ST. NICHOLAS THE WONDERWORKER

ST. NICHOLAS THE WONDERWORKER

St. Nicholas was born into a very wealthy family in Asia minor around 300 AD. His uncle was a bishop and recognized and nurtured godliness in Nicholas. His parents died and left him all of his wealth. St. Nicholas gave it all away to the poor and needy. He wanted to become an ascetic in the desert but the Lord made it plain to him that he was to serve his people.

He was eventually made the Archbishop of Myra. He traveled along with 318 other bishops to Constantinople to the first great church council. This council was to straighten out the heresy that Bishop Arius was spreading . This heresy was that Christ was a created being. Arius spoke on and on about his beliefs. Finally, ST. Nicholas struck him in the face. He was placed in jail and was stripped of being a bishop. However, Christ and the Virgin Mary appeared to him his first night in jail. Christ gave him the Gospels and the Virgin Mary gave him his episcopal stole. The other bishops had a vision of what happened and thus ST. Nicholas was able to be a bishop once again.

Another famous story is how he rescued three sisters from a life of degradation. He heard of their plight of losing their wealth. He threw a bag of gold through the window to rescue the first sister. Likewise, he did the same thing for the second sister. Finally, the father was curious to know where this gold was coming from. He sealed the window. The last sister washed her one change of clothes and hung them by the fireplace. When St. Nicholas couldn’t throw his gold through the window, he climbed up on the roof and threw the gold down the chimney. It landed in a stocking. This true story spun the folklore of Santa Claus in the West.

St. Nicholas was a wonderful theologian, administrator and shepherd of his people. He is the patron saint of sailors, children, and many others. He was buried in Asia Minor but in 1057 AD, the Pope of Rome had a vision that the relics of St. Nicolas belonged in Bari, Italy. St. Nicholas had predicted this before he died.

To Our Good Health

     The first 15 years of our marriage, we hardly ate out and we certainly couldn’t afford junk food.  My children thought it was a special day when I bought a little lunch meat and cheese slices.  Our little family grew up on powdered milk, a great deal of peanut butter and other simple foods. 

     It all changed for us when my husband got a better job in l993.  Instead of being frugal health wise and money wise, I started spending more money and buying more processed foods etc.  We began ordering pizza on a regular basis.  Jim and I both started gaining weight.  Our children were teenagers then with alot of energy so they didn’t gain weight.  However, this still was not the best lifesyle for them.  Off and on , I would reform my health habits but I would always slip back into the world of pizza, hamburgers and french fries. 

     For three years now, I’ve kept a closer watch over what we are eating.  Jim’s  health demanded it!  Mine did too as my cholesterol numbers kept soaring.  I got on a real baking kick  in 2004 where I used a great deal of margarine and eggs.  My doctor was horrified at my weight gain and my cholesterol.  He put me on drugs to start lowering the numbers.  I did start eating healthier but also in the back of my mind was the lurking idea that the medicine would do it all for me.

     This past summer I foolishly  pulled myself off of all my medicines.  I began a search about natural remedies and healthier cooking.  I don’t regret my search ,that was, and still is a good thing.  I decided I didn’t want to continue with my family doctor anymore.  I remembered a doctor that I had gone to church with in Clarksville, Tn.  He had mentioned that he liked to help people get off their medicines and use more herbs and vitamins.  That was tucked away in my head.

      I looked his clinic up on the internet and made an appointment.  Dr. David Haase is a graduate of Vanderbilt Medical School.  He founded his clinic to provide a more proactive  approach to healthy living.  You can find this clinic at : www.MaxWellClinic.com .  I saw his associate, Dr. Patricia Mitchum, MD.  I was so impressed that she gave me a full hour  to go over my history and make recommendations.  It was then that she told me that she wanted me to have a digital mammogram.  She ordered some extensive blood work.  We went over a list of vitamins that I needed to be taking.  I had just started taking vitamins again after I pulled myself off my medicines.  Initially, in addition to the vitamins I was taking, she put me on what I call my “broccoli” pill.  It has a high dose of curcumin in it.  I like broccoli but I’m just not going to cook it everyday.  She also put me on a very high dose of a mixture of B vitamins. 

      Within in 10 days, I could tell the B vitamins were really helping me with my tendency to be melancholy.  I had taken myself off of caffeine early in the summer but started craving it again as I went off my medicines.  The B vitamins I began taking really took my desire for caffeine away.  Today , I’m able to take or leave coffee.  Every once in awhile , I enjoy drinking coffee but basically I live a caffeine free life. 

     Dr. Mitchumn also stressed that I needed to stop eating foods with partially hydrogenated oils.  I knew that already but regular peanut butter is cheap and tastes so good.  Taking the plunge, I began buying Kroger natural peanut butter .  Later , I noticed that Kroger began selling a private label organic peanut butter. 

      When all the blood tests came back, it showed my  cholesterol was up again.  However,  my triglycerides and my HDL were fantastic.  I’m currently taking Red Yeast Rice capsules along with a stricter diet.  I go back to Dr. Mitchum after Thanksgiving and I should know  whether I’m making progress.

      I’m very picky now about not eating baked goods or peanut butter  with hydrogenated oil.  I use olive oil for my baking and when I do use eggs, they have to be cage free.  Sugar of any kind is not healthy on regular basis.  This also includes good sugars like honey. Moderation is the key word.  When I do use sugar, I use raw sugar that is unprocessed. 

      As Christians, we are to take care  of our bodies and souls.  Orthodox Christianity has helped me realize more about how special our bodies are.  Our regular fasting from rich foods has also began reforming  my many years of eating rich and often unhealthy foods.  When we are not filled to excess with rich foods, we are  better able to concentrate on prayer.  Also, with a simpler lifestyle of eating, we can give more money to the poor.  Our body, soul and spirt all work together while we are living on this earth.

      One real good internet source about healthy living is: www.pamsmith.com.  She has radio bites to listen to and an internet newletter that one can subscribe to.  I also have been checking good books out from our library.  I found a book on natural remedies for the home and yard entitled:  The Natural Formula Book for Home and Yard, edited by Dan Wallace.  I was able to order this book from www.half.com  for one dollar plus shipping.  It has an entire section on healthier baking.   At the library, I also checked out Earl Mindell’s  Herb Bible.  I also ordered that for one dollar. 

     Mindell’s book is a wonderful quick reference.  There are many safe herbs that we can take for minor health problems.  For more serious healthy problems, always consult with a doctor.  Mindell has a list of 100 herbs that are safe to use.  He tells you the conditions they help and the dosage to take.  It is a wonderful resource. 

     We must be proactive in taking care of our spiritual and physical health.  With the possibility of breast cancer looming in my future, I don’t think I could ever go back to eating rich processed foods as a way of life. 

     So take a moment to think about your life and check these web sites out.  Here’s to our “Good Health” !

My Journery to the Orthodox Faith, part 6

    The very first Monday in January of 2006, I met a lady named Mary at an inner city Bible study.  I noticed that Mary made the sign of the cross during our prayer time .When the prayer time was over–I asked her about her faith.  Mary had grown up in California.  Her father was Catholic and her mother was Baptist.  She was never confirmed as a Catholic.  However, she gravatated to the Catholic faith more than the Baptist faith. 

     Mary had been a part of the Jesus movement on the West coast during the early seventies.  I had followed that movement as a young college student and even wrote a paper on it for my English 102 class.  Mary’s marriage didn’t work out.  She left California for LasVegas , NV.  Mary had various jobs–a clerk in a fancy department store and later working in the cassinos.  While raising one daughter, Mary managed to turn from her faith to a life of deep immorality.  Working and partying filled her life up.  Amazingly, she told  me that she continually read the Bible through a little each day.  It was like that spark deep inside of her towards God just would not die out.

    In April of 2005, Mary decided not to drive to work, but to take a bus.  She blacked out and suffered a severe Hematoma that day.  Every capilary in her brain busted.  The doctors told her grown daughter “to pray that she dies”.  So it was a miracle when Mary recovered.  The road back to health was slow.  She told me that for awhile she had three MRI’s a week.  Mary also told me that God finally had her attention.  From that point on, she began living a Christian life again.

     In November of 2003, Mary made a visit to our town to see some friends of her California days.  She liked our town a great deal and decided to move here.  In Janurary of 2004, Mary moved to Kentucky.  Having suffered from mild epilepsy all of her life–she now had a full blown case of this disease.  She qualified for social security disability.  Mary had made the rounds of churches in our town–only to still fill something was missing in her life.

     After meeting Mary, we connected very well.  Jim and I went over to visit her and she showed us all the prayers she had written.  She  was already practicing morning, noon and evening prayers.  She had prayer shawls, holy oil etc to go along with her prayer time.  Mary decided through the weeks of our sharing in January and February that she wanted to travel to church with us.

      It was the end of February that she first visited St Elizabeth with us.  On the way home, Mary told us she knew she had found a church home at last.  A real extrovert, she soon made herself known. 

      Meanwhile, I was taking care of a four year girl in January and February while getting to know my new friend Mary.  Jim’s disability pay was set to run out the end of February.  His cardioligist wanted Jim to try to work four hours a day.  Having been a substitute teacher off and on since l988, I knew I had to jump back into this profession.  I had only been away from teaching for three years, so it wasn’t hard to get started again.  My favorite high school was happy that I was returning.  I started back to work the last week in February.  My little girl was able to stay with “Nanna” who took care of my grandsons.  Jim also started to work when I did. 

     One of the advantages of working as a substitute in high school was the long planning periods that I could read.  This high school was on the block system which meant that the students had four 90 minutes classes a day.  The teachers would have three classes and a planning period.  I read one book after another about the Orthodox Faith. 

     In mid April, Jim finally went back to an eight hour day.  During my spring break, I visited with Mary quite a bit.  She kept begging Fr John and Fr Steven  to let her become a catachumen.  They kept telling her that she needed to wait and make sure that is really what she wanted to do.  The Orthodox Church never pressures anyone to join.  In fact, they ignore one’s request for the longest time.  Likewise, once a person becomes a catachumen,  it is a long journey to Chrismation.  The final result is that once a person becomes fully Orthodox, that person  is more likely to stay in the church and not drift around. 

     Our part time priest, who was also a high school principal, announced  that he would be leaving in late spring.  His family also drove 100 miles to be able to minister to us.  It was time for our little parish to start looking for a fulltime priest.  Fr. Stephen Rogers told us that Fr John Oliver and his family wanted to return to the mid South.  Fr. John and his wife, Kh Lara had been a part of St Ignatius before they went off to seminary.  They wanted to come to our parish.  We had a special time after the service one Sunday, when Fr. Stephen asked us to make a pledge of how much we could give the Olivers.  They needed a decent salary to support a family of six.  This was the first time in my entire life that I’d had ever considered giving a tenth of my income.  I whispered to Jim the amount I had in mind.  He was thinking the same thing.  We wanted  the Olivers to be able to come.  Our parish wanted a fulltime priest.  The pledges did indeed come through.  The Bishop gave his approval and the Oliver family was set to come in early August.

     Meanwhile, Fr Stepehen and the other two priests at St Ignatius rotated each Sunday for our Divine Liturgy.  Vera, Jim and I were restless.  We wanted be Chrismated.  In early June, we asked Father Stephen by phone for permission.  He granted our request.  Now we had to begin to work on preparing for our lifetime confession.

    We arrived early that last Sunday morning of June to our parish.  We each had our confession with Fr Stephen prior to the services.  Orthodox confession is so very personal.  We didn’t stand in a booth.  We stood with our priest before the Icon of Christ.  Fr Stephen would give bits of counsel as we talked.  It was a very peaceful and cleansing time. ( Each of our confessions were private).

       Our families traveled to see our Chrismation.  Our sponsors were with us.  We had beautiful candles.  It was a tremendous morning.  Finally, Mary also was granted her desire to become a catachumen.  She had her service before ours.  I couldn’t help pondering the miracle God had worked in Mary’s life, and in our lives. 

    For Jim and I , it was the culmination of searching our entire life for a Christianity that was not broken or fragmented.  We knew we could depend on the ancient church not to change and waver with the times.  We’ve never regretted becoming Orthodox.  Each day, we have new purpose and meaning.  Moreover, we take our faith extremely serious.  It is not something to  trifle with.  Yes, the Orthodox faith helped us even as searchers when Jim almost lost his life.  Now the Orthodox faith provides a solid foundation for the trials of every day life. 

     Mary was chrismated on December 17th,  2006 at Ft. Campbell , Ky. ( This is a long story in and of itself).  As far as we know this moment, there are only four Orthodox Christians in our town.  Just as surely as St Elizabeth  grew out of just a few couples, we are praying that someday there will be an Orthodox parish right here in our town and more springing up all over Western Kentucky. 

      For wonderful information on the Orthodox Faith , visit www.ancientfaithradio.com.  Our own Fr John Oliver has a regular podcast. Another good source of information is  http://www.ourlifeinchrist.com and I invite you to take a journey of your own.  Someday, we hope to read or hear your story.