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Ancient Faith Blogs presents a select group of writers and thinkers who regularly post on matters of theology, culture, art, parish, and family life.
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Faith Encouraged
Salty Speech
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“Salt makes people thirsty. People are thirsting for more of God’s word. We are the salt, the salt of the earth!” I remember hearing that song as a teenager and thinking “so THAT’S what that means!” Jesus did call we Christians the “salt of the earth” and in His days on earth, salt wasn’t just something that added flavor; it was a valuable commodity that was used to preserve food, provide for…
The Morning Offering
The Mystery of the Church
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And the corporate nature of salvation There is a certain emptiness in trying to live the Christian life outside the life of the Church. This is because it is impossible to truly live as a Christian without the Church. The reading of the scriptures, and our commitment to prayer, are important foundations in the life of a Christian, but they…
Time Eternal
Time Unbearable: On Impatience and the Fall (Guest Post)
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This morning I have the distinct pleasure of welcoming my colleague, Dr. Daniel G. Opperwall, to the Time Eternal blog! As you’ll find in his bio at the end of this post, Daniel and I both teach at the Orthodox School of Theology at Trinity College in Toronto and have both published books through Ancient Faith. Today, he…
Faith Encouraged
ALL MINE!
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“MINE!” The toddler was adamant that that toy belonged ONLY to her! She had no intentions of allowing anyone else to play with her toy! Now that’s a familiar situation of any parent of small children or any teacher in kindergarten! But that’s also sometimes the unspoken attitude of too many of us when it comes to the spiritual treasures of our Faith. “THAT belongs to US!” Really? Look at our Lesson…
The Morning Offering
Orthodoxy and Beauty
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The inseparability of Orthodoxy and beauty Orthodox Christianity attracted me from my very first encounter with the magnificence of its churches and the grandeur of her divine services. Having grown up amid the natural beauty of Northern Idaho, with mountains and lakes that could take our breath away, I’d previously found inspiration primarily in the world of nature. Orthodoxy and…
Faith Encouraged
The Spear of Destiny
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Everybody knows that whoever possesses the Spear of Destiny, has ultimate power! Their armies can never be defeated and power will be theirs forever, as long as they have the Spear! You know the Spear I’m talking about, don’t you? This is the Spear that pierced the Lord’s side at His crucifixion! Great Hollywood script material! Of course, this mythology surrounding the Spear of St. Longinus all depends on a view of the world…
The Morning Offering
Truth
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Embracing Absolute Truth In an age when many people think truth is relative, the knowledge that there is such a thing as absolute truth, is comforting. The freedom that comes with the knowledge that we are able to embrace teachings that are a continuation of an unbroken line dating back to Apostolic times, is liberating. As Orthodox Christians, we are…
Roads from Emmaus
What We Own Is Sacred Because We Are Sacred
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Sunday of the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, October 14, 2018 Titus 3:8-15; Luke 8:5-15 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. One of the accusations that certain non-Orthodox Christians level against the Orthodox is that we worship idols. They say that when we bow before an icon or kiss it or…
No Other Foundation
Love, Peace, Joy - 2
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In the last blog post we looked at love, peace, and joy as the defining components of a Christian life. It is these realities that constitute fundamental discipleship to Christ, not obedience to rules or fear of contamination, however helpful rules may be. We have examined what real love is; now we look at real peace. As with love, peace has undergone a radical redefinition. It now means the absence of war—a…
Faith Encouraged
Have You Learned?
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Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill” album was one of my favorites years ago. And my favorite song on that album was “You Learn.” The chorus is going through my mind today: “You live you learn, you love you learn. You cry you learn, you lose you learn. You bleed you learn, you scream you learn.” Another quote going through my mind is “I’ve succeeded and I’ve learned. I’ve never failed.” Think about…
The Morning Offering
Impoverished Christianity
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Impoverished institutional Christianity and the rise of Islam in the West It has been reported in the press that one out of four people now living in Norway are immigrants from Islamic countries. The response to this dramatic change in demographics is seen in the rise of extremist nationalistic political parties, not unlike the Nazis of World War II. The…
The Morning Offering
The Acquisition of Wisdom
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The acquisition of wisdom is not based on age It has been said that wisdom comes with age, and to some degree this is quite true. I’ve often had conversations with old college friends about how nice it would have been to have had the knowledge and wisdom we have now, back when we were young. Knowing what we know…
Eastern Christian Insights
Mindfulness in the Garden of our Souls: Homily for the Sunday of Holy Fathers of Seventh Ecumenical Council & Fourth Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church
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Titus 3:8-15; Luke 8:5-15 If the Lord’s disciples had trouble grasping the meaning of the parable of the sower, we should not be surprised if we do also. Unlike them, we do not live in an agricultural society in which people were familiar with planting seeds and growing crops. In that time and place, there was no doubt that life itself depended on the success of raising…
Glory to God for All Things
When Miracles Ceased
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One of the stranger ideas that accompanied the Reformation, was the notion that miracles had ended at the time of the New Testament’s completion. Never stated as a doctrinal fact in the mainstream of Protestantism, it remained a quiet assumption, particularly when joined with an anti-Roman Catholicism in which the various visions, weeping statues, and saints lives were considered to be fabrications of a corrupt priesthood. Stories abounded during the Reformation about…
The Morning Offering
Sobornost
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Divine-Human Oneness Sobornost is a word that means spiritual harmony based on freedom and unity in love. It is a necessary component in our membership within the Body of Christ, for if we are not bound together in love, our freedom becomes our enemy, separating us from others, and, ultimately from Christ Himself. This concept was so important to the…
Time Eternal
A Prayer for Writers, Speakers, and Scholars
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I’ve already posted several times (here and here) about the Engaging Orthodoxy panel last weekend at North Park University. I’m still reflecting on some of the topics that were talked about, but perhaps one of my personal highlights of the morning occurred not during the speaking portions but after. As the talks came to a close, our moderator,…
Father Bill's Blog
87. "How do we teach traditional Christianity so it is accessible to culture without selling out to culture?"- Part 1
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How’s that for a kicky title for a Blog Post? I hope you’re still reading. That was the ponderous topic I was given to speak on at an Anglican-Orthodox conference at Nashotah House Episcopal Seminary here in Wisconsin, on October 9, 2009. Prologue for Orthodox Readers… …since, for the most part, I don’t know who all reads this blog. Have you ever wondered exactly how our Orthodox Church manages to remain steady in…
Faith Encouraged
Forgetting AND Straining
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“You simply HAVE to get active! I mean it, father. If you value your health AND your ministry. You HAVE to start moving more!” How I HATE these annual physicals! But seriously, the older I get the more my metabolism slows down and the more I have to work hard to stay active. The truth is I’ve never been the athlete in the family. I was always the bookworm, the “good student”…
The Morning Offering
The Holy Oblation
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The place where heaven and earth are united As a priest, I bear the awesome burden of offering the Holy Oblation before the Throne of God, on behalf of all the people who’s names are submitted to the monastery, and who are Orthodox. I offer for my spiritual children, and even for the whole world. I commemorate my own beloved…
Praying in the Rain
Reading Spiritual Texts: Knowing That You Don't Know
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“What brings sweetness is harder to perceive than that which brings bitterness” Abbess Arsenia I am reading a collection of letters by Abbess Arsenia, a nineteenth century Russian nun who acted as a spiritual mentor for Peter Brianchaninov, brother of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov is perhaps most famous today for his book, The Arena, in which he lays out some very practical and insightful advice for monks and anyone zealous…
Raising Saints
All-American Slava
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When I married into a Serbian Orthodox family, I gained a Krsna Slava in the bargain, and now I wish everyone had one! You see, many years ago (perhaps a thousand years!), my husband’s ancestors converted to Christianity; that first household or tribe was baptized on the feast day of St. Luke the Evangelist. Rather than assign a patron saint to each member individually, ever since that first baptism, our family has…
Faith Encouraged
I Need a Guide!
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OK, so I have a hard time asking for directions. But, hey, since the invention of the GPS, I don’t have to! My man’s ego is protected by technology once again! Seriously, I do admit to not being crazy about asking for help. It feels like weakness to me and that plugs into my own weakness and pride. I guess that’s why I keep getting into situations where I have no choice…
The Morning Offering
Changing the World
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Changing the world one person at a time The Elder Sophroni of Essex said he believed in changing the world, one person at a time. These words are in agreement with those of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, who said acquiring inner peace causes a thousand around us to be saved. As long as we concentrate on the failings of others,…
Faith Encouraged
God Had Mercy!
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“The best-laid plans of mice and men…” Most of us at least try to achieve a “planned life.” We plan for college. We plan our careers. We plan our relationships. We are forever warned against haphazard living, and rightly so because a haphazard life tends toward chaos and misery. Even our faith has all the earmarks of a clear path; a way of life, filled with clear instructions and a narrow plan for…
The Morning Offering
The Abuser
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No one is required by God to remain in an abusive relationship The best way to respond to another person’s anger is not to withdraw, but to move towards them with kindness. There are times when distancing yourself from someone who is angry, is necessary, for there is absolutely no good reason for you to move towards another, when they…
Praying in the Rain
Our Church / Our Family
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Time Eternal
Dying and the Virtues and Travel Anxiety
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Going on a trip is a lot like dying. Especially when you’re plagued with a mild but neurotically persistent fear of flying like I am. (Let’s just say I watched the crash scene in Castaway one too many times on the big screen during my formative teen years.) Because I travel fairly often, I have various ways of dealing…