Author page: Fr. Barnabas Powell

Christ is risen! I HATE clutter. It makes me miserable because it makes me feel like I'm out of control. And yet, I've known people who are actually calmed by clutter. It makes them feel "at home." So, when I'm communicating with these kinds of people, I have to remember that not everyone is like me…

Christ is risen! It was a dramatic moment in the courtroom. I was a witness for the prosecution since I had been the arresting officer in the case. But I was only one witness and the defendant was insisting he wasn't the one who was driving the car when the accident occurred. Then, another witness came…

Christ is risen! He was wondering why I was looking at him in such an intense way. He had just said something that I completely misunderstood, and, if he meant what I thought he meant, well, let's just say we may need to step outside! Once he realized I misunderstood him, his confusion turned to panic and…

Christ is risen! There's a great quote by Dan Millman "I learned that we can do anything, but we can't do everything... at least not at the same time. So think of your priorities, not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them. Timing is everything!" I can't tell you how many times…

Christ is risen! He looked at me and said something I never expected: "Conflict is necessary for close friendship and healthy relationships." What? I hated hearing that. In fact, it made me question whether I was trusting the right person with this particular challenge. It was a sticky situation that meant I had to confront someone…

Christ is risen! There is actually a mental health condition called thanatophobia - the fear of death. This phobia drives those who suffer from this malady to be afraid of doing anything. But, in reality, having anxiety about one's mortality is actually normal in us humans. Why do you think that is? Could it be that a…

Christ is risen! "Pie in the Sky thinking is bad!" Well, that's what he insisted was true. He insisted that my claim that we should live our lives with an eternal perspective was wrong because he insisted I would neglect the "right now" for the "Pie in the sky." Even the great poet Henry David Thoreau, on…

Christ is risen! In the church I was raised we just didn't do the Lord's Supper very often. In fact, there are years where I can't remember if we did it at all through a particular year. And that didn't strike me as strange or unusual. After all, it was just a "memorial" of a past…