9th in Luke        November 19, 2006       

"Rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God, in Christ Jesus."

1s^t Thessalonians 5:16-18

What better verse from the Holy Scriptures could be more fitting, to denote the spirit that we should have, and to sense more intensely, especially during the coming Holidays? "Rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God, in Christ Jesus."

In essence, Holidays mean "Holy Days." Days, which should be set apart, to give them their true and proper significance.

Whether it is Christmas, Easter, Memorial Day or Veterans Day, many are going to do their thing, because of the opportunity is given by our Nation, to be absent from our everyday work. Memorial and Veterans Day are great Holidays, because hundreds of thousands gave their last measure, so that we may enjoy the blessings of liberty.

How about Christmas? We have reduced it to a mania of purchasing gifts to please loved ones. How do Christians say about the greatest and most incomparable of all Gifts, which is our Saviour's Birth?

How I wish, that there could be some way to make a general appeal to all the Christians of our Country, regardless of their religious persuasion, to resist all gift buying, except for token gifts to Family, and perhaps Christ may get back into Christmas, as some bumper stickers declare. "Rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus!"

This soul filling phrase was expressed to the Thessalonians by St. Paul. And while St. Paul says, it is the will of God. Yet, by being obedient to God, it is we, who become the beneficiaries of the bountiful spiritual harvest, which that phrase guarantees.

"Rejoice evermore!" And who is the person, who does not want to have the spirit of rejoicing? We all want to be happy. It is happiness that we truly seek. But, the tragic part is, that we set out to find happiness mainly by pursuing to acquire material things - the external things --- whether it be wealth, power, position, or the like. However, in the Book of Proverbs, chapter 3, verse 13 we read: "Happy is the man, who finds wisdom!" Thus, as the wise Solomon says: "to be happy, we must firstly find wisdom," and when find wisdom, we should put it to constructive use.

This wisdom will give us the ability to distinguish between the possessions that we need --- and use --- and actually enjoy, as against the accumulation of superfluous objects, which we acquire out of vanity, or greed, or the compulsion to outdo and outshine others! People who love and enjoy personally that, which they own, are far more happier than those, who have much more, than they could ever enjoy. For instance, if we were to visit a luxurious mansion, with countless, gilded in gold rooms, occupied by only two people as does happen, aside from the gilded appointments and the lavish furnishings, we surely would sense the frigidity of such a house; --too big to make it a home, through true Christian love. I can personally attest to this fact, having visited many multi-millionaire ship-Owners' mansions, during my 16 year service at the Archdiocesan Cathedral in Manhattan.

Would you not agree, that the more people own, beyond the limit of things, that they can personalize and love, they are susceptible to suffer from boredom, frustration and anxiety? Yet, we see people, constantly struggling to increase their possessions, with the thought, that these, of themselves only will bring happiness.

Oddly though, it seems that every increase in the quantity of things we desire, and for which we strive, this increase generally brings about a decrease in the quality of love.

There is nothing wrong with trying to increase one's possessions, providing, that this is not at the expense of our being in control, and to not permit our possessions to control us.

If we use our wisdom in seeking true happiness, we shall see, that we have far greater power to renounce, than to possess.

No person can own the earth, but every person has the power to disown it. Parallel to this truth, we have the comparable saying, which applies to all Christians: "to be in the world, but not of the world!"

We have heard, or repeated it more than once, because it is so true: "Happiness is a state of mind!" On the surface, we could agree that it is correct. Happiness does become a state of mind, if we want to give it that terminology.

But we must realize, that happiness is the result of an effort. It is a working process, and not, as some would have it, a "wishful thinking" situation.

The wise Solomon said: "The man who finds wisdom is a happy person." Consequently, happiness must source from within a person. It is not acquired through the externals, but rather, it is developed in the mind, in the heart, and in the soul!

Happiness is a state of blessedness, which God gave us the power to acquire. It is in fact, what God wants for all of us, --- and that is, to be happy. All those sublime teachings in the Sermon on the Mount in the 5th, 6th and 7th chapters of St. Matthews Gospel, commence with the nine Beatitudes. Each Beatitude begins with the words: "Blessed are they," etc. This state of blessedness is nothing short, of what we recognize as happiness. In the Beatitudes, the Lord calls the people blessed, who would suffer, who would patiently endure, and who would sustain all the trials and tribulations of life with patience.

But somehow, does not this teaching pose an opposition to the common belief, that to be happy, everything in life should always go smoothly, and the way we would expect it to go? Yes, it does, only when our thinking is earth bound, and riveted to the ground, without permitting our soul to rise up to lofty heights, to sense real happiness. Who can disagree with the wise Solomon, that "happy is the person,

who finds wisdom."

Periodically, down through the years, I have often have repeated that, which has been indelibly inscribed in my mind and heart. It was a T.V. program, which was for me         a life-giving sermon, not from a Clergyman, but from a quadraplegic who was born without arms or legs.

There were 3 members on the panel. The only face that was visible, was that of a quadraplegic. The other two, were shown in shadowed profiles. One of the two was a young man of 22, who had completed his University studies. He was asked by the Moderator if he was optimistic or pessimistic about life. Without any hesitation, he responded, that he was most pessimistic, because for him, life seemed to be an endless struggle, with little, if any, meaning.

From what was said earlier in the introduction, this young man came from the upper middle class; he enjoyed complete physical health, and up to that moment, everything had been handed to him by his parents in abundance.

The other guest was a young lady also 22, and a University graduate. Her father was extremely wealthy. When asked the same question, whether she was optimistic, or pessimistic, she quickly answered, that she was completely disillusioned, and that she was fed­up with life, simply because she sensed no purpose.

'Asked why she felt as she did, since her father always gave her everything she desired, and nothing was out of her reach, she replied that this was precisely the problem; that her father was always at hand to purchase is it were, her happiness.

So, in reality, while this girl had everything, she was poverty stricken. Her soul was famished. One could easily conclude, that this may be the norm for the rich and the famous, and is surely the greatest proof that happiness is not acquired from the externals.

But the hero of the panel was the quadraplegic of 37 years. He was asked the question directly: "Since nature has cheated you of a normal body, how do you feel having this abnormality?" Without hesitation, he responded: "When I was a young boy, old enough o reason, seeing my deformity, I was faced with a dilemma. One solution was, to resolve and submit to my pain and my hopeless situation, and then to resort to self-pity. The other solution was, to muster up my spiritual forces, and fight to overcome my handicap"

"I thank God" he said, "for having given me the power to make the latter decision. My faith in God is unshakable. I believe, that there is a purpose for all situations, regardless of how bleak, or how bad they may seem to us; also, I firmly believe in the lasting values of life Very early I set out to cultivate my soul and inner feelings. I found an outlet in painting, and I did learn to paint, by holding the brush with my teeth. When I paint, I feel nature speaking to me, with her vibrant colors and her expressions."

The quadraplegic concluded his eloquent discourse by saying: "I won happiness, and I continuously feel the joy of creating." When the last question was posed to him: "Do you have any complaints about life?" he replied: "None whatsoever. One must learn to overcome his handicaps, and to bring forth the hidden powers, which God has instilled in everyone.

From the 3 young panelists we see, that the first two possessed everything, yet, they were impoverished, and the quadraplegic, who had nothing, yet, he possessed everything. The dynamic statements and teachings of the quadraplegic are comparable to the experiences of the lives of our Saints, many of which overcame their handicaps starting from St. Paul, who accepted his life-long affliction by proclaiming: "I become strong through my infirmity."

There is no doubt, that those who viewed this profound T.V.program must have been deeply moved, and that many must have done some serious re-thinking. This program had tremendous power, and a very decisive force, which could not, but have affected many viewers.

I choose then, to conclude my sermon with the words of St. Paul, as quoted in the beginning: "Rejoice evermore,- pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God." The essence of these words, had become the motto of the quadraplegic's life. The question then remains: why so many Christians do not make the effort to adopt this motto for their life?            + Fr. George Papadeas