Crisis

“What is the peace of the world? Perhaps we would call it security or safety; the sense that physical walls and human strength, burgeoning bank accounts and spending capacity, or healthy bodies and modern medicine make us powerful enough to enact and ensure peace for ourselves. When those things fail, when we ourselves crumble in illness or crisis, the peace of the world is no longer something we may acquire because it was always something to be bought. And sooner or later, we will all find ourselves impoverished by suffering.” (Sarah Clarkson)

“In our culture, if someone spoke about coldness of the heart, we would likely describe it as an emotional issue, and dismiss it or diminish it as merely unfortunate. If, on the other hand, we were to speak about something interfering with our acquisition of information, we would treat it as a crisis of first-order. We do not understand that the greatest crisis in our lives is found in our coldness of heart. Indeed, even our acquisition of information is distorted by coldness of the heart.” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“We cry aloud to God in our times of trouble, and God remains blissful and silent. And we wish that if God is going to do nothing to change or improve the situation we are in, if God is not going to save us from the crisis, then the least God can do is be with us as we sink beneath the waves of the tumultuous storm into the depths of the abyss, rather than leaving us alone or abandon us to our fate. Perhaps we have even felt like the followers of Baal in 1 Kings 18 who cried aloud to their god but Baal remained silent. The Prophet “Elijah mocked them, saying, ‘Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is musing, or he has gone aside, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened’” (1 Kings 18:27). We may have felt at times like those worshippers of Baal –our God remains silent despite our critical problems or our desperate prayers. The disciples felt such abandonment as Christ peacefully slept while they were terrified by the raging storm. To live in the peace of Christ, no matter how the storm rages around us or in us, is our spiritual goal.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)

“Let’s leave the global crises alone and focus on the personal crises of each person. What are personal crises? They are certain transitions, moments that give pause. Something happens in our lives, and we have to stop and think: What have we done before, what have we come to and how we can move on And during these periods, we are given a kind of test before God, life, of ourselves. It is a test of strength, of our will to move on, of our determination. After all, a crisis is always a kind of change—a change after which it is difficult to continue living the way we lived before.” (Archpriest Pavel Gumerov)

“…we the faithful do not have to guess what God the Holy Trinity is up to in our world. No longer must we wish that somehow everything will turn out alright. Rather, we know the inheritance that God has in store for us. And we already have the Holy Spirit who is the down payment of the fulfillment of our salvation (Ephesians 1:14). The world may seem to be spinning out of control. One crisis may seem to pile up against the others. Yet, the Word of scripture assures us, the end of all things is in our spiritual sight. Indeed, by the revelation of God, we not only know our end but the universe’s destiny…look up from our world’s division and discord…discern the mystery of the Holy Trinity’s purpose for His creation. From this higher viewpoint, we see the Lord is working in the disunity of this passing world to the glorious fulfillment of His divine purpose.” (Fr. Basil)

#SarahClarkson #FatherStephenFreeman #FrTedBobosh #ArchpriestPavelGumerov #FrBasil