-
The Final Destruction of Demons – Holy Baptism
Read more: The Final Destruction of Demons – Holy Baptism“Final” is not a word you often hear in Christian teaching. Most Christians leave the final things until, well, the End. But this is not the language of the fathers nor of the Church. A good illustration can be found in the Orthodox service of Holy Baptism. During the blessing of the waters the priest […]
-
Providence – God in Extension
Read more: Providence – God in ExtensionThere are aspects of the Orthodox faith that require that we reach beyond what we think we know and dig more deeply into the writings of the Fathers. This is particularly the case when Orthodoxy uses similar language to Western theological models. We see a word (in this case, “providence,”) and think we know what […]
-
The Gospel of Progress – and the New Jerusalem
Read more: The Gospel of Progress – and the New JerusalemAmerican fans of Monty Python will be familiar with the opening lines of William Blake’s poem, “Jerusalem” (and I apologize to my British readers for such an introduction). The poem was set to music in 1916 and became deeply popular in post-war Britain. The Labour Party adopted it as a theme for the election of […]
-
A Virgin Gave Birth
Read more: A Virgin Gave BirthI was browsing through some online material recently and came across a conversation between a non-believing sceptic and a Christian apologist. The question was asked (right off the top): “Why a virgin birth?” The apologist did a decent job of responding, giving a fairly common explanation of “why Christ had to be born of a […]
-
The Child Who Came Among Us
Read more: The Child Who Came Among UsFew things seem as confusing to our culture as the feast of Christmas. For many, it is the great feast of sentimentality. As such, it is our culture’s feast of feeling. We want to have the “spirit of Christmas.” It is identified with snow, with trees, with family, with giving and receiving of gifts. It […]
-
Have a Dickens of a Christmas
Read more: Have a Dickens of a ChristmasIn the late 1600’s in colonial Boston, the celebration of Christmas was against the law. Indeed, anyone evidencing the “spirit of Christmas” could be fined five shillings. In the early 1800’s, Christmas was better known as a season for rioting in the streets and civil unrest. However, in the mid-1800’s some interesting things changed the […]
-
The Christmas When Everybody Was There
Read more: The Christmas When Everybody Was ThereThe soldiers were scattered across Europe with the loneliness of war. The world was caught up in a total struggle. Women had gone to the factories; children were collecting scrap metal. The “war effort” was universal. In many places, food was rationed. The madhouse of consumption belonged only to the war; everything else could wait. […]
-
The Heart’s True Home
Read more: The Heart’s True HomeI remember the first time I saw the Robert Heinlein title, Stranger in a Strange Land. Very few phrases captured my inner sense of self in such a way. I was a teenager at the time – thus, a fair amount of my commonality with the title has to be chalked up to “teenage […]
-
The Mystery of Place
Read more: The Mystery of PlaceFeeling “out of place” is a strong feature of our modern existence. Comments on my recent post bear this out. The notion and experience of place, though, have a mystery at their very heart. A major aspect of the mystery is that we can never know or experience anything in general – only […]
-
Finding Your Place
Read more: Finding Your PlaceAmong the many things we desire, an important one is a “place to belong.” With the fragmentation of the extended family, and so much else, a growing number of people are becoming accutely aware that they do not “belong” anywhere. Our highly franchised suburban world often has the strange effect that places separated by miles […]
Subscribe to blog via email
Support the work
Your generous support for Glory to God for All Things will help maintain and expand the work of Fr. Stephen. This ministry continues to grow and your help is important. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!
Latest Comments
Simon, I think I’m not really able to speak definitively on the “bookend” questions. I’m also of the mind that…
Thanks, Dino.
Matthew, what I have gleaned from the genuine God-bearing saints is that at its core, genuine repentance is, I guess,…
Thank you Dana, Matthew, and Mark! And bless you, Dana, for the thought – hugs to you.🤗 Mark, I will…
Read my books
Listen to my podcast
Please Read
Categories
Archives
Matthew, You mentioned, Living Buddha, Living Christ. Thich Nhat Hanh offered a fairly surface level treatment in that book. If…