Without a doubt, two thousand years is a long time between us and the presence of Christ in Judea at that time.

Paradoxically though, we read the same book, face the same problems, the same challenges and the same questions for those two thousand years.

Excluding the technology of the last hundred years, we all agree that nothing has changed in humans.

Needs are the same in food and human relations, questions about life and death remain relentless within generations.

Addressing the same questions therefore requires the seriousness and responsibility that Christ himself asked of his disciples when they themselves asked the same questions as ours.

For the Greeks, the common language then and today is a good tool to ask questions and get answers through the Holy Letters, the answers given by Christ Himself. If we do not ask the questions, there can be two reasons for it.

Either we do not care about the quality and length of our lives, or there is a wall of fog that questions the value of the truth our questions have. Remember, though; behind the clouds and the fog there is always the sun and the truth.

When your goal is common with other people’s goal and your efforts are similar, the failures of others are not a model to be imitated, but they are a subject of reflection and study of the elements that led to their failure.

Not because the failure should be judged and the unsuccessful person criticized, but because the sufferings of others should become lessons and examples to be studied.

If in the 2000 years since the time of Christ there have been examples that, in your opinion, prove the failure of others in the matters of faith and behavior, do not acquire a judgmental mindset, but see your own path, have your gaze on your own opportunities and personal challenges, learn from the mistakes of others and avoid your own failure.

If you have discovered the gifts and supplies that the creator has prepared for you, but you hesitate because you listen to the failures of others, remember; in the Holy Letters there are both positive and negative examples. Do not follow the negatives, follow the positive ones.

Learn from failures, but do not accept that the end of the world has come. Tomorrow you can try again. This is our life. Tomorrow can only be better if you abandon the fear of failure and fatalism.

Our attempt to increase in size and number the portions of our possessions is within our nature. We all want an increase in our property, in our mobile and valued goods, and we fight every day for that. How much can you withstand the increase in your mobile and real estate assets?

There is no precise answer because a question of this kind can never be asked, that is, how much you want to increase your wealth. So, as the increase of my everyday goods is unlimited, in the matters of faith we do not seek indefinite horizons, but on the contrary we set narrowly confined limits. Our soul is starving, but we ignore the signs of poverty, we neglect them as childish indulgences and end up with many mental vacuums of faith and efficiency. And while it is obvious that no matter how much everyday goods are increasing, in the end we have the same needs as in the beginning, we still do not invest in the future alongside everyday life.

The right attitude is to move my boundless horizon into increasing my share of faith, by rationalizing the horizon of my natural needs and goods that I gather, because that way my quality of life is upgraded today and a portion of my future is credited as well.

We travel but do not approach. We pass many areas by car, ship, plane, but in the end we are approaching to only touch the land of our destination. The intermediate parts are ephemeral images that we may have kept in our mind, but they were left behind as a memory.

The “εγγύς” (en-gü’s) and the “εγγίζω” (en-gē’-zō) , I approach in order to touch, are familiar concepts in Greek. Similar is the concept of approaching in the issues of living faith. I travel with a purpose and it is obvious that we all travel to everyday life with a purpose, either to earn our livelihood or a goal beyond everyday life. And for everyday life, the practical need makes us productive and careful.

On the contrary, on matters of faith that include not only today but also tomorrow and the near and distant future, our attention is generally relaxed; we do not approach our successes and failures with the same interest.

Our interest gradually diminishes, we become sluggish in the hearing of the Gospel, the faith remains inactive, and we end up in a typical Christian program, without control of depth and effectiveness.

The faith of the grain does not yield fruit, the supplies and gifts of our creator not only are not exploited but they are forgotten and lost in oblivion and in the absence of truth from our lives.

The weapon systems are evolving and new ones, often monstrous, are constantly being discovered, in order to exterminate not one, but thousands of citizens or soldiers at the same time. The arms race imposes the development of weapons of personal protection.

However, the concept of personal protection is not exhausted in deadly firearms, but also has the rules and techniques, initially in order to avoid conflicts and then to defend and protect against any malicious force that attacks or threatens to attack with the purpose of removing freedom or denying the exodus of individual captivity.

The body’s captivity and the captivity of the soul are the top issues of everyday life and everyone is called to practice and learn not only how to avoid but also how to protect themselves from the attacks of every opponent who has set as goal the abolition of your own freedom or the limitation of your personal exercise of rights, which your creator has endowed with and abundantly granted to you.