-
The Heart’s True Home
Read more: The Heart’s True HomeI remember the first time I saw the Robert Heinlein title, Stranger in a Strange Land. Very few phrases captured my inner sense of self in such a way. I was a teenager at the time – thus, a fair amount of my commonality with the title has to be chalked up to “teenage […]
-
The Mystery of Place
Read more: The Mystery of PlaceFeeling “out of place” is a strong feature of our modern existence. Comments on my recent post bear this out. The notion and experience of place, though, have a mystery at their very heart. A major aspect of the mystery is that we can never know or experience anything in general – only […]
-
Finding Your Place
Read more: Finding Your PlaceAmong 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 […]
-
Why I Want to be Like You
Read more: Why I Want to be Like YouI 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 […]
-
Broken Communion
Read more: Broken CommunionThe 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 […]
-
Through a Glass Darkly
Read more: Through a Glass DarklyPerhaps 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 […]
-
Conformed to His Image
Read more: Conformed to His ImageOne 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 […]
-
A Cultural Feast
Read more: A Cultural FeastI 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 […]
-
The Last Enemy
Read more: The Last EnemyThe 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 […]
-
It’s a Lying Shame
Read more: It’s a Lying ShameThe 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 […]
Subscribe to blog via email
Support the work
Your generous support for Glory to God for All Things will help maintain and expand the work of Fr. Stephen. This ministry continues to grow and your help is important. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!
Latest Comments
“Perhaps others can share their experiences of this [sacramental perception].” Thank you, Father. I find a helpful analogy between the…
Thanks SO much Fr. Stephen. I still have a lot of bad theology in my DNA.
Matthew, An example: the parable of the Sheep and Goats. I follow the lead of Sergius Bulgakov (and others, I’m…
How do you deal with those difficult parables Fr. Stephen?
Read my books
Listen to my podcast
Please Read
Categories
Archives
Matthew, I sympathize with having bad theology in my DNA! For long time I had the image of God’s “just”…