Merry Orthodox Christmas! The mysteries of time. Branta-Claus' 60th birthday bash! (It's a secret!!! Shhhhhhh!)

Hello & welcome to a very atypical birthday party!

First, a shoutout to Eastern Orthodoxy (EO), my latest muse. Their Old Calendar Christmas is Jan. 7. Icons, saints & relics are dealbreakers for me but their views on God’s Nature are compelling. I now believe that the Holy Spirit proceeds ONLY from the Father…..This “triviality” rearranges LOTS'A theological furniture. As a newcomer to Orthodoxy, I’ll rethink “Filioque” if shown evidence. (No time to develop the positions here...pls research.) I love debates, anyway. Even when questions in question are unresolved, truth nevertheless distills in respectful dialogue (1 Peter 3:15). If nothing else, rehearsing truth out loud does us good. Beliefs flourish as new layers of insight emerge from the deep regions of the spirit into our soul consciousness (Matt. 10:27). I confess that I’m wrong about many things, but my lifelong quest is to discern WHICH things. Counting on YOU to straighten me out!

Easterners are satisfied seeing through a glass darkly (1 Cor. 13:12), whereas analysis is the default mode of westerners. Western rationalistic theology has caused many to lose faith when unresolved questions shatter their angular perceptions of God. For such to again bow the knee, God would have to crawl back into each of their sectarian angular boxes, “where He belongs". (Isaiah 55:8-9)  Despite their opposition to Sola Scriptura, we should at least respect what preceded western theology. We can gain from both East & West. I'll save my many criticisms of EO for another time.

EO is also helping me get a better grasp of time. “Time”, by Dumitru Staniloae & Kallistos Ware, is nurturing an epiphany whose loose ends were already tape looping in my head. Some thoughts:

1) Time isN’T decay or a result of the fall. The celestial timepieces were present by day 4, before Adam (Genesis 1:14).

2) We perceive time & decay as synonymous b/c both are sequential & experienced in our fallen context.

3) Jesus not only redeemed His bride but will also begin partioning time from decay in His 1,000 yr reign on earth (Rev. 20:1-10). *The millennium is symbolic in Orthodoxy. 

4) Finally, just as the Eternal Son of God was necessarily incarnated in time, ALL OF CREATION will be made new & immortal (Rev. 21:5). This, despite all of creation either a) having fallen b) or being entirely fashioned from inferior materials in the real time of Adam’s fall!

#3 has refined my discernment of the chasm between Christianity & the other Abrahamic religion. The other religion has a new creation, but only at the END of the world. In Christianity, the down payment is made on “all things made new” as the pandemonium of the fall shoves creation toward destruction….Imagine an airplane mechanic successfully installing a new engine in a 747 just before it crashes! Now replicate that to ALL creation! This, fulfilling the primordial Covenant of Grace way back in Genesis 3:15…It’s as if the other deity hasn't the faith or power to fix things until everything conks out. In Christianity, ENTROPY IS NEUTRALIZED BY A BOLD & PERSONAL INVASION!


Even by today's standards, this 1919 cartoon would be brilliant! Much like Jesus incarnating in time, the artist enters his work & interacts w/his characters. 
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​I was born on Jan. 6, 1966 at 2:05 a.m. True story: A fundamentalist once suggested that I might not be “saved” b/c I didn’t know the exact day I'd made “the decision”. I asked, "Ya know when u were physically born?" He did. “But do u know the exact time of day?” He didn’t. So, I asked, “Then, how can I be sure u really exist?” Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk! Branta-Claus said a funny!

I don’t do Christmas. Don’t do b'days for lots'a other reasons. I only give surprise gifts....Like the old Soviet postal worker’s pin I bought in Russia for my mail carrier, whom I barely knew. It was $1. She loved it!....Also, why celebrate the decay of my body??? Hmmm?…..Finally, EVERYONE has a b'day....just like everyone has an opinion. Lol. But spiritual b’days DO matter to me, even if you don’t know the date. (John 3:3-7) But I am gonna have a big b’day “bash” in '26!  And it's on a Tuesday, so it’s my own personal “Giving Tuesday”!....Pls give to the charity of ur choice & tell’em Ol’ Branta-Claus sentcha! Don’t be bash-ful! LOL....(But it's a secret! Shhhhh. Don’t tell anyone how much u gave! Matt. 6:2-4)

Thinking of writing a musical....I know!!!....I'll call it “The Miracle of Branta-Claus”. The plot: Global warming has melted the North Pole. Santa Claus drowns. After confirmation by the U.N., the entire world has a moment of silence. Branta-Claus announces that Santa was a hoax & then takes over. Policy changes include requiring kale based salads & iced tea in place of milk & cookies. After a yr long campaign, the entire world redirects their gift giving away from those who already have too much & towards those in need.  Don’t laugh. It’s no less believable than The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Santa, himself!

I like all kinds of music....even Southern Gospel. "No Time", imagines what living eternally outside of time will be like. Reminds me of something you woulda heard on Hee Haw in the 70's. LOL!
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For (elements of) Eastern Orthodoxy, being generous on my b'day (what’re u waiting for? Christmas?), Hee Haw and the nations.....


Just another witness to His Glory!