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Messiness in the Modern World
Read more: Messiness in the Modern WorldSalvation can be messy. I believe this with all my heart and so I state it at the outset of this article. As such, it marks me as a heretic in Modernity. I not only believe that salvation is messy – I believe that messiness is pretty much inherent to salvation. And along with that, […]
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Abraham at the End of the World
Read more: Abraham at the End of the WorldThis is an exercise in the Orthodox reading of the Scriptures. My thoughts frequently return to this story and this line of thought. This article is greatly expanded from an earlier version. The habits of modern Christians run towards history: it is a lens through which we see the world. We see a world of cause […]
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Saved in Weakness
Read more: Saved in WeaknessWe 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 in several ways in several articles over the recent past – and the question comes up – but what does that look like? How do I live […]
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Gifts and Talents and the Road to Hell
Read more: Gifts and Talents and the Road to HellAt some point in my past, there was a survey used in parishes that was all the rage. It was a “gifts and talents” survey, designed to make everyone in the parish find their true ministry and to work together in fulfillment of St. Paul’s description of the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians. The […]
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Behind Every Rock and Tree – An Allegory
Read more: Behind Every Rock and Tree – An AllegoryHow is an allegorical interpretation of the Scriptures possible? In the fourth chapter of Galatians, St. Paul invokes the story of Abraham and his two sons, one born of a bondwoman (Hagar) and the other of a freewoman (Sarah). As he prepares to draw a lesson from the story he says of it: “These things […]
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St. Mary of Egypt and Moral Progress
Read more: St. Mary of Egypt and Moral ProgressThe suggestion has been made several times recently that my criticism of moral progress is not supported by the example of the saints. Surely, it is said, the transformations we read about in the lives of the saints are clear examples of moral progress. A noted such example, perhaps the greatest story of repentance and asceticism known […]
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The Problem of Goodness
Read more: The Problem of GoodnessThough many struggle with the so-called “Problem of Evil,” the greater moral problem is that of goodness. How do we account for goodness in the world – particularly self-sacrificing heroic goodness? It is not uncommon for a person in a dangerous situation to place their own life at risk in order to save the life […]
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Theophany and the Gates of Hades
Read more: Theophany and the Gates of HadesFor an Orthodox priest, the services of the Church involve many “comings and goings.” Part of any service takes place within the altar area, which is usually enclosed by an iconostasis, a wall on which icons are hung. The wall does not truly separate one area of the Church from another so much as it […]
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Living with a Calendar
Read more: Living with a CalendarThe human relationship with time is a strange thing. The upright stones of neo-lithic human communities stand as silent reminders of our long interest in seasons and the movement of the heavens. Today our light-polluted skies shield many of us from the brilliant display of the night sky and rob us of the stars. The […]
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The Last Christmas – Ever
Read more: The Last Christmas – EverThis Christmas was the last Christmas – ever. Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Wherever He is, there is the beginning and the end of all things. If Christ is truly present in this year’s Christmas, then it is the last Christmas – and the first Christmas. And if […]
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Simon, I’m not as knowledgeable as you are on this topic, but I’m in IT and also witnessing and participating…
Simon, “We have met the enemy and he is us…” yep
One last thought on the idea of inherent dangers. The inherent dangers are ALWAYS in the people. It is never…
The Frankenstein effect has been around for a long time: Where science creates something monstrous and it turns on its…
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