“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, November 29, 2011

Thank You

To:  Nick Bapis, Nick Colessides, Con Skedros, Kaliope Sargetakis, James Kastanis, Yannis Armaou

          During the Thanksgiving weekend it occurred to me I have never seen or heard anyone tell our church’s “CONDEMMED SIX”, thank you!!! 
          So I hereby say thank you for the endless hours of time you have spent working to protect our  Greek Orthodox Community’s  pledged monies and properties.
          Thank you, too for all of your own money that you have spent on this endeavor, with no thought of being paid back and never asking.
          Thank you for enduring in a very classy manner all the ridicule, lies, slander and attempted damage to your character and image that has been heaped upon by  “our fearless leaders” and their uninformed followers.   
          I for one, want you all to know, you are very much admired and appreciated!
          Thank you again,
           Baird Guin

2 comments:

Steve Velis said...

TO THE ELITE 6. MEMBERS OF OUR CHURCH HAVE LEFT YOU OUT IN THE COLD, BUT YOU ARE WELCOMED IN MY HOME ANYTIME. GOD BLESS YOU FOR THE YEARS OF SERVICE AND LOYALTY TO OUR CHURCH AND COMMUNITY. IT'S A SHAME THAT YOU ARE NOT RESPECTED FOR YOUR YEARS OF HARD WORK, DEDICATION AND DEVOTION TO COMMUNITY AND THE FUTURE OF OUR CHILDREN. WHAT HURTS THE MOST IS WHERE THE DISRESPECT HAS COME FROM, BUT HAVE NO DOUBT ABOUT YOUR EFFORTS. LOOK WHAT WAS DONE TO JESUS FOR HIS EFFORTS. THIS EXAMPLE IS WHERE WE FIND OUR STRENGTH. HAVE PIECE OF MIND KNOWING WHAT YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED FOR OUR COMMUNITY AND OUR CHILDREN. I KNOW "OTHERS" CAN'T COME CLOSE TO THIS CLAIM. DON'T GIVE UP AND REMEMBER THAT YOU DO NOT STAND ALONE. YOU MAY NOT SEE US OR HEAR ENOUGH FROM US BUT WE ARE THERE, RIGHT BY YOUR SIDE NOW AND ALWAYS. DON'T GET DISCOURAGED, DON'T GET DISSAPPOINTED. I KNOW IT'S EASIER SAID THAN DONE. REMEMBER THAT PEOPLE HAVE SET OUT TO DESTROY WHAT OTHERS HAVE TAKEN DECADES TO BUILD. WE ARE NOW THE KEEPERS OF THEIR LEGACY. IT MAY BE A HARD BATTLE BUT IT IS THE RIGHT ONE. I WISH YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES HEALTH AND HAPPINESS DURING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON AND ALWAYS. I THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR CHURCH AND COMMEND YOU FOR YOUR COURAGE. GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU.

Angie McKinnon said...

There is nothing else I can add to your eloquent post Mr. Velis except my heartfelt thank you's in addition to yours to these Pillars of our Community.