Glory to God For All Things

October 3, 2018

Strange That Our Money Says: In God We Trust

There are two great money problems in the Scriptures: too little and too much. The theme of the poor is a constant throughout both the Old and the New Testament. They tend to be cast as victims – easy prey for the rich, often exploited, and particularly beloved of God. He is the protector […]
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Asceticism, Mercy, Modernity, Reflections
September 26, 2018

The Life of Beauty in an Ugly World

In my last article, I described our personal existence as something that is not self-contained but found only in relation. Who-I-am is seen in the face of the one beholding me. There is an element of this in the perception of beauty that is worth noting. Some years ago, my wife and I visited the […]
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Beauty, Icons, Modernity, Reflections, Solzhenitsyn
September 20, 2018

Facing Up to Reality

Imagine that you have never seen a mirror, much less had a picture taken of yourself or broadcast your image on social media. Imagine, as well, that you’ve never taken advantage of a still pool of water to admire yourself. How would you know what you look like? Lost within our modern culture is […]
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Knowledge of God, Personhood, Reflections
September 15, 2018

The Doors of the Heart

In the summer of 1952, an obscure event took place in London that would have a profound impact on the future of Orthodox Christianity in the English-speaking world. A seventeen-year-old English lad walked through the doors of St. Philip’s Russian Orthodox Church on Buckingham Palace Road (the Church has long since been torn down). Today […]
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Conversion, Knowledge of God, Reflections
September 11, 2018

Orthodoxy Represents Our Original Incompetency

There is one thing to be said about Church-shopping: you can always find a better one… I often see examples of what I would describe as “comparative denominationalism.” It is the comparison of one Church to another (yes, I know that Orthodoxy is not a denomination). Indeed, the drive for a “better Church,” a “more […]
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Church, Orthodox Christianity, Reflections, The Church
September 5, 2018

Saved in Weakness – Redux

We are not saved by our talents and gifts nor by our excellence – we are saved by our weakness and our failure. I have made this point many times over the years – and the question comes up – but what does that look like? How do I live like that? The question can […]
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Cross, Reflections, Salvation, The Church
August 29, 2018

Love and Freedom

The most difficult aspect of love is the freedom it inherently requires. Love, in its ultimate and proper form, only exists between equals. There can be a sort of benevolence and nobility towards another who is not equal, but never love. This makes it difficult to understand the God-who-is-love. It will quickly be said […]
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Incarnation, Knowledge of God, Personhood, Reflections
August 24, 2018

Irony and Belief

Irony is probably too much to ask of youth. If I can remember myself in my college years, the most I could muster was sarcasm. Irony required more insight. There is a deep need for the appreciation of irony to sustain a Christian life. Our world is filled with contradiction. Hypocrisy is ever present even […]
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Forgiveness, Knowledge of God, Mercy, The Church
August 20, 2018

A Mediated Presence – Thank God

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, (1 Tim. 2:5) There is no way to adequately explain priesthood without reference to mediation. A priest is a mediator between God and Man. From time to time over the years, I have had the verse from 1 Timothy […]
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Knowledge of God, Liturgy, Modernity, Reflections, The Sacraments
August 13, 2018

Why Mary Has Always Been Honored

This Wednesday (August 15) is the Feast of the Dormition, the Falling Asleep of the Virgin Mary. I offer this article as a reflection. The most difficult part of my Orthodox experience to discuss with the non-Orthodox is the place and role of the Mother of God in the Church and in my life. It is, […]
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Mother of God, Orthodox Christianity, Reflections

David, I submit we may have no expectations of God and must trust Him instead. The servant is not greater…

The Lord’s timing for you sharing these thoughts and me finding them is, of course, perfect. I have been helping…

This is wonderful! The closest being to me is my 11 year old dog and we’ve always called him “useless…

Thanks so much for this Fr Stephen! I agree with all you say here! And I am allowed to practice…

I think this is one perspective. Any time we speak about God we are speaking out our ideas about God.…