Calling Runners Athletic Supports and Orthodox Christians

Running can be a lonely time it can be difficult to get motivated. This is a commonly occurring phenomenon for individual sport participants like runners.

 

Part of the mission statement of Run for Religious Freedom is to build a closer knit sense of community amongst Orthodox Christians and individuals genuinely concerned with religious freedom as a human right.

 

It is with dedication to this cause which keeps me moving. I want to encourage all who visit these pages to leave a comment ask a question and come out of the abyss. Your thoughts and encouragement can extend to the visitors who pass through this technological field.

Prayer and The Wall

Do you ever wonder if your actually communicating a thought, feeling or need beyond your own consciousness? Do you ever consider whether the manner of speaking is often confused with prayer? Praying for discernment the ability to know, to sense, to understand the distinction between talking essentially to oneself and  addressing God. I wonder whether we are all somehow play acting looking on at ourselves posturing the prayer the inquiring the petitions.

Sorting through this inauthenticity even within the closet of our hearts is difficult. I find the most real moments I've had was when I run  marathons; any mile after 20. It gets real and all self conscious pretentiousness is washed away. With each mile with each step there is a peeling away of the facade, the personas; in the end you are simply the person who is searching for strength, direction,  for an internal connection. By moving forward in an fundamentally human way through introspection, upright on two legs and in forward motion we are unique from all other creation.  This is very much an act of faith especially the first time you complete a full marathon. The next time it is about the determination to revisit such escasty and finish again in spite of the pain. Then each subsequent time you subject yourself to the daunting task it is to revisit that place where you are authentically moving through and into an honest space. The fatigue or the wall as it had been called is very telling. You pass through the permeable boundary of the wall of egotism where you leave behind perhaps only through desperation or exhaustion to find who you are really.

Have we become incapable of true honesty? We are perhaps in some ways sincerely desperate but what about honest? When we are ill and pray in the stillness of the night, privately begging cloaked in the darkness are we actually praying then? When we 'feel' connected or heard is that we have reached our own conclusion of apathy or acceptance or is it simply a healthy does of cognitive dissonance. 

 Prayer must be more then a muttering to oneself. This of course doesn't prohibit God from continuing to reach out to us but it also doesn't mean that we are getting any of it right. The beauty and perfection of the Orthodox Church is how it accommodates us understanding we are unpracticed and clueless as to what to actually do. It has established the essentials Confession, Communion the Liturgy to bring us all along. Like good fishers of men they cast these spiritual nets by which to catch us all.

Run for Religious Freedom

There was a fairly recent Facebook discussion on Religious Freedom. In about a week I'll be running my third Marathon. I have run them in support of the Ecumenical Patriarch and the plight of all humans whose dignity has been insulted by religious oppression.

The Run for Religious Freedom has stood as an expression of my commitment to the cause to the basic human right above all others: to worship God as each person understands. It is not about conversion that is between you and God but it is about the basic protections which should be afforded all men (and women). Governments should help to create equality under the law and not seek to control and punish anyone for their religious identification.

I maintain the position that our Creator God has endowed mankind with the basic freedom of religious expression. It's not clear of course that there was in fact religion as we have come to know it. But suffice it to say that we do know that we were given a small freedom called free will. This term free will is intended to describe the freedom or liberty given mankind to worship God or not. This free will by its very nature affords man the  free choice and individual volition without God (the omnipotent divinity) to  assert  power over individual. That's huge.

This endowement is something we must embrace. The tragic fact that governments now seek to use policy to limit such expression or to suppress the spiritual needs of their population notwithstanding. This position seemed so foreign to people that I was very surprised. It would seem that we have been corralled so often and in so many ways that we fail to claim our right to worship to believe and to self identify just what our faith is. The gross violations around the globe and throughout history doesn't altar the reality of man that we are given the free will to choose to commune with God or not. This freedom is so sacred that God Himself does not seek to compell us beyond an invitation.

 In fact, government tyranny can only take our breathing body but not our identification with God with Christ with our service. We lose only when we concede our love of God for something else, anything else. Are we really infidels lacking fidelity to our God? What are we doing to protect the rights of others? I am very much concerned with the religious freedom of all peoples in all places. Let's remember the crimminal who sits in prison for his/her religious belief.  

dehumanization is an affront to God

Recently the national media picked up a local human interest story about a man arrested for tampering with his (ex-)wife's email. The national media raised the question about the legality of such tampering comparing it with other privacy protections and the impracticality of such charges.

Questions regarding that need or justification for snooping are plentiful. Excusing away inappropriate behavior and obsessive thinking is a national pass time. I places the investigator in a superior posture with the other in a subservient position. Citing fidelity  concerns or health and safety issue are the smoke screen for the dominance of one spouse over the other.

It is not as if I don't perceive the temptation for such behavior but my sympathies it is not relevant to the case at hand. Being a parent of two teenagers I monitor much of what they do to head off possible risks to their welfare. The Internet and this technological age presents a learning curve which is non-forgiving and can have long reaching impact. But this discussion is concerned with adults.

But I digress, the more fundamental issue here: Does a spouse have the moral, legal or ethical right to  violate the privacy or personal space of their significant other. The first red herring to be thrown into the argument would be: "If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear". This however doesn't address the issue at its core. But to avoid the question would appear as weakness to my position so let us first explore the parameter issues.

Attorneys, law enforcement, doctors, therapists, priests, professors, board members, CEO's protective servic workers, etc. can't discuss their cases or work in detail with their spouses as it violate the tenants of their professions. It would be unethical, illegal and immoral to do so.  What is more it is unnecessary and unreasonable to maintain such an expectation. Such privacy issues do present certain stressor and can strain the marital relationship if partners are only a half of the whole.  Similarly in the personal arena, the confidence of a trusted friend or extended family, should not be betrayed in some fained attempt to appease one's spouse. Such an overture would be misplaced loyalty and again unethical.

Now that those arguments have been put forth let's explore the core of the issue. When individuals marry they commit themselves to the sovereignty of the marriage and in doing so pledge complete fidelity; forsaking all interests that would be contrary to the marriage. Understanding fidelity over simplified terms like with regard to the martial bed negates the nature of the matter. Now back on point, these individuals to not suddenly become two halves united; but two are rather two whole autonomous individuals with distinct roles and personalities, coming together for their union. Each remains autonomous and unique and unconfused. The need to demand an unhealthy codependency is driven by misunderstanding and insecurity.

This need to overly extend or encroach on the independence or autonomy of the other is an abomination. IN the not so recent past women were so objectified that they were passed from father to husband along with their worldly pocessions.  It objectifies the partner and reduces them to marital property. This dehumanization is an affront to God as we are all from our creation made in the image and likeness of God and this is never surrendered or forsaken. To objectify another individual as a mandate of a Holy Mystery is a gross misunderstanding of the Rite. If one cannot trust the other all the control in the world will not alter that fact. Very often it has the contrary effect pushing the partner into a deep internal secrecy where communication is further hampered by the need to prove one's honesty. At what point does the individual legally, ethically or morally forfeit their right to privacy? Never. The liberty of being an citizen in the broad sense does not cease.



‎"The opposite of faith is fundamentalism which is a mistrust and a loathing of liberty and creativity wrapped in laziness initiated by their (a terrorist or an atheist's) Attachment Disorder (unable to connect with their father and because of this being unable to relate to God as Father) which finds its toxic "fulfillment" in despair, relational and personal suicide and, ultimately, in nihilism."

One Body Many Members Not Murderers

A unified Church is non-negotiable. It is as fundamental as the nature of the Holy Trinity. Just as the Trinity is Three Persons One but not confused so to the Church with the Bridegroom as the Head is able to accommodate diversity. To sequester one member of the Church is not to offer an unfair advantage to the other members but rather to place all at a disadvantage. It is a way of cover controlling and contriving the Church as one's limited vision can accommodate. The diversity of the Church and its members not matter how colorful or diverse cannot compare with the fullness of God and should not attempt to limit the Glory that is God's.

We fail to recognize that the Holy Orthodox Church proper is not a religion it is not a territorial jurisdiction but the movement of Christ and the only jurisdiction is the globe. There needs to be order and anything resembling confusion or disunion considered an affront to Almighty God. It is a destructive diversion from Truth and from what is pre-ordained. Of course there are practical applications and the institutional body of the Church provides the safety and assurance for the laity by adhering to Order and Tradition. We cannot dispense with the structure of the Church without destroying the beauty and Majesty of what is Orthodoxy.

Let's not forcefully or artificially however impose lesser understanding to the Church of Christ. We are on a journey in this life and we move closer to the Light of Christ. We cannot control the Light we can only be enlightened by it. We have to turn from the darkness. The drama of it all is a shame we can check out of  "the crazies" anytime we wish with each small step each small commitment to awake to find that we have move closer to God and further from the painful abyss of brokenness.

Additionally we must be vigilant against despising our brother or sister who have been given the more honorable seat. We must not resent being the toe or the bowel of the Body. We are each as individuals and collectives given tasks according to our need according to our talent. If we become puffed up with conceit and pride then we might find ourselves placed in the back of the Church not because of a lacking in skill but temperament. We pray for all things which benefit our soul not our status. If our brother or sister succeed for the glory of the Church then we should rejoice and back there play not murder them in our thoughts.

Ironically Moronic

First I'd like to say that there is much to do perhaps about nothing when we talk about the lack of inclusion in the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox Church has a standard of personal choice which exceeds all other Christian groups and sub denominations. It states little publicly about private personal matters and has a strong tradition of leaving personal issues to the parties involved. The wave of converts in America who have yet to shake their heretical mindset fault leadership for not going public in secular forums to denounce the obvious like abortion. The Orthodox don't get preachy to non orthodox but pastor and council those in the faith or of the faith. To denounce or disparage an entire religious group for the bigotry of a few vocal morons seems ironically moronic. In the same vain to relish one's sin and bask in the stench to prove some loyalty to the brotherhood is equally moronic. We are called to put off our old nature and put on Christ. "Those who have been baptized in Christ have put Christ on". We don't just sin against each other or our selves but against God. To remain a prostitute in a fained attempt to show God loves the sinner is missing the point entirely. Seek righteousness by seeking the Kingdom. Love above all but love doesn't lead to debauchery but to purity in communion not in isolation. Nihilist need not apply.