Category: Knowledge of God
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Living a Personal Life
In the common use of the English language, it would seem strange or impossible to say that someone was living an “impersonal” life. And, even in our classical Christian vocabulary, we would say that God (Who is Person) has created us in His own image and that we are inherently “personal.” And yet, the Church…
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What Matters – Still True
Perhaps I am in an introspective mood – but I find myself lately going back and reading my earliest posts – they only go back to October of 2006 – though there have been nearly a thousand of them. It is an exercise in consistency and in growth. Would I have said something differently now…
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The Presence in the Absence – A Timely Re-posting
This short post is among the first to appear on this blog – dating back to October of ’06. In the light of conversations here over the past few days, it seemed timely to bring this back to our attention. I I have written on the topic of the absence of God (or our sense…
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Unbelief and the Two-Storey Universe
I have written extensively about what I have described as a “two-storey universe.” In short, this is a description of how many modern Christians see the world. There is the first floor – the natural world which operates according to naturalist, “secular” rules, and the second floor – the world of God, heaven, hell, angels, etc.…
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The Unplanned Life
The following article was first written and posted in March of 2007. I have added a few additional thoughts to the end. One of the geniuses of modern life is the plan. It is certainly the case that if you have a company and a product, or whatever passes for those in these days, there is…
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Everywhere Present
Everything you do, all your work, can contribute towards your salvation. It depends on you, on the way you do it. History is replete with monks who became great saints while working in the kitchen or washing sheets. The way of salvation consists in working without passion, in prayer…. May God give you the strength…
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Paradise in a Single Moment
The Exapostelarian for the Matins of Good Friday is the hymn, “The Wise Thief.” It draws our attention to the mercy of God – who promised paradise to the wise thief, “This day.” Thoughts on the nearness of paradise are also a theme in the writings of Dostoevsky. If paradise is so near – why…
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Riding on a Donkey
As far back as Genesis, in the prophecy of Jacob over his sons, we hear the association of the Messiah with a donkey: Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s children shall bow down before you. Judah is a…
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It Is But a Small Thing
I have noticed in my daily struggle that most of the things that are of importance turn on very “small things.” The decisions that set me on the course of prayer or kindness are made not with fanfare or even large efforts, but on a moment’s turn. By the same token, the decisions that…
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Living Knowledge of God
From Fr. Nicholas Sakharov’s I Love Therefore I Am… As far as spiritual knowledge is concered, it has a unique basis: “Our knowledge is a result of the revelation from above.” Spiritual knoweldge is understood as “con-joined existence,” or “co-existence” (sobytie), as “uniting fusion” (spaika) of very being. In Felicite, Fr. Sophrony writes: “Knowledge is…
David, I heard a series of talks done by Fr. Maximus on this topic at a retreat for OCA clergy.…