Thoughts on the dangers of distance from each other
By Michael Haldas, July 28, 2016
“Generalities exist only in our minds. We do not experience the “love of man.” We can only love this man, or that woman. Because human beings and their lives are utterly unique, the greater the distance we place between ourselves and those of whom we treat, the less accurate we are.” (Father Stephan Freeman)
“An exaggerated fear is equipped with binoculars; it tends to magnify dangers that are a great distance away, making small threats appear large.” (H. Norman Wright)
“Pray that God will bless you with patience and wisdom to help you negotiate your way through the many toxic, potentially destructive thoughts and feelings you will encounter. The truth is, disappointment, regrets, resentment, anger, and feelings and thoughts of betrayal are all part of the territory, and they can create emotional distance…” (Rev. Fr. Charles Joanides, Ph.D., LMFT)
“Saint Paul’s words challenge us to consider our relationships within the church communities of which we are members. We are to conduct ourselves in a loving manner toward all (1 Corinthians 16:14) …we are to extend love to “all in Christ Jesus” (vs. 24). Indeed, we should feel challenged by these words, for we are all too familiar with how polite distance, cliques, diffidence, or formalism often divide us.” (Dynamis 8/30/2015)
“People who have the same goal, and who strive towards the ‘one thing needful’, have oneness of soul; and they never feel the distance of separation. And no matter how great that distance is, it can never be the cause of hindrance to that spiritual closeness uniting these people in oneness of soul.” (St. John Maximovitch)
Thoughts on perception
By Michael Haldas, July 29, 2016
“Our culture thinks in terms of “thinking” (ratio). However, Christian faith is not a subset or a mode of discursive reason. It is, however, a mode of perception, just as is seeing, smelling, hearing, or touch. Faith is the mode of the heart’s perception, and since everyone, even a modern person, actually has a heart, everyone is capable of faith. It is, however, something that takes practice and patience.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“God is unknowable without His divine revelation, and only the nous [heart] can perceive this knowledge. Science has its place, but only the heart can know God.” (Abbott Tryphon)
“Again, he who does not limit his perception of the nature of visible things to what his senses alone can observe, but wisely with his intellect [heart] searches after the essence which lies within every creature, also finds God; for from the manifest magnificence of created beings he learns who is the Cause of their being.” (St. Maximos the Confessor)
“When we contrast the eyesight of men with God’s vision, we see that our perception is imperfect. Without His illumination, human vision remains undiscerning.” (OCPM 7/27/2016)
“…the experience or perception of God and His uncreated beauty can take place on many different levels and to varying degrees.” (Archimandrite Sergius)
~Michael Haldas, https://www.ancientfaith.com/contributors/michael_haldas.
Michael Haldas is an author, a religious educator and a speaker. He wrote Sacramental Living: Understanding Christianity as a Way of Life (published by Eastern Christian Publications), a book which he presented special editions of as gifts to Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in private audiences. Michael is also published monthly in Theosis Magazine and he has authored several Orthodox Christian themed articles for various publications. Additionally, he has recorded and contributed to multiple YouTube, DVD and CD educational projects. He teaches adult religious education and high school Sunday school at the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Bethesda, Maryland and has worked with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Religious Education Department to create educational lessons and materials.
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