Categories: orthodox-life, work, hymns
Date: 07 May 2012 22:54:50
Christ is Risen! [I've been negligent in its usage of late!] As we move towards the Ascension of our Lord and Pentecost, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, I have noted a few Old Testament Saints are in the Orthodox Church's calendar; a great remembrance of those who, as Hebrews 11 makes clear, suffered exceedingly for God, those "of whom the world was not worthy", and who were "commended through their faith" though "did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect" (Hebrews 11:39-40), and who form part of the "so great a cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1). As we continue to enjoy the light, joy and love of Pascha, we have certain remembrances each Sunday, so far St Thomas, the Myrrh-Bearing Women and the Paralytic Man at the Sheep's Pool. I particularly love the Kontakion (a one-stanza hymn) for the Myrrh-Bearing Women, named as Equal-to-the-Apostles as they were devoted to Christ as were the twelve and were commanded to tell the Apostles of the Resurrection, with its reversal of the lamentations of Eve:When you said to the Myrrh-bearers, "Rejoice!", O Christ our God, You ended, by Your Resurrection, the lament of Eve, the first mother. And, You commanded Your Apostles to proclaim, "The Saviour has risen from the grave."Last Sunday we also remembered the righteous Job and the Apolytikion (a one-stanza hymn for the Feast day) encouraged me with Job's steadfastness in spirit while his possessions were taken away:
On beholding the riches of Job's virtues, the enemy of the righteous contrived to despoil them; and though he cast down the tower of the Saint's body, he could not plunder the wealth of his spirit, for he found the soul of that blameless one to be fully armed; but as for me, he has stripped me and led me captive away. Hasten, then, before the end, and rescue me from the wily one, O Saviour, and save me.A prayer for me in all seasons. No news yet about the school position or the other interview I had the Friday before last. I had an interview yesterday in Newcastle (NSW, not England!), a city north of Sydney and near where my sister and her family moved to. It thus has an appeal, and after a technical test and interview on Friday, if I have not heard anything from elsewhere before-hand, I should get a response there. Being honest, I am now more confused than ever. I think I need prayer, a cry to God for help, as well as a deep breath and a break from constant mulling on work; as St Julian of Norwich wrote, "all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."