Category: Orthodox Christianity
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In the Garden of our Heart
The Holy Land, it is said, is a microcosm of the world. It is certainly a microcosm of the Middle East – but I’m willing to accept the idea that it is also a microcosm of the world. And if that is the case, then it is also a microcosm of the heart of man.…
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Can This Really Be the End? – Musing about the Eschaton
This is one of the earliest articles I wrote. In view of our current crises (plural) it seemed worth reprinting. O, Mama, can this really be the end? To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues again. Bob Dylan Ok. I’ll confess it right up front – I’m a Dylan fan. It shows…
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Longing for Jerusalem
My wife and I, as well as other pilgrims from our group, have been spending our time since coming home letting our bodies adjust to the “jet-lag.” It is easy to blame many things on jet-lag until the excuse will no longer work. I noticed towards the end of last week, that beyond any expectation,…
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Memories – Prayers By the Lake XXX
This poem by St. Nikolai Velimirovich should not be read as looking back to a pre-existence of souls – but to the fullness of our Baptism and the purity that was ours at the font. It emphasizes in the imagery of memory, the desire to have communion with God above all else. XXX Blot out,…
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What Do You Want From God?
This may seem an entirely innocuous question. But I ask it in earnest. What do you want from God? On the level of the trite, we may want more of what we already have, but have it in abundance. We may want less of what we have, only have it in a healthy manner (relationships…
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Truth and Existence – A Second Look
The original article (which follows) was published in August (not long ago). However, questions that continue to arise tell me that I need to publish it yet again. I will here emphasize its connection with the Atonement. Theories of legal indebtedness as the problem of sin are certainly popular in some circles of the Christian…
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Pascha And Creation
There are several religious or theological mistakes to make about Christ’s resurrection. They are generally innocent, and refelct the faith as a number of people have been taught it. The problem lies in the fact that many do not rightly understand the resurrection nor the true scope of its significance. I am just a sinner…
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A Single Monk
I earlier shared the story of my conversation with a monk at Mar Saba Monastery in the Judean desert. For me, it was both an oasis of rest (it really is in a desert) and an oasis of truth. We had spent the morning traveling, with our guide also giving us a political commentary –…
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Rocks, Desert and No Rain
Jerusalem is in a desert. Water is easily the most essential element. There are great aquifers in the area and the politics of water underlies much of the political reality on the surface of the ground. It was observed by one of our pilgrims that the early Christians left the cities to enter the desert,…
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Assimilating the Gospel
A pilgrimage is reduced to tourism if it does not become a part of the pilgrim himself. I have been home for a little over 24 hours – most of it in the stupor of “jet-lag.” I have sat down to write several times, only to find that I was too tired to say much.…
Drewster, I think I disagree. It’s not that Orthodoxy emphasizes one thing and Catholics another – it’s rather that Orthodoxy…