A Beacon of Light!

In my recent travels via the Internet, I stumbled upon a true Beacon of Light of the Christian Faith. It is a web site Agio Oros which means Holy Mountain. Unfortunately, its pages are in the Greek language so most of you cannot read it. I have been visiting this web site off and on now, for almost one year and have found their posts to be enlightening and fulfilling. For those who are not familiar with Agio Oros, also know as Mount Athos, here is a brief history lesson. Mount Athos is a monastic community that was founded more than 1200 years ago. It is stated that the Virgin Mary herself visited there in 49 A.D.

Sadly, like everything else that is Christian and wonderful about our faith, this web site had come under attack recently by vandals and internet hackers. Anyone surprised? It was down for almost three weeks last November, before its functionality was restored. During this whole process, I was very angry at being denied my daily "spiritual fix"! I felt violated as a Christian. How dare those "heathens" do such a thing? I lashed out in my mind against muslim extremists, atheists, and all of the enemies of our faith. I learned a valuable lesson during this process that I now wish to share!

It was the monks themselves, that live and die by the Lord, that opened my eyes! Lets not forget that these are the spiritual leaders of our faith. The very fiber of what we should be as Christians. The front lines, if you will, against all of Satan's attempts to bring us down. These are people who have given their lives to our Lord. They pray and work day and night, longing for nothing more than to be forgiven for their sins. Their very existence is defined not only by what little they have in worldly goods, but also by the abundance in their spiritual fortitude. I initially missed their message.

During the down time, a word or two at the site mentioned something to the effect that "hackers have shut us down." When the web site finally came back up, it picked up right where it had left off. Their message went on unabated, and the posts continued to flow like a mountain stream toward inevitability....the big blue sea! There was no condemnation, no calls for reprisal. They did not cry foul, nor did their posts even mention what had just transpired! I kept on looking for the outcry that was certainly coming!!! It never came.

The Monks of Mount Athos just turned the other...cheek! They do get it!!! I am so inspired by their conduct, I am in awe! Their message bears the very essence of our faith. Actions do speak louder than words and they did exactly what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would've done. Why did I ...not see that coming?