A Thought For Pascha

[ephraimanesti]

FINAL WORD

In this shattered crumbling world which is obviously coming to its foreordained bitter end, the war of man against God continues; however, it has ceased with us. We are no longer children of war who cry ourselves to sleep over the death of God and the loss of Light and Love in the world. We are no longer children of darkness but are children of the Light, for we know our origin, we have lived through our death, and have been resurrected.
We now know the difference between deformity and beauty, evil and good, truth and lies, hate and Love -- and to speak of Love is to dare to speak of God, for God is Love. Thus, God is not dead, for who could kill Love? It is this Love that is worth dying for daily -- it is God who alone is worthy of our love, for He first Loved us; it is God who alone is worthy of our ultimate sacrifice, for God first died for us.
We have survived the hell of this dying world and now know that the Kingdom of God is within us. As the world continues in death, we will carry the Cross of Life for we see clearly the hell around us, but choose to be crucified personally -- mystically; for crucifixion is the only way to resurrection.
Through this resurrection, Christ thrashed the gates of hell and unshackled those who were in its chains. He trampled down death by death, and gives life to those in the grave. All this with the power of God, leaving us with two simple Commandments - instructions for the last true rebellion:

“YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.
“This is the first and greatest commandment.
“And the second is like it:
“YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.
“On these two commandments hang all the Law and Prophets.”
--Matthew 22:37-40

With these truths the youth of the apocalypse can rise above the darkness of the end times and become the light of the world.

“But as for now there abides faith, hope and love,
these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
--I Corinthians 13:13

--taken from YOUTH OF THE APOCALYPSE AND THE LAST TRUE REBELLION

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

CHRIST IS RISEN!
INDEED HE IS RISEN!

[minasoliman]

There is no such thing as an individual. He was created, probably, in a Western European university. We don't recognize our essential communion. I don't look at you and say, "You are my life." Modern interpretations of the commandment in the Torah (Old Testament Law) reflect this individualistic attitude. The first commandment is that you love God with all your mind, all your soul, and all your strength; and the second is that you love your neighbor as yourself. The only way you can prove you love God is by loving your neighbor, and the only way you can love your neighbor in this world is by endless forgiveness. So "love your neighbor as yourself."

However in certain modern editions of the Bible, I have seen this translated as, "You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself." But that's not what it says.

I recall a televised discussion program in which we were asked what was most important in Christianity. Part of what I said was that the only way we can find ourselves is to deny ourselves. That's Christ's teaching. If you cling to yourself, you lose yourself. The unwillingness to forgive is the ultimate act of not wanting to let yourself go. You want to defend yourself, assert yourself, protect yourself. There is a consistent line through the Gospel -- if you want to be the first you must will to be the last. The other fellow, who taught the psychology of religion at a Protestant seminary, said, "What you are saying is the source of the neuroses of Western society. What we need is healthy self-love and healthy self-esteem". Then he quoted that line, "You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself." He insisted that you must love yourself first and have a sense of dignity. If one has that, forgiveness is either out of the question or an act of condescension toward the poor sinner. It is
no longer an identification with the other as a sinner, too.

As we were leaving, a venerable old rabbi with a shining face called us over. "That line, you know, comes from the Torah, from Leviticus," he said, "and it cannot possibly be translated 'love your neighbor as you love yourself.' It says, 'You shall love your neighbor as being your own self.' Your neighbor is your true self. You have no self in yourself.

After this I started reading the Church Fathers in this light, and that's what they all say -- "Your brother is your life." I have no self in myself except the one that is fulfilled by loving the other. The Trinitarian character of God is a metaphysical absolute here, so to speak. God's own self is another -- His Son. The same thing happens on the human level.

But if that is my reality, and my only real self is the other, and my own identity and fulfillment emerges only in the act of loving the other, that gives substance to the idea that we are potentially God-like beings. Now, if you add to that that we are all to some degree faulty and weak and so on, that act of love will always be an act of forgiveness. That's how I find and fulfill myself as a human being made in God's image. Otherwise, I cannot. So the act of forgiveness is the very act by which our humanity is constituted. Deny that, and we kill ourselves. It's a metaphysical suicide.

http://www.orthodoxnews.netfirms.com/24/Forgiveness%20-%20Breaking%20the%20Chain%20of%20Evil.htm

Christ is risen!