A Pilgrim’s Odyssey

Free Yourself And Forgive

Yesterday, we celebrated Forgiveness Sunday. It is the last Sunday before my Orthodox Church begins celebrating Lent and we enter our long fast.

The highlight is forgiveness vespers where we circle around the church asking forgiveness of each of other as we remind ourselves what God and Christ has done for us.

We ask: "Forgive me a sinner."

And then the reply: "God forgives, forgive me."

It is a powerful service. It is people you see every week all year coming to a deeper communion with each other as we ask forgiveness, and a time for family to heal and rejuvenate.

We go through our year, not always being our best. Coveting others, anger at others, selfishness. God forgives, but do we forgive each other?

Anger and vengeance distort.

We are reminded this day, from Matthew 18:21-22:

"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.' "

We want the spirit of God to enter our hearts, we want to follow a higher path. Don’t let that be distorted by a lack of forgiveness. Forgive, and forgive freely.

Spring, To Life

Here is an exercise. If you are single, write down where you want to be in 5 years? If you have a family, sit down with them and ask the same thing.

Next create a process to make it happen. Restructure your life if you need to. Plant seeds that will blossom later.

Coming out of Covid and with the flowers of spring right around the corner, get yourself focused on blooming, on living. Driving away for the training I was providing in beautiful Gatlinburg, TN I was lifted up. Live!

It is so easy get hung up on day-to-day tasks. The seasons of our life can seem to drone on as nothing but gray.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:" Ecclesiastes 3:1

This reminds us, each day is an opportunity for renewal and growth. A chance to plant a seed and move forward.

Enjoy the weather, enjoy a country that is waking up after the last year, and use that energy to plant some seeds and spend a little time dreaming.

Shall We Be Blessed?

Nestled in the mountains of Tennessee, I riff on Psalm 1. Shall we be blessed, or shall we stand in judgment with the wicked?

If we delight in God, how can we ever falter?

On The Road, Because It's The Right Thing

Sometimes, doing the right thing means you have no choice but to step out into the unknown. On a long road trip this week, I was reminded of the many miles on the road that began my journey of speaking and teaching. I didn't know it at the time, but everything I do today was learned on those long and often lonely journeys, many years ago, stepping out to help veterans because something inside told me I had no other choice.

Ask Not, or Baaah!, That Is The Question

In John F Kennedy’s inaugural address he stated unequivocally:

“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,”

Said by a war hero, to a nation of war heroes and the families of war heroes. A nation who had survived the depression, World War II, the Korean War, and were ready to move forward. But he and they knew how that was done, not by “government” but my people. Individuals willing to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

He didn't call us to cry out, “What are you going to do for me government?” Rather, he called us to our better angels, our values of service and heroism that bring out the best of us.

What would he say about the state of our country today. So many people screaming “SAVE ME!” The timid looking to be saved, crying out for a shepherd. One might say, an attitude that is the opposite of the American spirit.

How do we react? We react by echoing Kennedy and our brave forefathers and mothers - service, sacrifice, standing for what is good and right willing to pay any price.

On Heaven Is Real, Be Heard

Over the weekend we enjoyed a family movie, it was “Heaven Is Real” a 2014 film written and directed by Randall Wallace (writer of Braveheart) and based on Pastor Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent's 2010 book of the same name. The film stars Greg Kinnear.

I had always avoided the movie because I assumed it would be another cheesy Christian movie, and there had been questions over the validity of the young boy’s claims. Four-year old Colton Burpo claims to visit heaven during surgery for a burst appendix.

It was surprisingly well done, and did a great job of portraying the dad’s and others skepticism at the boy's claims.

It left me wondering, why don’t we see more movies like this? True family movies that reflect what most of America is, Christians, who live their faith. In a 2019 Pew Survey, 65% of American identify as Christians. Yet, where are they represented in the movies, in television, and in the news and media?

You can never forget, the people creating the content you consume not only don’t value what you believe, they want you to believe something else. They want your kids to believe something else.

I bring this up because sometimes it’s easy to think you're crazy when you hear messages that contradict what you believe and you have moments you go, maybe they are right.

As the movie ended I was reminded of a Bible verse learned long ago:

Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…."

Stand up for what you believe, be heard, know you are not alone. In fact, you are in the majority, by a lot.

Heard On The Radio Today, Family or Career?

I was listening to a radio show this morning and one of the guests said, “Why should I have to make the decision that family is more important than my career?”

The host understood the implications of that and followed with: “I think we can all agree family should be the most important thing in all our lives.”

She acted like he hadn't spoken. She had been raised in a family where career and school were more important than family and now she was a single-mom who wanted success in a very competitive career field, no matter what it meant to life at home.

They both became uncomfortable, and it was uncomfortable to listen to.

But it brought up an even bigger, broader point. What do we value, and how do we judge ourselves?

Is it by how much money we make? Our job title or job satisfaction? Is it all “me” centered?

Or is it in our faith, our family, our friends, our community?

There is a disconnect that has evolved over the last 70 years, really since WWII, where progress has led to fractured families and communities, meism, and a breakdown of things that matter.

This was a women who is smart and thoughtful. But “satisfaction” to her was a job that “kicks butt”. And it’s not just a women thing, it’s a people thing, a man thing. Is our value only in our titles and our bank account? If so, what does that mean and what will be the consequences?

Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives

My wife is re-reading the book “Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica” for the 3^rd time. It is inspiring to watch her work through it again.

The book is a testimony to learning to live in the spirit, free of worldly influence. It is an aspirational work for our spiritual journey as we draw closer to God. It also offers a clear picture of why we suffer and cannot find peace.

More than a few passages from the book have impacted me over the years since reading it, but two stand out, one on humility and the other on the type of life we will choose to live:

“Until you have suffered much in your heart, you cannot learn humility.”

“Our life depends on the kind of thoughts we nurture. If our thoughts are peaceful, calm, meek, and kind, then that is what our life is like. If our attention is turned to the circumstances in which we live, we are drawn into a whirlpool of thoughts and can have neither peace nor tranquility.”

Have you suffered? Did it cause despair, or did it lead you to humility?

What draws your attention? Worldly, temporal things, or peaceful, kind, important things?

We all will suffer, and we all will have plenty of distractions put in front of us. How will we respond? What will we focus our thoughts, and ultimately our actions upon?

Rule Breakers Or Law Abiding Citizens?

Yesterday, we talked a little bit about mass incarceration. While empathetic to those neglected and abused by the legal system, most did the crime. I do not want liars, thieves, and violent criminals in my family.

On the other hand, many of my heroes were rule breakers: Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Daniel Boone, etc. If they saw injustice or things they believed were wrong, well, they wouldn’t always follow the rules.

What to do with my children, or myself? How do we navigate injustice?

Here is what Henry David Thoreau had to say about it:

“Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? Men generally, under such a government as this, think that they ought to wait until they have persuaded the majority to alter them. They think that, if they should resist, the remedy would be worse than the evil. But it is the fault of the government itself that the remedy is worse than the evil. It makes it worse. Why is it not more apt to anticipate and provide for reform? Why does it not cherish its wise minority? Why does it cry and resist before it is hurt? Why does it not encourage its citizens to be on the alert to point out its faults, and do better than it would have them?” – Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience

“If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth–certainly the machine will wear out… but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.” – Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience

“An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Judging Ourselves By Mass Incarceration

A March 24, 2020 report on Mass Incarceration in the United States found the following:

"The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,833 state prisons, 110 federal prisons, 1,772 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,134 local jails, 218 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories.

Every year, over 600,000 people enter prison gates, but people go to jail 10.6 million times each year.  Jail churn is particularly high because most people in jails have not been convicted."

Worldwide, the US has 21% of the World’s prisoners, but only about 4.4 percent of the world’s population. How should we consider those who are incarcerated in our midst?

ISAIAH 61:1-3

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."

And then in MATTHEW 25:34-40 we are reminded how we are to care for others, and the importance of remembering who they represent:

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"

The horrendous way we engage "the least of us" stains every part of our world. It is another evil we are complicit in that we try hard to hide our eyes from. Just like the sexualization and commercialization of our culture that everyone contributes to, church goers and non-church goers alike, the fact we haven’t done more to shed a light on our immense prison culture and its consequences on our entire society is shameful.