Page Title

Text Box: and inducing Him to hold our hand, guiding us, and pulling us up when we fall. But if there is something which we desire more than God, something which we desire continually in our waking and sleeping moments even more than we desire God, then God may not be there holding our hand, for we will not be reaching out to grasp His hand. Even worse, it might be possible that He will not hold out His hand, though He seems to always be reaching out to us. This does not mean we can not or should not desire that which is not God. This does not mean that when we desire something in addition to God, that we act foolishly, for we can easily desire something in addition to God and still desire God more, provided the other that we desire is desired in a Godlike manner and for Godly purposes. The more perfectly in accordance with holiness that we desire something, the more that desire can lead us to a more perfect desire for God, which will place our desire for God in the position of prominence. And the more perfectly we desire God, the more Godly will our desire for that in addition to God become. But note, it is desire for that in addition to God which can be a holy desire. Desire for that other than God can never become holy, for it is a desire for other rather than desire for in addition to. I can desire God, and in addition to being in a good relationship with God, desire to also have a good relationship with another human in a Godly manner; and in this I can be holy. But if I desire to have that relationship with another human instead of or more than a relationship with God, then I am not holy. It is when our desire for God reaches an all consuming level, such as that which one lover has for another, or a mogul has for money and power, or a celebrity has for fame - when our desire for God reaches this level then we groan within

Text Box: our hearts and that groan is heard by God day and night, in our waking and sleeping. And He answers that groaning with an increased outpouring of His love, His agape love, of His essence, His grace. When we love God in this manner, we may sin, but we have horror of our sin and repent of our sin virtually immediately. We struggle to remain in a state of grace, of touching God, and in that state we have no fear of judgment for we know we are in union with God. Should we lose that union we will fight desperately to regain it, and in regaining it will again fear no judgment. In that union we wish to do what we can to further the desires of God, just as a lover will struggle to ascertain the desires of the one he loves so that he can fulfill those desires as completely as he is able. This is why Saint John the Baptist, the Forerunner of Christ God, prepared the way for Our Saviour. Try to manipulate God, or to use God as a means for earthly treasures, and you will be damned for eternity. But groan within yourself for God and the things of God and you will celebrate the human birth of His Son, the co-eternal of the Father and of the Holy Spirit. Groan within yourself for Christ, and you will raise your earthly desires to become more heavenly in substance and in approach, and will discard those desires which by their very nature are not holy. Groan within yourself for God and God will embrace you to His bosom as a father embraces his child. If you desire at the animal level, you can only desire what you have experienced. A person can desire what they can imagine, but what one can imagine might never exist. Learn about God and know God as best you can, and you will be able to desire God and will be able to desire Him as He is and in a realistic manner. Then He will fulfill that desire. Ref: 1Cor:4:1-5; Luke 3:1-6 +

Text Box: or warped perspective. This more clear perspective enables a more full, proper, and better ability to relate to God. The more and the better we relate to God, the more and better we relate to the rest of mankind, not necessarily because of some great spiritual aspect, but because we relate to God through appreciation of God in the human nature taken on by God the Son. We come not just to know, but to appreciate, the fact that Jesus experiences what we experience and we experience what Jesus experiences, because we both are humans; with the only difference being that He also is God and we are not. So we do not now experience what His divine nature experiences, but we will to some as of yet unknown extent if we are united with God for all eternity. But until that happens we can relate to Christ Jesus in His human nature, and that opens our minds to better appreciate the truth of reality. Though the Jewish culture of the time of Christ is different from the culture of our times, we can relate His presentation in the temple to our being an infant carried into Church to be Baptized, Chrismated, and receive the Sacred Eucharist, or at least being Baptized if one is Roman and not Orthodox. Even though most of us are blessed with having experienced both of our parents, almost all of us can also relate to being a child and loving our grandparents or some other relative or family friend, with a devotion that approaches that which we have for our parents. If we have siblings we know about sibling rivalry, but we also know and have experienced sibling love. And if we do not have siblings, most of us have had friends who were and hopefully are as close to us as a brother or sister would be, and perhaps are closer to us and more loved than any sibling could be loved. In this we find the realization that God the Father is not just the Father of Jesus

Go to page