Righteousness – Blisswood

A Little is a Lot

Image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay

If you can help a person – help, if you cannot help – pray, if you do not know how to pray – think about the person in a good way! And this will already be a help, because godly thoughts [towards others] are also alms! ~ St. Nikolai Velimirovich

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites [very small copper coins] So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” ~ St. Luke 21:1-4

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ~ 2 Corinthians 9:7

It often seems those who possess the least (materially), are the most generous with others. Digging deeply into the pockets of their hearts, they’ll happily give away their own last “widow’s mite” to someone else… who, to them, appear to be in greater need.

God’s blessings abound, when we (without judging what others may do with what we give them, and without expecting anything in return) give from our needs, and not from our surplus.

It’s doubly blessed to give alms in memory of someone by saying, “Please accept this in memory of (Name).”

If we have no material alms available to give, we can always share the Gladsome Light and Love of Christ – through a warm smile, a kind word, and heartfelt prayer offered to God, on their behalf.

…And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ~ Acts 20:35

For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. ~ St. Matthew 25:35-40

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. ~ St. Matthew 5:7

As Trees of the Wood

Image by Peter H from Pixabay

Let us strengthen our roots by unfurling our prayers!

…let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein. Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the Lord, because he cometh to judge the earth. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. ~ Chronicles 16:34

Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary. ~ Psalm 28:2

Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. ~ Psalm 63:4

Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. ~ Psalm 85:11

Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. ~ Psalm 123:1

For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.~ Isaiah 55:12

Let all the trees of the forest dance and sing, let all the trees clap their hands. ~ Sunday of the Cross

…All things become opportunities for us to be joined more closely with everything and everyone. They become occasions for thanksgiving and prayer. Live in the midst of everything, nature and universe. Nature is the secret Gospel. But when one does not possess inner grace, nature is of no benefit. Nature awakens us, but it cannot bring us into Paradise. ~ St. Porphyrios (Wounded by Love)

Truth is the Beverage of Life

Image by Manfred Richter from Pixabay

One should not seek among others the truth that can be easily gotten from the Church. For in her, as in a rich treasury, the apostles have placed all that pertains to truth, so that everyone can drink this beverage of life. She is the door of life. ~ St. Irenaeus of Lyon

For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. ~ Psalm 100:5

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. ~ St. John 1:14

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. ~ St. John 4:24

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. ~ St. John 8:32

For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth…~ Ephesians 5:9

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. ~ 1 John 3:18

Even When it’s Raining

The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all of us who are bowed down. ~ Psalm 145:14

It’s been said that sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but Faith looks up!

We glimpse this in our own gardens, with flowers blooming – regardless of debris from past storms.

For even when it’s raining, the Sun is shining above those clouds!

The fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth. ~ Ephesians 5:9

Mercy and Peace

Christ is Risen!

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. ~ Psalm 85:10

Do not fight to expel the darkness from the chamber of your soul. Open a tiny aperture for light to enter, and the darkness will disappear. ~ St. Porphyrios

…man without God is but a firefly in the endless darkness of this universe. ~ St. Justin Popovich

Truly He is Risen!

These Treasures

Purple Heath (Heather) and Snowdrops (Candlemas Bells, Fair Maids of February) Dot the Neighbourhood

The only requirements of our soul are righteousness, holiness, truth, love, mercy, meekness, peace, spiritual freedom, or the grace of God in the heart. These treasures give life to our whole being, and are eternal. ~ St. John of Kronstadt (My Life in Christ)

The Orient From on High

Yesterday’s Dawn by Juliana T.

The Dayspring, the Dawn, the Sun of Righteousness, the Orient from on High, refers to our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

God Himself is called the Sun, (Psalm 84:11). As the Source of Light, and Light itself, God gives this same title to His only-begotten Son, who appears on earth as the Dawn of a new day… the Day of the Lord which enlightens those who sit in darkness and in the land of the shadow of death (Isaiah 9:2).

It is not without reason or by chance that we worship towards the East. But seeing that we are composed of a visible and an invisible nature, that is to say, of a nature partly of spirit and partly of sense, we render also a twofold worship to the Creator; just as we sing both with our spirit and our bodily lips, and are baptized with both water and Spirit, and are united with the Lord in a twofold manner, being sharers in the Mysteries and in the grace of the Spirit. Since, therefore, God is spiritual light, and Christ is called in the Scriptures Sun of Righteousness and Dayspring, the East is the direction that must be assigned to His worship. For everything good must be assigned to Him from Whom every good thing arises. Indeed the divine David also says, Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth: O sing praises unto the Lord: to Him that rideth upon the Heavens of heavens towards the East. Moreover the Scripture also says, And God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed: and when he had transgressed His command He expelled him and made him to dwell over against the delights of Paradise, which clearly is the West. So, then, we worship God seeking and striving after our old fatherland. Moreover the tent of Moses had its veil and mercy seat towards the East. Also the tribe of Judah as the most precious pitched their camp on the East. Also in the celebrated temple of Solomon, the Gate of the Lord was placed eastward. Moreover Christ, when He hung on the Cross, had His face turned towards the West, and so we worship, striving after Him. And when He was received again into Heaven He was borne towards the East, and thus His apostles worship Him, and thus He will come again in the way in which they beheld Him going towards Heaven; as the Lord Himself said, As the lightning cometh out of the East and shineth even unto the West, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be. So, then, in expectation of His coming we worship towards the East. But this tradition of the apostles is unwritten. For much that has been handed down to us by tradition is unwritten. ~ St. John of Damascus

Christ, the Sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2), is without beginning and pre-eternal. He is both immutable and unchangeable, as with Him there is no variableness, nor shadow of turning (James 1:17). He is without end, never-setting, beaming out the true and heavenly light of day without evening, in which the spirits of the righteousness live with the good angels. When this present age reaches its end, the righteous shall also have their bodies with them, as heirs of the light and sons of the true day. That day continues forever without evening, and neither has, nor ever did have, a morning, since it has no beginning. ~ St. Gregory Palamas

Reflections of Living Water

Scripture Art Photo by Irena

May the living water of the Holy Spirit fill my heart, and may rivers of living water flow from my heart to the glory of God… The only requirements of our soul are righteousness, holiness, truth, love, mercy, meekness, kindness, peace, spiritual freedom, or the grace of God in the heart. These treasures give life to our whole being and are eternal. ~ St. John of Kronstadt

Drink Holy Water as often as possible. It’s the best and most effective medicine. I say this not as a bishop, but as a doctor, from my experience in medicine. ~ St. Luke of Simferopol

Silence is a Mystery

The highest form of prayer is to stand silently, in awe before God. ~ St. Isaac the Syrian

Words are instruments of this world, but silence is a mystery of the age to come. ~ St. Isaac the Syrian

Very desirable is the prayer of the heart. Very desirable is the silence of the heart. ~ St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Look Unto Me…

Like finding buried treasure, this beautiful antique picture (from nearly 125 years ago), was found in the basement of our church during renovations.

Look Unto Me and Be Ye Saved. ~ Isaiah 45:22

Food for Thought

Quotes from 4th century St. Augustine of Hippo

Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.

God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.

The mind commands the body and is instantly obeyed. The mind commands itself and meets resistance.

God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.

And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, yet pass over the mystery of themselves without a thought.

If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.

There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.

Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it

To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.

Open to Me the Doors of Repentance Orthodox Hymn