Let Us Rearrange Our Thoughts
So That We May Love One Another
Guest Reflection
Right Reverend Serafim, Bishop of Kostajnica and
Vicar to Metropolitan of Midwestern America (Serbian)
Bishop Serafim will be the Keynote Speaker at OCAN’s Fall Retreat, Nov. 21-23, 2025.
We thank His Grace for the sharing of these encouraging remarks with us.
The world has its own way of directing the flow of interpersonal dealings, processes, and thoughts. The way of the world often times leaves us in a place of uncertainty. As all the brooks flow into a river, and all the rivers into a sea, we expect to find ourselves somewhere in that logical and predictable system of flow so that we may end up in the right confluence, right basin, right sea. But then we find ourselves in a whirlpool and wonder what is the point of spinning in the whirlpool if we are never going to reach the sea.
Of course, our Faith is going to offer an answer to any and every question of this sort.
"The kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability." (Matthew 25:14,15)
As we spin in the whirlpool let us check whether we are His servants? "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." (John 1:12) By receiving Him we have become more than servants. We have become the children. But for the sake of our humility let us carry on with the fact that we are servants as well.
To one servant He gave the talent to understand, among other things, the laws of physics, to another the human psyche, to another the languages of the nations, and to another – "the law of the land". The servant who understands the law of the land might feel at times that working within the boundaries of the law of the land somehow separates him from the law of God. That dealings of the law only accelerate his spin in the whirlpool of life.
However, let us not forget the nature of our Church, that we are all members of one body. And let us not forget that whatever we can do for the "least of the ones of His brethren" we ought to do because we are thus doing it for Him. If our focus is to bear each other's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ, we will open out eyes while spinning in the whirlpool and notice that many others are spinning with us. And each can choose to love his neighbor as himself and help him out of the whirlpool.
He who understands the laws of physics can take a hold of a strong lever and eject his neighbor out of the whirlpool. He who understands the human psyche can explain to his fellow spinner that he does not need to blame himself for the spin and is free to swim away. He who knows the languages of the nations can explain to his neighbor, in his own language, what the physicist and the psychologist and the lawyer can do for him. The lawyer can examine the principle under which his neighbor ended up in a certain whirlpool and eloquently convince the authorities on the river bank to remove that neighbor of his from the whirlpool and let him continue his journey. With each document formulated and submitted to the river bank authorities, with each word of defense for one's neighbor, with each instance of order implemented by his mind and his hand, the lawyer in the whirlpool is helping to push his neighbor out of the whirlpool and send him on his way to the sea, even if he loses sight of this now and then. And as they all work on implementing the second commandment, which is like the first, they drift slowly but surely to the sea, all together, in the whirlpool, until the sea itself disperses it.
And he who has seen the sea can remind all of them that the sea awaits.
Peace be unto all!
August 11, 2025
© 2025 Orthodox Christian Attorneys Network
Bishop Serafim (Baltić) was born in Zagreb, Croatia. Due to the war in August 1995, his family moved to Florida, USA. In the 1990s, he met Bishop Longin (Krčo) of the Serbian Orthodox Church, whose blessing guided his monastic path. Also, his contacts with Elder Ephraim of Philotheou, and his monks and nuns, shaped his future life path. He graduated magna cum laude from Holy Trinity Seminary (ROCOR) in Jordanville in 2008. Bishop Serafim was tonsured as a monk in 2006 and ordained as a hieromonk in 2008. He has served at the Monastery of Hilandar on Mount Athos, the Monastery of the Holy Archangels in Kovilj, Serbia, and at the Cathedral of Saint Sava in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since 2015, he has served as the Secretary of the New Gračanica-Midwestern American Diocese and completed an MBA degree. In May 2024, Bishop Serafim was elected as Vicar to the Metropolitan of Midwestern America with the title of Bishop of Kostajnica and was consecrated on October 13, 2024.
Bishop Serafim will be the Keynote Speaker at OCAN’s Fall Retreat, Nov. 21-23, 2025