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Mickey
Guest
That is why it is vitally important in the Orthodox Church to have an experienced spiritual father.
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Mickey
Guest
Someone says something–possibly rude–and it hurts your ego. It takes two to tango.
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Mickey
Guest
Christians are called to follow and serve God where He can be found. For most Christians God is found “in the world.” As the Father sent the Son into the world, so too are we sent into the world.
At the same time however, we are to keep ourselves from the evil we find there. In His last discourse Jesus said: “I do not pray that thou should take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth” (John 17:15-17).
Fr George Morelli
At the same time however, we are to keep ourselves from the evil we find there. In His last discourse Jesus said: “I do not pray that thou should take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth” (John 17:15-17).
Fr George Morelli
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Mickey
Guest
We are all called to a life of asceticism.
“For our married people have everything in common with the monks except marriage.”
**St John Chrysostom **
“For our married people have everything in common with the monks except marriage.”
**St John Chrysostom **
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mdrummer5
Guest
If it’s not overtly rude and it is merely my perception that’s flawed that person has no part in the blame and again a society does not consist of one person.Someone says something–possibly rude–and it hurts your ego. It takes two to tango.
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Mickey
Guest
“The world” can be your interaction with just one person. Usually something is said to provoke a response.
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Mickey
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I agree. That was a cruel stunt. 
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mdrummer5
Guest
But if that something shouldn’t make me angry (and it’s usually not) then it’s not a factor in my anger outside of it being a catalyst. So again, in that case society has nothing to do with my sin.
Now… if the individual on the other line let’s a string of obscenities fly and follows up with calling my mom a prostitute and me the product of one of her clients… then yes that’s not JUST on me… but if (who am I kidding) when I would get angry I would never blame that person for my anger.
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Mickey
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A catalyst is an outside influence–is it not?
Many of our thoughts come from demonic suggestions, and from these derive our evil outward actions. If with the help of Jesus we instantly quell the thought, we will avoid its corresponding outward action. We will enrich ourselves with the sweetness of divine knowledge and so will find God, Who is everywhere. Holding the mirror of the intellect firmly towards God, we will be illumined constantly as pure glass is by the sun. Then finally the intellect, having reached the limit of its desires, will in Him cease from all other contemplation.
St Hesychius of Jerusalem
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mdrummer5
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But it is not responsible for my sin. Let me explain it in better detail. I approve and deny credit requests for a living. I get phone calls day in and day out asking about the decisions I’ve made. I get thoroughly annoyed when someone calls me and contests my decision and flat out angry when they don’t accept the reasoning I’ve given them. It’s not their fault I got angry and it’s certainly not from demonic suggestion. It’s me… as a flawed human being.
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gurneyhalleck1
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Keith Moon—drugs, excessive pyrotechnics that deafened friends, throwing furtniture out of windows, great guy! 
…He was a great drummer and brought a lot of excitement to the band…John Entwistle was not exactly exciting! 
I do love the album “Who’s Next.” I think it’s absolutely a treasure…
…He was a great drummer and brought a lot of excitement to the band…John Entwistle was not exactly exciting! I do love the album “Who’s Next.” I think it’s absolutely a treasure…
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Mickey
Guest
But they are a catalyst. I am sure that they are not all lovey dovey after you have declined their credit request. They are questioning your ability to do the job that you were hired to do—and perhaps questioning your competency. This angers you. Ultimately you are responsible for your reaction—no matter what. The martyrs were tortured to death before they were murdered----without getting angry or offended. We often have outside influences working against us—but it is our response which determines whether it will progress.
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Mickey
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Here are some accolades for A cappela ecclesiatical worship!
“musical instruments were not used. The pipe, tabret, and harp here associate so intimately with the sensual heathen cults, as well as with the wild revelries and shameless performances of the degenerate theater and circus, it is easy to understand the prejudices against their use in the worship.” (St Augustine 354 A.D., describing the singing at Alexandria under Athanasius)
“musical instruments were not used. The pipe, tabret, and harp here associate so intimately with the sensual heathen cults, as well as with the wild revelries and shameless performances of the degenerate theater and circus, it is easy to understand the prejudices against their use in the worship.” (St Augustine 354 A.D., describing the singing at Alexandria under Athanasius)
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Mickey
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“David formerly sang songs, also today we sing hymns. He had a lyre with lifeless strings, the church has a lyre with living strings. Our tongues are the strings of the lyre with a different tone indeed but much more in accordance with piety. Here there is no need for the cithara, or for stretched strings, or for the plectrum, or for art, or for any instrument; but, if you like, you may yourself become a cithara, mortifying the members of the flesh and making a full harmony of mind and body. For when the flesh no longer lusts against the Spirit, but has submitted to its orders and has been led at length into the best and most admirable path, then will you create a spiritual melody.” (St John Chrysostom, 347-407, Exposition of Psalms 41, (381-398 A.D.) Source Readings in Music History, ed. O. Strunk, W. W. Norton and Co.: New York, 1950, pg. 70.)
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Mickey
Guest
“Leave the pipe to the shepherd, the flute to the men who are in fear of gods and intent on their idol worshipping. Such musical instruments must be excluded from our wingless feasts, for they are more suited for beasts and for the class of men that is least capable of reason than for men. The Spirit, to purify the divine liturgy from any such unrestrained revelry chants: 'Praise Him with sound of trumpet,” for, in fact, at the sound of the trumpet the dead will rise again; praise Him with harp,’ for the tongue is a harp of the Lord; ‘and with the lute. praise Him.’ understanding the mouth as a lute moved by the Spirit as the lute is by the plectrum; ‘praise Him with timbral and choir,’ that is, the Church awaiting the resurrection of the body in the flesh which is its echo; ‘praise Him with strings and organ,’ calling our bodies an organ and its sinews strings, for from them the body derives its coordinated movement, and when touched by the Spirit, gives forth human sounds; ‘praise Him on high-sounding cymbals,’ which mean the tongue of the mouth which with the movement of the lips, produces words. Then to all mankind He calls out, ‘Let every spirit praise the Lord,’ because He rules over every spirit He has made. In reality, man is an instrument arc for peace, but these other things, if anyone concerns himself overmuch with them, become instruments of conflict, for inflaming the passions. The Etruscans, for example, use the trumpet for war; the Arcadians, the horn; the Sicels, the flute; the Cretans, the lyre; the Lacedemonians, the pipe; the Thracians, the bugle; the Egyptians, the drum; and the Arabs, the cymbal. But as for us, we make use of one instrument alone: only the Word of peace by whom we pay homage to God, no longer with ancient harp or trumpet or drum or flute which those trained for war employ." (St Clement of Alexandria, 190AD The instructor, Fathers of the church, p. 130)
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Mickey
Guest
EUSEBIUS
“Of old at the time those of the circumcision were worshipping with symbols and types it was not inappropriate to send up hymns to God with the psalterion and cithara and to do this on Sabbath days… We render our hymn with a living psalterion and a living cithara with spiritual songs. The unison voices of Christians would be more acceptable to God than any musical instrument. Accordingly in all the churches of God, united in soul and attitude, with one mind and in agreement of faith and piety we send up a unison melody in the words of the Psalms.” (commentary on Psalms 91:2-3)
“Of old at the time those of the circumcision were worshipping with symbols and types it was not inappropriate to send up hymns to God with the psalterion and cithara and to do this on Sabbath days… We render our hymn with a living psalterion and a living cithara with spiritual songs. The unison voices of Christians would be more acceptable to God than any musical instrument. Accordingly in all the churches of God, united in soul and attitude, with one mind and in agreement of faith and piety we send up a unison melody in the words of the Psalms.” (commentary on Psalms 91:2-3)
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gurneyhalleck1
Guest
Mickey, do you seriously think I’m going to read all this stuff!? 
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Mickey
Guest
No.Mickey, do you seriously think I’m going to read all this stuff!?
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Fluffyfox
Guest
Yeah,much modern music is horrible. Like Ke$ha,Justin Bieber and such,which they use autotune and such and don’t even write or perform their own music.
To the issue of Led Zeppelin,the Beatles supposedly put a pic of Aleister Crowley on one of their albums,and Jimmy Page was actually a occultist and not a demonist.
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mdrummer5
Guest
This is exactly my point… so why then try to say that society is “responsible for inflaming the passions of an ordained priest to commit unspeakable crimes against our youth”? I still disagree with the study but that aside society MAY be the catalyst but it is not responsible for the individual’s reaction… there’s quite a difference.
Edit: While I concede for the sake of argument society could be a catalyst… the reason I find the study completely bogus is because nowhere in society is it morally acceptable to touch little boys in inappropriate ways. If the study were to show that many priests gave up the cloth to pursue sex with other consenting adults I’d probably be more agreeable.
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