'The Hush of a Thousand Prayers'

Remember the actress June Lockhart of "Lassie" and "Petticoat Junction" fame?

Well, June Lockhart wrote an extremely lovely piece for Guideposts in May 1958. Apparently, she had also worked for Guideposts early in her career.

I stumbled upon her essay quite by accident one day while searching online for something else. In this piece, she eloquently sums up why people pray in church when God hears prayer anywhere. 

And she finishes with this paragraph: 

That is what I feel, whenever I enter a church. I feel the hush of thousands of prayers steal over me. I feel the impact of the words of Christ. "It is written," He said long ago, "My house shall be called the house of prayer." (Matthew 21:13).

"The hush of a thousand prayers." I had never thought of church as a place where thousands of prayers had been said.

People refer to certain spaces as holy places. And it's true that God hears prayers anywhere, that one doesn't need to go to church to prayer.

But...

Think of it...

An ordinary church building, any ordinary church building, is a place where fallible people like us stood and sent up, over time, thousands or prayers.

Incredible.

The link to the full piece is below. May it inspire you this day.

https://guideposts.org/prayer/how-to-pray/guideposts-classics-june-lockhart-where-to-pray/

The Four Greatest Words Impressed On Me

If my pastor could sum up his 50-plus ministry, he would do so in these four words.

The first three are "Walk in praise."

Because when we do, we take the focus away from ourselves and onto God.

The last is "forgive."

Because the measure we use to forgive is the same measure God will use to forgive us.

Thank you, Fr. Boris, for emphasizing these four words over the years.

And certainly a great focus as I begin my Lenten journey today.

BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: Joy vs. Misery

Monday, January 12, 2015

Joy vs. Misery

On New Calendar Christmas morning (December 25) over a cup of coffee, our pastor (who is 82 going on 40) made a comment about how his Christmas wish is for us to always choose joy over misery.

One member of our small church, who has been in therapy for years for depression, said, "Nooo, we're not getting into this."

But Fr. Boris continued," People often don't realize that they have a choice," and then he quoted, "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life."

(Deuteronomy 30:19)

Then I said, "I think people often don't realize they have a choice because they confuse joy with happiness."

And Fr. Boris looked at me and grinned.

I have a writely friend who calls me an eternal optimist, to which I respond that I simply refuse to be miserable. While it's true that circumstances have occured in life that have, indeed, robbed me of that joy, those circumstances hae never done so without my permission, even if it doesn't feel like it at the time. Once I realize it, my first job, before I work on the problem, is to fix my attitude on the inside. A joyful spirit is a better problem-solver than a miserable one.

Joy is not happiness. And misery is not unhappiness.

Happiness is transitory, an elated feeling when something goes well in our lives or when others connect well with us. The opposite is true about unhappiness. Joy and misery are independent of life circumstances or our relationships.

I once read that if one travels downward in an ocean, one will eventually reach a place of complete serenity, where any turbulance that may be above cannot reach it. I believe all of us have, inside, a similar place we can cultivate, a place of serenity and, yes, joy.

Looking at life through rose-colored glasses is not wise, but neither should we view it through lenses of smoky gray. Rather, I choose spectacles of faith and the confidence they are backed with a guarantee of love from its Maker.

We cannot always choose our circumstances and whether or not so and so likes us. We can not prevent all troubles, all unhappiness. But we can build a strong ship that will sail navigate them.

And these are my Monday morning musings as I embark upon another work week...

Three Words That Changed My Life

"Walk in praise." 

(Rev.Boris Zabrodsky, St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Homewood)

The First Step to Ordination

Joy vs. Misery

On New Calendar Christmas morning (December 25) over a cup of coffee, our pastor (who is 82 going on 40) made a comment about how his Christmas wish is for us to always choose joy over misery.

One member of our small church, who has been in therapy for years for depression, said, "Nooo, we're not getting into this."

But Fr. Boris continued," People often don't realize that they have a choice," and then he quoted, "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life."

(Deuteronomy 30:19)

Then I said, "I think people often don't realize they have a choice because they confuse joy with happiness."

And Fr. Boris looked at me and grinned.

I have a writely friend who calls me an eternal optimist, to which I respond that I simply refuse to be miserable. While it's true that circumstances have occured in life that have, indeed, robbed me of that joy, those circumstances hae never done so without my permission, even if it doesn't feel like it at the time. Once I realize it, my first job, before I work on the problem, is to fix my attitude on the inside. A joyful spirit is a better problem-solver than a miserable one.

Joy is not happiness. And misery is not unhappiness.

Happiness is transitory, an elated feeling when something goes well in our lives or when others connect well with us. The opposite is true about unhappiness. Joy and misery are independent of life circumstances or our relationships.

I once read that if one travels downward in an ocean, one will eventually reach a place of complete serenity, where any turbulance that may be above cannot reach it. I believe all of us have, inside, a similar place we can cultivate, a place of serenity and, yes, joy.

Looking at life through rose-colored glasses is not wise, but neither should we view it through lenses of smoky gray. Rather, I choose spectacles of faith and the confidence they are backed with a guarantee of love from its Maker.

We cannot always choose our circumstances and whether or not so and so likes us. We can not prevent all troubles, all unhappiness. But we can build a strong ship that will sail navigate them.

And these are my Monday morning musings as I embark upon another work week...

Nice One, God!

So the original forecast for Christmas Day (December 25, not the upcoming January 7), was several feet of snow.

For some, this is welcome. For others, less so. This year, we belonged to the latter camp. We currently own two old and creaky blazers, with Timothy's being the newer and more reliable one. He has a second job now, abotu thirty miles away, and he did fine in yesterday's snow and cold.

Still...

Forty miles one way in crummy weather in a crummy vehicle during a time when other holiday drivers are on the road and back again and then another fifteen to twenty miiles in the opposite direction wasn't anyone's good time.

On Thanksgiving Day, we were the only ones that showed up to Divine Liturgy (our church has a small elderly population). We arrived about fiftteen minutes late (Timothy had worked late and overslept; plus our pastor had bumped up liturgy time), and our priest had already begun the complicated ninety-minute service, alone. Timothy said after he and Daniel had vested and made it onto the altar, Fr. Boris only turned to them and said, "We are on page so and so, if you care for join me."

Ouch!

The only other person to arrive was our cantor, about ten minutes after that. What if Christmas Day was a no-show repeat? (And thankfully, it wasn't).

Furthermore, our January 7 celebration will be in Mendota this year. Joshua, Amber, Ezekiel, and Jessica won't be joining us because of work schedules. Because of Joshua's health issues and the fact he just returned to work after being off for two years, they couldn't afford to buy either a tree (Ours had seen better years, and he had discareded it) or presents (We didn't buy any presents either).To not see them during Christmas was unthinkable.

So after Divine Liturgy, we want to spend the rest of the day with them. As the manager of a local pizzeria, Joshua is allowed to make free pizzas for himself anytime he wishes. Consequently, our dinner plans for Christmas was pizza at Joshua's. And we didn't need recalcitrant weather to get in our way.

We felt those were good reasons why God should hold back the snow. And so we prayed. And He did. And we had one of the loveliest Christmases ever.

Yes, we made Divine Liturgy and a wonderful Christmas dinner at Joshua's apartment. We even had one bonus, but that's for another post. The humor, however, was on Christmas Eve.

Our photographer was checking out the weather forecast, as he was flying out on Christmas Day. He announced that it appeared the bad weather would miss us and then added, "They're calling for snow in Hawaii."

Nice one, God!

Who's Your Role Model?

That was one of the questions from the students at Joliet West High School, and it made me pause before answering. Since one question also was, "Who's your favorite author?" (I don't have one), I decided the response didn't have to be writer-based.

So, I replied, "Fr. Boris Zabrodsky," and proceeded to verbally introduce them to a remarkable man.

Fr. Boris has been my confessor, mentor, and godfather ever since I was received into the Eastern Orthodox Church in the summer of nineteen eighty-nine. My association with his church, St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Homewood, Illinois, is and has been the source of my greatest spiritual growth. Here's why.

   *  Fr. Boris is one of the forerunners of the charismatic movement in the Eastern Orthodox Church. This movement has added a strong element of holy joy into a denomination that often presents itself in a staid and static manner.

   *  His motto and best spiritual advice is, "Walk in praise," and he means authentic, sincere praise directed to God because He is God, not a Pollyanna oblivion to harsh circumstances of life.

  *  Donations are voluntary. St. Nicholas does not pass a collection basket.

  *  He advocates congregational singing. Worship in the Eastern Orthodox Church is antiphonal, although in many churches, the "dialogue" occurs between clergy and choir. We have no choir. Rather, Fr. Boris has always encouraged full particpation by all, and we truly do "make a joyful noise."

  *  He embraces hard work. At seventy-eight, Fr. Boris is not only pastor, he is hall manager and head custodian. He does not administrate from afar, but is strongly present in all church affairs, sometimes to our annoyance.

  *   He's not afraid to get his hands dirty. St. Nicholas rests on a well and septic. Guess who does the all-too-frequent rodding?

  *  He has an interesting sense of humor. Anyone know the jokes about the three pastors and their wives that present themselves to St. Peter after perishing in an auto accident or the fellow that encounters the leprachaun on the golf course? Yep, I heard them from Fr. Boris.

  * He believes in asking for and bestowing forgiveness, presonally and frequently. If you doubt it, come check out our forgiveness line this Sunday.

  *  Because Fr. Boris accepts his own blemishes, I've learned not to take myself too seriously.

  *  He promotes a strong healing ministry, with emphasis on physical healing, as well as complete healing. St. Nicholas hosts a monthly healing service, although one may request anointing and prayer at any time. Fr. Boris is a chaplain at one hospital and visits four more. He does not limit his visits to his parishioners, but seeks out those separated from their own churches, individuals who need and/or desire a clergy presence.

 *  He's a proponent of prayer, especially for the sick and the dead. He prays often and spontaneously and reminds others to utilize the same opportunity.

 *  Most importantly, Fr. Boris focuses his ministry on the individual. His love truly covers a multitude of sins. He "adopts" people others consider hopeless and builds strong servants of the church, whether these are men ordained at St. Nicholas (eleven by my count, amazing for a small mission parish) and now serve other churches or the homeless who have found refuge and meaning within St. Nicholas' walls.

Each of these principles, really the foundational principles of Christianity, have profoundly influenced the way I parent my children, run my business, write my stories, and minister unto others. Although it will take a lifetime or two to perfect them, the task is simplified with a living example before me.