Vasilios Theodorakis – An Online Author

Every life form is truly unique. It can never and will never be reproduced on earth. The combination of DNA, environmental experiences and individual responses to those experiences guarantees statistically, that that entity can never again occur in this space time continuum – this universe. The odds of it happening are virtually zero – this is a fact.

The only way to witness a life’s uniqueness again, especially after it dies, is to step outside of time, travel along the continuum, open a portal and witness it within its living context.

Additionally, when outside time, no life is the same as it was while alive within time. This is because the time variable and the time variable’s effect on the being has been removed. One will never again see the being that’s present before them after the moment has passed. Which makes it even more important that one appreciates each encounter and each engagement.

In a very real sense then, each time you see a being, it is the first and last time you will see them in the form that they’re in, for all life invariably changes as each moment passes.

It therefore follows, that every time you look out into the world, you are in fact seeing it for the very first time, even if you think that you’ve looked at that very same scene each and everyday of your life.

Savor the moment – as the ancient’s used to say. Savor your witnessing of a life, for you will never see it in quite the same way again. Both you and it will be different beings by the time you next meet.

The living are truly fortunate as trillions of unique moments are seen and experienced before each and everyone of us dies – no matter how short our lives. What an amazing thing it is then, to exist within time, even if it is filled with flaws, loss and sadness.

Dedication – For our little girl Molly…
Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2009

Today is the Orthodox Christian Good Friday. Traditionally, a day for the Apostolic faithful to reflect on life, death and everything in between. It always falls just after the Jewish Passover, in order to acknowledge and pay tribute to the Jewish Faith – Christ’s own religion, and to ensure consistency within the Orthodox Liturgical calendar.

Some of my earliest memories include attending Orthodox Christian services on this day. My maternal grandmother – Olga, would drag me around to all the liturgies during Holy Week, and though I understood nothing, she was determined to show me everything.

Since then, most of my adult life has been spent exploring and defending my Faith in spite of its adherents’ many short comings. My ability to “turn a blind eye” however is rapidly failing, not because anything has changed in my relation to the Faith, but because the abhorrent attitudes and behaviour of so many Orthodox Christians has become metaphysically dysfunctional – a lot of people below the age of 40, now follow the ritual without the spiritual. This approach has reached such epidemic proportions, that many are guilty of what the Protestants have always argued – i.e. that all we’re capable of is meaningless spectacle without any real relationship to God.

Those who know me, know I have always argued that our lack of reverence for God and worship is a direct outcome of the Faith being locked behind ethnic languages – especially in counties like Australia i.e. not being able to worship in the language in which one thinks can’t help but seed such a religious disaster. If the basis to the issue was that simple though, all one would have to do is change the language of the service and the problem would be corrected. Unfortunately, it’s becoming obvious that much more than language is to blame.

The problem also includes how “transplanted peasant culture and parishioner ignorance” has been fostered for generations, so much so, that many people born into Orthodoxy genuinely believe that as long as you go through the motions of the Faith, you are religious, (spiritually cleansed and ultimately saved). I’ve lost count of the number of people I know who are Atheists, but who show up every year at Pascha (Easter), hold the fast, attend services and even take communion though they don’t believe in Christ, let alone God. The religion is just a subset of their ancestral nationalisms and nothing has been done to educate and in turn discourage such an approach.

Which brings me to my main point – at a time when we should be reflecting on Christ’s suffering and sacrifice for humanity; at a time when we should be trying to emulate His infinite compassion for all creation; and at a time when we should be repenting from our dysfunctional and destructive natures – most of my brethren are obsessed with the deprivation of ritualistic fasting and unable to wait for their orgy of over indulgence come Sunday morning around 3:00 am. So much for faith helping with one’s personal evolution and the fast being a personal sacrifice we offer back to God!

The fact that Australia’s Orthodox will smash millions of battery hen eggs then toss those eggs into bins, seems to be a non-issue – it doesn’t matter that there’s an inconsistency between Christ’s message of compassion and how these animals suffer unspeakable miseries in order to produce a resource that just gets wasted. The fact that countless animals will be slaughtered for an overindulgence that is not necessary (especially when we have grains like amaranth, chia, quinoa which use far less of the planet’s resources) and that we openly ignore how much of the earth’s human population doesn’t have enough to eat on a daily basis – is conveniently forgotten as more meat is shovelled into already overfed mouths. The fact that Orthodox parishioners don’t even know what the term Theosis means, how it is a corner stone of their own religion and how their cultural based lifestyles are the antithesis of Christ’s message of openness, temperance, balance and an ongoing focus on God – doesn’t seem to matter – but then again why should it, when vast numbers of Australia’s Orthodox Christians don’t even believe in God let alone the Trinity or the theology of the Faith.

Maybe I’m just being picky here, but I still think that when we remove the spiritual basis of a religion, it just becomes superstition. Albeit a complex form of superstition, but a superstition none the less. I’m just glad my grandmother isn’t alive to see what the descendants of the post war migrants in Australia have done to her beloved Faith. Rather than it being a means to an end i.e. the ongoing struggle to emulate Christ, it has become a non-sustainable end in itself.

Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – April 2009

For some time now, my wife and I have been wanting to protest the immoral nature of celebrating Australia’s national day on the day that for many Indigenous Australians represents the genocide of hundreds of Aboriginal Nations across the continent.

Irrespective of what mainstream Australian’s claim the day represents – all that really matters is that far too many Indigenous Australians feel disrespected (yet again) by the celebrations that occur on this day. Aboriginal people’s feelings need to be acknowledged and a more appropriate and inclusive date identified as Australia Day.

Unfortunately, where we live there are no protests to help mark the day. We do however live close to a park that used to be a meeting ground for the Indigenous clans of Moreton Bay. It was used for gatherings for 1000’s of years and we know this (from historical records) because of the midden mounds (that were present at the location) and the fact that local Aboriginal people continued to meet there right into the twentieth century.

To highlight how much mainstream Australian’s valued this meeting place, the Queensland Government forcibly moved the last of the Indigenous people that met there (its unknown what happened to them) and the local council decided to dump its rubbish on the site for a number of decades. The tip was eventually covered up with top soil, ovals were built for sport and a park for dogs was created. Finally the name was changed from Black’s Camp to something more mainstream – Elanora Park, and the fact that the location was important for the local clans was expunged from the public record. The signage at the Park (to this day) makes no reference to its significance to the original peoples.

For two years now, my wife and I have visited the location on Australia Day to pay our respects to the original people who lived on the land that we now live on. This year I wrote the following piece for us to read each and every year until this country acknowledges and begins to respect its Aboriginal people and its Aboriginal past. Health permitting I intend to keep reading this out loud under the figs, next to the mangroves (in the park) every 26th of January, or at least until a more appropriate date for Australia Day is chosen.

“Paying Our Respects – 26th January 2009”

Today we remember our Indigenous brothers and sisters who have been murdered, beaten, raped, diseased, displaced, ignored and forgotten for 221 years.

We remember that they met here peacefully on this midden mound whose name we no longer know.

We remember that here they rested, discussed and resolved problems that the different clans of the Bay encountered for thousands of years.

We remember that we are standing on land which they believed could not be owned but only looked after by humans – i.e. entrusted in guardianship. That all people belong to the land but that the land cannot be owned by any one person.

We remember that as a many Nationed peoples, they were invaded and that the land was never lawfully settled by the non-Indigenous peoples, as no treaties were ever signed with the original inhabitants, as no attempts were made to protect the original languages and culture, and that the original people’s presence was never acknowledged in any meaningful way.

Today we remember that picking this day as the national day of the country is an insult to the surviving Indigenous Australians and disrespects the Indigenous people who died and suffered over the last 221 years. We look forward to a time when this county’s national day is inclusive of all Australians, when its flag represents all Australians and its Head Of State is answerable only to Australians.

Sadly, we had the whole park to ourselves as we read this out loud and reflected on the day.

Personally I think the date on which we become a Republic should be celebrated as Australia Day – a neutral day that includes all people. For example the 1st July – six months from 1st January (Federation Day) might be a good date. Things that also need to be looked at simultaneously include: the republic, the flag, the governor general and the date of Australia Day.

Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – January 2009

People often miss the point of their ‘Judaeo-Christian faith’ especially in regards to ‘selfless service’. We ignore what our belief systems tell us to do and instead do what makes us feel ‘warm and fuzzy’. In the end, free will (for better or worse) ensures we all ‘believe’ what we want to believe, even within our own religion’s framework. And even if, believing it means we’re prepared to die to prove the world is flat.

Though we all do this (to some extent), all that really counts is what we “know to be true”, i.e. that which exists beyond belief and which presents itself “after the dark night of the soul” (after your Faith has been destroyed by doubt and reconstructed using material that you “know to be true”). Let me put it another way – to quote Seth in the movie “City of Angels” – ‘some things are true whether you believe in them or not’. The problem is, we often ignore what we “know to be true”.

For example, you can construct as many layers as you want to hide the facts, but reality and existence are not changed by those layers. Just look at all the misery in people’s lives, even though they’ve constructed and surrounded themselves with layers we now know as lifestyles! One can choose to live such lifestyles, or one can choose not to live such lifestyles – its up to the individual – the principle behind it is still the same – free will. What doesn’t change however is that the “lifestyle” doesn’t alter a person’s underlying reality.

A friend of mine, recently raised the fact that she knows her ‘ego wants it (life) to be more sensational and more exotic’, so she’s making decisions accordingly. “The ego wants it (life) to be more sensational and more exotic…”? What path have we convinced ourselves to trundle down? Is she for example, about to make decisions that will lead her into “selfless service” or into “having an adventure and feeling good about herself”! What I don’t understand is this, if one REALLY wants to work with the needy, what’s wrong with helping the poorer Indigenous Communities in one’s own country. I can count on one hand the number of schools that teach children their Indigenous Language and English, their Culture and Mainstream Culture, etc. especially in countries like Australia. Few here, want to work with or even respect this country’s original people. No one wants to LEARN their language, and it continues to be an indictment on this nation as to how many Indigenous Australians are not treated as equals!

We should be ensuring that our decisions (regarding selfless service) are part of the solution, not part of the problem. I’m sick and tired of “community workers” going into other contexts across the globe (i.e. other countries), perpetuating the colonialist model of the 19 Century, setting themselves up as the experts and teaching the “locals” how good things can be. I’ve been through this again and again with misdirected social workers and I can’t stand the outcome – both the inflated egos and the downtrodden locals. If one wants to go down this path – no one can really stop them, but they shouldn’t expect others to support an action that patronises another group of people. This approach has already been perpetuated by far too many Westerners. If one ignores history, because they think its boring, one risks making the same mistakes again and again.

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2007

Somehow, I don’t think life is about what God can do for us (i.e. nudge us, tell us what to do, give us a sign), its about what we can do for Him and creation, without expecting anything in return. Its the privileged who’ve really gotten this concept back to front. To quote an old friend – “We have nice things because we deserve them. We’ve paid our dues and God’s rewarding us. Its a sign!” If this was true, what did the poor plebs in the third world do to deserve their plight. Go easy with the “God will guide me” and “My blessings are a sign” bit (its only one step away from believing we are “worthy”) – none of us are really that important – we’re all just a heart beat away from becoming worm fodder – literally. That puts us right up there with the garden variety “fallen leaf” which is decomposing beautifully in the compost bin.

The best any of us can do (as most religions tell us), is to sit still (stay put), know what we are good at and use that in service without any expectation of reward (or revelation). To think we are being rewarded (and important enough to be guided) is the complete opposite of our call to (humble) service. I can’t imagine the Theotokos was into what she could get out of the deal – who in their right mind would hand over their “will” completely – she of course could and did – it was her gift to humanity, her LEGACY to the future, her attempt at Theosis (which is yet to be matched). There was the initial confusion (of pregnancy) of course and then a lifetime of follow through based on her gifts. And yes, many (of the rest) of us lead a lifetime of confusion, before there’s a follow through based on our gifts. But at least some of us, find ourselves walking into the stable at the 11th hour! So if we’re advised by our religion to sit still – it means to sit still! One could spend the rest of one’s life galavanting around the world, but that’s just another form of running from a commitment to service!

Take responsibility for where things are at, then make the most of what you can do. Waiting for signs is more about ego and our interpretation of reality than about reality itself i.e. Intrinsic Truth is always right before our eyes, no matter which direction we turn our faces (even when we turn our faces away from God) – there are no need for signs. Life is the sign, breath is its proof – all we need to do is open our eyes…

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2007

If humanity doesn’t destroy itself (through its love and systemic desire for war), I think we’ll find we’re only at the start of Christianity’s history. My hope is that there are (at least) ten’s of thousands of years ahead of us. Every time I raise this idea with Christians, people get very upset. So many people, are so used to believing the world will end within their own lifetime, that a more positive approach, is too difficult to fathom. What a miserably negative group we’ve become!

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2007

What ever religion we follow – there is still only one Truth. All Mysticism and Spirituality is only a different (better or worse) interpretation of that Truth. You could sift through a thousand religions, but you would still end up looking at the same reality, only through different people’s eyes.

I continue to view reality through Trinitarian (Orthodox Christian) eyes, though its highly unfashionable and often gets me into trouble.

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2007