Fathers

I was very fortunate to have a good father who was always there for me and always wanted to help in anyway he could being both a leader and protector.
During fathers day I heard several interviews about how we are becoming a nation of people who not only devalue men and fathers but feel they are not even necessary in the lives of women and children.
This is becoming a sad norm with women feeling men are nothing more then sperm donors and are not needed in the raising of children,especially in the lives of boys.
We as a nation now feel that women can do it all.Work,raise children and do it alone.
Statistics show that more women are going to advance their educations entering medical and legal schools in larger numbers then men.
Whats happening here?
Back in the 1990's It became an accepted norm that men needed to do less as women chose to try and do more and more.
Few men at that time were standing up for their rights of being men and fathers and those that did were melined and belittled causing them to quite down and keep it to themselves,it became easier to go with the flow then swim against the current
Not so long ago men taught their sons to be men.They added the male edge that boys needed that women could not give them to be tough,hard working,hard playing guys.
Boys like girls,need to learn how to be their gender and good as women are with helping their boys grow to be loving and caring,boys need to do men things to be well rounded.
Several weeks ago while at a graduation party our friend Butch,who has 3 sons and multiple male cousins were interacting with each other.
The older boys played basketball while the little boys played plastic swords.That's when it dawned an me these are the things that fulfil our boys with that male edge.
We have become a society that disapproves of boys doing boy things,unless its sports,because we think its to violent and will make us a violent society.
Originally men were hunters and gathers they were required to hunt in order to eat and wage war with other tribes in order to protect their clan.
Men taught boys from a young age to do these violent things because we needed to survive and promote the advancement of the clan.
Men were encouraged to be protectors.
Today to many younger men have become lazy because they no longer see a need to be a leader and would rather be a follower,with little to no responsibility.
Women have encouraged and allowed this to happen because we want to control it all and run as much of the show as we can to gain the respect we felt we had none of from society back in our earlier history.
Boys need to learn to be fathers and husbands and it can not easily be done when there is no man to emulate behavior.
We need to encourage men to participation and understand that children need both the male and female sides of life in order to be who they need to be in life.
God made both male and female for a reason and to deny the male side of life is to deny the fullness of our children's personalities.

New Monestary

Our church made the wise decision Sunday to vote and approve of our small St. Micheal Church to also house a small Monetary St. Columba of Iona.
To say we are proud of this event,especially since it occurred on fathers day,is an understatement.
Of course as all votes go it was not unanimous but with majority rule and a spirit of forward thinking I feel the church will greatly benefit and those that feel it is not a good idea will change their opinion when the dust settles and this blessing is revealed to all.
Lets face it even Jesus dealt with doubters and nay Sayer's but once the truth is revealed its easier to be in favor of something.
We are an old church with many older parishioners and change does not come easy.
The Orthodox Churches,unlike the Catholic Churches,has a history of the people taking the first steps of building their churches and the priest really being after thoughts.
This idea is slowly changing as more converts enter the religion and accept their priest as leaders of,rather then employees to the church.
If we are to survive in a world going against the religious ways then we need to ground our selves and monasteries are just that,the roots of the tree bringing us more firmness in the grounding of our faith.
So with great excitement we take this step into our new future by digging deeper into the past beliefs of monastic life,an ancient practice.
I believe we were sent Fr.Peter because God understood that like the story in the bible of the owner telling the pruner to dig up the olive tree which bore little fruit and the servant asking The owner to give the plant one more year of tender care,we too could become a better plant and maybe with extra care we also will grow fuller and bear more fruit in the coming seasons and years.
So congratulations Fr. Peter on this wonderful endeavor and as for me I need to take the time to read on St.Columba of Iona so when asked who he is I can say more then some saint from the isles.I think..

Property

Today seemed like such a nice day to be outside mowing the grass.
Since it was just done last week I did not have to bag it just mulch it,which takes about 1/2 the time.
I prepared the mower and of course the sun never shines so brightly as it does when your mowing or doing yard work.
As I pushed the mower I surveyed all the limbs that need to be trimmed and the holes that need to be filled and thought of all the small jobs I had ahead of me.Thank God I'm on vacation this week and am healthy enough to do all that needs to be done to make the yard presentable to the neighborhood.
Last week while reading the Telegram and Gazette there was an article about dilapidated houses and messy over grown yards in Worcester.
It seems the town has decided to have people go around and anyone whose yard is not up to town pare they will fine the owners.They have even hired a person to measure the grass,if your grass is over one foot tall you will be cited.
The article talked about houses that are not being taken care of and property owners who need to do more so unsafe houses will not be a problem to the town.
One of the people they talked to was an elderly man,who looked rather frail and had such a property.
Now I understand property owners who own apartment houses and choose not to take care of them should have the book thrown at them, especially if they are wealthy, but you know not every one who owns a home is able to up keep it.
There are many elderly poor people who are just unable both physically and financially to keep up with these things.
We are becoming a nation of fines.Do this or do that or we will fine you.We'll not everyone is rich and with the Town of Worcester wanting to raise taxes on property how much more can a person just getting by pay.
This is a time when the churches in the area need to help their neighbors.Maybe they need to start summer youth group programs for teens in the churches to go and help the poor and elderly paint, mow grass and maybe move some junk helping to clean yards.
We always talk about how terrible it is that no one wants to be a part of our churches yet when people need help we are not there to help.
If we as a church want to be relevant we need to make our selves relevant.

California and Same Sex Marriage

Today in California court debates will be started on same sex marriage over proposition 8.
We in Connecticut were not allowed to vote on this issue our Representatives decided to do it for us even though it is a subject which should have been voted on by the people of this state since it effects this state.
In Massachusetts they were told they would be allowed to vote on this issue but their representatives also felt the answer they wanted would not come about so the Representatives also voted for the people.
I have to admire California at least they brought it to the people and let them have their say,To which they have said no.
I do not believe that same sex marriage should be called marriage.The history of marriage has been between a man and woman in order for the children to have a sire name,which was very important back in the old days.To have a child with out marriage and a father gave your child no rights to any inheritance.It was like being no ones son.
Unoinship between same sex couples should have its own name but all the rights of any married couple.
I think that thing that bothers me the most about this whole thing is that in some states we the people did not get the opportunity to cast our vote on this important issue instead our representatives felt they knew better.
This issue effects all the people of this country and as such every one should have the right to vote on it.
As it stands now in some states your married in others you are not I'm not sure how this is a good thing.
What If you live in a state that does not recognize you as being married then do you have any rights in your state.
Its funny how the liberal states like California and Vermont have turned down same sex marriage and I can tell you if we in Connecticut got to vote on it the answer would have been no.
Being a Christian puts me in that funny predicament of not being in favor of Same sex unions of any kind but also being compassionate of those who are gay.
In my life I have been friends with multiple gay people and their partners.I have also known that they have lived very difficult lives with 2 committing suicide and one having drug and alcohol issues for many years.
No one can say that living this sort of life is easy and why people are who they are is not up to me to judge.I just know that we as a country have to decide on what to do that will not make any portion of our population feel slighted or out cast.
We should have a national vote.
We either all vote in favor or against Gay Marriage then we can have peace with our decision and all the laws will be the same all over this country.

Jewel in a Vault

My friends' daughter graduated last night so this afternoon we are invited to a graduation cook out to celebrate.
This has been a real challenge for Katrina.
From the very start she was born premature and not expected to live and has had lots of school struggles but is very involved in her church and has decided to go to
Bible College to be a youth minister and maybe,if the calling is strong enough, a minister.
Yesterday I decided to not just give her money in a card but to buy her a small Christian gift.
Now being from a mega church and non denominational it became a challenge to find something appropriate.
I spent about an hour in "The Morning Star" store and finally settled on a pretty cross done in filigree witch looks very modern yet feminine.
While at this store I walked the aisles and checked out all the books,Cd's,pictures and other sorts of religious things.
As I eyed all these pretty things it came to me that although they seemed to have everything for every religion they had nothing Orthodox.That's when it dawned on me that we are really much better at hiding our faith then promoting it.
I saw all types of Catholic books,rosary beads,crosses and even alter things but nothing Orthodox.
Seems we Orthodox tend to take our true faith,like a hidden jewel from a vault,out on Sundays to impress each other but not to impress the rest of the world.
Are we afraid some strange thief will sneak up and steal it from around our necks never to be seen by us again?
Back 20 and 30 years ago it was not necessary to promote our faith.In the old country it was the national religion,supported by the government,and in this country the immigrants who came here had enough people to not only support the church but pass it on.
But alas as time as passed we now wane with fewer and fewer people picking up the mantle to carry into the future.
It is now time to make our selves know.To allow people who walk into a religious store to know we are here and we are significant.
As I continued to look at the book self titles in this store I noticed a sign which I thought said Apostolic but it did not it said apologetic.
Were does this leave us if Apostolic does not sit on a book self but Apologetic does.
We need to step forward and make our books and materials open to every one or we will have a Jewel in a vault,something of great value locked away in a dark place never to see the light of day.
how sad...

MotherTeresa and The Empire State Building

This August will be Mother Teresa 100 birthday and the Catholic League decided that in respect for her life and service they would ask the Empire State Building if they would light the building blue and white in honor of her birthday.
Seems that although the building could be lit for The Chinese Republic it can not be lit for what they consider a religious groups request.
Now I was truly outraged how do you deny anyone who devoted their life to selfless serving and compassion but give this honor to a country that is the biggiest civil rights abuser in history.
I know that this building is privately owned and can agree or deny any one the right to light its building any color at any time but lets face it when the Simpson's CD is considered important enough to light the building yellow but Mother Teresa is not then how much of a joke is this rational,obviously they have very high standards when a cartoon is considered so valuable.
Its really sad when we live in a country where its better to be non offensive to the secular few and take a stand against a great woman because she happens to be a follower and lover of Jesus Christ.
This woman helped so many people in so many countries to live and die with dignity.
She walked the streets of Calcutta and picked up the poor who were wound and worm infested washing their bodies and giving them not only medicine but dignity.
What exactly has the Empire State Building done to help its own street poor in its own City of New York?
Sarah Palin recently sent an e-mail to the web site of the Empire State building to voice her disapproval and I in turn am planning on doing the same.This will probably not sway their opinion but it will make me feel better.I also plan on telling everyone I know who are planning to visit New York to think twice before spending any money in the Empire State building gift shops.
There are lots of attractions and gift stores in New York maybe their money and time could be better spent in places more in need of the business.

B.P.

There is not much to say about the oil company B.P. except that they will be paying for this mess in the gulf for a long,long time.
On Sunday when I came home from work my husband told me at coffee hour,after Service,the table he was sitting at was discussing this B.P. spill.Some one said that many people in South bridge are not taking their business to the local B.P. gas station because of this whole mess.
I can understand how people feel helpless and need to make a stand but some times thought needs to be contemplation before action is taken.
The gas station which sells B.P. oil and gas is owned by a private citizen trying to make a living for him and his employees,if you refuse to do business with this station you are really hurting the owner and workers at the station and making a very small statement to B.P. which is a world wide company not just an American company.
I'm sure there has to be a better way to make your feelings known then to hurt innocent people trying to make a living.
Take for example all the people working on the ship that caused this whole mess is it the offense of every employee aboard that ship or simply the incompetence of the people at the top that where not prepared to deal with something they should have been.
Anger and frustration can bring out the worst in people.
Maybe this is our wake up call that if you expect the government to make things right your barking up the wrong tree.We are a great nation not because we allowed our government to make all things right but because we solved our own problems.

Crazy World

When the British troops surrendered to the Americans at the ending of the Revolutionary War the band played "The world turned upside down."
After coming home from work yesterday I decided to start supper.While cooking my husband said "your friend is in allot of trouble." To which I said which friend?
Well it seems an acquaintance of mine and my sisters best friend,since grammar school, had been arrested for sex with a minor.
I was shocked and could not believe that this pretty 43 year old woman had done such a thing.
I began to think what is wrong with this world that such things as this could be happening.I must admit it seems as if the whole world as gone mad when sexual encounters with minors do not seem taboo to some people.
Although I am giving her the benefit of the doubt and willing to wait and see how this mess all turns out,in my mind whether your a man or a woman,sex with children is "WRONG" and if you truly have done this you deserve to go to jail for a good long time.
I don't know if things like this were as prevalent when I was a child or if it just gets found out more but what ever it is the world is a mess.
The problem with something like this is if your guilty your name is ruined when its found out but if your innocent your name is still ruined because people will always wonder.
Now I'm not sure what I'm planning on doing about this maybe I will send her a note of encouragement and tell her to hang in there because she is still innocent until proven guilty,even though the evidence is not good on her part.
I remember the movie "The Graduate" of course this took place with an older woman and a college student but in the end the older woman just wanted to feel young with this man.
I'm not sure if this is the reason some one who is 43 would want to be with some one who is 16.Either way it is rather creepy.I guess you never want to feel as a woman that you are undesirable or maybe this has to do with domination either way its wrong.
Well once again this is all a situation that I am glad I do not have to face because this will be an up hill battle for not only her but her teenage daughter and grade school son.
Some times one moment of stupidity can lead to a life time of sorrow for every one involved.