Thoughts on our problems and our hearts
By Michael Haldas, July 25, 2016
“There are many devotees of the idolatrous cult of technical know-how…Many tragic and deadly problems hold the world in thrall: epidemics, wars, inexcusable hunger, repression, crime, despotism, and the loss of arable land and clean water. Many of these are intractable problems that technical solutions alone cannot fix…Technology and social engineering cannot correct people who devise wickedness and scheme evil on their beds.” (Dynamis 9/18/2013)
“Reliance on human solutions to mankind’s intractable problems is bound to fail. Life will only become uglier and more bitter. We find wisdom when we quit trying to solve problems of the heart by technical means, for scientific methods alone never will relieve spiritual disorder.” (OCPM 7/25/2016)
“If there is a true normal, it is deeply spiritual. It moves between transcendent good and a frightful evil. And the movement is not between people or classes or political persuasions, but within each human heart. We should not ignore what is going on around us. However, when we ignore the inner life of the heart, we remain unhealed and in the darkness.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“Christ address[es] our lack of faith, mindfulness, and good spiritual practice. He corrects us by setting aside our obsession with material concerns and speaking to our deep, underlying problem: our lack of trust in Him…He recalls us to our right minds as members and partakers of Him…He provides Himself as the Truth we must embrace if the Holy Spirit is to illumine our hearts…” (Dynamis 7/29/2014)
“Our greatest problems have spiritual roots: we disdain to lift our hands to God, worshipping and opening our hearts to His grace, which alone makes our works wholesome and worthy. Human methods alone will never solve our problems apart from a meek spirit and a pure heart (Mt 5: 5, 8).” (OCPM 7/25/2016)
Thoughts on divisions and wholeness
By Michael Haldas, July 26, 2016
“In today’s culture, differences are used too much to create division. This happens in religious circles as well as political circles and other spheres of life.” (Sacramental Living)
“…being critical, whether of other people or of the way they approach their faith, can be a sign we are not centered in the heart. Holiness is about being made whole, and this wholeness depends on being centered in the heart, where we find the Kingdom of God. When we are in our head, we are more judgmental.” (Abbott Tryphon)
“Divisions between Christians are a sin and a scandal, and Christians ought at all times to be making contributions towards re-union, if it is only by their prayers.” (C. S. Lewis)
“Lies and divisions are not holy. Truth and wholeness are. It’s not the complicated. When we examine our hearts and behaviors, and, ironically, if we are being truthful and not lying to ourselves, we can better understand if we are contributing to ours and others wholeness or fostering divisions.” (Sacramental Living Blog)
“The third aspect of knowing Christ is having access to and sharing in the wholeness of truth. Knowing Christ means to enter the realm of the truth He revealed…It is unfortunate, or rather tragic, that many people, especially the young, ignore this integration of truth and life, truth and freedom that knowledge of Christ produces. Despite their advanced knowledge and how astonishingly informed they are in every conceivable field, they are extremely poor in knowing the wholeness of truth revealed by Jesus.” (Archbishop Demetrios)
~Michael Haldas, https://www.ancientfaith.com/contributors/michael_haldas.
Michael Haldas is an author, a religious educator and a speaker. He wrote Sacramental Living: Understanding Christianity as a Way of Life (published by Eastern Christian Publications), a book which he presented special editions of as gifts to Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in private audiences. Michael is also published monthly in Theosis Magazine and he has authored several Orthodox Christian themed articles for various publications. Additionally, he has recorded and contributed to multiple YouTube, DVD and CD educational projects. He teaches adult religious education and high school Sunday school at the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Bethesda, Maryland and has worked with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Religious Education Department to create educational lessons and materials.
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