August 2010

Dear In Communion reader,

At the eucharistic Liturgy, the word “peace” or “peaceful” is heard at least forty times. Its final use is in the Prayer at the Ambo at the end of the service: “Give peace to your world, to your churches, to the priests, to all in civil authority, and to all your people.” The Liturgy itself is an experience of God’s peace.

Yet in many parishes peace is far from obvious once the Liturgy has ended. In one dramatic instance several years ago, the priest of an Orthodox parish in the US shot himself in the foot while in a struggle with the president of the parish council (the bullet was meant for his opponent). Many Orthodox families are torn by bitter internal conflict. Antagonism between Orthodox jurisdictions is a grim reality of Church life. Orthodox Christians can even be found poised to kill each other in the armies of their respective nations — such killing happened not long ago in the war between Georgia and Russia.

With realities like these in mind, I’m deeply grateful that we have Fr. John Mefridge’s article on peacemaking in this issue of In Communion. It’s practical, down-to-earth and at the same time theologically grounded. If we carry out our plans to produce a series of OPF booklets for parish use, Fr. John’s text will be a must.

The article by Kate Karam Moore poses a related challenge — that Orthodox Christians should play a much more significant role in efforts to outlaw torture, which in recent years has not only become a more common practice but, repackaged as “enhanced interrogation methods,” has become an accepted tool in “the war against terrorism.” (OPF in North America has recently become a member of the National Religious Coalition Against Torture.)

These are a subjects of ongoing significance for the Orthodox Peace Fellowship. Sadly, it is rare to hear about them in other Orthodox journals or to find such material on other Orthodox web sites.

We cannot carry on our work without your help. Thank you for whatever you manage to send, even if only once a year. One way to help is to make more than one donation per year to OPF, or who give more than the minimum. We are deeply grateful to those who manage to make monthly or quarterly donations. Such help makes a huge difference. You might also consider giving someone — a friend? your parish priest? — a subscription to In Communion.

In Christ’s peace,   Jim Forest, OPF co-secretary

Above: Transfiguration icon by Theophanes the Greek (Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow)

❖ In Communion / Summer 2010 / issue 57

“I was a stranger,” Christ says, “and you took me in.” (Mt 25:35) And again, “In so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.” (Mt 25:40)

In every believer and brother, though they be least of all, Christ comes to you. Open your house, take them in. “Whoever receives a prophet, shall receive a prophet’s reward.”… These are the qualities that ought to be in those who welcome strangers: readiness, cheerfulness, liberality. For strangers feel abashed and ashamed, and unless their host shows real joy, they feel slighted and go away, and their being received in this way makes it worse than not to have received them.
Therefore set aside a room in your house to which Christ may come; say, “This is Christ’s room; this is set apart for him.” Even if it is very simple, he will not disdain it. Christ goes about “naked and a stranger”; he needs shelter: do not hesitate to give it to him.

Do not be lacking in compassion or be inhuman. You are earnest in worldly matters, do not be cold in spiritual matters…. You have a place set apart for your wagon, but none for Christ who is wandering by? Abraham received strangers in his own home (Gn 18); his wife took the place of a servant, the guests the place of masters. They did not know that they were receiving Christ, that they were receiving angels.

If Abraham had known it, he would have lavished his whole substance. But we, who know that we receive Christ, do not show as much zeal as he did, who thought that he was receiving mere men.

— St John Chrysostom
Homily 45 on the Acts of the Apostles; PG 60: 318-320

❖ In Communion / Summer 2010 / issue 57

by Fr. John Mefrige

Although Christ proclaims, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God,” too often we see the children of the Church embroiled in destructive conflict and controversy. Has there ever been a parish council free from conflict? Who has not experienced rancorous divisions among fellow parishioners? Who does not know Orthodox families who have gone through acrimonious divorces? We can shrug it off, saying such conflict is “normal” and do our best to survive it. But in reality conflict often leaves behind enduring damage – severed relationships, broken ties, people left scarred and embittered.

Should we Christians not do better than this? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could respond to conflict in gracious and constructive ways? Might we learn how to handle conflict so as to build relationships rather than harm them? I believe we can – that we can learn to see conflict as a way to minister to each other and to glorify God. We can harness conflict as a transforming power toward growth and healthy change.

Christ gives us a model of handling conflict constructively when a young man approaches and asks his help in settling an inheritance. Instead of behaving as a judge, Christ addresses the underlying issue: “Take heed and beware of all covetousness, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” He then illustrates this truth in the parable of the rich fool. (Lk 12:13-21)

When faced with conflict, we often focus on what the other person has done wrong. In contrast, scripture and Church tradition call us to focus primarily on what is going on in our own hearts when we are at odds with another. In the Lenten prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian, we are called first to see our own sins, and not to judge our brother. Why? Because according to scripture, the human heart is the wellspring of conflicts. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” (Mt 15:19) The heart’s central role in conflict is vividly described in the epistle of James:

What causes wars, and what causes fights among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your bodily parts? You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. (James 4:1)

This passage hints at the underlying cause of destructive conflict: conflicts arise from unmet desires within what the Church Fathers call the “heart.” When scripture and the Fathers speak of the heart, they mean both the spiritual heart (nous) and the physical heart (kardias) – the place reserved for the contemplation of God, the center of our being where we have communion and union with God. When the desire for something earthly replaces our desire for God, we commit idolatry.

When we feel we cannot be satisfied until we have something we think we need, desire becomes a demand. In relationships, if someone frustrates or fails to meet our desires, we judge him or her in our hearts, and a fight ensues. In short, conflict arises when desires grow into demands, and then we judge and punish those who oppose us. This is the normal progression in the establishment of an idol, and an idol always demands sacrifice. Let’s look at the four stages of idolatry one step at a time

Stage 1: “I Desire”: Conflict always begins with some kind of desire. According to scripture, some desires, such as vengeance, lust or greed, are categorically evil. But many desires – the desire for peace and quiet, a clean home, an intimate relationship with a spouse, or children who are respectful and well-behaved – are not wrong in themselves. If a good and holy desire is not being met – for example, there are problems in a marriage – the two partners need to talk about it together. They may discover ways that they can better understand, help and serve each other. It may be a slow and difficult process. One partner may be unwilling to discuss particular issues. Husband and wife then stand at a crossroads where conflict can either be avoided, even at the cost of stagnation, or seen as opening a gateway to growth. Each has a choice between dwelling on frustrations and allowing these to control his or her life – which is likely to result in self-pity and bitterness – or actively looking for solutions while continuing to love the other and praying for God’s help (and also the help from others, such as a marital therapist).

Stage 2: “I Demand”: Unmet desires can work themselves deeper into our hearts, especially when we perceive a desire as something we need for our happiness or fulfillment. We justify and legitimize desires:

• I work hard all week. Don’t I deserve a little peace and quiet when I come home?
•    I worked two jobs to put you through school; I deserve your respect and attention.
•    I spend hours managing the family budget; I deserve a new car.
•    My family has been in this church for generations; we deserve to be recognized.
•    I have given a lot of money to this church – you’d better listen to what I say.
•    Scripture says a husband and wife should be one flesh. I need more sexual intimacy.
•    I only want what God commands – children who respect and honor their parents.

Each of these demands contains an element of truth, but we find it easy to let unmet desires lead to destructive entitlement. The more we think we are entitled to something, the more convinced we are that we cannot be happy or secure without it. Again, this is the normal progression in establishing an idol. “I wish I could have this” becomes “I must have this.”

Even if the initial desire was not inherently wrong, it has grown so strong that it becomes an idol that controls our thoughts and affects our behavior. According to scripture, an idol is something other than God that we set our hearts on (Lk 12:29), that motivates us (1 Co 4:5), that rules us (Ps 119:133; Eph 5:5), or that we trust, fear, or serve (Is 42:17; Mt 6:24; Lk 12:4-5). In short, it is something we love and pursue in place of God. (Php 3:19) The reality is that every sincere Christian must struggle with idolatry. We may believe in God and profess the Creed, but at times we allow other influences to rule us.

The question then arises, how can we discern the deterioration of a good desire into a sinful demand. We begin by looking inward and asking ourselves these questions to reveal the true condition of our hearts:

•    What am I preoccupied with? What is the first thing on my mind in the morning and the last thing on my mind at night?
•    How would I complete this statement: “If I only had [x] I would be happy.”
•    What do I want to preserve or avoid?
•    Where do I put my trust, and what do I fear?
•    When a certain desire is not met, do I feel frustration, anxiety, resentment, bitterness, anger, or depression?
•    Is there something I desire so much that I am willing to disappoint or hurt others in order to have it?

As we search our hearts for idols, we often encounter multiple layers of concealment, confusion and justification. One of the most subtle ways in which we may develop a sinful demand is to argue that we want things that are in and of themselves good and holy. A mother may desire that her children be respectful and obedient to her and kind to one another. When they do not fulfill these goals, even after her repeated encouragement or correction, she may feel frustrated, angry, or resentful. She needs to ask herself, “Why am I feeling this way? Is it a righteous anger, or selfish anger?” Most often it will be a mixture of both. Part of her truly wants to see her children grow in the image of God, but another part of her is motivated by a desire for her own comfort and convenience. She must ask which desire is really controlling her heart.

If the God-centered desire is ruling her heart, her response to disobedient children would resemble God’s discipline toward us. “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love.” (Ps 103:8) As she imitates God’s love for us, she will respond as in Galatians 6:1: “If someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.” Although her discipline may be direct and firm, it will be wrapped in gentleness and love, and leave no residue of resentment.

On the other hand, if her desire for comfort and convenience has become an idol, she will react with harsh anger and hurtful words or discipline. She may feel bitterness or resentment because of her frustrated desires. Even after disciplining her children, she may maintain a lingering coolness or a distance toward them that extends their punishment and warns them not to cross her again. If attitudes and actions of this sort tend to characterize her response, it is a sign that her desire for godly children has probably evolved into an idolatrous demand.

Stage 3: “I Judge”: In judging, we play God. A sign of idolatry is the inclination to judge. When people fail to satisfy our demands, we criticize and condemn them in our hearts, if not with our words. The truth is that when we judge others – criticize, nit-pick, attack, condemn – we are literally acting like a god. We commit the sin of Lucifer, coveting the judgment seat reserved only for God. Scripture tells us clearly that “There is one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you that you judge your neighbor?” (James 4:12)
When we fight, accusations fill our minds. We play the self-righteous judge in the mini-kingdoms we establish in our families, workplaces, and churches. When we judge others and condemn them in our hearts for not meeting our desires, we are imitating not Christ but the Devil. We have doubled our idolatry: we have let an idolatrous desire rule our hearts, and we have set ourselves up as mini-gods. This is the formula for destructive conflict.

This is not to say that it is inherently wrong to evaluate – even judge – others within certain limits. Scripture teaches that we should observe and evaluate others’ behaviors so that we can respond and minister to them in appropriate ways, which may even involve gentle confrontation. (Mt 7:1-5, 18:15; Gal 6:1) But we cross the line when we begin to judge others based on feelings of superiority, indignation, condemnation, bitterness, or resentment. Sinful judging often involves speculating on others’ motives. Most of all, it reveals a self-centered love for ourselves and the absence of a genuine love and concern toward others. These attitudes show that our judging has crossed the line, and we are playing God. We expect more of those who are closer to us, and we are more likely to judge them when they fail to meet our expectations. We may look at our spouse and think, “If you really love me, you above all people will help meet this need.” Or we look to our children and say, “After all I’ve done for you, you owe this to me.” We can place similar expectations on relatives, close friends, or members of our church. Expectations are not inherently bad, but expectations can become conditions and standards against which we judge others. Instead of giving people room for independence, disagreement, or failure, we impose our expectations on them. We expect them to give allegiance to our idols. When they refuse, we condemn them in our hearts.

Stage 4: “I Punish”: Idols demand sacrifices. Whether deliberately or unconsciously, we find many ways to hurt or punish people who refuse to gratify our desires. Sometimes we react aggressively in overt anger, with hurtful words toward those who fail to meet our expectations. Only if they give in to our desires and demands will we stop inflicting pain upon them. Children may use pouting, stomping, or dirty looks; adults, alike, may do the same. We may withhold our stewardship from the church as a punishment. Some may resort to physical violence or sexual abuse.

As we grow in the awareness of our sin, most of us recognize and reject these obviously sinful tactics. But our idols do not give up easily, and they often lead us to withdrawal from a relationship, giving the cold shoulder, withholding affection or physical contact, refusing to look someone in the eyes, ignoring phone calls, or abandoning a relationship altogether. Sending subtle, unpleasant cues over a long period of time is an age-old method. Often our churches and family relationships are filled with such behaviors. The message is “Either get in line with what I want, or you will suffer.” In reality, such behavior shows we depend on ourselves instead of relying on God. Inflicting pain on others is one of the surest signs that something other than God – an idol – is ruling our hearts. (Jam 4:1-3) These behaviors warn us. The psalmist counsels, “You take no delight in sacrifice. Were I to give a burnt offering, You would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” (Ps 50: 18-19)

The Cure for an Idolatrous Heart: An idol, as we have seen, is any desire that has grown into a demand – something we love, fear, or invest with faith. Love, fear, faith … aren’t these terms of worship? In the Divine Liturgy we hear, “With fear of God, with faith, and love, draw near” at the very moment we are invited to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. In scripture we are commanded to love God, fear God, and have faith in God. (Mt 22:37; Lk 12:4-5; Jn 14:1) Any time we long for something other than God, fear something more than God, or trust in something other than God to make us happy, fulfilled, or secure, we are worshiping false gods. The way out of this bondage and judgment is to look to God Himself, who has provided the cure for our idolatry by sending His Son to free mankind from the bondage of sin and death. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom 8:1-2)
Not only have we been freed from sin and death, but also from the specific day-to-day idols that control us and cause conflict with those around us. Our deliverance, however, does not consist of having all our idols swept away once and for all. Instead, we are called to identify and confess them one by one in the sacrament of confession. To receive forgiveness from God and freedom from our compelling sins, we must acknowledge them and repent. (Acts 3:19) When we do this, we are – by adoption – His children and heirs of the Kingdom. (Gal 4:4-7) This is the Gospel, the good news – forgiveness and eternal life through our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ!

In confession, we examine our hearts before the icon of Christ in a regular, ascetical practice to free ourselves from idols. With the priest’s help, we lay them before the Lord so that He can remove them from our hearts.

To prepare for confession, we do well to use a procedure involving several steps.

1. Prayerfully ask ourselves the questions listed previously to discern the desires that have begun ruling our hearts.
2. Record our discoveries in a journal to identify patterns and steadily go after specific idols.
3. Describe our idols in detail to our spiritual father, spouse, or an accountability partner; ask them to pray for us and confront us with any signs that the idol still controls us.
4. Realize that idols are masters of change and disguise. As soon as we gain victory over a particular sinful desire, our idol is likely to reappear in a related form, with a redirected desire and more subtle tactics.
5. In the case of a particularly difficult idol, we should seek assistance from a licensed professional or such twelve-step groups as Alcoholics Anonymous, Sexaholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, etc.

If someone told you that you had a cancer that would take your life if left untreated, you would spare no effort or expense to pursue the most effective treatment available. Well, we human beings living in this fallen world have a “cancer” of the soul: sin and idolatry. But the cure has been given to us freely on the cross of Christ. This cure is administered through the Word, the Spirit, and the Church. The more rigorously we avail ourselves of these means of grace, the more power we will have to be delivered from the idols that plague us.

Replacing Idol Worship with Worship of the True God: Ultimately, idolatry is what we do when we do not fully satisfy ourselves in God, instead seeking other sources of happiness and security. If we want to eliminate the idols from our hearts and leave no room for them to return, the cure is to pursue whole-heartedly an all-consuming worship of the living God. We must ask God to teach us how to love, fear, and have faith in Him above all else.

Replacing idol worship with worship of the true God involves several steps:

Repent before God. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” (Ps 50:19; Isaiah 66:2b) This is true worship. (1 Jn 1:8-10)
Fear God. Stand in awe of the true God when we are tempted to fear another person or the loss of something precious. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom.” (Prov 1:7) “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Mt 10:28)

Love God. Desire the One who forgives us instead of looking to other things that cannot save: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Mt 22:37, 6:33)

Have faith in God. “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.” (Ps 118:8) “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Prov 3:5)
God has designed a wonderful cycle for those who want to worship Him above all things. As you love, praise, give thanks, and delight in God, you will look less to the things of this world for happiness, fulfillment, and security. By God’s grace, the influences of idolatry and conflict in your family will steadily diminish, and you and your family can enjoy the intimacy and security that come only from worshiping the one true God.

Fr. John Mefrige has theological and psychological training, holding both a Master of Divinity from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and a Master of Science in Marital and Family Therapy from Fuller Theological Seminary. Presently he is pursuing a doctorate in Ethics and Christian Peacemaking. He is founding priest and Proistamenos at St. Ephraim the Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Church in San Antonio, Texas. He serves as chaplain to the San Antonio Police Department and is founder of the Coalition of Orthodox Peacemakers. For additional resources for those dealing with conflict, he recommends The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict by Ken Sande of Peacemaker Ministries.

❖ In Communion / Summer 2010 / issue 57

by Kate Karam Moore

An alarming number of people, including many active in church life, have come to regard torture as an acceptable interrogation method rather than a violation of human rights or a degradation of the image of God in each person. This is especially when the accusation of terrorism has been made. Euphemisms like “enhanced interrogation methods” and “water-boarding” are frequently published in newspapers and heard on our radios and televisions. Over time we have become less disturbed by reports of U.S.- sponsored torture.

One can only hope that the recent White Paper issued by Physicians for Human Rights – recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 – will help awaken our ethical senses. The 30-page report, issued in June, indicates that since 9/11, CIA medical professionals have engaged in medical experimentation on detainees. These doctors were not caring for the health of individuals. They were not prescribing medicine or diagnosing disease. They were involved in torture. To quote from the report:

Health professionals, working for and on behalf of the CIA, monitored the interrogations of detainees, collected and analyzed the results of those interrogations, and sought to derive generalizable inferences to be applied to subsequent interrogations. Such acts may be seen as the conduct of research and experimentation by health professionals on prisoners, which could violate accepted standards of medical ethics, as well as domestic and international law. These practices could, in some cases, constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.” (To read the full text, go to: http://phrtorturepapers.org)

Responding to the physicians’ initiative, on June 8 the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) organized a press conference at which Executive Director Rev. Richard Killmer announced that NRCAT has formally requested a federal investigation into allegations of CIA use of torture and experimentation on prisoners. For Linda Gustitus, President of the Campaign, the physicians’ report provided disturbing evidence that “doctors employed by the CIA monitored, recorded, and assessed” torture practices “to improve their effectiveness.” Not only were doctors used to develop interrogation techniques, but their involvement protected non-medical personnel involved in torture from prosecution for what they were doing – “a cynical effort,” said Gustitus, “to meet the conditions manufactured by the Department of Justice to get around the well-established definition of torture.” In this way the U.S. government can declare that it vehemently opposes torture while departments of government research and practice torture.

Several Orthodox bishops have signed NRCAT’s Statement of Conscience against U.S.-sponsored torture, including Greek Archbishop Demetrios, Antiochian Metropolitan Philip, Armenian Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, Romanian Archbishop Nicolae Condre, and Metropolitan Christopher of the Serbian Orthodox Church. By signing the Statement, they agree that torture “degrades everyone involved – policy-makers, perpetrators and victims. It contradicts our nation’s most cherished ideals. Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and morally intolerable.”

Thank God they are taking a public stand. It’s a beginning. In other areas of the world, Orthodox bishops, priests, and lay people are prominent in the anti-torture movement. Sadly, American Orthodox believers remain far more passive regarding torture, a silence that can only create a breeding ground for more torture and other acts of abuse. We must speak out. If ever there was a time to speak out against torture, the time is now.

Given our experiences with torture, the Orthodox Church is uniquely prepared to speak out against torture practices in our governments. The Orthodox Church has experienced the evil of torture from our founding to the present day. Following the torture and crucifixion of Christ, the apostles faced torture and imprisonment, in the end giving their lives as martyrs. Many of our churches are named after martyrs who were tortured, among them St. Christina of Tyre and St. Katherine of Alexandria. One cannot imagine an Orthodox church lacking icons of saints who suffered torture. Our faith is dynamically shaped by the sufferings of the faithful.

Many of our parishioners have fresh memories of torture, ethnic cleansing and genocide. Indeed, we have living witnesses in our midst who carry on their bodies and in their minds the scars of torture. CIA doctors are alleged to have used techniques on detainees that are reminiscent of Ottoman, Nazi, and numerous Communist regimes. During the Armenian Genocide, doctors used typhoid injections to kill thousands of Armenian prisoners. In Romania, Communist doctors tested sleep deprivation and extreme temperatures on captives in the gulags. Torture was commonly carried out against prisoners in Russia in the Soviet era, including many Christians. Now it appears America has joined the ranks of history’s torturing nations.

God reminded Israel, “You shall not enslave others because you were slaves in Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21, 23:9) Likewise we, whose community includes so many victims of torture, should feel a special obligation to prevent torture because we know what it is like to be tortured. As a communal Church, each of us is included in the experience of our co-communicants and is accountable for protecting others from torture. Every time we enter the church building, see the icons, light a candle, we are including ourselves in the great flow of the Orthodox faith. When we prepare ourselves for the Eucharist, we acknowledge that we are surrounded by a great “cloud of witnesses,” many of whom were tortured and degraded. When we include ourselves in the Church, we are incorporating the lives and struggles of the apostles, martyrs, and saints into our own experience.
During funeral services, when we sing, “May their memory be eternal,” we are asking God to further include us in the great movement of the Church. We are asking that the memory of past Christians be so absorbed by the souls of the present believers that their memories might be passed down eternally. There is a social responsibility involved in this process – that the faith, courage and values of earlier Christians would become ours.

None of us personally witnessed the actual death of Christ, yet we remember His death in the mystery of bread and wine. We participate in a historic event even though we were not there. When we receive communion, we are in communion both with Christ’s death and resurrection and with those who have lived the faith before us. In this way, for Orthodox Christians the experiences of the martyrs should be personal. They were tortured. They suffered under unjust governments. Torture threatened to degrade the image of God and the dignity of their faith. Although we, as individuals, may not have been tortured, we are included in the experience by “their memory eternal.” Accordingly, when Orthodox Christians encounter torture in our governments, we have a responsibility to act with the collective voice of the martyrs and saints and fight against the use of torture.

As Orthodox Christians, our understanding of community differs significantly from many of our Western counterparts who speak of Christ’s life and actions in the past tense. We are not asking God to help us learn from historic figures – we are asking for their actual, living faith, the intense and radical faith of the Apostles. When we say the words of the Creed, we are connecting ourselves with that faith. When we care for the sick or homeless, we are connecting ourselves with that original faith. The Apostles and Church Fathers took such strong stances in upholding the truth that they challenged the power structures of their governments. They loved the faith more than their own lives.

Care for the basic needs of others is at the heart of Christian faith. Christ represents a turn-the-other-cheek justice, a lay-down-your-life-for-the-lives-of-others type of justice. As Christ said, “What you have done to the least person, you have done to Me.” Through the Church calendar and our many commemorations, we remember the Christ-revealing lives of those who have gone before us. Yet in honoring heroes of the past, we cannot forget our responsibility to help shape the future. Christ’s crucifixion and His legacy mean nothing if we do not protect those being tortured and stripped of dignity in our own time. In communion with the radical faith of our forebears, we must stand against torture.

A significant action an Orthodox Christian in America can take is to join the National Religious Campaign Against Torture as a member, as the Orthodox Peace Fellowship has done recently. Via our web site, you can sign its “Statement of Conscience.” Encourage your parish to use NRCAT’s Orthodox materials. A video for adult parish use is available, including an Orthodox-specific discussion guide. Support our Metropolitans Christopher and Phillip and Archbishops Demetrios, Nicolae and Vicken by getting involved.

As Archbishop Demetrios stated, “The deliberate torture of one human being by another is a sin against our Creator, in whose image we all have been created. This practice should not be condoned or allowed by any government. It must be condemned by all people of faith, wherever it exists, without exception.”

Bearing the wounds of torture, Christ looks at us from our cathedral ceilings. In loving our Lord, Orthodox Christians ought to be doing all we can to abolish the abuse of captives, for whose protection and salvation we pray at every Liturgy. For the peace in the world, we pray to the Lord. For the sick, suffering, and the captives, we pray to the Lord. May our Liturgy so permeate our lives that our actions reflect our prayers as instruments of divine justice and compassion. ❖

Kate Karam Moore is a second-year student at Princeton Theological Seminary. Her studies include the Syriac and Coptic traditions, theology of the early Church, and modern applications of such Orthodox concepts as theosis. She writes, “I am Antiochian by baptism but was raised in between my mother’s Lebanese traditions and my father’s Protestant German ones.” She is currently a summer intern with the National Religious Campaign Against Torture <www.tortureisamoralissue.org> in Washington, DC. The graphic above was made by the author.

❖ In Communion / Summer 2010 / issue 57

Patristic commentaries on the Sermon on the Mount, continued…

Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, “You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.” But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply “Yes” or “No.” Anything more than this comes from evil. You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. – Matthew 5:33-48

A simple yes or no: [Jesus] has prohibited anyone from swearing by his head, for in doing so one would be worshiping himself. Rather, Jesus intends to refer all glory to God, signifying that human beings are not finally masters of themselves…. Our understanding of the principles of virtue has advanced beyond the time of Moses. Therefore divorce is now seen to be adultery and the necessity of an oath to be from the evil one. If the earlier laws had been devilish from the first, they would never have resulted in such goodness. Had Moses’s laws not been forerunners, Jesus’s teaching would not have been so easily received. Chrysostom. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 17.5-6.

Do not deify creation: Jesus prohibits us from swearing by heaven or by the earth … in order that we should not give to creation an honor surpassing creation. Do not deify creation. Those who swear, he says, “swear by the greater,” as the apostle has said. And he also forbids swearing by Jerusalem. For the earthly Jerusalem is a type of the Jerusalem above, and God swears only by himself, that is, by his own glory. Wherefore, since the similarity transcends us, we are obliged to swear neither by ourselves nor by our own glory. Cyril of Alexandria. Fragment 63.

Do not return evil for evil: A law prescribing an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, has this foundation: each will spare the other as long as one fears for one’s own limbs. It was thereby imagined that no evil person would be found. But woe to the earth for its failures! For as long as we live in this world, over which the devil rules, slanderers, fighters and persecutors will necessarily abound. If therefore we begin, according to the mandate of the law, to return evil for evil to everyone, we are all made evil, the foundation of the law is dissolved, and what results? While the law wanted to make the evil good, it also made the good evil. If, however, following the mandate of Christ, we do not resist evil, then even if the evil ones are not harmed, still the good will remain good. Thus through the mandate of Christ, the mandate of the law is also filled. For one who fulfills the mandate of the law does not at the same time fulfill that of Christ; but one who fulfills the mandate of Christ at the same time fulfills that of the law. Anonymous. Incomplete Work on Matthew, Homily 12.

Resist not evil: For this reason Jesus has also added, “but I say to you, do not resist the evil one.” He did not say “Do not resist your brother” but “the evil one.” We are authorized to dare to act in the presence of evil through Christ’s influence. In this way he relaxes and secretly removes most of our anger against the aggressor by transferring the censure to another. “What then?” one asks. “Should we not resist the evil one at all?” Indeed we should, but not in this way. Rather, as Jesus has commanded, we resist by surrendering ourselves to suffer wrongfully. In this way you shall prevail over him. For one fire is not quenched by another, but fire by water. Chrysostom. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 18.1.

Avoid every lawsuit: Beyond the tolerance of physical injury, the Lord wants us also to have contempt for things of this world and to be so far removed from every lawsuit or contest of judgment. If … a slanderer or tempter comes forward to initiate a lawsuit for the sake of testing our faith and to rob us of the things which are ours, the Lord orders us to offer willingly not only the things that the person goes after unjustly but even those not demanded. Chromatius. Tractate on Matthew 25.2.1.

The second mile: Do you grasp the excellence of a Christian disposition? After you give your coat and your cloak, even if your enemy should wish to subject your naked body to hardships and labors, not even then, Jesus says, must you forbid him. For he would have us possess all things in common, both our bodies and our goods, as with them that are in need, so with them that insult us. For the latter response comes from a courageous spirit, the former from mercy. Because of this, Jesus said, “If any one shall compel you to go one mile, go with him two.”Again he leads you to higher ground and commands you to manifest the same type of aspiration. For if the lesser things he spoke of at the beginning receive such great blessings, consider what sort of reward awaits those who duly perform these and what they become even before we hear of receiving rewards. You are winning full freedom from unworthy passions in a human and sensitive body. Chrysostom. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 18.3.

Give to one who begs: If we think that only [giving to beggars] is all that is taught about almsgiving, then there are many poor to whom it cannot apply, and even the wealthy can give forever, if they are always giving. For the sake of goodness, therefore, this doctrine of almsgiving was given to the apostles: that they who have freely received should freely give. Money of that sort is never lacking. As much as is given, by that much it is increased, and though the fountain water drench the fields below, it never runs dry. Jerome. Commentary on Matthew 1.5.42.

The rich and the poor: It is the law that you do not take from another, even if you do not give what is yours. It is grace, however, that you do not take from another and you give what is yours. Therefore whoever gives a loan fulfills both the law and grace. For he who gives freely of his own, would he then take the goods of another? The rich man therefore cannot be tested or proved through physical suffering. No one will likely do him violence; rather, he is tested and proved by generosity. Anonymous. Incomplete Work on Matthew, Homily 12.

You destroy yourself by hating: We have seen how murder is born from anger and adultery from desire. In the same way, the hatred of an enemy is destroyed by the love of friendship. Suppose you have viewed a man as an enemy, yet after a while he has been swayed by your benevolence. You will then love him as a friend. I think that Christ ordered these things not so much for our enemies as for us – not because enemies are fit to be loved by others but because we are not fit to hate anyone. For hatred is the prodigy of dark places. Wherever it resides, it sullies the beauty of sound sense. Therefore not only does Christ order us to love our enemies for the sake of cherishing them but also for the sake of driving away from ourselves what is bad for us…. If you merely hate your enemy, you have hurt yourself more in the spirit than you have hurt him in the flesh. Perhaps you don’t harm him at all by hating him, but you surely tear yourself apart. If then you are benevolent to an enemy, you have rather spared yourself than him. And if you do him a kindness, you benefit yourself more than him. Anonymous. Incomplete Work on Matthew, Homily 13.

Pray for those who persecute you: Christ did not simply command to love but to pray. Do you see how many steps he has ascended and how he has set us on the very summit of virtue? Mark it, numbering from the beginning. A first step is not to begin with injustice. A second, after one has begun, is not to vindicate oneself by retaliating in kind. A third, to refuse to respond in kind to the one who is injuring us but to remain tranquil. A fourth, even to offer up one’s self to suffer wrongfully. A fifth, to give up even more than the wrongdoer wishes to take. A sixth, to refuse to hate one who has wronged us. A seventh, even to love such a one. An eighth, even to do good to that one. A ninth, to entreat God himself on our enemy’s behalf. Do you perceive how elevated is a Christian disposition? Hence its reward is also glorious. Chrysostom. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 18.4.

Joint heirs with Christ: Since we have received the power to become sons, we are made sons insofar as we fulfill the precepts given to us by the Son. “Adoption” is the term used by the apostle to denote the character of our vocation to the eternal inheritance, in order to be joint heirs with Christ. By spiritual regeneration we therefore become sons and are adopted into the kingdom of God, not as aliens but as his creatures and offspring. Augustine. Sermon on the Mount 1.23.78.

The perfection of loving the enemy: He who loves his friends loves them for his own sake, not on account of God, and therefore he has no treasure. The loving itself delights him. However, he who loves his enemy loves not for his own sake but on account of God. Hence he has great treasure, because he goes against his own instincts. For where labor sows the seed, there it reaps the fruit. “Be ye therefore perfect, just as your Father is perfect.” He who loves his friend does not in fact sin but does not work justice. It is half a good that one depart from evil and not pursue good. It is perfect, however, that one not only flee evil but also accomplish good. So he said, “be perfect,” so that you might both love your friends on account of shunning evil and love your enemies on account of possessing justice. The former frees us from punishment; the latter leads us into glory. For a representative of God is not perfect who does not resemble God through his or her works. Anonymous. Incomplete Work on Matthew, Homily 13.

All things are perfected by goodness: The law used to demand that your neighbor be loved and allowed hatred against an enemy. Faith, rather, requires that enemies be cherished. It breaks the tendency we have to be peevish and urges us to bear life’s difficulties calmly. Faith not only deters anger from turning into revenge but even softens it into love for the injurer. It is merely human to love those who love you, and it is common to cherish those who cherish you. Therefore Christ calls us into the life of heirs of God and to be models for the just and the unjust of the imitation of Christ. He distributes the sun and the rain through his coming in baptism and by the sacraments of the Spirit. Thus he has prepared us for the perfect life through this concord of public goodness, because we must imitate our perfect Father in heaven. Hilary. On Matthew 4.27.

The law of gospel love: The Lord has shown that we cannot have the good work of perfect love if we love only those from whom in turn we know the return of mutual love will be paid in kind. For we know that love of this sort is common even to nonbelievers and sinners. Hence the Lord wishes us to overcome the common law of human love by the law of gospel love, so that we may show the affection of our love not only toward those who love us but even toward our enemies. Thus we may imitate the example of true piety and our Father’s goodness. Chromatius. Tractate on Matthew 21.2.1.

❖ The Authors ❖

St. Augustine (354-430) was a key figure in the development of Christianity in the West. Born in North Africa, in 383 he moved to Rome, and the following year to Milan to teach in the imperial court. The influence of St. Ambrose of Milan plus the impact of reading a life of St. Anthony brought him to baptism in 387. In 388 he returned to Africa. After converting his family home into a monastery, he sold his patrimony and gave the money to the poor.

Anonymous: Not all the names of the authors of ancient New Testament commentaries have survived. Recognizing the value of their writings, the Greek and Latin Fathers preserved surviving fragments in collections of their own writings.

St. Chromatius of Aquileia (+406/407), one of the most celebrated prelates of his time. He urged St. Ambrose to write exegetical works and St. Jerome to undertake translations and commentaries. In the bitter quarrel between Jerome and Rufinus, Chromatius sought to make peace between the disputants. He gave loyal support to St. John Chrysostom when he was suffering oppression from the imperial court.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) wrote several exegeses, including Commentaries on the Old Testament, Thesaurus, Discourse Against Arians, Commentary on St. John’s Gospel, and Dialogues on the Trinity.

St. Jerome, born in Stridon about 340, went to Rome in about 360, where he was baptized. He next went to Trier to begin his theological studies. About 373 he traveled to the East, first settling in Antioch, where he was ordained a priest. He went to Constantinople where a friendship sprang up with St. Gregory of Nazianzus. In 386 he settled in Bethlehem, where he led a life of asceticism, study, correspondence, writing and translation. He is best known for his translation of the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin.

St. John Chrysostom, born in Antioch in 347, was famous for eloquence and his denunciations of the abuse of authority in both Church and government. He was nicknamed chrysostomos, Greek for “golden mouthed.” Baptized in 370, he was ordained deacon in 381 and priest in 386. In 398 he was chosen as the bishop of Constantinople. Concerned with the spiritual and temporal needs of the poor, he emphasized almsgiving and modest living in his sermons. He often spoke out against the abuse of wealth and refused to host lavish entertainments. An irritant to the imperial court as well as to worldly prelates, he died in exile in 407. His final words were “Glory be to God for all things!” He is regarded as one of the Three Holy Hierarchs, together with Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian.

Note: These commentaries are taken from Matthew 1-13, edited by Manlio Simonetti, in the series The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (InterVarsity Press). The Pantocrator mosaic is in the Baptistry of the Duomo in Florence, Italy. The photo is by Jim Forest.
❖
In Communion / Summer 2010 / issue 57

These are extracts from recent postings
to the OPF’s e-mail discussion list.
If you are an OPF member and wish to take part,
contact Mark Pearson <markp (a) earlham.edu>
or Jim Forest <jhforest (a) gmail.com>.

Weapons for peace: A little historical trivia. The Gatling gun, first used in the American Civil War, was the first successful machine gun and the predecessor of modern automatic weapons. Henry Gatling, the inventor, believed it would reduce deaths in war.

Gatling invented the Gatling gun after he noticed early in the American Civil War that a majority of the dead were lost to disease rather than gunshots. In 1857, he wrote: “It occurred to me that if I could invent a machine — a gun — which could by its rapidity of fire, enable one man to do as much battle duty as a hundred, that it would, to a large extent, supersede the necessity of large armies, and consequently, exposure to battle and disease would be greatly diminished.” (From the Wikipedia entry on Gatling)

No doubt Gatling was sincere, but it’s difficult not to notice that this rationale crops up again and again in the history of modern warfare: some used it to justify the atomic bomb, and now it is used to justify the growing use of robotic weaponry.

John Brady
hamartolos@gmail.com

Rejecting limits: Men take war as inevitable, and moral limits that seem unbreakable at the beginning of a conflict seem foolish by the middle (thus Roosevelt, one of the biggest critics of bombing of cities before the US joined World War II, became one of the advocates of city bombing later in the war). So many horrible things have been done already that they tend to make old restrictions seem pointless.

I can think of only one case of the rollback of a technology of war by deliberate choice – the abandonment of guns in Japanese warfare after a time. They were simply too deadly, so they went to older technology for about two hundred years. Other than that, every lethal technology – however deplored at the beginning – seems to become standard technology pretty quickly after its development. Those who refuse to use available technology become the prey of those who revel in its use. And that becomes a powerful excuse to ignore old strictures – if we don’t use it, those evil people over there may defeat us. The result? Humanity as a whole suffers more.

Daniel Lieuwen
lieuwendaniel@gmail.com

A question overheard: I was in Uganda earlier this month. While waiting at a service station for my car’s air conditioning to be repaired, I overheard a woman talking on her cell phone. I do not know what she was talking about or to whom she was talking, but I heard her say, in the rich accent of that country, “What does the Bible advise you to do about that?” We sure don’t hear that question asked very often here in the USA.

David Holden
davidholden1@bellsouth.net

Forebodings of Nicholas II: In the same vein, I’ve been reading Robert K. Massie’s Nicholas and Alexandra and came across a section on Tsar Nicholas’s concern about the “grim horror of any future war” and his proposals to avert it by bringing the governments of the world together to talk about disarmament and other ways to keep the peace. This was in 1898, about 15 years prior to the First World War.

Aaron Haney
zek18376@yahoo.com

Seeking blessings: As a priest, a few times parishioners have asked my opinion (blessing, permission, approval) for something which clearly they have their own doubts about. When I ask them, “Would Christ bless this?” they say “No.” I always say to them, “Well if you know Christ wouldn’t bless what you want to do, why do you ask me for my blessing?”

Fr. Ted Bobosh
frted@stpdayton.org

A burial: This past week, a family in our parish, who had been rejoicing in the expectation of a third child, learned during a check-up that their child was dead in the womb. The next day the mother underwent a D&C to remove the child. The family asked for a memorial service and burial, which we did. It was intensely moving. Our priest found a service for a stillborn child online, and it was quite beautiful — obviously from some OCA source, it was original but followed the tradition of Orthodox hymnography very closely.

The child’s grandfather had spent many hours producing a beautifully-crafted oak box no bigger than a cigar box, which held the body.

Following the church service, there was a burial at our parish cemetery, using the customary Orthodox grave-side service. Family members filled the very small grave by hand. Somehow I was especially touched to see the tiny hand-made casket buried within 24 hours of its being fashioned.

The parents had named the child, and he was commemorated by name many times during the service, and again at a panakhida on Sunday.
Families react to miscarriages/stillbirths in various ways – some desire complete privacy; others like this family are willing to grieve openly, in the company of the Church. I hope that services like this one will become more common.

John Brady
hamartolos@gmail.com

Naming: A couple of years after we lost Oscar, we were having dinner with friends at which Bishop Seraphim of Canada was a guest. I told him the story of the miscarriage. He asked if we had named the child. I said yes, his name is Oscar. Bishop Seraphim said, that’s good. Now you have an advocate in Heaven. Instantly it changed my feeling about the experience. I know that one day we will meet Oscar face to face, and see him as we were never able to see him here.

Nancy Forest-Flier
forestflier@gmail.com

Circle of concern: Any of us who have anticipated the birth of a child know how much we ourselves grow during the gestation period – in depth of feeling, reflection about the future, and capacity to include another individual in our circle of concern and caring. When a preg-nancy ends prematurely, all that is expected to just come to an end. That process is aborted, even if the first loss was not medically engineered. Just as we don’t stop loving a parent when he or she dies, we should not stop loving the very young person who almost was amongst us. To do so is to voluntarily diminish ourselves, to pare back the growth in humanity/divinity that has occurred through the grace of God.

Alex Patico
alexanderpatico@aol.com

Friends huddled together: Before Joel and I were Orthodox, when we miscarried, we had a small ceremony. We didn’t even know what we were doing, just that we wanted to honor this little life that had already changed us so much. This was almost a decade ago, but I still get tears remembering that small group of friends huddled together. It was a great comfort to us.

Monica Klepac
monicaklepac@yahoo.com

Redemptive Suffering: In Gravity and Grace, Simone Weil writes: “Redemptive suffering is that which strips suffering naked and brings it in its purity right into existence. That saves existence. As God is present through the consecration of the Eucharist in what the senses perceive as a morsel of bread, so he is present in extreme evil through redemptive suffering through the cross.”

With all due respect to Simone Weil, it seems to me that in such passages she embraces religious masochism, expressing a pseudo-spiritual pathology which we ourselves would do well to avoid and discourage in others. Suffering, even redemptive suffering (whatever that is, apart from the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ) doesn’t save anything, let alone save existence itself.

Suffering and misery are to be avoided by us Christians, and alleviated when we see the opportunity to comfort others. Were it a good idea to suffer, there would be no reason for us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned. Clearly, the Gospel teaches us that human suffering is to be alleviated, not encouraged.

Weil’s mention here of “the cross” rather than “a cross” or “our crosses” suggests that she has in mind only the cross on which our dear Lord Jesus was tortured to death. While our Lord tells us that we must all follow Him and take up our crosses, those crosses are different from His, and they are probably symbolic and don’t involve physical torture. Still, just accepting and dealing with the troubles and trials which come our way every day and test our faith and love is enough of an ascetic exercise; even we monastics seek no more.

God is not present in human suffering – especially as such suffering is inflicted by some of us on others of us – except in the identity which we, in our suffering for the sake of Him Who suffered for us embrace and yield our strength and health and our very lives. This is the essence of martyrdom, which isn’t always bloody.

Monk James
frjsilver@verizon.net

Valley of the shadow: This reminds me of Iulia de Beausobre’s book, Creative Suffering, written as she struggled with suffering in her own lifetime. It is a difficult subject because, as Fr. James says, we must not make an idol of suffering. Idolatry is idolatry, and it misses the mark and departs from the path in an unfortunate sickness. It is even hard to talk about this particular subject because we express ourselves imperfectly!

What is said by Simone Weil could be interpreted as idolatry, but I think it need not be seen in that way. Iulia de Beausobre was talking about accepting our crosses and giving ourselves so totally to God so that we might participate in His redemptive act – suffer with Him, just as the martyrs have throughout our fallen age. After all, He tasted suffering and death in order to come to us in our low estate (in our world where there is suffering and both biological and spiritual death). It is His solidarity of love and compassion that save us. And it is clearly not a love of suffering, itself, that brings Him to the cross. He models the correct attitude: “If it be possible, let this cup pass; nevertheless…” There is only one Christ and one Cross and one salvation working in the midst of the earth, just as there is one Priest and one Prophet (the Logos) and one King in whom all anointed for such services may participate. Those who have given themselves to Him voluntarily take up their crosses and vocations to participate in what He is doing.

Perhaps we can hear Simone’s words in that context – that if we find ourselves unavoidably in the tragic position of suffering, there is still this element of companionship and solidarity that we may apprehend creatively as we suffer. It may be a creative and life-giving witness if we remain joined to Christ through it. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me…” At least, that is one way to hear what she is saying – with hope!

Sally Eckert
sally.eckert@gmail.com

Made for joy: Metropolitan Kallistos has written that martyrdom is a universal vocation – each of us can place ourselves at the disposal of God’s intentions for us, and stand firm, come Hell or high water, for His Kingdom. But it always is to be a voluntary decision on our part, not merely a passive default position for everyday life.

Kallistos also said, “He made us not for sorrow but for joy – as St. John Climacus puts it, not for mourning but for laughter. …We are not to say that suffering as such is a blessing from God. And yet, by the divine mercy, what is in itself evil can be turned to good.”

We don’t say that a tornado ripping an infant from his crib is a blessing, but we can say that God working in the lives of his surviving family can create grace-ful outcomes in the aftermath of the tragedy. This is most definitely not a plug for reckless tornado-chasing, only for opening our hearts to God’s healing and cleansing.

Alex Patico
Alexpatico@aol.com

If this cup: When we go through any extreme suffering – physical, psychological or spiritual – it leaves a terrible wound in us that can only be healed in the Cross of Christ. It’s not a matter of balancing suffering with joy.

Once our innocence has been lost, which is what all deep suffering does to us, when we experience the shattering presence of evil, precisely the radical absence of God, we desperately in our depths need to find God in this shattering of our lives. We find him in the Cross of Christ.

This is what Simone Weil means to me. For me it is very hopeful. Of course we don’t go looking for this type of suffering, what Weil calls affliction. We can’t. It would be crazy. Jesus didn’t either. “If this cup may pass from me…”

Paul del Junco
pauldeljunco@gmail.com

Least person: Each of the sentences that Christ uses in Matthew 25 to describe ways in which the saved, knowingly or unknowingly, responded mercifully to Him describes actions which are the polar opposite of what combatants are required to do in war.

Turned on its head, the text then becomes: “I was hungry and you destroyed the fields, I was thirsty and you bombed the water works, I was naked and you burned the flesh from my body, I was homeless and you destroyed my city, I was sick and you fired missiles into the hospital, I was in prison and you tortured me. I tell you solemnly that what you did to the least person, you did to Me.”

Jim Forest
jhforest@gmail.com

❖ In Communion / Summer 2010 / issue 57