Dear friends,
It is an immense joy to talk to people who think and live exactly like you, but have the huge advantage that they have found Christ sooner than you. There have been days recently when I had the feeling that we are a minority, that young people prefer smartwhatever, detox or spirit of Zen. Today I am happy to discover that I was wrong.
I am speaking as I would do it with a dear friend, that even if I have not seen much lately, I have never doubted he was here and cannot wait to hear my words. I am in the media business for over 25 years and I would safely say that it is a bad and black space, it is rather the other’s than God’s and, yet, I cannot deny how much it can do for people. Both good and bad. I do not think God likes sensationalism. But who am I? Dan Teodorescu to know what God prefers…
And speaking of music, I have been consuming rock as many of you did; I still know by heart the lyrics of Bon Jovi’s albums. I cannot say that it is over, but today when I have God with me and in me, it is very difficult to think of me, the one who I used to be, when I saw the gate of the church only on feast days. How beautiful the people are, how much I was rambling, until God pushed me, gave me a lesson from which either I have learned to fall and to get up or I have learned to fly.
Brothers,
I think we are in a big hurry, that sometimes our souls are left behind and we have to find time to wait for them, to catch up with us. I know that I speak to people who have Christ in them, but how can we help others to understand that being Christian Orthodox is as cool as any videoblog, even cooler than the device with which you use to see him. I have a friend who has the same job as myself, for many years, and who says he is a believer, but that he does not go to church because it is only for old women and widowers, as if going to church is for them, not for you. That going to church and fasting is obsolete, it is from the last century. That it is more important what you take out of your mouth than what you put in it. Maybe he is right, but you still have to start somewhere.
I believe that God is as relevant as much as we want to see or feel Him. I know that tonight He is here with me and us.
I know a priest who has the mess id coolpriest and who take confession from many young people. Is it really because our man speaks romglish? Or Romanian-English? This is less relevant.
But yes, it is important to explain to those who believe, but … That there is no but. I think it is the right time to be those who tell people that everything comes from God, both technology and extraordinary discoveries. Everything. God is everywhere, you have discovered Him, it is time to show Him to others.
I have often asked myself why was I chosen to talk to you? I do not have the answer yet, but I suppose that in the rush for topicality and information, you are rather paying attention to a lady with long hair to the waist and a 10 cm heel, whom it seems that you know form somewhere, than to a respectable man, dressed in priestly attire, whom it would be no surprise to hear that he speaks to you about God. Here it is how I got into a cliché. I do not want to impress you, but I would like to join the extraordinary energy of your youthfulness with adult self-restraint. I know we can do more, both together and separately.
A famous singer said that she is happy when she sees me making the sign of the cross, that she also believes, but she does not go to church because the people sees her. It is time we should not be concerned anymore about what others say. God did not say: Impress the people! Only: Love them! We waste so much time wondering and worrying about what others think and say about us.
One more thing to remember … from a young person as us, who says that although God has no phone, however, he talks to Him every day. God has no Facebook and, yet, they are good friends, He has no Twitter and, yet, he follows Him anywhere.
Brothers,
I would like to talk also a bit about prayer. How many of you are praying in such a way, by the book? Does it matter how long or it matters how?
I know that a prayer spoken from the heart can make extraordinary things happen, maybe that is why some people, the wonderful ones, prefer to pray, i.e. to talk to God, not with human beings, because it is easier.
I urge you to talk to people, to listen to them, to help them understand. Pray for those who blaspheme or accuse. Pray when something goes well and when it does not. Both when we are well and also when we are cold or frightened, or in anyway, but not well!
God is like the oxygen, as a classic used to say, one do not see Him, but one cannot live without Him. And we should not intend to impress Him. He knows, sees, hears even the innermost prayers, if they are spoken from the heart.
Liana Stanciu Georgescu
