This is the “slogan” that best characterizes today’s politics everywhere. For a moment we dared to hope! We dared to hope because Russia seemed to turn course and start to oppose the advance of lawlessness. Our hopes today are suffering a setback again.

It is hard to understand why Russia would adopt such a strategy. In Romania there is a saying: “getting to become the Devil’s brother until getting to the other side” – nothing less Orthodox than this can be used as an argument.

https://www.rt.com/news/319584-lavrov-support-syrian-opposition/

It indeed looks like everything in today’s politics is about justifying before the world, not God.

What worries us is that the political affairs today seem to be continuously monitored and analysed (by some sort of super-authority), then designed and adapted to suit certain interpretations and views that some would like to impose – it feels just like someone is sitting out there with the Bible and all the knowledge of the Scriptures in one hand, and dictating with the other hand: “next we have to do this, and this is how it will fit with the prophecies and the teachings“. This is unfortunate. It is only meant to destroy whatever faith there is left. The normal man can not be sure any longer that the ground beneath his feet is solid – one moment he thinks he has reached some stable patch of land where he can find peace for a while, the next a big earthquake comes and shakes him and he has to leave and seek (spiritual) refuge again. He can do this for a while but most likely will reach a point when he just gets tired and decides to give up … Nothing seems absolute anymore, everything is becoming relative. How is the poor little man then going to find anything true to hang on to and obtain salvation under these conditions?

The situation is too complex and impossible to make sense of any more. It is therefore necessary to step back and stop reacting to the interminable set of illogical events, maybe even stop paying attention altogether. Rather, one needs to lock himself inside the cave of his own heart and not expect to find any sort of logic to what is happening in the world today. It is increasingly becoming a waste of time and a diversion. Knowing that terrible times are ahead is enough.

Orthodoxy today is in great confusion everywhere, and it first needs to go through a big shakeup before light is seen again, that is certain. Things are only going to get much worse before they can get better, but do not loose hope as this is how it is meant to be for a while – if it wasn’t then these would not be the times of complete darkness before the very end arrives.

We at Orthodox Australia understand that bombarding the everyday reader with information will only get him more worried and panicked, and his soul will become more and more unsettled. Numerous blogs out there do not cease rolling out avalanche upon avalanche of bad news coming out every day, but do not really offer a big-picture-view that would help people put everything together. Looking at event X and saying “that is Orthodox” and then at event Y and saying “that is not Orthodox” leads nowhere (to no conclusion) fast.

Rather what we believe a true Orthodox Mission should do is give a general set of principles rooted in the teachings of the Holy Fathers and The Church based on which people can build a sense of discernment themselves. It is always best to teach a man how to fish rather than feeding him fish. This is what we have been striving to achieve, even we know our work is not perfect. There probably is enough information already on our website that would help people gain enough understanding to help them get through the times ahead. Many people are constantly expecting the sensational and coming to visit us (and others) just to get some more “news”, but they will be disappointed. The important things have already been said.

We are going to follow up shortly with a summary of where we think things are at, and what to look for ahead. Beyond that, everything else happening in the world already fits in what has already been said …

Please keep us in your prayers.