Boy! That Was Fast.......

Ok, ok, I know that it has been about 7 months since I posted anything, Boy! that was fast, so if there is still anyone out there to read this, well, here goes.

Where has the Journey to Eastern Orthodoxy taken me?

Tomorrow March 17th, Father Gary will pray over me the 1st prayer marking me as a Catechumen.
Awesome, right? Yes, yes yes.

There are several things happening here that need mentioning.

This is happening on the Feast Day of Saint Patrick, (I have chosen St. Patrick as my patron saint)

My daughter Tiffany and her friend Ben are also becoming Catechumens and will be prayed over tomorrow by Father Gary also.

I am also now adhering to the tradition of fasting, which is part of the Orthodox Tradition.

This last week no meat. This coming week Great Lent begins on Monday the 18th, so I will be following the guidelines for fasting during Great Lent.

For those of you who are Orthodox, I can see you smiling now. Yeah, I know, you have been doing this all along. If it wasn't a sin, I'd envy you!! LOL!

Please include me in your prayers, I have so much to learn.

Boy! What A FAST.................

Jim

P.S. I have another blog that I just started,  ClassicTrout, itt is connected to my fly fishing endeavors.
That's why the picture and the wording has changed in my profile. This new blog will be quite active, this blog "7 Days Till Now" will not be as much. As recent history has shown.

Love "Cross"-ed My Mind

There are some very special things that we get to see in our lifetimes. Children being born, friends doing well, relationships that prosper and love. Yes, we do get to see love.
I am familiar with at least 3 Greek words that give us 3 different expressions of love.
"Philos" or "Philia" the concept of love for friends.
"Eros", an intimate love, romantic, longing, desire.
"Agape", unconditional love, we apply this term to the love that God has for us.

I suppose that there all sorts of "hybrids" that can come out of the 3, but then again what do I know?

I do know, ( for the most part anyway) that, which I see.

Sunday last I got to see my first Orthodox "Bishop" Service. I don't know if that is the right thing to call it, but it works for me. Bishop Michael led the Divine Liturgy at church and I was there.

Bishop Michael was there also to present Father Gary with the honor of the Jeweled Cross.
Bishop Michael told a very short story of how many years ago Father Gary was presented with several crosses to choose from by another priest. "Father Gary chose the simplest cross," he said. I saw and heard Bishop Michael choke up just a bit, when he said that. Fact is, so did I. And I saw love.

I happened to look over at Father Gary's wife, Mary, at just about that same time and she was beaming and teary eyed and looked just so proud of her husband. I saw love, again.

Later I came to find out, during a conversation with Father Gary at, are you ready for this?
The "Agape Coffee Hour"  that the Jeweled Cross that was presented to Father Gary belonged to Mary's father who was a priest also. Love seen, once again.

That evening, at home, I walked into the bedroom.and  I came to an abrupt stop!!!

There on my night stand,
was the hand carved wooden Orthodox Cross,
that my daughter Tiffany had given me,
a month or so ago, yep, once again.

I saw love.

Come to think of it, isn't that what we all should be seeing when we look at the cross?

"This Is For You Harley Guy!"

Took a little time off from this blog to kind of reflect on my journey so far. Several wonderful things have been taking place. My daughter Tiffany is really embracing the Orthodox Christian faith and absolutely adores the church that we have been attending. Just this Sunday past, she attended her first Divine Liturgy. It is really awesome to have her sitting/standing next to me at church and the talks we have about Orthodoxy are just plain old wonderful. She now has created her own blog about Orthodoxy as well. It can be found at: http://1000questionstoorthodoxy.blogspot.com/ please be sure to check it out.

I have been making many new friends and I am just overwhelmed by how gracious my new church family is. I love the diversity of the ethnic cultures represented. I am starting to learn things about Russia and Greece and other countries that I never knew.

Spiritually I feel that I am on the right track. As I have stated before, I feel a total release from my former church and the Evangelical/Charismatic doctrines and style of worship. I feel very secure along with a sense of wonder (best phrase I could come up with besides "fullness", which I wrote about before) here in the Orthodox Church. This Sunday the church is having it's "Ethnic Fair and Gift Auction" and I will be working at some of the venues. This really makes me feel accepted and I pray that I will do well and not mess anything up!

Another wonderful thing that took place happened about 3 weeks ago. You all know my story about the
 " Harley Girl " ( http://7daystillnow.blogspot.com/2012_05_01_archive.html ) well, on this particular Sunday morning I arrived at the church as usual on my motorcycle and there standing outside was my Harley Girl. She comes dashing across the parking lot waving her arms and shouting to me, " You can't go inside yet, You have to stay here, Billy (that's her Husband) told me not to let you go in!" "Oh, boy now what's up?" I said to myself.  "Billy told me not to let you go inside the church until he gets here!" she said.

She then yells out   "BILLY! HE"S HERE!!!"

Now I am not sure what the medical/anatomical connection is between a human being's ears and eyes, but the decibel level that came out of that girl's throat caused me not only some temporary hearing loss, but short term blindness as well!

So as I am squinting and looking at various colors of spots before my eyes I somehow pick up the image of a man with something clutched in his right hand, pointed directly at me. And, he is coming at full speed towards me. My "self-preservation mode" is just about to kick in, when, my eyes clear and my hearing returns and I see Billy "thrust" his right hand at me and says, " This is for you Harley Guy!"

As I rode home that day, after the Divine Liturgy and some wonderful conversation at the Agape Coffee Hour at the church, I had a "hank-er-ing" for another cup of coffee. So I pulled into a Wawa store (Wawa is a chain convenience store in our area here in N.J., you know the kind,  a gas station and food shop). Now usually I hang around the store where my bike is parked and drink my coffee, as it is a bit difficult to ride a bike with one hand. But that day, it became a bit easier. As I left the Wawa, I must have been quite the sight, riding down the road,  with a stupid smile on my face. I get that smile every time I look down at my chrome cup holder and see the awesome "Stainless Steel Harley Davidson Travel Coffee Mug" that Billy and the Harley Girl gave me that Sunday morning at church.

So, as I take a sip out my new mug, just let me say, "Billy and Linda (Harley Girl) this one's for you!"
Thanks and God Bless you both!!

P.S. When Billy gave me the mug he said, "I noticed you had a cup holder on your Harley, but I didn't see no cup, now you got one!

"Wherever I End Up, I Guess..."

Man in car: "Taking a trip?" 

Bronson: "What's that?"
Man in car: "Taking a trip?" 

Bronson: "Yeah."
Man in car: "Where to?" 

Bronson: "Oh, I don't know. Wherever I end up, I guess." 

Man in car: "Man, I wish I was you." 

Bronson: "Well, hang in there."

The light turns green at the intersection of Lombard St. and Van Ness Ave., in San Francisco and Jim Bronson opens the throttle on his 1968 Harley Davidson Sportster and rides off to find, what is out there on the long lonesome highway, while Randall Justaman, the guy in the car goes about his normal daily routine.

Now most of us know that it is the exploits of Bronson that people want to hear about. The carefree spirit out on the road, no schedules to follow, nobody to please, but himself. If he wants to have an ice cream cone for breakfast and wash it down with a Yoo-Hoo followed by a Twinkie, so be it! 

Yet, we are more like Randy Justaman are we not? Routines, commitments, the daily grind and I am not talking about coffee!

Funny thing, is, as I write this, I can't help but think, that somehow a big bunch of us seem to think that there is something wrong with "routine!"

"It's Boring!"

"Un-inspiring!"

"Dull, dull, dull"

"Hey Jim! How's it going?"  "Oh, same old, same old." Tell me that's not a familiar question and response (well except for the name Jim if you happen to have a different handle)

"Another day, another dollar!"   " Same story, different day!"   " Off to the salt mines!"  blah, blah, woof! woof!

But.......

There is a "grace" that comes through when you are practicing the "right routines". That's what I am finding now.

I never felt it before, but I do now.

Like Bronson, I started this "trip" with the destination being "wherever I end up, I guess."

But I am finding that the "right routines " lead a person to the "right destination and a right relationship with God's Church and ultimately  with God." I am finding all of this in Orthodoxy.

Bless the Lord.

" Him Who Wore Gray, Now Wearing Black, A Divine Appointment"

He is wearing black now. When I first saw him he was wearing gray. Doesn't really matter to me what color he wears, as his gentleness and kindness would show up nicely against any color.

I believe in Divine Appointments, I think everyone should. I have received too many blessings not to believe in them. I have heard it said that, "There are no coincidences! It's just God acting anonymous!".  Now some people may believe in that statement, and in their life that phrase may have merit.

But not in my life.

Oh, now I am not trying to elevate myself above anyone or anything. People are of course free to think and say anything they want. But, as for me, I don't think God is ever acting "anonymous", I feel it is "us" who never make the connection or come to the realization that God is always "active and visible" in our lives.
There have been many instances in my life that bear out the truth of His visibility, but for now I'll just talk about one of His most recent showings.

There is a "Coffee Hour" after the Divine Liturgy on Sundays at church. Now this may be done at your church or it may be not. Hopefully it is and prayerfully you are attending church on Sunday! At the Coffee Hour I have been blessed to find myself sitting next to, "him who wore gray, now wearing black" (almost sounds like a traditional Native American name, when put like that) over the last few weeks. Being the infant that I am in Orthodoxy, I have need of someone who can show me about Orthodoxy and not just "tell" me about Orthodoxy. This gentleman is doing just that and I bet he is not even aware of it, which is why I find it so wonderful.

At the Coffee Hour, he and I talk about God, and the Orthodox Church, and all that is included in such. Now, it is not so much "what" he tells me, as it is, "how" he tells me. There is a "joy" in his voice, and a "brightness" in his countenance.
If there is one true sign that our conversations are interesting and fun, it is that before you know it, an hour has gone by and the "clean up team" is busy at work and the Coffee Hour has come to end, and sadly you feel it is time to leave. But perhaps it is just as well, this way, I don't go on "brain - overload" and forget many of the details of our conversations. That would be a shame and I would be a poorer man because of it.

The look of  a  rich  man

However, right now and in the days to come, I can say with total confidence, that not because of my abilities, but because of God, and the Divine Appointments He has created in my life recently, they being:  using my friend Jim V. to direct me to this church in Brick, N.J., my daughter Tiffany attending her 2nd Vespers Service (2 weeks in a row) alongside me, Father Gary and all who are part of this new church family that have welcomed me, and meeting and talking and being shown Orthodoxy by " him who wore gray, now wearing black, a.k.a. Reader John,"  that I am indeed one of the richest men around. Amen!!! 


Keep your eyes and your heart at the ready, His Divine Appointments are everywhere!

Vespers at Tiffany's

"Moon River, wider than a mile, I'm crossing you in.........."

You know the song.

Well, this past Saturday at Vespers, as I was sitting there, before the service began, in my usual "pre-service meditative" state,  I heard something.

I heard a voice.

A loud and clear voice.

For a moment, as I tried to shake my thoughts from "speaking in prayer" to "hearing the voice", I felt transported, taken away from my surroundings, for a very brief moment it seemed that I didn't know where I was.

The voice was that loud and clear,  it was also puzzling.

I recognized the voice, I have heard this voice, many, many times before. YES! This voice was known to me!

But why was the voice saying, " Sir!,  Sir ?"

The voice was coming from behind me at first, but now it had journeyed right up to me, right next to my right shoulder, right up to the side of the very chair that I was sitting upon. I turned quickly to confront this voice, and there a vision appeared!

A beautiful vision, an adoring vision, a very familiar vision!!!!!

It was my daughter Tiffany.  She thought she would surprise me for Father's Day and join me that evening at Vespers. What a blessing!

I don't know if she was able to tell, but there were a few "Joyful Daddy Tears" in this guy's eyes.
We were able to talk in our best whisper voices before the service began.  When the service began I felt so grateful to have her with me. What a wonderful surprise.

It seems that Jim V. (the sneak) was in on it, that Tiffany would be coming. He never let on about it though, but that's OK, I'll figure out some way to "repay" him. Just before the service started, "The Legendary Tammy" came down the aisle of the nave quickly, she said, "I met your daughter in the parking lot, and I am sorry to interrupt you, but I just wanted to see the look on your face!" I can't blame her, I must have been quite a sight, with my eyes "sweating" !

After service, I had the great joy of introducing Tiffany to some of my new church family. Father Ken, Cathy, Mary, Reader John and Father Gary. They made her feel welcomed and comfortable. You know a father can tell those things about his children. As I was standing there "beaming", Tiffany turned to me and said, " I like it here!"   "Yes, so do I"   I replied, " so do I "

Tiffany's visit gave me a taste of what our Heavenly Father must feel, when His children show Him their love and honor Him. Thank you Father God for your goodness to us.

I know the proper title for this post would have been " Vespers With Tiffany ", but I couldn't find a title for this blog that worked better than a play on the movie title "Breakfast at Tiffany's". So I used it, please forgive me.

"My huckleberry friends............."

We called Woolworth's the 5 & 10

"A toast to my big brother George: The richest man in town", exclaims Harry Bailey.


A grand sentiment indeed proclaimed by the younger of the Bailey brothers in Frank Capra's classic film, "It's a Wonderful Life". Truly a man is rich who has true friends.


This week's blog is a "Friends and Rich Theme", well actually its more than just a theme about friends and being rich, its about "actual" true friends and becoming rich.


Let's begin with the "friends" portion, shall we?


First of all, I am amazed that I am even sharing this story, with all of you who have been following this blog., let alone with those of you who may have stumbled upon this blog for the first time. But, there is a position of safety here, as I sit at a keyboard and punch out these lines ( if you have ever seen me type, you would agree with my descriptive use of the word: punch!) so, "punch" I will and share this witness. 
It would not be over-reaching to say that I have had difficulty with people who filled the "Friend" slot in my life. Mostly due to the fact that friends have always been so fleeting. Over the years, I have come to accept the fact, that, people will come and go in my life. Perhaps that is why I always smile when hear Johnny Cash sing the line,   " Everyone I know, goes away in the end." in the song "Hurt". I smile because, in my life, it has been true. I find that friend making is not an easy task, and finding a "true friend", is even harder, if not near impossible.


I'll spare you, the reader, the many, many details of my life up until now, suffice it to say that childhood friendships have long been covered over by the blanket of time, and that adult friendships also lie dormant beneath that same covering. 


Now, please, don't let me give any of you the impression of my life's situation. I have been very happily married to  Judy for over 36 years. I have 2 wonderful grown children that I love totally and am extremely proud of, and have been blessed in so many wonderful ways.  But friends?


Okay, enough of history.  Here is what I have to say.


This Sunday I returned to the services (Vespers and Divine Liturgy) at the Orthodox Church, after a 1 week, hiatus due to attending a Men's Retreat the previous weekend. ( see last week's blog ). The church is in the middle of its Phase 2 portion of its Iconography project. I had arrived early (some things are constant) and had time to look over the new icons that have been added. Now, remember I am new to Orthodoxy so every little thing that comes into my line of sight is taken in and thought about. There was something going on inside of me as I looked at the icons, old and new, that until just a few moments ago, I had not been able to describe. I am not kidding here, this just came to me as I "punched" in the above sentence that started, "This Sunday I returned........" this is as fresh as I can write it.


Here it is: I sensed that the Saints I was looking at were "True Friends".


Now I hope I am not out - of -line here, or I am offending anyone, but that's the sense, that I now know that I was feeling! Wow! The hair on my arms is standing up! Whew! 


"True Friends!!!" ....... Friends that haven't left, friends that are interceding for me when asked, friends that know how to be friends!!!


Now it doesn't end here, you see my idea for this blog was to write about how wonderful the people at this Orthodox Church were to me on Sunday, because so many greeted me and said, "Welcome Back!, we missed you last week, glad to see you today!"


This now explains to me, why just a little bit into the Divine Liturgy on Sunday I started to weep a bit, oh! I did my best to hide it (call it a guy thing). I think it was because of the "love" in the church. Not only the wonderful love of God and His presence, but the love from the friends contained in the icons of the Saints and the love demonstrated by my  brothers and sisters with skin on.


Okay let's jump ahead to Wednesday, shall we?


On Wednesday I had an "out of the blue" meeting with a gentleman named Bob, that I have known for about the last 3 years to discuss becoming a part of his "Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Business". I have been out of work for the last 2 years, so this was "big".  The thing is, this guy and I had talked about getting together in this business and we had even developed a business plan about 10 months ago, but, things fell apart, and we had very, very little contact since then. Bob explained his ideas about the business and said that he wanted me to come back in and pick up where we left off and put the plan into action. He said, "Now, you don't have to give me answer now, I just want you to think about and let me know!"


I smiled and said, " Bob, I don't have to think about it. You see I have been in prayer about it for the last few months, and was about to approach you this very day to discuss it with you". We shook hands and I joined the business.


Bob, smiled.
I, smiled.


I told my wife Judy about the meeting and the result.
Judy, smiled.


I believe, that my "True Friends", were smiling also.


Here is the "rich" portion of the story. 
Its great to be back working, but, it's having found people that "miss you" and treat you as friend with love in their hearts, along with the friends in heaven, that I just realized that I have, that make me rich.

We called Woolworth's the "5 & 10", Bob and I

By the way, Bob and I grew up in the same town in Staten Island. We know many of the same people and share a bunch of the same memories of places and events.

Three years ago when we met and discovered that fact, I had I feeling it wasn't an accident.
Bob is a true friend also, guess I knew that about 3 years ago, (sometimes it takes me a while)


God's timing is always perfect.


"George Bailey, you ain't got nothing on me, bro!"