I think about the deepness of our roots. The spirit of what a Hellene is. It’s something that can’t be described, only felt. We are an ancient people. There’s something Mystical about it. You can feel it, in the Air, in the Sea, in the rays of light from the Sun. I see before my eyes, a Hellenic island, the village-folk, with blood older than history. Our ancestors look down and smile at us when were remember our Folk Traditions.
I felt the deepness of our spirit once. I was in Canada, but I was surrounded by Hellenes. We were there for a weekend doing workshops on Traditional Hellenic Folk Dance. Hearing the music, discovering the history of what our ancestors did, how they lived on the land, surviving, remaining themselves, for thousands of years. Being surrounded by my brothers and sisters, that is where I experienced true Hellenism.
We must cherish this feeling. We are an ancient people. Our roots travel back into Mythological Pre-History. Please do not confuse my saying “Myth” with “fake”. Our roots bring us to Achilleus, Odysseus, Perseus, Deukalion, Heracles, Theseus, Iason, et cetera. And while we cherish our ancestors from thousands of years ago, we must not neglect our Eastern Roman ancestors. It is because of them that we have Orthodoxy today.
We Hellenes have been through very much. We have seen our Civilization rise, and fall, and then resurrect, many times! How many Civilizations can claim that? We have overcome. And whatever challenges still await us, we shall overcome those too. We have preserved our Hellenism. I think about what Perikles Giannopoulos once said to Ion Dragoumis : “The Hellenes are a natural phenomena in this land, they had to be born here, and if you suppose that all of us died, even now, in this very land, Hellenes would be born again”. I believe this is a testament to the strength of the Hellenic people. We are still here, and we are not going anywhere. Despite the attempts of so many to make us forget who we are, to make us “conform” to the World, we resist. We stand strong. Hellenism and Orthodoxy are still alive. And if God wills it, we will continue to be alive. As the National-Hero, Ioannis Kapodostrias said: “Εἰ ὁ Θεὸς μεθ’ ἡμῶν, οὐδεὶς καθ’ ἡμῶν;”