J U L Y GETTING HELP IN OUR BATTLE WITH THOUGHTS

Transcription

1 J U L Y GETTING HELP IN OUR BATTLE WITH THOUGHTS our heart. It is in this way that we can do the will of God. But being able to control our thoughts is something that seems to elude us. It is something that we cannot do by ourselves. We need help. Saint Heychius tells us, The spirit cannot conquer a demonic fantasy by its own unaided powers, and should never attempt to do so... The demons are a sly lot: they pretend to be overcome and thin trip us up by filling us up with selfesteem. But when we call upon Jesus Christ, they do not dare to play their tricks with us even for a second."(philokalia vol 1, p. 166) As several of you have pointed out in earlier discussions, controlling our thoughts is not a easy task. Assuredly, if we can do it, our mind becomes clearer, quieter and we are better able to discern. As a result we can become more holy. True prayer demands a silent mind free of thoughts so we can listen to the wordless voice of God that comes from Those of us who have tried to master our thoughts can affirm that, no matter how much we progress, we are either defeated by more thoughts that gain our attention, or we begin to think about how well we have mastered our control of thoughts. As soon as we begin to think about how well we are doing we have lost the battle. The key is what Saint Heychius tells us we must call on Jesus Himself for help. Saint Theophan the Recluse tells us, Whenever we appeal directly to the Lord with fear, reverence, hope and faith in His complete activity without entering into a verbal battle with

2 the passionate thought, the passionate thought then moves away from the mind's eye, which is fixed on the Lord. When it is cut off from the mind through such attention, the passionate thought departs of its own accord... The act of calling on the Lord for help plants a more powerful thought in our mind and forces the one we want to ignore into the background. Without attention given to the thought and given instead to God asking for His help, it disappears. The demon trying to plant the unwanted thought in us is defeated. This is one reason why the practice of the Jesus Prayer is so important. God helps us counteract unwanted thoughts when we call on His Name. Saint Theophan uses an example of a legend he knew of. An elder lived in the desert of silence. The demons visibly attacked him, and began dragging him our of his cell so as to completely drive him out of the desert. The elder himself began fighting back at them, but they moved him and had already dragged him right up to the very door. Just a bit more, and they would have turned him out. Seeing his extreme danger, the elder called out, "Lord Jesus Christ! Why have you abandoned me? Help me, Lord!" As soon as he called out, the Lord appeared immediately and chased away the demons, and said to the elder, "I did not abandon you, but because you did not call on me and thought you could cope with the demons yourself, I did not come to your help. Call on me, and you will always receive ready help." After saying this, the Lord disappeared. this incident is a lesson not just to the elder, but to all of us: Do not struggle with passionate thoughts through your own spiritual altercations with them, but turn immediately to the Lord with prayers against them. (The Spiritual Life, p. 246) A final thought from Saint Theophan Lasting purification of the thoughts is a gift from God, but this gift is not given without intensifying one's personal labors. While you will not achieve anything just by your own labor, God will not give you anything if you do not labor with al your might. This is the fundamental law. (The Spiritual Life, p. 210) YOU CAN HELP ST. SPIRIDON EARN DONATIONS JUST BY SHOPPING WITH YOUR FRED MEYER REWARDS CARD! Sign up for the Community Rewards program by linking your Fred Meyer Rewards Card to St. Spiridon at You can search for us by our name or by our non-profit number Then, every time you shop and use your Rewards Card, you are helping St. Spiridon earn a donation! You still earn your Rewards Points, Fuel Points, and Rebates, just as you do today. If you do not have a Rewards Card, they are available at the Customer Service desk of any Fred Meyer store. For more information, please visit ARCHPRIEST YURI A. MAEV, RECTOR + IEREYURI@SAINTSPIRIDON.ORG + PH:

3 BULLETIN DEADLINE: The deadline for the August bulletin is Thursday, July 23rd. Please have everything in by 10:00am. GENERAL PANIKHIDA: Don t forget the monthly general Panikhida on the second Saturday of each month at 6:00pm. Please submit names directly to Father Yuri. CHURCH CLEANING: We came, we cleaned, and we look good! A huge thank you to the following; Laura Brown, Julie Fayen, Thurman Gillespy, Judy Greene, Matushka Elaine Lowell, Father Yuri and Matushka Olga Maev, Kathi Merculief, Greg Olenik, Susan Priebe, Stephen Stachowiak, and Olivia Williamson. I hope I haven t forgotten any one. Please forgive me for any oversights. You worked hard and did a great job. Thank you so much for your time and elbow grease. Kim King P.S. Remember, all improperly stored and/or unlabeled food in the refrigerator and freezer will be tossed out. Please leave nothing on shelves or in the coat closet without a note. The lost and found bin (with items that are tagged and dated when placed in the basket) is overflowing. All unclaimed items will be donated, along with left-over dishes. We have all the serving pieces we need that match our Corning dinnerware and the Villeroy & Boch serving pieces. Sometimes less really is more. P.S.P.S.! We use garbage liners in all cans in church, the parish, the annex at all times. If there is no liner in place, please find one and put it in or find another can for your refuse. Also, the cans are held in place with large bungee type rubber bands. Please do not toss these out. Simply place it around the lip of the garbage can. These really help keep the liners from slipping down, keeping the cans clean and tidy. Thank you for your cooperation. CLEANING, SORTING, AND ELIMINATION: New flooring will be installed in the annex basement this summer and in preparing for this work excess furniture has been removed. We are consolidating items in the small kitchen, gathering and combining Sunday school supplies and will be donating some of the extra children s chairs (we have 28!). This all means less furniture to move during floor installation, better storage for the two large baking racks used during the bazaar, opening space in the kitchen and making sure the smaller Sunday school classroom always has two clear exits in case of an emergency (this has been a continuous problem for years). Additional cleaning and sorting of closets in the annex will open up much needed room for some of the old and the just ordered altar boy robes. We need your help in not looking around and seeing how to fill up empty corners, vacant wall space, drawers and shelves. In the course of this cleaning work we hired a junk hauler and filled up 7/8 of the truck! Old wooden ladders, large pieces of broken glass, mystery small pieces of furniture not is use, shelving, broken tables & chairs, cracked garbage cans, and much more was removed. Remember, less stuff, less cleaning. PICNIC: Sunday, July 12 th is the parish annual picnic at Hickman Park, th Ave. West in Edmonds. Bring your favorite picnic side dishes along with your utensils. The parish will provide the hot dogs, soda and water. Directions will be available on the day of the picnic at the candle stand. The Guild of the Lord s Friends

4 CHARITY NEWS: The June 7 th collection for the End-Summer-Hunger program and annual back-to-school backpack and school supply program was $1, Thank you all so very much. Our July 5 th will benefit Open Doors USA, who for 60 years has worked in the world s most oppressive countries, empowering Christians who are persecuted for their beliefs. Did you know that each month 322 Christians are killed for their faith, 214 churches and Christian properties are destroyed, and 772 forms of violence are committed against Christians (such as beatings, abduction, rape, arrests and forced marriages). Open Doors USA is a non-profit organization focused on serving in two main areas; Bible & Gospel Development and Women & Children Advancement. On their hot list of countries facing persecution are Ethiopia and Egypt, numbers 22 and 23. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Coptic community of Egypt have become increasingly under pressure from Islamic extremism. Not only are our donations needed, but our prayers and advocacy. For more information go to COFFEE HOUR: Two potlucks in July, the picnic and one hosted coffee hour on July 26 th by Nonna Crook s team. Members of this group are: Sandy MacLean, Matushka Olga, Cathy Olenik and Olivia Williamson. BAKE SALE: the June 14 th bake sale was a huge success. We made $681.00! That $ more than last year. Thank you to everyone who donated and to all of you who bought. The honor system seems to work really well for this event. Susan P. & Kim K. BAZAAR Save The Dates: Our next pelmeni-making sessions are on July 11 and August 1 at 9:30am. Please come help and have fun, too, as many hands make light work (no experience required!). Only have a couple of hours available? That s okay we d love to have you for the time you can give. Potluck lunch, too. Stay tuned for a September date for varenniki-making and helping with Napoleon pastries. Lottery: Dorothy Nowik is happy to take your donations for this year s fun and successful Lottery. (No CD s, books, or cassettes, though, please.) Baba s Attic: Kim King is on point again this year to take in little treasures and boutiquey-type items for Baba s attic. Nothing chipped or broken please. Arts and Crafts: Summer is a great time to make some arts and crafts to donate. Need ideas? Think Russian-inspired items; autumn and Christmas crafts; homemade baby clothes, mittens, and socks; wood-working, decoupache, etc. Please put a note on your finished items with a suggested price. Herbsky: Need any jars for your pickling and preserves? Save some money by checking in with Matushka Helen, as she has resource for some free jars. Besides food items, Herbsky is a great place for your donated homemade soaps, candles, sachets, potpourri, and other herb and flower related crafts. Pastry Table: Time to start pondering baked items for the pastry table. All homemade pastry

5 items are eagerly accepted. Of course, many Bazaar patrons are especially looking for Russian pastries. If you d like to make one and need a recipe, we ve got some available printouts you can take home in the back of the parish hall. Food Worker Permits: IMPORTANT! Most (yes, most!) of us have permits expiring before this year s Bazaar. It is very critical that we have lots of folks with current permits. Even if you re not sure that you ll be working in the food prep or serving areas, it s still good for the Bazaar, in general, to have lots of us with permits, and they are good for two years. Go to and plan for about an hour to complete the simple web-based training and test. The cost is $ Please print a couple of copies of the permit for our bazaar/parish records. October 3 rd and 4 th are fast approaching. Everyone s help is needed to have a successful and fun Bazaar!