2002 April

Apr 27

Your Grace,
I’m suffering from a severe crisis of faith but before my problem. I want to let you know that I’m extremely happy to be orthodox, especially since our Christmas and Easter fall after the western one, allowing us the maximum benefit from the sales. Truly we are God’s chosen. My crisis has to do with Good Friday, this year it falls as the same date as the long anticipated Spiderman movie. Therein lies the conflict attend good friday services or the Spiderman movie before someone ruins the ending for me. I know on Good Friday Christ died and saved the world from sin. But Spiderman has repeated saved the world from various supervillians, even one named Sin, didn’t have to die. So isn’t it the same and possibly better to attend the movie.

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Apr 22

“This so-called “new religion” is nothing but a pack of weird rituals and chants, designed to take away the money of fools. Let us say the Lord’s Prayer 40 times, but first, let’s pass the collection plate! ”

– Rev. Lovejoy from “The Simpsons”

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Apr 16

“You can get more of what you want with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word.”

– Al Capone

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Apr 15

10. Are you sure you’re really orthodox?
9. Can you please uncuff the students?
8. Why does my child cry hysterically everytime I mention Sunday School?
7. Why are you wearing that bullet proof vest to class?
6. Do you have any idea why your class keep insisting to abouna you’re the devil?
5. Why are your kids running a protection racket* on the other classes?
4. How is it possible your kids know less about God coming out of your class than they did going in?
3. Where exactly does it say in the bible, give wedgies is an acceptable service to God?
2. Have you seen whast they did to the previous teacher?
1. Do you remember where you dumped the bodies?

*If you don’t know a protection racket is when you threaten to do harmful things to a person unless they paid

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Apr 12

Sayedna,

The head of Sunday school in my church strongly objects to the way I get my class to behave. He claims I’m causing them severe psychological damage but I don’t hit or even yell at them. What I do is at the beginning of the new Sunday School year I hire a actor, the same age as the students and then when the class misbehaves, I precede to simulate killing the actor student, no real violence just alot of special effects and makeup. The class afterwards behave as perfect angels. I’m able to teach the lesson with no problems, the class benefits, and an actor gets to make a living. Everbody wins. I don’t see the problem.

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Apr 10

“You can know the color of the egg a chicken will lay by the color of its earlobes, chickens that lay white eggs have white earlobes, and browen eggs come from chickens that have red or brownish earlobes.”

-Martha Stewart

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Apr 08

“We had an agnostic family move into town, so we ended up burning a giant question mark on their lawn.”

– Milton Berle

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Apr 05

A fun harmless means of getting even is if you know the e-mail address of your target is to register them for every newsletter/pic/joke/etc. of the day you come across. While they will be able to easily unsubscribe, the fact they sell mailing lists will keep the victim innundated with junk e-mail for weeks. (things get real interest if you have a work address and sign them up for daily e-mailings of an adult nature)

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Apr 04

Tahina and duck sauce are NOT a substitute for peanut butter and jelly.

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Apr 02

“Abstain from beans. There be sundry interpretations of this symbol. But Plutarch and Cicero think beans to be forbidden of Pythagoras, because they be windy and do engender impure humours and for that cause provoke bodily lust.”

–Richard Taverner

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2001 November

Nov 28

For those who have seen Monty Python & the Holy Grail (one of the best movies ever) is it me or does God look alot like Pope Kyrillos VI.

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Nov 26

Your Grace,
I like to take reading material with me when I go to the bathroom. Is it wrong to be sitting on the toilet and reading the bible?

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Nov 23

Taking high school boys on a retreat is like “The Lord of the Flies” but without the loin clothes and conch shell.

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Nov 19

“On the sixth day, God created the platypus. And God said: let’s see the evolutionists try and figure this one out.”

– Unknown

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Nov 17

Its depressing when your entire life can be summed up in a zolofft commercial

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Nov 15

How many Egyptian adults does it take to make a cup of tea?
None, that whats the children are for.

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Nov 13

Why is it mothers don’t ever remember hitting you but yet can remember the something you did wrong 20 years ago to the minutest detail?

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Nov 13

“I have no problem subsidizing someone who sits on a couch all day reading magazines and watching television, because frankly we need people like that, but to over-educated yourself out of any hope of employement, I take issue.”

– from “Absolutely Fabulous”

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Nov 07

“[Mormon forefathers] believed, as we do now, that plural (i.e. polygamous) marriages is one of the experiences you should have to become like God, who has more than one wife himself.”

– Anne Wilde, mormon author

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Nov 05

Its never ever a good sign when riding in a car with a priest and he suddenly starts driving very slow and staring at you in response to something you said.

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2001 December

Dec 27

You know you’re Egyptian if Benny Hill was the only program you sat and watched as a family (with the exception of your mother who would hate the show)

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Dec 26

Saying you don’t look suspicious while in an airport, instantly makes you suspicious.

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Dec 24

There is a misconception that Santa is a jolly fat man in a red suit that cavorts with flying reindeer. In actuality Santa is not such a benign entity. He is a megalomaniacal despot bent on eventual world domination, not unlike the UNAbomber. He makes us believe, that he rides a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer and delivers toys to good boys and girls, by using nanotechnology, A.K.A. microscopic robots. What he does is manufactures tinsel containing these microscopic robots (and who has ever seen a christmas display without tinsel, think about it) and when the tinsel is touched or moved it releases thousands of these robots into the air. They are then inhaled and burrow through the avoeli and get into the blood stream. From the blood stream the eventually attach themselves to the brain stem. Once there, through controlled electrical discharges which he can control via radio signals which he can easily piggyback unto the worldwide GPS signals, he can make people buy things to give to others and give credit to a fat man who has a thing for midgets and reindeer, or other sorts of nonsense.
You might say that sounds harmless enough what does this have to do with world domination? I pose this question to you in reply, have you noticed christmas decorations have been going up and being put on sale earlier and earlier? It is at the point where the christmas stuff is around before the “back to school” stuff is. Also he use this system to make people do stupid things during the holidays such as drink eggnog ( its a raw egg milkshake for Christ’s sake). Also what happens if he one decides to lend out the system to the easter bunny!!!
Food for thought.

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Dec 20

“I heard there is no Christmas
In the silly Middle East
No trees, no snow, no Santa Claus
They have different religious beliefs
They believe in Muhammad
And not in our holiday
And so every December
I go to the Middle East and say…

“Hey there Mr. Muslim
Merry f—ing Christmas
Put down that book the Koran
And hear some holiday wishes.

In case you haven’t noticed
It’s Jesus’s birthday.
So get off your heathen Muslim ass
and f—-ing celebrate.”

– Mr. Garrison of “South Park”

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Dec 17

It not funny being living proof that God has a sense of humor.

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Dec 12

“Wit is educated insolence”

– Aristotle

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Dec 11

“When buying a pet and you want to have fun, ask the salesperson `So how do you cook it?’”

– unknown

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Dec 10

Oddly enough, women don’t take being told, that they have great hips for child-bearing, as a complement.

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Dec 06

You know things have gone horribly wrong with your sunday school class, when you find yourself coming to class more heavily armed each week.

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Dec 04

“And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. ” Acts 20:9

Interpretation: Being saint does not mean a person is skilled in all things nor does a person have to be to become a saint (lucky thing). As we can see St. Paul was a writer of many deeply significant epistles, and yet a dull public speaker. He may have been the only man in history to literally bore a man to death.

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2002 January

Jan 31

There really isn’t a word for “sexy” in Arabic.

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Jan 30

Good Deed: Give an elderly man, you don’t know, a ride home from the hospital.

Not so Good Deed: Give an elderly man, you don’t know, ride home from the hospital, where he just escaped from the psychiatric ward.

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Jan 29

You know you have loser’s luck when you get a speeding ticket at a stoplight by an officer on foot.

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Jan 25

Isn’t it interesting that the same people who laugh at science fiction listen to weather forecasts and economists?

– Kelvin Throop

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Jan 21

No single straight male should ever face the ignominy of having to shop for curtains by himself.

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Jan 09

Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave. Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth. “Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” Then they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.

Genesis 19:31-37

Interpretation: By this passage it is abundantly clear that the “Jerry Springer Show” has its origins in scripture. This program is not “trash tv” as some claim but rather a powerful evangelical tool that illuminates these difficult passages and show their applications and ramifications in everyday life.

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Jan 07

Your Grace,
Why doesn’t Santa Claus deliver toys on January 7. I learned in sunday school that Santa Claus was Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Mora, Turkey and he was orthodox. So there should be any reason he doesn’t deliver toys on Jan. 7, if anything he should be delivering anything on Dec. 25 since he’s orthodox and everything. Could you have the pope pray and make St. Nick deliver toys on Jan. 7 because I don’t think its fair that we get no toys just because we follow a different calendar.

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Jan 04

Now King David was old, advanced in years; and they put covers on him, but he could not get warm. Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman, a virgin, be sought for our lord the king, and let her stand before the king, and let her care for him; and let her lie in your bosom, that our lord the king may be warm.” So they sought for a lovely young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. The young woman was very lovely; and she cared for the king, and served him; but the king did not know her.
1 Kings 1:1-4

Interpertation: It is not wrong to hire beautiful girls to keep you warm at night if you are cold and by the same token any enterprising young woman who wishes to earn money keeping men warm in there beds may do so.

By the way the heat doesn’t work in my apartment .

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Jan 01

Don’t think of the new year as being one more year closer to the end, but as 365.25 fewer days of misery you have to experience.

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2001 September

Sep 29

“Did the Ephesians ever write back ?”

– Unknown

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Sep 27

“1/3 of all Tawainese funeral processions include a stripper.”

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Sep 26

“Do not try the patience of a wizard, for we are subtle and quick to anger”

– Gandalf from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit”

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Sep 25

When choosing a pet, only choose a pet you are reasonably confident you can defeat in hand-to-hand struggle, in case of food-chain-hierarchy disputes.

– from “The Onion”

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Sep 22

The tune to the hymn/song “Love, Love, Love, the gospel in a word is love…” taught by H.G. Anba Moussa bears an uncanny resemblance to a traditional Celtic song about “Souling” an ancient tradition which is the forerunner to trick or treating, where people would leave a soul cake to appease to spirits that wander about during All Hallows Eve (Samhain).

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Sep 21

Here is a weird piece of info. Apparently for the old Atari 2600 (remember it?), there were a slew of x-rated games made for it. It begs the question with the extremely low resolution on the atari how can you tell those are naked people?

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Sep 04

If satan had given Job a computer he would have surely cursed God then.

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2001 October

Oct 30

Sayedna,
On the way home from grocery shopping I was listen to liturgy on tape in the car when I noticed there was a loaf of bread in the back seat. Now I don’t know if its transformed to the Body of Christ or not. Please help.
(submitted by p.k.)

Your Grace
On a retreat, we braided the beard of our abouna while he was napping and took pictures. We thought it was harmless fun until he forbade us from recieving the sacraments until we give him all copies of the pictures and negatives. We think this is unfair, its not like we shaved off his beard (we decided against that). Whats your opinion?

Your Grace,
I’m convinced my entire Sunday School class is possessed. There is no way any human being can act the way they do in church, I mean the devil had more respect to God in the Book of Job than these children do. Other sunday school teachers have literally run screaming from the room never to return to the Coptic Orthodox church again. As a result I am convinced their possesion is so total that the only solution is to have my entire class burnt at the stake. Please advise.

You Grace,
There must be an effort in the church to introduce the parents to unique names for their children. In my sunday school class I have 6 Kyrillouses, 4 Minas and 3 Marks. I even seen families where every daugther was named Maryann. And calling the children by their last name doesn’t help because 3/4 the church is either Hanna or Gerges. This is leading to mass confusion in the church. Can your Grace help us with a solution.

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Oct 26

“Two things you need about in life, women and booze. Each by themselves have the makings of a good time but mixing the two makes you a dumbass.”

– Red Forman from “That 70s Show”

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Oct 23

God smiles down upon many with good fortune, as for me He smirks.

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Oct 22

“I’m shoked at some of these bible stories, some of these images are so violent and terrifying I’m afraid they’d traumitize the youngsters. So I took the liberty of editing them, for instance “Daniel in the Lion’s Den”. I changed it to “Daniel in the Petting Zoo”.”

– adapted from “Kudzu” comic strip

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Oct 19

Recents studies have shown marathon running is bad for the heart by overstressing it and on the other hand drinking beer is good for the heart may even reduce risks of certain cancers.

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Oct 15

You know how everyone says “May God reward you.”; well does the Church have a special office in charge of disbursements, where one can go to get an cash advance on his/her heavenly reward.

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Oct 11

When your mother says you are free to do whatever you want; you ARE NOT! Its a trap!!!! Do exactly what she wants or you will pay a dear price for it. (N.B. this also applies for wives)

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Oct 06

“Prolonged exposure to women causes mental disorientation and physical confusion.”

– from “Ed, Edd, & Eddy”

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Oct 05

1285 – Philip III of France died of the plague.

1796 – Spain declared war on Britain in the Napoleonic Wars.

1859 – An arsonist sets fire inside New York City’s iron and glass Crystal Palace, the most presitigious museum in the U.S. at the time. It burns to the ground, causing $2M damage and destroying thousands of priceless artifacts.

1859 – An arsonist sets fire inside New York City’s iron and glass Crystal Palace, the most presitigious museum in the U.S. at the time. It burns to the ground, causing $2M damage and destroying thousands of priceless artifacts.

1877 – After marching for more than 1,400 miles and confronting 2,000 US soldiers along the way, Chief Joseph surrendered with starving remnant of Nez Perce people.

1930 – The British airship R101 crashed on its first flight at Allonne, near Beauvais, France, killing 48 of its 54 passengers.

1942 – German engineer Herman Graebe witnesses a Nazi mass execution in the Ukraine.

1942 – America’s ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’, George M. Cohan, died at age 64.

1954 – Blaming “conflicting career demands” for the breakup of their 9-month marriage, screen actress Marilyn Monroe filed suit for divorce in Santa Monica, California, against baseball star Joe DiMaggio on grounds of mental cruelty

1970 – Anwar Sadat was nominated to succeed Gamal Abdel Nasser as president of Egypt.

1994 – Almost 50 members of the Order of the Solar Temple sect died in two suicide fires in Switzerland.

1998 – Infamous David Letterman stalker, Margaret Ray, age 46, committed suicide by kneeling in front of a train in Colorado.

1999 – In a move reminiscent of a strange combination of Nazi crimes committed against Gypsies and the postwar construction of the Berlin Wall, the town of Usti nad Labem in the Czech Republic begins construction of a wall to separate a portion of its Gypsy population away from more respectable folks.

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Oct 04

Never play Russian roulette with an automatic, it takes all the fun out of the game. (or just make sure you go last.)

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2001 July

Jul 19

When going out with your grandmother avoid Spanish neighborhoods, especially if she is hard of hearing and need to call out to her. (Apparently, the Egyptian for grandmother, teta, is the same as the Spanish for breast or tit)

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Jul 16

“Twice-cooked cabbage is death”

– St. Basil the Great
(yes, THE St. Basil the Great, the selfsame who wrote the Divine Liturgy)

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Jul 12

You know you’re a loser, if you get fired from a volunteer position.

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Jul 10

You know you’ve hit rock-bottom when you look through the obituaries for job openings.

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Jul 08

Of all the animals in the Holy Bible, the cat is not mentioned at all. Proof God is a dog person.

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Jul 07

Its an odd feeling when you notice that if your father had long hair looks, he looks like a member of a popular heavy metal band. (It is cool yet disturbing feeling).

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Jul 06

What do you say to a priest or bishops who sneeze because you can’t say “Bless you” to them (ecclesiatic reason only the high ranking clergy member present can give a blessing)?

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2001 August

Aug 16

You know you’re in trouble, when during confession the priest starts making sarcastic comments.

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Aug 14

“Because of National Geographics Magazine, I was 14 years old before I learned not every naked woman carried a spear”

– David Brennar

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Aug 12

“Surely all hell has broken loose, for sure the gates of hell have opened. For no humans can make this noise.”

– His Grace Anba A.M.

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Aug 10

“The best vegetable is meat”

-Old Alsatian saying

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2001 May

May 23

Eskimos used the baculum of walruses as war clubs, called an oosik. The baculum is a bone found in the penises of many mammal species.

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May 22

Your Grace,
My intercessor saint doesn’t seem to to anything for me, I see the my friend’s intecessors do things for them but nothing for me. Is there someone I can speak to register a complaint or file paperwork changing my saint.

Sayedna,
When we die and if we go to heaven, can we choose which heaven we go to? I mean if I go to heaven, I’d like to go to the Islamic heaven, they’ve got rivers of wine that doesn’t cause hangovers, endless feasts and naked servants of the opposite sex. That sound like a good time and I wouldn’t mind spending eternity there. Also, I mean if we’re already going to heaven, what difference does it matter, which one?

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May 16

Cynic: an idealist with bad luck

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May 15

Good Idea: Helping a friend, whose car ran out of gas, get a container of gas and put it in their car.
Bad Idea: Using the left over gasoline to make flaming designs on the ground (particularly if it is church property)

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May 14

“If God believed in the metric system, Jesus would have had only 10 disciples.”

– Unknown

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May 11

Have you ever stopped and wondered why the voices in your head don’t like you? I mean they’re living there for free, they should at least pretend to like you. But no, there always criticizing and ….. (I think I should take my meds now ; P )

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May 06

“[Priests] shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat.” (Ezekiel 44:18)

Commentary: Even though our prayers are like the sweet savor of incense before the Lord, He is repulsed by our body odor. So all those who minister the altar of the Lord should be showered and liberally coated with deodorant.

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May 02

“Germans are very good people, I would have been German but unfortunately both my parents were Egyptians.”

– from “Five Graves to Cairo” (1943)

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2001 June

Jun 29

There is an old Irish custom of young couples making love in the fields outside a house where there is wake or funeral going on, to show life is greater than death.

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Jun 27

“Being loved is a great feeling, but being lust after is not so bad a feeling either”

– unknown

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Jun 18

You know you’re screwed for life when wondering “Why me?” God answers “Because its fun.”.

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Jun 08

You know you’re on the wrong path, when you’re the first person clergy go to when they need a little a breaking and entering perpetrated.

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Jun 05

“Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I die before I wake,
Thank you God.”

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Jun 01

“You should proud to be Egyptian. They are the only people in all of history to enslave the Jews.”

– Unnamed Servant in an Unnamed Church

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