Two of the readings for January 20th are Wisdom of Solomon 3: 1-9 and Luke 6: 17-23.

Though one is from the Old Testament and the other is from the much later time of the New Testament, they both tell us that the “now” of the present life is a passing reality. The “then” of eternity, and its everlasting reality, is what matters.

The reading from the Wisdom of Solomon describes the deaths of righteous people living among ungodly and powerful people, as the Jews of Alexandria were doing at the time the book was probably written. The author makes clear the difference between what appears in this world to be the fate of the righteous, and what constitutes the true reality of their lives. First he writes, “In the eyes of the foolish they seem to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster, and their going forth from us to be their destruction.”

Even to the other Jews, apparently, these deaths were a disaster, and the final destruction of life. The following verses, however, show that another reality was actually being worked out: “But they are at peace. For though in the sight of others they were punished, their hope is full of immortality. Having been disciplined a little, they will receive a great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of Himself.”

In the passage from Luke, often called the Sermon on the Plain, Christ Himself tells us that this world’s painful difficulties fade into nothing when we know the glory of the future with God: “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.” Not only does Christ reassure us about our own lives; He also reminds us that others—such as the righteous people described in Wisdom of Solomon—experienced the same things.

On this day the Church honors the New Martyr Zachariah of Patras, who lived in the late eighteenth century. He was born a Christian, but converted to Islam. Living as a Muslim for many years, he still kept and read a book called “The Salvation of Sinners.” The book’s powerful words finally convinced him that he had made a dreadful mistake.

Zachariah publicly declared his intention to return to Christianity, having received absolution from a Christian elder. For this he was tortured so severely that he died. When the local Christians asked permission to bury him, the Muslim ruler said he was unworthy of burial, having betrayed two faiths. His body was dragged through the streets and unceremoniously tossed into a dry well.

Yet people approaching the well saw an unearthly light shining above it. This man, who in life was pronounced unfit even for a proper burial, had found the “then” of God’s forgiving and welcoming love.

This and many other Christian Education resources are available at http://dce.oca.org

January 15 is the feast day of Venerable Paul of Thebes.

The region of upper Egypt in which he was born about 227 is called the “Thebaid” because it is near the city of Thebes. It’s a desert area, and over the centuries it became the dwelling place of thousands of monks seeking to come close to God.

Paul was raised and well-educated in a loving Christian family. Orphaned as a teenager, he had no adult protection when imperial Rome began severely persecuting believers. He took refuge with friends.

One of the Roman government’s ploys was to offer large rewards to people who turned in Christians who were hiding. Paul’s greedy brother-in-law planned to give his name to the authorities, despite the tearful pleas of Paul’s sister. Being warned of this, and wishing to spare his sister grief at her husband’s treachery and his own arrest, Paul fled to the mountains.

At first Paul thought his time in the wilderness would last only until the persecution abated, but he found that he liked his new life. He went deeper into the desert, and discovered a large cave. Outside it was an ancient palm tree, with fruit for food and leaves for a garment. There was also a running stream. The cave became his home for the rest of his life, which lasted well over a hundred years.

When we think of the first person to pursue a life of prayer and fasting in the desert, we may remember Saint Anthony the Great. Tradition tells us that Anthony, living in another solitary place, also had the thought that “no monk more perfect than himself had settled in the desert.” These words are from the life of Paul written by Saint Jerome in the fourth century.

Saint Jerome writes that Anthony had a vision in the night that “there was farther in the desert a much better man than he, and that he ought to go and visit him.” Though already ninety, Anthony set out to find this elder.

An arduous journey finally brought him to Paul, and the two conversed for a whole day and night. As Anthony reluctantly prepared to leave, Paul asked the younger man to bring the cloak he’d been given by Saint Athanasius to use as Paul’s burial garment, for he would die soon.

Anthony was amazed that Paul had heard of Athanasius and the cloak, but he did as Paul asked. When he had buried Paul, he took the elder’s simple garment of palm leaves, and for the rest of his life honored “the first hermit” by wearing it only on Pascha and Pentecost.

Saint Jerome bluntly addresses the thoughtless, idle rich with these words about Paul: “Your drinking vessels are of precious stones; he satisfied his thirst with the hollow of his hand. Your tunics are of wrought gold; he had not the raiment of the meanest of your slaves. But poor though he was, Paradise is open to him; you with all your gold will be received into Gehenna.”

This and many other Christian Education resources are available at http://dce.oca.org