WEBVTT 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:03.240 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:09.439 of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We find ourselves today 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:16.199 in this beautiful cathedral, in this temple dedicated 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:19.820 to St. Seraphim of Sarov, right in the middle 00:00:19.820 --> 00:00:24.260 of two feasts, two appearances of Christ, two 00:00:24.260 --> 00:00:28.690 epiphanies, the first being our Lord's birth 00:00:28.690 --> 00:00:32.329 in the flesh, and the second being something 00:00:32.329 --> 00:00:35.750 we celebrate in a few days, the manifestation 00:00:35.750 --> 00:00:39.429 of the Holy Trinity at Jesus' baptism by John 00:00:39.429 --> 00:00:43.369 in the River Jordan. Incredible moments in history 00:00:43.369 --> 00:00:46.570 to contemplate, to consider, to remember, and 00:00:46.570 --> 00:00:52.719 to live. And I can't ignore... That only yesterday 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:56.960 we took down our calendars marked 2023 and hung 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:03.380 up the ones with 2024 printed on them. 2024 years 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:06.480 after these saving events. Give or take a decade. 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:11.420 And if your life is anything like mine, the emails 00:01:11.420 --> 00:01:17.000 keep coming. The text messages keep dinging. 00:01:17.709 --> 00:01:21.310 The world is asking us, demanding, really, that 00:01:21.310 --> 00:01:24.969 we get over Christmas by now. Okay, that's nice 00:01:24.969 --> 00:01:29.569 that you got a day with family. This year, it 00:01:29.569 --> 00:01:31.909 seems like the greeting I got a lot in my world 00:01:31.909 --> 00:01:35.530 outside of church was, I hope you have a meaningful 00:01:35.530 --> 00:01:40.349 holiday. Yes, indeed, meaningful. But we have 00:01:40.349 --> 00:01:43.170 to encourage ourselves to really think about 00:01:43.170 --> 00:01:49.180 what meaning this has for all of us. Christ's 00:01:49.180 --> 00:01:52.260 incarnation and ministry happened at a specific 00:01:52.260 --> 00:01:57.500 moment in history. 500 years or so before Christ, 00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:00.939 the people of God were carried away into exile. 00:02:01.340 --> 00:02:05.420 And when their Babylonian oppressors were overthrown 00:02:05.420 --> 00:02:08.680 finally by Persian overlords, some of the people 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:12.240 of God returned to the Holy Land. But it wasn't 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:17.020 the same. Alexander the Great to Herod, it's 00:02:17.020 --> 00:02:20.719 one pagan overlord after another. The rebuilt 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:23.819 temple is a shadow of its former glory. There's 00:02:23.819 --> 00:02:26.939 no son of David on the throne. Worst of all, 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:30.120 the presence of God doesn't return to this new 00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:34.379 temple. In reality, you can think of the people 00:02:34.379 --> 00:02:39.960 of God as still somehow being in exile. That 00:02:39.960 --> 00:02:43.439 all changes. When God comes to dwell with his 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:46.379 people, right? That's the whole drama of the 00:02:46.379 --> 00:02:50.139 season. Herod might be evil, but he's not dumb. 00:02:50.439 --> 00:02:53.740 He knows that if the Messiah is born in Bethlehem 00:02:53.740 --> 00:02:56.979 and allowed to take the reins, well then Herod 00:02:56.979 --> 00:03:00.979 can't be the anointed one. The evil priests and 00:03:00.979 --> 00:03:03.939 scribes know full well that if the Messiah is 00:03:03.939 --> 00:03:06.759 made manifest by the Father and if the Spirit 00:03:06.759 --> 00:03:09.939 of God confirms the truthfulness of his word, 00:03:10.620 --> 00:03:14.939 Their term in office is finished. We even heard 00:03:14.939 --> 00:03:18.439 in the pre -festal troparion today a kind of 00:03:18.439 --> 00:03:22.199 rumbling, prepare oneftily. It's like the whole 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:26.360 creation knows that something big is changing. 00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:30.139 But the strange reality of our Christian life, 00:03:30.199 --> 00:03:32.979 brothers and sisters, is that it doesn't always 00:03:32.979 --> 00:03:38.379 feel like it's really changed, does it? Get back 00:03:38.379 --> 00:03:41.960 to the grind. Keep your head down. Consume your 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:45.080 entertainment, food, alcohol, drugs, whatever, 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:48.379 and your social media, of course. And while you're 00:03:48.379 --> 00:03:54.800 at it, dear 2024, get super excited, irritable, 00:03:54.860 --> 00:03:58.560 flustered, passionate, whatever, about the so 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:02.259 important election. That'll keep you occupied. 00:04:06.569 --> 00:04:09.030 Some years ago, I did something very different 00:04:09.030 --> 00:04:13.830 than focusing on our elections and my social 00:04:13.830 --> 00:04:16.629 media, mostly because there wasn't great cell 00:04:16.629 --> 00:04:19.569 phone service. But I was blessed to go on a short 00:04:19.569 --> 00:04:23.149 pilgrimage with Bishop Daniel to Deveovo, the 00:04:23.149 --> 00:04:25.829 women's monastery that St. Seraphim gave guidance 00:04:25.829 --> 00:04:31.910 to from afar. It took so long to get there. I 00:04:31.910 --> 00:04:35.480 really had to kind of pass out. of civilization. 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:39.600 I had to go from San Francisco to New York, New 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:43.000 York to Moscow, and then I had to like go, go, 00:04:43.060 --> 00:04:46.139 go for hours through countryside, never -ending 00:04:46.139 --> 00:04:50.019 countryside, till I got to that place. And when 00:04:50.019 --> 00:04:55.519 we arrived, it was so clean, so pristine. Everything 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:58.199 tasted better there, especially the dairy and 00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:01.860 the ice cream they made there. It was so organized. 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:07.540 Everything was in its place. Think of our convent 00:05:07.540 --> 00:05:10.459 in Calistoga or here in Santa Rosa. It was like 00:05:10.459 --> 00:05:14.899 that but much bigger. It made me really wonder, 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:20.920 is this what being a Christian is like? Is it 00:05:20.920 --> 00:05:23.240 about being more organized and more peaceful 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:27.519 somehow on the outside? I was thinking about 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:29.720 this when I was rereading St. Seraphim's life 00:05:29.720 --> 00:05:33.240 this weekend, and as I often do as a beginner 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:36.800 in anything ascetic, I'm particularly interested 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:39.680 in the beginning of his acquisition of the Holy 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:44.139 Spirit. When he came as a really young man, we'd 00:05:44.139 --> 00:05:48.139 call him a kid nowadays. When he came to the 00:05:48.139 --> 00:05:51.779 monastery, the first thing he did was, to quote 00:05:51.779 --> 00:05:56.300 the life, Very simply, many obediences. He was 00:05:56.300 --> 00:05:58.699 the elder's cell attendant. He toiled at making 00:05:58.699 --> 00:06:02.019 bread and prosphora and at carpentry. He fulfilled 00:06:02.019 --> 00:06:05.579 all his obediences with zeal and fervor as though 00:06:05.579 --> 00:06:09.160 serving the Lord himself. The life continues. 00:06:09.220 --> 00:06:12.800 By constant work, he guarded himself against 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:17.870 despondency. Akidea. This being, as he later 00:06:17.870 --> 00:06:21.250 said himself, St. Seraphim did, the most dangerous 00:06:21.250 --> 00:06:25.449 temptation for new monks. It is treated by prayer, 00:06:25.709 --> 00:06:28.990 by abstaining from idle chatter, by strenuous 00:06:28.990 --> 00:06:32.990 work, by reading the word of God, and by patience. 00:06:33.449 --> 00:06:37.329 Since, Father Seraphim continues, it is engendered 00:06:37.329 --> 00:06:41.230 by pettiness of soul, negligence, and idle talk. 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:48.079 And this phase of being a novice, you might be 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:50.540 excused for assuming he kind of got through it 00:06:50.540 --> 00:06:54.060 quickly. He was already at that point, in a sense, 00:06:54.060 --> 00:06:56.939 the chosen one of the mother of God, as we heard 00:06:56.939 --> 00:07:00.680 a few moments ago. She had already, in his novitiate, 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:04.779 as a novice, healed him from a terrible tribulation. 00:07:06.019 --> 00:07:10.399 But he was a novice, actually, practicing, as 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:14.660 it were, for eight years. A time when he worked 00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:20.339 really hard. So that word patience, well, St. 00:07:20.439 --> 00:07:23.879 Seraphim knows what he's talking about. And that 00:07:23.879 --> 00:07:26.930 phase of eight years. I won't recount to you 00:07:26.930 --> 00:07:29.430 the whole life. You should all read it once a 00:07:29.430 --> 00:07:31.610 year, though, I think, probably in preparation 00:07:31.610 --> 00:07:34.649 for this day or for your other feast day. It's 00:07:34.649 --> 00:07:38.250 so wonderful that you get an extra reminder if 00:07:38.250 --> 00:07:41.529 we are busy at this time of year. It kind of 00:07:41.529 --> 00:07:44.350 goes in chunks. He has these interesting phases. 00:07:44.389 --> 00:07:48.629 It's like 10 years, 15 years, 8 years, stages, 00:07:49.069 --> 00:07:52.689 different stages. And at each stage of his life, 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:56.120 And I take great comfort from the fact that he 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:58.560 has different phases, if you will, different 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:02.639 stages. He exercises this virtue, I think, first, 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:07.699 patience. And as I read that life, as I contemplate 00:08:07.699 --> 00:08:10.300 St. Seraphim, and maybe you'll have this experience 00:08:10.300 --> 00:08:13.980 once in a while too, there's something really 00:08:13.980 --> 00:08:17.290 terrifying about it all. the receiving of multiple 00:08:17.290 --> 00:08:19.930 visions of the mother of God and the saints, 00:08:20.170 --> 00:08:23.389 the pure obedience to the abbot's commands. You 00:08:23.389 --> 00:08:26.410 know, he's offered the position of abbot multiple 00:08:26.410 --> 00:08:31.509 times and he turns it down humbly. And then it's 00:08:31.509 --> 00:08:33.929 almost immediately that he asks the new abbot 00:08:33.929 --> 00:08:36.950 something and usually doesn't get exactly what 00:08:36.950 --> 00:08:39.850 he asked for, which is a terrifying thing to 00:08:39.850 --> 00:08:42.909 actually not just talk about obedience and Christian 00:08:42.909 --> 00:08:48.860 obedience, but to live it. The 15 years he spent, 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:51.600 one of those phases I was mentioning, in total 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:56.679 solitude, away from people. And then even, I 00:08:56.679 --> 00:08:59.299 found this very moving, but in a kind of scary 00:08:59.299 --> 00:09:02.259 sort of way, when he emerged from that 15 years 00:09:02.259 --> 00:09:05.659 of silence, he's able to receive visitors, all 00:09:05.659 --> 00:09:07.960 of those kinds of famous expressions we hear 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:10.720 about, like Christ is risen, my joy, and so forth, 00:09:10.740 --> 00:09:14.059 happen at that moment. And he's able to see into 00:09:14.059 --> 00:09:17.330 the hearts of those visiting him. with all of 00:09:17.330 --> 00:09:20.090 his great love and tenderness, it's just all 00:09:20.090 --> 00:09:24.269 so extreme. And it made me realize the difference 00:09:24.269 --> 00:09:27.870 between the period of exile for the people of 00:09:27.870 --> 00:09:31.210 God for all of those centuries, century after 00:09:31.210 --> 00:09:35.750 century, waiting for the chosen, anointed Christ, 00:09:35.909 --> 00:09:41.250 the Messiah. The difference between living and 00:09:41.250 --> 00:09:44.509 being born and dying a few years before Christ. 00:09:45.259 --> 00:09:48.419 and a few years after Christ, or a few centuries, 00:09:48.580 --> 00:09:52.500 or a thousand years, or 2 ,024 years, is that 00:09:52.500 --> 00:09:59.679 now we are no longer actually in exile. For someone 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:06.539 like Saint Seraphim, God was always right there, 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:12.519 dwelling with us. Saint Seraphim... In a very 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:14.960 particular way, I think this is maybe his most 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:17.419 impressive, to me, feat. I think a lot of the 00:10:17.419 --> 00:10:20.340 other works that he did probably flow from this. 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:23.399 But it's said that he reread the entire New Testament 00:10:23.399 --> 00:10:28.120 every single week. And I know that when I'm around 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:31.519 people, maybe you do this too, I start kind of 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:34.480 picking up verbal tics and things like that from 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:37.379 them. Seraphim is picking up the word of God. 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:40.820 week after week, that becomes his influence, 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:47.100 that becomes his constant companion. It got to 00:10:47.100 --> 00:10:50.019 the point where St. Seraphim was so living as 00:10:50.019 --> 00:10:54.960 if he was just where he was supposed to be, so 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:58.000 much like a Christian, like someone who actually 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:00.379 believes that the world is different because 00:11:00.379 --> 00:11:05.279 of Christ's birth and theophany. that this little 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:08.220 slither of time between the incarnation of Christ, 00:11:08.360 --> 00:11:11.179 his first coming, and his second and glorious 00:11:11.179 --> 00:11:15.399 coming, becomes for St. Seraphim very small. 00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:19.980 His visions of the mother of God, her appearings 00:11:19.980 --> 00:11:22.779 to him, along with always the saints of the day, 00:11:22.860 --> 00:11:26.330 I find that a fascinating detail. It was... as 00:11:26.330 --> 00:11:29.450 if the resurrection was completely real for him. 00:11:29.590 --> 00:11:32.649 Now, of course, it is completely real. We say 00:11:32.649 --> 00:11:34.889 that, we believe that, we know that. But for 00:11:34.889 --> 00:11:38.149 him, it was not just something he was thinking 00:11:38.149 --> 00:11:40.549 about or thought about once a week, but he was 00:11:40.549 --> 00:11:45.309 living the resurrection. I love how when our 00:11:45.309 --> 00:11:49.049 choices are inspired by the Lord, it becomes 00:11:49.049 --> 00:11:52.580 kind of obvious. to sometimes the most unlikely 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:55.259 of people. One of my favorite stories from his 00:11:55.259 --> 00:11:58.039 life is the young child who said to one of her 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:01.879 friends after a quick encounter with Father Seraphim, 00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:04.080 she said to one of the other little children, 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:07.799 Father Seraphim only looks like an old man. He 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:13.320 is really a child like us. And that, of course, 00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:16.759 has to remind us of Christ's commandment to be 00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:23.190 like the little children. And of course, St. 00:12:23.289 --> 00:12:26.870 Seraphim was able to distill for us this way 00:12:26.870 --> 00:12:29.230 of life in ways that even with our attention 00:12:29.230 --> 00:12:32.750 deficit we can remember. He said one time, save 00:12:32.750 --> 00:12:37.590 your souls, do not be despondent, but watchful. 00:12:38.110 --> 00:12:42.149 Save your souls, do not be despondent, but watchful. 00:12:43.429 --> 00:12:47.149 Now what happens when we actually find ourselves 00:12:47.149 --> 00:12:51.450 being a little less watchful in our lives? and 00:12:51.450 --> 00:12:56.009 maybe a little more despondent. Perhaps in this 00:12:56.009 --> 00:12:59.409 darkness that the earth is kind of in right now, 00:12:59.629 --> 00:13:03.230 you or someone you love or someone you know or 00:13:03.230 --> 00:13:04.970 you can just kind of get a sense of somebody 00:13:04.970 --> 00:13:09.230 around you is feeling a little down. Maybe someone 00:13:09.230 --> 00:13:12.649 you love, maybe you yourself today are having 00:13:12.649 --> 00:13:15.809 a little trouble really believing all of the 00:13:15.809 --> 00:13:19.809 good news that is shared with us. I know at least 00:13:19.809 --> 00:13:22.870 for me, I hear all the time around this time 00:13:22.870 --> 00:13:24.409 of year, like we're singing, you know, Christ 00:13:24.409 --> 00:13:27.809 is born, glorify him. When the Lord was baptized 00:13:27.809 --> 00:13:29.710 in the Jordan, and yet sometimes people are in 00:13:29.710 --> 00:13:33.929 like their worst state of just kind of not feeling 00:13:33.929 --> 00:13:38.730 it or something. It's interesting when St. Seraphim 00:13:38.730 --> 00:13:41.549 talks about his acquisition of the Holy Spirit, 00:13:41.590 --> 00:13:44.269 about the acquisition of the Holy Spirit for 00:13:44.269 --> 00:13:49.220 all of us. We really get the sense when we kind 00:13:49.220 --> 00:13:51.980 of distill it and maybe I'm putting my own words 00:13:51.980 --> 00:13:54.779 around it because that's the simplest thing for 00:13:54.779 --> 00:13:58.500 me to think about. He kind of makes the point 00:13:58.500 --> 00:14:04.580 that you're either in the Holy Spirit or what's 00:14:04.580 --> 00:14:06.620 the opposite? You're in the kind of captivity 00:14:06.620 --> 00:14:09.860 of the evil one. And he makes the point that 00:14:09.860 --> 00:14:14.820 we can go back and forth so quickly. And I think 00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:18.000 we know that. One minute, even in this liturgy, 00:14:18.139 --> 00:14:22.120 I can be totally focused on the word of God. 00:14:22.259 --> 00:14:26.000 And another moment can be thinking about a little 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:28.460 distraction over here or a little bit of pride 00:14:28.460 --> 00:14:31.360 over there or a little bit of just like, I wonder 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:33.899 which emails I should answer this afternoon when 00:14:33.899 --> 00:14:37.440 this is all over and I'm home. It happens so 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:40.100 quickly. Holy Spirit, not Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, 00:14:40.299 --> 00:14:47.389 devil. So why? would I bring that up? Partly 00:14:47.389 --> 00:14:50.009 because I think we need to remind ourselves that 00:14:50.009 --> 00:14:53.129 that's normal. Not normal in the sense of that's 00:14:53.129 --> 00:14:56.690 what we want. Not normal in the sense of that's 00:14:56.690 --> 00:14:59.570 how it should be. Not normal in the sense that 00:14:59.570 --> 00:15:03.889 I should stay exactly as kind of wishy -washy 00:15:03.889 --> 00:15:10.120 my whole life with God's help. But because I 00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:13.220 don't want any of us, myself included, to get 00:15:13.220 --> 00:15:16.120 down and to think, none of this really applies 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:19.139 to me. I'm just going to do a few commandments 00:15:19.139 --> 00:15:22.519 as best I can, and that's the best I have to 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:25.539 give. No, think back to St. Seraphim. He had 00:15:25.539 --> 00:15:29.679 phases of life. He had growth at every phase 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:32.960 of life. Just because I'm 45 doesn't mean I'm 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:37.360 always going to be this way. I can still keep 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:41.100 growing. I have to be focused on growing in Christ, 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:46.840 in that Holy Spirit captivating me. Somehow even, 00:15:46.899 --> 00:15:50.159 it seems like such a strange word, Father Tom 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:52.059 Hopko said maybe we should say attaining the 00:15:52.059 --> 00:15:54.639 Holy Spirit instead of acquiring the Holy Spirit. 00:15:54.679 --> 00:15:57.700 But somehow, can I attain the Holy Spirit? Maybe 00:15:57.700 --> 00:16:00.799 not flipping and flopping every few seconds, 00:16:00.820 --> 00:16:04.860 but maybe more steadily with more growth. And 00:16:04.860 --> 00:16:06.580 I think that's the beautiful thing about having 00:16:06.580 --> 00:16:10.679 a feast day like this. When we have a feast day, 00:16:10.740 --> 00:16:13.340 when we come together, travel from wherever, 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:16.000 whether it's our home parish or from more of 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:18.360 a distance, when we come to the church and there's 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:21.820 flowers and the singing is elevated and the serving 00:16:21.820 --> 00:16:25.220 is more, there's more celebrants and we're kind 00:16:25.220 --> 00:16:28.049 of like... taking off of work maybe or school 00:16:28.049 --> 00:16:32.149 to be here. Why do all that if it's really just 00:16:32.149 --> 00:16:34.250 a day -to -day struggle? And I think the point 00:16:34.250 --> 00:16:36.990 is when we do something like this, like a feast 00:16:36.990 --> 00:16:40.110 day of St. Seraphim, we're sort of saying that 00:16:40.110 --> 00:16:45.070 this day belongs to the Holy Spirit. Does that 00:16:45.070 --> 00:16:47.409 mean yesterday or tomorrow don't belong to the 00:16:47.409 --> 00:16:51.570 Holy Spirit? I'm not saying that. But I am inviting 00:16:51.570 --> 00:16:55.210 you not to focus on either yesterday or tomorrow. 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:57.679 The Lord himself says tomorrow will take care 00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:01.440 of itself. That's easy to hear and sometimes 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:04.539 hard to practice. But in a feast day, we can 00:17:04.539 --> 00:17:08.140 say for these two hours, for this day, I am going 00:17:08.140 --> 00:17:12.619 to be here. I am going to try to grow in the 00:17:12.619 --> 00:17:15.420 Holy Spirit. We are claiming it. We are naming 00:17:15.420 --> 00:17:19.319 this day for Christ's Holy One. this holy priest 00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:22.720 and monk seraphim. We are saying that today is 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:25.640 a day I'm intentionally living in the Holy Spirit 00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:29.579 as best as I can. I'm just going to say never 00:17:29.579 --> 00:17:32.660 mind to tomorrow or never mind to yesterday. 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:38.480 All I have right now is today, the now of God, 00:17:38.660 --> 00:17:43.789 that newness of God. And even if I have trouble 00:17:43.789 --> 00:17:46.910 most of the time living like that, even if most 00:17:46.910 --> 00:17:48.750 of the time I'm worried about the future, even 00:17:48.750 --> 00:17:51.369 if most of the time I'm worried about other things, 00:17:51.589 --> 00:17:56.869 I'm going to claim this moment and try to kind 00:17:56.869 --> 00:18:00.230 of hear the Word of God, try to live like somebody 00:18:00.230 --> 00:18:03.569 that really listened to the Word of God all the 00:18:03.569 --> 00:18:07.970 time. Let us embrace our Holy Father, Seraphim. 00:18:08.539 --> 00:18:11.940 Let's maybe catch on to his coattails a little 00:18:11.940 --> 00:18:15.079 bit. Maybe I don't feel ready to grow today, 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:19.880 but if I can at least believe that humans can 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:24.000 do this, that this is something available, that 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:26.420 it was something completely available to Father 00:18:26.420 --> 00:18:30.859 Seraphim, that means it's totally available to 00:18:30.859 --> 00:18:33.839 you and to me. Let's at least strive for that. 00:18:34.089 --> 00:18:37.230 claim today make this offering of our praise 00:18:37.230 --> 00:18:40.410 and thanksgiving as holy as we possibly can. 00:18:40.970 --> 00:18:41.650 Amen.