I was reflecting on how sometimes we travel or visit a new place and everything seems to be a bit odd or out of place? Maybe like going to a restaurant and surprise, there is no pie or gravy on the menu, or maybe traveling to another country and people are driving on the opposite side of the road and the signs are all in a different language, or if I think back to my first visit here in the Orthodox Church and how it was so different or unfamiliar and at times even in a foreign language.
As we heard the story of the demon possessed man this morning that was not wearing clothes, lived in a sepulcher and often was bound in chains and acted quite a bit odd. Of course we all know the story; he was controlled by many unclean spirits. Our Lord performed this miracle and delivered him from bondage! (Luke 8:26-39)
So I ask myself, when are the times I act a bit odd or travel on the six lane super highway away from God? And as I take a moment to reflect upon my addiction to sin and I find myself quoting the man of legions, “What is it to me and to Thee, Jesus, Son of God the Most High? [Lk 8:28] Do I really want to be freed from these delusions and return to the narrow road of salvation? Lord Have Mercy!!
So, if you find yourselves traveling on that superhighway at times, ask yourself: are the “Thou Shalts” Commandments or merely suggestions? (Exodus 20) Or are they not applicable here in the twenty-first century? As I look inward I even think of times my ego and its entitlement seems to have legions of its’ own!! Satan is the best of liars and separates us from our Father with delusion. We hear temptations like how can a loving God…., or if God loves me He will accept my sinfulness because it is the best I can do? But there lays our self-reliance and earthly reasoning, and our denial that in our weakness and humility, He is strong. We must battle these temptations and turn! “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)
But the truth is that God is always working in us for our salvation. He is near us waiting for our Eastward turn, towards the light that never grows dim, which never gives up on us, even when we continue to ingest our sinful death again and again. The Proverb remind us:“As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.” (Proverbs 26:11) Wouldn’t it be better to be a fool for Christ than the fool we sometimes see in the mirror? Lord Have Mercy!
Thanks be to God that Orthodoxy has all the tools we need to rid ourselves of these foolish addictions, and our ever so loose and convenient interruptions of the “Thou Shalts”, and the many times we get caught up in the great winds of the world, flooring our life pedal as we blow past the warning and exit signs, making ourselves so busy swallowing the arsenic of worldly delights. And forgetting to make a priority of crucifying ourselves on the cross. St. Paul warns the folks in Rome: “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”(Rom 14:12)
We just cannot be consumed in the world and give Christ what is left over! Are you too busy? Why? Just what are your priorities as a Christian? In this fast lane of life, it seems as we have to chose daily and realign ourselves on the narrow road, the one with bumps, slowpokes and potholes! And make our goal to be likened to that of Joshua, a saintly military leader who led his people into the Promised Land: “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Josh 24:15)
Fr. Gabriel Weller 11-9-2025
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