Glory to God For All Things

December 19, 2018

God and the Self – Dragons and The Treasuries of Grace

Beloved, we are children of God, and it doesn’t yet appear what we shall be. But we know, that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (1John 3:2) You are dead, and your life is hid in Christ in God. (Col. 3:3) Whoever seeks to […]
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Knowledge of God, Reflections
December 13, 2018

Faith, Doubt, Theology and Suspicion

I have been slowly reading my way through John Gray’s book, Seven Types of Atheism. It is not an argument with Atheism so much as a study of its underpinnings, strengths and weaknesses (Gray himself is an atheist). Apparently, what someone does not believe in is just as important as what someone does believe […]
Read more: Faith, Doubt, Theology and Suspicion
atheism, Knowledge of God, Modernity, Pascha, Reflections
December 8, 2018

The Demons of Our Time – Within Us

In 1872, Dostoevsky published his novel, The Demons [Бесы]. It demonstrated in a microcosm, the insanity that lay within the revolutionary movements of 19th century Russia. That insanity broke upon the world in 1917 and has remained present with us, in one form or another, ever since. The madness that he describes takes place in […]
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Dostoevsky, Icons, Modernity, Reflections, Tradition
December 3, 2018

Faith and Rationality – Stumbling Into Paradise

You have decided to buy a new computer. As the good and wise shopper that you are, you begin googling information and gathering recommendations for this so-important purchase. You are being rational. You learn, compare, question and weigh your options. When all is said, and done, you make a decision. Rationality is about our ability […]
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Conversion, Knowledge of God, Reflections, Union with God
November 30, 2018

A Little Help From My Friends – With My Thanks

The production of this blog and the ministry associated with it is supported by my parish, and by the help of others who feel it is important to be maintained. There is a donate button on the right side panel that allows readers to make a donation, either one-time or otherwise. During this season, a […]
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Reflections
November 24, 2018

Don’t Panic – It’s Just the Mother of God

The first time I offered prayers to Mary I had a panic attack – literally. I was in college and my best friend had become Roman Catholic. We argued a bit, and he won (mostly). It resulted in my return to Anglicanism, to the “high” side. So, like a good high churchman, I got […]
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Modernity, Mother of God, Reflections, Salvation, Union with God
November 20, 2018

Giving Thanks

The act of giving thanks is among the most fundamental acts of love. It lies at the very heart of worship – in which, in the words of Archimandrite Zacharias of Essex, there is an exchange. In giving thanks we make an offering which itself is always inferior to what we have received – but […]
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Communion, Reflections, Thankfulness
November 15, 2018

Sentiment, Suffering and Death

I awoke in the middle of the night to a strange thought. It did not seem to come out of a dream but was simply there in my mind. The thought was something like this: “They will have parties to celebrate suicides.” What the thought meant was that a day is coming in which people […]
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Modernity, Morality, Reflections, Secularism, The Church
November 7, 2018

What Happened That Day in the Library

It is occasionally the case that we remember precisely where we were at a point in time, in which everything is before or after that moment. It is a Kairos, a particular moment that changes everything. There are collective moments of that sort: victory in Europe is announced; a President is shot; the Challenger explodes. […]
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Mystical Theology, Reflections, Salvation
October 31, 2018

Alone – You Are Not

“Alone – You Are Not” This is not a quote from Yoda. It is a simple statement concerning the nature of our existence. The fullness of existence is only found in communion, a mutual indwelling in which our lives are known and experienced not just in their self-contained form, but in their Interrelation to others […]
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Existence, Personhood, Reflections

Christ crucified … yes … but what are we to say of his resurrection? I remember attending a Pentecostal church…

Matthew, re past experiences as a Christian, I’ve been listening to some of the group of podcasts on Ancient Faith…

Janine, The image of Christ the Bridegroom is quite powerful in the services of Holy Week (the Bridegroom Matins, of…

Father Stephen writes, “But, inasmuch as my knowledge of God is through the lens of Christ Crucified, I would note…

Nathan, It’s a very good example, it seems to me. Solzhenitsyn said that the line dividing good and evil runs…