Television has done us great damage.
It's especially destructive for children. A seven-year-old child came to the hermitage once. I saw the demon of television speaking through the child's mouth, exactly as demons speak through the mouth of the possessed. It was like a baby born with teeth. It is not easy to find normal kids; they are turning into little monsters. And you see they don't get to think for themselves, they only repeat what they have heard and seen on television. That's why they have come up with television to begin with: to make people numb and dumb, so that they will take what they hear and see on television for a fact and act accordingly.
We should be trying to lead our children to seek to turn on the "spiritual television"
[Mothers must be helped to] understand that television dulls their children's minds. They lose the ability to think on their own, to think critically—not to mention the damage it causes to their eyesight. And we are talking about man-made television. But there is another kind—a spiritual television. When people uproot their old self, and the eyes of the soul are cleansed, they can see into the future without the aid of any machines. Have they told their children about this other kind of television? If they won't, these boxes will make our children dumb."
From the Spiritual Counsels of the Blessed Elder Paisios the Athonite
Christ, by entering the Jordan, sanctified it, and with it all creation. Material creation once again became "very good" as it was in the beginning.
The central sign of God's sanctification of all things through the feast of Theophany is the act of blessing the homes of faithful Christians. The priest visits all members of the Church to pray with them in the place where they live, and to bless their surroundings with Holy Water. He asks God to have mercy on the house, to rid it of every evil and to fill it with every blessing.
Thus the house itself, together with the living persons of the family, is "filled with all the fullness of God".
To prepare for the priest's visit to bless your home:
Make a list of the first names of those family members you wish to pray for when the priest arrives, with the living and the deceased in separate columns.
On your dining room table or family altar, place a lighted candle, a Theophany icon or icon of Christ, and a wide bowl (to hold the holy water the priest will bring). Be sure your prayer list is there, too!
Turn on a light in each room, so the priest can see where he is going.
Turn off all TVs, stereos, and computers.
Secure any pets that might jump up on the priest or family, or "get underfoot" as you move from room to room. (Pets may be blessed, too!)
Everyone in the house when the priest arrives should gather around the table/family alter and join in the singing of the litany responses and troparion.
The children may lead the priest around the house with a lit candle, if he permits.
