“NO MAN IS AN ISLAND…”

My beloved spiritual brothers and sisters in Our Risen Lord Jesus Christ,

CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN!

"NO MAN IS AN ISLAND…"

As you know, the English poet, Mr. John Donne, in the 17th century, famously wrote that "no man is an island," comparing people to countries, and arguing for the interconnectedness of all people with God. Also, in his meditation on death, Mr.Donne writes that all beings are one with God. John Donne compares suffering to gold, arguing that we can never have enough of our neighbors’ pain: "No man hath affliction enough that is not matured and ripened by it." In other words: No one suffers alone, and being aware of another’s pain only makes us stronger and more able to live.

The words of Mr. John Donne, "no man is an island," are indeed very true and should be agreed upon by every human being on the planet. In Our Creator’s own words,"IT IS NOT GOOD FOR MAN TO BE ALONE, I WILL MAKE HIM A HELPER COMPARABLE TO HIM" (Genesis 2:18). "Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and mutilply…" (Genesis 1:28).

Our Creator in His Holy Wisdom determined that first man should not be solitary. It was His decision that it was "not good for man to be alone." Man needed to have someone like him to be with, a companion, to talk to, to share God’s manifold blessings, to love, to care for, to work together, to share together a common faith and love for their Creator.

Indeed, throughout human history we truly appreciate God’s decision for man to have a wife and children. God’s blessing to "Be fruitful and multiply" came true. Slowly, and over thousands of years, this beautiful and amazing planet became inhabited eventually by billions of people who share a common Creator and Father.

We, of course, know that man fell into sin due to his disobedience to God’s commandment, what we call ‘Ancestral sin.’ The Fall of Adam caused mankind to become subject to mortality (death). Mankind fell away from the grace of God through Adam’s disobedience and now has an inclination towards sin. Man introduced violence and murder into the world in the stark example of the two brothers Cain and Abel. "Cain rose up against Able his brother and killed him. ‘Where is Abel your brother?" He replied, "I do not know. AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?" Thus God said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground." (Genesis 4:8-10).

Almighty God sought to bring Cain to repentance for what he did. He commanded him to be still through repentance, for it was filled with turmoil because of the passions, and He also commanded him to be his brother’s keeper. Cain, however, rejected to deal with his passions through repentance, and his anger led to hate and murder. Unfortunately, Cain used his guilt as an excuse to avoid repentance, for he did not believe in the grace of God. He willfully allowed his passions to blind his heart.

God’s Divine Plan was and is perfect if only mankind would listen to Him. Why would man today or ever desire to be alone? Why would man seek to murder his brother, his fellow man? Why would he refuse to enjoy what His Creator has given him and to share it with his mate? It really doesn’t make any sense. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has shown us in person what a perfect human being should be like. What it means to be our brother’s keeper. In other words, not to murder our brother, our fellow man, but instead to die to save him as He did. To love and not to hate. To be faithful and obedient to our Heavenly Father. If Abel’s blood can cry to God for the injustice that befel him, what can we say then about the Son of God’s Divine Blood? Jesus’ blood did not seek vengeance or retribution. Instead, He, from the Cross, saught from His Father forgiveness for those who crucified Him, for they did not know what they were doing.

Again we must keep on reminding ourselves that God is AGAPE (Love) and His creation, including man, is all about love. There is absolutely no room in His creation for anything but love. "Then God saw everything He had made, and ideed IT WAS VERY GOOD" (Genesis 1:31). Everything that God made, including man, IS VERY GOOD, because God is good. Nothing He made is therefore evil in itself. Therefore, human nature is good in itself. Sin, on the other hand, IS A FREE CHOICE of man’s will, and is contrary to God’s nature as well as human nature.

It is our individual choice what kind of person we choose to be, what kind of world we desire to live in, and what kind of relationship we have with our Creator and Father and with our fellow man. For centuries man has failed to understand God’s Divine plan for His creation, but especially for humanity. Instead, mankind still struggles with the passions, with his greed for wealth and power, and with his obsession to rule and dominate the world. We see it again and again in ancient times with different emperors and empires i.e., Babylonias, Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Ottomans, etc. and in more recent times with the Nazis, Fascists, and with the Communists. We have suffered greatly from their evil ambitions to enslave all of humanity under a global government and control the destiny of humanity by replacing God with an evil world tyrant, the Antichrist.

WAKE UP PEOPLE! Can’t you see the signs of what the present govrnments and powers in the world are leading humanity toward? Are we so stupefied and unconscience that we cannot see that we, as mankind, are heading toward a cliff? Some are already predicting World War III, which most likely will be a nuclear war. Do you not see the insanity of world leaders? World War II destroyed an entire Continent and over 65 MILLION PEOPLE. What do you think a World War III with nuclear weapons will do? Don’t you see what two nuclear accidents in Chernobyl, Ukraine, and in Fukushima, Japan, have done? Do you actually believe that earth will be inhabitable after a nuclear war? In my previous parish in Tampa, Florida, I had a parishioner, Dr. Ashford, who was a scientist and informed me that radiation once released in the atmospere will never disappear. Here and now we are concerned with carbon emetions, fossil fuel poluting the air and its affects on our environment. Is it not insanity to destroy a perfectly beautiful world with nuclear weapons and yet be willing to explore and adopt a desolate and hellish world (planet) such as Mars as man’s future home? There is not even oxygen or water on this planet for heaven’s sake! Does it make any kind of sense to abandon this paradise of a planet and make hell your habitation?

We need to seek through prayer to God His guidance and, most of all, His enlightenment and protection. It is clear to me that after thousands of years we have learned nothing from our mistakes and we keep making the same mistakes over and over again. We keep on chosing the wrong people as leaders, kings, emperors, dictators, tyrants, chancellors, presidents, prime ministers, monsters and lunatics like Caligula, Nero, Hitler, Stalin, to name a few. Why do we keep on doing this to ourselves and futrue generations? It is also very clear that we are able to discern between good and evil. That we can no longer make good decisions that will benefit humanity. However, by the grace of God, we can still save ourselves and the world that we call home. We only need to allow God to lead the way.

KYRIE ELEISON

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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"

– Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Holy Resurrection,
The sinner and unworhty servant of God

+ Father George