Discipline and Un-Discipline

The discipline of the Christian Faith says, "Deny yourself."

The un-discipline of a fallen world says, "Be true to Self."

These two are completely at odds with one another, and that is why we do not all "just get along."

You can make attempts at reconciling the two. You can even "coexist" for a while.

In fact, many appear earnestly to pick and choose either of the above and make use of them as needed. A smattering of this teaching, a smattering of that teaching, but that is only self-serving.

In the end it is one or the other that prevails upon both body and soul.

Try as you might to think your Self to be separate from a body, and reality to be a monadic emanation without language and forms so that you can "rise above it all," like a drum stick on a wood block the reality of a true, physical, body and an ordered creation will humble you as you ought to be humbled.

To deny yourself is to depend upon Another. To deny yourself is to serve others. To learn these things is a gift from Above and cannot be conjured from your own heart.

That is why there is a Church, a body of Christ, with pastors and teachers. That is why together they pray and sing praises.

It is God the Father of the LORD Jesus Christ Who has placed you into this Body and kept you there, using simple means and words, just as He speaks and brings all history and creation into being.
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Good Impressions

There comes a point when efforts to impress others is a worthless pursuit. In fact, that point comes often and daily.

By "impress" I mean something different than "influence." I mean efforts to make others think you to be greater than you are.

Try as you may to escape those efforts, only an Outside Influence can strip away that pride.

And it needs to be stripped away and die.

I cannot do it for you, or even for myself.

It has been accomplished through God Who took upon Himself your nature in and through Christ Jesus to suffer and to be crucified and be raised up from the dead in your place.

The holy prophets and apostles attest to this, as do the ministers of His Gospel to this day.

No other source of life.

No other source of blessing.

No other real peace, whether in this life or in the life of the world to come.

The impression of His Name placed upon you is all that matters, and for the joy set before Him He has, and will endure for you.

Bless His holy Name.

Call upon Him in every trouble.

The rest, while not impressive, is what truly matters.
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Hymn of Light

Joyous light of glory: of the immortal Father; heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ.

Today you can flip a switch in a dark room and have instant light. For most of history that has not been the case.

Until Thomas Edison and others came up with a way to harness electricity, the only way to have light at night was to make use of that which governs the night from the earliest days of creation or light something up such as a torch, candle, or oil lamp.

We have come to the setting of the sun, and we look to the evening light.

This transition from day into night is the most dramatic and frequent occurrences happening on the planet.

You take it for granted, but it happens because the Creator, Who made all things good, blesses and sustains His creation. All of it. Just as He has done from day to day from the beginning.

That is something worth singing about, and so the Church does.

The Phos Hilaron, or Hymn of Light, happens to be the most ancient hymn currently sung in the Church. It's words are worthy of pondering any time of day or night, for they remind you of the true Source of every blessing, whether it be the seemingly simple things like day turning to night, or that which is yet to be revealed.

At the heart of all light is Christ Jesus, the Light of the World, Whose works on our behalf come down to raise you up and bring you to Himself.

Those works include most specifically His becoming flesh like you, suffering for you, dying for you, rising and ascending for you, and reigning for you so that you may live without fear of death while loving and serving your neighbor.

So, as the days go by, consider the Phos Hilaron carefully and slowly. Like the rhythm between day and night, these words have sounded forth in the conversation between heaven and earth from the most ancient of times.
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