It scared me to death! I was convinced something was lurking in the dark in my room, and I wasn't about to shut my eyes! After all, it was only my constant vigilance and watchfulness that was keeping whatever was "out there" away from me, right? Imagine my surprise when sleep finally took me and…
Fr. Barnabas Powell
My daughter sits in front with me in the car many times as I drive. And she is old enough now to notice that daddy sometimes has a challenge with patience with other drivers! She's learned my "triggers." Well, yesterday, she looked over at me when a person in front of us didn't move when…
There's one sure way for any politician to get an applause line in a stump speech. All he or she has to do is say "I support our troops!" And rightly so. The brave men and women who serve in our military perform a vital function in the preservation of our liberty, and we, as…
The old saying is "You can pick your friends, but you're stuck with your relatives." Oh the volumes that have been written about dysfunctional families! Family dynamics is one of the most interesting aspects of psychology to me because when I look at my own family I see a tapestry of joy, love, confusion, pain,…
There is a powerful word in the wisdom of the Orthodox Faith that acts as a real warning to you and me. It is the word "prelest." It literally means "the state of spiritual delusion or deception." This is a great spiritual illness in the teaching of the Church and is to be recognized and…
Ever heard the saying "It's all or nothing!" This perspective says you have to choose in life to be all in oir get all out!
But I wonder how far we can really push this insight. I think there's something better for those of us who follow Jesus Christ. I prefer "All AND Nothing." You see,…
What is it about close relationships that either blind you or enlighten you? What I mean is, I've known folks who were so close to someone else that they were absolutely blind to that other person's faults. I've seen it get so bad that the two people were so enmeshed with each other that they…
"OK, so what's the catch?" The guy had just given me his best pitch for a timeshare vacation package at the resort we were enjoying in the Dominican Republic. (Beautiful place, by the way). They told us that if we would go to this presentation that we could get exclusive access to the 5 star…
"Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty." So says the 19th century writer and art critic John Ruskin. But is he right? Well, I think so, as long as all those important words are defined properly!
But what if there was a way to understand WHY we should endure? Frankly, most people give up…
I've always been fascinated by philosophy and logical argument constructs. It seems to me that the ability to use one's intellect to worship God through excellence and discipline is a very great accomplishment, one I've always lacked the patience and strength to fully embrace. One particular part of philosophical argument that grabs my attention is…