people think it means. The epistles teach us that we need to approach our discipleship with fortitude. is is not to be confused with a mere stubbornness or a spoken intent to consistently associate oneself with Christ or to agree to a philosophical ideal.

Fortitude an inner determination and external committment which require strength, courage, loyalty, dedication, and endurance to remain steadfast in difficult and painful circumstances. It is the willingness to participate fully in the vocation of Christian discipleship, as a slave or bond servant. Like our Savior who set the standard for Christian fortitude he submitted to the savagery, scorn and torture of the Cross. It is a forfeiture of ease for the way of the Cross.

Now endurance is another term that has been so secularized that it has lost its intent also. Endurance speaks to the very core, constitution or construct of a person, not “desire” necessarily, to push through and to bear hardship. It refers in many ways to the tolerance for prolonged exertion pain and hardship. It refers to the ability and willingness of the individual to survive despite the personal cost or liability. It is the manner in which one accepts and manages the ravages of commitment and circumstance. This acceptance to endure what must occur is also demonstrated by our Lord on His way to Golgotha. The Via Dolorosa is a perfect and whole example of how we must endure every humiliation, every trial, every pain and get up even when we fall. I would also humbly point out that it must have pained our Lord perhaps even more so, to endure when He accepted the absolute the confines of flesh during the Incarnation.

Stamina describes a type of strength, energy or resistance to discomfort. It may be equately with grace which can be multiplied. By increasing one’s willingness to endure we are graced with a higher threashold before discomfort begins, before fatigue or exertion wreaks havoc and this is stamina.  Unlike endurance, stamina refers to an abiding aptitude and energy an enduring persistence or talent.

W can increase our talents by increasing stamina. This innate tolerance and regeneration is what creates the ease and grace in which some can do extraordinary feats. There is a perpetual and simultaneous rejuvenation for those who are endowed with a healthy generous dose of stamina. We capitalize on our stamina with effort with consistency seeking to expend effort on improving endurance and fortitude which is character building.

Refer yet again to our Lord and Savior who was arguably endowed by His very nature, the duality and perfect synergy of His two natures to have the greatest ‘amount’ of innate ability and stamina. Yet he too in His humanity had to indure anquish as He sweat blood on the eve of His arrest and prayed for His disciples and all who believe. Our Lord demonstrated perfectly the synergy of stamina, fortitude and endurance to tolerate prolonged hardship, pain, disappointment, temptation and torture whether in the desert or on the Cross for us all.

On the road to salvation there is an inseparable integration of these terms and characteristics. They are inseparable because of the interplay and interdependence of one with the other. They should not be conflated or confused and I pray I haven't done so here because of my own lacking and ignorance. We are each given a talent an amount and it varies that can be equated with stamina but we are all called to increase our talent and not to bury or squander it.

While actively studying Karate the motto was simple “Hard work beats talent when talent quits working hard”. I think it speaks well to this point. When building one’s increase it is uncomfortable and takes ‘sweat equity’ or labor. When we stretch beyond our former limits we establish new thresholds new horizons and create a more complete reality for ourselves. Our ability to mitigate strife and difficulty improves and therefore our endurance is elongated and extended. These positive outcomes often are the very stepping stones which were once stumbling blocks. They influence our thinking, feeling and belief. Our fortitude is thereby exponentially increased.

Orthodoxy, correct living, in this context is a pragmatic extension of the lessons of Saint Paul that we are essentially and in reality forging our salvation despite our iniquity but in the furnace of purification. It is a furnace the climate and environment is not hospitable. We may lament our turmoil the injustice the shame but we move forward amputating or pruning what is not useful or hurtful and making room in our lives for the blessings and holiness of God. Our Lord in Chapter 17 of the Gospel According to John states that he does not wish us to be taken out of the world but that we should be kept from evil. We are here to work out our salvation move through our journey in this life time. Remember also that we are already in eternity.