Glory to God For All Things

December 12, 2016

World Story – the News and the Good News

Human beings make up stories. I don’t mean that the stories aren’t true, only that we make them up. We connect things. We make sense of things. We ask what is happening and the answer is a story. When we read a history book, we encounter a story. We do not examine the facts of […]
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Culture, Knowledge of God, Modernity, Orthodox Christianity, Reflections
December 7, 2016

A Terrible Knowledge

Greek Mythology made the curiosity of Pandora the primary cause of suffering in the world. She fails to resist the lure of finding out what is in a box she is told to leave closed. Opening the box, she unleashes sorrow and suffering into the world. We humans are a curious lot. We want to […]
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Heart, Knowledge of God, Reflections
December 5, 2016

Where All Answers Deceive

From CS Lewis’ The Great Divorce. Lewis, having taken a bus ride from hell to heaven is being guided and instructed by George MacDonald. The question of what will be in the end comes up. Will all be saved? +++ ‘Ye can know nothing of the end of all things, or nothing expressible in those terms. […]
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C.S. Lewis, Last Things, Reflections
November 30, 2016

The Material God

In my previous article I used the example of kinesthetic knowledge (as in riding a bicycle) as a means of describing noetic experience, the means of knowing God through communion with Him. It is worth noting that the example is quite material and mundane. It is not an esoteric, exotic meditation or technique. It is […]
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Communion, Incarnation, Knowledge of God, Modernity, Reflections, The Sacraments
November 28, 2016

Saving Knowledge

I have often used the example of riding a bicycle as an image of knowing God. There’s no difficulty learning how to ride if you don’t mind falling off for a while. But no matter how many years you have ridden, you cannot describe for someone else how you know what you know. But you […]
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Conversion, Knowledge of God, Morality, Orthodox Christianity, Reflections, Repentance
November 23, 2016

Akathist Hymn Glory to God for All Things

I have seen several translations of this hymn. This one comes from the site of St. John the Baptist Cathedral (ROCOR) in Washington, D.C. I have edited it only typographically. It was composed by Metropolitan Tryphon (Prince Boris Petrovich Turkestanov) +1934 – but frequently attributed to Father Gregory Petrov, who died in a Soviet prison […]
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Reflections, Thankfulness
November 22, 2016

The Communion of Friends

You meet someone and like them. You slowly get to know them. Conversation and sharing, listening and learning, a picture or a reality begin to emerge. You think about them when they’re away. You’re aware that you matter to them as well. The thought of anything hurting them is painful. This is friendship. We easily reduce […]
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Communion, Icons, Modernity, Reflections, Union with God
November 19, 2016

Beneath Her Compassion

Among the greater mysteries of the New Testament are those surrounding the Mother of God. A large segment of modern Christianity has become tone deaf in this regard, a result of centuries of antagonism towards certain aspects of older tradition. It is a deafness that grieves my heart, primarily in that it represents a […]
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Mercy, Mother of God, Orthodox Christianity, Reflections, Saints
November 15, 2016

Hiding in Plain Sight and The False Accusation

In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run like sparks through the stubble. (Wisdom 3:7 RSV) ____ The story is told of St. Macarius that he was falsely accused of fathering a child by a young woman in the village. After being beaten and humiliated by the people there, he […]
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Forgiveness, Knowledge of God, Morality, Reflections, Repentance, Salvation, Thankfulness
November 10, 2016

A Virtuous Man

Virtue is not a common word in our culture. It sounds somewhat “antique.” For some, it has very little meaning, or a meaning far removed from its original. Within the Christian tradition, however, there is a very long history of the study of virtue. Until the Protestant Reformation, thoughts about what was good and what […]
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Asceticism, Fasting, Modernity, Morality, Reflections, Thankfulness, Union with God

Thanks Fr. Stephen.

Matthew, I think they should not be used for apologetics purposes – they’re inconsistent and less than reliable. They are,…

Good morning Fr. Stephen. I had never heard of NDE´s as being possible proof that the supernatural does exist. Interesting…

Maragaret Sarah and Father, Thank you both for your reflections. For some reason I always stumble on that passage. I…

Mallory, Living in a new place, I am now seeing new doctors. Today, was my first visit with my new…