Category: Doctrine
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We Live in a Miracle
Years ago, when I first started seminary, its unusual Anglican practice was the daily celebration of the Eucharist. Indeed, it had been the first seminary in the whole of the Anglican communion to do so. I was thrilled. However, after a few months of the daily routine, I went to my spiritual director (a member…
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Come Home
The hymn was familiar. Its chorus, deeply sentimental, ran: “Come home, come home, ye who are weary come home!” I was seven years old and “walked the aisle,” making a “profession of faith” in Christ in response to the hymn. I have no memory of the sermon at all. I have no memory of the…
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As the End Draws Near – Silence
St. John the Baptist said of Christ that His “winnowing fork is in His hand.” (Lk 3:17) That farm implement is a tool for separating the wheat from the chaff, that is, to separate the edible part of the wheat from the husk that is to be discarded. It is, in that sense, an instrument…
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The Sacrament of All Things
How many sacraments does the Orthodox Church have? This is a question that an inquiring 16th century European might have posed. The Catholics had seven, while the Lutherans (and some other Protestants) said there were only two. “Of course,” thought the Orthodox in struggling to answer a question that had never been spoken in the…
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What’s In A Name?
I do not know its cause, but, on occasion, I hear my mother’s voice call my name. Perhaps it’s a random set of neurons going off, or something more mystical and spooky. I do not know. I know, however, that it is powerful and goes deep into my soul. Names are like that. There is…
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Bearing Shame With Christ
Public shaming is a commonplace in our culture. Public stocks and tar-and-feathering have disappeared, but shaming itself is as up-to-date as the internet itself. I well imagine that some view the use of ridicule and derision as an inherent part of public life. Those who enjoy the accolades of crowds must be prepared to endure…
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The Good That Lies Within
There is this famous quote from Alexander Solzhenitsyn: The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart — and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by…
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The Calendar Is Not On Your Phone
Twice-a-year, my mind wanders into a bit of a panic when we move the clocks forward or backward and hour. I’ve had the “time-change” explained to me ever so many times, but I still find myself having to think, “Is it ‘fall back’ or ‘fall forwards,’ etc.” for it is completely reasonable to do either.…
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The Last Christmas – Ever
This Christmas was the last Christmas – ever. Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Wherever He is, there is the beginning and the end of all things. If Christ is truly present in this year’s Christmas, then it is the last Christmas – and the first Christmas. And if…
… Another text comes to mind. Simeon in Luke 2:30 (KJV) says: “30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation.”…