My geeky juices are flowing at watching this video. And, what do you know? The astronaut even has a good singing voice.

So, this is a good time to remind you that Doxacon, (where Faith and Truth meet Science Fiction and Fantasy) the Orthodox “geek” convention sponsored by an Orthodox parish, will be coming in July. If you follow the link, it will take you to a registration page where you can sign up.

There are additional organizations from the liberal side who have come out and spoken up about their audits. I went to the website of each one of them and they, too, are asking that groups of their type be included in the Congressional investigation of the IRS.

It appears more and more to be true that the IRS sees itself as somehow ensuring that groups that they perceive as being “extreme,” whether conservative or liberal, are “controlled” for the good of the country. Hopefully, both sides can unite on this one issue and put some severe restrictions on IRS investigations as well as enshrining citizen and group rights during audits into federal law and code. I am to the point that I would welcome a Constitutional amendment that enshrine citizen and group rights in their dealings with federal, state, and local governments. Apparently the first ten amendments are not enough.

As a priest, I hear confessions. In fact, I hear confessions all the time, not simply when I am officiating the formal Sacrament. But, many times when people think that they are confessing to God, they are really telling me of an event in their lives that continues to cause them pain. That is, they are not telling me that they did something wrong, but rather that something wrong was done to them that still causes them pain.

For those of you who are my fellow pastors, I am not talking about those people who confess someone else’s sin in order to justify their wrong attitude, or those who confess someone else’s sin in order to lower that other person’s reputation in your eyes. I know of one priest who stopped one confession and began to take off his epitrachelion. The penitent had been sharing various incidents in which her husband had sinned, and how frustrated she was. She was startled and asked the priest why he was getting up and ending the confession. Reputedly, he responded that she needed to send her husband in so that he could hear the rest of her husband’s confession so that he could receive absolution from God.

No, I am talking about the person who comes in with a very low self-esteem, or who never seems to have a dream for their future, in spite of their gifts, or who may even come in to confession feeling somewhat suicidal, and you might be the last one who has a chance to stop them. Many times when I ask that person some question, it turns out that someone in their background has been telling them stories about themselves. Inevitably those stories have been negative and depreciating. Unfortunately, the penitent has listened to those stories, had begun to believe them, and had incorporated them into their view of themselves. Years later, they are still in inner agony over the damage that has been done to their psyche.

It turns out that the child’s chant that, “sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me,” is utterly and completely wrong. If one has a simple accident, such as breaking a bone while playing a game, the bone will heal and there will be no long-lasting negative memory. I realize that this is not true in the case of traumatic accidents. But, the bone broken in the midst of a childhood game often becomes simply a memory that is told in later years, stories about the time when one slipped, or one fell, or one twisted one’s ankle or knee, etc. The stories will not have emotional pain behind them, but are related with a simple smile and a simple shrug of the shoulders as if to say, “that is life.”

Not so with the stories that I hear of words that were said, words that were often repeated in one way or another over various years. They may have been words that were said during childhood, or adolescence, or even during a marriage. But, they are words that have stuck and have caused open wounds that have never healed. Unlike the healed bone, or twisted joint, that has become strong again, these wounds have remained open and weeping pain. Years later, I am still listening to the stories, and seeing how the wounds have festered and have damaged the life of the person who is speaking to me in confession.

And so, over the years I have begun to understand why Our Lord Jesus Christ said:

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

This is not merely a “spiritual” statement that is designed to point us to how holy God is. No, this is a real-life statement of the results of our engaging in name-calling toward others, particularly those others who are a regular part of our life, such as our brothers. The name-calling that takes place over the years is truly a type of murder. It is a slow and insidious murder that begins to destroy the psyche of the person to whom the words are addressed. The result is that we never get to “see” the person whom someone might could have become. We “see” only the damaged and diminished psyche of the person who is now an adult.

In a sense, the name-caller has indeed “murdered” the penitent who is now in confession before me. Many times, the penitent has little of which to be forgiven. It is the name-caller who, “shall be in danger of the judgment,” and who desperately needs to come to me or to a fellow priest, lest they go to face God with that sin upon their souls. It is no wonder that Jesus tells the name-caller to drop everything that they are doing, and to run to their brother so that their sacrifice may be acceptable to God. When you are busily imitating Cain by “killing” your brother with your words, it behooves you to run and be forgiven.

Let us commit ourselves to watch our tongues and to cease from name-calling. And, if you are already a guilty party, RUN, go to your brother and make peace, so that your sacrifice might be acceptable to God.

As many of you know, Jodi Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder today in Arizona. No, I do not want to write about the crime or about the trial or about the verdict. I want to write about the aftermath.

I came home from work and turned on the TV. I missed the beginning of the interview, so I do not know which relative of the victim, Travis Alexander, was being interviewed. But, I turned on the TV in time to know that I was listening to a relative and to hear him talk about forgiveness.

He talked about forgiveness in a very calm and rational way. He commented that now that the trial was over, he (and the family) could begin to concentrate on forgiveness. He stated that to be the man that he wished to be, he needed to work on that. He did not look frantic or extreme. He did not raise his voice. He talked calmly about becoming the man he wished to be.

The poor newswoman did not know what to do. I will say that she quickly cut away back to the network. There was nothing for her to hang on to. There was no “rabid” believer to point to. There was a generous man speaking in a gentle way, acknowledging the pain, but going on to say that as a Christian (and, yes, he did say it that way) he needed to concentrate on forgiveness in order to become the man he wanted to be.

I learned from that man. I learned how to give a gentle witness in extremely trying circumstances. I was reminded that one can articulate the Christian faith without using slang terms. I was reminded that our hope is to be united with Christ and to become like him. From what I saw and heard, I think that that relative was well on the way to becoming what he wishes to become.

May all of us be more like him in extremely trying circumstances.

Well, Father Orthoduck must admit that, uhm, he embarrassed himself again. Sunday, in preparation for Pascha, Father Orthoduck was helping out the parish priest by preparing the Proskomedia. If you want to know how that is prepared, you can go here. For those of you not that interested, it is when the priest prepares the bread and wine that will be consecrated. Unfortunately, last Sunday Father Orthoduck was a little “ham-handed.” As he was cutting the bread, he managed to cut his finger. The knife was sharp enough that he did not really feel it, and he thought it a very slight cut.

Next thing he knew, a young priest, only about five months into ordination, comes up and tells me in a horrified voice that I am bleeding. Father Orthoduck looked down, and sure enough, there he was bleeding away onto the bread that would be consecrated. Needless to say, the bread was promptly thrown away, a new loaf of bread was brought out, and a horrified altar server came back with a First Aid kit that looked as though it would have been able to hold its own at a car accident scene. By now Father Orthoduck was in a deep shade of red, particularly when the parish priest comes over to see what is up and simply sighs, because he knows about the mishaps of Father Orthoduck. He was nice enough to allow Father Orthoduck to prepare the next loaf and not worry about it.

In passing, the finger was not in any way truly injured. But, apparently Father Orthoduck had managed to slice right over a venule. It stopped right up, but not before Father Orthoduck had again added to his “reputation” behind the altar.

But, here is the bottom line in both Communism and Fascism. In both cases, the State is supreme and the security of the State is more important than the civil rights of the individual. In fact, any individual rights of the individual can be suspended in case of national need. It is very important to note this sameness.

Currently in the USA, many hold that neither priests nor pastors should engage in politics. There is good reason for this most of the time. If our priests and pastors are too involved in partisan politics, there exists the danger that the faith become identified with a particular political position. I should note that there is the opposite danger, which is that if clergy never speak up, then they equally risk being identified with some type of political philosophy. Currently there are those who are seeking to identify Pope Francis with conservative fascist ideology precisely because he supposedly failed to speak out strongly enough against then reigning military junta.

But, now I feel as though I must risk some slight involvement. Some Republican congresspeople are again upset because the US bombing criminal was read his rights and will be arraigned in a court of law. They are willing to deny a USA citizen his constitutional rights because of national need. More than one has suggested that torture should be authorized despite clear Constitutional law that prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment.”

And thus, as one who was a citizen of a Communist country, I am of the opinion that I must speak out against those on the right who are willing to behave just like the Communists that my family fled. Look at the history of South American and you will read about the “desaparecidos” during the right-wing military and civil dictatorships of Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. Civil rights were suspended by the right-wing for the good of the country. This is not what we want for this country.

Many on the right are concerned about their constitutional rights particularly those concerning the Second Amendment. Be very careful lest in defense of the Republic and the Constitution you are inadvertently talked into giving away other equally important Constitutional rights. If you are willing to give away the Constitutional rights of some (on the ground that they were not really born here), how long do you think it will be before the Constitutional rights of those who were born here are equally constricted?

So, let me speak out clearly. Either all American citizens (born or naturalized) have the same rights or none of us have any rights at all. Let us defend the rights of every American citizen regardless of how horrific the crime that s/he has committed. To do otherwise is to risk a much greater evil.

Sen. Rand Paul declared victory Thursday after Attorney General Eric Holder assured him that the president cannot use a drone to kill a non-combatant American on U.S. soil — an assurance Paul had sought during his 13-hour filibuster the day before. …

Paul told Fox News the critical senators “think the whole world is a battlefield, including America.”

“I don’t think the laws of war apply to America. I think the Bill of Rights do,” Paul said.

Catch the last sentence that I quoted from the article. Senator Rand was completely convinced that the laws of war should not be, nay cannot be, applied within the United States of America. He made it clear, with the support of many Americans, that every American is entitled to their day in court, to their rights being protected by the Constitution of the United States of America. But, Senator Rand’s arguments often went farther. He was uncomfortable with the idea that drone attacks could be used against an USA citizen, even if that citizen were overseas. The only exception would be if the citizen were actually engaged in a firefight at the time the drone hit him. Catch his very important argument. His argument is that American citizens have rights that are protected in such a way that they are protected even when the rights of others are not protected in the same way. In other words, being an American citizen is a special matter that places you in a protected class.

Well, that was five and a half weeks ago. That was before the Boston Marathon and the bombings carried out by American citizens. Now that argument has completely been changed.

From Fox News on 20 April 2013:

Top Republican senators urged President Obama on Saturday to hold the suspect captured in the Boston Marathon bombing as a potential enemy combatant — denying him a government-appointed attorney and other legal rights under the “Law of War” so investigators can learn about other possible attacks.

“The events we have seen over the past few days in Boston were an attempt to kill American citizens and terrorize a major American city,” Sens. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina; John McCain, Arizona; and Kelly Ayotte, New Hampshire, said. “The suspect, based upon his actions, clearly is a good candidate for enemy combatant status. We do not want this suspect to remain silent.” They were joined in the statement by New York Republican Rep. Peter King.

This should teach you something about the modern hyper-conservative politician. Do not rely on their arguments about their desire to protect your rights against the encroachments of a supposedly evil government. One day they will most certainly speak as though they wish to protect you against an encroaching government. The next day they will be the first in line to encroach upon your rights without thought under the heading of security. Notice that the hyper-conservative politician will encroach upon your rights even quicker than the supposed “liberal” that they claim is always around trying to take away your rights. Funny, how it is that very supposed “liberal” that is the one standing now to insist that every captured suspect has his/her rights regardless of the horror of the crime committed.

So, be careful when you listen to political arguments about what might happen. Rather, look at actual events of what has happened. A month ago hyper-conservatives were arguing about theoretical killings of American citizens by Air Force drones. These have never happened, nor was there any idea that they might happen. But, the nomination of the head of the CIA was delayed over this never-happened argument. Useless time was wasted on a non-argument, but all that time was supposedly important in order to ensure the defense of the American citizen. A month later, real terrorism happens, and hyper-conservatives jump to the fore and begin to argue against the rights of an American citizen. The prisoner’s rights must be taken away. He must not be allowed to see a lawyer, even though he is an American citizen.

So, don’t listen to what an American hyper-conservative politician says. Look only at what s/he does because they are about to take away some of your rights.

Yet, he was not often as acceptable to all as he became in later life. In the 1957 crusade,  Roman Catholic authorities warned parishioners not to attend Mr. Graham’s services and provided priests with information to help counter the evangelical message. Many Orthodox of that time would probably have agreed. And, I suspect that many Orthodox converts of this day would not appreciate such a man.

But, sometimes when you look at a person’s life, you can see that they have striven to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. In the case of George Beverly Shea, there is every evidence that he did not engage in inter-church attacks, but truly wished simply for all to come to know Our Lord Jesus Christ. We can argue about his evangelical theology, but we cannot argue about his commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. Neither should we engage in any arguments whatsoever that have to do with his salvation. I have little doubts on that score.

George Beverly Shea is one of those people who help us to realize that we often do not understand God’s ways and plans. We argue about jurisdictions, theology, canonics, etc. George Beverly Shea simply sang of his love of God. And, that was enough.

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

After an event such as the terrorism bombing of the Boston Marathon a couple of days ago, it is sometimes hard to see where the Lord is or to see God’s grace. And then the stories begin to come out, the pictures are seen, the videos are played, and you begin to catch glimpses that speak to how God’s love was often expressed even in the midst of the event.

Two bombs went off. Yes, many people listened to the police and ran. But, many people actually ran to the site of the explosion and began to help. And the stories that have begun to come out are amazing. Various TV stations have aired video after video of people helping people.

The most iconic photo so far is the one of the long-haired man in the cowboy hat helping the man who lost both of his legs as he takes him to treatment. A native of Costa Rica who immigrated to the USA as an adult, his son was killed several years ago in Iraq. He admits that he went bananas at the news and his recovery has been very difficult. Yet, he not only recovered, but when the test came, he withstood the test, stayed fully self-controlled and became a hero just like his son.

Then there was the looks-like-a-teenager girl struggling to carry a wounded adult woman out of a possible danger zone. She did not run. She grew up all too suddenly, and she behaved like a heroine. Incredibly, a professional football player came to her aid and carried the woman. So the second picture is the teenager and the professional football player, side by side, caring for the wounded woman. He is huge; she is tiny. But, they are bound by their caring concern for the stranger, for their neighbor.

There are too many stories to recount. Over and over, photograph after photograph, person after person, eschewing all danger they ran toward the kill zone with only the thought to help out the strangers, the neighbors, that they could see lying around. Finally, there are the marathon runners who had not finished and who were held back. So many of them turned and ran toward the hospitals to donate blood that the American Red Cross finally had to begin turning donors down because they did not even have enough people available to collect the units of blood that were being offered.

“When did we see you,” ask the saints. When “you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” We did see God’s grace present at the Boston Marathon. We saw it present in those who courageously stayed, those who reached out to help others. We saw it in those who served others and in doing so served Our Lord Jesus Christ himself. May Our Lord richly bless those who reached out, especially on the Last Day when they come before the Lord’s throne.