OK folks, time for another truth-bomb to be laid on y’all. Or at least a bomb of some type. Seriously spittin’ mad folks.
Regardless, today’s essay will have some of you likewise spittin’ mad –at me. I know that many of you would rather I lay off the politics but as I’ve said before, politics cannot be divorced from religion and culture. It’s impossible. To believe otherwise is delusional. The much-vaunted “separation of Church and State” which Jefferson propounded did not mean the divorce of religion from politics. If you don’t believe me, go read the Letter to the Danbury Baptist Association for yourself.
In any event, I’ve come to a point in my life where I see the most mundane events in the material life infused with spiritual force. That shouldn’t be surprising because officially, that’s what we as Christians have always believed. It’s Orthodoxy 101. Now, looking back as I have been on the early parts of my life I can see where Providence was active as well. If this is true in our own mostly uneventful lives, then why should we question whether God and His angels are involved in the affairs of nations?
I for one, don’t doubt it for a minute. Not anymore. I’ve seen the abject failure of materialism on its own terms and anyway, it’s now been proven that many of our elite are involved in spiritualism of some sort –if not outright occultism. If the kakistocracy can call upon the black arts to ensure their control over the world then I can’t see why we Christians can’t countermand them by calling upon our God and His angels. No sirree. What’s good for the goose is sauce for the gander as they say.
Anyway, that is basically what this blog-post is about. Looking back over the events of the weirdest, most electrifying campaign in modern American history and that fateful election night, I have come to believe that the Hand of the Lord was upon this nation. That He chose a seeming buffoon to sit in the Oval Office is something that is still beside my ken. But then God chose Cyrus the Great to destroy Babylon and liberate the Jews didn’t He? And He used Alexander the Great to conquer the Persian Empire and spread Hellenism throughout the Mediterranean littoral as well. The Gospels as we all know, were written in Greek and its message spread like wildfire.
Of course there’s a backlash by the kakistocracy. I started out the day all pious and filled with the Eucharist and then I come home and read on the internet that John Brennan, a communist sympathizer and Moslem convert, just threatened the sitting president of these United States.
To make matters worse, Samantha Power, another traitor who served in the malad- ministration of Barack Hussein Obama (who next to James Buchanan was our second-most unmanly president and whose mother consorted with a known pornographer), reiterated the gravitas of Brennan’s threat. Later, facing a backlash, she wisely walked her comment.
(I will speak of these wicked people in another essay entitled “The Kakistocracy”. In the video below I allude to this phenomenon and rather than add another video to today’s, I will insert more information at a later date.)
Anyway, as far as today’s blog-post and vlog, I want to discuss what I believe happened some sixteen months ago on the second Tuesday, following the first Monday in November of 2016.
Basically, the excrement hit the fan.
In the video below, I explain several factors which I believe contributed to the loss of the Deep State’s selected candidate, Felonia Milhous von Pantsuit. I won’t bore you with the details as I’ve alluded to some of them in the past and reiterate them, while adding yet others, below.
I will say this however: the election was in the bag for Mdme Clinton. Just like the nomination was in the bag for her against Sen Bernie Sanders. But something happened instead: the people surreptitiously revolted against their betters. The kakistocracy didn’t see what was coming.
Make no mistake, the Deep State had already counted on the votes of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, but the people in those states turned out en masse to override the rigged electronic votes that had already been “cast”. This is why Dr Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for president was pressured to by the Deep State to sue for a recount in those three states. And it boils down to this: because the Deep State wanted to know how and why their bought-and-paid-for votes were overridden.
So yes, the Hand of the Lord was involved in this election. As to what will become of it, I cannot say. An insightful young man who, like me was mightily relieved by Clinton’s loss, chose to view Trump’s victory in these terms: “well, we’ve been given four more years to repent”.
And he’s right. Regardless whether this was merely a stay of execution before the final collapse or the beginning of a new historical epoch, we should by all means repent.
ho ho ho you know who else consorted with a known pornographer?
heart emoji for the conspiracy theory that a bunch of state republican election apparatus rigged an election for the democratic candidate for president.
brennan is as much a muslim as you are a mormon, no clue why you say moslem like it was 1954
complete failure to ask the question what if he is a buffoon and thus a divine instrument of judgement and wrath to bring ruin to the u s of a. food for thought
when you think about it the exact opposite of kenotic love looks like trump in word deed and life
antithesis of christlikeness if you will, somebody should write a book about that
Yeah, when I think of some politician who is “Christlike” the first person that comes to mind is LBJ. Or Bill Clinton. Obama certainly fits the bill.
Remind me again where Jesus said it’s OK to kill babies in their mothers’ wombs? Or to firebomb Serbia because “muh democracy”? I must have missed that one in Sunday School.
Bomb Serbia on Pascha no less for maximum civilian casualties.
serbia was not firebombed, japan was firebombed. serbia got off light for the severity of its crimes.
funny how out of all of bubba’s failings, you pick out something he actually did right.
one of your tollhouses is going to be watching muslim children die violently. then you get to bury them in frozen ground using your fingernails. over and over and over.
still laughing you thought abortion and serbian ethnic cleansing were a good pairing, made my night
The Balkans are a microcosm of the Battle for Planet Earth. The Three Surviving Worldviews are at odds there: 1. Catholic/Protestant/Feminist-Secular-Humanism (CPFSH), 2. Holy Orthodoxy and 3. Islam.
CPFSH is really all one thing and one worldview. Catholicism has become so decadent and denatured that it is blending into its heretical offshoots, Liberal Protestantism and Secular Humanism. This phronema is represented in the Balkans conflict by Catholic Croats and the NATO interveners.
More power to the Serbs!!! Srebrenica was a hoax concocted by the West. The numbers reported were blown completely out of proportion in order to justify the intervention:
http://serbianna.com/analysis/archives/592
As to Muslims, they are enemies of Christ one and all: men, women and children. They follow a false prophet who denied the Incarnation and Resurrection of Christ and taught them a religion which presumes to have the right to supercede and conquer Christianity. Medieval Christians were right about them. They kill, pillage, rape and persecute Christians with impunity by claim of divine right.
There are only three ways to deal with them: Convert, contain or kill. Indefinite coexistence is not an option.
We are not in a war with Terrorism. We are in a war with Islam. The last terrorist cell is the last living cell in the last living Muslim.
misha: serb slaughter of muslims is a hoax
brief pause
misha: there will be no peace until every last biological cell comprising the bodies of every single muslim human who exists on planet earth ceases to function
well now
Nothing wrong with “Moslem”. The “o” is pronounced “u” or “oo”, as in Osama/Usama.
I believe we could say that God’s open hand is present in all earthly authorities. Christ told Pontius Pilate, “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above”.
This is true for all of us. Whether we seek God’s will or not, the power and authority any of us have is ultimately from God’s open hand. This includes me, you, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Benjamin Netanyahu, Kim Jong-un, etc. All of us are given power and authority. The ultimate question for any of us will be: what did we do with what God gave us?
As Orthodox Christians, we have the Ecclesiological Truth that is found in Christ Jesus and His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, … but are we speaking the truth in love?
Today our government in America has increasingly become captive to the “Christian Zionists”. For example, this is especially evident in the personas of Vice President Mike Pence, the new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. These are people in positions of great power, and all three consider themselves pious Evangelical Christians. However, all three also uphold the erroneous and extremely dangerous belief of “Christian Zionism”. They don’t consider themselves Jewish, no, they consider themselves pious Christians. This is serious stuff.
American Orthodox Christians have an obligation to stand up for the truth, to stand up for the Church, and to challenge the “Christianity” of these and other “Christian Zionists”. I believe if St. Alexis Toth were here today, that’s exactly what he would do.
Christ is the New Adam, His Cross is the New Tree of Paradise, the Theotokos is the New Eve and Orthodoxy is the New Israel. Tell that to a devout Evangelical Christian and see what kind of response you get. John Hagee would be apoplectic.
agreed.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cia-director-john-brennan-muslim/
Snopes? Really?
Snopes is a leftist site that needs its own fact checker.
OK, against my better judgment, I’m going to publish this YouTube video of what I mean by a “kakistocracy”. It shows that useless trollop Chelsea Handler engaging in the very activity she condemns President Trump of engaging in (for which there is no proof by the way).
CAUTION: This is not for children or those easily offended. Definitely don’t open this at work! You are warned!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi95e4j6skU&feature=youtu.be&has_verified=1
George,
You are soiling the hand of God, by stating that, His Hand, was the reason Trump won the election. God had nothing to do with this, or any election in history. Except Putin’s victories, in holy Russia, of course. God must REALLY LOVE Putin, by those grand margins of victories!(sarcasm off) Yes I’m pleased Trump won over Clinton, but quit with the KOO KOO talk. This type of talk is what gives us Christians, especially Orthodox Christians, a bad name. Freewill is freewill. To give God credit on positive grand political schemes, must in that logic, then be followed by giving Him credit/blame for bad/evil ones as well, and we know that is not possible. God is only good, in fact, ONLY God, is good!
Ever speak with your spiritual father about this belief that God’s Hand favored Donald Trump as President, and directed millions of American’s hand to “pull the lever” for Trump. No, more like America tired of too much chocolate ice cream, and craved a little vanilla, after a while, chocolate will be the flavor of the decade again. Sorry we are fickle, and in the end will destroy ourselves, before any axis of evil nations do.
Trump might make you feel good now because he is pissing off all the people you don’t care for, pushing back on agendas you are against, but mark my words after the Trump hysteria is over, and even if we get another term of Trump, and one of Pence, like Bush after Reagan, we will get a Prog leftist, that makes Obama and Clinton little cub scouts, in comparison. This is how our system swings, back and forth, left and right. Problem is our leaders are getting more and more extreme with every generation.
God’s grand scheme is to save us, individually, in the end, not put band-aids on nations, with flawed leaders, and call it good.
Pray for our leaders? Yeah sure, I would have prayed for Stalin to die a horrible death, if I was alive back then, even at my hands, but would that be our Lord’s will? I’m sure many felt that way for Obama, back then, and Trump now. How do we truly know God’s Will, or Hand, George. Does God speak to you? Careful now George, might be something/one very bad whispering in your ear.
All earthly kingdoms have come and gone, so will we. Even Constantinople fell, maybe even holy Russia, some day, when Putin dies of old age or worse. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”(Mark 1:15)
Dino, breathe deeply: God does not “talk” to me. Except possibly through my conscience.
I get what you’re saying about “chocolate” vs “vanilla” and the pendulum will swing back and all that. That’s true. People also have freewill (individual people that is). But please read and/or listen to what I said very carefully: there was some type of divine intervention here because the Deep State had already prepared us on the primrose path to one-worldism complete with a syncretistic religion (enter Pope Francis and EP Bartholomew stage left and right respectively). I’m convinced of this.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what picture is being seen when enough dots appear on the page.
And now that John Brennan, a Moslem convert and CIA director in a fit of pique has publicly threatened Pres Trump (he did it privately in the aftermath of the election) because the FBI’s internal affairs division went after a crooked cop (that would be Andy McCabe), it’s clear to see what’s what; that is which religion will fit the universalist bill the nicest.
Make no mistake, we were well on our way to some type of soft Sharia, for reasons which I’ll explain more fully another time (basically it’s a great way to control the minorities, feminazis and homosexuals; to lay down the law and not feel all whiteguilty about it). Trump’s election upended that scenario bigly. Now the Sharia puppeteers in Saudi Arabia have seen the light and are making nice with Christians everywhere. They’re reigning in all those store-front imams in the thousands of mosques all over Europe and the West.
Now am I happy that Christian Zionists like Nikki Haley and Mike Pence and Tom Pompeo dot the political landscape? Not really but overall they’re stand-up men and women who I can agree with on a broad range of issues. Pompeo for example views China as a greater strategic threat than Russia. That’s huge. I’ll admit that Tillerson had close Russian ties but Trump may have seen that the war-drums against Russia were getting louder by the day. Pompeo may be the answer to this.
Also, the Federal judiciary is getting filled with the right kind of judges. I can foresee a day in which Roe v Wade is overturned. Even the Obergefell monstrosity. One of many of Trump’s excellent Executive Orders was to ban transsexuals from serving in the military. There’s been a temporary injunction against it but that will wind its way up the judiciary until it’s finally taken up by the Supreme Court. And then there are hundreds of EOs he’s put in place which while theoretically can be undone by a successor, there will be very little stomach for doing so because they’ve pushed the economy into hyper-drive.
And mirabile dictu! it seems that the Dems may –just may–be starting to inch their way to the right. Conor Lamb, who won a squeaker in PA-18 ran as a conservative, pro-life, pro-gun candidate who promised to vote against Granny Pelosi. Think of it, let’s say that 30 conservatish Dems are elected in the House, do you honestly think that they’ll be in lockstep with the ultra-left? We could be seeing the revival of the Boll Weevils, that fraction of the Democratic Party which made Reagan’s agenda possible.
It’s 3D chess, Dino. Trump has already changed the landscape significantly. By the time he’s been in office for 8 years, the entire electoral map will be changed forever.
More importantly, if Trump is able to restrain the dogs of war which are baying for Russian blood, then we could be entering a new golden age. Notice I said could. It’s just as possible we’re in the last days.
Anyway, I choose to view Trump’s impossible election in the same way that the Rabbinic sages viewed the political careers of Cyrus and Alexander. Look at what the Church Fathers said about G Julius Caesar, a truly epochal figure who singlehandedly changed the course of history. His name is still with us in the form of Kaiser and Tsar.
It’s possible that I could be wrong (after all, I’m just a man) however I’m at a point in my life where I see (or think I see) God’s Hand in many different spheres. However one thing is for certain: I don’t believe in materialism or purely random forces operating any more. In the run-up to the Battle of El-Alemein for instance, several Greek auxiliaries serving in the British Army saw St George milling about talking to several of them bucking them for the next day’s battle against Rommel’s Afrika Korps. Likewise on the eve of the battles in Russia Ss Boris and Gleb were seen standing on a boat which was sailing down the river.
There is a parisoner in my brother’s parish who was a civilian contractor in the second Gulf war. Rebuilding town water systems but still subject to attack from Muslim militia. Before he went there he was given an icon if St. Menas to protect him. While he was there there were so many incidents of protection that as he rotated out, the fellows remaining refused to allow him to take the icon with.
It is the stories you recite and St. Menas intervention that make a dogmatic pacifisim untenable.
Also Dino: Our God is an Incarnate God nearer than hands and feet. He is not a distant individual God who leaves us to fend for ourselves. He actually does speak to His sheep.
George, what’s the end-game prize for this political moral calculus? If we’re willing to gloss over the false ecclesiology of “Christian Zionism” that provokes and supports continuous bloodshed in the Middle East, what’s the end goal in doing so? The eventual outlawing of abortion in America? The eventual outlawing of homosexuality in America?
The State of Israel has the very most liberal and accepting views in the Middle East towards both abortion and homosexuality, while their enemies such as Syria, Lebanon, and Iran have some of the very strictest laws in the world against both abortion and homosexuality.
What are we really fighting for then? For the unborn? For the family? If that’s the case, why are we defending with our own blood the most anti-life and anti-family country in the Middle East, the State of Israel?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Israel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Israel
Points taken. I’m not a Zionist. Nor am I in favor of “outlawing” homosexuality or even abortion. I do want to live in a world in which sexual licence and baby-killing are morally unacceptable however.
Dino, please forgive me for answering your well-reasoned critique with both guns blazing (otherwise known as diarrhea of the keyboard).
I have an occupational hazard in that because of my work schedule (as well as other things) I have only certain windows of opportunity to answer questions from people. And sometimes when I do, every answer that I can give leads to other answers which may be tangential to the poster’s thoughts. Basically, I let it all hang out and I shouldn’t have.
This happened here with my response above when I took the opportunity to lay out what I believe is the grand meta-narrative of Trump’s insurrection. Again, please forgive me.
George! We are Greek! No need for forgiveness, otherwise every conversion would begin and end with, “Please forgive me, George! NO! please forgive me Dino!” It would never end! Greeks always let it all hang out. Even when we don’t care for one another, or fight like cats and dogs, we get each other. Just an unexplainable Greek thing. Anyway forgive me for being a typical Greek, can’t help it, I was born that way. As most Greeks we anger and forgive quick. Family and pride, a different subject matter all together, where forgiveness is hard to find. Oh well. You really think the voices in your head are your conscience? Mine are quite loud, and always pissed off at me.
Yiassou, Palikari!
George, Actually meant conversation not conversion lol. I will not ask for forgiveness, unless of course our friendly spell check Bishop caught wind, then again he probably has for forsaken me long ago with all my errors.
Eisai levendi!
Oh, Dino, a lot of people believe God’s hand was on Trump. It started when he made the primaries. It was so unlikely. So unexpected. There was nothing pleasing about his demeanor or anything to recommend him. He really didn’t belong to any party; at least not a party who wanted him! But he found himself out in front. This what God does. He takes people from obscurity and pushes them forward. Moses was an example. So was Gideon. And look at the Apostles! Peter was an embarrassment and none of them (except the women) stood by Christ. God used them anyway. Is it so unbelievable that He might be using Trump to give us a second chance?
By the time the general election rolled around, Trump was the wild card but we had no choice. We voted for him on the off chance he might do some of the things he said he was going to do. He has exceeded all expectations with regard to his campaign promises. He will go down in history as the president who did exactly what he said he would do. That, alone, is awe inspiring.
God DOES interfere in the affairs of nations. The Old Testament is full of such stories. Every city the Israelites conquered was due to God. In Exodus, it talks about Moses and how as long as he held up his hands, the Israelites would win, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites would win. What did the Prophets say? Wasn’t it always about how God was going to use the enemy to chastise His people or give His people victory? There is just no end to the examples. If God did NOT protect nations, why would we pray for our leaders and our country in Church and why would He tell Abraham the following:
Genesis 18:23-33
23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare[c] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”
“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”
29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”
He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”
30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”
He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”
32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”
33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
Gail Sheppard, do you think maybe the Mueller probe will ultimately conclude that God was interfering in the 2016 election?
George W. Bush probably felt that it was God’s interference that allowed his re-election in 2004.
Do you believe God interfered in the recent re-election of Vladimir Putin?
I don’t mean to rain on Gail’s parade here but I have a moment to tackle this question and speak only for myself: the Mueller probe is a classic confidence game, set up to smoke out Deep State actors. So far only Democrats are falling.
I’d have to say it’s succeeding if my suspicions are correct.
Isn’t anybody curious that the day before Mueller was appointed special counsel he visited the white house and had an interview with trump?
I don’t think God was messing with the elections. He may have allowed Trump to rise, though. It was pretty unbelievable. My point was that God has and does intervene. Do you disagree? (What any one individual thinks, e.g. George W. Bush, is irrelevant. One generally judges these things by the fruits.)
George, Michael B, and Gail,
While we most likely aligned in the political sense, and all voted for Trump. It is quite a leap, that Trump is God’s chosen to make things right for America. On a personal, and spiritual level Trump is an embarrassment for most somber minded people. Like salt, sugar, and air fresheners, are needed to those things foul to the senses. We right minded Orthodox Christians, need a crutch, to help us in our support for such a man, as The President. Thus, The Hand of God belief, is a great crutch for those who can’t stomach such a crude man as Trump.
George,
Most of everything in your response is true, and playing out as you say, but IMHO not because of God. As I said, we can’t have it one way and not the other. One example: The best government/kingdom aligned with religion/God we have had in the past 100 odd years was Russia. Was God not pleased with such an arrangement? If so, why would God “allow” the fall of The Tsar, and The Russian Empire, to the most Anti-Christ, evil, and murderous governments the world has ever seen, only to sprout Communist China, equally hateful of God, and as evil to their people. But Trump’s little swing to the right, only later in a few years to be swung to the left, is God’s Hand?
AND
Gail,
Many people believe many different things, in regard to God’s will. I believe, God no longer micro manages tribes, nations, kingdoms, kings, and prophets as He did in the old testament, and with his old covenant. God tried really hard with humans, starting with the disappointment of Adam and Eve, to deeper divisions, with God, when Cain murdered his brother, Cain’s line to false worshipping community in Babel. At the same time, a line of true worshippers ran thru Seth to Abram- Abraham- whom God promised to make a great nation and through whom He promised to bless all nations of earth.
From there one disappointment after another, even his Israelites, which God declared to be his treasured possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The Lord promised to dwell among them as their God(Ex. 29:45) Moses on Mount Sinai receiving God’s Laws, while the people below creating false God’s. It was clear from the outset that the “holy nation” had no power to live up to its calling. The prophets would unfold the rest of Israel’s history, in spite of God’s faithfulness to them, they were corrupt and rebellious children.
AND FINALLY
Michael Bauman,
You are correct, our God is an incarnate God. He gave a new “holy nation”, the servant “Israel” took flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfilled God’s original design for human holiness, personally embodying the new Israel. Since Jesus Christ is new Israel, all those united to him by faith are incorporated into the Israel of God. There is no longer any need for earthly holy nations. In Christ we are a “chosen race” a royal priesthood, and a holy nation.
So yes God and his saints hears us, helps us, individually. Our prayers help us,glorify Him, worship Him, please Him, and to remain His, and His alone, in the most Holy of Holy Kingdoms. He does not need Trump, to Make America Great Again. God has already been down that road before.
Dino,
Trump has at least held back the government from pursuing policies that are specifically anti-Christian that Hillary would have pursued. That is why I voted for him. An apophatic reason.
He has moved to carry out far more of his agenda than I ever thought he would. That is a mixed blessing. Had he been an establishment person, all of his immorality would have faded away or never reported on as with Uncle Billy, LBJ, Kennedy and others.
Ultimately though a nation’s government sinks to the level it’s citizens. Russia lost the Czars because the people were lukewarm. We have never had a Christian government because we, as a nation, are not Christian. Heresy is the best we can manage. Now amoral seems the highest level as opposed to actively immoral as with Hillary.
A few other Presidents who were less than faithful many of whom misused their power and position to get the women: Washington, Jefferson, Tyler, Grover Cleveland (love child and all), James Garfield, Harding, FDR, Eisenhower (before his Presidency), Kennedy, LBJ, Clinton, Trump Do not forget Gary Hart whose rambling ways were reported on because he was a challenge to the Democrat Party Status Quo.
Thirteen out of 45. That is almost 30% of our Presidents good and bad that we know about. One has to at least suspect the Bushes too. So, the moral turpitude argument does not hold water with me at all. Plus, Hillary is a serial attacker of sexual assault victims and alleged rape victims. She might be the worst abuser of all.
The only Presidents I can absolutely rule out are the Adams and Andrew Jackson and Jimmy Carter who would likely been a castrato if he had cheated. Would not have wanted to go up against Rosalynn, no sir.
Let us not forget Woodrow Wilson (Misha’s favorite?). It has been reported that he had a leader of the woman’s suffrage movement arrested and beaten in the basement of the White House. Wilson was a moral monster.
Michael B,
Again you are correct, and at the same time help make my point in regards to God’s favorable hand or wrath upon a nation. As you say it’s the people, in Russia’s case, lukewarm, and ripe for change, not that The Tsar was completely innocent to his empire’s downfall. The promise of a loaf of bread in every kitchen won over the Russians, and what a price they paid for that bread! God had nothing to do with it. Just as our sins, come back to afflict us individually, they do the same as a collective force as well, that directs, and transforms nations, by the leaders they either vote in, or allow to flourish, peacefully or not, no difference. God just waits, for what I don’t know, it seems we are already there. But, at some point we will find out, and there will be no question, when His hand is at play.
I voted for Trump, and support Trump as President, he will bring much needed balance politically to our nation, but that is it. He won as a result, of the backlash that was way past due by the lies, failures, and promises never kept by previous Presidents, Republican and Democrat. Personally and spiritually Trump might want to get his life in order. He is in the beginning of the last act of his life, he might want to reflect, and repent before it too late. If he hasn’t already.
Decades ago I was privileged to see the traveling exhibit Treasures of the Czars. For some unknown reason it came to Topeka, KS. It was beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. There were real Faberge Eggs and many other artifacts of the Romanov Dynasty.
What I also saw was the conscious attempt during the reign of Nicholas II to reclaim the Orthodox Tradition of the past. St. John of Kronstadt was part of that IMO. It was however, too sentimental. Perhaps if Nicholas had called for national repentance and led it with public asceticism, it would have worked.
Here in the New World, however, there is no place for repentance. Even on a personal level as an Orthodox Christian, real repentance is hard to come to. On a public, national level insincere “apologies” are the name of the game.
Blaming the current state of affairs on politics is part of the same game. What we need is a complete metanoia deeper even than that which saved Nineveh and that Jonah was so unhappy about. That kind of repentance takes a monarch to happen though.
How many people would be like Jonah if there really was a national repentance? If our favorite demon politician or party actually did turn back, would that make us happy and lead us to rejoice?
Here is the truth: the evil that exists in the body politic is my evil. My greed, my apostasy, my murder, my hedonism, my lust of power. I pray, especially during Lent, that God will lead me more deeply into genuine repentance for my many gross and deep sins and I ask the forgiveness of all here as well.
RE: “I believe, God no longer micro manages tribes, nations, kingdoms, kings, and prophets as He did in the old testament, and with his old covenant.”
Dino, Scripture tells us God does not change so presumably He does what He has always done. (Too many references to list.)
Gail, it’s been quite a while since God has literally spoken out loud bullhorn style to Moses, Abraham, etc. Flooded the planet, split the Red Sea, or burnt cities to the ground by his own will and hand. But if you wanna believe Trump was put forth by the hand of God, please elaborate, was it really that much of a miracle? Not a miracle at all in my book, especially running against such a tired, old lady, with a lot of bad baggage, and no real message at all.
Dino, how do you know that it has been along time?
Michael B,
You tell me, have you, or anyone you know heard the Voice of God coming from the sky/Heaven, or unexplainable natural phenomenons, such as the splitting of the Red Sea, men living in the belly of a whale, or sleeping with wild and hungry lions, that would prove God’s existence to the unfaithful. I’m all ears my sincere brother.
I’m almost too ashamed to ask this during Lent, but here goes:
Why is the world not amazed by the miracle that occurs every Pascha? Is the Holy Fire “the greatest miracle never known” outside of Orthodoxy? Are we as Orthodox Christians, too afraid/ashamed to ask questions, and seek video witness of the Holy Fire igniting, in that we may not appear truly “faithful”?
Is it wrong to have video taken of the igniting of the Holy Fire, for the whole world to witness the miracle, and have millions convert to Orthodoxy? Or, Lord forbid, it is a fraud, and if so, we should abolish the tradition, so that we do not appear superstitious fools, and make a mockery of our Lord’s Resurrection?
Please forgive me Michael if you do not want to answer this question, but if any others do, I would appreciate your thoughts.
Lord have mercy on me
Dino,
Whether it is wrong or not, I cannot say. What I can say is that it would make no difference. The Israelites (and, I might add, the Egyptians) saw his wonders, as the Jews of Christ’s time saw his miracles. Faith is a disposition of the heart, and no sign or wonder will make any difference to one who will not believe.
Brian,
I must disagree with you. While the parable you posted is one I love and understand very well(my favorite is the Prodigal Son). The high and mighty might continue to reject Jesus Christ, and His True Church, but the lowly, and humble would no doubt run to Orthodoxy if our Church proved beyond any scientific doubt that the Holy Fire is a miracle.
A miracle that happens only once a year, on Pascha day, by and on the ever changing date that The Orthodox Christian Church proclaims Pascha falls on. Unlike the date, that the rest of “Christianity” celebrates Easter. It could settle a lot of issues, and/or free us from making a mockery of The Resurrection, if the Holy Fire is a tourist trap hoax.
God forbid, and have mercy on me.
Miracles themselves don’t always bring about faith. This was the case with Pharaoh in Egypt. His heart was continually hardened by the miraculous signs presented to him by Moses. Yes, the Holy Fire is an amazing miracle, but the greatest miracle we have is the actual presence of Christ in the Divine Liturgy. Christ is present everywhere the Divine Liturgy is celebrated.
An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. Mathew 12:39-41
Joseph Lipper,
What is amazing about the Holy Fire is that it is a miracle no one in or out of Orthodoxy want to talk about. Over one billion Catholics don’t scratch their heads, and ponder at least maybe they should celebrate Pascha on the same date as we Orthodox? Such a miracle, does not even impress the Pope to even celebrate Pascha on the same day as we do? I can understand Protestants, as most believe both religions cults, some even believe we are Satanic in our traditions.
We always hear rumors with EP and Pope and unia, but the Pope ignores such a miracle?
Many Orthodox confuse having faith in the Holy Fire with having faith in Christ, and so like myself, in the past, never want to bring it up, or question the miracle. Maybe bad timing, but somehow it came to me now, and here.
And YES the presence of Christ, during/in Divine Liturgy, is the greatest miracle we have.
BTW, I have enjoyed your posts lately. Well on point, and a couple times quite humorous, especially that Mueller concluded that God influenced the 2016 elections. That cracked me up.
Hi Dino,
Thanks for your kind response. I agree that the Holy Fire is an amazing miracle. It is also a sign of the prophet Jonas, it’s a sign of Christ’s resurrection, but it’s just not the miracle that most people are looking for.
In my experience, the miracle that most are looking for is to win the lottery. Today, so many people would rather have a demonic sign from the heavens in the form of ET aliens visiting Earth than believe in Christ. I believe this was what Christ was referring to when He said: “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign”.
I’ve told many people about the Holy Fire, and the typical response, even from Christians is: “Hmm how about that, well isn’t that strange.”
Joseph,
Truth is, the whole, Holy Fire miracle really confuses me. I really want to believe it’s truly a miracle, because I know God’s miracles are limitless. But, I have little faith in men, even many in Orthodoxy. If anything this blog proves that we can’t, clergy or laity.
Anyway, I just don’t want our religion looked upon as some silly religion that puts on a show with fire, that attracts thousands to the Holy Land to witness the miracle. Some say a fire that does not burn.
If this miracle never existed, or was proved a hoax, or even proved true, it would not change a thing for me, in regards to my faith in Christ.
I have witnessed many of my own personal miracles, yet still a undisciplined Christian, horrible sinner, and don’t love Christ as much as I should, and I don’t know why. It must be hard for me to love something I cannot see. So I totally get your point.
If this miracle is truly recurrent and can be sufficiently observed by skeptical unbelievers, then it would scientifically prove the existence of God and the truth of the Resurrection.
Right?
Tim,
I suspect most Orthodox Christians can’t handle this truth. On one hand they don’t want to seem unfaithful, or worse for some, not truly Orthodox, by questioning Holy Fire miracle. On the other hand they do not want to know the truth, that is, whether their church has lied to them for hundreds of years. No shame, worse than family shame!
Here’s the intriguing question:
Is it that unbelievers, or is it believers, that are more afraid of scientific proof that the Holy Fire is absolutely a true miracle, and as a result proof of the existence of God and the truth of the Resurrection.
And of course the truth, that The Holy Orthodox Church Is The True Church!
Big game changer for the entire world, if that was resolved.
Problem is most religious leaders, are comfortable the way things are, for themselves, their status, and their truth. Ours as well. So what do we get? Heads in the sand.
A blessed Lent to all, and Lord have mercy on me a sinner!
Dino, I have actually witnessed miracles which makes it easier for me to believe. This doesn’t put me ahead of those who haven’t, though. Quite the contrary. Christians who have *faith* in the absence of evidence are closer to God. May you be among them.
Dino,
I know we agreed not to respond to one another’s posts, however, you bring up an interesting point about the Holy Fire. I’ve read quite a bit about the Holy Fire, and I have to admit; I’m very much a skeptic about it. I can’t honestly say whether it is true or not.
Dino, with some trepidation, I’m going to post another article, this time on the Holy Fire: “I was near him during the experiment and had the chance to see it for myself. . . the results were surprising. The temperature immediately after we received the fire from the Patriarch of Jerusalem and All Palestine (around 2:34 pm Jerusalem time on Saturday, April 30) was 42°C, but 15 minutes later, at 2:49 pm, it was 320°C.”
I accept what the Church tells me. If it’s true, it’s true. If it isn’t, it isn’t. What does it matter what I believe?
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2016/05/02/meet-the-russian-priest-investigating-the-miraculous-holy-fire-of-jerusalem/
Hi Gail,
I think it would be extremely easy to prove whether the Holy Fire is a true miracle of God or not. They should bring audio and video into the tomb when the Patriarch enters. We could listen to his prayers and watch the miracle,.
There are millions of Catholics who believe the Shroud of Turin is the actual burial cloth of our Lord Jesus Christ. It has been subjected to all kinds of tests and documentaries, and, of course, a plethora of books have been written about the Shroud.
I’m agnostic about the Holy Fire, but am reasonably convinced about the authenticity of the Shroud.
“I accept what the Church tells me. If it’s true, it’s true. If it isn’t, it isn’t. What does it matter what I believe?”-Gail Sheppard
What does it matter if leaders of our Church tell you a lie, is a truth?
Why would the Church need to lie, or trick us?
I agree it does not matter what I believe, in regards to God’s Truth. But, as we have seen on this site, and Gail, you bring up a lot of it, men like our EP, Archbishops, and Bishops are not always on the right path, or as some say the up and up.
Have body snatchers taken our Gail? Or has the Holy Fire been “Grandfathered” a tradition/miracle we do not question or speak of?
Perhaps you mis-spoke, or I misunderstood your comment, but that type of talk is what I would expect to hear from a member of a cult religion, or that of a propagandist of a fascist/Communist government.
Someone needs to check Gail’s home for pods in the attic!
Dino, not on the scale you describe but it happens.
My Bishop has publically told the story of angels singing a hymn while we was consuming the gifts.
My Guardian Angel yelled at me to save me from a car wreck.
The Incarnation makes such things quieter and more numerous and more personal I think.
Have you never heard His voice?
Gail & Michael B,
I believe in miracles, just not nation building, destroying, having long, loud conversations, and even wrestling with God, anymore since our Lord’s Incarnation.
I have never heard God’s voice, Michael.
I have had one medical miracle happen to me, by our Lord, and the many prayers by nuns, monks, elders, loved ones, priests, and two Saints; Saint Anthimos of Chios, and Saint John Maximovich, of which I was anointed by his Holy Oil, right before the miracle. Most sad is my Spiritual who prayed for me, and anointed me with Saint John’s Holy Oil, before this miracle, would not be spared of cancer, and passed away in his late fifties. May his memory be eternal. Some things make no sense to me.
While I have never heard the voice of God. I have had unexplainable moments of walking in and out of situations. The most beautiful was with my grandmother. Hospitalized and dying of cancer, Ispent many hours in her room. Her last days she mostly just slept as she was on high doses of morphine type drugs. Later I would find out, she needed my hand to hold hers when she passed away. While siting next to her unconscious body for a couple hours, a force/voice came over me to get up, off my chair and hold her hand. The very second I took hold of her hand, she opened hers eyes and took her last breath. The energy I felt that day to move me, is still fresh in my mind, even though it happened 31 years ago. May her memory be eternal.
Two other moments were at the death of my father, and uncle.
While holding my father, at the moment of his passing I experienced what I can only describe as what the Love of God must feel like, when one leaves this earth, and goes on to heaven. I was transformed for about five seconds, by what I believe was God’s Love in every pore of my body, that I could never express with words.
Right when my uncle passed away, I whispered in his ear to ask Jesus to bring my wife and I a child. As we had no luck, getting her pregnant for four years before his death. A couple months later my wife was pregnant. But, the most incredible part of the story is my daughter was born exactly one year after his death. On the exact date of his death. Three weeks before her due date. May their memory be eternal.
Dino, that is wonderful!
I love hearing stories like this, Dino. Thank you for sharing.
Dino, you have heard the voice of God.
Some try to put the toothpaste back in the tube, some forgive and forget. Some forgive and turn away, never to return. Some ask for forgiveness only to hurt again, some embittered, no matter how much they been blessed with, no matter what has been taken away. It will all be returned back us someday with no strings attached and unimaginable Love.
Dino,
Interestingly, I was listening to Relevant Radio, a Roman Catholic radio broadcasting network. The subject of the Holy Fire came up during Father Richard Simon’s program; and he, at least, affirmed the miracle, even saying that it only occurs on Orthodox “Easter.”
Brian,
So why doesn’t Father Richard become Orthodox, or at the very least begin an effort to have Western and Eastern Pascha dates match? Would the Holy Fire light if we changed calendars , and would the Holy Fire light only for us Orthodox Christians?
This is the only visual and psychical modern miracle, that happens every year, once a year, on Eastern Pascha. Yet the secular media world never marvels, nor attempts to disprove it. Maybe that’s a miracle as well.
Our Orthodox leaders have disappointed in the past. Not that it would shake our faith at all, but there is a possibility the Holy Fire is a hoax, one that our church does not want to address, out of shame. How refreshing would it be if our leaders, HONESTLY answered questions, and TRULY asked us for forgiveness? And I’m not only speaking of the Holy Fire.
Both of you are right in your own ways, as long as it is borne in mind that His hand is in the setting up of those whom we would consider to evil as well as good.
Literally fell asleep, writing my last post Gail, but wanted to add another point. Nearly everything has changed in regards to God, man, kingdoms, and earth, since the cross, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. While I agree God does not change, but the manner of his relationship with us has. As I stated in previous post to you, holy nation building, and destroying, ended with Jesus Christ. We are the new Israel. God has not changed, but we have. He is in us, and we are also his voice.
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to end of the earth.”(Acts 1:8)
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,”(Matthew 28:19)
I believe God is more interested in our President’s soul, than MAGA. God has seen many “great nations” come and go. Plugging holes in sinking ships is okay, but even God gave up on any notion of a great earthly kingdom, before the birth of Jesus Christ.
Trump is applying band aids to a nation, that needs brain surgery. We no longer pay our debts, and until we reverse this course, we have no future, no matter what Trump tells you. NO ONE in Washington DC want to talk about the gorilla in the room. All of Trumps promises fulfilled won’t mean a thing, if a loaf of bread cost $100 bucks, even if average salaries are $25 bucks an hour, twenty years after Trump is gone. Paper money will be just that, paper, of no value. Fool’s gold Gail, fool’s gold.
Again, I would have to disagree, Dino. (You know I love you, right?) Nations haven’t changed all that much. We’re every bit as “stiff-necked” as the people God loved in the Old Testament.
Many of the Prophets in the OT prophesied of *future* battles. I, for one, HOPE God is still willing to intervene and ensure the outcome:
1. Psalm 83, the war of extermination.
2. Ezekiel 38 and 39, the first war of Gog & Magog.
3. Revelation 6, the conventional war of the tribulation.
4. Revelation 8, 9, the nuclear war of the tribulation.
5. Revelation 12, the war of the heavens.
6. Revelation 12, the war against the Jews and the Saints.
7. Daniel 11, the Middle East campaign of the Antichrist.
8. Joel 3, Zechariah 14, and Revelation 19, the Battle of Armageddon.
9. Revelation 20, the second battle of Gog & Magog.
When you see St. Constantine up there in the clouds, ask him if God ever did anything for him and whether or not it positively impacted our ability to baptise nations in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Ask the Russians if it wasn’t God who made it possible for them to rebuild the Church after the Bolshevik/Communist Revolution.
Ask Kennedy who saved the world during the Cuban Missile Crisis. (Although an atheist at the time, even Khrushchev might get this right.) We came precariously close to end. Because I shared my backyard with 18 Titan II silos, I would not be writing to you today if God had not intervened.
I don’t know where I’d get the motivation to get up in the morning, if I believed God collectively wrote us off 2000 years ago. Unless we are in the last days (in which case, your argument might stand) God has not allowed the evil one free rein so we can still petition Him to move the right leaders forward at the right time to fulfil His purpose. Did I think Trump would be one of them? After that horrible recession, where I had to go back to work following a 15 year hiatus to raise my family, he was the only candidate who focused on the one thing I needed changed, i.e. the economy. Instead of the 5 to 10 people who looked at my LinkedIn profile under Obama’s Administration, I am now getting an average of 70 views a week. Trump was definitely an answer to MY prayers and I doubt I am alone in saying this.
Gail the Agape is mutual. Perhaps my poor writing skills confuse you. I do not believe God has written us off, as you say. I simply believe he works thru us, more than side by side, externally, as we have know in the stories of Old Testament. Since Jesus Christ’s and our baptism, The Holy Spirit works thru us. The Holy Spirit is God.
I am also glad you brought up Saint Constantine. As I said in previous posts, on this subject, God has not changed, but humanity has. Technology today, and the educated state of man, is quite different than in Saint Constantine’s time on earth.
I can see how God might want to use Saint Constantine and one of the largest Empires at the time to spread to Good News of Jesus Christ, and His Resurrection. Actually work out pretty well, until the dreaded birth of Islam. Imagine how far more reaching Christianity would have spread, if not for the false prophet Muhammad.
We no longer needed empires, to spread the Good News, as world travel had gotten easier and easier, with every decade since Saint Constantine. Today in the satellite, digital, and internet connected world we have evolved to the point where the whole world can hear the message of Jesus Christ, this might signal, the beginning of the end times in this century, who knows. But, we individually have become the Mouth of God, thru the Holy Spirit working within us.
Sorry I meant to say centuries, not decades. Btw Gail, I am glad to hear you are doing well on the work force. I hope it last, but until we pay down our national debt, our children’s future does not look good. Trump needs to address this issue, and correct course.
Gail, what has Trump done that he said he would do during the campaign? Clear the swamp? Etc etc. I’m rather disappointed. Putin is a better leader by far, in my book.
Jim, he has done many things he promised most of which I thought mere campaign hyperbole. Probably the most enduring change is in the people he has appointed to the Federal bench. We will see by their fruits but it looks good on paper
Jim, as of January (1 year in office), he kept 9 of the 101 promises, compromised on 6 and broke 7 (includes not releasing his tax returns, not suing his accusers, etc.). 32 have been stalled and 47 are in the works. With the exclusion of the 7 he broke, he seems to be moving in the direction he said he would. http://www.politifact.com/trumpometer-year-one/all-promises/
Why is it that defenders of Trump always cast their support in terms of denouncing Hillary? And the opposite, of course, must be true, that if one detests Trump that person must be a Hillary supporter.The real problem is that those two were the choices. Neither should be President of the United States!!
Deep State? Talk about fake news! Brennan’s a Moslem?
The hand of God? Well, my God what have you been drinking? Orthodox believers need to stop thinking/believing about the joining hands of politics and religion.
even today’s Russia is not “Holy Russia”. That ended in 1917. Basically, all this politics and religion stuff draws one away from one of the basic tenets of Orthodox belief. It doesn’t matter what happens in the world. What happens in the world has nothing to do with an Orthodox Christian’s salvation as long as one strives to be a member of the Mystical Body of Christ. And you better hope your spiritual father doesn’t mix politics and religion.
Because as bad and immoral as Trump is, Hillary is plumb evil. I kid you not. Trump is a notorious womanizer; Hillary literally has blood on her hands. With a womanizer all we have to do is lock up our womenfolk, there’s no protection against a Lady MacBeth. Give someone like her the reins of power and you’re screwed. It’s that simple.
hillary has less blood on her hands than trump does at this point, she was only a senator and secretary of state
both are way way behind dubya
if evil is a function of blood soaked then we have current evil rankings of
dubya
obummer
trumpenstein*
bubba
shrillary
* still adding to the blood final ranking to be determined
Ever hear of Libya? The Syrian civil war? The rape crisis in Europe?
hillary was not responsible for the libyan civil war or for the libyan intervention, or for the syrian civil war nor is she responsible for a made up moral panic about rape in europe.
Alitheia1875,
You are right in a sense, the ideological battles of modern politics are a waste water lagoon and to be heavily involved in an ideological manner is dangerous to one’s spiritual health. Yet, you are not right in that the order of the world does matter. The order of the world reflects my own soul. It can help or hinder my own salvation.
“God is with us. Submit yourselves all ye nations for God is with us.”
The Incarnation means that no human endeavor, thought or act is without potential meaning for one’s own salvation. The real problem is that pseudo-participatory government from an heretical understanding makes political action really difficult.
However, there is no such thing as separation of Church and State in the modern sense of two different spheres with the Church an inferior actor subject to the State.
Hillary wants to subject all religious expression to the State and keep it in someone’s basement. A reverse of the Rabbi’s blessing for the Czar in Fiddler on the Roof. That is the kind of impulse that eventually makes martyrs. She has said openly that we Christians especially need to shut up and go away AND, she had the political will to make that happen. You are creating a moral equivalence where there is none.
Trump is just another pseudo-alpha male who has a lust for power an uncontrolled libido and an insatiable desire to win. In other words a man not unlike quite a number of former Presidents and would be Presidents who hid it better.
Those who are chosen to run, however they are chosen, reflect the spiritual reality of those whom they rule. So, if I want better leaders, I must repent and strive for holiness. Their sins are also my sins. The unholy trio of will to power, gluttony and avarice that animates politics are also in my heart for sure. The healing balm for them is prayer, fasting and almsgiving. That is what allows God’s order to manifest.
“Help me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother.”
Alitheia1875,
Why do you think conspiracy theories are so popular? I can posit a few reasons:
1. There actually are conspiracies or it is not unreasonable to believe they might exist.
2. The powers that be prorogate a state of fear and the existence of enemies to maintain their power. Thus we are prepared indeed encouraged to accept conspiracies by our culture.
3. Confusion and irrationality are so rife that we look for some sort of pattern to make sense of things.
4 Most conspiracy theories are rational if one accepts the premise on which they are based.
5. We are all simply crazy.
6. They tend to be self-fulfilling prophecies: Denying they exist is part of the conspiracy you know. So you, too, are part of whatever conspiracy is posited simply by denying it.
7. It is impossible to prove they do not exist.
All of the above.
So, save your energy and repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. (That too is a conspiracy of sorts as our friend BJS recently pointed out.)
God, of course, will judge and by His criteria alone, which is why most all Democrats and many Republicans are screwed from the get-go: God’s morality can be found in the Old and New Testaments and the consensus of the Fathers and it is quite medieval by our modern standards – monarchial, patriarchial, “homophobic”, militant and unrelentant.
So, for example, He curses us with demographic winter and social chaos for our feminism. His ways are not our ways. One has to look at the big picture.
Trump appears to be a flash in the pan at this point. He simply isn’t strong enough against what he is going up against to make much headway. It could turn around if there is a right wing rout in the 2018 midterms, but don’t bet on it.
Probably, my guess, is that we will soon enough be at status quo ante looking at the eschaton from a post-Christian dystopic hell hole that blew its last chance. I would expect much greater traction for the whole MAGA thing already if it were actually going to have legs.
Misha, God’s judgment is not simply a moral judgment. By that criteria we are all lost.
Of course one can always elect the Law as one’s judge I suppose. The essence of Shylock’s condemnation is that he wanted the Body without the Blood.
Shakespeare is Shakespeare and God is God. God is interested in results as one can gather from His colloquy with Abraham in Genesis 18. For ten good men He would have spared Sodom. Alas, ’twas not to be.
Misha, I have learned from Shakespeare about God, but I have learned much more about Shakespeare from God.
They are not mutually exclusive. You do agree that mercy is an attribute of God right?
The way I read Matthew, it is those without mercy who are sent away into outer darkness.
I don’t know about you but I need mercy.
I think the way it works (and this is certainly attested to by Saints and serious ascetics etc.) is that everything is God’s will. This doesn’t mean, of course, that He perpetrates the acts of evil, but that He does allow them. Thus, if something good happens, it was Him or one of His Angels guiding it, and if something bad happens then the devil or his demons were allowed to influence it, for whatever reason God, in His infinite wisdom, saw fit.
All of this amounts to saying that Trump was at least meant to be elected. Whether this is for good or bad, I’ll start to address below:
As at least one person correctly pointed out above, the constant swing between the left and right political parties gives rise to more extreme versions in the future. This is bound to happen when pride (and we know politicians are proud) is a strong feature: neither willing or able to back down, and both therefore increasingly determined to prevail. In that sense, it seems inevitable that Trump’s injection of uber-rightism would follow the uber-leftism that’s been building up steam since at least the 60s and 70s, and so whatever momentum Trump and his rightists are now able to create (which could be considerable) will eventually give way to an injection of even more fervent leftism sometime in the future….if not already.
Some conclusions seem to stem from this (in connection with the assumption that the Gospel is true and that the world must end): 1. God is using Trump to help fan the flames of leftism, which, when it becomes so much stronger than it already is, will give rise, good and proper, to the ‘fluffy spirituality’ of antichrist. 2. God is using Trump to fan the flames of leftism, so that the flames of rightism will in turn be fanned, and give rise to the ‘butch spirituality’ of antichrist. In the former, many people, including Orthodox Christians who sympathise too much with leftist ideals, will be taken up and deceived. In the latter, many people, including Orthodox Christians who sympathise too much with rightist ideals, will be taken up and deceived.
The reason for this is that neither the left nor the right, as they’re commonly known, really have anything to do with Orthodox Christianity. As such, they can be no good for anything but mischief. Compassion etc., typically associated with leftism, is only useful in the name of Christ, and alongside the more rigorous aspects of His nature. Rigour etc., typically associated with the right, is only useful in the name of Christ, and alongside the more compassionate aspects of His nature. If just one of these ingredients ([the Orthodox]Christ, compassion and rigour) is missing, an ‘abortion’ ensues, and as far as I can see, there’s an ‘abortion’ straight up ahead.
Yes, Trump has OK sounding ideas, and so do those running up against him; and yet in all of this, where is the need for both compassion and rigour, in the context of Orthodox Christianity, ever mentioned? Never. We either have a non-orthodox, if not outright godless, rigour, coming up against a non-orthodox, if not outright godless, compassion; and how can ends ever truly meet like that?
If this wasn’t bad enough, the Orthodox Church seems to be following in its wake. Just as the divide between left v right becomes as pronounced as ever, not just in America but basically everywhere, we see some Orthodox looking to ecumenism and popularist meddling with tradition, while still others are swinging too hard against Western/leftist stupidity, with the ‘weapons’ that Orthodoxy has ‘provided’ them. A truly dangerous possibility of collaboration therefore exists within all this between the ‘ordinary’ right and the Orthodox right, and the ‘ordinary’ left and the Orthodox left. Whatever the case (if not both of them at the same time) antichrist will find a lot grist for the mill.
Excellent insights, Stefan. Also, those things which are “evil” and God “allows” may not really be evil in the grand scheme of things. When evil befalls a person (or a nation) it may be God’s chastisement upon that entity.
We here in America like to think that we are “good people” and one of our posters here justified Clinton’s bombing of Serbia (on Orthodox Easter no less!) because of the supposed atrocities perpetrated against Moslems in Bosnia by the Orthodox Serbs. Let’s take him at his word, that God chastised the Serbs through Clinton’s actions.
Well then, what will happen to us because of all the tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians we bombed because Bill Kristol and the rest of the neocons told us that this was necessary because of The Federalist Papers? Or the open-air slave markets that are operating right now in Libya because we committed an atrocity against Khaddafi? Or the thousands of babies who are aborted every day because of “muh civil rights”?
Does anybody think we are going to escape the Lord’s wrath?
George, no I do not expect to escape the Lord’s wrath–indeed have not–escaped God’s wrath but so far it is in the context of His mercy. Our country has systematically excluded mercy from the body politic. One can only have mercy if there is strictness. One can only forgive, if one is deeply strict with the same sins in ones own heart. Without strictness, mercy become license. Thus, perhaps Trump’s ‘strictness’ on some things is precisely that which allows mercy in the solution. Is that not the way he negotiates?
God seems to follow the law of antinomy: It is never either/or. It is both/and.
Fully God and Fully Man. The Body and the Blood. We are both the sheep and the goats, not to mention 1 Cor 3:13.
Human beings it seems prefer binary solutions. Thus once again:
First of all, Putin is a thug. He and his brother Donald Trump are both dirt bags.I voted for Donald Trump, but I can’t stand the guy. He’s in bed with rat infested Bibi Netanyahu.Trump gets no pass from me for all his lies and deviant, perverted sexual assaults on women.
Instead of being a president we can all be proud of, he’s an embarrassment. The guy is soft as a grape. He wants to arm school teachers, and have a military parade. Lord, have mercy. The only reason he is president is because of the vagaries of the anachronistic electoral college.
Apparently, then, is was at the hand of God that I wrote in the name of John Kasich on my ballot.
Why not Hillary? (And Kasich is a cuck.)
Seriously, why not Hillary?
Thanks to God I do not know what your term means, nor am I interested in the buzzwords of your sophistry. Kasich, is, without argument, a moral man, a God-fearing man, a man who honors his wife and loves his children. He has accomplished everything he promised in Ohio, and all of these things are more than sufficient for me.
A cuckservative is somebody who cares more about Israel’s borders and sovereignty than he cares about America’s.
Among other things.
any time a real conservative with impeccable credentials and integrity makes a criticism of trump all old george can do is call them a cuck and say they look like a soyboy
by the end of trump’s first term the number of conservatives george has ad hominemed will be in the triple digits
Not true. Criticize the man all you want. However Kasich (and Jeb!) took an oath that they would support whoever was the nominee. Say what you will about Little Marco or Lyin’ Ted, they kept to their word, even if they had to hold their noses to do.
Kasich and other cucks live in a fantasy world wherein political antagonists play by the rules. As we saw with the Democratic nominating process, only one guy –Bernie Sanders–was playing by the rules.
none of the finalists including trump committed to the pledge, this was all only like two years ago not ancient history
George, the rules are the same “…and the devil take the hindmost.”
Dino, I think my post might have gotten jumbled somehow. My words were appearing out of order and somehow my name appeared in the middle of it. Unfortunately, I am unable to respond to you directly because there is no reply bottom.
In any case, when I said I accept what the Church tells me. If it’s true, it’s true. If it isn’t, it isn’t. What does it matter what I believe?” I meant that whether or not *I* believe something does not make it true.
I cannot know what the Church teaches is true. I have to accept it on faith. Just like a child accepts on faith that what a parent says is true.
Matthew 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.