Natural disasters and the human condition
God does not cause natural disasters, we do. We have fallen short, and there are consequences. Before the fall there was no death, no suffering, no earthquakes, no hurricanes. After the fall we did not inherit the sin of the First Born, but rather the result of their sin, death. Death entered our world because of the fall, and our struggle to live according to God’s ultimate and original plan is a journey to reclaim our true nature, restore communion with God, and ultimately return all of creation to that state God had originally intended.
Our mismanagement of the environment is the cause of climate change, not God’s judgement. Our hatred of others, and our greed, is the cause of wars. Our selfish desire for personal fulfillment is the root cause of the high abortion rate. Our over-consumption has depleted much of the world’s natural resources, and subsequently hurt the environment. The poverty suffered by much of the world’s population is the result of the hording of global resources which have allowed others to remain poor, while the treasures of others has increased a thousand fold.
We are the cause of extreme climate change, for just as we Orthodox do not believe God created a place called “hell” in order to punish bad people, we do not believe God creates storms to kill people. That the Creator God allows bad things to happen is a given, for the freedom of choice we have as beings created in His image and likeness has resulted in our suffering the consequences of our actions.
No one will be sent to a place called “hell” by an angry God. Rather, some will spend eternity in the presence of God, and hate it. They will experience God’s fire as a burning hell-fire, because they lived egocentric lives devoid of love for God and neighbor. Those who have lived altruistic lives of love for God and neighbor, will experience the River of Fire as illumination, and will bask for all eternity in the presence of God, and love it.
The River of Fire is a burning hell fire for those who have rejected God, and do not love either God or their neighbor. For those who do love God and neighbor, the River of Fire is the Fire of Illumination. Heaven and hell are not about location, but about relationship.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photo: Brother Peter, KI7KLO, recently received his amateur radio license with the help of the island’s local ham radio club. We intend for him to communicate with other operators and emergency personnel in service of both the monastery and the island community in the event of a natural disaster. Special thanks to Bob Smueles, AE7MW, and the island’s volunteer examiners, for their assistance and support.
Friday February 24, 2017 / February 11, 2017
Week of the Last Judgment. Tone two.
Maslenitsa. Meat is excluded
Hieromartyr Blaise, bishop of Sebaste (316).
St. Vsevolod (in holy baptism Gabriel), prince and wonderworker of Pskov (1138).
Venerable Demetrius, monk of Priluki (Vologda) (1392).
St. Theodora, wife of Emperor Theophilus the Iconoclast (867).
St. Gobnait, abbess of Ballyvourney, Cork (Ireland) (7th c.) (Celtic & British).
Venerable Caedmon of Whitby, monk (680) (Celtic & British).
Venerable George (Kratovac) the Greatmartyr of Serbia (Greek).
Hieromartyr Lucius of Adrianopolis in Thrace (348).
St. Benedict of Aniane (821) (Gaul).
The Scripture Readings
Zechariah 8:7-17
7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east
And from the land of the west;
8 I will bring them back,
And they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
They shall be My people
And I will be their God,
In truth and righteousness.’
9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘Let your hands be strong,
You who have been hearing in these days
These words by the mouth of the prophets,
Who spoke in the day the foundation was laid
For the house of the Lord of hosts,
That the temple might be built.
10 For before these days
There were no wages for man nor any hire for beast;
There was no peace from the enemy for whoever went out or came in;
For I set all men, everyone, against his neighbor.
11 But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ says the Lord of hosts.
12 ‘For the seed shall be prosperous,
The vine shall give its fruit,
The ground shall give her increase,
And the heavens shall give their dew—
I will cause the remnant of this people
To possess all these.
13 And it shall come to pass
That just as you were a curse among the nations,
O house of Judah and house of Israel,
So I will save you, and you shall be a blessing.
Do not fear,
Let your hands be strong.’
14 “For thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘Just as I determined to punish you
When your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’
Says the Lord of hosts,
‘And I would not relent,
15 So again in these days
I am determined to do good
To Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
Do not fear.
16 These are the things you shall do:
Speak each man the truth to his neighbor;
Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace;
17 Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor;
And do not love a false oath.
For all these are things that I hate,’
Says the Lord.”
Zechariah 8:19-23
19 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘The fast of the fourth month,
The fast of the fifth,
The fast of the seventh,
And the fast of the tenth,
Shall be joy and gladness and cheerful feasts
For the house of Judah.
Therefore love truth and peace.’
20 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘Peoples shall yet come,
Inhabitants of many cities;
21 The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying,
“Let us continue to go and pray before the Lord,
And seek the Lord of hosts.
I myself will go also.”
22 Yes, many peoples and strong nations
Shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem,
And to pray before the Lord.’
23 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’”
With all due respects Father, I cannot agree with you that we are totally responsible for climate change. Our irresponsible management of resources certainly may add to the situation but the whole climate change debate has sadly fallen short in scientific legitimacy and taken on far too much political baggage.
The Pope in recent times wasted way too much time on the subject while failing to highlight the outage of Christians being persecution throughout the world.
Respectfully yours..
I agree that I was disappointed that Pope Francis said little about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, but am grateful he has called attention to the problem of climate change, and man’s involvement. In this, he joined with His All Holiness the Patriarch of Constantinople in pointing out the sin of our having failed to be good stewards of what God has given us. Pope Francis is a trained scientist, so those who laid claim that he was entering into a realm that was beyond his expertise, where just plain wrong. Most of the world’s scientists agree that climate change has been caused by we humans, despite the fact that so many, especially in this country, have politicized the subject to the point of turning a blind eye to science.
Blessings Father,
How you can wrap up in four paragraphs the reasons why things are the way they are in this world, is quite amazing. It answers the ‘why’ questions in one fell swoop. The daily scripture reading ties in well, too. Thank you for these sobering reminders.
Blessings to Brother Peter with the ham radio communications. You don’t hear much about ham radio’s anymore out here. Good to see it being used for a good cause, as I believe that’s what they were invented for.
I just have to stop reading your thoughts on climate change. I have given you tools to educate yourself but apparently you choose to stay in the dark.
It is perhaps you who choose to dwell in the dark, Nell. My stand is universally held, both in the scientific community, and in the Church.
Father, please look away from the ones who have forced pensioners in the UK to die of hypothermia because they cannot afford the cost of energy. CO2 is not pollution. Almost all atmospheric CO2 in the world is from the natural decomposition of bio mass, including volcanoes. Not from human activity.
Look away from the ones pretending to want to save the planet but whose underlying goal is the ultimate greed of owning and controlling the global means of survival for common people.
Look away from the men who want to force population reduction under cover of striving for ecological utopia.
Just for one example, look up Green Peace. One of its founders was Patrick Moore, an actual scientist, who abandoned them because they turned political. Look up Patrick Moore.
Today whistle blowers are coming forward revealing the false information regarding the climate change paper saying there is no pause, that it was rushed to publication just to influence the Paris meeting. The data supporting the paper has been lost due to a computer crash. Unbelievable, NASA could be so careless? You can easily find all the details on your apple computer.
When was the last time God destroyed the world with weather? Didn’t God say he wouldn’t do that anymore? I am just an old housewife but your saying God is sending us bad weather because we are evil is no better than the loons who claimed God sent a hurricane against the USA because he hates gays.
97 Articles Refuting The ‘97% Consensus’ on global warming
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/12/19/97-articles-refuting-the-97-consensus-on-global-warming/
You understand statistics, read what other scientists are saying. Put your political feelings aside. Get real.
I did NOT say God is sending us bad weather. I said WE are bringing it on. Your whole basis of your treatise is based on emotions, and not on science. My days are too filled with priestly obligations, and my missionary efforts, for me to take the time to answer you. Please, if you are offended by my words, let it be. But please read my spiritual counsels only, and leave the science to others, dear one.