The Religious Views Of FaceBook

I did a quick survey of my family and close friends on FaceBook. I found their profiles particularity interesting, especially where each listed their religious views. My Orthodox relatives aside, here is a snapshot of those who listed their "Religious Views":

"Christian"

"Baptist"

"I'm not religious and neither is God."

"Jesus Saves"

"Jesus is legit"

"nontraditional Baptist"

"Christian-Protestant"

"Left handed path"

"I love Jesus"

"Christian- Church of Christ"

"Christ follower"

"I follow Jesus Christ"

"Follower of Jesus"

"Jesus loves me this I love"

"Evangelical Christian"

"Christ=life"

"Lover of Jesus" 

"I love Jesus"

"born again Christian"

"of course"

"Christian-Pentecostal"

"yes!"

"Christianity is not a religion it's a relationship"

"Knowing Jesus & going to heaven"

"Go Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"It's about grace"

"Christian-Southern Baptist"

"Christian-Catholic"

"Believing in God"

"Jesus is the way"
"I follow Christ while remaining accepting of all. Unlike a lot of other people I know."

and my favorite...

"This does not seem like enough space to give a religious view"

The Evolutionary Degradation Of Protestant Devises

This video, intended as a humorous parody, is actually a tragic truth of the evolution of  the Protestant Church as it follows its own devises. Missing here are the centuries of Tradition as given us by the great martyrs and fathers of the faith. Fortunately the faith of our fathers has been preserved for 2000 years and blessed are those who find it. The Orthodox Christian Church-Since 33 A.D.

UPDATE 1/10/2010 After this video was  posted for public consumption, the creator has made it unavailable. It is not uncommon, once exposed with truth, for a video to be taken down...

So You Will Understand-The Epic Natural Disaster That The World Ignored

Pray for Tennessee- Historic Floods- CURRENT UPDATES- "The 1000 Year Flood"

BREAKING NEWS...

Please pray for the state of Tennessee, especially the Nashville area, where we live. Historic flooding. Two months of rain in two days. Freeways and streets closed. Flash floods in neighborhoods. Many water rescues. Five lives lost so far. Watching a water rescue right now- man trapped by rushing water. Saw 30 cars overcome by rushing waters on a stopped freeway. One drowned. Texting friends in areas of Franklin, TN- Rising water within 4 feet of their house- they are trapped.

more later...

UPDATE... 12:00 Noon

We just finished our  Readers Service. I had to go out on the deck during the service, to stop water that was headed toward our door. We are warm and safe. The Tornado Warning is over for the time being. 1000's still stranded on the freeways in and about Nashville. Rain still pouring down. Eight have died so far. Train tracks caved in and washed out throughout the region. Red cross has set up at a large local Protestant church near us. Others throughout the region. Bridges buckling in Franklin. Downtown is waterlocked- only two roads in.

more later...

UPDATE...3 p.m.

It is still raining...for hours ...it won' let up. There is concern about downtown Nashville. The Cumberland River has not crested and is over 46 ft. The last highest  record in 1984 at 44 feet. At 50 feet portions of downtown will flood.

more later...

Update 3:20 p.m.

Just heard from our church members. All are fine though some are stranded by high waters. Another is braving the weather to pick up a friend whose house is without utilities...Pray for their safety.

more later...

UPDATE 8:30 p.m

City of Franklin is under curfew. Thousands of water rescues throughout the area. Working throughout the night. 11 deaths so far. Thousands homeless. Most have no flood insurance due to flooding in non-floodplain areas. Historic downtown Nashville may be flooded overnight if water rises another 1 foot. Freeways at a standstill. Thousands of motorists stranded. Water continuing to rise. Not expected to recede anytime soon. Power outages. Deviation and a very real current threat. One house burned down. God bless the rescue efforts...

Please continue to pray...

more later...

Monday 4 p.m. UPDATE

Titans Stadium flooded. Grand Ole Opry, Opryland Hotel, Opryland Mall-  under water. Cumberland River expected to crest at 52 feet later tonight. Parts of downtown Nashville flooded. New Performance hall flooded. Water still rising. 11 feet over flood stage. Estimates 20 inches of rain in 48 hours-unprecedented.

more later...

Tuesday Morning- Final UPDATE 

Water is starting to slowly recede in some areas. Electricity out in downtown Nashville.

It is being called, in some respects, the 1000 year flood.  10-15 feet above flood level. 20 inches of rain in 48 hours.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR TENNESSEE. RECOVERY WILL TAKE YEARS.

I-24 These motorists were caught off guard. All escaped but one.

What Goes Straight Up Must Come Straight Down...Except Steel-Frame Buildings

UPDATE 1/10/2010 Although the video associated with this post has been removed, there are many like it available on You Tube.

A borrowed post from my friend, Sophocles Frangakis, at his BLOG, a..Sinner.

I ran across this clip on facebook today.  I have also seen Richard Gage discuss what he feels is the evidence against the official story on what happened on 9-11 on a much longer clip.  As well on the longer clip, there was someone who debated him and offered what I feel was good counter-evidence to refute Richard Gage's evidence.  However, I did and still do feel that what has been handed down as the official story of what happened on that day is seriously flawed.

That the buildings once stood where they were and no longer do is an indisputable fact.  But how they were taken down, by whom, and why are questions that continue to trouble me and many others.  In fact, the number of people who have begun to voice doubt is growing and I would say with good reason.

Let me just say up front that I love my country.  I pray for her and if need be, I would fight in her defense.

However, with that said, as I have progressed in the Life of the Church, the allure of this world and its kingdoms has been lessening to the proportion that I have begun to understand that Christianity is not a religion but a Kingdom.

And with this, I would have to say that the idea that outrageous things can and do happen in the world which go against all conventions of what we have in the West been raised to believe is fair and just is part of my own working knowledge of what constitutes the Fall and that evil demonic and spiritual powers are actively involved in the world.

To have a credible Orthodox Worldview, one must believe and know this otherwise the Gospel is something less than what it is meant to be.  Meaning, the Gospel does not merely offer "spiritual" solace, i.e. is not concerned with the material creation, but confronts evil incarnate, i.e. the fact that evil has real power in the creation and that there is an actual hierarchy of evil.

The Devil is not a myth.  Nor should we believe that there aren't those who wield great power and serve him actively and do his bidding.  Descending from this inner circle the true knowledge of the diabolical machinations become diffused and at some level it just merely means "the world system"i.e. what we all have brought up in and have come to consider as "normal".

Scripture and the Holy Fathers constantly bring our attention to the very real fact of this evil reality which in modern "enlightened" times has ceased to have people really take its existence seriously.

A Blessed Pastoral Visit To Tennessee

From the GOCTN.org Website

It was with great joy that we welcomed Father Anastasios Hudson for his first pastoral visit to Tennessee on April 10-11, 2010. It hardly seems possible that it was less than one year ago when a family from the Middle Tennessee area contacted Father Anastasios about entering the Genuine Orthodox Church of America through baptism. Since that time, the family has entered the church, been joined by another faithful Orthodox family from another Genuine Orthodox jurisdiction, another family who is seriously inquiring, and has continued to receive inquiries from both local and neighboring cities.

Father Anastasios was welcomed by 4 families to the Genuine Orthodox Church Middle Tennessee Mission Community, or what we more simply refer to as "GOC Tennessee." Saturday afternoon was a Meet and Greet fellowship with a Question and Answer time. No question was left unasked or unanswered. There was an atmosphere of openness, honesty, and hope for the future of the Church in Tennessee. The time of fellowship and questions was followed by the GOC Tennessee's first Vespers led by a priest.

The Mission Community saw more history being made on Sunday Morning when Father Anastasios led the same group in its first Matins and Liturgy. On this Saint Thomas Sunday, the group of faithful Orthodox and Inquirers had no doubt that Christ was in their midst and that they were experiencing his promised blessings. The Mission Community spent the rest of the afternoon in an extended Coffee Hour, enjoying what they knew would be the first of many to come.

The Genuine Orthodox Mission Community of Tennessee holds regular Matins and Typica Reader's Services in the Franklin/Bentwood area which are opened to all. Father Anastasios, who lives in North Carolina, will visit as often as possible to serve the faithful in person. In the mean time, he is available by phone, e-mail or video conferencing. Mission Coordinator, Nathan Lee Lewis is also available locally in person, by phone, e-mail or video conferencing to answer any questions about how one may become a part of this growing GOC Mission Community. Please see the GOCTN Contact Page.

Christ is Risen!

Paschal Greeting Around The World

English - Christ is risen! Truly, He is Risen!

Old English (Anglo-Saxon) - Crist aras! Crist sodhlice aras! (Lit: Christ arose! Christ surely arose!)
Middle English - Crist is arisen! Arisen he sothe!
Iyaric Patwa - Krestos a uprisin! Seen, him a uprisin fe tru!
Frisian - Kristus is opstien! Wis is er opstien!
German - Christus ist auferstanden! Er ist wahrhaftig auferstanden!
Yiddish - Der Meschiache undzer iz geshtanen! Avade er iz ufgeshtanen!
Dutch - Christus is opgestaan! Hij is waarlijk opgestaan!
Afrikaans - Kristus het opgestaan! Hom het waarlik opgestaan!
North Germanic languages
Danish - Kristus er opstanden! Sandelig Han er Opstanden!
Icelandic - Kristur er upprisinn! Hann er vissulega upprisinn!
Norwegian - Kristus er oppstanden! Han er sannelig oppstanden!
Swedish - Kristus är uppstånden! Ja, Han är verkligen uppstånden!
Latin - Christus Surrexit! Surrexit vere!
Italian - Cristo è risorto! È veramente risorto!
Catalan - Crist ha ressuscitat! Veritablement ha ressuscitat!
French - Le Christ est ressuscité! Vraiment Il est ressuscité!
Portuguese - Cristo ressuscitou! Verdadeiramente ressuscitou!
Romanian - Hristos a înviat! Adevărat a înviat!
Spanish - Cristo ha resucitado! Verdaderamente, ha resucitado!
Slavonic-- (Christos Voskrese! Voistinu Voskrese!
Russian - Христос Воскресе! Воистину Воскресе! (Khristos Voskrese! Voistinu Voskrese!)
Belarusian - Хрыстос уваскрос! Сапраўды ўваскрос! (Khrystos Uvaskros! Saprawdy Wvaskros!)
Ukrainian - Христос Воскрес! Воістину Воскрес! (Khrystos Voskres! Voistynu Voskres!)
Bulgarian - Христос Возкресе! Воистина Возкресе! (Christos Vozkrese! Voistina Vozkrese!)
Serbian - Христос Воскресе! Ваистину Воскресе! (Christos Voskrese! Vaistinu Voskrese!
Czech - Kristus vstal z mrtvých! Vpravdě vstal z mrtvých!
Slovak - Kristus vstal zmŕtvych! Skutočne vstal!
Polish - Chrystus Zmartwychwstał! Zaprawdę Zmartwychwstał!
Lithuanian - Kristus prisikėlė! Tikrai prisikėlė!
Old Irish - Asréracht Críst! Asréracht Hé-som co dearb!
Irish - Tá Críost éirithe! Go deimhin, tá sé éirithe!
Manx - Taw Creest Ereen! Taw Shay Ereen Guhdyne!
Scots Gaelic - Tha Crìosd air èiridh! Gu dearbh, tha e air èiridh!
Breton - Dasorc'het eo Krist ! E wirionez eo dasorc'het !
Welsh - Atgyfododd Crist! Yn wir atgyfododd!
Indo-Iranian languages
Sanskrit - (Krista uttitaha! Satvam uttitaha!)
Marathi - (Yeshu Khrist uthla ahe! Kharokhar uthla ahe!)
Albanian (Tosk) - Krishti u ngjall! Vërtet u ngjall!
Armenian - Քրիստոս յարեաւ ի մեռելոց՜ Օրհնեալ է յայտնութիւնն Քրիստոսի՜ (Christos harjav i merelotz! Orhniale harutjun Christosi! -- Christ is risen! Blessed is the resurrection of Christ!)
Greek - Χριστός Ανέστη! Αληθώς Ανέστη! (Christos Anesti! Aleithos Anesti!)
Turkish - Hristós diril-Dí! Hakíkatén diril-Dí!)
Chamorro - La'la'i i Kristo! Magahet na luma'la' i Kristo!
Filipino (Tagalog) - Si Cristo ay nabuhay! Siya nga ay nabuhay!
Indonesian - Kristus sudah bangkit! Dia benar sudah bangkit.
Carolinian - Lios a melau sefal! Meipung, a mahan sefal!
Hawaiian - Ua ala hou ´o kristo! Ua ala ´i ´o no ´oia!
Basque - Cristo Berbistua! Benatan Berbistua!
Malayalam - (Christu uyirthezhunnettu! Theerchayayum uyirthezhunnettu!)
Aleut - Kristus aq ungwektaq! Pichinuq ungwektaq!
Yupik - Xris-tusaq Ung-uixtuq! Iluumun Ung-uixtuq!
Japanese - ハリストス復活！実に復活！ (Harisutosu fukkatsu! Jitsu ni fukkatsu!)
Korean - 그리스도께서 부활하셨습니다! 참으로 부활하셨습니다! (Kristo Gesso Buhwal ha sho sumnida! Chamuro Buhwal ha sho sumnida!)
Navajo - Christ daaztsáádéé' náádiidzáá! T'áá aaníí, daaztsáádéé' náádiidzáá!
Tlingit - Xristos Kuxwoo-digoot! Xegaa-kux Kuxwoo-digoot!
Niger-Congo languages
Lugandan Kristo Azukkide! Kweli Azukkide!
Swahili - Kristo Amefufukka! Kweli Amefufukka!
Quechua - Cristo causarimpunña! Ciertopuni causarimpunña!
Syriac - (Meshiha qam! Bashrira qam!)
Arabic (Fus'hah, i.e., "standard") - (Al-Masih-Qam! Hakkan Qam!)
Maltese - Kristu qam! Huwa qam tassew!
Hebrew (modern) - (Ha Masheeha houh kam! A ken kam!)
Tigrigna - (Christos tensiou! Bahake tensiou!)
Amharic - (Kristos Tenestwal! Bergit Tenestwal!)
Mandarin - 基督復活了 他確實復活了 (Jīdū fùhuó le; tā quèshí fùhuó le!)
Georgian - ქრისტე აღსდგა! ჭეშმარიტად აღსდგა! (Kriste aghsdga! Cheshmaritad aghsdga!)
Estonian - Kristus on ülestõusnud! Tõesti on ülestõusnud!
Finnish - Kristus nousi kuolleista! Totisesti nousi!
Hungarian - Krisztus feltámadt! Valóban feltámadt!
Meadow Mari - Христос ылыж кынелын! Чынак ылыж кынелын!
A Nigerian language (of many spoken there) - Jésu Krísti Ébilíwõ! Ézia õ´ Bilíwõ!
Esperanto - Kristo leviĝis! Vere Li leviĝis!
Quenya - (Ortanne Laivino! Anwa ortanne Laivino!)

Where Are All The Clerics?

I was on one of my many trips to Walmart this week and I had an epiphany. Although I have lived in the Nashville, TN. area, specifically Franklin/Brentwood, just south of Nashville, for over four years, I have rarely seen anyone in clerics. In the four years that I have lived here, I have seen only one person, an Anglican Bishop, wearing clerics in public, and that was at an invitational event. My wife says she spotted the local Catholic priest wearing clerics, but he was on the sidewalk in front of his church. I did see two of my former Antiochian priests wearing clerics at a church luncheon at a hotel, but even they, when out and about as citizens, do not always wear their clerics. The one time I met with my former priest in a coffee shop, he wore black jeans and a black tea-shirt, although he was headed directly for a hospital visit from there.

This area of Tennessee is very "spiritual", with many churches of many types. We even have one of the most prolific anti-trinitarian pseudo-Christan cults firmly rooted here. It is a very politically conservative community, both fiscally and socially. The prevailing attitude is the Protestant idea that everybody is right and nobody is wrong, we are all Christians with some measure of the truth, so we can all just get along. I am wondering, however, with the entrenched protestantism, especially evangelical protestantism, (Musician Michael W. Smith has a church here) and the strength of the Church of Christ, if somehow the Catholics and the Orthodox  have decided to remain in the shadows. If this is the case, I can have no part of it.

I have seen what seems to be a compromise toward the shadows even in the Genuine Orthodox Churches. Some priests, who must be bi-vocational, use the excuse of their job to trim their beard or not wear one at all, when the Church and Canons are specific as to their appearance and Federal Law protects their rights of grooming for religious purposes. In these matters they say the Bishop has given economy for their job, when, in reality, it is their own fear of lack or fear of persecution that dictates their decision.

I have heard criticism directed toward laymen who dress in black and grow their bears according to the tradition of the Church. "What are they trying to be?" "They are trying to appears as monks when they are not." To the contrary: Perhaps they are correctly following the piety laid out in the Canons and the critics' own failure to do so is highlighted when this is observed.

I am not a priest, deacon or a tonsured reader, yet I have an uncut beard for the sake of my pursuit of piety. I do not wear clerics but I do go out in public. I am the delight of every child at Christmas time. I get a lot of free smiles and little fingers pointing my way. Many people strike up conversations, open doors for me, and the few in this area who are aware of Orthodoxy are drawn like a b-line to me. I met a very kind Coptic man the other day, a researcher at a medical facility. He could not pass me without showing his respect and talking with me. The only negative reaction I have experienced was having my way literally blocked by a black Muslim man as I tried to enter his open air shop at the local farmers market (God bless him).

I am wondering what the cleric-wearing men in this area are afraid of. Why do we not see clerics being worn here? Why do we not see cassocks worn in public? Why are they just relegated to services? Is this not a compromise in an effort to fit in? Isn't the desire to fit in to the culture, at the expense of age-old traditions, the bane of the Church? You can be sure the Muslims don't give a damn what others think. You can bet they don't give a damn about fitting in to this culture in the manner of their religious dress. I see them everywhere here. The Sikhs are here in full dress as well. Where are the Orthodox? Where is the concern over this matter? For instance, which of you readers are more disturbed with the fact that I have just used the word "damn" twice in this post,  than you are concerned with the fact that our conduct may be evidence that we are becoming ashamed of the gospel of Christ and of his Church?

Genuine Orthodox Priest to Visit Tennessee

Father Anastasios Hudson, a priest in the Genuine Orthodox Church of America, will visit the Nashville, Tennessee area the weekend of April 10-11, 2010. Father Anastasios, who serves as priest of two GOC Missions in Raleigh and Greenville, North Carolina, also serves as sponsoring priest of the GOC mission effort in Tennessee. He is a graduate of St. Vladamir's Orthodox Seminary and was ordained a priest in 2008. (Pictured from left to right: GOC Metropolitan Pavlos and Father Anastasios Hudson at his ordination in 2008)

Father Anastasios is the mission coordinator for the Genuine Orthodox Church in America, whose Metropolis is located in Astoria, New York.  A native of Ohio, and trained and educated in New York, Father Anastasios has devoted his life and ministry to mission efforts in the Southern states. "It has been my dream for some time to share Orthodox Christianity with Americans in the South", says Father Anastasios, "Orthodoxy, which is the original Church founded by Jesus Christ, is not well known here due to the complications of history. But slowly this is beginning to change, and we have started to find people in the community looking for a more traditional form of Christianity which is at the same time not stagnant but spiritually powerful", he said.

In 2009, a small community of believers in Tennessee surfaced and contacted Father Anastasious about becoming a mission of the Genuine Orthodox Church of America. Since that time, local Tennessee residents have been holding a weekly Reader's Service Without A Priest and the Typica. Over the months, numerous calls and inquiries from interested individuals and families, have come in, prompting Father Anastasios' first visit in April. GOCTN, the local Tennessee Mission community, will host Father Anastasios who will serve the community's first Liturgy on Sunday morning followed by a reception and a question and answer session. All who are interested in knowing more about this mission work are invited to attend the Liturgy and the reception/Q&A session.

For more information and the schedule of events or to talk with Father Anastasios or GOCTN Coordinator, Nathan Lewis, go to http://www.goctn.org/ and use the Contact Form. All calls and inquiries are welcomed.

UPDATE: 3/18/2011- The mission effort was put on hold when the sponsoring family went to another jurisdiction. JTO recommends the GOC jurisdiction, whose local Churches can be found throughout the United States and around the world, to all those seeking a true and genuine Orthodox church. 

The Earthly and the Heavenly

Thank you again for your emails and notes concerning the recent, unexpected death of my father. I have approached this Blog several times with an intent to write, but have found a kind of emotional writer's block facing me. Thank you for indulging me in allowing me to write some personal feelings. I am certain many of you understand the process of grief and the adjustment that follows the loss of a loved one.

It is especially monumental when you bury both of your parents. My mother died in 1980. We laid my father to rest next to her in our family cemetery in Arkansas. It is a passing of an era and the beginning of a new one. My three siblings and I gathered around my father's body and shared tears and memories of the heritage of faith that he left us; the knowledge and commitment to God.

I have often been reminded by others of the fact that my father loved me. The motivation for these reminders is that some were privy to the fact that there was contention between my father and me concerning my spiritual journey. What these well-meaning people do not consider is the fact that, while my father did love me, he did not agree with me nor did he accept me and, at times, was demonstrative in expressing such. To him, I was the black sheep, the wayward son, the religiously confused drifter, the one who had disdained my heritage and my father's honor by not following in his footsteps to become a Southern Baptist pastor. Not only did he let his feelings be made known, but his enablers and supporters, which included relatives, joined in the chorus. Yes, he loved me, but he was disappointed with me, so much so that he put his feelings in writing via his autobiography. In this book, which he distributed to relatives, friends and former churches he pastored, he singled me out from my other siblings (who remain Baptist) by suggesting that every family has one child that is a challenge. He expressed his puzzlement over the fact that he could "reach" other young men and influence them to enter the Baptist ministry but he couldn't seem to reach me.

I spent many years being confronted by this rejection and disappointment and did not always respond in a Christ-like manner; my passions and pride coming to a pseudo-defense of my wounded psyche. Everyone wants to be accepted by their earthy father. Unfortunately, those who have had a less than healthy relationship with their earthly father, often transfer their emotions and experience to their Heavenly Father. If one has experienced the rejection of this earthly father, he may have a difficult time accepting the love of his Heavenly Father. I have had such a challenge.

Time, and the grace of God, help heal human souls from these relational wounds that are a result of The Fall. With time and the grace of God, one can rightly divide the earthly and heavenly relationships. I did. The last few years allowed me to establish an amiable relationship with my father. Ironically, it was a scripture from the book of Sirach, a book not contained in my father's protestant bible, that influenced me toward a right relationship.

"Son support the old age of thy father, and grieve him not in this life, and if his understanding fail, have patience with him and despise him not when thou art in thy strength for the relieving of the father shall not be forgotten."

Obedience to this principle allowed me to put in right order the earthly and heavenly. I was able to set aside my feelings of rejection and practice the simple human courtesies that showed him honor. I called him on birthdays and holidays and visited with him as often as possible. I took his grandchildren to see him when possible. I wrote letters to him. To my loss, and his, we did not discuss any topics having to do with the faith. When he last broached the topic of our religious differences, he expressed confidence that I had had an "experience" of salvation. I received his olive branch in the spirit in which he intended and refrained from engaging him in a topical discussion of the doctrine of salvation.

The night before the funeral, my siblings and I gathered in my father's bedroom and watched a video interview recorded a year prior to his death. In this video, he spoke a word to each individual child, including me. I watched with trepidation as my turn came. Would this be a negative commentary from beyond the grave? I was relieved and healed to hear that, although "Nathan and I have had some theological differences", he was pleased that we had had a good relationship over the last few years. He also noted my strongest attribute to be my strong commitment and tenacity to what I believe.

The other day, a month past the death of my father, I was unexpectedly struck by an intense feeling of failure and an irrational feeling that I was a disappointment to God. Immediately, I was able to set in right order these profoundly erroneous thoughts. My God does love me. He is not disappointed with me. He does believe in me. Now, I am comforted to know that for all the weakness in my relationship with my earthly father, he now has the mind of our Heavenly Father toward me.

I stood alone in my father's room as he lay unconscious and dying, gasping for breath, his brain and body ravaged by bacterial meningitis. With my Orthodox Prayer Book opened, I quietly prayed this Prayer At The Death of a Parent.

O Lord, You heard Joseph grieving over the death of his father, Jacob, as he wept and kissed him.

Your own Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, also knew the love of a mother, for as He suffered upon the cross, He beheld his Mother and the disciple whom He loved standing near her, and He said: Woman, behold your son. And to the disciple, He said: Behold your mother.

Good Master, look down from heaven and see the pain and grief which have laid hold of my heart and soul today.

Be merciful to me, Your servant, and receive the prayer which is offered to You by a child who has lost his (her) beloved father (mother).

Forgive whatever sins he (she) has willingly or unwillingly committed, whether of word, deed or thought.

Merciful Master, hear the grieving voice of one who has been taught by his (her) father (mother) to turn to You with true faith in times of need, and to raise my eyes and voice to You.

Show Your mercy, O Lord, and grant rest to my father (mother), making him (her) a partaker of Your eternal blessings and granting him (her) a place at Your right hand, for blessed and glorified are You unto all ages. Amen.

I was present when my father's heart stopped beating, when the monitors would record no more brain activity, when his soul separated from his still, warm body. I will see my father again and I will greet him, but only briefly, as I turn my affection to my Heavenly Father, as my earthly father taught me to do.  Until then, I will pray the Prayers for the Departed for the theosis of the soul of Billy Homer Lewis.

O God of spirits and of all flesh,
Who hast trampled down death and overthrown the Devil,
and given life to Thy world,
do Thou, the same Lord,
give rest to the souls of Thy departed servants in a place of brightness,
a place of refreshment,
a place of repose,
where all sickness, sighing,
and sorrow have fled away.
Pardon every transgression which they have committed,
whether by word or deed or thought.
For Thou art a good God and loves mankind;
because there is no man who lives yet does not sin,
for Thou only art without sin,
Thy righteousness is to all eternity,
and Thy word is truth.

For Thou are the Resurrection, the Life,
and the Repose of Thy servants who have fallen asleep, O Christ our God,
and unto Thee we ascribe glory, together with Thy Father,
who is from everlasting,
and Thine all-holy, good,
and life-creating Spirit,
now and ever unto ages of ages.
Amen.