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The birth of a child,
a baby's first step, riding a two
wheeler for the first
time, taking dad's car for a spin
(with dad's permission of course),
your first
job, your second job, the completion
of a masterpiece, a first sale, unpacking
your dorm room with mom and dad, receiving
a college degree, the unexpected
trip to the emergency room, opening
day of a new business, retirement,
the
passing of a dear loved one.
The phrase "A
Defining Moment" implies a remarkable
memorable event which marks a particular
moment and characterizes a period
in time. I suppose should we analysis
every moment, even those mundane minutes
that solely are forgettable,one could
argue they are defining, fore they
reveal, the routine chaos of our lives.
Yet in our everyday life, although
each moment is important, we often
look back in history and remember
the distinct milestone events that
delineate a new direction or a realization
that what was thought to be known
just a few seconds before is now entirely
different. If you have ever been in
a fender bender, the second the echoed
sound of the crashing metal ceases,
the first thought is ".that just
didn't happen" the second thought
is ".if I only had
been at that intersection a second
before or later I wouldn't be here
in this
mess". It is amazing how a split
second can change ones life and alter
its
direction.
We all have at one
time or another, hit our thumb with
a hammer, thrown a ball
threw a window, fallen off a bike
scraping a knee, or perhaps maybe
when you
were ten, you rode the oversized motorcycle
of your 16 year old neighbor,
without moms permission and broke
your arm in the fall, ...I hope my
mom
doesn't read this.she still thinks
I broke it falling off a rock!!! In
any
case, when these things happen inevitably
we think "I cannot believe I
just did
that."
I suppose you may
be asking why I am fixating on this.
Actually, when I first
began this message it was to start
off with, "We are at the brink
of a new and
exciting time that is the defining
moment of our generation and our community."
Unfortunately for you the reader,
I began to think about the phrase
"defining
moment" and got distracted by
the complexity of the meaning of a
"minute". Of
course the phrase is not something
I invented, it has been around for
quite
some time and has been used and overly
abused by the likes of politicians,
infomercial carpetbaggers, or individuals,
like myself, trying to reveal a new
direction or something. So what better
way to express it than to state "the
moment is defining"? The problem
is that the phrase is to simplistic.because
it would imply all other moments have
less value.
Our lives seem so
busy and each minute is occupied to
its fullest or it at least
seems that way. Even a trip to the
beach, with its obvious appeal as
a
restful, relaxing day in the sun,
somehow becomes a full scale production
which often begins the night before
with the preparation of lunch, inflating
beach balls, pulling out the body
boards from winter storage, dusting
of the cooler, fixing the broken wrung
of the umbrella.leading to the next
morning packing of the car!!! With
the strength of Hercules you barely
get the hatch latched, only to have
your significant other ask, "Can
you make sure you leave the cooler
on top so it is accessible for the
road trip snack?" Have you ever
watched a "Jack in the Box"
spring out, after that annoying song
is finished?
You know he is going to pop out, scaring
you to death.but you crank away with
zeal and anticipation! A springing
hatch on a station wagon does not
have that
same appeal!!! After placing ice on
the nose to stop the bleeding.the
portable
refrigerator is shifted to the top,
the car is sealed again and then you're
on
your way! No more than five minutes
into the journey.the well known request
comes from the back seat.yes we have
all heard it or even participated
in it,
"Mom.(because they know dad will
snap).I need to go to the bathroom!!!"
The
race then becomes to find a service
station or fast food joint, before
the five
soda filled cans that were consumed
minutes before, because the cooler
was
conveniently accessible to the rugrats
in the back, is now requesting an
evacuation from its host!
After the detour
to Mickey D's, we meet up with the
caravan of cousins, aunts,
uncles and grandparents at the centrally
located supermarket parking lot. Last
of course, we arrive in the midst
of the continuing debate, which route
is the
best and who will be the lead car!
After a "relatively" short
Greek minute the
convoy begins! The trip goes as uneventful
as one may expect, with only a few
swats from dad's paw toward the back
seat with only half connecting.the
others
are dodged by the agile little tyrants
giggling at the failed attempts.
The armada arrives
and begins to disembark. Like invading
marines, the
battalion of troops, begin to press
forward
Brave New World
that continually changes. The constant
in all this is that
transition, change and progress are
inevitable. The big question is how
as a
community do we go about embracing
the change without giving up our core
values. With the change in demographics;
with the migration of our
parishioners to the suburbs; with
the school systems both private and
public
not providing the necessary resources
towards arts or athletics; with the
fact
that more than half of our paid stewards
attend Sunday services less than 15
weeks out of the year; with the fact
that there are well over 2500 Greek
Orthodox families in the Worcester
area and only half pay stewardship
each
year; with the fact that 80 % of the
marriages in our Cathedral are to
non-Greek Orthodox; the Family at
Saint Spyridon is a changing!
Some of this evolution
is positive; a better standard of
living, moving to a
larger homes, adding new cultures
through marriage to the fold are all
very
good things for our community. I like
to believe that one of the reasons
why
those of our parishioners have married
a non Greek, have done so because
the spouse recognizes the fine attributes,
values and traditions that are so
strong in our culture.
Some of the evolution
however, is not so good; diminishing
public or private
resources for our children's education,
the multitude of activities scheduled
on Sunday that infiltrate our family's
time, the inconsistent stewardship
commitment to the Cathedral, are all
things that need to be address and
improved. Some, we may be able to
affect through information and outreach;
others will require additional facilities
and resources directed at our
community to provide a better footing
for our children.
If history has shown
us anything it is when communities
and societies fail to
recognize and adapt to the continuing
evolution of its people and their
needs,
it is then when the community ceases
to flourish and grow. I suppose the
only
thing worse is recognizing that fact,
but, failing to do anything about
it.
The family unit has changed and continues
to evolve. Yet we may ask why can't
the family evolve into new stronger
extended unit similar to that we remember
so well? Why can't this extended family
reach out beyond the individual unit
and extend outside to other family
units?
I believe in our
community, we are seeing a revival
of some of the values. I
have begun to notice a desire by many
to strengthen the nuclear core by
making the effort to reach out to
each other and extend beyond its relative
boundaries. I continue to see more
and more members of our community
begin to ask to help and add their
talents to the task.
I believe we are
at a time in our community that is
different and significant
and important. I believe not that
we are at a particular period of time
that
is better or greater than any time
before, but instead that each of the
moments
that have brought us to this point
have all been meaningful and have
paved the
road for this time. After all, the
memories of a typical seemingly average
summer day sunning and splashing with
cousins and friends, a day like any
other warming our hearts and minds
with images of laughter and love,
may go unnoticed to some, but in fact
are the moments that retain the most
relevance and import. These are the
moments that are the staple of our
soul of which we must swallow up and
consume so that we may realize and
understand its value. After all this,
I believe the thing that is defining
about this time is the fact
that we as a community, we as the
faithful have begun a renewed celebration
of the family! With all its splendid
quarks of culture and quality of spirit,
we
as a community, have begun to apply
the passion of our ancestors, to grow,
to
flourish, to strengthen each thread
of our family quilt!
We are at the brink
of new and exciting times in our community,
but not just
because we have found the courage
to tackle the awesome obligations
of our day, not because we have decided
that, as a community we can do much
more together that we can to as an
individual, not just because we have
the passion and drive try to make
a better place for the generations
to come, but because we know and understand
that each moment of each day is as
meaningful and precious.
FROM THE PRESIDENT'S
DESK
Yours in Christ
William Kiritsy
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