Remember when we were little children and we asked questions that touched on important issues in life? Like, do dogs and cats go to heaven or how are babies made? Our parents or other adults often gave us very simple answers that we readily accepted.

   Someone once said, ?It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one?s mouth and remove all doubt.? Another person said, ?The mouth is the grocer?s friend, the dentist?s fortune, the orator?s pride and the fool?s trap.? The dictionary defines a ?fool? as:

   Ever been in a room full of people yet felt all alone? Ever been all alone and yet your mind is racing with thoughts that elevate your heart rate? Ever made yourself so busy or sought out the company of others so that you may be distracted from you thoughts and feelings? Ever felt the demands of life were so

   Today our nation celebrates one of its major holidays. In fact, Independence Day is the preeminent day of the year in our nation?s history. As we know, July 4th is the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain by the Continental Congress in 1776.

   Happy Father?s Day! Kali Emera ton Pateron! What is the origin of Father?s Day? There are a few stories but the strongest promoter was a lady, Mrs. Bruce John Dodd of Spokane, WA. Her father was a civil war veteran, whose wife died young and he raised six children without their mother. In 1909, Mrs.

   One summer a tailor toured Europe. Somehow he arranged for a meeting with the Pope.

   Perhaps you have heard of a person named Warren Buffet. He is a multi-billionaire who built up the holding company Berkshire Hathaway. Warren?s son, Peter, an Emmy Award winning musician, has recently written a book titled: Life is What You Make It.

   We are now in the middle of Spring moving towards Summer. What defines these two seasons? Technically, Spring and Summer are determined by the position of Sun relative to the latitude of the Earth.

   I love you. I forgive you. You are a wonderful person. When you hear these words, they sooth and warm the heart because they have the power to heal. On the other hand, when we say, ?I hate you. I will never forgive you.

   Christ is Risen! Back in January we began our series on the Eleven Eothina. Today we reach the Eleventh and last Eothinon bringing our journey to an end. I hope that we learned a few things.

   Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! Xristos Anesti! Alithos Anesti! This greeting we exchange during the time of Pascha, the forty day period after the Resurrection of Christ which we began celebrating last Sunday.

   At our most recent Lenten Retreat, just a few weeks ago, our guest speaker, Dr. Vigen Guroian, an eminent Orthodox theologian and ethicist gave a talk titled ?Ecological Musings from the Garden.? Dr.

   Today we continue our series on the Eleven (11) Eothina, the Sunday Orthros gospel readings. We are now on the Seventh (7^th) one from John 20:1-10, the first of five post/resurrectional accounts taken from the Gospel of John.

   In the Greek language we refer to the Atlantic Ocean as ?Atlantikos.? However, the Pacific Ocean is not referred to as ?Pacifikos? but as ?Irenekos Okeanos.? If Irenekos sounds familiar it should because it comes from the word ?irene? meaning ?peace.? The Pacific is for many reasons the ?Peaceful? Ocean.