Here’s
something to embrace: “from everyone to whom much has
been given, much will be required; and from the one to
whom much has been entrusted, even more will be
demanded.” Embrace it as a challenge. This is a
challenge, not a punishment. It is a challenge to do
more, give more, and love more. It is a challenge to ask
what we can do for our communities, our families, and
ourselves. It is a challenge to realize that we are part
of something important and our role cannot be devalued
by our age.
Being
Orthodox is not something reserved for the old yiayias
who make prosforo and show up for weekday liturgies.
Orthodoxy is not a mystery, which is only revealed to
those over the age of 75 who wear black robes, kerchiefs
on their head, or grow long beards. You see, we become
Orthodox at our baptism, and through the gift of the
Holy Spirit we join the one body of Christ.
This
means, in very plain English, that we have already been
given much, we have been entrusted with much, and much
is expected from us. It’s time we stop waiting on the
sideline. We’ve already made the team, now go out
there and play.
I’ll
leave you with a line from Walt Whitman’s “Poet’s
to Come”
“I am a man who, sauntering
along without fully stopping, turns a casual look upon
you and then averts his face,
Leaving it to you to prove and define it, Expecting the main things from you. “
EMBRACE
THIS!