Hieromonk Calinic: God’s Gifts, our Gifts and the Gift of Christmas

“The earth is the Lord*? and the full­ness thereof (Ps 24:1 f. This verse fro— the Psalms reminds us of one very im­portant truth: God created all things. and this means He oh7u all things. He loans us these things for the duration of our lives on earth. The world is first of all a gift of God to us, and for our part, made in God’s image, the world is to be used as a gift. By receiving the world as a gift, and offering it back to God as a gift, the world becomes a means for spiritual growth and com­munion.
In fact, the world and all that is in it has no meaning except as a means of sharing between the two poles of its existence: God who created it, and man, for whom it was created.In this created world, man stands in the “middle” – part immaterial soul and part material body – a “mingled wor­shipper,” who is “half-way between greatness and lowliness” in the words of Gregory the Theologian. We are bound to the things of the earth for our very existence, but also by our very existence we are called to transcend the things of the earth. Man is at once part of and above the earth. Our rela­tionship is that of stewards, offering the creation to God, and our steward­ship will determine our eternal destiny. All of this takes place during our short time on earth, for the orientation and habits of the soul cannot change with­out the body. >>>>>Hieromonk Calinic>>>>>