Salvation is not about me, but about us
Mindlessly spending hours on the internet, giving ourselves over to whole evenings sitting before our computers, communicating with people who are unknown to us personally, and who may not even be who they claim to be, are examples of squandering time that would better be spent in spiritual pursuits.
Forgoing time with family and friends who are in the room, all the while text messaging someone who is somewhere else, is counterproductive to solid, healthy, relationships. Allowing ourselves to be consumed with on-line chat rooms, or endlessly texting on our cell phones, is a form of self-destruction, for it will ultimately lead to separation and alienation. Real relationships can only be enjoyed when we share time with others who are sitting with us.
Communal relationships, where we grow spiritually and socially, are all important for anyone who desires to have a deeper relationship with God, for such relationships become the foundation stone for learning true love. It is not really possible to become a loving person if we turn ourselves over to a life immersed in technology. Students who sit in lecture halls, text messaging their friends, are not participating in the learning process that is the hallmark of the classroom. People who leave their cell phones in vibrate mode, while attending the divine services, are demonstrating that their friends are more important than communing with God.
If we are going to mature in the faith, we have to take the steps that lead to a deepening of our relationship with God, just as we must do if we are to have successful marriages, or lasting friendships. The age of technological advancement has it’s advantages, but it also has a dark side. When we spend the majority of our waking hours text messaging, talking on mobile phones, and becoming lost in cyberspace, we succumb to an addictive behavior that blocks true spiritual, social, and mental growth.
Living within the life of the Church, giving ourselves over to spiritual reading, personal prayer, frequent confession, and properly preparing to receive the Holy Mysteries, must be the priority of every Christian’s week. Technology has it’s place, but must not be allowed to become a god unto itself.
In guarding the precious time God has given us, we need to nurture our friendships, deepen our family ties, and build upon the important community building that makes for healthy relationships within the life of the Church. Our salvation is not about me, but about us.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Tuesday June 14, 2016 / June 1, 2016
Afterfeast of the Ascension. Tone six.
Martyr Justin the Philosopher, and those with him at Rome: Martyrs Justin, Chariton and his wife Charita, Euelpistus, Hierax, Peon, Valerian and Justus (166).
Venerable Dionysius, abbot of Glushitsa (Vologda) (1437).
New Hieromartyr Basil priest, Virgin-martyr Vera (1940).
Glorification (1990) of Righteous John of Kronstadt (1908).
Venerable Justin (Popovich) of Chelije in Serbia (1979) (Serbia).
Venerable Agapitus, unmercenary physician of the Kiev Caves (1095).
St. Mertius the Farmer of Myra in Lycia (912).
Martyr Neon (Greek).
Hieromartyr Pyrrhus the Virgin (Greek).
Martyr Firmus of Magus (3rd c.) (Greek).
Martyr Thespesius of Cappadocia (230) (Greek).
Holy Martyrs Shio the New, David, Gabriel and Paul of Gareji (1696) (Georgia).
Scripture Readings
Acts 21:26-32
Arrested in the Temple
26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them.
27 Now when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place; and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” 29 (For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)
30 And all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut. 31 Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
John 16:2-13
2 They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. 3 And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. 4 But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.
And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.
The Work of the Holy Spirit
5 “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
Lately I’ve noticed a lot of people who bash the idea of online friendships, and personally I think that’s sad. There are valid reasons why some might prefer to talk with someone online than some of the people we know in real time. Consider the fact that while many of us are blessed with warm, loving and happy families. There are people stuck in family situations or neighborhoods that are so just horrifically and beyond repair dysfunctional that they are probably better off being able to have positive and uplifting friends online than have to put up with emotional abuse day in and day out. This idea that people online are somehow less trustworthy than people one sees face to face is a misnomer. Friendships and relationships cannot and should not be limited by propinquity. Here’s something else to consider: there are people you can see everyday who aren’t what they seem to be. You can see that even within family units. How many people lived next door or worked with the likes of Jeffrey Dahmner or any the terrorists who orchestrated 9/11? How many of us have relatives or heaven forbid spouses who show one face to the world, but then treat their “nearest and dearest” like dirt? It’s not using social networking that the problem, and to claim it is is really being closed minded to the positive benefits it may bring to people who otherwise may have no friendships or relationships at all.