As we joyously celebrate the Great Feast of Pascha, I realize that the spirituality of our Church is focused on helping us to experience the reality of God’s Kingdom right now! Our Church calls us to experience God as He presents Himself to us in the world in which we live, not in some future state of life. When He came into our world in the Person of Jesus, He reminded us that the Kingdom of God IS at hand – that it is in the present moment that we can experience God. It is for us to learn how to experience His presence right now and not be deceived into thinking that we have to wait until some future date to experience His presence.

St. John Climacus says: God is the life of all free beings. He is the salvation of all, of believers or unbelievers, of the just or the unjust, of the pious or the impious, of those freed from the passions or caught up in them, of monks or those living in the world, of the educated or the illiterate, of the healthy or the sick, of the young or the very old. St. John clearly tells us that we must attempt to experience our God at this present moment since that is truly the only time He can be real to us.

It seems to me that one of the unfortunate developments that took place in Christendom was an approach to our spiritual life which is all future oriented and not focused on helping us truly experience God in the present moment. I believe this happened when the Church was split in two, separating the Eastern Church from that of the West. This separation impacted, I believe, how many Christians began to look at life.

Our Church has never ceased to proclaim the great events of our faith as happening right now at the present moment. We must learn how to recognize Christ, RISEN FROM THE DEAD, right now!

Think about this!