Glory to God For All Things

Category: Aesthetics

  • When Things Are Not As They Seem

    It is said that when some of the natives of the South Seas first saw Captain Cook’s ships approaching, they saw them as clouds. There was no category in their world for “ships,” thus the Captain and his crew came in “clouds.” I’ve have always wondered about the connection between how we name things in…

  • The Fullness of the Faith

    The word “fullness,” is a very Orthodox word, one that is used for theological expression fairly frequently. It is perhaps among my favorites, as any regular reader here can quickly attest. It is a New Testament word, usually applied to Christ or to a sense of the “fullness” of time. But there is a sense…

  • The Mystery of Ourselves

    For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:11 I think it can be quickly agreed by all that God is a mystery – we do not know…

  • Time in a One-Storey World

    It seems to me as I’ve looked over my posts on the “one-storey” world, that one thing I have not paid much attention to is time. Part of the “two-storey” construct which dominates our modern world-view, is a tendency to view time in a purely linear, historical progression. Thus for some very conservative two-storey Christians,…

  • Icons and the Fullness of the Faith – A Story

    In 1988 I began studies at Duke University in the Graduate School of Religion. My intention at the time was to complete a doctorate and look for a teaching position. I had served for eight years in the ordained ministry of the Episcopal Church and was headed for what I hoped would be a deepening…

  • A Blessed Day to You All

  • When an Icon is not an Icon

    When is an icon not an icon? There are several answers to the question. Some of them would be technical, even somewhat argumentative as the strict canon governing icons gave way to more “Westernized” styles in the 17th century and beyond – but there have been notable “icons” among even very “Westernized” icons. St. Seraphim…

  • Icons and the Scriptures

    I have had many thoughts this week about problems within the modern academic study of Scripture. An inherent problem is that scholars of Scripture lack both imagination and experience. I do not mean to impugn the intelligence of any particular academic – indeed, I have known many interpreters of Scripture whose work was almost pure…

  • Being Formed in the Light – Icons and Salvation

    1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.John 3:29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice; therefore this…

  • Windows to Heaven Are Not One Way

    I am participating in an icon workshop this week. Lectures, slides, and the slow process of learning how icons are painted, by painting one yourself under the guidance of an accomplished master. My experience is that you very quickly see that here you can only be pupil (at least at this stage of my life).…

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Latest Comments

  1. Thank you so much for this, Dee. I will have to buy these books. This, especially, consoles me: “I’ll end…

  2. Dee, thank you for taking time to direct me to these points. I am writing a piece, hoping to tie…

  3. Bonnie, I spent an hour or so looking for the succinct words I used to describe St Sophrony’s. I found…

  4. Dear Michael, Indeed joy is essential to the fullness of life and we know the fullness of life in gratitude…

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