When the Homily is about Immunology

New Pic

Well I got bored with that old one and my Dad sent me this new one from our fishing trip. You can click on it to see a really big version...if you dare to look upon my ugly mug in virtual life size. Outside of the personal company (my Dad) the trip was generally miserable. It rained alot and the river was muddied up which made for some rough fishing. None-the-less, the venerable RFD Paradosis landed us fish and remains undefeated.

Really Fishing and boating connect a great deal with Paradosis. The importance of Tradition is terribly neglected in our culture. The old saying: Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime comes to mind. What has been passed down to me about fishing will be passed down to my children. If they think I'm full of crap then they can of course figure it all out on their own. And herein lies the tragedy of Christianity today...we're all running about trying to do it on our own. Standing upon individualistic pedestals and looking down upon all others, fully confident in our ability to properly and personally discern REAL Chrsitianity from false.

Yes we could use our simple rational logic and string a huge net accross the river and catch more then enough salmon. And then in a few years we will tremble at the sight of an empty river and wonder what went wrong? On to the next river. Utilitarianism...what works best for me.

I believe it was Lao Tzu who lamented about his society's abadoning the wisdom of the ancients. If memory serves, and it so often doesn't) he described each new generation as growing up in isolation and trying to reinvent society anew. Lost without a compass as it were.

Christianity though is more than paying heed (at our own logical and lofty discretion) to the ancients. We Orthodox affirm a Living Tradition...the living memory of the Church. It's more than recreation (funny - or sad - how this term is now associated with amusement), it is sustenance.

Anyway, I'd rather be fishing.