So
I’m taking a break in between the two halves of the ladder to bring a few non
ladder posts. The first in this short little change of pace before I go back to
writing about the ladder is the difference between a believer and a non-believer.
We all know that the world is full of people who refuse to accept the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Many people wonder why its referred to as the gospel of Jesus
Christ and not gospels, it is because there is only one victory of Jesus Christ
proclaimed in four separate books. Thus, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Today I’m
going to contrast two very different people in my life, two people who have
competing world views, and two people who have very different strong takes on
God.
Now,
the first is my own grandfather. For the sake of privacy, I will not use names,
but rather titles to describe him. My grandfather grew up in a home that
practiced protestant Christianity as did my whole family. My grandfather was
raised in Missouri to a wonderful father and mother who raised their four
children to be hard working men and women who put long hours in the cotton
fields and did their best to make hard times seem good. However, the fateful day
in which things changed is a rather difficult one for our family. When my
grandfather was a young man, he and his uncle were swimming in the river as
they had done probably many times. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the
worse this time and his uncle, barely a child himself, was swept under the
current and was unfortunately drowned. My grandfather, seeing this with his own
eyes, was devastated by the death of someone he loved. Not wanting to accept
the loss of his uncle, my grandfather in tears and grief turned away from a God
he had known was loving and care to believe that God was cruel and harsh. To my
Orthodox readers out there, we know that God brings both the good and the bad
for our salvation. That God can use the trials we suffer to bring about a closeness
to God. However, for the unbeliever, or at least the unrepented person, they
grow cold and distant in the face of trials and tribulations and allow things
like this to draw themselves away from God. Of course it needs to be said that
someone who allows this to happen never really had a strong faith in the first
place and that they were merely looking for an excuse to deny God. I love my
grandfather, and love him beyond anything that earth has given me. I know that
things might have been different had his uncle not died, but we do not know
really the what ifs of a situation because they never happened. We are only
judged by how we reacted to what did happen. As such, my grandfather reacted
poorly. As the years progressed he became even more distant from God, not stirred
by his parents to learn in the faith and grow as a person, and generally
distrustful of religion. Just this morning I was watching an Orthodox video as I
often do, and he began to say how stupid and disturbed he was by the supposed “faith”
these Christians were showing. Heartbroken
and sad I turned the video off as to not offend him any further, not wishing to
cause grief and anger towards a person I hold dear. My grandfather simply needs
the reassurance of God and the peace that comes from Jesus Christ. At the
beginning of this article, I said it was between the unbeliever and the
believer, but really its between those that choose to ignore God and those who
openly accept him
The
second is a combination of two people in my life that are dear to me. Both are
devout Orthodox Christians and both are active members of my parish. The first
is my godfather. My brother in Christ. This man, has been with me through some
of my darkest hours and has comforted me, when all seemed lost. My godfather,
like me was raised in a protestant home and discovered Orthodoxy through his girlfriend
and later wife. They have kids together and while they are no longer together,
my godfather’s faith in God is stronger than mine will ever be. My godfather
has gone through many trials and tribulations in his life, certainly nothing
compared to others, and certainly not as difficult as my own struggles which
have been hard on me. He has been brave and strong through all of them, relying
on the Theotokos and the Lord Jesus Christ to get through them. Watching him
combat the devil head on with a faith that is unwavering and true has given me
the courage to persevere even though I have wanted to surrender many times. The
second is of a man I recently met, who’s name I will share. His name is Vasile.
Vasile is a Romanian, who has recently come into my life, by the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Vasile had cancer when he was younger and during this time,
instead of trying to blame God and demand God to give him an answer for what he
had been through, Vasile, embraced the disease and began to praise and glorify
God because he was able to have more time both in prayer and with his children.
The faith of this man is evident when you meet him. Embracing you with a warmth
and love that only Christ could give this man. In contrast to the above
paragraph, we see that Vasile and my godfather took their cross and bore it for
the sake of the Kingdom of God. These two men were able to turn the negatives
of life, ones in which the world tells us that God has forsaken us, and praised
God giving him the glory for their struggles. Just like the saints of old who
were tortured and beaten for their faith, these men took their beatings and
asked God, not for them to end, but rather that he would give them the strength
to overcome them. I am proud to call them both friends and brothers in Christ. May
God grant them many years, both to instruct me and to help guide me on my own
struggles, because personally I don’t know how I would get through life without
either man.
We
have witnessed two examples of people in this world. Two examples that are
greatly different in how they respond to God. On the one hand, a person who’s
faith grew cold because of sudden tragedy, and the other, where despite their
hardships and struggles, were able to overcome them. May God bless us and keep
this day without sin my dear brothers and sisters.
Amen.
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