evlogia

For Thea Sophia

 

New Look

Late last night I decided to give evlogia a new look for the Nativity and winter season. I woke up to questions about the new banner. In good humor, one of my readers asked me Who moved my cheese? Apparently the previous banner was well-loved. I agree. The monastery photos were beautiful and inspiring. But being fickle, I'd like to redecorate each season and plan to leave this theme up until the beginning of the Great Fast in mid-February. 

Paul took the new banner photo at the arboretum. The little fairy tale Hansel and Gretel house is a favorite of our children and I just prettied it up by adding evlogia to the door. It has a warm and welcoming homey feel and that's the way I want people to feel when the visit this space. 

And no, the change in banner does not signify a change in the focus of the blog. However, I admit that I have been giving this a bit of thought lately. Once Learning Through the Year of Grace goes live this spring, evlogia will no longer be a curriculum resource, but a more personal space. That will be a transition. But I have a series of posts in mind for the new year along the theme of living simply in a large family. The little fairy tale house will go nicely with the family-centered theme of the new posts.

The Necessity of Baptism

Nine times out of ten, when I check the stats and referrers to evlogia, I find a link to a message board. Usually it's a matter of someone sharing an idea or lesson plans posted here. With less frequency this blog is linked into the middle of a heated theological discussion. Most recently, I found my blog pulled into a debate on the necessity of the Mystery of Baptism.

It was obvious from the posts within the thread that the challenger came from a non-liturgical background, while the defendant argued from the opposite perspective. The arguments were volleyed in a steady and predictable rhythm. It was an easy dialogue to follow. I've heard the arguments more times that I can count and as the debate reached its climax, the challenger hurled the inevitable zinger, 

So you're saying that only those who have been baptized can be saved?

An age-old question among Christians of different denominational traditions and persuasions, no? But somehow, without fail, the person who asks it seems to do so with an air of novelty. (Kind of like the hundredth stranger (in a month's time) who remarks to me, "Oh my! You have your hands full!" As if that remark was somehow original. Do they really think I've never heard that one before? But I digress...)

Honestly, I find it surprising that this question endures. It's the result of backwards thinking, really. The question actually results from looking at salvation from the wrong perspective, one which assumes that God is the One in need and the process of salvation is a matter of satisfying God. As if God was the great almighty micro-manager somewhere up there, Who has set up a series of rules and regulations that must be respected and obeyed...or else! He approves of those who keep the precepts and turns His back on those who fail to do so. This model would assume that God was created in the image of man and not the other way around. 

Hand me the master list, St. Peter...Yes, yes, I see...Hmmm, not baptized, you say? Tsk tsk! Down you go!

No, that's how fallen man acts, not God. It is utterly ridiculous and most people know that; so much so that many respond by dismissing baptism completely, designating it as a symbolic outward witness. Impossible to think of God as One Who is so exacting and petty, the Christian life lived within the Mysteries of the Church is cast aside as one of no consequence.  

Salvation is about the healing of the human person, not the keeping of a set of rules (no matter how short or long one might argue that list to be). This is no legal transaction. The Church doesn't give us rules, but prescribes that which ministers to this healing process. 

The union of two persons, God and Man. 

God doesn't need baptism. We do. Baptism doesn't change the way God feels about us. God is not the One with the problem. Baptism purifies our hearts and plants the seed of immortality within us. 

Baptism changes man. 

Can man be saved without Baptism? That is not my business, but God's. Who am I to limit God's mercy? May God especially be with those outside the spiritual hospital, which is the Church. I struggle so much within it. God be with those who are without. 

This debate reminds me of the mystery of this season of the Nativity of Christ. The true miracle isn't so much that God came down to us. The great mystery is that God raised man to Himself. It isn't so much about His condescension, mind-boggling though it may be, but about man's ascension. 

God became man, so that man might become god.

~St. Athanasius the Great (+373 AD) On the Incarnation 

That which God is by Nature, He bestows on man through His Uncreated Grace. Baptism is the the beginning of that great transformation, the writing of Man into an Icon of Christ.

It's the only new thing under the sun.

Having beheld a strange Nativity,
Let us estrange ourselves from the world
And transport our minds to heaven;
for the Most High God appeared on earth as a lowly man,
because He wished to draw to the heights them that cry to Him!
Alleluia!

~The Akathist to Our Most-Holy Lady, the Theotokos

Baby's First Christmas

Yes, yes, I know I resolved myself to refrain from posting full face photos of my children on this blog. 

But really, I couldn't help myself. 

(I have to admit, the closed comment policy is getting pretty boring too.) 

If you don't like the weather, wait a minute.

 

Snow today and I believe the forecast predicts 52 degrees tomorrow.
Definitely Texas weather, ya'll.

Mikhail Nesterov's St. Sergius

Posting this one for my daughter, Eleni. After watercoloring St. Sergius as a young boy for Letters of Grace, I am sure she will appreciate Mikhail Nesterov's painting. (I guess that answers the question of who is creating the original artwork for the curriculum. That would be my fourteen year-old daughter. And yes, we're still working on that Q&A post.)

Archpastoral Message

of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah for the Nativity of Christ 2009

To the Very Reverend and Reverend Clergy,
Monastics, and Faithful of
The Orthodox Church in America

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

We rejoice in the coming of the Savior, the Advent of the Son of God into this broken world. His Nativity anticipates and prefigures His Second and Glorious Coming again in the flesh, not clothed in the swaddling bands of humility, for but a few years; but in the radiant vesture of the Kingdom to reign forever.

Read the rest here. 

The Tree of Jesse for Little Ones ~ Week Eight

Download Day Fifty ~ Sword

Download Day Fifty-One ~ Sandal

 

Download Day Fifty-Two ~ Dove

The End

Winter Menu

I have spent 2009 setting up my Cycles of Grace notebooks and the greatest chore of the project has been formally laying out our seasonal menus. When I say that our family menu mirrors the liturgical year, there is no greater example of this than the menus filed in Notebook Two. Within the Nativity seasonal notebook there are four menus:  Nativity Fast, Thanksgiving, Nativity and Winter. 

As Anna reminded us in her Winter Menu post, this year there are only 35 non-fasting days between the festal days of Nativity and the beginning of the Great Fast. The chore of planning our Winter Menu suddenly became an enjoyable project when the brevity of our festal eating came clearly into view.  

Our Winter Menu is now filed in my green Nativity notebook. I can't share all the recipes as some are not my own; but I offer a few below that we will be enjoying for the next few, short weeks. 

Download Egg Nog Muffins

Download BBQ Chicken Pizza 

Download Meatball Subs

Download Penne with Sausage, Artichokes & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Mystery Challenge

Mark your calendar! My little sister's next Cake Challenge is scheduled to air on Sunday, January 10 on The Food Network. I believe the time is 7:00 pm central, but I'll share that info when the episode details are updated on their website. This one will be a mystery: mystery cake, mystery client, mystery assistant and mystery judge. We've been told that the Challenge she filmed last week will air in April. I'll let you know the date when we're sure.