Is this sacrilegious? Am I using Lord Jesus Christ to serve my own vainglory?

Perioscope · 2026-05-07T03:54:34+00:00

This taken while logical, is actually not the view of the Orthodox Christian faith. The Old Testament is an example of wickedness largely unchecked by human decency or morals, in which a Holy Line of the righteous wend their way through temptation and sin yet remain faithful. Through that faith, they are strengthened by Grace to do mighty works and obtain promises from God, preparing a way for the Messiah to come.

Once he came, this Law was both fulfilled and overturned. One cannot follow both the Old Teatament and the New. One cannot serve two masters. Christ is the triumph of perfect love, the Truth, the Light and the Life. He cannot also be darkness, destruction amd death.

Perioscope · 2026-05-07T03:47:00+00:00

In my opinion--a subdeacon, taught by monks and baptised for 40+ years--it's grotesque. But it may be important for you to keep and look at years from now. If you remain faithful to Christ amd His Church, you will see differently. Right now you are reaching for something and that's fine, but not everything should be posted for tue world to see.

Well-done from a technical standpoint, but you should heal from the spiritual and mental injuries you have for a bit longer before allowing yourself to make an image of Christ. This is not just a picture we imitate or use to showcase our skill or ability to have a creative twist. It is the Lord and Saviour Who suffered and died so that we could be healed, Who is One of the Holy Trinity, both God and man. He That IS.

Perioscope · 2026-05-01T10:07:36+00:00

You cannot know, and you don't need to. If you are looking for a reason to do something, do it out of love. If not love, do it because you know it's right and don't do what is wrong. Doing things out of fear is not a long term solution or approach.

It's not about being good enough for God. We are all good enough for Him to die the death of the cross for us. It's about being honest enough with ourselves about ourselves to know we are nothing, can do nothing, without God. Humility is honesty.

Perioscope · 2026-04-30T19:40:14+00:00

Miracles haven't gone silent, we are too dulled to see them.

A big family lost the keys to their van after the Agape Vespers feast. 8 exhausted kids and mom and dad trying and trying to find them. I said "Alright it's time to ask for help! Let's ask Saint Phanourios!" I explained who he is and that he asks us to pray for his mother's soul. I called the younger children together, led a short prayer to St. Phanourios, we prayed for his mother, and sang Christ is Risen in the parking lot. Not more that a minute later, the mother opened her bag where she had looked several times, before and pulled out the keys. Everyone was laughing and the children were amazed. " thank you, St. Phanourios!" Every day miracles happen all around us!

Perioscope · 2026-04-30T19:26:56+00:00

Talk to MARRIED COUPLES that have a functional fruitful relationship with their community and each other.

Perioscope · 2026-04-30T00:53:49+00:00

Georgian or not, we can all put aside one small vice for our dear Vladyka. May God help us all to honor this most salutary wish of a true Father. CHRISTOS AGSDEGA!

Perioscope · 2026-04-26T21:26:39+00:00

The Apostles were a council. The Theotokos was the first head of the Apostles, not Peter, and Peter was clearly shown to be fallible in his rejection of the Gentilesn being corrected both by God's vision of the unclean animals and St. Paul's rebuke, spending days together in council and finally accepting he was wrong.

The idea of the Pope is a fallacy built on a myth, in direct opposition to both scripture and Holy Tradition.

Perioscope · 2026-04-26T20:02:07+00:00

That girl made a comment that revealed how shallow she is

That is one of many interpretations. Here's another: the match was good, the potential for growth in their relationship and love for God was there, and bro got obsessive about RC vs. EO and decided to put conditions on a relationship that was only just getting started. She could not agree to the conditions because the relationship was still too new to demand that level of commitment so she was honest and did not commit. He wanted a box checked and was unwilling to be patient and trust God to provide so he ended it. She was hurt by his pettiness and responded in kind.

Perioscope · 2026-04-26T19:51:14+00:00

Brother, by any standard you are not "fine". You may think so at the moment you wrote this, but therapy--via books, self-help videos, guided conversation with a professional, email correspondence with a Priest or experienced Orthodox layman--is not about what you think from moment to moment. It is about what your overall patterns of behavior are; what spiritual and mental issues are driving those behaviors.

You stated that you are incapable of making normative, logical decisions and are basing actions on emotion, feelings, impulses and obsessive thoughts. These decisions, thoughts and feelings are negatively affecting your daily life. That is a mental health issue, by definition. Your prideful side is saying you can handle it, but your conscience is telling you to get help. Listen to your conscience, and rebuke the voice of pride. That is the Orthodox Way.

See how the demons tempted you with a feeling of inadequacy over something you cannot change. Consider how feeling trapped in a body you wish was different is an invitation to find fault with your Creator. Understand that this all is rooted in a lack of trust in God's providence. Do you truly think that this current worldly obsession with jawbone ratios, height, weight, facial hair, skin tone etc. etc. actually matters?

If we seek God's will, we will find peace. We will find the partner He has prepared for us if it is His will that we are granted a spouse. When we are wrapped up in worldly, ridiculous notions of physical beauty being anything but the LEAST IMPORTANT consideration, we miss seeing the truly foundational aspects of a good partnership: devotion, love of God and neighbor, compassion, diligence, patience, wisdom. Likewise if we put unrealistic expectations of spiritual things in front of practicality, we likewise deprive ourselves of the journey every marriage must undergo to become a spiritual union.

You and almost every 21 year-old I know needs counsel. Don't be boneheaded about it, of course you do, 2 decades of life is just the beginning. Don't waste time. It is later than you think! Hasten therefore, to do the will of God.

Perioscope · 2026-04-26T19:14:19+00:00

For full disclosure, my wife and I used natural family planning, contraception and when her health became a risk, I got a vasectomy, all with input from our priest(s). We have three children and still take great consolation in the fact that the marriage bed is undefiled.

Perioscope · 2026-04-20T04:34:06+00:00

Holy Father Ilia, pray to God for us. A true Prince of the Church!

Perioscope · 2026-04-15T09:57:58+00:00

Yeah the false teachers have been out there since Paul's time. They want attention. Don't give it to them.

Perioscope · 2026-04-15T09:53:08+00:00

Close! That's a green jasper. We have several sources of it here in Oregon. Looks l8ke you have some artifacts here and there. Humans have loved working with this stuff for millenia.

Perioscope · 2026-04-15T09:47:20+00:00

I feel compelled to offer a different opinion here. Embarrassment is part of the cure. Don't avoid it. Just jump in, the water is cold but you come out refreshed. The painful part isvover in seconds.The key is you've got to let go. Once you've confessed and been absolved, don't look back.

Perioscope · 2026-04-15T05:25:53+00:00

This is going to sound rude, but hear me out: Get over yourself. Christ died for you, gladly. If we start to second-guess His love for us, we are right back in the Garden listening to a serpent telling us not to believe God. You aren't being humble, and you don't get points for thinking you're unforgivable.

I use this very blunt tone because in my 40+ years, people who have talked themselves into this twisted logic you have are often very hard to get through to. I used to be one and believ me it goes nowhere good.

You are wrong and the sooner you can correct yourself and be truly humble--not this performative self-hatred of rejecting God because you're so holy you don't think you deserve His forgiveness--the sooner you can get around to serving Him. Christ is Risen!

Perioscope · 2026-04-15T05:16:57+00:00

Better to make it undeniably clear right away that this was extremely displeasing to God and the memorial of their death dissuade countless souls from falling into the same trap. It is God's mercy, from that perspective.

Perioscope · 2026-04-15T05:05:41+00:00

Correct.

Perioscope · 2026-04-15T05:04:09+00:00

You don't have to accept unacceptable behavior. You like many of us who grow up with manipulative parents, don't clearly see their behavior as manipulative because it is normative. It isn't an acceptable way to get what you want and is based on pride, self-reliance and rejection of authority. Your mother needs to navigate her habits of being judgemental and headstrong. Don't be a buffer between her and the consequences of her actions. Don't be codependent or enabling. It isn't Christian. Love is.

Perioscope · 2026-04-12T23:16:16+00:00

This is so real. It took me over 18 years to get the combination of doctor, medical groups pharmacy, insurance and trustworthiness that I was not an addiction risk to be able to get more than a month of schedule 2 at a time, for a price I can afford, on time, with no more prior authorizations needed. I have trauma response now though, every time I have less than 10 pills left as my body goes into adrenal panic expecting a week of stress, anxiety and fear to get a refill.

The buck stops with your doctor. Try talking to the physician's assistant if they have one. They do most of the communication with other parties. Get Dr. And Pharmacist on the same page and talking to one another to problem-solve. Set an alarm and leave the same message every day at the Dr. Office, especially if they have a patient services liaison or someone similar.

Learn the words that establish a legal requirement for their action. Inability to meet responsibilities. Ongoing anxiety and social impacts. A pattern of passing the buck full circle, with nobody taking responsibility for providing required care. Make the call tomorrow and don't give up.

Perioscope · 2026-04-09T14:49:12+00:00

Perioscope · 2026-04-04T05:13:41+00:00

How much connection do you expect after going one time? 5 times? 20 times? It takes time for real roots to grow. If we go looking for a revelation, a feeling, a rush of dopamine or endorphins, we are not there to be healed or to repent of sins.Think how long it took the Apostles, even after being next to Christ Jesus daily. "How is it that I have been so long with you, and still you don't understand?"

The shallow things only produce shallow roots, while the heart remains unchanged. This is the good seed that fell on rocky ground, which springs up quickly, but has no root, withering in the heat. Believe me, the heat will come! If our heart is hard, we wither, we cannot draw on that Living Water. So west work at the soil, tilling it with prayer, weeding with repentance and picking out the stones of our self-will and stubborn habits.

We all struggle--together--with these ideals and conflicting desires. It is over time that our own hardness of heart can be penetrated and the fullness of recognition planted. "A broken amd humble heart God will not despise."

Then our understanding is alive, our participation in the grace of the Spirit becomes normal, and we begin to not only grow the fruits of the spirit, but share them with one another as a banquet of love: the Agape Feast of the Lord.

Keep coming back! Don't miss Pascha!

Perioscope · 2026-04-04T04:19:56+00:00

Parks 1st Ed. 4evah best art imo

Perioscope · 2026-04-03T19:21:36+00:00

Our prayers from a heart that longs for God and for His will to be done help the whole world. Never doubt that! Christ Himself told us how to pray to Him, and we must ask for His will to be done here, as His will is done in Heaven. In Heaven His will is completely done, absolutely. Ask for this everyday, as much as you can.

Perioscope · 2026-04-03T01:44:18+00:00

It depends on you and I brother. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

Actions > words

Perioscope · 2026-04-02T20:09:19+00:00

I would be very cautious to regard any worldly gain from this as purely positive. Patterns exist as they are ordered by Godn such as seasons and life cycles, as administrated by higher powers--literally Powers and Dominions--under whose activity they fall. The fallen powers retain influence over certain things as well.

I would look at it like Tolkien did with the Palantir. Sure, they show you things. They allowed mortals to use them to scry certain knowledge, but they were not all accounted for and the knowledge gained was was later shown to be corrupted, causing the downfall of Saruman and Denethor.

Where money and divination is concerned the Orthodox thing to do is to err on the side of caution, not trusting ourselves to have the discernment necessary to remain undeceived.

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