Orthodox Problems...Not So Much

When my former priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church set aside his Holy Orders in that communion to become Orthodox, other CEC priests looked East as well. Some of his fellow priests were dissuaded by those around them as they were made aware of various problems that exist in the Orthodox Church. I told him, "Father, just ask them,'would they rather deal with problems and know they are within the original true church or stay outside and deal with the same problems'?"

To once more quote my priest, Father Steven Rogers, as he sat in his office and pointed toward the temple. "Just remember, there are people over there." Make no mistake by the entries on this BLOG and lest you use any of the Church's challenges as fodder to decide not to be Orthodox, the Orthodox Church is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. It is the original Church and "Orthodox" is synonymous with "Christian". I love the Holy Trinity and His Church. I will serve Him in His Church for the rest of my life. Now if it weren't for those darned people!

Since When Is "Religious" A Bad Word? Part Two...

I received a very gracious reply from the Pastor of The Spiritual But Not Religious Church, he having read my previous post of the above title. The Pastor was well reasoned, kind, and extended a wise suggestion that he and I should have coffee. I agree with him that personal discourse rises far and above internet communication. I responded and accepted his offer. I am waiting for him to call.

I will be careful not to use this follow-up to renege on that offer. But, I will say that he recognized my use of rhetoric to make a point. In other words, we agree on the true definition of "religious." His assertion, of course, is that the definition has changed and that to some it means "holier than thou". At our coffee, I would like to ask him how the anti-religious visitors they reach react when they realize there are requirements to following Christ and that becoming holy, in essence, means they must become holier than they are. The natural course of this is that they eventually become the "holier than thou."

Most who have an aversion to anything religious do so because they desire to stay the way they are. Most do not like religious people, not because the people have a self righteous attitude, but because the religious person shines light on the sinful state of their unholy lives. It is called light and darkness. Being religious is being the salt for this hurting world. Salt preserves and flavors but it also can sting. I'm afraid that the use of the redefined "religious" to mean"holier than thou" does not reach the anti-church or the un-churched, but rather is a shingle for pseudo religious people who want to continue living carnal lives with no consequences. Isn't this just a form of political correctness? Wouldn't this same method require the elimination of the very word "sin" and other objectionable religious words because of their inherent offensiveness?

Of course, I do not stand on a platform of personally indicting this particular church, its pastors, or the effectiveness of their ministry. I have not met them. I am simply editorializing on the methods of evangelism that would communicate an easy Christian life. The discourse should be, "To follow Christ, you must give up everything you are and die to self." They should be told, "Straight is the path and narrow is the way that leads to salvation and few there be that find it." Contrary to what some teach, salvation is not free, rather, it is unmerited. We receive the love of God, but we are "crucified with Christ."

So, we are remiss when we present an easy, non religious Christianity when our brothers across the world have been martyred by the millions and are being martyred at this very hour for their religious lives. Christians are the most martyred group on the planet and we in the West continue to tickle the ears of potential converts. Whatever happened to, "Choose you this day whom you will serve?" We would do better to prepare all within the sound of our voice for the day when they will be called upon to deny Christ or die. It is already happening in public discourses with cries of "bring back the lions", with militant homosexuals storming churches, with religious freedoms being eroded and revisionist history taking its place, and with Islamic radicals sworn to our destruction. And slogans are what we have to offer?

"The Spiritual But Not Religious Church"

"The Church Where Exciting Things Are Happening"

"The Church Where Everyone is Welcome"

"A Program For Everybody"

"No God -- No Peace. Know God -- Know Peace"

"Free Trip to heaven. Details Inside!"

"Try our Sundays. They are better than Baskin-Robbins."


"Searching for a new look? Have your faith lifted here!"


"Fight truth decay -- study the Bible daily."


"How will you spend eternity -- Smoking or Non-smoking?"


"Dusty Bibles lead to Dirty Lives"

"Come work for the Lord. The work is hard, the hours are long and the pay is low. But the retirement benefits are out of this world."

"If you're headed in the wrong direction, God allows U-turns."


"If you don't like the way you were born, try being born again."


"Looking at the way some people live, they ought to obtain eternal fire insurance soon."


"This is a ch_ _ ch. What is missing? U R"



"If you can't sleep, don't count sheep. Talk to the Shepherd.""In the dark? Follow the Son."

"Running low on faith? Stop in for a fill-up."

Maybe this is when "religious" is a bad word.

"Surrounded" A Letter From a Soldier

Number three in a series of letters from SGT Daniel Nuoffer

Dear Mr. Lewis

I am sorry for the delay between letters. I write as I can and as things come about. Some of these stories come as a shock to others I tell. Some say, "How could that happen? How do you deal with all that stress? Do you ever break down? What is it like?"

Some people think that Iraq would be the furthest place away from God- very little if any Christians. Bibles are illegal for the public to own. Up until now the penalty for owning one was death, no questions asked. Its hot, dusty, dirty, full of hate from years of wars, really not a place that a Christian would go looking for God. But it is hard to miss him here. I have been several times to the house of Father Abraham not 3 miles away from one of the forward observation bases South of Baghdad. Babylon is here and all kinds of things that remind you that Jesus, God's only son, was here in this area. All around me, God is here. So, now back to the questions.

"How could this happen?" Read the bible- it says that this area will be at war 'till the end of days. How do you deal with the stress? 2 ways: 1. I know that there are prayer warriors at home right now praying for me and that gives me hope and calms my spirit. 2 I answer to a higher power and he is my strength. Psalms 91 before I go on mission every time.

"Do you ever break down?" Yep. I am not going to lie to you. This is not an easy job and sometimes I need to take a knee and let some tears out. Knowing you are hurting someone is being hurt, is never easy, even if they are the enemies of freedom.

"What is it like?" That is the hard one and no matter how well I explain it to you Sir, you could never fully understand unless you were here with me.

I was on a mission to a base North of Baghdad. We were escorting heavy equipment trucks (HET) . They are larger than 18 wheelers- Very big and very slow, top speed is about 45 mph. On this mission, we got a redirect to another post. So, we had to turn at the base North of Baghdad and go in to Baghdad. We move at night and try to go as fast as we can. While on the mission we came on an Iraq Army check point (friendly). They divide the road with very large concrete barriers to check vehicles as they pass. Sometimes for these HETs there is not a lot of space to get through and movement slows way down. I am the rear Gun truck and I have to listen to the radio at all time to know what I need to do in the back. 2 HETs had made it past the check point. But the 3^rd HET, also the convoy commander’s truck (CC), was having trouble and stopped. Over the net I hear, "SHOT FIRED! 3, now 7!" I called for a direction and description to engage the enemy so the rest of the convoy could move past. The HET pulled out fast and the rest of the convoy with it. As the 2nd gun truck made it up to the end of the check point she stopped and looked for a target. She called up that an Iraq Army soldier had been hit and they needed help. But there was no aid personnel on that gun truck. 3^rd gun truck, my gun truck commander, told the truck to move out and he took her place. He had a soldier that could speak Arabic and had aid on the truck. The rest of the convoy pulled past as an angry mob began to form and move towards the truck. As I passed I saw that he was all alone and I stopped my truck to help him. There were easily 30 to 40 Iraqi nationals and Iraqi army swarming and surrounding our trucks trying to get us out to pull first aid. And all we could do is tell them to get back away from the trucks. It didn’t seem to help matters. Inside our truck we communicated with our higher element and land owners for assistants. A land owner is the US Army unit in charge of operations in the area of the country. Quick reaction forces (QRF) were sent as fast as they could and I kept the (CC) informed on what was going on using the radio. After about 5 min, QRF made it to the check point and the crowd of IA and civilians left at the sight of more gun trucks headed that way. We found out that when the CC’s truck passed the check point the back tier of the trailer hit one of the barriers and knocked it over on to IA sleeping on the other side killing one and injuring another. We found out also that the shots that where fired where to try and get her to stop. The CC, who’s name I will keep to myself, has been relieved of her command and faces charges of vehicular man homicide. She had a lot of problems earlier in the convoy and more than 4 times came close to putting an American soldier's life in negligible danger.

Now the readers want to know why. Why do I care about his story initialed, 'SURROUNDED'? It seems in our lives that there are days, months, and even years that we feel that we as Christians are surrounded by the enemy, outnumbered and trapped. And all it seems we can do is call to outside sources for help. As humans there are so many to choose from- money, food, material things, even drugs. But I go back now to the very first commandment: You will have no other GOD before me. Keep calling to God the father. When you are surrounded, help is on the way and will save you. Now some will say, "I have waited so long." There are 2 things to think about:

Number one: When you know help is on the way it always seems that it takes longer to get to you.

Number two: You are in the wrong area and the chopper can’t get to you. Move out and find another area to call out for help. Churches work great and can provide first aid and shelter.

God bless you all. I love you and thank you for your prayers. They are what keep me safe and in his hands.

SGT Nuoffer

Note: Sgt Daniel Nuoffer is on his second tour in Iraq. His duty is to command the lead gunnery vehicle that guides our troops in convoy down treacherous roads from Kuwait into Bagdad. He will be gone for 15 months. His new wife awaits his safe return as do we all. Send him your love and support. You may e-mail him at chemicalninja@yahoo.com.

(minor edits by JTO)

I'm No Mathematician

I'm no mathematician, but a laborious perusal of the SCOBA Orthodox Church Directory lists a total of 1661 Orthodox Churches in the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii. This includes all jurisdictions. The most commonly quoted statistic is "about 6 million Orthodox people in United States". According to this, there is an average of 3613 parishioners per church. I have quoted the head of the SCOBA Media outlet as having said there are actually just under 2 million. Using that figure, there are 1,204 parishioners per church. Help me, but does something seem amiss with these statistics? Knowing that I am but a lowly artistic type- actor, writer, film producer, singer, composer, please help me with the math. How many Orthodox are there in America? Are we blindly choosing to use unverified stats in order to earn the title "rapidly growing church." Haven't we been here since the late 1800's? Please correct me if I am wrong or are there other equations to include for better accuracy? Congrats to Pennsylvania for having the most churches-222, but 37 states have under 50 churches. Of those 50, 19 states have under 10 churches. Of those 19, 7 states have under 5 churches. By the way, and attempting to be generous, I will offer one more math equation. Giving each Orthodox church in America an average of 250 members per church (and that is very generous), would mean that there are closer to 415,250 Orthodox parishioners in America. Orthodoxy is the second largest Christian body in the world, but it comes close to dead last in the United States. The first rule of change is to admit that something is wrong. The word is evangelism. Metropolitan Philip has expressed hope in the inclusion of the evangelicals to the Orthodox faith in America in that they may teach the rest of the church how to evangelize.

Okay, evangelism lesson number one: Not to lessen the importance nor the value of the tradition thereof, but, did the Apostles or the early church use the Eastern Rite? Thank God for the growth of the Church during the Byzantine period and the development of the Eastern Liturgy, but weren't there Orthodox Christians in the West at the same time? Turn the Western Rite loose. Better still, let SCOBA launch them in a public and dynamic way. Then and only then can the Orthodox Church even begin to come close to the 6 million people statistic and be one step closer to truly unifying as one, jurisdictional, American Orthodox Church.

UPDATE: In the June 2009 issue of The Word magazine, the Antiochians have revised their numbers. In the section "Orthodox World" on page 58, under the heading "The Orthodox Church Today: New Research Reveals Some Not-So-Obvious Facts about American Orthodox Christianity", there is the statement,

"With its historical roots in nineteenth-century Russian Alaska, Orthodox Christianity in the USA today accounts for ahout 1,200,000-1,300,000 faithful worshipping in 2,200-2300 local parishes spread all across the nation."

So, it seems they are getting closer to the correct mathematical truth of the size of the Orthodoxy membership in the USA. But this revised figure still gives each church an average of over 500 members. The article is still too generous and speculative to be accurate as illustrated by the fact that they don't seem to know whether there are 2200 or 2300 parishes. Where are the hundred parishes and why is there a question? Should not each jurisdiction know exactly how many parishes they have? This looseness or laziness with the facts seems indicative of what led to the overstating to begin with (6,000,000). I have yet to have anyone dispute my math (though I am not a Mathematician) which concludes that there are closer to 415,250 Orthodox Christians of any jurisdiction in ALL of North America.

With the seeming oblivion of it leaders and the current threat of a split within the ranks of the North American Diocese, there follows an obvious question:

Antioch, it's getting late. Do you know where your children are?

Who's Winning The Race?

"Go into all the world..." Okay, when?

There are currently over 1, 175,000 people in the Nashville area. This includes all of the region's most populated Davidson and Williamson Counties. There are no more than 7 Eastern Orthodox Congregations of any jurisdiction within a 50 mile radius. There is only one Antiochian church in the area, and it was brought in as an established convert church over 20 years ago. There is no Antiochian church in Nashville proper. There is no Western Rite presence in all of Tennessee. How many regions in America have similar statistics?

I heard a representative of the SCOBA media outlet at a Parish Life Conference this year say, "Don't fool yourselves. We keep hearing that there are 6 million Orthodox in America. It is actually under 2 million." While we concern ourselves over ethnicity, jurisdictions, unity, and the like, are we forgetting to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature?" Why aren't we starting churches and ordaining priests? I do not accept the suggestion that there is a lack of those willing to serve. I would drop my profession in a flash, many would, if the Antiochian Archdiocese would put out a clarion call for priests and deacons and better facilitate, educate, and expedite them to the ministry. One of America's greatest hopes of finding the Savior and entering the Church is to establish Western Rite congregations. The debate is over. WR is fully Orthodox. To say or promote anything other than that, is to fly in the face of historic tradition, and discount the edict from our own Antiochian Metropolitan. The dispensational evangelicals have one thing over us. At least they expect Christ to return at any moment and seek after lost souls as if it was that soul's last second to live. Us? We act as if we have all the time in world."Go into all the world..." Okay, when? I think a non-orthodox Charismatic musician put it best when he wrote,

"Don't you see? Don't you see all the people sinking down? Don't you care? Don't you care? Are you going to let them drown? H ow can you be so numb, not to care if they come? You close your eyes and pretend the job's done!"

Oh, God, if our leaders will not hear, raise up a thousand like Athanasius who will grab the reigns of the Emperor! Anoint a hundred thousand like Nathan the Prophet who will say, "Thou art the man!" Oh Lord, if our Patriarchs, Metropolitans, and Bishops will not hear, shorten their days and give their mantle to another!

Are Mormons Christians?

Are Mormons Christians? Mormons say "yes" and take great exception to anyone saying otherwise. They refer often to the fact that they invoke respect, love, and honor toward Jesus. It is very clear by their own words that their definition of "Jesus" is semantical usage. I like soda. I love soda. I drink soda every day. Soda has changed my life. Soda is god-given. So, what is your definition of soda? I am speaking of baking soda. Yours may have been a Coke or a Pepsi. Some of my verbiage is applicable to both definitions. Here is an example. Is it soda or soda?

"There are many who say that Latter-day Saints believe in a 'different Jesus' than do other Christians and that we are therefore not 'Christian.' . . . We believe in the Jesus of the New Testament, and we believe what the New Testament teaches about Him. We do believe things about Jesus that other Christians do not believe, but that is because we know, through revelation, things about Jesus that others do not know. . . .What we want most of all is for Christian and non-Christian alike to understand that we love the Lord Jesus Christ. We revere His name. We count it a great honor and privilege to take upon ourselves the name of Christ as Christians and as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." (Apostle M. Russell Ballard)

In fact, by their own words, the Mormons have a soda that no one has, made with their own ingredients. They love it. They drink it. It is "god-given". They keep calling it soda, but it is not the soda I know. Is it the soda you know?

Christianity
There is only one God (Isaiah 43:11; 44:6,8; 45:5)
Mormonism
"And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light: and there was light (Book of Abraham 4:3).

Christianity
God has always been God (Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 57:15).
Mormonism
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!!! . . . We have imagined that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea and take away the veil, so that you may see" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345

Christianity
God is a spirit without flesh and bones (John 4:24; Luke 24:39)
Mormonism"The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's" (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22. Compare with Alma 18:26-27; 22:9-10)

"Therefore we know that both the Father and the Son are in form and stature perfect men; each of them possesses a tangible body . . . of flesh and bones." (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 38).

Christianity
The Trinity is the doctrine that there is only one God in all the universe and that He exists in three, eternal, simultaneous person: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
MormonismThe trinity is three separate Gods: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. "That these three are separate individuals, physically distinct from each other, is demonstrated by the accepted records of divine dealings with man." (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 35.)

Christianity
Jesus was born of the virgin Mary (Isaiah 7:14; Matt. 1:23)
Mormonism
"The birth of the Saviour was as natural as are the births of our children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood - was begotten of his Father, as we were of our fathers." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 8: p. 115)
"Christ was begotten by an Immortal Father in the same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers" (Mormon Doctrine," by Bruce McConkie, p. 547)

Christianity
Jesus is the eternal Son. He is second person of the Trinity. He has two natures. He is God in flesh and man (John 1:1, 14; Col. 2;9) and the creator of all things (Col. 1:15-17).
Mormonism
Jesus is the literal spirit-brother of Lucifer, a creation. (Gospel Through the Ages, p. 15)

Are Mormons Christians? Yes, but is soda, soda?

Since When Is "Religious" A Bad Word?

There is a local denominational church in our area whose motto is

"The Spiritual, but not Religious church".

I am afraid churches such as this have allowed the christophobic society in which we live to redefine a proper and relevant biblical definition. This particular church is obviously religious in the adjective form of the word. To deny such is not reality and frankly, not biblical. I only know because they have the mass-mailing thing down pat. On their typical mailer, you will also see the words "sanctuary", "teaching", "leadership", "classes", "Pastoral Counseling Centers", "counseling degree and license", "ordained ministers", and "program". Hmmm...I am puzzled as to why they are ashamed to be considered religious and what makes them think they are not. Why is it better to be "spiritual" and what is the difference? They are a well established major denomination and have what seems to be a well oiled method and order to ministry. Their website is also a dot org. My puzzlement is over the fact that I thought I knew what religious meant. Have I missed something? Since when is "Religious" a bad word? Forgive me, I am not certain whether it is a spiritual or religious thing for me to do a concordance and dictionary search, but I find that the word "religious" is mentioned about 5 times in the scriptures, all in reference to the Jews. Paul uses the word the most in reference to himself. James uses the word "religion" stating the fact that there is a pure form of it. I was hard pressed to find the word used in a derogatory manner. So what does it mean?


θρησκός thrēskos, religious

1. fearing or worshipping God
2. to tremble
3. trembling, fearful

Religious (adj.)

1. Having or showing belief in and reverence for God or a deity.

2. Of, concerned with, or teaching religion: a religious text.

3. Extremely scrupulous or conscientious: religious devotion to duty

Forgive me, but tell me again... why shouldn't I be religious? Even in the definition of "spiritual", the old "R" word slips in.

Spiritual (adj)

1. Of, relating to, consisting of, or having the nature of spirit; not tangible or material.
2. Of, concerned with, or affecting the soul.
3. Of, from, or relating to God; deific.
4. Of or belonging to a church or religion; sacred.
5. Relating to or having the nature of spirits or a spirit; supernatural.

I kind of thought that the church was supposed to be unashamedly both, spiritual and religious. Christ was spiritual and yet religious. So are we. He religiously visited the temple and observed all of the feasts, fasts, and festivals. So do we. Why the great dissect between the religious and the spiritual?

Wouldn't a better motto be

"The Spiritually, Religious Church"?

Religious is not a bad word...but maybe I'm just being too spiritual.

"Holy Smokes" Up in Smoke

I have mentioned my participation in a predominantly Protestant group called "Holy Smokes" that meets every Wednesday morning at the local cigar shop through the kindness of the Catholic owner. I, being the only non-Protestant in the group, have had some very interesting conversations. I wondered along the way if our differences in ethos and theology might make it too contentious of a setting. I have referred to myself as the "odd man out." After months of meetings I am, after today, literally the "odd man... out." I noticed along the way that, although we talked of fellowship and brotherhood, I was never invited to go fishing or golfing with the guys and it seemed at times as if they were trying to save my soul, but surprisingly, it was not theology, discussions, or lack of inclusion that divided us. It was integrity.

I take great issue with a group of men or anyone, deciding on a matter and then not doing it. Maybe I am a man of my word to a fault. If this is the case, then I am to blame for false expectations. I believe, however, that integrity is a Christian principal that is not optional. So what brought the great divide? What caused these men to turn on me with venom and name calling? I questioned the group's (not individuals) integrity. For a group of men to decide to a start at 8 A.M. and have only two men arrive at that time week after week, the others arriving regularly from 8:30 to 9 A.M., may be considered simple lack of consideration. But to tell the owner of the cigar shop, who allows us free use of his space, electricity, water, provides us our own key, and trusts us with the security code, that we will buy a monthly box of cigars from him for group use, then to not only neglect to do so but to decide not to do so, is lack of integrity...and I told them so. To me, you don't say one thing and do another, especially while knowingly taking advantage of another brother. By the way, did I mention that the owner is Catholic...? A group called "Holy" Smokes should present itself, at the very least, as Christian men of integrity in the marketplace. Anything less is just blowing smoke.

A Letter From A Catholic Friend

Saturday, August 11, 2007

My journey towards enlightenment begins.

I have a dear friend that is a regular at my place of employment, Stogie's in Brentwood. Outside of being a fellow filmmaker, we have had several long discussions of several things going on in my life. Along with finding a true love of my life and the excitement and frenzy that goes with any new relationship, he has been a sounding board for my struggle with life and faith. So he gave me the start several months ago towards my release of the struggle of my faith. His blog, his own account of the journey towards the Eastern Orthodoxy faith has helped me focus on regaining my stride to a better relationship with both God and Myself. He even posted a blog to his disillusioned catholic brothers to come back to the true church. He has had some heated response from catholics, so I have decided to add my 2 cents in it.

I am Catholic by birth and was once a member of the Roman Catholic Church. I stress WAS because it has been sometime since I have really been an active member of the church. I still go on a non-daily basis, mostly attending service with my mom. It is mostly for her because it is good to see her smile at me at service. However, I feel large amounts of guilt being in a house of worship that I have very little belief in.

I was forced to service by my parents when I was little, and as I aged in years, I realized that faith played a huge part in my life. I went through the parochial catholic High School system to get a better chance at a good education. It was here that my faith and beliefs became tested. It seemed that every time that I even questioned my faith or the religion I was involved with, I was met with extreme resistance. Both my lay teachers and those from the Diocese almost prevented me from learning more about the faith from an outside sources.

My problems from the Catholic Faith is numerous in many ways. The roles of women in the church lends little form the fact that the faith has a woman in a prominent role, the mother of Christ, and yet my own mother has a little role in the church. My mother's role is almost subservient and that is disturbing that she cannot lead the church. Doctrine has and will be changed in the past and future. The fit doctrine to fit the needs of the church. The RCC has years and years of being deceitful and underhanded. They have killed and started wars, assassinated leaders and kings and have years and years of corruption. I won't even remark on the priest scandals because that is petty and there is more to it than the press reveals.

Most of the arguments that Catholics present to people when arguing their beliefs and faith is based on years and years of discrimination because of the religion. As the largest organized faith in the world, they are targets on a daily basis. No religion is more ridiculed nor looked at in a microscopic way than the Catholics. This constant scrutiny has led many to call to arms in defense of their faith and others to look elsewhere.

While my interests in the Orthodoxy faith has grown, I have dived into reading and research of the faith and all it encompasses. I have read several books by leaders of the faith, and will not enter this faith until I feel that my longing and eternal quest for knowledge with my relationship with God is good and strong. However, I will say that while the RCC has steered away from the one true faith several thousand years ago, the Orthodoxy faith has stayed true to the original doctrine set so many years ago.

I don't know where my journey will lead, and surely until I die in body, it will never end. I do urge that those torn about their faith and belief in the RCC, please search for the right answers. If in fact it keeps you in the RCC, then all the power to you. If you feel that there are other answers out there, then search for them and if it leads you in a different direction than where you are, embrace it, understand it, and never judge those that block your way from the most fulfilling relationship you will ever have.....the relationship with you and God!

JF

[Note from Journey To Orthodoxy: JTO realizes that this letter is not indicative of all RCC experiences. JTO also realizes that this letter is indicative of many RCC experiences. ]