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Me and My Bible
Read more: Me and My BibleHow do you feel about the Scriptures? What thoughts come to you as you read? Do they comfort you or challenge you? Do you love them or wrestle with them? Does God speak to you in them or are they opaque and bothersome? My primary relationship with the Scriptures as I was growing up was […]
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The Wisdom of Man and the Foolishness of God
Read more: The Wisdom of Man and the Foolishness of GodThe Feast of the Nativity, known sometimes in Orthodoxy as “the Winter Pascha,” is one of the great examples in the story of our salvation where the “foolishness of God” defeats the wisdom of man. It is not the story of an underdog defeating the mighty, but a revelation of who God is, and who […]
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The Doors and God
Read more: The Doors and GodYou cannot attend an Orthodox service and not be aware of doors. There are the doors that form the center of the icon screen, opening directly upon the altar. There are the two doors that flank them, one on either side, known as the “Deacon Doors.” Someone always seems to be coming out of one […]
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What We Shall Be
Read more: What We Shall BeThe city that I live in was founded in 1943 for the purpose of building an atom bomb. Various movies have shared Hollywood’s moral opinions on that endeavor, none of which are very surprising. When I moved here in 1989, I met a good number of the “Class of ’43,” people who were here during […]
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Whose Psyche Is It, Anyway?
Read more: Whose Psyche Is It, Anyway?When we discuss our psychological state, what are we talking about. Better yet, who are we talking about? What is the identity of the guy in my head? Generally, such questions are not asked. They can become important in certain dissociative disorders. If I have two guys in my head, there is clearly an issue. […]
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The Tears of Our Fathers
Read more: The Tears of Our FathersThe first time I saw my father cry was a day of deep tragedy. An aunt, my mother’s oldest sister, had been brutally murdered by a stranger who came into her office off the street. It made no sense. I was nine years old. I opened the door to my father’s bedroom and saw him […]
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The End of the Modern World
Read more: The End of the Modern World“Welcome to the 21st Century!” Pick your issue, and if its outcome conforms to a popular, desired norm you are likely to hear such a greeting. The greeting also implies that a less than desirable outcome is wrong because it doesn’t belong to our time. It might be characterized as “medieval,” “outmoded,” “out-of-date,” “primitive,” “Neanderthal,” […]
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Beyond Death’s Door
Read more: Beyond Death’s Door“Grandpa, will you die?” The quiet spoken question from the backseat of my car came from my then four-year-old grandson. I knew it was an important moment. “Yes, I will. Everyone grows old and dies.” I added, “But then I will be with Jesus in heaven and I will pray for you all the time.” […]
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Begotten of the Father
Read more: Begotten of the FatherNo revelation is more central to the Christian faith than God as Father. Some might immediately respond that the Trinity should be seen as the central revelation. But, in Orthodox understanding, the Trinity has its source (πηγή) in the Father. We should understand this not only as a matter of Trinitarian thought, but as the […]
I don” t think the world necessarily has a problem when we love. There are many loving people the globe…