Glory to God For All Things

March 22, 2016

Knowing the Knowledge that Transforms

“If only I had known…” These are, not infrequently, the words of an apology. They are also an explanation of why we are sometimes the way we are. Ignorance is, in the mind of the Fathers, a major cause of sin. Of course, if sin is understood in a legal/forensic framework, then ignorance would […]
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Knowledge of God, Last Things, Morality, Mystical Theology, Reflections, Repentance, Salvation
March 21, 2016

The True Science of God

I had occasion this week to stand in a group of scientists. I was burying one of their own. The city I live in is a “science city,” the location of one of the primary national labs in the US. I have lived here for over 25 years. I have gotten to know many scientists. […]
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Asceticism, Knowledge of God, Mystical Theology, Reflections, The Journey of Faith
March 18, 2016

The Matter of our Salvation

Perhaps the most obvious thing for a visitor to an Orthodox Church are the presence and place of icons. They are literally everywhere. Some Churches are covered completely with iconography and no Orthodox Church is ever without them. That Churches are so decorated might not strike someone as unusual. After all, many Catholic Churches, particularly […]
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Communion, Icons, Modernity, Reflections, The Sacraments
March 15, 2016

Justice, Forgiveness and Bearing a Little Shame

This morning I read a headline in the newspaper: “We will get justice.” In the relentless cycle of the daily news, the report was of the discovery of a young woman who had been murdered. It seemed a completely appropriate response by the law officer in charge of the investigation. His words doubtless echoed the […]
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Cross, Enemies, Forgiveness, Reflections, Union with God
March 14, 2016

Why We Forgive

There are many ways to think about forgiveness, not all of them true or helpful. It is easily the most emotionally and psychologically difficult aspect of the Christian life revealing both the power of trauma as well as the tenacity of lingering memories. The directness of Christ’s commandments (“forgive your enemies”) and the consequences of […]
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Enemies, Forgiveness, Knowledge of God, Modernity, Morality, Reflections, Union with God
March 10, 2016

Forgiveness for All the Sundays to Come

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; (John17:20-21) The Elder Sophrony, together with St. Silouan, wrote about the “whole Adam.” By this, they meant all the human beings who have ever existed and those yet to come. They were, for them, something known […]
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Dostoevsky, Forgiveness, Reflections, Repentance
March 9, 2016

Forgiveness – The Hardest Love of All

I cannot think that any of my readers is a stranger to forgiveness, either the need to be forgiven or the need to forgive. The need to forgive, according to the commandment of Christ, extends well beyond those who ask for our forgiveness: we are commanded to forgive our enemies – whom I presume would […]
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Enemies, Forgiveness, Repentance
March 7, 2016

Judgment with a Mixed Bag

If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy […]
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Interpretation, Last Things, Reflections, Salvation, Scripture
March 7, 2016

Knowing Saints

There are many stories of saints in the Orthodox world, including contemporary ones. Their biographies are sometimes remarkable, sometimes not. Their stories are occasionally marked by miracles, but not always. I cannot think of a single characteristic that makes them like one another apart from their sanctity. And that quality does not make them so […]
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Personhood, Reflections, Relics, Saints, Saints and Tradition
March 2, 2016

It’s A Crying Shame

Orthodox Christians make a beginning of their Lenten discipline with the forgiving of everyone for everything (theoretically). This is expressed in the rite of forgiveness which is part of Vespers on the Sunday of Cheesefare. The ritual expression of forgiveness can easily and often be little more than a ritual. It reminds us of the […]
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Forgiveness, Knowledge of God, Mystical Theology, Orthodox Christianity, Reflections

Father Stephen, forgive me, but for returning to the holy Mother of God, whose Dormition is celebrated this evening and…

Simon, As a grandpa (who believes that the past should include a few tall tales), I occasionally describe to the…

Fr. Stephen said: “The advent of smart phones, arguably a huge cultural change, took place with almost no conversation at…

Excellent points Simon. Excellent points Nathan. Now what??? I guess I have to draw my own conclusions based on the…

There is a short story I want to write about the rise of AI. Eventually it replaces all the people…