Good King Wenceslas
You’ve probably heard the song Good King Wenceslas around Christmas time. Who was he and why do we sing about him? He was king of the Czechs about a thousand years ago and ruled with utmost compassion...
View ArticleUnveiled Holiness
There exists a tendency in our American culture to think of ourselves as being on familiar terms with God. I am a friend of God proclaims the chorus of one popular Protestant “praise” song; Jesus is...
View ArticleThe Butterfly and the Cross
When reflecting upon a short video I watched on the transformation of the caterpillar into a butterfly, I was struck by an interesting fact: the caterpillar digests itself and turns into ooze. As a...
View ArticleFaith and Works
A renown Protestant theologian recently accused the Eastern Orthodox Church of teaching a “cursed” theology of salvation by faith and works. I have seen such attacks on the Orthodox Church before, and...
View ArticleThe Desert of Our Present Life
After passing through the Red Sea, the Hebrews were within a couple hundred miles, or a two week journey on foot, from their destined Promised Land. Yet it took them forty long years of circling in...
View ArticleThe Tao of Christ: A Story from the East
Below is an excerpt from a letter I wrote to a good friend of mine who is not a Christian, but who has been on a quest for spiritual truth and authenticity for many years. In it, I try to express the...
View ArticleA New Beginning in Stillness
Abba Poeman said about Abba Pior, “Everyday he makes a new beginning.” This New Year’s Day, I ask myself, “What is it that keeps me from making a new beginning, not only of 2018, but of everyday?” When...
View ArticleThoughts on Humility – Elder Thaddeus
God is a mystery to all beings. God is in us, and that is why we are a mystery to our own selves. God reveals Himself only to the meek and humble. He is present everwhere, and He is a mystery. We...
View ArticleWhere did the Christian Bible come from?
The convenient “package” of sacred scriptures that we call the Bible did not suddenly appear during the time of the apostles. Numerous Gospels, Epistles, Revelations, and other writings were originally...
View ArticleOur Twopence Fasting
Today’s Gospel reading of the poor woman who places two mites in the temple offering is a good reminder for us as we approach Great Lent. The passage states: And He looked up and saw the rich putting...
View ArticleFixing Ourselves First
Many have accomplished mighty acts, raised the dead, toiled for the conversion of the erring, and have wrought great wonders; and by their hands they have led many to the knowledge of God. Yet after...
View ArticleRaising Others to Virtue
A curious practice is advised by St. Isaac the Syrian. He essentially tells us to speak what we want to see in others. He writes, When you meet your fellow man, constrain yourself to pay him more...
View ArticleThoughts on Humility – Elder Thaddeus
God is a mystery to all beings. God is in us, and that is why we are a mystery to our own selves. God reveals Himself only to the meek and humble. He is present everwhere, and He is a mystery. We...
View ArticleWhere did the Christian Bible come from?
The convenient “package” of sacred scriptures that we call the Bible did not suddenly appear during the time of the apostles. Numerous Gospels, Epistles, Revelations, and other writings were originally...
View ArticleOur Twopence Fasting
Today’s Gospel reading of the poor woman who places two mites in the temple offering is a good reminder for us as we approach Great Lent. The passage states: And He looked up and saw the rich putting...
View ArticleFixing Ourselves First
Many have accomplished mighty acts, raised the dead, toiled for the conversion of the erring, and have wrought great wonders; and by their hands they have led many to the knowledge of God. Yet after...
View ArticleRaising Others to Virtue
A curious practice is advised by St. Isaac the Syrian. He essentially tells us to speak what we want to see in others. He writes, When you meet your fellow man, constrain yourself to pay him more...
View ArticleThe Warrior’s Heart
In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu – the life-long friend of Gilgamesh – is lying upon his sick bed, slowly dying of disease. He laments, “I shall not die like a man fallen in battle; I feared to fall,...
View ArticleThe Promise in Leaf Buds
Were seasons to last years, and the full cycle of them a decade, still we could look upon a simple maple tree on the harshest winter day and witness the glowing red leaf buds. They are both a promise...
View ArticleBeating the Devil
I think there comes a point in every person’s life in which they feel they cannot keep fighting the same sin over and over. Recently, a young man admitted that he was thinking about quitting church...
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