Worldy things

[gord96]

has anyone had much success avoiding the pitfalls of things of this world.....I was able to stay focused on God so well a few months ago, but lately there have been so many things flooding my life that have nothing to do with God that I lose focus on Him....and to top it off today I got a new company truck and it is nice but I feel guilty.....I prayed many times today to overcome this and I am sure I will move on, but in today's western world there are so many distractions.....I think praying helps the most.....has anyone else struggled with focusing on worldy things after succesfully avoiding them for a while? i think attending more services will help to.....thanks for letting me vent

[Happy Orthodox]

I think what might help is visit a holy place, do a pilgrimage, I mean. This will give you a fresh boost of faith, and help you fight the centration on the worldly things. Visit a monastery, or famous Orthodox places nearby, like a beautiful cathedral, ect. There might be a miraculous icon traveling by. My mom and I went once to see the Root Icon of the Virgin Mary. Visit new Orthodox places, meet new people. I would consider going abroad if I had money and time, like to Mount Athos (you're a man, you can go), or other places. Even Alaska or San Francisco will go :) IMHO

If you don't have time and means to go anywhere, buy the Unseen Warfare and try to force yourself to read it. Believe me, all day long you will not be able to keep your mind off that book! Either your conscience will buzz you and try to get you to read it, or you will be thinking about things in it. Anyway, get a spiritual book, and that might give you a spiritual refreshment. Isaak the Sirian is good, too. Seraphim of Sarov, Abba Dorotheos (one of my favourite), etc. I also find "Contemporary Ascetics of Mount Athos" very helpful.

Tanya

[Photios]

I experienced something like this a about 6 months after my Baptism. Prayer, especially in the Divine Services, is a huge help. Make the time to hang out with some of the best Orthodox people you know. Not necessarily your priest, but sociable people who don't mind just hanging out for a while. Visiting places seems to help, but I think it is somewhat temporary;when you get back to your routine it seems to fade. One thing that helped was to ALWAYS wear my prayer rope. You don't have to use it all the time, but every time I feel it, it is a call to prayer, and that's a huge help.

[gord96]

thank you both for the responses....much appreciated.....a pilgrimage is something I hope I can do some day....what an experience that would be!

I will have to get a prayer rope for sure.....and start carrying one of my little icons around more......just need to focus.....even if my mind is clouded, just a short prayer can bring you some peace and for that I am greatful......thanks again :)

[Photios]

I wear 3 necklaces. My cross, the icon of St. Photios that Fr. brought back as a gift from NY, and an icon of the Theotokos from Serbia that was a Baptismal gift. I have a 100 knot prayer rope that is always on my wrist. I would forget about the prayer rope if it was anywhere else, but here it is a constant reminder. The icons and cross help too. A lot. Generally, I mess up the most when I am not wearing them, like before I get dressed, cause I'm lazy and lay around the house as long as possible.

[gord96]

cause I'm lazy and lay around the house as long as possible.

that makes two of us.....:sigh:

[Khaleas]

I think it also might be part of what Father called 'post-Pascha syndrome'. We've had it so strict and controlled and lots of services to keep us on the right track and then we're just dropped right back in the cold, hard world. Especially when it's into a week with no fast and so... we all go right back to our worldly ways and has no support from the many services anymore. Definitely was the case with me... back to eating in bed in front of the TV... lots of TV and laying around 'stinking it up' as my husband calls it :D .

There I was at confession the following Sunday, because the situation bugged the begeebers out of me and it felt so wrong but I'm a weakling, and Father gave some very good advice. Pray for strength and when things get too tempting, if you can't even keep yourself at your icon corner or away from the TV, computer, whatever... take a walk with your prayer rope. All three priests I've talked to lately have said we tend to forget the miracles God shows in nature and the space around us. As my prof in a class I'm taking now said: We're so focused on our own little space... we live in a box, leave the box and take our own bubble (aka car) to the next box and so on. He said the definition of Nature has changed a lot in the past decades.

Going to confession and communion has kept me a lot stronger and praying more... and yes, I slip but I've taken a few steps to the better... for now.

Ok, really need to write that paper now. UGH....

[Kolya]

There are so many ways the devil can trip us up - even on innocent things, so cut down on the open 'ports' he's got into your brain. If you drive a truck all day, consider a few small icons on the dash. I have two icons in the car, and I hold onto them and pray each time I leave the drive-way.
I sit at a desk all day, so my wallpaper on the screen is a tryptike (Sp) I made of my Patron Saint, Theotokos and Christ. They are constant reminders to me during the day.
I am no saint. I find myself critisizing ppl at the drop of a hat, especially while driving, and I have to like cross myself and pray 'Lord have Mercy' at least once a mile.:)
I take it you're not hitched up yet. When you are, remeber to stay away from the 'goggle box' and give your 'better half' all the attention you can. This can only improve your relationship with your spouse and God. Believe me, I know from bitter experience. Take it from an 'old fool'.
Like the Epistles say, the devil is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Stay out of his pathway, and follow our Lord's footsteps, and those of the Saints. Believe me, it's the only way.

God bless you,
Kolya

[Suzannah]

has anyone had much success avoiding the pitfalls of things of this world.....I was able to stay focused on God so well a few months ago, but lately there have been so many things flooding my life that have nothing to do with God that I lose focus on Him....and to top it off today I got a new company truck and it is nice but I feel guilty.....I prayed many times today to overcome this and I am sure I will move on, but in today's western world there are so many distractions.....I think praying helps the most.....has anyone else struggled with focusing on worldy things after succesfully avoiding them for a while? i think attending more services will help to.....thanks for letting me vent

We're HERE aren't we? We're online, in an internet forum where most of us, myself included, hold forth on all sorts of things, thinking that our opinions are the most important. To be honest, I think the internet has done more harm to me in my faith, than anything else.

[Photini]

I probably would have given up on my conversion to Orthodoxy if it hadn't been for my internet encounters with Orthodox people.

My biggest battle is laziness and procrastination.

[Marjorie]

Yeah I have a love/hate relationship with the internet, because like a lot of us here I first found Orthodoxy on the internet and so many of my Orthodox relationships online have been invaluable... but on the other hand it can be very dangerous to my faith in the ways that Suzannah noted. At some point I know I'll have to give it up and move on.

In IC XC,
Marjorie

[Kolya]

We're HERE aren't we? We're online, in an internet forum where most of us, myself included, hold forth on all sorts of things, thinking that our opinions are the most important. To be honest, I think the internet has done more harm to me in my faith, than anything else.

Suzannah, yes and no. I was an "Internet Catecumen", as it was the most invaluable source of obtaining information about being Orthodox, and what we believe.
But I do believe that forums can be damaging to one's faith if you set out to argue and prove your point. That is one reason I stick mainly to TAW, and don't engage in controversial arguments on GH.
I have seen the 'True Light' as we sing in Liturgy, and I don't have to seek any other. But I live in a very small circle, with almost no friends that come over to visit. The ones that do come are not Orthodox, so that does not help build up my faith. I have made a few good 'cyber friends' here, and we can help each other in the Way.

And if I can help an enquierer to better understand Orthodoxy, so much the better. The rest of my time I try to devote to prayer, worship and family relations.

[gord96]

thanks for your responses and your prayers....they have helped me alot!

I agree with Koyla....if not for the internet I would never have found Orthodoxy.....and seeing how most all of my friends are not religious and there is not alot of people my age at the parish I go to, sometimes the interet is the only place to get good advice from other people involved in Orthodoxy.....yes there are dangers, but like Koyla said, staying away from arguements is a good step in avoiding them.....

[Matrona]

If it hadn't been for the internet, my catechumenate would have taken much longer, and I might have given up altogether. My parish is very small and the internet gave me the support I needed from people my own age. I also liked being able to ask questions with relative anonymity. I felt stupid when I tried to ask them of "real people" but online I felt braver.

As for anyone who feels the internet has been harmful to their faith, I think a person who feels that way should cancel and resign from all of their internet accounts, log off immediately after that, cancel their ISP, and defenestrate their computer. And I think they should do it RIGHT NOW before it's too late.

[Kolya]

If it hadn't been for the internet, my catechumenate would have taken much longer, and I might have given up altogether. My parish is very small and the internet gave me the support I needed from people my own age. I also liked being able to ask questions with relative anonymity. I felt stupid when I tried to ask them of "real people" but online I felt braver.


Christ is Risen!!!

Spot-on Matrona:thumbsup: My expeience exactly. With our overworked priests that one sees only at confession, or coffee hour, when everyone else needs to speak to him, where else is there to turn to?
In the final analysis, our uncertain answers would always end with 'ask your priest'. But collectivly we can pick each other's brains about their own experience, or send someone to a link or printed book for more specific information that we may never have found on our own.
We must just guard ourselves and this board at all costs from any strife amongst ourselves, as that is what the enemy of souls wants. 'Divide and Rule' is the motto of those who would like to rule the world. United we stand - Divided we fall.

XB!

Kolya

[Matrona]

We must just guard ourselves and this board at all costs from any strife amongst ourselves, as that is what the enemy of souls wants. 'Divide and Rule' is the motto of those who would like to rule the world. United we stand - Divided we fall.

Everything learned online should be tempered with prayer and attendance at the divine services. All too often the Enemy is found within those we would have numbered in our own ranks, including here at TAW.

[Emmanuel-A]

Everything learned online should be tempered with prayer and attendance at the divine services.

That's wise :bow:

[Kolya]

Everything learned online should be tempered with prayer and attendance at the divine services. All too often the Enemy is found within those we would have numbered in our own ranks, including here at TAW.

That goes without saying. TAW can never be a replacement for DL. I never miss a Sunday service unless I am sick.
Remember Judas was one of the 12 too. Even at our parishes, we should watch out for wolves in sheeps clothing.
To recap, TAW is a meeting place (extended coffee hour:)) for discussion and advice, The main rule always is 'ask your priest'.

[Photini]

For me, during my conversion (I was never officially a catechumen), I couldn't receive much from my parish priest at the time. When I asked him even a recommendation for reading, he said to ask my sponser. We made trips to the monastery here in Florida occassionally, but the most valueable counsel came from a Hieromonk I met here on the internet. Many people here know of him from Monachos...Fr Averky (memory eternal). I spoke with him daily via e-mail and a couple of times on the phone. I still have all the e-mails he sent me.

[Maximus]

I converted to Orthodoxy without the aid or hindrance of the internet.

My subsequent use of the internet has been at times a blessing and at times a curse.

Or is it a blessing that causes me to curse sometimes? :confused:

RE: The OP.

Thank God for that new company truck. Enjoy it.

[Suzannah]

If it hadn't been for the internet, my catechumenate would have taken much longer, and I might have given up altogether. My parish is very small and the internet gave me the support I needed from people my own age. I also liked being able to ask questions with relative anonymity. I felt stupid when I tried to ask them of "real people" but online I felt braver.

As for anyone who feels the internet has been harmful to their faith, I think a person who feels that way should cancel and resign from all of their internet accounts, log off immediately after that, cancel their ISP, and defenestrate their computer. And I think they should do it RIGHT NOW before it's too late.

Your point is well taken Matrona. It was not lost on me at all. I should strive to be more like you, I suppose.

[Maximus]

I read a lot of books, talked a lot with a wonderful Carpatho-Russian priest (I was blessed to encounter several real live saints very early on), and watched a great video series by Fr. David Anderson (has anyone else seen it?).

I got into the net when I went to a religious forum (turned out to be TBTSNBN) to try to recruit people for a mission parish.

[Matrona]

I should strive to be more like you, I suppose.

No, more like Jesus.

[Dust and Ashes]

watched a great video series by Fr. David Anderson (has anyone else seen it?).

My wife and I have that series on loan from Orthodoxyusa right now and are watching them together. I've watched them all but am getting so much out of them the second time through, just as I did with Shallow Wells and For the Life of the World.

I love the way Fr. David laughs when he gets excited. :D

[Kolya]

I read a lot of books, talked a lot with a wonderful Carpatho-Russian priest (I was blessed to encounter several real live saints very early on), and watched a great video series by Fr. David Anderson (has anyone else seen it?).


I so wish I had the off-line resources you guys have. I just ordered Shallow Wells from Amazon and will have to wait another 3 weeks:sigh:

[Maximus]

I so wish I had the off-line resources you guys have. I just ordered Shallow Wells from Amazon and will have to wait another 3 weeks:sigh:

The little Carpatho-Russian mission parish in which I became Orthodox had a couple of shelves that served as a bookstore, and Fr. Nicholas' office was well supplied with instructional videos.

I bought books by placing money in the cigar box on the lowest shelf. Sometimes Fr. Nicholas would see me admiring a book and ask me if I wanted it. When I told him I did but was a little short on cash, he would laugh and say, "Take it. Pay when you can, but don't worry about it."

I was blessed.