I love all animals, but appreciate a dog's loyalty.  This is especially true when he takes care of my work for me!

Being taught a frustrating lesson, perhaps this is the meaning behind it all!

  A friend who isn’t real familiar with the “nuances” of the OC recently sent me a quick note saying that an entire letter that took quite a bit of time to write had simply vanished.

Here is part of my response…

So you are learning the ways of the OC.  I've learned the hard way.  Any lengthy writing, either letter or blog, is done in MS Word first.  Then, cut and paste.  You should try the "shell game" of trying to build a webpage with multimedia here on the OC...   and don't even get me started on trying to navigate the OC on a BlackBerry!  Ouch!!

Well, guess what?  After writing a lengthy message which included a few well thought out paraphrases from Desert Fathers interspersed with some personal experiences, I tried to send the message.  

[Oh… did I forget to tell you that I didn’t write the message in MS Word first?]

I suppose that message is floating around somewhere in the OC’s version of the “Twilight Zone”… along with a couple of blogs, a few other private messages, a friendship request or two, and a couple of comments made by others on my own blogs.

I’m not all that angry about it.  Cyberspace is what it is.  The OC is what it is.  And I am what I am.  

Well, perhaps it’s the last part that I am sometimes a little angry about!

Most “white” Americans just don’t get it… Liberals and Conservatives alike!

One of the first things we hopefully learn as Orthodox Christians is that we are called to a complete conversion.  Part of this conversion is in “conforming our mind to Christ.”

In Conservative Protestant seminaries there exists a heavy emphasis on “hermeneutics”.  Hermeneutics is the study of the way things are to be interpreted or understood. In a different sort of way, this unbalanced over emphasis on hermeneutics is also present among Liberal Protestants and the majority of Contemporary Western Philosophy in general.

I have played more than enough “mental gymnastics” in my own journey towards Orthodoxy.  The only point I am trying to make in bringing up the issue of “hermeneutics” is that we all have foundational beliefs and methods for interpreting the world around us.  We need to honestly acknowledge them, and then move on (unlike most of the contemporary western world).

In order to truly understand another people, we must understand the way they see and interpret their world.  We do not necessarily have to agree with them in all points, but we must be respectful enough to listen and try to “walk in their shoes”.

Most of us are aware of the “white-washed” historical accounts of protestant missionaries and the “Great Father in Washington”.  These are so common, and obviously biased, that they have become cliché.  None-the-less their legacy lives on.  The Liberal (over)reaction against these “Christian” interpretations of history have become the foundational hermeneutic for most current studies of Native American cultures.

What most of us probably don’t realize is that “well meaning” Liberals are currently doing more damage to Native Cultures than the “white-washed” Conservatives of past or present.

I realize that this is quite a loaded statement, but these are words that I have heard straight from the mouths of various American Indians.

In my next blog, I will start to get into some specific examples.  You might be a little surprised by some of my selections…

Over the last year, I have had several people ask me for more information about Native American and American Indian cultures and missions.  In answer to this, I am planning on starting a series of blogs to share what little I know.

It is so difficult to find a "launching point" in all of this.  Fr. Michael Oleksa, who is married to a Yup'ik Eskimo, and recognized as an honorary village elder, has taught me much through his writings, seminars and brief e-mail correspondences.

The one thing that I have learned above all is that Native cultures cannot be "systematized". Just as a person cannot understand what it means to be an Orthodox Christian by reading books alone (especially books written by non-Orthodox), it is impossible to understand Native cultures by reading books written by "sociologists" and "historians".

I want to start my series of blogs with this disclaimer.  I am in no way any kind of authority on the subject at hand.  My Grandfather's Cherokee blood flows through my veins, but an extensive first-hand account of the culture is something that I cannot provide at this time in my life.  My Grandfather died when my Mom was only 13 years old.  There were significant generational (age)  gaps between my Mom and her cousins.  She only knew her father as a young girl, and has few memories of extended family. 

Most Native groups refer to themselves, as a people, by words that can be literally translated as "real people" or "principle people".  This is true of Cherokee who refer to themselves as "Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya"-- the principle people. 

Life and growth are focused around what it means to become a more complete person.  There is a recognition of the fact that as humans we are broken and alienated from ourselves, each other, creation and The Creator.  Life is about becoming reconnected 

Kind of sounds a little familiar, doesn't it? ...

Cleaning up and simplifying my life has become more than just emptying out closets.

I’m not quite sure where to start… or even where it all will end.  

Clutter-Clutter-Clutter!!!

What I do know is that the clutter is more than just physical junk.  Much of the clutter also has mental, emotional and spiritual ties.

I wouldn’t call myself a “packrat” in the more traditional sense.  I have no problem letting go of “things” in and of themselves.  What I am finding out is that I am a packrat of memories.  I have trouble letting go of ideas (which are very often deeply embedded in physical objects).

As I am going through “things” to sort out and sell, many memories are coming back to me.  A few of these memories are joyful, but many are not.  Many are linked to times of great pain, frustrations and failures.

Much of what I have experienced so far has been quite surprising.  Many “issues” that I thought I had worked through are now resurfacing.

I wonder if any of the rest of you all have gone through similar experiences?

Perhaps there are some parallels here with the monastic life, or a deeper spiritual life in general.  I've gone through a certain “honeymoon” stage of spiritual growth now that I’ve been Orthodox for over 10 years.   

While life’s challenges and temptations have increased since coming to the Church, the blessing of having gained a new perspective has more than compensated for the additional burdens.

But now that the honeymoon is over…

I am literally digging out the closets and cubby-holes of my mind and heart…