TRAPEZA AT ST. ANTHONY'S

Images of Mount Athos
from The Ascetic Experience

While receiving hospitality at this Greek Orthodox monastery in Florence, Arizona, 

these thoughts came to mind becoming

my spiritual food.  I wanted to

share them with you.

This WATER I drink will leave me thirsty again, but the water you give, O Lord, is Living Water which wells up in me unto eternal life.

This BREAD I break and eat points to you, my Savior, who said, "This is my Body which is broken for you."

The FRUIT on the table speaks of the righteous fruit of the Holy Spirit produced by love, devotion and obedience to Thee.

OLIVES speak of your passion in Gethsemane, where you sweat what were like great drops of blood under the groaning ancient olive trees.

The SALAD proclaims the verdant nature of the green pastures to which we, your sheep, are continually being led.

The OIL in the flask reminds me that you have given the pressed life of the olive to man, "to make his face shine."

And the VINEGAR takes me to the foot of your Cross, where "They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall:   And when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink."  Oh! the bitterness of the cup you did drink from the hand of your Father out of pure love for man, your creation run afoul of original intent.  You willingly took that cup and drank it to the full...and now offer it to me, as I follow thee.

The WINE we drink, which gives us joy, cost you great sorrow, for you trod the winepress alone separated from your Father, with whom you had existed from all eternity.  You declared at that final supper, "This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me."

O sinless One, what incomprehensible love you poured out, and are still pouring out, upon all mankind.  It is when I struggle with  my whole being to apprehend and understand this love (always beyond my finite mind), that I remember there remains an invitation from the King of kings and Lord of lords which I must not ignore:

"BEHOLD I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door,

I will come in to him and dine with him,

and he with Me." Rev. 3:20

WE ARE STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS HERE

It is our privilege to be so,

longing for our eternal home.

Hated and maligned, we bless.

Echoing our Lord's "Father forgive them,

for they know not what they do",

we become one with the One

Who showed us the true path Home.

THERE IS ESSENCE IN EVERYTHING

"Inside the Holy Church Temple whatever is being said or chanted, whatever we hear, see, smell, whatever illuminates, is not just a mere symbol, or simple words and sounds or even simple little flames that light up the candles and the vigil lamps.  There is essence in everything for they express overwhelming events whose depth is inconceivable, incomprehensible.  We cannot feel it spiritually or touch it physically."  (Experiences During the Divine Liturgy)

Painting:  Artist Anastasia Gelety
"The Mystery is not available to all"

THE CIRCULAR PRAYER OF MY HEART

Which translates to:

"IN THY LIGHT WE SHALL SEE LIGHT"

BOWING LOW WE ARE LIFTED

"THOU ART WRAPPED IN MYSTERY

AS IN A CLOUD"

Michael Schennum/Arizona Republic

While living in Arizona in 2013, there was a plane crash on the Superstition Mountain killing all aboard.  This mountain played a huge part in our lives in the desert, for it was in our view constantly, and we watched it's moods change with the light.  There were strange stories of men who braved the wilds of this mountain to find gold, and never returned.  But we desert-dwellers had never heard anything like this sad story of the mountain claiming multiple lives that summer night, leaving mysterious details unexplained.  This was a time when our faith, and that of others, was put to the test.

I have been surprised at how deeply the recent plane crash on our mountain has affected me.  Careful preparation by three adult males--the co-pilot and father of the children, the pilot and co-owner of the twin-engine prop plane with a wife and child of his own at home, and an airplane mechanic who was to be married next month--did not keep them  from "disappearing" into the craggy top of this monolith.  Their mother sent the three children flying off with their father (having recently been divorced) and these two other men to Safford for Thanksgiving, and I am haunted by the specter of a scene showing a lack of evidence that these six souls ever existed.  They took off from Mesa's Falcon Field with the light fading--what happened that they were not able to clear the top of the mountain, flying straight into it at 200 mph, may forever remain a mystery.  How painful can be the unexplained tragedies of life, when the WHY cries for an answer.

That night we actually did hear their crash, a muffled sound, unexplained.  I got up the next morning and saw in the dim morning light two bright lights hovering over the Flat Iron portion of the Superstition Mountain, thinking it a strange sight, only to learn later they were looking for survivors.  We had just heard of the tragedy on the radio, and that there would be no survivors in such a crash...

Today I awoke with a heart still sore for these victims, and those who mourn them, and found the mountain shrouded with vapor as if softening the scene and hiding the reality of their deaths.  Our God is often "wrapped in mystery", and this is one of those times when I must bow low to His omnipotence, trusting He remains a loving and merciful God no matter the brutal deaths that the mountain hides.  I choose to renew my mind with this eternal yet time-sensitive fact that He watches over each of His creatures, His eye even on the lovely doves and lowly sparrows which often fall to the ground here, victims of mirror-like windows.

Superstition Mountain Enfolded In Cloud

Thou art indeed wrapped in mystery, O Lord, and I choose to worship Thee in a world that has fallen from the perfection and beauty of Paradise.  What a wonder, that by taking the way of deep humility, You descended that we might ascend with You through the narrow way found in following that same pattern.  In following, we will be established on the Rock which is Christ: He does not move, nor is He capricious in His love for mankind. He Who provides shade from the noonday sun and the gift of Life everlasting watches closely, giving us the grace to trust Him in the shadows cast upon this world's landscape. 

"And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.  And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth... And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped."  (Exodus 34: 5-6, 8) 

THE GARDEN OF YOUR HEART

A GEOGRAPHICAL PILGRIMAGE...

A geographical pilgrimage to a 

distant monastery or holy shrine

is also the symbolic acting out

of a person's inner spiritual journey.

--Archimandrite Sophrony

SOFTLY, DEEPLY

Like the fire on your hearth, 
may there be
a blazing in your heart
for love of God, and others.
 Then wrap yourselves up
in the bundle of life together
no matter the wind, nor the weather;
for I have often heard it said, 
if one wants a friend to keep,
"Snow that falleth soft
   always ever sinketh deep".

PRAYER FOR BEGINNING OF THE DAY

O LORD, grant me to greet the coming day in peace.  Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will. In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me.  Bless my dealings with all who surround me.  Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all. In all my deeds and words, guide my thoughts and feelings.  In unforeseen events, let me not forget that all are sent by You.  Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others.  Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring.  Direct my will, teach me to pray, and You, Yourself, pray in me.  Amen.

             --Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow