I love what Mark Twain once said: "Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." Yep, I know what he means. I squirm under the light of someone who's life radiates a goodness I so often wish I had and all too often do not!
My best friend use…
		What is the significance of the phrase "not made with hands?" We see this in our lesson today and we even see an Orthodox ikon of the same name. You know the ikon I'm talking about. It is the ikon of the Lord's Face that the Lord sent to Abgar, the leader of the city…
		I love this quote from Jimi Hendrix: "When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace." 
It seems we hear a lot about peace and how to achieve it through human history, but it always seems to be just beyond the grasp of we humans. And yet, we know…
		She was always cheery. It seemed no matter what, she had a smile on her face. I could count on some inspirational quote or some uplifting phrase every morning as we worked together. And then, the bottom fell out of her life. I watched as her smile began to fade and her words of encouragement…
		In 1861 Robert E. Lee wrote, “With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home.” In the end, he simply couldn't raise his sword against…
		In the beginning, God said.... And with that action, God has been using speaking and hearing to start the process of metania (repentance) in the hearts of those who have "ears to hear."
There are so many examples of this pattern of God's actions that there are too many to mention them all. God "called" Abraham…
		In World War 1 the two opposing armies would dig in and conduct what was then called "trench warfare." The land between the two armies entrenched for the fight was called "no man's land" because anybody who tried to attack would be shot by the other side!
Not a pleasant place to be.
But recently I was…
		"Well, THAT was unexpected!" I remember saying this when I and my friends went to a particular movie together years ago. We thought this was going to be a comedy, but it turned out to be quite an inappropriate drama. We all decided to leave when we realized we weren't going to have the experience…
		Do you mind if I get on a soapbox today? Thanks!
Someone can be truly sincere AND sincerely wrong. It doesn't help good people to be more concerned about their fragile feelings and ignore the danger they are in by heading in the wrong direction. Sometimes, speaking the truth in love is unpleasant and unwelcome. But…
		Dear Faith Encouraged Family,
The older I get the more I struggle with the challenges with reaching our youth with the power and the importance of our precious Orthodox faith.
One of my greatest tools to help me address this challenge is the Crossroads Summer program.
Please make sure your parish priest and your Youth ministry know about…
		