“Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them,

and they that are great exercise authority upon them.

But it shall not be so among you:

but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto,

but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28, KJV)


The word the Athenians used for their Assembly was Ekklesia, the same word used in the New Testament for Church
(and it is the greatest philological irony in all of Western history that this word,
which connoted equal participation in all deliberation by all members,
came to designate a kind of self-perpetuating, self-protective Spartan gerousia -
which would have seemed patent nonsense to Greek-speaking Christians of New Testament times,
who believed themselves to be equal members of their Assembly.)

- Thomas Cahill, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter




ΦΙΛΟΤΙΜΟ: THE GREEK SECRET


Tuesday, June 12, 2007

"There's A Sucker Born Every Minute"

P.T. Barnum may not have said what has been attributed to him but there is little doubt our current situation lives up to his profession. Barnum, famous founder of Barnum & Bailey Circus, would be proud to witness this ongoing circus. He would also be eager to do business with us as we are the easily taken suckers.

Our local ring leader along with his counter part in Denver have purportedly exchanged written correspondence regarding the now forgotten special general assembly and the establishment of the defunct corporation. This correspondence is apparently classified as it has not been shared with the members of the community. We ask to see it, the ring leaders deny our request, we don't say or do anything. We are the suckers.

Our local ring leader stands up at the latest general assembly and asserts that he will "personally" write the letter to the metropolitan requesting the assignment of Fr. Mario as an assistant after two motions to that effect were overwhelmingly passed. Almost one month later, no letter has been written. We ask, this time the local ring leader says he will act, nothing happens, we don't say or do anything. We are the suckers.

We have been told about letters written and letters received. We have asked for answers to no avail. The ring leaders, both here and in Denver, remain silent working their back room shenanigans to further their divisive agenda. We do nothing to hold them accountable. We are the suckers.

Barnum could take this show on the road and make a killing. Here's an idea. Let's cut out the middle man and take this show on the road ourselves. This circus is like one never seen or experienced before. We have the perfect ring leaders. We could make a killing and Barnum would be proud.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Didn't you know that our parish council and our clergy dont work for us. We work for them. Therefore they dont have to do what the community tells them to do.

Anonymous said...

I hope whoever Stelios is, since he doesn't sign his full name, he is really kidding! Otherwise he is not facing reality. This medieval mindset is ridiculous!

We work for the good of our COMMUNITY, not for the priest or the board. We ELECT the board to serve on OUR BEHALF. WE did NOT elect oligarchs. When the priest works WITH his parish for a common purpose, things work well in that all are ultimately working for the Lord. Last time I checked, this proistamenos and his boss behave in a dictatorial manner and are far from ever being considered as benefactors to this community.

- Gus Colessides

Anonymous said...

Gus,

My comments were tongue-in-cheek. I agree with you fully.