To Bill P. Souvall, With Love

Dear Bill,

Thank you for your Blog article. It is an eloquent expression of your feelings; I sincerely applaud you. I am in agreement with the substance. I understand your perspective.

My perspective is not that much different from yours. I have forgiven the Denver Metropolitan for his unjust decision to impose the religious sanctions against me and to remove me from the Parish Council; and, for his continuous proscription to allow me to be a candidate for the Parish Council.

I also forgave the Prophet Elias Proistameno for his recommendation to the Metropolitan. As far as I am concerned they are both irrelevant to my religious life and my faith. "Αφες αυτοίς, ου γαρ οίδασι τι ποιούσι."

They, jointly and/or severally, became punitive; they sua sponte decided to blemish my fifty-year reputation in this community. They impugned my integrity with no cause. Neither one of them bothered to discuss the issues that troubled them with me. They acted imperially, without Christian love. It was malice; however, the people who knew me, knew differently. While I forgive them, I shall never forget the injustice.

I do not intend to remain silent about my religion and my ethnicity. And, as I have said on numerous occasions, paraphrasing Nikos Kazantzakis:

I believe in God;
I have faith in my Church;
I am free.

What really matters in life is that we cannot stand silent in allowing the existing Clergy to cause irreparable damage to our great community; it was created in 1905, with the sweat, toil, and courage of your forefathers.

I can only close with the most appropriate quote from one of Martin Luther King's speeches.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Our community matters to me. I hope it matters to a lot of other parishioners.

Best regards,

Nick

P.S. You are always welcome to use the salutation; nothing proprietary. Remember you and your family are very dear to my heart. I knew the entire family long before you became my brother's cousin by marriage.