Category: Reflections
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Is Heaven a Long Church Service?
My parents enjoyed farming. They both grew up on farms. Both did hard work in the cotton fields of the South. I never heard them complain about that. We had a small home in a 50’s subdivision. My Dad had a garage built in the backyard. Behind the garage, he put in a garden. It…
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St. Olga of Alaska, Pray for Us!
It is difficult to describe culture of saints within the life of Orthodoxy. When speaking to Christians who are strangers to such devotions, it is like trying to describe a flavor that is unlike anything else (try describing salt without using the word, “salty”). My family’s direct experience of Orthodoxy began in the early 1990’s.…
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Contradiction and Paradox
The following quote is taken from a letter by Mother Thekla (sometime Abbess of the Monastery of the Assumption in Normanby, England) to a young man who was entering the Orthodox faith. Some of her comments drew my attention. I add this note: this article was written and published on the blog in January of…
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The Tide of Faith
Dover Beach – (Matthew Arnold, 1867) The sea is calm tonight. The tide is full, the moon lies fair Upon the straits; on the French coast the light Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand, Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay. Come to the window, sweet is the night-air! Only, from…
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St. Silouan on the Love of God
I cannot remain silent concerning the people, whom I love so greatly that I must weep for them. I cannot remain silent because my soul ever grieves for the people of God, and I pray for them with tears. I cannot refrain from making known to you, brethren, the mercy of God and the wiles…
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When America Got Sick
It was in the years following the Civil War, America was hard on the path to “becoming great.” The industrial revolution had moved into full swing, railroads criss-crossed the country, immigration was gaining speed, and wealth was accumulating at a rate never seen before. We were slowly moving from our original agrarian economy towards life…
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Knocking Down the Gates of Hell
The Swedish Lutheran theologian, Gustav Aulén, published a seminal work on the types of atonement theory in 1930 (Christus Victor). Though time and critical studies have suggested many subtler treatments of the question, no one has really improved on his insight. Especially valuable was his description of the “Classic View” of the atonement. This imagery,…
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Prayers for a Dear Friend of Us All
I spoke by phone this morning with Michael Bauman, for years a faithful part of our conversations on the blog. He shared with me that he is now in home hospice care (in Wichita) and has been given a terminal diagnosis. His faith is truly evident in his conversations, even as those present their own…
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The Tradition of Being Human
Being human is a cultural event. No one is human by themselves and no one becomes human without the help of those around them. This is so obvious it should not need to be stated, but contemporary human beings often imagine themselves to be their own creation. The exercise of individual freedom is exalted as…
Hi Bonnie, I think it’s in his book called “His Life is Mine”. I’m at work and will look it…