Many Years to Xenia!

(DISCLAIMER: This is long; it started as a mere account of this chrismation and rapidly turned into an explanation of the actual sacrament for those unfamiliar with what it is that we crazy Orthodox folk actually do here. Forgive me if things are out of order...we've boxed up some of my files and I can't find the rite of chrismation booklet I kept from my chrismation, so if anyone can remember better than I can how the service goes, let me know).
Last Saturday we gained a new sister in Christ, the newly illumined Julie Xenia, who was chrismated at St. Antony's Orthodox Church in Tulsa, OK. It's always wonderful to witness new brethren and, um, sistren coming into the true faith, as it reminds all Orthodox Christians exactly what we "signed up for," whether we converted later in life or grew up in the faith.

The first pic is one of Audra and Jules at the back of the church w/Fr. George; his lighthearted manner put everyone at ease. It's easy to get nervous and uptight about important events like this, and he does a good job at reminding us not to take ourselves too seriously while taking our faith very seriously.
The prayers of exorcism followed, where Satan is bound and cast out. The catechumen officially and vocally denounces him and unites him/herself to Christ, and the priest prays over her that she would be freed from her former delusion and walk in the ways of truth.
This new day dawning in her heart is shown by the candle you see there, the flame of which is taken from the Holy Altar at the front of the church. Our God has decended from Heaven and spreads the light which is our Life as we respond to Him in faith; this illumination begins the moment we believe...but we ain't done yet!
Now that we have begun our lives in Christ through faith dawning in our hearts, we are led into the Body of Christ, the Church, through the ministers appointed by Christ and His apostles, where we can be taught the Faith as was the Ethiopian eunuch who knew he could not fully understand the Truth without someone to teach him. The soon-to-be Xenia grabbed ahold of Father's stole (which, no kidding, is called "the thing that goes around the neck" in Greek; don't ask me to spell it), and he leads her to the front of the Church, where she is to have the priest's hands laid on her to receive the Holy Spirit.
Xenia then kneels and confesses the Orthodox Faith as it's been practiced and believed by Christians for nearly two thousand years, after which she stands and venerates (that means "honors" for those unfamiliar with the term) the image of Christ on the cross, as well as the Gospel book on the table in front of her. She is then anointed with the holy oil, which is a continuation of the biblical practice of the laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit. (Chrismation was practiced almost immediately in the Church, as the apostles were quite quickly unable to personally receive all converts through the laying on of hands, and so distributed oil to priests/bishops which had been blessed by them to administer the filling of the Holy Spirit in their stead. We believe this is witnessed to in the "unction" and "anointing" mentioned in I John 2:20, 27, as well as the seal of the Holy Spirit which St. Paul refers to in 2 Cor.1:21-22.)

The oil is administered on the forehead, eyes, ears, mouth, chest, hands and feet, both as a sign of and at the same time a very real filling of each of the new believer's body parts and senses -- our thoughts, sight, hearing, words, meditations, actions and destinations in life, respectively -- with the always-abiding presence of the Spirit of our God.
She is then led around the table three times (three times around for the Trinity, obviously, and around the cross and Gospel, recognizing them as the new center of her life), while the hymn from Scripture is chanted, "As many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ, alleluia!"

(Most Orthodox in North America admit anyone into the Church who has already been baptized in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in another Christian confession by chrismation only; this isseen as a way to "fill in that which was lacking" in a non-Orthodox baptism and, thus, make it a true and full baptism, with all the grace God originally intended His creatures to receive upon returning to Him.)
After the initiate finishes the walk around the table, the chrism is washed off, as the priest declares what has already been done -- the newly illumined has been "washed ... sanctified ... justified ... illumined ... by the Spirit of our God."
The rite ends with the priestly blessing and the veneration of the Holy Cross, and is followed by fasting and the Eucharist, which in Xenia's case occurred the following morning at Sunday Divine Liturgy.

We're so thankful that we were blessed to be at this event that had been so long in the making; glory to God for the reception of Julie Xenia into the Church, and may God grant her many years through the prayers of St. Xenia of Petersburg.

No Dentist Left Behind

by John Taylor © 2002
Used by permission of the author.
http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/no-dentist.html#author
Originally titled: "Absolutely No Dentist Left Behind"

My dentist is great! He sends me reminders so I don't forget checkups. He uses the latest techniques based on research. He never hurts me, and I've got all my teeth, so when I ran into him the other day, I was eager to see if he'd heard about the new state program. I knew he'd think it was great.

"Did you hear about the new state program to measure the effectiveness of dentists with their young patients?" I said.

"No," he said. He didn't seem too thrilled. "How will they do that?"

"It's quite simple," I said. "They will just count the number of cavities each patient has at age 10, 14 and 18 and average that to determine a dentist's rating. Dentists will be rated as Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average and Unsatisfactory. That way parents will know which are the best dentists. It will also encourage the less effective dentists to get better," I said. "Poor dentists who don't improve could lose their licenses to practice in South Carolina."

"That's terrible," he said.

"What? That's not a good attitude," I said. "Don't you think we should try to improve children's dental health in this state?"

"Sure I do," he said, "but that's not a fair way to determine who is practicing good dentistry."

"Why not?" I said. "It makes perfect sense to me."

"Well, it's so obvious," he said. "Don't you see that dentists don't all work with the same clientèle; so much depends on things we can't control? For example," he said, "I work in a rural area with a high percentage of patients from deprived homes, while some of my colleagues work in upper-middle class neighborhoods. Many of the parents I work with don't bring their children to see me until there is some kind of
problem and I don't get to do much preventive work. Also," he said, "many of the parents I serve let their kids eat way too much candy from a young age, unlike more educated parents who understand the relationship between sugar and decay. To top it all off," he added, "so many of my clients have well water which is untreated and has no fluoride in it. Do you have any idea how much difference early use of fluoride can make?"

"It sounds like you're making excuses," I said. I couldn't believe my dentist would be so defensive. He does a great job.

"I am not!" he said. "My best patients are as good as anyone's, my work is as good as anyone's, but my average cavity count is going to be higher than a lot of other dentists because I chose to work where I am needed most."

"Don't get touchy," I said.

"Touchy?" he said. His face had turned red, and from the way he was clenching and unclenching his jaws, I was afraid he was going to damage his teeth. "Try furious. In a system like this, I will end up being rated average, below average or worse. My more educated patients who see these ratings may believe this so-called rating actually is a measure of my ability and proficiency as a dentist. They may leave me, and I'll be left with only the most needy patients. And my cavity average score will get even worse. On top of that, how will I attract good dental hygienists and other
excellent dentists to my practice if it is labeled below average?"

"I think you're over-reacting," I said. "'Complaining, excuse making and stonewalling won't improve dental health'...I am quoting that from a leading member of the DOC," I noted.

"What's the DOC?" he said.

"It's the Dental Oversight Committee," I said, "a group made up of mostly lay-persons to make sure dentistry in this state gets improved."

"Spare me," he said. "I can't believe this. Reasonable people won't buy it," he said hopefully.

The program sounded reasonable to me, so I asked, "How else would you measure good dentistry?"

"Come watch me work," he said. "Observe my processes."

"That's too complicated and time consuming," I said. "Cavities are the bottom line, and you can't argue with the bottom line. It's an absolute measure."

"That's what I'm afraid my patients and prospective patients will think. This can't be happening," he said despairingly.

"Now, now," I said, "don't despair. The state will help you some."

"How?" he said.

"If you're rated poorly, they'll send a dentist who is rated excellent to help straighten you out," I said brightly.

"You mean," he said, "they will send a dentist with a wealthy clientèle to show me how to work on severe juvenile dental problems with which I have probably had much more experience? Big help."

"There you go again," I said. "You aren't acting professionally at all."

"You don't get it," he said. "Doing this would be like grading schools and teachers on an average score on a test of children's progress without regard to influences outside the school — the home, the community served and stuff like that. Why would they do something so unfair to dentists? No one would ever think of doing that to schools."

I just shook my head sadly, but he had brightened. "I'm going to write my representatives and senator," he said. "I'll use the school analogy — surely they'll see my point."

He walked off with that look of hope mixed with fear and suppressed anger that I see in the mirror so often lately.

An Excellent Dialogue

For those of you who listen to the Our Life in Christ broadcast (which is one of the links down on the sidebar to the right), check out this most recent addition to the audio archives; it's the guys who usually do the show being interviewed on an Evangelical radio show in the Phoenix area by a fellow who was quite impressive in his ability to engage them in respectful, meaningful dialogue about what the Church claims about herself. It is NOT a debate, mercifully, but rather truly respectful questions from an obviously knowledgeable Evangelical who truly did grasp what Steve and Bill were saying. It's the good part of an hour, so it's long, but worth the time.

Joyous News...

This morning we were blessed with a call from Audra's maid of honor, "Jules" (For Julie Ann), confirming that, yes, this weekend will be the weekend, after a long string of inconveniences and delays, that she'll be chrismated at St. Antony's in Tulsa! She says she's decided to take the name Xenia. Audra's been her sponsor for a while now, so were not ONLY busy prepping the house to show to buyers, but now ALSO prepping to go to Tulsa for the weekend! May God grant her many years!

Cartoon Me

Sunday Afternoon at Benbrook Lake

This past Thomas Sunday was marked, post-liturgy, by a refreshing and spontaneous decision to chuck all household chores (especially getting ready for an in-city move) in favor of an outing to Benbrook Lake, just to the west of Fort Worth. We packed a picnic, which you see to the right, and enjoyed the giggles of Anza as she tried to be like Momma and Papá and eat our crust and drink our juice like a big girl. We got run off by ants and gnats, however, so we slathered some sunblock on wifey and chiquitita and headed across Benbrook Dam, which overlooked the lake. I had Anza on my back in one of those little backpack thingies, and there was plenty to see, including the ginormous daffodill skeletons there...seriously, those things are ridiculous. Anza really liked talking while we hiked across the dam; we got into a marching rhythm of, "HUH-uh, HUH-uh, HUH-uh" as we went, the sun on our backs and the grass swishing past my legs.

I know there are many folks like St. Francis who are much more in tune with life outside the concrete jungle than this city boy, but I have to say that, for all the power and the glory of God I have seen in His sanctuaries (Ps. 62:2, LXX), there's something about nature that just breathes a prayer back into and out of me with little or no effort on my part and provides a lasting impression of He who clothes lilies and feeds sparrows, He who holds the universe in the palm of His hand. The heavens do declare the glory of God, and the firmament in all its overgrown, chigger-riddled wonder, does show His handiwork...and it's a dang good thing that "Day unto day utters speech / And night unto night reveals knowledge" (Ps. 18:1-2, LXX), 'cause I'm dang sure quick to forget that very glory whose light is meant to illumine me brighter than the very sun that tuckered out the little one...

Also...tonight during evening prayers, Anza was, of course, wanting to be a little clown and honk Momma's nose, start a giggle fight, the usual...when I looked over there, Anza caught my eye, spit out the paci and, as she's been doing for about the past week or so whenever I come in the room, said "¡Papá!" loud and clear, accent on the second "A" and all. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, her first word has to do with me, and it's in Spanish. Couldn't be prouder; looks like I'm doing somethin' right...

Worm Food Warmed Over With the Light of God

Coming out on the other end of Bright Week, one thing in particular has impressed itself upon me...

We are "those in the tombs." This is particularly important to me because, as opposed to previous Holy Weeks (and even Lents), this little "flash" of realization was one of the few to dwell in my conscious arena during these holy days (another one of these rare jewels is just a couple posts down). This time around the Great Fast and the Feast of Feasts was marked by a noticeably lower level of desire to pray, a greater desire to actually break the fast in terms of eating...in short, less "emotional connection" to the words of the services and the spirit of the season. Which, while it does serve to remind me, as I so eloquently said to a fellow parishioner, how much I suck at this whole asceticism thing (also a valuable impression to take away from the season), it is also actually a sign of growth, as now the immediate "warm fuzzies" gratification feeling is being withdrawn and I'm entering the dry seasons where obedience is still expected but results may not be seen, be they emotional, moral, or any other kind. So, bearing this in mind, you can see how it was with a grateful heart that when I stood before Father Basil as he blessed us all with the trikirion and chanted the Paschal troparion, that it really sunk in that I was one of those in the tombs, that without that Paschal light and life bestowed upon me, I would be, as it's been so eloquently stated, worm food.

Christ is Risen!

This is the day of Resurrection!
Let us be illumined, O people!
Pascha! The Pascha of the Lord!

To all those who read this, a joyous Paschal season! (The following greetings are in the languages either spoken by those who read this blog, or in languages I have worked with in the past)

Let all the nations hear:

Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is risen!
Cristo ha resucitado! En verdad, ¡ha resucitado! (Spanish)
Χριστός Ανέστη! Αληθώς Ανέστη! (Greek)
Христос Воскресе! Воистину Воскресе! (Russian)
Христос Воскрес! Воістину Воскрес! (Ukranian)
Al-Masih-Qam! Hakkan Qam! (Arabic)
Christus resurrexit! Vere resurrexit! (Latin)
Le Christ est ressuscité! Vraiment Il est ressuscité! (French)
Tha Crìosd air èiridh! Gu dearbh, tha e air èiridh! (Scots Gaelic)
Atgyfododd Crist! Yn wir atgyfododd! (Welsh)
Cristo causarimpunña! Ciertopuni causarimpunña! (Quechua)

Holy Week...See you on the 23rd...

Ladies and gentlemen, as Orthodox Christians exit Lent (tonight) and enter Holy Week (tomorrow), I've decided to fast from reading or writing on anyone's blog until Pascha (the Greek word for "Passover," or our celebration of Christ our Passover's resurrection--April 23rd this year).

For those of you who aren't already regular readers of Father Joseph's ORTHODIXIE blog (there's a link down to your right), you can start with a wonderful synopsis of Orthodox Holy Week on said site.

May Christ our God bless those who are currently preparing to greet Him at His resurrection in two days, and all those who will greet Him on the later date. See you in 8 days.

Me, in a Stichera

Last night in Presanctified*, our attention was directed to Lazarus, and the first stichera** really blew me back a few steps. See if you can't find yourself in this one:

I am rich in passions; I am wrapped in the false robe of hypocrisy. Lacking self-restraint I delight in self-indulgence. I show a boundless lack of love. I see my mind cast down before the gates of repentance, starved of true goodness and sick with inattention. But make me like Lazarus, who was poor in sin, lest I receive no answer when I pray, no finger dipped in water to relieve by burning tongue;// and make me dwell in Abraham’s bosom in Your love for mankind.

Find the rest of them here.

(For those of you unfamiliar with those terms:

* The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated every Wednesday of Great Lent; a double portion of bread and wine are consecrated to be the Body and Blood of Christ the Sunday before--Sunday is the day of Resurrection and therefore a celebration, even in the midst of Lent, the weekdays of which are much more penitential and therefore devoid of such open rejoicing--and this second helping of the Body and Blood is set aside from Sunday to Wednesday night, when it is carried to and received by the faithful.

** a stichera is a verse that is chanted by a reader (or sung by a choir) between the sung verses of penitential psalms at the beginning of a vespers service.)

Gospel of Jud...huh...(YAWN)...

My friend ALAN (no, he's not a bishop; he just signs his name like one ;-)) at Rhoblogy has offered a lovely, one-sentence synopsis from a mutual friend of ours re: this document that, of course, is getting more press than it deserves. Why does everyone ask orthodox (and Orthodox) Christians "what they think?!" of this? Um...I dunno...same thing St. Paul did?

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

That's all ah gotta say uh-bout thay-ut...

Gratitude...

Of all the reasons I have to be grateful to God in my life, the little stinker pictured here is, hands down, the most obvious one. I'm amazed at how beautiful she can be.

Prayers for Love of Enemy

Without going into specifics, I'd like to ask for prayer from all of you for an issue regarding someone in my life to whom, in the spirit of Lent (reconciliation and all that), I am going to attempt to reach out to in charity in the next few days. I have no idea how this is going to be received by this person--my gesture may be received with gratitude (albeit a confused gratitude, since all the contact we've had has been rather hostile), or with derision--but regardless, this needs to be done, for my own sake as much (if not more) as the sake of this person, since my thoughts towards this person have been cruel, dark, and hateful lately.

Please pray that I might "offer the olive branch" with a pure heart and repentance and, whatever the outcome on the other person's end, I might at least find peace towards this person in my own heart.

Banners

I Hate Them Because They're Greedy Corporations, or, Immigration, Parte Dos

My good friend and fellow watcher of Latinamerican happenings Bryan Pitts beat me to the punch with his comment on my recent post...I was just about to post an "upon further reflection" post on the immigration issue when he posted his thoughtful opinion...

I have to admit that, in the words of a repeat-offender Mexican immigrant, immigrants are "like cats" who will find a way over or around any physical barriers. Recent newspaper articles--as well as this book Audra and I are currently reading--have, over the past weekend gotten me thinking that incentives, however great or small they may be, are the key to solving this (and most any) interpersonal problem...and that physical barriers on our southern border are, in this case, an ineffective incentive for illegals to stay out of the US.

Why is this? And what would be a better deterrent (or, at least, a better solution) to the economic and logistical problem posed by illegal immigration if a physical wall would do little to no good?

I think, as does Bryan (yes, that sounds schizophrenic), that "until we come up with a reasonable and enforceable temporary worker system that requires [illegals] to pay taxes on their wages, it is going to keep happening like it is now." I would be more specific, however, that a part of said worker system must include stricter regulations on American businesses as they stand now. Many American industries--namely, the stereotypes of lawncare, maid services, construction, farm working, etc--almost fearlessly maintain a good part of their workforces via illegal immigrants, and go largely unchecked by the government. The fact that they are doing so (and going virtually unchallenged) baffles me a great deal -- it only comes in second to the fact that, by and large, this fact goes largely unreported by the press. My immediate reaction would be to link our government to their big-business bedfellows, but I digress...

Regardless, heavy penalties to deter businesses seem to be in order to send the message that the hiring of illegal immigrants for cheap labor will not be tolerated...as I said, though, you won't find this component of immigration reform in most newspaper articles.

Truly, until images like these are no longer the case in the United States, we will have no one but ourselves to blame for the problem of horrifically disinfranchised latino workers doing the only thing they know how to do to survive. Their incentive to come over here must either be taken away through government pressure, or their work in this country must be counterbalanced with appropriate tax deduction from their reasonable (by American standards) wages.

Akathist

Prayed the Akathist hymn tonight with Audra. What a gorgeous trek through the mystery of our salvation that is the Incarnation, and what a blessed experience to pray it exclusively with the woman who--it still blows my mind--is my partner in and witness to our life together in Christ...a life made possible, tonight's hymn stresses, by the initial assent and continual prayers of the Holy Mother.

Glory to You, O Lord; Glory to You.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us!