Holy Orthodoxy is not an ethnic commitment but a martyr’s costly witness, willingly laying down one’s life for the Holy Name of God. The Name asks, who is it who says I AM? God answers, it is I: ‘I AM HE,’ revealing God, through the Holy Name of God. I am ‘HE WHO IS,’ unveiling God in your midst. I am He who became human in Christ and adopted you as child of God by grace. I am ‘I AM,’ He who is God, revealing God, awakening you to uncreated presence of glory in my Name. On the holy mountains of Sinai, Horeb, Carmel and Tabor, I am saying: I am ‘HE WHO IS,’ turn and see! ‘I am I AM,’ that is my Name, revealing uncreated glory in realms of light. Glory belongs to God alone, there is no other. Turn and see who sees here, and you will be changed. Turn your awareness round, awakening awareness to the presence that glory reveals. Remember God as you are remembered by God, knowing as you are known. Let sudden recognition be decisive, revealing God! Remember God! Remember ‘HE WHO IS,’ who remembers God when he remembers you, communicating the remembrance of God.
The martyr’s witness is not an ethnic sentiment but an ethical witness to truth, speaking truth to power, challenging the powers of this world. Saint Stephen, the first martyr, saw uncreated light of glory as he bore witness to Christ, hallowing the Name unto death. An abyss of glory opens when the Name reveals whose name the Name reveals. It is ‘I’, God, revealing God, bearing witness to God! What is this but Holy Trinity revealing Holy Trinity? Ask who sees and you will hear who sees, beyond all that you can see or hear. Question the Name and do not stop questioning until you are emptied of everything but God, emptied of what is not God, for God’s Name’s sake. Seeing is God’s vision of God, not something you can perceive without God. Seeing is blessed vision of God that completes all conditioned ways and means, unconditionally revealing the completeness of God.
Martys know what Holy Orthodoxy is, and they tell us we must die to the power of death if we are to see as they see. Holy Baptism agrees. Holy Chrismation agrees. Holy remembrance agrees as it gives thanks, making every Eucharist holy. Mysteries are not church services but the witness of martyrs, revealing God, unveiling the Name. Thrice-holy martyrdom is decisive, dying to death in all its forms, with red martyrdom or white. Thrice-holy union is decisive in its witness to holy communion, the real communion of saints. Martyrs know! Grace reveals the glory of the uncreated presence the Name reveals. Glory reveals what Holy Orthodoxy is, not the powers that lay claim to it in the name of the state. The power of glory may appear powerless in worldly terms, but empowers martyrs to bear witness to the Name. The Name renders worldly powers powerless as it disempowers them, revealing the power of the glory of God. He who is ‘I AM,’ reveals God, vindicating the witness of martyrs, revealing Holy Orthodoxy in times that have long forgotten what glorification is, restoring right-glorification in flames of uncreated fire.