“It’s not a “what.” It’s a “Who.” And with that caveat, my initial lesson in becoming Orthodox began. You see, I always thought that the Christian Faith was about giving mental assent to certain doctrinal precepts and saying the “proper” words. I thought that I could argue and use...
I remember the first time I heard the prayer “For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger, and necessity, let us pray to the Lord.” I thought “What a curious prayer?” Why would the Church have us pray this at every litany? What is really being asked for here?...
The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint. That means endurance is key. But how do we build endurance in the spiritual life? How do we stick with it to the end? This is such an important aspect to embrace so that we aren’t crushed when living the...
Do you know the difference between a barrier and a threshold? It’s actually quite an important distinction. There’s actually some really important contemplation to be done here. Boundaries are necessary for healthy relationships BUT those boundaries need thresholds to stay healthy. I can’t tell you how many people have...
Growing up in that sliver of Christian sub-culture of the American South in the 70s and 80s, that was the time of the Left Behind novels and constant speculation about who is the Anti-Christ and if Jesus’ Second Coming was just around the corner. Was Russia going to invade...
Christ is risen! Paul Tillich once said, “Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is one element of faith.” Interesting! Real life is filled with moments of doubt and any honest person has to admit that doubt rears its ugly head in our lives from time to time. The mistake...
Christ is Ascended! There was an article recently in the Wall Street Journal talking about the noticeable increase in the amount of Americans converting to Orthodoxy. And one of the more amazing discoveries is that these converts are embracing the Orthodox Faith in spite of having no cultural connection...
Christ is risen! (On this Leave-Taking of the Feast of Pascha!) One of my very first jobs was at the fast-food restaurant Burger King! Man, that was a hoot. I loved the fact that I could work there after school and on weekends and get a free hamburger too!...
Christ is risen! In the heady days of the Enlightenment in Europe, the elites and the educated were convinced humanity had turned a corner away from the silly superstitions of religion and towards the “mature” and “enlightened” attitudes of the materialistic world. Science would lead to a “Golden Age”...
Christ is risen! The old apocryphal Chinese curse seems innocuous at first, but when you really think about it, it is truly a curse: “May you live in interesting times.” To wish for someone to live in times of turmoil and upheaval really is an ironic wish. But most...
