Category: Reflections
-
Screwtape and the Wisdom of a Four-Year-Old Boy
When my son was four, he wrote a prayer to St. Michael. We had placed a small statue of St. Michael on his chest-of-drawers. It was classic: St. Michael in Roman soldier’s outfit with a drawn sword, and the devil beneath his foot. It seemed to have made a strong impression on my son. His…
-
Theophany – Showing the World to be the World
I was standing beside the Jordan River, somewhere along its trek through Israel. I was with a group of pilgrims led by Met. Kallistos Ware gathered for the Great Blessing of the Waters. Somehow, it seemed that I was the only priest who had brought an epitrachelion (stole), so I loaned it to the Metropolitan…
-
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.…
-
Angels Sing! Christ is Born!
A Serbian Christmas Song – lyrics by St. Nikolai Velimirovich Andjeli Pevaju Noć prekrasna i noć tija, nad pećinom zvezda sija, u pećini mati spi, nad Isusom andjel bdi. Andjeli pevaju, pastiri sviraju, andjeli pevaju mudraci javljaju: Što narodi čekaše, što proroci rekoše, evo sad se u svet javi, u svet javi i objavi:…
-
The Christmas Play
I was sick last week (stomach bug – my least favorite illness). It cost me a trip to Memphis where we were to spend a few days with family and the joy of watching two of my daughters singing in an Advent Festival. My many years of ministry have put me in some diverse places…
-
When Your Ancestors Came to Church
Human beings carry within them a burden of time. We are not “fresh starts” as we come into existence. There is an inheritance that seems to carry even more than our genes. Some few years ago, I visited with my father’s oldest surviving cousin. She had known both of my parents across the years, and…
-
The Life of the Cosmos
This is a reprint from 2016. I ran across it this morning and found it speaking very much of where my mind and heart have been of late. May it be of use to you. What does it mean to be alive? This is a question whose answer would seem so obvious that it is…
-
The Communion of Giving Thanks
Whom should I thank? The question is normally a matter of polite acknowledgement. A gift was given and received. Who gave it? Whom should I thank? It is inherently the nature of giving thanks that thanks must be given to someone. I cannot give thanks to nothing or no one. As such, the giving of…
-
The Secular Mind Versus the Whole Heart
Thinking is among the most misleading things in the modern world, or, to be more precise, thinking about thinking is misleading. For a culture that puts such a great emphasis on materiality, our thinking about thought is decidedly spooky. The philosophy underlying our strangely-constructed modernity is called nominalism (of which there are many formal varieties). Its imaginary…
-
“That Which Is Lacking” – Is Jesus Enough?
Recent questions on the blog make this article worth re-visiting. I pray you find it of interest. The average Christian, reading his Bible in happy devotion, stumbles across this passage: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the…
Thank you, Father. I do think the way we frame everything in political terms is problematic, and probably confusing in…