1. Creation Day

September First.

Today is not just Orthodox New Year's Day, one year following the other as a pearl necklace of time, it is Creation Day refreshed, during harvest time to recall God filling the earth with all kinds of fruit and vegetables.

Before the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, when the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, even before God said, 'Let there be light', God and I were friends. We loved each other as we still do and as we always will with pure joy in each other's presence. We laughed and we sang. I sang for Him and He sang with me. Our spirits danced in curls and waves.

I was honored beyond imagination when God confided in me His plan to make the stars and the moon, and planets and galaxies, and OMG...nebula! I would have stopped right there, but not my God! He went on to tell me of His plan to make one special planet on which He would place miniature replicas of Himself that would multiply and fill one of many planets! The godlike beings would be creative, and love and laugh as we do. At hearing this, I felt less jealous when He added that they would be limited by two most mysterious things He called, Time and Matter.

I played the role of naysayer for this venture, thinking of all kinds of reasons His plan would fail. "How will You sustain light?" I asked, "And these godlike beings of yours, why do you need them when you have us angels? I am sure they will disappoint and cause you all kinds of trouble. What is the point?"

True to form, being as sovereign and autocratic as He is, God brushed aside all of my criticisms as one whisks away dust, and after describing them to me, He said that Time and Matter were necessary to control and sort these gods for His ultimate purpose which was eternal companionship. As the goal was so remote, and as I was certain it would fail, I stopped my naysaying, and instead smiled and nodded frequently.

Imagine our amazement when we beheld light for the first time. The angelic hosts gathered as forming a cloud. Sitting in darkness, we saw a great light which was followed by an equally astounding contrast, that of the return of darkness. And so the Age of Time began.

Matter was entirely unique too. The concept of fixed elements in space that never changed form or color or texture was most peculiar! What would be the point? How useless could such a thing as matter be? But again, I thought better than to second guess God, so I smiled and nodded some more, all the while determined to wait it out.

Since then, the most distressing thing to me has been that Time and Matter have grown out of proportion and seem to have no end. God assures me that Time will cease to exist, but not matter. I wonder what He means by that?

2. September 8th - The Birth of Ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God

"Lord, didn't I tell you that those material gods would be more trouble than they are worth to you? Now you not only have them stuck in time like a pair of feet fixed in cement, they are hardened in matter too! How can you call this companionship. It's pathetic! It is atrocious!"

God patiently listened to my tirade, (Gentleman that He is) and told me that I was too impatient.

"Impatient!" I retorted indignantly, "We have had to watch this rotation of light and darkness so many times that we are getting nauseous! One OR the other, I say!" Taking it upon myself to speak for the entire host of angelic spirits I added, "I prefer the darkness, the way things used to be, but if you must choose light, then go ahead and choose it!

Please Lord, I beg of you to make up your mind! We detest this thing called time. And besides, don't you see what it is doing to your little gods? They shrivel up until they can live no more. Time kills them slowly but surely! This doesn't make sense to me Lord. I don't want to gloat, but I would say that you should admit defeat, burn it all off and let's go back to the way life was before this project of yours. Please?"

God has a better friend than me. His name is Gabriel. Gabriel is smarter than me and more patient. That's why he always gets the better jobs.

Gabriel wafted himself over to me and in the regal style of an archangel filled my space with sparkles and the heavenly aroma of stardust to wash me with delightful sensations and thus to curb my frustration.

"What are you so happy about?" I retorted, trying hard to cling to my anger.

"My foolish friend, can't you see what joys lie before us? Are you so enamored by the darkness that you failed to notice Anna and Joachim swelling with child and joy over the impending birth to the Queen of queens on the eighth day of the new year? Anna will soon give birth to the Mother of God! Can you forget yourself for a moment to imagine what this means to Him?"

"What is going on?" I exclaimed, "Tell me!"

Gabriel pulsated with glee as He explained the next, most important phase of creation when God becomes a human too. I simply could not believe that our God would entertain such a foolish notion. This was the limit! What could I do? I would never go over to Lucifer's camp because unlike Lucifer, I was devoted to my God and yet I was perturbed with Him. To create these troublesome miniature gods was one thing, but to enter one was the most insane ridiculous idea imaginable.

Gabriel went on, "My dear friend, indeed you are stuck between two false worlds. The dark old days that you long for and can only live in your imagination, and a skepticism that skews your ability to see the amazing plan God is carrying out.

"Nothing less than the re-creation of the world is about to begin! This new year marks the beginning of the end of time*. This should make you jump for joy."

If an angel could fall on its face, I would have. Instead I patiently waited for the enormity of Gabriel's remarks to penetrate.

A new creation, within the creation that will overcome time...mmmmmm? How is this possible? What magic will God conjure up to superimpose timelessness upon the light and dark, day and night rhythm of time? How will God, the King and Master of spirits pour Himself into human form? Why did Gabriel stand amazed at the concept of the eighth day birth of the infant Mother of God?

There was so much to process that I wanted not to think any more, and frankly, I didn't want to feel anymore either, neither jealously nor frustration. It was time to rest and fly.

I suddenly awoke to hear shrill birth pangs that echoed throughout the universe. Angels, archangels, and all the heavenly hosts had gathered to watch with God and so I went as well to be present at the birth.

I still did not understand how this infant could annihilate time, but I took Gabriel's word for it, and gradually fell in love with this newborn infant girl all the more.

On the 8th day after New Years we (Orthodox) celebrate the birth of the Mother of God, who is the first fruit of the New Creation, as reflected in the New Covenant between humanity and God.

The 8th day is also known by the Church as the day of Resurrection. God created the world in 6 days. And on the 7th day He rested. On the 7th day (Sabbath) Jesus also rested, before His 8th day resurrection.

The eighth day is also the day when infant Jewish boys are circumsized to mark themselves as participants in the covenant between God and Abraham.

*From the moment of the birth of the Virgin Mary, major events of Christianity that once occurred in time will start to be gathered into a Holy Year that is outside of time. Orthodox do not commemorate the events, we re-live them. For example, Easter actually occurs every Sunday; when an infant is baptized it actually dies with Christ on the cross. In this way, the Church, which is the Bride of Christ, gathers unto herself a unique year that resides outside of the daily progressive rhythm of time.

3. The Bride of God

I decided to take Gabriel to heart. Apparently my bad attitude was only hurting me. I was the one, not God, who had to admit defeat. There was no turning back. It was clear that the entire spirit cosmos was becoming affected by God's new invention, Time.

Just as I was contemplating these grave matters, a wise little spirit drifted towards me. "Hello! Cheer up." said Sophie. "How silly you are to think in terms of defeat or winning. We are not in a contest with beginnings and endings. You of all spirits should know better than that. Even your new problem, this time factor, is not as linear as it appears."

A flash of lightening, suddenly illuminated the darkness of my attitude, and in it I saw an opening that I could float through. "Thank you, Sophie!" said I. "I think that has been my problem with time! I never liked what I thought was its shape, so long and narrow, like those serpents God made to terrify the woman, but with a beginning and no end in sight."

"Remember last week," Sophie replied, "when the Queen was born and Gabriel told you that she would mark the beginning of the end of time? Well, the Queen's birth also marked the conception of the Bride who plays with time in a magnificent way to show you and the cosmos how fluid time can be."

I never felt stupid before all this happened to me, but now I find myself continually at a loss to comprehend even the simplest concepts. "Bride of who?" I asked shamefully.

Patiently and sympathetically Sophie replied, "The Bride of God!"

Flying back into a tirade, I screamed, "God cannot have a Bride!!!!!"

After patiently waiting for my frequency to slow down Sophie said, "When that infant queen grows to become a young woman, Gabriel will ask her if she is willing to be the Mother of God's Son who will actually be God incarnate." Sophie went on, "She agrees, of course and the moment she agrees, Her conception of the Son of God, also marks the birth of His Bride."

"The Bride of God's Son is not one person, nor even all women, but the Bride is also known as The Church, which is a vast unity of humanity joined by and for God in heart and mind and spirit. You see, it it the spirits within those human bodies that you disdain so much that voluntarily come together, imitate God's Son and form His Bride! Isn't that absolutely wonderful!" With that I could see Sophie's frequency rev up in yellows and pinks. She went on.

"You see, God wanted a Bride who is like Him and loves as He does, just for this reason. We angels could never become His Bride. God made humankind--- to make Himself a Bride! The Bride is One like the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are One, and the Bride is perfect. To make you happiest of all, the Bride's perception of time is not linear! She takes certain major events and creates one holy year that is perpetually current. For Her, what had happened once is always happening. She lives through time and place and outside of it too...because She is spiritual, even though She is made up of humans, and if you were smart, you would try living in and out of time too!"

With this tidbit, my mind was spinning faster than an asteroid. "Sophie, are you making this up? You really have a very vivid imagination, and I love you for it, but you must learn the difference between reality and fantasy."

I love to hear Sophie laugh. To me Sophie's laugh has the sound of bubbles bursting out of the clear blue sea, bunches and bunches of happy bubbles. When her amusement subsided she said, "Our God is the Author and Creator of reality. If something is real and true, it is because God made it. if something is false or imaginary or even fantasy, it is because Reality has been skewed. God's story, His-story, about the Queen and the Bride and the re-creation is absolutely true!"

Sophie was beautiful. When she spoke the entire universe smiled. "Come, let's fly down to The Planet and let me show you what the Bride is doing now!"

And off we went through the beautiful darkness of the sky on our journey to earth, two angelic spirits careening past the galaxies.

The Church is known as the Bride of Christ, God incarnate. In the Bible, Revelation to John, it tells of the marriage of Christ to His Bride.

“7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”

Excerpt From: James, King. “The Holy Bible - King James Version.” iBooks.

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Even though we see a Church that is factious, Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant, sometimes warring on itself throughout history, God looks at the Spirit within and sees One Holy Catholic (I.e. Universal) and Apostolic Church made up of the true and righteous who successfully emulate Jesus Christ, and who form the One Bride that is the wife and will be dressed in radiant white at the glorious marriage at the end of Time....as we now know it.