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The Useless God
Read more: The Useless GodThis post (which is much longer than usual) is an edited version of a talk given at a retreat earlier this year. During this time of various quarantine measures, when our “usefullness” seems thwarted, it seems an important meditation. I pray it is uselessly useful! The statement, “God is useless,” is, undoubtedly, sure to strike […]
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Life as a Creator (or sub-creator)
Read more: Life as a Creator (or sub-creator)The first time I heard the suggestion that human beings should think of themselves as “co-creators” with God was in a liberal, mainline, seminary (Episcopal). This was in the 1970’s. The meaning at the time was something of a mish-mash of culture-notions that was little more than a way of underwriting the myth of cultural […]
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The Gift of Pascha
Read more: The Gift of PaschaIt is impossible to describe the joy of Pascha, particularly as I experience it as a priest. This year, I was deeply aware that I stand in a place that was both created for me, and for which I am unworthy. The joy of such a combination is the realization of the Gift. When you […]
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Christ Is Risen
Read more: Christ Is RisenThe Republic of Georgia is one of the olderst Orthodox nations. I find their music to be astounding. This is a small clip for Pascha. The hymn being sung is the Georgian: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life! Christ is risen!
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Good Friday and Unbelief
Read more: Good Friday and UnbeliefChristmas and Easter are often difficult days for those who do not believe in God. Christians are more public about their faith than at other times of the year and this brings with it an annoyance. Christmas bespeaks the birth of God as a human being. Easter bespeaks a resurrection from the dead. For […]
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In the Maw of the Bridal Chamber
Read more: In the Maw of the Bridal ChamberThe idleness brought on during our present isolation can lead to unexpected things. I was browsing through videos on social media recently and saw a short documentary on what happens to human bodies in the process of decomposition. I was surprised by what I heard both in its gruesome details and in its rapid onset. […]
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Let’s Get Out of This Place
Read more: Let’s Get Out of This PlaceThe Saturday before Palm Sunday is known as Lazarus Saturday among the Orthodox, and they celebrate Christ raising him from the dead just prior to His entrance into Jerusalem (gospel of John). It is a feast that offers something of a preview of Christ’s resurrection, and a foretaste of the General Resurrection at the End of the […]
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A Different Pascha – 1928
Read more: A Different Pascha – 1928This year, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Churches will be unable to gather in the usual manner for Pascha. This has happened before in a variety of places and circumstances. In the 1920’s, the Bolshevik’s were unleashing their persecutions. This wonderful account, from Butyrka Prison on Pascha of 1928, is a sober reminder that our “light […]
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Magic, Superstition, and the One-Storey Universe
Read more: Magic, Superstition, and the One-Storey UniverseOver the years, in thinking about the here-and-now presence of the Kingdom of God, I have pondered about what it actually looks like. Its nemesis, the modern version of secularity, is easy to picture (we unconsciously do it all the time). That picture is of an utterly material world, governed by material laws, with possible […]
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Thinking About Good and Evil
Read more: Thinking About Good and EvilRecent conversations have brought up questions about good and evil, particularly in the natural world. When the world is locked down in response to a virus, it is easy to wonder about the nature of things. Can a virus be called “evil?” Is that the right word for it? In truth, we use words in […]
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Being in an Orthodox church is like exploring a small-scale symbolic world. When I first attended, it felt alien to…
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There’s a cemetery in our neighborhood where I like to walk. Sometimes I take my children. They have a statue…