Selfishness Rather Than Love

 

            Jonathan looked back on the last ten years of his life and began to wonder if there was something wrong with him that he had failed to recognize or acknowledge after so many years. Instead of relying on his limited knowledge and selfish perspective of his reality, he began developing the idea of speaking with other people who had known him for many years, seeking advice, seeking wisdom and seeking help for redirecting his life and energy.

               After spending the next three months speaking with those older and wiser than him, he finally came to an understanding of his slightly skewed perspective of reality, his errant focus of seeking after comfort, pleasure, and earning as much money as he could. After each conversation with the four other people, he began to document what they saw in his life, what they viewed in him as what seemed to be important to him and he became extremely self-critical of his lifestyle.

               When the three months of critical self-analysis came to an end, he poured a great deal of effort into embracing those things that his chosen teachers communicated to him. He eventually came to the realization that he had not been living a selfish life, or a life that focused on pleasure and comfort, he finally understood that he was putting others ahead of himself, and was struggling to be a positive influence with everyone he met and knew.

               The calendar year came to an end and he met a wonderful young lady who appeared to be very interested in forming a long-term relationship with him. He and she began spending a great deal of time together, working hard to make wise, godly, and life enhancing decisions. After three years of selfless interaction, he could feel himself drawing closer and closer to her, and he could also she her drifting away from him with her focus on being comfortable and seeking after pleasure and entertainment.

               Growing concerned with this tragic misdirection in her life, he began seeking wisdom and guidance from others, wondering if he should propose to her and begin a family with her. After speaking with ten different people, most of those he approached for wisdom and help, he received negative affirmations from them, all of those who spoke negatively, warned him that making a permanent connection with her could likely draw him away from a life of holiness, a life of self-sacrifice, and a slow transition toward a life of worldliness.

               Jonathan spent the next three months carefully thinking through the direction and advice that he received from those older and wiser than him. When his three months of mental cogitation came to an end, he observed that this young lady was moving away from him and was allowing herself to be distracted by a life of pleasure, comfort, and mindless entertainment. He practiced the intended conversation over and over in his mind for the next two weeks, guessing her possible responses to his decision to sever their relationship.

               He finally settled in his heart with the reality that a life focused on pursuing holiness, and turning away from the pleasures and distractions of this world would be to his advantage. When he finally settled on how and when he would have this discussion with the young lady, he carefully documented what he would say and what her possible responses could be and how he would respond to them.

               He continued to push the date out for having this discussion with her, and finally he contacted her, asked her to join him for a picnic on the following weekend at the local park. Terribly nervous when her picked her up from her parent’s home, they first visited the grocery store to buy their favorite food stuffs from the deli. Now with a full basket of wonderful food, he parked his car near the park, giving them a few minutes to walk in the glorious sunshine, to eventually find an empty picnic table. They began their meal, enjoyed the fried chicken, potato salad and red wine.

               He could feel his heart twisting in knots as he struggled to find the right words to begin the conversation about how it would be in both their best interest if they severed their relationship. They finished their meal and began a slow walk around the lake, enjoying the beauty of the day, and he carefully began the conversation. Articulating that he was seeing her pull away from him and becoming more distracted by the pleasures and vain entertainment of their culture.

               They completed their walk around the lake, returned to his car, and as they drove back into town to return to her parent’s home, he could feel her becoming frosty toward him, saying that she was terribly disappointed that their relationship had to end this way. “Honestly my dear,” he said, “from what I have observed in both of us, it seems that we are moving in different directions and I’m afraid that if we unite in marriage, we will both be miserable and focused on different lifestyles.”

               They began a slow drive through town, he pulled into her parent’s driveway, parked his car, opened her door for her and walked her to the front door to say goodbye one last time. “I hope things go well for you in the future and that you find someone who fits your preferred lifestyle,” he said. They shared a brief hug, said goodbye and he returned to his car, offering a brief wave as he drove away.

               As he departed alone, he could feel his heart growing cold, empty, and disappointed. Struggling with this terrible loss, he had previously convinced himself that he thought he had found the right girl who would become his wife, allowing him to start a new life that would give him the opportunity to love, embrace, and protect. With visions of starting a family, he parked in front of his apartment building, trudged up the stairs, pushed into his apartment, collapsed on his bed, and rested for a few minutes.

               He crawled off of his bed, undressed, took a shower, put on his pajamas and upon returning to his bedroom he found a lengthy text message from the young lady, expressing her deep disappointment that their relationship came to such an unfortunate end. He quickly replied, explaining that from his perspective it seemed that they were no longer a good fit for one another. “I truly believe that you will find someone who is in alignment with your chosen lifestyle, I believe you are wonderful young lady and I pray that your life will be one that is fulfilling and satisfying. I hope that we can remain friends as time passes.”

               He crawled into bed and immediately fell asleep, when he arose the next morning, he sent an email to those who previously advised him about how or if to move forward in his relationship with the young lady. He explained that he cut off their relationship as he and she seemed to be moving in different directions and asked for their prayers that his life would continue moving toward love and holiness.

               After getting dressed that morning, he ate breakfast and received four phone calls from some of those he emailed, thanking him for keeping them informed, and that they would certainly be praying for him. Each one encouraged him to focus on love and holiness, with a desire to make the world a good and holy place. He spent the rest of his day cleaning his apartment, and finally began to realize that he should be considering the young ladies in his parish as potential wives.

               Sunday morning arrived; he arrived at church extra early to discuss his situation with the head priest. He strongly emphasized his desire to find a godly wife, start a family, and make an effort to positively influence those around him. Before their conversation came to an end, the priest suggested two young ladies who he believed would be good choices for him as a wife. The Divine Liturgy came to an end and everyone left the sanctuary and entered the dining hall to enjoy a glorious meal.

               Jonathan stood in the corner and carefully scanned through the mass of people who stood together in pleasant social interaction. As he watched them all, he made the decision to approach and speak with at least two young ladies in his parish and see if a new relationship could be formed, which he hoped would lead to the creation of a godly family.

Abducted and Rescued

 

            Andreas and Marcos were sitting in Andreas’ family room playing video games, when a notification of a child abduction was announced in the group chat. They paused their game, read the details of the disappearance of the seven-year-old girl who was abducted, the vehicle in which she was last seen, and a basic description of the man who took her from the sidewalk. The two boys realized that the abduction took place near Andreas’ home and made the decision to take a break from the video game, ride their bikes to the corner store to buy some ice cream products and watch for the vehicle that was just described.

               They notified Andreas’ parents that they would be going on a bicycle ride to the corner store and would return as soon as they could. They voiced their concern about the child abduction and suggested that they greatly desired to assist in any way they could. Everyone exchanged hugs, the boys hurried outside to retrieve their bicycles from the back yard and began their trip to the corner store. As they rode together, side by side, they put in extra effort to view each vehicle near them.

               They both understood that the ride to the corner store would take them a fair bit of time as it was almost a two-mile ride. As they crested the top of the hill, they could see the corner store in the distance and enjoyed an easy coast down the hill, remaining attentive to every vehicle within sight. Marcos clicked and motioned toward a vehicle that matched the car that had abducted the little girl. The boys began following the vehicle and remained as close as possible without drawing attention to themselves. The vehicle stopped at a somewhat run-down house; the boys stopped about a block away from the residence.

               From their safe location, they could see the driver emerge from the vehicle and take the little girl from the back seat, an action that prompted Andreas to place a call to 911, informing them that they currently had the vehicle in sight and could see the little girl as well. He provided their exact location and within twenty minutes several police cars arrived as well as a first aid car. They slowly and carefully approached the police cars and the residence, identifying themselves as the ones who had made the phone call.

               The police officers warned them to stay at a safe distance as they had no idea what would happen when they approached the residence or if there would be any gun shots or danger. The boys rode their bicycles to the opposite side of the street, waited patiently, and watched as the police forced their way into the residence, to then shortly emerge with the perpetrator in handcuffs and the little girl in the embrace of another police officer.

               Andreas then placed a phone call to his mother, informing her about what was happening at the moment and their involvement in rescuing the little girl who had been abducted. The two boys remained across the street, feeling and knowing that they had done a good thing and had rescued a little girl from certain danger. Within thirty minutes, several local news stations arrived at the residence, the boys approached them and identified themselves as the ones who had identified the car and the girl and called the police about the situation.

               The boys were quickly named and praised for their bravery and their willingness to do the right thing. They stood together and answered several questions about how they had become involved, how they knew about the abduction, and why they happened to be out and were able to identify the car. Marcos gave a simple explanation about hearing about the abduction on the video game chat room and that they made the decision to ride to the corner store to buy some ice cream.

               Andreas said that they were very excited to have been involved in the rescuing of the little girl from a very dangerous and dark situation. The man in charge of the news situation approached them, asked for their contact information, and told them that the mayor would be visiting them and if they could wait for him to arrive. The boys agreed and said that they had no other plans for the rest of the day. After a brief wait, one of the employees for the news company approached them with a gift of ice cream treats, thanking them for their bravery and willingness to do the right thing.

               Andreas and Marcos sat on the curb, ate the gifted ice cream treats, and were excited to meet with and speak with the mayor. They finished eating the gloriously cool and sweet treat, stood up as the mayor’s car arrived, and greeted him with the highest respect. They were invited to sit in the mayor’s car and spend some time talking about how they were able to identify the car, recognize the girl, and how they heard about the abduction. After several minutes of friendly dialog, the boys and the mayor climbed out of the car, met the parents of the seven-year-old girl who had been abducted. Both of her parents hugged the two boys, thanked them for doing the right thing, and for their bravery.

               The boys provided their contact information to their parents, expressed their delight in being helpful and that they genuinely hoped that the girl was safe and unharmed. The mayor approached the two boys, thanked them again for their willingness to do the right thing and told them that they could return home now. The boys returned to their bicycles and Andreas phoned his mother to inform her about their current situation and that they would be riding home now.

               They walked their bicycles up the steep hill and coasted down the other side until they reached Andreas’ home. They deposited their bicycles in the back yard, entered the house, and delivered a long and detailed explanation of everything that had happened in the last two hours. The following morning, Andreas’ mother received a phone call from the police department that the little girl wanted to meet the boys who helped her escape and return home. A day and time were determined for the visit, Andreas’ mother drove the two boys to the hospital to meet the little girl, who was overwhelmingly excited to see them, talk with them, and offer her gratuitous thank you for their bravery.

               The boys exchanged hugs with the little girl and commented that they were happy that everything had worked out well for her and that she was now safe and content at home. The three said goodbyes to one another, and Andreas’ mother offered to stop at a fast-food restaurant to buy lunch for them. They enjoyed their meal, and engaged in a long conversation with Andreas’ mother about the help they offered and how excited they were that the little girl was now safe and happy.

               They left the restaurant, drove home and found that the local news station had sent several of their people to speak with the boys and deliver a gift that had been put together for them for their good deed. They eventually learned that many people across the city knew about the boys and started gathering funds from several organizations, wealthy and famous people and quickly departed after the brief interview was completed.

               They boys opened the envelope and were shocked to see the huge amount of money that had been given to them from so many generous and considerate people from around the city. They divided the money evenly between themselves and deposited the money into their bank accounts. The next day at school, they were lauded as heroes, receiving many words of commendation from fellow students, from teachers, and from the office workers.

               The boys returned home and found that they had received several letters from famous people across the country, praising them for their acts of bravery and doing what was good and right. Four days later, Andreas received a letter in the mail informing him that he and Marcos were invited to meet with several very important, powerful, and influential actors, musicians, and athletes. They were given a specific date, time, and location for the meeting. Overcome with joy and excitement with this soon to take place meeting, they placed a phone call to the number provided to them that they would arrive at the aforementioned location.

               The day and time arrived, giving Andreas and Marcos the opportunity to interact with many people they held in the highest regard. Within a few weeks after the meeting, the families of Andreas and Marcos received notification that their mortgages had been paid off. Their parents were praised for raising such wonderful young men and their families began to receive large financial donations from many important and powerful people from all across the United States. Eventually the boys were offered small roles in a film that was currently in production. Both boys excitedly thanked them for the offer and agreed to arrive whenever they were needed.

Protect the Children

 

Boris made a mental note about how often he would read about homeless children, abused children, and children being trafficked all across the entire United States. Feeling frustrated and angry that the weakest members of society were being neglected, abused, and treated as mere objects to be used by the wealthy and powerful, he started putting a great deal of thought into how to improve the situation and help those who were being neglected and overlooked.

He began discussing this nationwide problem with several of his wealthy and powerful friends, and as these discussions continued to grow and raise more questions, he was advised by those in authority to contact people with good hearts, who also would be concerned and willing to financially assist in helping and protecting the weak and innocent. With this idea in mind, Boris began making contact with various bishops, patriarchs, and priests across the entire United States. He was excited to receive positive feedback from those in authority and that he should continue developing these ideas with specific plans and direction to do acts of kindness and love.

After making contact with over forty different wealthy and powerful individuals around the United States, he received encouraging words and promises of financial support for this wonderful work of philanthropy and protection of the weak and innocent. Over the course of six weeks, a large amount of money was received from these individuals which allowed Boris the opportunity to contact realtors across the United States, communicating that he would like to purchase large facilities that could be converted into housing for orphaned and abandoned children. As properties were purchased, remodeled and filled with staff, he began to make contact with Orthodox Churches near the purchased properties, who would be responsible for overseeing the proper use and direction of each location.

Personnel were hired, relocated, and properly reviewed to ensure that they were safe, loving, and kind people who would genuinely love these children, protect these children, and take care of all of their needs: physical, emotional, and psychological. As the next four months slowly crept by, Boris saw ten different facilities purchased, remodeled and fully staffed to eventually be filled with children who had been abandoned, rescued from abusive situations, and rescued from human trafficking. Money continued to arrive from many different people, many different institutions, actors, musicians, and religious leaders.

He knew that he was not capable of handling all of these details on his own, so he formed an office on the East Coast to handle the details, the legal paperwork, and to ensure that everything was handled in the appropriate manner. After hiring a number of business leaders, a legal team, and numerous secretaries to handle all of the paperwork, he learned that each location now housed anywhere from fifty to one hundred children. To assist in the adoption of these children to safe and loving homes, he hired a team of adoption experts in each location.

Over time, many of the children were adopted out to many homes and the vacant positions were quickly filled with children who had been rescued from abusive situations, and homelessness. He began receiving dozens of emails, phone calls, and texts from people all across the United States, informing him that his work was being spoken of highly and was being advertised by well known and powerful people across all social platforms and news locations.

Boris kept a close eye on each location and was pleased to see that most of the children had been adopted to good, kind, and loving parents. When each location had room available, more children were brought in, fed, loved, and protected. Money continued to be donated to the organizations headquarters which allowed for thousands of children to be fed, clothed, loved, and protected. He continued to see many famous and powerful people speaking about this work that was being done to protect the weak and innocent.

The philanthropic organization continued for multiple decades, forcing Boris to put rules into place to keep the organization functioning in the event that he would repose and would need to be replaced by someone else with the same vision. A board of individuals with the same vision as he, was formed, identified, and named as successors if he was unable to continue doing the work. He remained in continual contact with the local Orthodox Churches for each location, to communicate the details of how the organization would continue to function and with new leadership if he ever found himself in a place where he could no longer continue leading the organization.

As the decades crept passed, he and the organization began to receive letters of thanks from the children who had been rescued and placed in loving homes. Thrilled and filled with joy at the wonderful work that the organization had accomplished, made him realize how important this work was in rescuing, protecting, and caring for the weak and innocent. He would receive the occasional letter from the different locations informing him that some of the children who had been rescued in the distant past were now applying for positions at the locations.

Boris could feel himself growing old but he still remained motivated to continue the work of helping the abandoned and abused children, rescuing them from horrible futures of neglect and despair. He contacted the board of directors at the headquarters on the East Coast, informing them that he needed to step down from his position of leadership and that the previously identified board of leaders would need to begin their work of keeping everything functioning and successfully protecting the weak and innocent.

Financial support continued to flow into the headquarters, allowing for many more years of help for these children. He made the decision to travel to each location, visit with the children currently living therein, and connect with the priests at the Orthodox Churches that were overseeing the locations that were providing for, loving, and protecting the children. He was overcome with joy at the incredible work that had been accomplished over the past thirty years and the many lives that were changed because of his idea, and the financial support that came from so many good hearted and loving people.

He completed his tour of the United States, effectively visiting each location, and he returned home feeling old age creep upon him, leaving him feeling weak, tired, and somewhat depressed at his loss of ability to continue his work. When he returned home, he wrote many emails to those persons who had given such great financial support to their cause. He went into great detail, explaining the work that had been accomplished, and the thousands of lives that had been changed all across the country. After sending off these emails, he placed several phone calls to the religious leaders in the multiple branches of the Orthodox Church, explaining in detail the work that had been accomplished and the lives that had been changed because of their willingness to support this work.

Within the next two weeks he received multiple email responses, thanking him for his detailed explanation of the wonderful work that he and the organization had accomplished over the last three decades. As time continued to slip by, Boris could feel himself slowing down, growing weaker, and he could feel death creeping up on him, threatening to remove him from this life. He could feel himself growing excited at the prospect of moving into eternity and finding glory and peace in the presence of the Triune God.

His grandchildren began to visit him on a regular basis, insisting that he should hire a live in nurse to tend to his needs and provide basic medical care as he was constantly growing weaker. He followed their advice, hired a nurse, hired a cook, and hired a number of caretakers to clean and organize his home. He contacted a lawyer to create a will that would distribute his wealth, and his possessions to those who would use them appropriately and continue assisting the organization.

Within three weeks of having everything put into place, Boris found himself restrained to his bed, unable to reasonably function as an able adult. Two more weeks passed and Boris slipped into eternity. A funeral service was held at his local parish with hundreds in attendance, mourning the loss of such a wonderful, caring, and self-sacrificing person. Though Boris would no longer be able to see how the organization and locations would continue to function. All of these continued to help thousands of abandoned and abused children over the next two hundred years.

Financial support continued to come in and keep the organization and locations functioning. Over time, his photo, his name, and words of praise were spoken about him in each location and across many social media platforms and news locations. Those who knew and loved Boris well, met and gathered as many details as they could about the work that he began so many decades before. The story of Boris’ life was eventually published and began to sell across the entire globe, being translated into seven different languages, so that readers from many different countries could understand and appreciate the incredible effort he put into save, protect, and provide for the thousands of children across the United States.

Visiting the Sick

 

            Dmitry sat in silence wondering about the purpose of life and how he could help those who were suffering, who were ill, who were in pain and bedridden. Suddenly an idea popped into his head about how everyone should use their time, use their extra money, and take care of those who are alone, who are lonely, and have no one to care for them or protect them. “You know, I should start visiting hospitals and retirement homes and begin asking about anyone who is alone, who is struggling with sickness, pain, or overwhelming debt from medical treatment,” he thought.

               He stood up from his prostrate position on his couch, walked to his prayer corner and began to immerse himself in deep, thoughtful prayer, begging God to give him wisdom and find others who could assist him in this effort to help others. After sending one email to about twenty people who he knew had extra money and would be interested in doing good, helping others, and providing love and support. In the email he carefully articulated his idea about visiting the sick, and paying medical bills for those who were drowning in debt.

               Two hours passed and he received fifteen positive responses. He replied to each one with the explanation that he would be placing many phone calls to hospitals and retirement homes. Before the day came to an end, he called the three hospitals that were in the city, he called twelve different retirement homes, and received positive feedback from those with whom he spoke.

               Now that darkness had settled on the city, he sent another email to those who positively responded, informing them of the great success he achieved in contacting the hospitals and retirement homes. In the email, he requested that everyone who was interested in helping those in need should meet and discuss the details of how to bring this idea to a successful end. Several dates were suggested in the responses he received, he then created another email with all suggested dates and requested that everyone communicate which days and times worked best for them to meet.

               By the end of the next day, he organized and communicated the day and time that worked best for most of his respondents. Three more days passed and they all met at a local restaurant to work through the details of his act of love and compassion on those who were ill, who were suffering, and who needed help and connection. Their meeting came to an end, while everyone enjoyed eating pie and drinking coffee. Dmitry shared that he could create another email with all of the details for how they would proceed with this work.

               One full day passed and he carefully crafted and sent the promised email. An hour later, he traveled to his bank, opened a new savings account, to then return home and share the details of how those who agreed to support this effort could send money to help those in need. Two more days passed and he continually checked the balance of the new savings account to see that it was growing at a wonderful rate. He then sent another email, thanking everyone for their generosity and that a few teams of people would need to be created to visit those who were sick and suffering.

               Dmitry spent the next day creating several teams of people, based on their locations, and contact information for each hospital and retirement home, so that communication could be solid and direct. When the list was organized and articulate, he sent out another email, informing everyone about with whom they would be working and which locations they would visit. It was the responsibility of someone on each team to schedule visit days and times at each location.

               Three teams were created with one hospital and four retirement homes for each team to contact and visit. In the last email he sent out, he requested that each team leader communicate to him, when they would begin visiting those who were sick, those who were in need of financial support, and those who were lonely. Another full day passed, and he received email responses from each team, informing him of their schedules and their plans for visiting and helping as many people as they could.

               Two full weeks passed and he remained in contact with each team to learn that they had successful met, encouraged, and socially supported those in the hospital and in the retirement homes. Now that great success had been achieved, Dmitry began a routine of visiting each hospital, each retirement home, and offering the pay the medical bills of those who were in dire need of help. In each location, he wrote out a check to cover their needs, and he was absolutely thrilled that he had devised this plan to help those in need.

               At each location, he requested with the financial department that he and his team remained anonymous, because he didn’t want to draw attention to himself or them for their willingness to do what was right and loving for those who needed help. Over the next few days, he continued to watch the new savings account and was thrilled to see that the checks he had been writing had been withdrawn.

               As the dollar amount of the savings account slowly declined toward zero, he sent out another email to those who had been financially supporting this effort, requesting more financial support so they could continue helping more people. Over the next few days, he watched as the amount of money in the savings account grow, giving him the opportunity to revisit the hospitals and retirement homes, to provide more funds for those in need.

               As Dmitry sat eating his dinner, he turned on the news and listened to a report about an anonymous organization that was helping those who were ill, who were struggling with medical bills, and who were suffering from loneliness. The news reporter praised this mysterious, anonymous organization for the good they were doing and suggested that more people needed to philanthropic work like this. When the news report came to an end, Dmitry sent out another email to those who had been so generous in their financial support, informing them of the exposure that was taking place because of their financial support.

               Three days later, Dmitry revisited the hospitals and the retirement homes to learn that their financial support and social interaction was creating a great example all across the city. Each location reported that other people and other groups were beginning to imitate their financial support and social interaction. He thanked each person at each location for communicating that their work was being imitated by others, shook hands, and began his drive home. He stopped at a local coffee kiosk, bought himself a large cappuccino and returned home.

               When he settled down in front of his laptop, he sent another email to everyone who had been supporting this effort, that other people and other organizations were imitating their financial support and social support.

               “Oof,” Dmitry said to himself, “I forgot about providing social contact with the elderly who are trapped at home and bedridden. Time to make a few phone calls.” He began a thorough search of the internet for social outreach organizations. After calling four different organizations, he finally convinced one of them that he and his organization were interested in visiting the elderly in their homes to provide friendly interaction and emotional support. He then set up a time to visit their office and introduce himself and the others who were working with him.

               The next afternoon he was thoroughly pleased with the successful interaction with the social outreach organization. He gave them his email address and requested that they contact the elderly who were interested in receiving social interaction and emotional support, asking as well that they provide contact information for those interested in visiting with them.

               The next afternoon he received a long list of names and phone numbers. He divided the list into three lists and sent two of them off to the other teams with whom he was working. The next two weeks were filled with many visits to most of those on the lists, which resulted in great joy and happiness for the kind interaction that Dmitry and his people provided to the lonely and elderly. When he returned home after his last visit, he sent out an email to discuss the success of their visiting the elderly and lonely, he communicated that he could see a light return to their eyes, he could see joy on their faces and could hear thankfulness in their voices.

Helping Those in Need

 

            Alexander realized that he had an extra hour before he needed to leave for the Church service, instead of sitting around and doing nothing, he made the decision to drive through the poorest part of the city and see if anything was happening or if there was anyone who needed help. He left home early and began the drive toward the poorest and most destitute part of the city, as he drove through the most poverty stricken and corrupt part of the city, he counted nearly two hundred people sitting on street corners, in dirty alleys, barely clothed and obviously hungry.

               He came to realize that he still had thirty minutes before the worship service was scheduled to start, giving him time to visit a local restaurant. As he walked inside, he asked to speak with the manager of the restaurant, he waited a few minutes and was invited into a small office to speak with the manager. “Thank you for giving me a few minutes of your time,” he said, “I have an idea to help those who are hungry and suffering. I would like to create a small, limited menu and invite the homeless and the hungry to eat for free. I will pay for every meal that is consumed by them.”

               He provided the manager his contact information, a few hundred dollars, and a suggested start date for the free meals for those who were in dire need of help. “I was thinking that we could choose one day a week at a certain time frame of three or four hours. With this decision in place, I can create flyers to hand out to the homeless and hungry.”

               “That is a wonderful idea,” the manager said, “I would recommend a Sunday evening from eight until eleven.”

               “That sounds perfect,” Alexander said, “I’ll create the flyers and we can work together to choose two or three specific meals from which they can choose. Can we start this endeavor next Sunday evening?”

               “Yes, that sounds great,” the manager said, “I’ll step out a find a couple of menus and then we can decide which items to make available.”

               “Ah yes, very good,” Alexander said, “You will need to be careful about who you allow in for free meals, you will need to determine who is actually in need, who is actually hungry, and who genuinely needs help. The last thing we need to be doing is giving free meals to those who are not actually in need but are only looking for a free hand out.”

               Alexander sat in silence as he waited for the manager to return with the menus. The two men discussed the healthiest and easiest meal to make available. Four meals were identified as the best choices, as well as soda, tea, and coffee. “This is very good,” the manager said, “I will speak with my son to create this special menu and I truly look forward to helping those who are hungry and who need assistance.”

               The two men shook hands, Alexander thanked the manager for his willingness to do good to those who needed help, and he left the restaurant to arrive at Church a few minutes before the service started. The Church service began, everyone gathered after the service came to an end, to enjoy a community meal and spend time socializing. When he had a few free moments, Alexander requested a brief meeting with the head priest to inform him about his plan for feeding the hungry of their city.

               When Alexander and the priest concluded their brief meeting, the head priest rang the bell, called for everyone’s attention, and announced the plan for feeding the hungry and if anyone was interested in donating some money to pay for food for those who were suffering. Over the next hour, multiple people approached the head priest with large amounts of cash, which resulted in over five hundred dollars being donated for those who are genuinely hungry.

               The head priest gathered the money in an envelope, gave the envelope to Alexander, and encouraged him to continue doing the good work of seeing Jesus Christ in every person, feeding the hungry, encouraging the depressed, helping the sick, and providing for the needs of others. This became a regular practice at Alexander’s church each week, which provided hot and healthy meals for the hundreds of hungry people around the city.

               The head priest once again rang the bell and thanked everyone for their generosity to feed the hungry and he would provide details about the work that was being done, with Alexander providing additional details. Alexander moved into a back room, created a flyer, added the file to a flash drive. Alexander and the head priest were the last two people to leave the church that afternoon, he then drove to a local print shop and had several hundred flyers printed. He drove back into the poorest part of town and began handing out the flyers.

               He could feel great joy and could see happiness and thankfulness in each face as he interacted with scores of people. He also stapled more flyers on telephone poles in other neighborhoods. When he completed the advertising effort, he returned to the restaurant to update the manager about the progress that was being made and that he would certainly see plenty of homeless people on Sunday evenings.

               On the following Sunday evening, Alexander drove to the restaurant, parked in obscurity, and watched as scores of people arrived and enjoyed free, hot, fresh meals. When eleven o’clock arrived, he entered the restaurant, met with the manager, and asked for the total bill. He received the total count of people fed, the total dollar amount, paid that amount and added an additional tip for the restaurant workers.

               This became a regular pattern for Alexander each week, parking in obscurity, watching scores of homeless people approach the restaurant and fill themselves with hot, healthy food. Each week after the community meal at Church, Alexander reported to everyone the number of people that had been fed the previous Sunday evening.

               After three months of this philanthropic work, Alexander approached the manager of the restaurant and informed him that their effort of providing free meals would come to an end the next Sunday evening. The next Sunday morning service came to an end and Alexander met with the head priest and suggested that they purchase a small building in the poorest part of the town and open a free soup kitchen for anyone to visit who was in need.

               The head priest called for a meeting of all the men in the parish to discuss this new idea. A great amount of excitement burst forth when the suggestion was made as well as a great deal of money was raised open the soup kitchen, purchase the ingredients for the soup and for bread.

               Alexander contacted a real estate agent about purchasing a small property in the poorest part of town, purchased equipment for preparing the food, as well as tables and chairs in the form of a makeshift restaurant. Three weeks passed, which gave them time to clean, organize, and prepare enough food for those who were hungry. Many people from Alexander’s church volunteered to prepare the food, interact with the homeless and hungry, pay for the food stuffs, and help with the advertising.

               Everything fell into place in a good way, and now that the makeshift restaurant was clean, established and organized, they opened the facility from six in the evening until nine in the evening. Someone from the Church offered to keep track of how many people arrived to eat each evening. Every evening was about the same, they received around fifty customers between six and nine pm. There was always a priest or a deacon available to answer questions, to invite the customers to the Church, and to offer help in other ways.

               To no one’s surprise, each week at the Divine Liturgy, new visitors would arrive, would interact, and expressed their gratitude for the kindness and social interaction they received at the soup kitchen that had been set up. Over the next several months, the number of people who regularly attended continued to increase. After the community meal following the Divine Liturgy, the head priest called a meeting with the men of the parish and praised them for their hard work, their willingness to reach out and support those who were in need of help.

               The soup kitchen continued it’s provision of free soup and bread five evenings a week, which consistently received at least fifty visitors each evening.

Selfless and Loving

 

            The Divine Liturgy had reached its halfway point, at which the priest emerged from the altar to deliver his homily. “We read in Scripture about the importance of loving God, loving your neighbor, caring for the sick, giving to the poor and visiting those in prison,” he said, “if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, your life must be more than simply believing particular doctrines in a mere academic sense. There must be actions accompanying your faith, love for your neighbor, and providing love and protection for those in need. Someone suggested to me that as a parish we should gather after our midday meal and discuss the details of visiting those in prison and bringing hope and love to them.”

               The priest concluded his homily by emphasizing the importance of actions being part of the life of the Christian and not merely an academic approach to taking the label “Christian” upon oneself. The homily was finished; several prayers were spoken as well as a great deal of singing by the choir. Communion was served to those who had been involved in confession either the night before or at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy. The service concluded with many prayers by the deacons, by the priests, and glorious singing by the choir.

               The holy cross of our Lord Jesus Christ was venerated and over the next several minutes, everyone gathered in the dining hall to enjoy a lovingly prepared meal. The prayer of thanksgiving was spoken and sung, everyone took their seats, enjoyed the wonderful food, and sadly a handful of people finished their food, left for their homes, and offered goodbye to their loved ones. The priest rang the bell to obtain everyone’s attention, reminding them that a brief meeting would be held to communicate how they as a parish could connect with and develop friendships with those who were currently imprisoned.

               Names and contact information were collected from those who wanted to be involved in visiting those in prison and bring hope and love to them who had no one else visiting them. The meeting came to an end, and the priest excused everyone with the assurance that once all of the details and needs were determined, everyone interested would be contacted and everything would be explained.

               The two priests and the two deacons sat together and watched as everyone left the meeting. Now with a list of twenty-five people interested in connecting with those in prison, assignments were handed out between the four men, knowing that several phone calls needed to be made with the hope that there were enough people in the men’s prison and the women’s prison who desired to receive visitors. The two priests and the two deacons interacted in a loving and friendly manner, bid one another goodbye with the promise that as everything was brought into place, all of the details would be communicated to those who were interested in being involved in prison visitation.

               Three full weeks passed and many phone calls were made to the men’s prison and the women’s prison. Both deacons learned that there were plenty of people currently incarcerated who were interested in receiving visitors. The two priests made plans to meet with those in authority in both prisons to match up visitors with current inmates. Several days passed and four meetings were scheduled, which brought about the opportunity for all twenty-five people on the list to connect with those currently incarcerated.

               The following Sunday after the Divine Liturgy and during the midday meal, the head priest communicated all that had been accomplished and called for everyone who had signed up to be involved in the prison visitation to meet with he, the other priest, and the two deacons to explain how visitation would work. “The prison has a carefully planned calendar and each person currently incarcerated has specific days that they can receive visitors. I will send out emails to everyone involved so you understand how to begin the visitation process,” he said. “This is a very good thing we are doing, there are many people currently in prison who simply have no one visiting them, this is a wonderful opportunity to love our neighbor, to bring hope and joy into someone’s life. You will receive an email with the details about how to gain permission to visit your person.”

               The head priest crafted an email with an attachment for everyone involved with their name and the name of those they would be visiting in prison. Everyone was encouraged and reminded to act quickly, fill out the necessary forms, and begin visiting as soon as possible. Six weeks passed and all twenty-five people filled out their forms, received permission to begin visiting their people on the inside. Once everyone had been approved, the head priest called another meeting and encouraged everyone to share their thoughts and their experience as they visited with and interacted with those currently incarcerated.

               Over the next three months, many stories were shared, many wonderful situations were explained as a radical change was seen in the lives of those who were being visited. Fifteen of the original twenty-five volunteers were excited to share that the people they had been visiting would be released within the next month to begin a life of productivity, a life that contributed something of value to their society, with plans of new employment, new relationships and wonderful interaction.

               Over time, many of those who were being visited began to occasionally attend the Divine Liturgy and became like family with everyone in the parish. As the weeks began to pass, the parish consistently saw fifteen people begin regularly attending, sharing their excitement and thankfulness for the kindness shown to them over the last many months. Eventually all fifteen of these new attendees, chose to be baptized and become part of the parish. After the large baptismal service, a large celebration was planned with a great deal of beautifully prepared food, dessert, and drinks. Everyone in the parish attended the baptismal service and with great joy celebrated with the inclusion of so many new people into the parish.

               As the months continued to flow past, the new members began to connect and interact with many in the congregation and began bringing family members and friends in their excitement as being part of a loving and kind community. The head priest paid careful attention to the lifestyles and attitudes of the new members, encouraging them to spend more time in prayer and the reading of Scripture than in social media or watching the news. Many in the parish began to notice a difference in the way that the new members spoke, acted, and interacted with others, thrilled at the radical change that was taking place in their lives.

               Ten of the fifteen new members met with the head priest to discuss the idea of them continuing the effort of visiting those currently incarcerated, knowing that the kindness they received from those in the parish helped them move toward lives of productivity, kindness, and love, feeling moved to contribute something of excellence to their communities and social circles. The head priest praised them for their thoughtfulness and willingness to step up and be a good part of the community.

A full year passed and eventually those who were visiting those currently incarcerated began to attend the Divine Liturgy with their visitors. As the priests and deacons emerged from the altar, they began to notice how full the sanctuary had become with the addition of so many new people.

Close Personal Connection

 

The drop off line outside of the elementary school was ridiculously long, Mrs. Johnson pulled into the line to wait for her turn to drop off her son so he could join his friends for another day of school. Excited that her son now had many good friends and the occasional play date, she arrived at home approximately twenty minutes after watching her son walk into the building.

               As she rounded the corner to her block, she pressed the garage door opener button that hung on her visor, watched as the door rose out of sight, pulled inside, closed the garage door as she slipped into the laundry room that led to the kitchen. She took off her high heels, escaped into her bedroom to change into her workout clothes for a few minutes of yoga to release the stress that had slowly built up as she waited in line at the school.

               Now wearing yoga pants, a loose t-shirt and her trainers, she rolled out her yoga mat, did several minutes of stretching and began her thirty minutes yoga routine. Lying flat on her back, she heard her cellphone ding to see a note from a mother of one of her son’s friends, inviting her to a meeting of several mothers to discuss an idea that had been suggested. She quickly answered and said that she would be there and was very interested in the suggested idea.

               She completed her yoga routine, took a cool shower, chose an outfit, and found the address of the coffee shop where the meeting would be held. Now feeling much better, much more relaxed, she ate a small lunch, and sent a note to her husband informing him that she would be away for about an hour to meet with some mothers from the school. He responded back with a simple “okay, have fun, I look forward to hearing what this meeting is about.”

               She noticed the time, and began planning the rest of her day. “Okay, Christy, you have about three hours before the meeting,” she thought, “make a decision what to prepare for dinner, and do some house cleaning.” Now fully relaxed and excited to spend some time with several women from the school, she walked around the house in a baggy t-shirt and socks, putting in a great effort to be productive before needing to leave. One hour before the start of the meeting, she chose a comfortable outfit, ate a small snack, sat down on the couch to relax and think through the rest of her week.

               She arrived at the coffee shop ten minutes early, was greeted by nine young mothers, ordered herself a coffee, joined them at the table and immediately broke into friendly conversation. Within the next fifteen minutes, ten more women arrived and the topic at hand began to be discussed. “Thank you everyone for coming,” one of the women said, “a few of us have been talking about bringing our children to local retirement homes in order to bring some joy into the lives of the elderly. Of course, we will need to make arrangements with at least four of the retirement homes and receive permission from the school to bring the children one afternoon a week.”

               Phone numbers and email addresses were exchanged, assignments were given, and Christy could see the excitement building as many ideas were suggested about how good it would be for the elderly to spend time with small children, and the children to understand how good their presence would be for helping others. Everyone finished their coffee, exchanged hugs, and left for their homes. Two days later, Christy received an email from the leader of the mother’s group, providing details about the four retirement homes and that permission had been received from the school, giving them the freedom to accompany the children one afternoon each week.

               Five mothers were assigned to lead the group of children each week, to different retirement homes with specific written plans for how to proceed and interact with the elderly. Christy noticed that her name was included in the fourth group and shortly after the email arrived, a second email arrived which contained the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of the other women with whom she would be working.

               Before the end of the day, she contacted the other mothers, made a plan to meet and work through the details for their afternoon trip. When her husband returned home from work, she talked through the details and the plans for the retirement home trips. She was encouraged to hear that he believed this plan was a great idea, because taking care of the elderly, bringing joy into people’s lives, and introducing a different social environment for the children would be good for everyone.

               The next day, Christy met with the four other women for coffee, made specific plans and times, and one of them offered to contact the retirement home and talk through their plan to connect the small children with many of their elderly occupants. The day of the trip finally arrived, thankfully one of the mothers was skilled at driving large vehicles, the five women arrived at the school, obtained the keys for the school van, gathered the children, and drove to the retirement home.  The eighteen children met several elderly folks in the game room and were very excited to meet new people, bringing joy and energy to people who had lacked any sort of excitement or livelihood for many years.

               The five mothers stood at the doorway and watched as the children filtered through the room, gave hugs to the old men and old women, bringing out looks of joy and excitement in many of their faces. The three-hour time period came to an end, the five mothers began gathering the children, allowing them to hug and say goodbye to their new friends. Four of the mothers took the children to the school van, while the fifth mother engaged in conversation with the head nurse at the retirement home, promising that they would return next month on the same day at the same time.

               After an uneventful drive back to the school, the five mothers delivered the children back to their classrooms, returned the school van keys, thanked the school for allowing them to bring the children to the retirement home. “It was a wonderful time,” one of the mother’s said, “it’s too bad you couldn’t have been there to see the joy and happiness in the faces of the elderly people there. I know they thoroughly enjoyed the visit and I spoke with the head nurse and promised her that we would return next month on the same day at the same time.”

               The five women left the school office, exchanged hugs, and promised to stay in contact over the next month as they prepared to meet again and revisit the retirement home. The five women drove home and two hours later returned to the school to retrieve their children, and discuss how important it is to be kind to others, to love others, and to bring joy into other people’s lives.

               Christy, her husband, and her son sat down for dinner that evening and the little boy talked through the entire dinner, telling his father about the wonderful time he enjoyed visiting the elderly at the retirement home. “It is very important to be kind to people, to love people and to bring joy into people’s lives,” the little boy said, “we’re going to go back again next month on the same day at the same time, I am so excited to see them again.”

               “That is very good, son,” his father said, “it is a common problem for the elderly to become lonely and seeing excited and happy little people brings them great joy and fulfillment. Make sure that you give them hugs and talk to them as much as you can.”

               “Yes, of course,” the little boy answered, “I did both of those things with many of the people there and we spent some time playing games and learned about each other. One older woman that I spoke to told me that she has one daughter who chose not to have any children, and she said she was sad that she’ll never have any grandchildren. I promised her that I would come back next month and we could be good friends.”

               “That makes me very happy to hear you say that,” his father said.

               “She was very happy to see all of us children arrive that day,” the little boy said, “I am so glad that we were able to visit them and bring them such joy. Maybe some other day and time, you, Mom, and I can go visit them on a day that isn’t a school day. I know they would be very happy to have more visitors.”

Love Your Neighbor

 

            After attending a motivational speech at a conference to which his company sent him, Vladimir began to review his use of time, his use of money, and the type of people with whom he associated. After three weeks of introspection, cogitation, and self-criticism, he came to the conclusion that he needed to make some radical changes to his life, to his social interaction, and the possibility of making a positive impact on the community around him. Instead of watching a movie that Friday evening, he locked himself in his office, began writing down thoughts, ideas, and plans to become a different person.

               Several thoughts came to him at the same time, the first thought was that of how common abortion had become in the city in which he lived, which moved him to start an organization to support these young women and protect the unborn. “No matter how small someone may be, every person deserves the chance to live a life and contribute to society,” he thought.

               The second thought that came to mind was that of buying an abandoned building, starting a restaurant on the first floor, and remodeling the rest of the building into clean, organized, and appropriately sized apartments. “There are a great number of people who I can approach to help me bring this idea to fruition,” he thought. “I can use the profits from the restaurant to fund the use of the apartments for young women who have nowhere else to go. Okay, time to make some phone calls, send some emails, and find a few properties that would allow us to bring this to a good end.”

               Vladimir spent the next thirty minutes searching real estate websites for abandoned buildings inside the city limits, after finding three different properties, he contacted each realtor with several questions, and a plan to view each property. He then placed four phone calls and sent six emails, to happily receive agreement from seven of the ten contacts, with promises of financial support. His mind became a whirlwind of plans, ideas, and numerous people to contact to bring his grand plan to a beautiful conclusion.

               The following weekend, he met a different realtor at the three different properties, he took photos, took notes, and finally decided on one property that had the best layout, the best location, and the best design to accommodate a restaurant and multiple apartments. He assured the realtor that he would be in contact within the next few days to make an offer, after he had the opportunity to speak with his financial supporters. He returned home, did the math to determine how much money he would need from each supporter to purchase the property, remodel the property, and finance the restaurant.

               He then contacted his lawyer to set up the restaurant as a legal business, an adoption agency to protect the many orphans that were in the legal system, and he made several phone calls to multiple contractors to receive bids on the remodel work. He also created a small group of people to begin making contact with young women approaching abortion clinics with the hope that many of them could be persuaded to not follow through with the murder of their pre-born child.

               After contacting his seven financial supporters, he communicated the amount of money he would need to bring the many plans to a positive conclusion. Within forty-eight hours, he saw that all seven of them deposited the promised amount of money into his bank account. He then placed a phone call to the real estate agent to make an offer on the building. She assured him that she would draw up the paperwork, send it to him, which he would need to electronically sign and hopefully the offer would be received by the current owner.

               Within three days, Vladimir received an email from the realtor that the current owner accepted his offer and that he needed to come into her office to sign the final paperwork, receive the keys, and become the actual owner of the property. After completing everything, he began to make contact with several contractors to begin the remodel work, the first step was to be the building of the restaurant. As the restaurant construction was completed, he began to see a great deal of customers coming in every day.

               Work then began on remodeling the rest of the floors into clean, organized, and livable apartments. Six months passed, the restaurant was generating a great deal of income, the plumbing, the electrical work, the framing, and the rest of the work was finally completed. Which gave Vladimir the framework to begin advertising the availability of apartments for single mothers. After meeting with about forty young women, and giving them tours of the apartments, he intentionally kept the rental price very low, after receiving many thank you’s from most of them, he knew that he would need to hire security to keep the building safe and free from trouble.

               The adoption agency took over one space for their office on the first floor near the restaurant. In less than two months, each apartment was occupied by young women with one or two small children, the security team was put in place, and he eventually learned that the adoption agency had been successful in placing almost fifty children into safe and comfortable homes. The small team of people who were watching the activity at local abortion clinics reported that they had been able to convince nearly one hundred young women not to proceed with the murder of their pre-born children.

               Now that everything was being successful, he called a meeting for everyone who had financially supported his efforts, reported the wonderful news and the large number of lives that were saved, and the many young single mothers who now had clean safe homes in which to live. With the small amount of rent he received from the young women, the income from the restaurant covered the financial needs of the building, paid the salary for the security team, the adoption clinic personnel, and most of the electricity bills, the water bills, and free wi-fi available for everyone in the building.

               As the meeting came to a conclusion, he closed it off with a few comments about repeating this process in another building if anyone was interested in offering additional support to do this a second time. Everyone then stood up, left his home, and within two days he received four emails offering further financial support to remodel another building and help their city become a better and safer place. Thrilled and excited to see the first effort with the restaurant, the remodeled apartments, and the adoption clinic, he placed another phone call to make an offer on another of the buildings that he had previously viewed.

               He made an offer on another of the buildings, received confirmation that the previous owner accepted his offer, which moved him to repeat the process in the new building, and after contacting the contractors again, another restaurant was built, the rest of the building was remodeled. Which gave Vladimir the opportunity to show the beautiful new apartments to another group of several dozen young women. Four months came to a close and the building was finished, clean, organized, and staffed by another security team.

               Now that two buildings had been rescued from absolute waste and had been restored, he was contacted by a local newspaper to discuss the work that he and his financial team had accomplished. After a one-hour discussion, he emphasized the importance of those who were wealthy to help those who needed help and not waste their money on comfort, pleasure, and a selfish lifestyle. “It is important to do good when good should be done,” he said in his closing comment.

               Three months after the interview was printed in the local newspaper, Vladimir received eight different offers from other people who wanted to repeat the process of remodeling another building, as they said they were moved and motivated by his words and actions. Thrilled and excited that he took the time to share his thoughts, over the next year, he saw two more buildings remodeled and filled with young women who needed a clean and safe place to live to care for their children.

               As he considered the situation so many of these young women found themselves, Vladimir made the decision to start a daycare in each building, free of charge, so they did not need to spend their money on hiring others to take care of their children. With each interaction, and new jobs created, Vladimir could see the joy in their eyes when he offered them free daycare in the apartment building. The restaurant in each building continued to provide income to support the needs of those who lived therein.

               After giving the situations in each building further thought, he purchased a small bus and a driver for each location, to drive the young women to their jobs, to the grocery store when necessary or anywhere else they needed to go.  Several days after completing and organizing everything at each location, Vladimir sat in his office and created a comprehensive list of what was being accomplished, who was being helped, how many jobs had been created, and the positive impact he and his financial supporters were having on their city.

From Good to Evil to Good

 

            Harold lives in Leeds UK with his parents, after graduating from university, he was able to retain a job as a computer programmer, while working remotely. He is now twenty-eight years old and has been saving his money with the hope of eventually purchasing his own home with some land. For several years he has been dreaming of living in the wooded land north of Leeds in a castle like home. He works somewhere between forty and fifty hours a week, rarely leaving his room, but still enjoys three meals a day with his parents.

               He has created a habit for himself of checking his bank account balance every Friday afternoon and as he has come to realize that he now has almost five hundred thousand pounds in his account, he begins a discussion with his father about buying some land, and hopefully restoring a house if the land contains one. His father agrees with him and encourages him to become the man of his own home and offers to visit potential land and homes if or when they become available.

               Three full days pass and Harold sends an email to a real estate agent in northern England explaining his desire to purchase land in northern England, requesting that she send him the details of land for sale. He clarifies that his preference is for a piece of land less than five acres preferably with a home that can be remodeled. Within less than an hour, he received a response from the agent, who confirms and understands his request, she tells him that she will gather real estate listings based on his preferences and will forward them to him.

               Harold joins his parents in the dining room for the evening meal, and goes into a detailed explanation of his conversation with the real estate agent. The three of them enjoy a peaceful evening, complete their meal, and Harold’s mother suggests that some time after the kitchen and dining room are cleaned, that they all should go for a walk, as fresh air is always a good idea for everyone involved. Harold offers to do the cleaning work, and when he has everything in order, he calls for his parents to begin their walk. The three of them spend the next forty-five minutes walking the pavements of Leeds, greeting and interacting with those they meet. Having completed a path through some of the city, they return home, leaving Harold feeling slightly tired and uncomfortably sweaty.

               He excuses himself when they enter the house to take a shower, return to his room, and spend some time searching through properties for sale in northern England. Harold and his parents spend most of their Saturday cleaning the house, chatting, and preparing for the evening church service. They take a lengthy walk to the sanctuary and return home in the dusk of a slightly chilly evening. They rise early the next morning to attend the Divine Liturgy, enjoy a beautiful midday meal with everyone in the congregation, and then walk the several blocks back to their home.

               Harold and his parents sit together in the living room until it is time for his mother to prepare the evening meal. When the evening meal is ready, Harold rises to his feet to do a little stretching, takes his seat at the table and thanks his mother for her hard work and for preparing a glorious and wonderful meal. Harold then offers to clean the dining room and the kitchen, to then spend an hour with his parents in the living room to talk about his plans for buying land and restoring a house. “I have contacted the real estate agent and am waiting for her to send me listings of land in northern England,” he said, “I will keep you informed as this develops.”

               Thursday afternoon arrives and Harold receives an email from the real estate agent, prints out the documents she has provided, carefully studies them, descends to the first floor and sits with his father to review the documents. “Father, I was thinking that you and I and the agent could visit some of these listings Saturday morning before Matins and Vespers,” he said.

               “Yes, that sounds like a great idea,” his father said, “once you make a decision on which properties you want to visit, let me know what time you want to depart from home to make the journey north.”

               Harold then excuses himself to return to his room, calls the real estate agent and inform her that there is one property that he would like to physically visit with his father and the agent. “Also, can we meet at the property sometime on Saturday morning.”

               “Yes, let’s meet at nine o’clock in the morning,” she said, “you should know that the property you are interested in currently has a rapidly decaying Roman church on the land. It has been abandoned for a little over four hundred years. It was built in 787 and was used by the Roman church for eight centuries but was eventually abandoned as the attendance declined to the point where there was not enough income to maintain the facilities and pay for the priest to continue his work there. Also, you should know that after the building was abandoned, a group of Satanists took over the building in the mid 1800’s and were performing human sacrifices on the altar. Please understand that a great deal of evil and corruption took place within those walls for about one hundred years. I’ll see you there on Saturday at nine o’clock.”

               “Very good, thank you for describing the history of that location,” Harold said, “my father and I will be there at nine.” Harold then returned downstairs told his father about the property, while leaving out the gory details of human sacrifice and Satanic activity. “Father,” he said, “we will need to leave home Saturday morning at eight o’clock to arrive at the property at nine to meet the agent.”

               “Very good,” his father said, “I’ll be ready to go at eight, I am excited to see this property and we will need to take notes, photos, and think carefully about the cost of remodeling the current home that is currently standing.”

               Harold finished his work that Thursday and the following Friday. He set his alarm for seven o’clock in order to be ready in time for the eight o’clock departure on Saturday. He and his father began the drive at eight o’clock, arrived at the property, met the agent and began a careful review of the buildings and the land. One hour later, Harold and his father began their drive home to descend into a long discussion about the state of the land, the sorry state of the Roman church, and the overall cost of restoring the small house.

               “I have plenty of money, Father,” he said, “I believe that this would be a good investment, and if I hire skilled artisans to restore the church and convert it into an Orthodox place of worship, we would then have an Orthodox Church which could be used instead of renting from the Anglican church in Leeds, which would be a great blessing for our people, for our land, and for our community. I was also thinking that I could build a large facility that would provide free meals for the poor in the area.”

               When Harold and his father arrived at home, he placed a phone call to the real estate agent informing her that he would like to make an offer on that property. “Ah, very good Harold,” she said, “I’ll put together the documents, scan them, email them to you, and you will need to electronically sign them, please tell me the amount you would like to offer for the property.”

               “Yes, ma’am, currently the asking price is two hundred and fifty thousand pounds, I would like to offer two hundred and twenty thousand pounds,” he said.

               “I think that is a reasonable offer to make,” she said, “I’ll get the documents together and you should see them in less than an hour. Please sign them as soon as possible. When I receive them, I will send the offer to the current owner and will let you know their response.”

               As promised, in about thirty minutes Harold received the documents, reviewed them, quickly signed them, and waited for a response from the agent. On Sunday evening, he received an email from the real estate agent that the current owner accepted his offer and that the paperwork would be ready for him on Monday evening at her office. Harold then placed a phone call to her, and confirmed that he would be to her office by six thirty on Monday evening.

               He finished his day of work, quickly drove to the real estate agent’s office, signed a large pile of documents, she then sent the signed documents to the current owner to be signed and approved, he received the keys for the property, the completed property transfer and then drove home to announce to his parents that the purchase was complete and after remodeling the house, he would be moving further north. “This will easily take at least four months before I can move in,” he said.

               The next day, Harold and his parents traveled to the property, walked through both buildings, and through all of the land. Upon returning home, he placed several phone calls to contractors to begin the restoration process on the home. Meeting times were set up with four different contractors to handle four different aspects of the restoration work. Harold requested three days off of work, so he could confirm that everything would be taken care of in a timely manner at his new property.

               Four months passed and the restoration work of his new home was complete, he hired a moving company to gather, pack, load, and unload his belongings into his new home further north. Before leaving his parent’s home, he called the necessary companies to handle putting the power, the garbage, the water, and the internet service in his name. He spent the next two days getting everything in order in his new home. Now completely satisfied with the orderly state of his home. He then began to focus on cleaning and organizing the slowly decaying Roman church.

               After two weeks of work of cleaning and organizing, he placed a call to the bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church that he was now in possession of a decaying Roman church and would like to convert the building into an Orthodox place of worship. The bishop was very excited about his offer and suggested that they meet as soon as possible to view the property, discuss the details of restoration, and how soon they could begin conducting services therein.

               When Harold met with the bishop, he made a strong effort to communicate that the building he would be remodeling was taken over by Satanists in the mid 1800’s, who were performing human sacrifices on the Roman altar. “This is very important to know,” the bishop said, “we will need to perform a sanctification service before we can begin having services therein.”

               Two weeks later, a team of people from the Russian Orthodox archdiocese met with Harold on his property and they walked through the building, around the property, and through the attached cemetery. After three months of restoration work, the building was now in a state of full usability. The priest from the Russian Orthodox Church in Leeds was re-assigned to the new place of worship and people steadily began to arrive and become involved in weekly worship.

               Harold then hired a contractor to build a new dining hall with a fully functional kitchen to feed those in the community. He began advertising the Church in the local community, the free offer of evening meals, and welcomed anyone who was interested in weekly Orthodox worship to attend every Saturday at the seventeen hundred hour and Sunday at the nine hundred hour.

               After one full year of Orthodox worship, Harold was thrilled to see over two hundred people in regular attendance and scores of people arriving each evening for a free, hot meal. As he worked his normal day, he received an email from the local newspaper, asking to do an interview with him regarding the new Church, the new free meals each evening, and what motivated him to take on this massive endeavor.

               He agreed to meet with the reporter, shared all of the details of his plan, the importance of loving one’s neighbor, and the importance of doing good when good needed to be done. After a thirty-minute discussion with the reporter, Harold returned home, ate dinner, placed phone calls to the priest and the bishop about the interview he just completed. A large number of young men were now in attendance at the Church, with many of them offering to help with cleaning, with maintenance, and with yard work.

               Eventually Harold met a wonderful young woman and after one year of romantic interaction, he asked her to marry him and begin a family. Though the house was small, he had visions of adding on another bedroom, a large gathering room, and a second bathroom. The wonderful young lady named Eloise said yes to his marriage request, after nine months they asked the priest to perform the wedding ceremony, they then took a three-day honeymoon to Paris, returned home and were filled with joy with the start of a new life.

Ten more years passed and the number of parishioners continued to increase, leaving Harold feeling overwhelmed with joy at the positive impact he and the priest were having on the local community. Harold watched as his bank account continued to grow, and at the same time, he saw many more people continuing to talk about the beauty and glory of the new Church just north of Brafferton.