Glory to God For All Things

December 5, 2022

Finding Your Place

Among the many things we desire, an important one is a “place to belong.” With the fragmentation of the extended family, and so much else, a growing number of people are becoming accutely aware that they do not “belong” anywhere. Our highly franchised suburban world often has the strange effect that places separated by miles […]
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Knowledge of God, Liturgy, Reflections
November 30, 2022

Why I Want to be Like You

I am not a student of René Girard, though some notable Orthodox thinkers have been. I ran across an article recently that provoked some reflection for me – particularly on a central theme in Girard’s work: mimesis. He observed that human beings are drawn towards “copying” others (mimesis). A passage from the article I was […]
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Reflections
November 25, 2022

Broken Communion

The holidays can make it all too poignant: the terrible fact of broken communion. Often, our festivities bring us into close contact with some (few or many) whom we most commonly avoid. An uncle, an aunt, a brother, a parent whose relationship is marked with pain, misunderstanding, shame, and various other torments. Statistics say that […]
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Atonement, Communion, Liturgy, Reflections, Union with God
November 17, 2022

Through a Glass Darkly

Perhaps the most intriguing passage in all of St. Paul’s writings is his description of an inner struggle in Romans 7. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.For the good […]
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Beauty, Communion, Reflections
November 14, 2022

Conformed to His Image

One of the most distinctive doctrines in Orthodox theology is that of theosis – divinization – becoming “like God.” Those who inquire into the faith likely stumble across this teaching fairly early, and, no doubt, some are drawn to it. Of course, there are those who run away from it and fear that it is […]
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Cross, Reflections
November 3, 2022

A Cultural Feast

I read somewhere that, prior to the Protestant Reformation, there were over 50 feast days in England on which people did no labor (these were in addition to Sundays). If you do the math, it adds up to over seven weeks of vacation per year. The Reformation abolished all but one or two. I have […]
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Feasts, Modernity, Reflections, Time
October 28, 2022

The Last Enemy

The Last Enemy (as named by St. Paul in 1Cor 15:26) was also the first enemy, and has been our enemy throughout human existence: it is death. Death is more than the separation of the soul from the body, it is the threat of non-being. In the writings of the Fathers, particularly those of the […]
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Reflections
October 20, 2022

It’s a Lying Shame

The story of the first sin begins not with a choice, but with a lie. As much as we tend to emphasize “free-will” as the origin and dominant factor of human sin, we do well to remember the true nature of our lives. Things are much more complicated than freedom can account for. Rather, we […]
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Atonement, Cross, Reflections, Salvation
October 11, 2022

The Ascetic Imperative – A Matter of Communion

Among the more interesting experiences in my life was the two years spent in a Christian commune. It was not West Coast fancy, much less connected to anything historic such as the Bruderhof. It started with two very zealous Jesus freaks (myself and a friend), an apartment, and something of a necessity thrust on us […]
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Asceticism, Communion, Reflections, Salvation
September 28, 2022

When Shame Becomes Toxic

Articles on the topic of shame inevitably provoke questions. This short article is an effort to give a bit more substance by way of an answer to some of those questions. I hope it is helpful. Shame is a normal emotion – one which we could not live without. It signals emotional boundaries (among […]
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Knowledge of God, Personhood, Reflections

Thanks for your thoughts Dee. Be blessed.

Thank you so much Michael. May He also bless you with His Grace!

Thank you, Dee. May the Lord’s blessing continue for you.

“Grace can enable us to discern the Cross in places where we least expect it. And, sometimes, grace can enable…

Also, I was looking through several prayers from the Antiochian Red Prayer Book that emphasize our heart’s proper orientation and…