Orthodoxy is the only way of life. Radical statement this might sound to many if they are not within the Orthodox faith. If we do not then live Orthodoxy, we simply are not Orthodox, no matter what formal beliefs we hold. I am not saying you are not a good individual or wont be saved etc if you are not Orthodox. If you do not follow an Orthodox way of living then you are not Orthodox is the point I am trying to make.
Life in our modern world has become very confusing. As an Orthodox Christian how can we develop a view which will help us survive these times with our ancient faith intact?
It's a normal thing to say that life today has become abnormal. Fundamental values and concepts have turned society against each other. The spoiled generation of living in the present has no law but the fulfullment of personal happiness. Parents bow down to their children and as these children grow to become adults merely substituting their childhood games for grown up amusements. Life becomes this constant search for fun which is an empty way of living because wanting more fun would become our slave in life. A visitor from any previous century, looking at our modern inventions like television, movies and music or at any aspect of pop culture would think they have stumbled across a creation that has lost contact with the normal reality.
This fake culture, which is preaching the "I" generation, cannot support the enhancement of normal human life, much less inspire a young generation of youth to search for the truth. When this "I" generation then begins to search for this truth within religion, it usually finds a fake religion focused around a self-centred form of religion, filled with fantasy and fake things that keep you coming every week and contributing your money to that particular organization. The secular world today presents a constant state of temptation which makes equally demanding task on the soul. We are bombarded by it-whether in the music being played, with public billboards, and even in the home with the television you watch which might turn into a ruler of the household shaping your own views and opinions about certain aspects that rule your own life.
In the many forms these different media outlets speaks of the same message; live for the present, enjoy yourself and relax. What do you got to lose? A few years? The scary things about this is that the underlining message is not expressed within all of this. The more stricter nations where the name of God is being dropped is one step ahead of this society we live in. Forget about God and any other life but the present one is what many nations preach today. This has caused million of people to lose there lives (WWII) and later communist nations and autocratic nations of the Middle East. As more people get caught in the fantasy land known as the "American Dream", the true God is pushed away, dare I even say being forgotten and we are brought up forgetting who really took care of us when we most needed the care.
Some of you will ask, what does this all have to do with trying to live a real Orthodox Christian life? Well, it has a lot to do with our own humility, to see the society we live around, abnormal as it might seem, does have a certain effect on us. The next natural question is what can we do about this to fix it?
There are two false approaches many of us adopt to our lives and many Orthodox Christians live by. The most common, and might seem unharmful, is to go along with the spirit of the times. Many youths today lack a strong example in the home, as many Orthodox youth are not being made aware of the need to struggle against the universal temptation of this narcissist ('I") age. They readily blend in with the anti-Christian world around them. This is death to the soul. As Christians we are called to be different from the worldly approach, and we must begin to educate our children and youths about this difference. Otherwise we are as good as any walking atheist today.
However, the other extreme can occur and we must be careful of this. The false approach of super spirituality often taken by many who have the burning heart but approach it without any knowledge. This can become a great downfall because if one is not used to this type of living they will come crashing down. As translations are being made available, one finds an increasing number of people talking about monasticism and the Jesus Prayer etc. Do not misunderstand me, it is wonderful to be inspired and to realize our high calling, but unless we have a realistic and I must stress, humble awareness of how far away all of us are from spiritual heights, our interest will only develop into a game which is just another expression based on the fake society we live in.
We have to realize that the society we live in cannot help us achieve the end goal of our live. Being an Orthodox Christian is not to be lived out by name but also by deed and work. No one said its going to be easy but why is that we say no to Orthodoxy and challenge ourselves in the society we will live to have the ends never justify the means. We work hard to get an education and 5 years into our working life we do not like the job we have. Why do we work hard to find a spouse and then find ourselves a couple years in have marriage problems. The issue is that we forget our Orthodox faith and rely on the society for answers without realizing society will always have in a constant state of fun with no deep happiness to be found in this fun. If we come to realize that our life in to be lived out with the holiness and spirituality of the church then everything that we live around will be in a state of goodness. However, if we conform to society this will be a spiritual death that one can never recover from if he or she is not made aware of.
I like it, to be brief I agree with you that society's negative influence on children and youth causes people to forget about God and get lost in an abyss. You are also very correct that it all starts with the home and how the family raises their children. It is a shame that the majority of people have reached this level of obliviousness and are preoccupied with everything that is fake or false in life.
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