<![CDATA[Claire Brandenburg - Blog]]>Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:22:13 -0600Weebly<![CDATA[Judgement]]>Sat, 08 Aug 2026 17:22:37 GMThttps://www.clairebrandenburg.com/blog/what-is-trueBless me Lord, to know that people are multifaceted personalities. That because I see one thing that offends me, this is not the whole picture. There is much more to someone than the sin. God operates from the good; the good through Him spreads and conquers  darkness.
]]><![CDATA[Archangel Gabriel]]>Sat, 18 Jul 2026 15:32:23 GMThttps://www.clairebrandenburg.com/blog/archangel-gabrielTuesday was the Feast Day of the Holy Archangel Gabriel. It was a day that I decided to write down everything that I did. Where was my time going, why was it that I was so busy that I couldn't get to the point, and own the use of my day?
The list grew, by late afternoon, on yet another errand, I was sitting at a stop light feeling angry and overridden. Coming across the street was a young man with a light backpack hanging from his shoulders, dark blond curly hair, looking a little rough...an adventurer, I thought. He had a little smile on his lips as he started across the street in front of the car. Then he became very serious, but then his eyes lit up, he was clearly thinking of something, someone he loved, or something kind of funny, and a big smile lit up his face.  Then a little more serious, then yet another smile. 
Archangel Gabriel, I thought. 
Take your day with a grain of salt, do what you need to do and find joy in it. How easy is that! My backpack is pretty light. That is the Adventure. That is owning my day.


Picture
]]><![CDATA[The Human Hand]]>Mon, 22 Jun 2026 16:20:50 GMThttps://www.clairebrandenburg.com/blog/the-human-handThinking, this morning of the amazing capability of the human hand. 
I am writing an icon of St Olga of Alaska. In icons that I have studied, written of this new Alaskan Saint,
she holds her hand in Blessing.  She was a midwife, a priest's wife, and a leader in her small community. 
In icons, of other saints their hands are held in a Priest's sign of Blessing, holding a cross, in worship, the Mother of God's hands indicate, behold my Son,  or are at peace next to Him.
There are many ways that people hold hands, in friendship, in angry fists, listlessly, fearfully. 
I had not singled out before the extreme good, or adversely, horrible evil the human hand can not only express, but convey.
How do I hold my hands in a given moment? An insight into being. 
]]><![CDATA[Salvation]]>Thu, 11 Jun 2026 13:56:31 GMThttps://www.clairebrandenburg.com/blog/salvationSalvation belongeth to the Lord....
Salvation, saving,  from the dictionary:
a: deliverance from the power and effects of sin
b: the agent or means of such saving or deliverance.
There are other meanings as well, not having to do with Christianity. I'm not interested in those. 
I feel a loving God.  I love Him and bask in his Loving Kindness.
George McDonald says the face of God is alive in the living world around us. I feel like that is the beginning of the experience of God's Love. I want His Loving Presence with me always. Then I think, I wouldn't need Salvation, if I always felt God's closeness.  St. Porphyrios said “Whatever You want, my Lord, whatever Your love desires; place me wherever Your love wishes. I abandon myself to Your love. If You want to place me in hell, then do so, only don’t let me lose Your love.”’ (See this for a much more expanded passage on pain and relationship with God.  Who could say it better! http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/elderporphyrios_illness.aspx)
I have trouble with the word, Salvation. It makes me think of someone standing on a soap box, shaking his fist and screaming that you are sinful beyond imagining. I wasn't raised in that manner of Christian seeking, but Salvation has gotten bad press.
It is a very ancient word, from the Hebrew, Yeshuah (יְשׁוּעָה), which translates "deliverance," "rescue," "victory," or "help" and similar, the Latin, salvatio (deliverance or saving), which comes from the verb salvare (to save or rescue).  None of those definitions are threatening; they are the opposite.
God's Salvation is an intense and filling Love. Grant me Salvation that I may remain in the Love that I feel, knowing that pain is because of Love. It is Loving in the highest sense who sometimes mitigates it's intensity,  and it does me great good, despite my having medical science  work to subdue it.
The Abbot of The Holy Archangel Michael Monastery was talking about the footprints of animals crossing the Monastery  bridge which spans their piece of a small stream, suddenly apparent in the fallen snow.  Pain has footprints of Love, but often not observed unless some event causes you to see them -Salvation and the Presence of Loving Kindness Himself.


]]><![CDATA[A Story from Elder Cleopa, Sihăstria Monastery, Romania]]>Wed, 10 Jun 2026 21:02:55 GMThttps://www.clairebrandenburg.com/blog/a-story-from-elder-cleopa-sihastria-monastery-romaniaA man comes into the Church with demons riding him like a horse. The observer prays-"I am a sinful man, grant me mercy!"
At the end of the the service the man comes out freed from captivity.
Take on the sin of your brother. Pray for ourselves in the way we see another's need. 
Courtesy Holy Protection Monastery, Lake George, CO]]><![CDATA[On Death]]>Tue, 26 May 2026 15:58:45 GMThttps://www.clairebrandenburg.com/blog/on-deathHere are two similar stories that seemed to fit well together...

"Recently, 4 souls have been launched to heaven from our Monastery cemetery, where their outgrown bodies are now planted, awaiting the common Resurrection...  From Sacred Monastery of St. Sidonia, Union Bridge, Maryland.
Pascha Newsletter , 2026

"Oh, Louisa, is it not true that our life here is a growing into life and our death a being born-our true birth?
If there is anything beautiful in this our dreamy life, shall it not shine forth in glory in the bright waking consciousness of heaven?"
George MacDonald, Scotland's Beloved Storyteller, Michael R. Phillips, Bethany House Pub, 1987, p150]]><![CDATA[Seven Loaves and the Fish]]>Mon, 18 May 2026 13:50:26 GMThttps://www.clairebrandenburg.com/blog/seven-loaves-and-the-fishHere is one I post, because I need to remember this:

​"And having taken the seven loaves and the fish, He gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples, and they in turn to the people” (Mat. 15:36)
Meditation:
In the spiritual world, just as in the material one, not infrequently, secondary causes determine events. The Savior multiplied the loaves, but did not distribute them Himself to the crowd. He first gave them to the disciples, and thus the divine gift did not pass directly to the waiting crowd.
The same happens with us. The Lord feeds us with His food, but very often offers this food in clay jars. He sends it through trials, difficult changes in our lives, and often through the most inconspicuous and ordinary means. Every day, every hour, every moment we encounter these instruments, sent from above. Every one of our experiences, no matter the price with which it was purchased, in some way educates us, just as we are educated by contacts with people whom we encounter on our way. The heavenly bread reaches us, passing through countless numbers of human hands.
Lord, turn me also into one of your instruments – act through me! I would like to consciously feed the person who is hungry with Your bread and strengthen him with Your strength. I would like to take into my hands Your bread and distribute it to the needy.
Only let me deeply and humbly recognize that I do not have any supply of my own and that dry is the bread and dirty the water which I would want to offer my neighbor on my own behalf. So show me how poor I am, show me to first stretch my hands to You, and then to my brother, in order to give him not what is mine, but what is Yours! 
from The Russian Day by Day/St. John The Baptist Orthodox Church, Washington, DC
]]><![CDATA[A Quote-St Maximos the Confessor]]>Fri, 15 May 2026 15:05:45 GMThttps://www.clairebrandenburg.com/blog/a-quote-st-maximos-the-confessorIn Responses to Thalassios-"Just as the Word created His own mother in order to be born, so to He first creates faith within us, then becomes the son of that faith, through which He is embodied through the practice of the virtues.
Introduction The Mother of the Light-V. Rev. Archimandrite Maximos Constas, p XV
]]><![CDATA[The Keys of Ownership]]>Fri, 01 May 2026 14:54:53 GMThttps://www.clairebrandenburg.com/blog/the-keys-of-ownership​Constructs…Our mind is filled with things that should work that might not. Acceptance, there is the trolley car, catch it to view the world as it is. Through those glasses all things are, there is no need to add to them.
If you live in Oklahoma, tornados are part of life. If you live in sunny California and an earthquake comes upon you, you know that is part of your day.  Do we let things, events get in the way of who and what we are?
A friend is moving to another seashore further north. It is a house where her furniture doesn’t quite fit, but one she feels called, knowing Jesus sent her. She liked the way the situation looked, went home, and then drove back again to see the house.
Here is someone that is basing her life on places and experiences. I find that interesting. She likes to swim for health reasons, as well as joy, so her need is water, and an Orthodox Church. That sounds reasonable to me. What if I traveled the world for just the same reason. Taking in what was available and given to me and keeping my eyes open for God. I think that is what my daughter has in mind. God in places and experiences…a good thought.
Where would I go first? Well, there is here. I will go with her in a few minutes to a local hardware/ garden store, just for the joy of getting some violas. Something in me wants some flowers in the cold.
As I type, beside me, is an Ethiopian Nativity icon under the glass on my table. On it the Mother of God is wrapped up like a baby, who has just had the baby that is Jesus Christ. She in her loving kindness, gentle mercy, and love for His people, conceived of the Love of God, to come to us, and save us.  Love was conceived within mankind for yet another chance. Just look at what Love has done in response to the appeal of Love.  There is that. The keys of the universe, right there. Love. Also, being a baby- receptive- with eyes open to find the point of Life, Love, and He, who is…God. 
]]><![CDATA[A paper with some interesting thoughts]]>Sat, 07 Feb 2026 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.clairebrandenburg.com/blog/a-paper-with-some-interesting-thoughtsLooking  through papers today, I came a cross this small note to myself. It was a thought that I felt was important. I don't know who said this, but where ever I got it, it still seems interesting to me and to bear Truth. 
  • Worry is a sickness rather than an illness, because it is based on fear. 
  • Illness is actually a state of being.
  • An addition today (2-8-2026) after reading this in a book that will form the basis of a book study. My paraphrasing- The Ego wants to take over when we have no control. The source of all is only found by prayer and faith in God, and the asking for His action in our lives.  The book: The Way of the Ascetic-Tito Colliander  (Out of Print, can be found on the St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church, DC webpage.
  • Mix constant prayer with listening, and watching
  • Romans 11:5-36  The 'Election of Grace'- by Faith, Grace is sent.  This is by the willing of Faith in God.  The Elected are those who are willing to be Faithful. 
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