Modeling/Living Our Faith
- Michael Haldas
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
“Imagine a typical Sunday morning in a religious family. A ray of sunlight timidly peeks through the window, the kitchen smells of fresh rolls, and a tension familiar to many hangs in the air. The parent’s call: “Let’s go to church!” is met with a muffled groan from under the blanket: “I don’t want to...” And now gentle persuasion gives way to irritation, and a sense of duty starts struggling with sincere bewilderment: “But why?! We want the best!” If you’re familiar with this scenario, you’re not alone. The question of how to pass on the precious pearl of faith to your children without wounding their fragile souls with the thorns of coercion worries every loving Christian family. We want their journey to God to be a joyful pilgrimage, not a cheerless “duty”. So where is the “golden mean” between permissiveness and dictatorship?” (Priest Alexei Taakh)
“Christianity is a living faith, founded on revelation born of the Holy Spirit, giving those counted worthy intimate experience of the Triune God and of spiritual realities. All attempts to understand Christ’s message from a purely rational standpoint will remain partial and incomplete.” (Archimandrite George)
“Christ was not a lawgiver, but a teacher and model of wisdom and love. Love and wisdom require some uncertainty, ambivalence, ambiguity, situational thinking as one navigates through life. There is no “one-size-fits-all” spirituality. We are gifted with different talents and also to different degrees. Christian faith means living with some uncertainty, because faith is related to both wisdom and love. “Now it is evident that no man is justified before God by the law; for ‘He who through faith is righteous shall live’; but the law does not rest on faith, for ‘He who does them shall live by them'” (Galatians 3:11-12). Those Christians who want certainty try to live by keeping the law, whereas we are taught to live by faith in God’s love.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)
“…do we really want…our children to follow a set of religious rules mechanically…Or…know the love of God…trust Him…and…build a personal, deep relationship with Him?...“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deut. 6:5-7). Note the sequence: first there is love for God in the heart, and then there is a constant, unobtrusive, lively discussion of faith in everyday life. Not a scheduled lesson, but a natural intertwining of Divine truths with our everyday lives. We talk about God when we admire the beauty of the sunset, when we console others in resentment, or when we express our thanks for a delicious dinner. Faith does not become a separate subject, but a language spoken by the whole family.” (Priest Alexei Taakh)
“St. Paul warns us not to let our minds be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3). We tend to over think, over analyze, and over intellectualize things, sometimes to the point of absurdity cloaked in what passes for wisdom. It’s nothing more than the delusion that comes from human though turned inward on itself. In the Gospel we see that Christ gave thanks to God for all things and then gave freely of Himself in all circumstances. He pointed to the simplicity of the humility of a little child as the model of discipleship and the criteria for being called the “greatest in Heaven” (Matthew 18:4). God can never be known through analysis, only through communion. This comes from prayer, worship, being fully present, and purifying and uncluttering our thoughts so that they no longer act as a barrier.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
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