I can always count on Pithless Thoughts to post a drawing that either makes me think or keeps me on an even keel. The cartoon above is one of those “on an even keel” type. When I started this blog, I had no pretensions of vast influence. Rather, I thought of the blog as something like an online journal, in which I would express my thoughts and opinions and maybe get some helpful feedback. The blog ended up developing in unexpected directions, but it has remained mainly that, a place for me to reflect and maybe get some helpful feedback.

I know that this blog has helped my teaching and my preaching skills immensely. I usually need to keep anything I write to five or six paragraphs at most, because most people really do not go to an online blog to read a very long posting. But, despite that, there is always the hydra of pride and arrogance waiting to rear up its many heads to make me think that somehow my thoughts are so important that other people must read them. Besides pride, what feeds those thoughts are the graphs that WordPress so helpfully provides that tell you (in your dashboard) how many hits you have received in a day, and even shows you a historical graphs of “how you are doing.” For those of you old enough to remember Flip Wilson, I will just say that those graphs are the temptation of the devil in graphic form.

And so, one is tempted no longer to write to express opinions and receive feedback but to see how far up that graph will go. It is the same temptation that the news media face. What will bring in the numbers? What will make those peaks stay up? In fact, if one is not careful, one can become the blogging version of Geraldo Rivera or Jerry Springer. And thus, temptation raises its many heads and looks for whom to devour. At its lowest point, temptation can make one into a Nancy Grace, pursuing every lead in the worst possible way with headlines that become more impossible and more ridiculous.

But then, along comes Pithless Thoughts and punctures the balloon. The truth of the matter is that most people tend to read blogs with which they agree. If they do not agree, they stop reading the blog. Thus, one is really preaching to the choir and not bringing about any change. Pithless reminds bloggers to go back to their roots. In my case, I simply wanted an online journal, a place to express myself, to have to think about my opinions on certain matters, and to receive feedback from others on my ideas. Thanks again, Pithless.

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When we were overseas, we were surprised to find out that there are some countries that require official national government identity papers for every person within their borders regardless of age. It does not matter whether one was born there and is a citizen, one’s birth certificate is not enough, nor any other “local” identification, one must have an additional national government identification card or internal passport. Obviously, if one is not a citizen, one has to have national papers on you showing a visa, but that is also true in just about every country in the world (the exception are those countries that allow travel between themselves with just a driver’s license).

This creates a problem in countries that have large poverty populations because these papers always cost money, money which the very poor do not tend to have or do not wish to spend. We encountered this in both Bolivia and Perú. Below is a report from a diocese in Perú which talks about the type of help they are giving to the poor and why it is necessary.

Many countries do not have official GOVERNMENT IDENTITY PAPERS, but Peru does.

Yet many children and adults, especially in poor areas, do not have them. This will be a great handicap as they grow up. For example, they won’t be able to find proper work, receive medical treatment, gain educational qualifications, or drive a car.

Yet many parents are reluctant to take the necessary steps to provide their children with a formal identity… they don’t know how to fill in the forms, it takes too much time and they can’t miss work, it costs too much, they don’t live near the child’s place of birth, and a host of other reasons. It is estimated that one third of children in Peru do not have their papers, the majority being among the poor, who then get further disadvantaged.

The government has a programme aimed at the problem, but parents are not taking it up.

Now the Diocese, through its NGO, COMMUNION-PERU, is involved in helping parents and educating them about the importance of their children being registered. In its first campaign the Diocese helped 415 children and some adults to get their official papers, their DNI, as it is called.

The work is led by the Diocesan Social Worker, Erika Montoya, and the 415 represent much hard, dedicated work. But success breeds success, and the next round should be a little easier as many parents, seeing what has been done for their neighbours’ children, are asking for the same help. Well done Erika and her team of volunteers.

[Erika was trained as a social worker through a USPG grant.]

As you can see from the spelling, there is a large English contingent there, supporting the diocese in its work. When I was in Perú, a set of identity papers could cost close to the equivalent of one month’s minimum wage. Can you see why the poor might have been rather loath to get out identity papers until necessary? In many rural areas or in the shantytowns, one could live a long time without having to make use of national identity papers. But, if you do not have them, you are shut out of advancement in Perú. And, if you want them you were still faced with the problem of giving up close to one month’s minimum wage in order to get them.

Now, please note that you needed these papers in order to get a driver’s license. In this country, we use the driver’s license as our main identity document, after the birth certificate, which is given to us free (at least the first copy). Did you notice that without the document they might not be able to receive medical treatment or even gain educational qualifications? And yet, that is the law there to this day, despite the fact that one third of the children do not have papers. I can personally tell you that there are many adults in the same situation.

The work this diocese is doing here is not part of what one would normally see as “preaching the gospel.” But, I guarantee you that the people who are receiving the help see it as indeed being good news. And, having received those good news, they are much more open to hearing from the diocese about the “other” good news.

So, I encourage you very strongly to support the various social works in which mission agencies are involved. I do believe in supporting church-planting and missionaries who go do such. But missionary social works are all too often the step-children of missions. So, go find yourself a missionary social work that appeals to you and calls out to you and begin to support it.

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One of the people who spoke at the Glenn Beck rally, “Restoring Honor,” was Alveda King, the niece of the famed Pastor Martin Luther King of civil rights fame. She is an evangelical minister, was a Democrat representative in the Georgia legislature, and leads an outreach program for the Roman Catholic group, “Priests for Life.” During the rally she spoke of her “Uncle Martin’s” dream and she asked when his dream would be fulfilled:

We will know when prayer is once again welcome in the public squares of America and in our schools. We will know when our children are no longer in mortal peril on our streets and in our classrooms, and in the wombs of our mothers.

We will know when righteousness rolls down like waters, and justice like a mighty stream. Yes, I too have a dream … that America will repent of the sin of racism and return to honor. I have a dream that white privilege will become human privilege and that people of every ethnic blend will receive everyone as brothers and sisters in the love of God. I have a dream that America will pray, and God will forgive us our sins and revive our land.

I found myself wondering how many people had really heard (or read) those two paragraphs. She had barely any write-up in the newspapers, and tended to only be used as a punching bag by both sides. In fact, the way Pastor Alveda preaches is often in a way that infuriates both sides. You see, though she was at the Beck rally and though she is with Priests for Life, she also supports ideas and themes that are propounded by the “other side.” In fact, to my ears she sounds like that rare creature, a true independent, and also a good Christian.

Look at the two paragraphs above. The first one could be said by anyone at any “Tea Party” rally and get cheers. The second one would likely draw boos at the same rally. The reverse would be true in many gatherings of “progressives.” The second paragraph would be cheered and the first paragraph might get boos. But, here is the interesting part. I have before quoted the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to point out that the Catholic bishops, in their formal statements, are not either conservative or liberal per se (and neither is the Pope). Rather, they support a culture of life that goes way beyond the limited culture of life propounded by all too many in the “pro-life” movement.

Pastor Alveda King, like the Catholic organization for which she leads an outreach program, proposes a full culture of life, not the limited product presented by all too many “pro-life” groups. Her two paragraphs above mesh quite well with the statements of the Catholic bishops previously published on this post. And, I will argue that they mesh quite well with the stance of our Orthodox hierarchs. My regret is that all too many Roman Catholics (and Orthodox) are not listening to their own bishops and are deciding that their opinions are better than the considered thought of Patriarchs, Pope, and bishops. And so, they proclaim that they are upholding Orthodox or Roman Catholic pro-life stances when they are really only presenting a watered-down version of an insufficiently pro-life stance.

For the enjoyment of it, let me quote Pastor Alveda one more time.

We are still suffering from the great evil divide of racism. Our children are suffering in failing school systems. Our sons and daughters are being incarcerated at astronomical rates. Sickness, disease and poverty of the spirit, soul and body are plaguing our communities. The procreative foundation of marriage is being threatened, and the wombs of our mothers have become places where the blood of our children is shed in a ‘womb war’ that threatens the fabric of our society. …

Yet, we are not without hope. Faith, hope and love are not dead in America. Hallelujah.

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Let’s take a pause and think. We went into Iraq and now we are supposedly only in Iraq in a non-combat role. Inevitably for years people will be arguing about the right and wrong of it. Father Orthoduck has previously expressed his views on the matter. But, that is not the point right now.

We need to always remember that whenever we fight a war, we are sending people to be killed. Every command level officer and command level non-commissioned officer learns that hard fact if they serve on the front during a time when the USA is involved in a conflict. Every tactical planner sooner or later learns that not only must the logistics needed for battle be calculated, but also the presumptive death rate and the number of field hospitals, physicians, nurses, medical technologists, X-ray techs, etc., needed for the field. And, sadly, the probable number of caskets that will be needed. Since the Napoleonic wars, the tally of wounded and dead is called “the butcher’s bill.” That phrasing comes from Admiral Lord Nelson.

Father Orthoduck is not a pacifist; he basically agrees with Saint Augustine’s arguments about a just war. Now, a war never has to be fought, two of the Slavic saints are princes who let their pagan brother kill them and get the throne rather than raise their hands against their own family. But, if and when a decision to fight a war is made, we must never forget that we are deciding that some will die. There will be a “butcher’s bill” that must be paid. We ought never to so present a war that we make it appear to be easy or free of a butcher’s bill, because there always has been and always will be a butcher’s bill.

This means two things. On the one hand, it is not appropriate to use the death of some of our troops in order to argue that now that there are some dead it means that we must continue or we dishonor their memory. As Saint Augustine points out, a war is either just or unjust. The death of members of the Armed Forces does not change a war from unjust to just. On the other hand, it also means that it is equally not appropriate to use the butcher’s bill as an argument against a just war. Both the Civil War and World War II have horrid butcher’s bills, but outside the pacifists, few would argue that those wars should not have been fought.

Let us rather remember those who have given their lives in the service of their country. And, let us be of the firm conviction that we shall never forget the butcher’s bill when we make our political decisions. Let us always ensure that our decisions are backed by Saint Augustine’s principles of a just war, for Father Orthoduck firmly believes that they reflect a very Scriptural approach. But, let us neither use death, in and of itself, as an argument against a war. Oddly enough, the very self-sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the many martyrs argues that some things are worth dying for. The World War II generation will tell you that the many deaths were worth the dying because the other option would have been a world controlled by the Axis powers. Let us remember that as well, sometimes it is worth paying the butcher’s bill.

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Father Orthoduck and his wife are still unpacking and busy, so this will be a very short post to let you know that we arrived safely. Now, we arrived in Alabama, not in Texas. However, Father Orthoduck has driven across Texas and can verify that the above comic has some truth to it, particularly if you go across central Texas. It is a never ending state. As a result, some Texas speed limit laws are slightly different than in the rest of the nation. The below is from Wikipedia.

Texas is the only state that does not prescribe a speed limit for each road type. Any rural road—two lane, four lane, freeway, or otherwise—that is numbered by the state or federal government (United States Numbered Highways and Interstate Highways) has a 70 mph (113 km/h) statutory limit. The law allows reducing the 70 mph limit only if a study recommends a different limit.

Texas law generally has 60 mph statutory limits for all county roads.

Toll road authorities may post speed limits up to 70 mph. While the Harris County Toll Road Authority would normally fall under the 60 mph county rule, an exception allows it to post up to 70 mph limits on its tollway system.

Although very few farm to market roads carry a speed limit above the statutory 70 mph, FM 1788 (Andrews County), FM 1776 (Pecos-Ward County), and FM 1053 (Pecos and Crane counties) all have daytime passenger vehicle speed limits of 75 mph.

Father Orthoduck will note that his experience is that many rural Texans see the speed limit signs as being the minimum speed that should be kept on those roads. As a result, it appears that Texas has decided to save money on troopers by simply acceding to rural demands.

Texas statutorily allows the Texas Department of Transportation to post 75 mph (121 km/h) speed limits in counties with average populations of fewer than 15 people per square mile. The same statute also allows 80 mph (129 km/h) speed limits on I-10 and I-20 in certain counties named in the statute, all of which happen to be rural, in west Texas, and have a low population density. Daytime truck limits are capped at 70 mph, and nighttime speed limits remain 65 mph for all vehicles. (Nothing prohibits nighttime speed limits from being raised to 70 mph, but the Department has not elected to do so.) . . .

Because Texas law allows 75 mph speed limits on any road numbered by the state or federal government, it is the only state with 75 mph limits on two-lane roads. Several west Texas two-lane roads carry 75 mph limits, including portions of US 90. No other state has a limit higher than 70 mph on any two-lane road.

Father Orthoduck salutes the Texans and their HUGE state. (He wonders whether anyone from Alaska will reply.)

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Both Father Ernesto and Father Orthoduck have been assigned to a new place by their bishop. They are in the process of moving to Alabama. Posting is suspended for this day and maybe the next. Do pray for our move, especially for the pastora (khourie, presbitera, matushka) who bears so much of the brunt of a move.

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On a blog called Internetmonk, I am part of a group called the Liturgical Gangstas. The idea is that periodically the moderator of the blog asks a question of people from different Christian backgrounds who have an interest in liturgy to see how they would respond. Most of us are pastors, but not all. Today is one of the days when our “feature” is posted. Below is the question that we were asked and my answer. I would highly encourage you to go to the blog and look at the answers from the other people involved and the discussion that ensues. I guarantee that you will find it interesting. If the discussion is not posted at the time you go to that blog, just return later and it will be.

Question—The Gospel: On Internet Monk, we try to make the point that the Gospel is not simply a message we proclaim to non-believers but a message that Christians also need every day. In your tradition and church, how do you make sure the Gospel remains central in your preaching and practice?

My answer: In order to “make sure the Gospel remains central in your preaching and practice,” I must have an inner idea of what the Gospel is in order to know what it is that I wish to maintain central. For me the key Scripture verses that keep my preaching and teaching centered are from the Gospel according to Saint Luke:

The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.

Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

We are called to obey Our Lord who said, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” So, I too must “proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,” which includes preaching the Gospel (to the poor), healing the brokenhearted, proclaiming liberty to captives, sight to the blind, and liberty to those who are oppressed. But, how do I keep myself centered? There are several things I do. The ones familiar to most of us are prayer and Scripture reading. For us Orthodox, it is a helpful aid that we have daily and Sunday lectionaries that take us through vast parts of Scripture. Many churches and para-church groups have developed reading patterns to try to ensure that we do not just read what pleases us and makes us feel good and encourages us, but also read what displeases us, what frightens us, what calls us to account, and what leaves us in the dirt in broken repentance for our many sins and offenses.

But, we Orthodox also have patterns of prayers. These morning and evening prayers tend to keep us focused on God’s goodness, our repentance, our duty to him, and our love relationship with him. But, more than that each day we have a saint (or saints) that we remember and a couple of prayers that remind us of why that person was great. Along with that there is usually a short one paragraph reading that gives us an overview of the saint(s)’s life. This is especially important because it shows us how people in history have interpreted Scripture and Holy Tradition in order to live out their lives in practical obedience to God. The great stream of the Church, properly appraised, gives us the guidance that keeps us from odd or tendentious interpretations and behaviors. A priest is required to maintain the reading and prayer disciplines.

But, let me talk a bit about myself. The previous paragraphs are standard Christian thought. I also read a lot, and I mean a lot. I read Church Fathers; I read people like John Bunyan; I read C.S. Lewis. The more I am willing to read the great Christian writers, the more that I catch a glimpse of that great stream of the Church that helps keep me centered and able to respond appropriately to God. I am more convinced than ever that writers such as G.K Chesterton (Roman Catholic), Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Orthodox), C.S. Lewis (Anglican), etc., are correct when they encourage us to read fiction, fantasy, etc., whether or not it is overtly Christian, for I have many times seen the solution to a theological conundrum more clearly in a fiction story than in reading many theological tomes. Sometimes, I have understood more clearly the complaints about Christians by reading secular fiction than by any other mean. I urge you all to read and to read broadly.

Finally, there is something we must all do in order to keep ourselves centered on the Gospel, and I do mean must do. We get too caught up in worrying about whether works will earn our way to Heaven. Please drop that argument. I find that without works I lose my way in realms of theological speculation or in the depths of fictional worlds which have little connection to making sure that I keep the centrality of the Gospel in my preaching and practice. Our Lord came to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, the oppressed. I need to keep my hands dirty if I really wish to keep Gospel centered in my preaching and practice. Some of my fondest memories are some of my most difficult memories. My work overseas and my work in the inner city kept my hands dirty. I buried toddlers who would have never died in the USA. I worked with indigenous people (in missions) who could barely speak Spanish. I buried teenagers in the USA who were shot in drug violence. I watched teenaged girls in the inner city refuse sound advice and get pregnant. But, I also watched churches grow, a school get started, an orphanage begin, a new indigenous work (and a bishop who rode a mule in blue jeans) with new church plants, teenaged girls who did listen and are now sound married mothers, teenaged boys who grew up and now have sound jobs. People have been baptized, chrismated, and brought into Life. You see, my hands are dirty and my nails are broken, but it is those works that, along with Scripture, lives of the saints, readings from great Christian writers, and even secular readings, help to keep me centered on the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

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I like the cartoon above. It is one of the best examples of the concept of freedom of speech that I have seen in cartoon form. Freedom of speech really does not mean that the people who hear you speak have to agree with you or even to respect you or even to refrain from criticizing you. Freedom of speech does mean that other people have to respect your right to speak, and allow you the room to do so. We make a mistake when we try to equate freedom of speech with personal respect for another. Let me repeat, freedom of speech is simply the right for you to speak and not be silenced.

This freedom is not a unilateral freedom. Reasonable exceptions to freedom of speech have been carved out and widely upheld by the courts. The most famous example is that you do not have the right to shout “fire” in a crowded theater if there is no fire. But, for instance, we have also limited certain types of talk in front of minors in various venues, though not all venues, or it would be easy to limit freedom of speech by simply having minors present in the crowd. You do not have the unilateral right to spill state secrets, although most courts will refuse prior censorship. You talk; you leak; you take a chance on going to jail. But maybe not, because courts have ruled that legitimate whistle blowers have the freedom of speech right to even spill state secrets. This is all to say that freedom of speech is not an unlimited right and there are grey areas in it.

But, in this country there must be extremely good reasons in order for freedom of speech to be limited, and preserving the public order is not sufficient. Thus when the neo-Nazis wanted to march through Skokie, IL in 1977, they won their case in the Supreme Court (the lower state courts split in their decisions). It was ruled that freedom of assembly gave them the right to march. They also won a secondary ruling that allowed them to wave swastika banners during the march. It was ruled that freedom of speech gave them that right. What made this ruling so shocking to many people is that Skokie, at that time, was a town with a high Jewish population, many of whom had lived through the Holocaust. In 1978 the neo-Nazis held three marches in Illinois.

The point is that freedom of assembly and freedom of speech are such fundamental rights that even views that the majority believe to be obnoxious and repellent may not be completely silenced. Thus both neo-Nazis on the extreme right, and the North American Man-Boy Love Association on some sick extreme, have the right to try to convince you of their views, though they do not have the right to carry their views out. In passing, NAMBLA’s rejection by virtually everyone has pretty much wiped out the organization. For all intents and purposes it no longer really exists, but notice that it was not shut down by police action or by regulatory law but by a rejection of their advocated positions. And, remember what the cartoon points out. I may support their freedom of speech, but I also have the freedom of speech to say that they are sickos whom I do not respect. Ain’t freedom of speech wonderful?

Forty-six years ago yesterday, Martin Luther King was one of the speakers at a massive civil rights assembly. It was then that he gave his famous, “I Have A Dream” speech. It was freedom of assembly and freedom of speech that gave the organizers the right to gather, to invite participants, and to pressure the USA Congress for a change in the laws. Yesterday, Glenn Beck held his “Restoring Honor” rally. It is freedom of assembly and freedom of speech that gave him the right to gather, to invite participants, and to encourage voters to “take back America.” Those two rallies exemplify once again our Constitutional rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of speech. It is what our Founding Fathers wanted for this country.

This does not mean that you have to agree with either man. In fact, you may virulently disagree with both men, disagree with one of them, or fully agree with both of them. But, you see, that is your freedom of speech at work, just like my freedom of speech lets me write this blog post. And, that’s our Constitution.

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Those of you who now have grown daughters may very well remember facing a moment similar to this sometime in their early teenage years. I say early teenage years because by the time they are in their late teenage years, they are normally horrified at the thought of asking their father anything that has to do with their bodily development. Now, you may not remember such a moment in your little girl’s life, but that is probably because you have blocked it out of your conscious mind.

Just the other day, I was talking to one of our grown daughters and she reminded me of one such episode in our life. Yes, I remember that episode. Actually, I remember more than one episode since we had more than one daughter. And, I can remember praying internally in a panic asking God to help me to give an answer that would not damage them for life or cause my wife to damage me for life! I think that I even asked for it to be a sound godly answer, but I had enough adrenaline flowing inside of me that my memories of that very first question may be skewed. I did not call for my wife though it may be that she was not in the house at that time. I knew that I needed to answer honestly and in such a way that I did not shut any doors for our daughters to return in the future to ask questions. Well, for years I did not know how I had done.

But, as I commented, recently one of our daughters reminded me of one of those incidents. And she remembers it as a moment in which I quietly answered her question and left the door open for her to ask more in the future. She even said that should her daughter wish to ask me a question someday that I should feel free to answer our granddaughter as I answered our daughter. It was a wonderful moment for me. Of course, I may now need to look for hiding places as our granddaughter approaches the time of questions! (I think I am just kidding.)

I write this as an encouragement to fathers who have daughters approaching the age of questions. They may not always go to mom, sometimes they will come to you. You may feel as though you do not know what to say. But, pray for wisdom, bite the bullet, and take a good tranquilizer after you answer the question. (I think I am just kidding about the tranquilizer.) Trust that God will give you a godly and wise answer. (Maybe even trust that God will shut your daughter’s ears to any mistakes you make in your answer.) Answer gently and make sure to keep that door open to further questions. You may not know how you have done for years. But, that’s OK. Being a parent is learning to live with fear and trembling while giving out love and wisdom.

Here is a quote for you from Redemptoris Custos:

. . . How much the family of today can learn from this! “The essence and role of the family are in the final analysis specified by love. Hence the family has the mission to guard, reveal and communicate love, and this is a living reflection of and a real sharing in God’s love for humanity and the love of Christ the Lord for the Church his bride.” This being the case, it is in the Holy Family, the original “Church in miniature (Ecclesia domestica),” that every Christian family must be reflected. “Through God’s mysterious design, it was in that family that the Son of God spent long years of a hidden life. It is therefore the prototype and example for all Christian families.” . . .

The growth of Jesus “in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man” (Lk 2:52) took place within the Holy Family under the eyes of Joseph, who had the important task of “raising” Jesus, that is, feeding, clothing and educating him in the Law and in a trade, in keeping with the duties of a father.

In the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the Church venerates the memory of Mary the ever Virgin Mother of God and the memory of St. Joseph, because “he fed him whom the faithful must eat as the bread of eternal life.”

For his part, Jesus “was obedient to them” (Lk 2:51), respectfully returning the affection of his “parents.” In this way he wished to sanctify the obligations of the family and of work, which he performed at the side of Joseph.

May Saint Joseph intercede for us with Christ our God that we may have the help of the Holy Spirit in learning to be good fathers.

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