Don't Fall for the Little Things

Thou shalt have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3)

When the Apostles and their disciples spread the belief in Christ from the ancient Near East to the rest of the world, not all conversions were without blemishes. The vestiges of past pagan customs are tough to disintegrate from the practices of the masses. Even today, the remnants of idolatry finagle their way into commonplace activities. Beware.

I am certain that there are a plethora of pagan proclivities that I am not privy to, worldwide. I beseech any of my readers to identify, and document any they see. The division of labor was established so that we could collaborate and exchange, to make a better world. Let us engage in the intercourse of ideas, to strengthen our spirits against the adversaries and slanderers of God.

I am American, and thus will speak on the American experience. I work with children in an Elementary School, and their behavior informs me on my own past as well as general American idols (no, not the ones that collect votes on your television set). Back in October, my kids caught the lust eye towards candy. You know the occasion. Halloween is evidently pagan. It is an insult to the lord, to refer to it as a holy day (holiday). I rebuke it here.

Recently, I was on a field trip to a museum with them. There was a shooting fountain in the center of an Edenic lush garden. The soft pitter patter of the crashing water is abetted by a mountain-view of Los Angeles county. Ocean, Hollywood sign, skyscrapers and all. Under such a sacrosanct sublime setting the idolatry began. The children dug deep into their tiny pockets, and began to toss coins in the fountain.

For those not familiar with the tradition, all might seem well. But please, why do they toss coins into a fountain? The fountain is their object of worship. In America, youth are told that tossing loose change into a fountain can reap the fulfillment of their wishes. This is prayer. This is kneeling. This is idolatry of the classic Old Testament golden calf variety. Either the subject does not trust they can accomplish their wishes through prayer to God, or the subject wants to combine their "chances" by spreading their bets. If the lord is God, pray to him. If not, then supplicate before whatever you think is. We are always bowing to a master. The question that remains, who is our master? Is it ourself and our own sins, is it an object of nature, or is it nature's God?

The orthodox Christian believes

in one God, the lord, the father almighty, maker of the heavens and earth and of all things visible and invisible. 

We believe in one lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten son of the father, who was with him before the creation of the world. Light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, equal with the father in his Godhead: By whom all things were made, but without him was not anything made, neither in heaven nor on earth; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of Mary, of the holy Virgin Mary; he was made man and was crucified for us in the days of Pontius Pilate, he suffered, died, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day as it is written in the holy scriptures, he ascended with glory into heaven, sat at the right hand of his father, and will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the father; we worship and glorify him with the father and the son; who spoke by the prophets; and we believe in one holy, universal, apostolic church, and we believe in one baptism for the remission of sin; and await the resurrection of the dead and the life to come, world without end. AMAYN, LEYKOON.* 

Post Scriptum:

I wrote this to anathematize an action that I took part in as a kid. I wish I had the support of a fellow Christian to tell me right from wrong, at the time. This blog is an attempt to be that dude, and so is this post specifically.

In addition, let paper fortune tellers, Chinese fortune cookies, astrology guides, Easter Egg hunting, tooth hiding for the Tooth Fairy and the false image of Saint Nicholas be anathema.

*leykoon is Ge'ez for yihoon in Amharic, or let it be in English.
*This is the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed of (325-381 Ano Domini). It is a prayer crafted by early church fathers, before what is now The Non-Chalcedonian Orthodox split from the Chalcedonian Orthodox and Roman Catholics. This is an ecumenical supplication. If you do not adhere to its content, you are not an orthodox, or true, Christian.