Every immigrant, every minority, and every colonized person living under a human boot faces the same dilemma: how to live without imitating or accepting the ways of the human gods that impose their glory.

“We have,” a wise poet once said, “on this earth what makes life worth living.”

Scripture, Fr. Paul has explained many times, forged a path for living in the ancient world by refusing to accept the glory of Alexander, the Seleucids, and all who came after them by pushing back.

Not by working within their system. 

Not by playing their game or thinking like them. 

Least of all by adopting their language. 

With no hope, from under their boot, Scripture came up with biblical Hebrew to force the Greeks to submit to the Scriptural God.

They did not study Greek or capitulate to Greek culture in order to convince or get ahead in Greek society and maybe attract a few wealthy people to their secret cult. You’re thinking of the harlots in 1 Corinthians. 

Don’t be like the harlots in 1 Corinthians. 

You become what you accept. So, reject everything and become nothing, like the biblical prophets. 

Trust me. 

When you are nothing you have more free time to study Semitic triliterals. The more you know Semitic, the better your chance of hearing God speak.

So when in Rome, smile at the Romans, the Greeks (or the freedom-loving ice cream people), politely ignore them and do what Paul says. 

(Episode 320)