….Not only do we have the ability to taste food, see the sky, smell the flowers, and feel the grass beneath our feet, but God has also given us a brain to think and to judge with. We were given a conscience to decipher what is right and wrong. We were given the riches of freedom to choose good or evil. We were given wealth through the Holy Scripture and the church, to illuminate our paths so that we don’t get lost!

“Adulteries and thefts were everywhere. Murder and rapine filled the earth. Law was disregarded in corruption and injustice. All kinds of iniquities were perpetrated by all, both singly and in common. Cities were warring with cities. Nations were rising against nations. The whole earth was rent with factions and battles, while each strove to outdo the other in wickedness. Even crimes contrary to nature were not unknown, but as the martyr-apostle of Christ says: “Their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature; and the men also, leaving the natural use of the woman, flamed out in lust towards each other, perpetrating shameless acts with their own sex, and receiving in their own persons the due recompense of their pervertedness.””

St. Athanasius gives us this very gruesome image of what happens to the human race when it turns away from God. We go from bliss to despair…from paradise to hell…and from life to death. Yet, despite how far the human race has fallen, we are so incredibly blessed to have a loving God Who could not bear to see His own creation destroy itself.

…We serve a God of “second chances,” Who gives us the opportunity to repent, receive forgiveness and set our feet onto the path of righteousness.

St. Longinus was the centurion who was in charge of the soldiers who watched as an innocent Lamb was sent to the slaughter. Longinus watched the jeers of those who passed by. He saw the clouds roll in as our Lord said the words: “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani...My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” After our Lord passed onto eternal life, Longinus watched as the rocks were split and the earth quaked. He looked upon all these signs and in the midst of everyone, he confessed: “Truly, this was the Son of God.”

Our society at large tends to think of witches, demons, ghouls, and spirits as harmless games and fun. Orthodox Christians understand from experience however, that these things are incredibly dangerous. When we are invited to events or parties that deal with spirits, whether it is organized in complete knowledge of what is being done, or out of ignorance in the spirit of fun, we have to ask ourselves: “Why would I go to poke the bear?”