I love this Armed Forces Motto: “The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.” Isn’t that great? In other words, when you put the time into preparing for battle, you are more ready to face the fight. And what is true for physical fighting is...
"It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones, after all." So says the author of Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder. But life is so very often not simple. It's complicated and difficult and filled with so many motivations all mixed together...
I've never yet heard a politician boldly proclaim "Vote for me and I'll take away your freedom!" They are always going on about "protecting democracy" "restoring your freedom" or "protecting your rights." Even those politicians bought and paid for by special interests are desperate to tell you they aren't...
Don't kid yourself, the spiritual life is no cakewalk. And by that I mean there is a real struggle involved. To put it like our Orthodox Fathers said - it is war. But not the war we think of nowadays. No, this is a "war" with myself where I have...
The old saying is "There ain't no way to put lipstick on a pig." It meant that no matter how hard you try, you can't make a horrible situation better by pretending it isn't "all that bad." It just doesn't work. It's like the awkward conversations with those who...
Why do you think the way you think? In other words, what forms your opinions, priorities, and actions. Why do you choose what you choose? All of these questions go to the foundation of how you live your life. And if we don't periodically examine the foundational formation of...
Have you ever heard of the story of the donkey who saved a prophet’s life by talking to him? And you thought your dreams were strange! Seriously, this powerful story in the First Testament is worth your time! Read the whole story in Numbers 22. To make a long story...
In our nihilistic age, with all the turmoil of our society from pandemics to politics to violence in the streets, we moderns seem to be having a crisis of purpose, a crisis of meaning! I was having a conversation the other day with a dear, educated man, who also...
How do you think? Or, a better question is, What has formed the way you think? SDcientists call this question "epistemology" from the Greek word "episteme." How you think flows from what has shaped how you think. So, what do you allow to shape your thinking? Because how you...
There was a day when I relished a good theological argument. Jousting with this or that “opponent” over this or that doctrine was as much fun as it was challenging. My favorite fights were over questions about the Trinity or predestination or even the very question about what was...
