Faith Encouraged
2 Paths; One Good, One Bad
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“Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.” This quote by Henry David Thoreau is beautiful. But I have a problem with it since it seems to suggest that any path will do as long as it’s your own path. In fact, it seems our own day has fallen into the false notion that “all paths lead to God.” Of course, nothing could be…
The Word of the Day
Two Paths to Take In Life– But One Choice to Make (Fri. March 17)
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The word of the day is “but .” Both wickedness and righteousness earn a just reward that is suited to them.  In our reading of Proverbs 10:31-11:12, we learn this principle of God’s justice. The wise sage of Proverbs writes, “The righteousness of the upright saves them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their own schemes (OAB vs. 6). Today we examine the contrast between the consequences of following the path of wisdom and straying from it in the way of wickedness. The Treachery of Wickedness In today’s reading, we find that wickedness is full of schemes, plots, and treachery. By these measures, evil strives to get ahead in this world.  But the sage warns that these designs are useless for two reasons.…
Faith Encouraged
Wise Lips and Foolish Sons
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My grandmother used to confuse me when she’d comment about a particular friend of my grandfather’s. She’d look at the man as he was driving away from their home after a visit and say “He’s a smart boy but he ain’t got no horse sense.” “Horse sense?” I’d hear that and wonder what in heaven’s name that could mean. It was years later I learned that this was a way of saying that…
No Other Foundation
Guts and Perversity
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The earliest Church, from the days of the apostles and into the first centuries, had an abundant share of guts and what everyone else regarded as perversity. Its claims were so outrageous that it was hard for the average Jew or Greek or Roman to take them seriously. Those claims began immediately after the crucifixion of Jesus. A small group of His followers—about 120 in number, hardly enough to show up in…
Faith Encouraged
Bring Every Thought Captive to Christ - Sunday's Homily
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On this Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas, we are confronted with the mystery of God being BOTH Unknowable AND Knowable, and this mystery invites us to the awesome reality that we can be in true communion with the God Who loves us and comes among us. This spiritual discipline of taming our thoughts allows us to avoid the terrible tragedy of neglecting our Great Salvation. P.S. I know there are focus problems.…
Faith Encouraged
Stolen Water, Secret Bread
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Oscar Wilde said that “Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes.” And yet, we don’t seem to learn from our mistakes very often. Over and over again, we revisit some bad choice either until it kills us or we actually learn to stop doing that. I have a dear friend who grieves a loved one gripped by addiction to narcotics. He once confided in me he was steeling himself…
The Word of the Day
Inside the Houses of Folly and Wisdom (Wed. March 15)
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The word of the day is “folly.” Yesterday, we heard Wisdom summon us to her banquet. Today, in our reading of Proverbs 9:12-18, we hear a corresponding invitation of a foolish woman.  This woman, whom we will call “Folly,” calls out to all who pass by, “Whoever is simple let him turn in here” (NKJV vs. 16). Today we will contrast the appeals of these two representatives of Wisdom and foolishness and the consequences of answering each. The Enticements of Wisdom and Folly Both Wisdom and Folly offer enticements to visit them. Wisdom sends out her maidens with the invitation to “turn aside to me” (OSB 9:4).  Likewise, Folly sits at the highest places of the city and cries out…
Faith Encouraged
3 Ways to Embrace Wisdom
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Whenever you see the term “social justice” you have to realize that this phrase is PACKED with underlying subtext. To ignore this is to be either ignorant or dishonest, neither of which commends itself to being a wise person. Recently there was the usual dust-up over a very public argument over this phrase and it boiled down to what it always boils down to Nature or Nurture. Of course, the wise answer…
Glory to God for All Things
The Temptations of Identity
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“Who am I?” The question of who we are is deceptively simple. When we begin to press the question, almost every answer that we can give is something other than the self. When we leave the (ideally) intimate communion of our early years and begin to forge our way into a social setting, an uncertainty begins to be our social companion. This questioning of identity (which is fairly normal) becomes the seedbed…
The Word of the Day
What Do We Seek? (Mon. March 13)
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The word of the day is “seek.” Today in our reading of Proverbs 8:1-21, wisdom assures us that “those who seek me diligently will find me” (vs. 21). As we continue our Lenten time of prayer and fasting, we might reflect on this matter of seeking. To do so, let’s jump forward to the Gospel of John and the story of the first followers of Jesus, a passage that gives us clarity about seeking and finding. The Lord Asks, “What Do You Seek?” Recall that in John Chapter 1, John the Baptist gave his prophetic witness, “I have seen and testified that this (Jesus) is the Son of God” (John 1:44), and again he said, “Behold the Lamb of God.”…
Faith Encouraged
4 Traits of True Wisdom
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I love this quote from Confucius “A man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.” That’s good. You see, it isn’t wrong to not know something; it’s wrong to not care whether you know or not. A wise person is a person who has at least the curiosity to ask questions and learn from past discoveries. But a…
Remembering Sion
The Fullness of Christ
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Today, on the second Sunday of Great Lent, the Holy Church has appointed us to keep the feast of St. Gregory Palamas, the great 14th-century archbishop of Thessalonica. He is almost certainly the most famous of the Church Fathers who lived after the first millenium of Christianity. Although he was extremely well-educated in his youth under the patronage of the Emperor himself, nevertheless — like all true theologians — his real formation…
The Word of the Day
The Word of the Lord, Not the Words of Angels (Sun. March 12)
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The word of the day is “angels.” So many voices are shouting at us these days that we are bound to distrust, discount, distrust, and disregard them all.  But do the words of the Lord also get lost amidst all the messages that assail us?  Today in our reading of Hebrews 1:10-2:3, the apostle compares the word of angels with the Word of the Lord. He writes, “If the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord” (NKJV 2:2-4). Today’s reading gives us reason to pay careful attention to “every word which proceeds from the…
Eastern Christian Insights
Lent is About Nothing Less Than Knowing God from the Depths of our Hearts: Homily for the Second Sunday of Great Lent with Commemoration of St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica, in the Orthodox Church
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Hebrews 1:10-2:3; Mark 2:1-12      We will misunderstand these blessed weeks of Lent if we assume that they are about helping us to think more clearly about our Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection. We will be even more confused if we think that our intensified prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and repentance somehow satisfy the demands of divine justice for how we have disobeyed God’s laws.  Quite to the contrary, this…
Shepherding our Little Flock
The Prayer of Saint Ephrem (Adapted)
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O Lord and Master of my Life, take from me the spirit of sloth, faintheartedness, lust of power, and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to thy servant. Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother for Thou art holy unto ages of ages. Forgive me a sinner! A blessed Great Lent to all…
The Word of the Day
Beware of Over-Confidence (Sat. March 11)
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The word of the day is “beware.” “An evil heart of unbelief:” who among us would admit that we are susceptible to having such a hardened heart (OSB vs. 12-13)?  After all, we are members of the Body of Christ and are “partakers of Christ’s nature” (OSB vs. 14). But in our reading of Hebrews 3:12-16, the apostle warns about possessing a heart that has “departed from the living God” (OSB vs. 12). He writes, “Beware lest anyone of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (OSB vs. 13). We Can Possess and Lose It Our reading today warns against over-confidence.  False assurance treats faith as a permanent possession, something that cannot be taken away from us. Yes, we have…
The Word of the Day
How to Fight the Fires of the Passions with Fire (Fri. March 10)
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The word of the day is “burn.” Today in our reading of Proverbs 6:20-7:1, we hear a graphic bit of wisdom, “Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? (NKJV vs. 27).  We shudder at the thought. We feel the fiery heat burning through our clothing into our chest. We smell the searing flesh. We feel the pain of a thousand knives slicing into our tender body. Who would do such a thing? The wise sage of Proverbs observes that getting involved in an adulterous affair is like clutching live coals to our chest.  Those who commit adultery, the sage promises, will be severely burned. Adulterers will earn “wounds and dishonor,” “reproach that will not be…
Faith Encouraged
Here's Your Sign
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When I was growing up in a small, Pentecostal church in Atlanta, I was amazed at the number of folks in American Christianity really preoccupied with the “signs of the times.” It seemed that each event in politics or world events “signaled” the “end times.” Fortunately, my pastor was one of the few Pentecostal ministers who simply refused to jump on this bandwagon. He taught us not to be preoccupied with this…
Faith Encouraged
The Childish Fantasy of Fairness
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I don’t believe in “fairness.” Really! I really don’t believe in it at all. Oh, I get the concept, don’t get me wrong, but I simply don’t believe humans are capable of it. At least not yet, anyway. In fact, the older I get the more I’m convinced that the constant screaming for fairness is a sure sign of both immaturity and bitter envy, neither of which makes for a strong person…
The Word of the Day
How to Wake Up from the Slumber of Sloth (Thurs. March 9)
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The word of the day is “slumber.” Most of us have times when the fervor of our faith dies down, and we find that we are just going through the motions of religious practice. In those times of spiritual lethargy, we are sleepwalking in the Spirit. Today’s reading of Proverbs 6:3-20 includes a warning against the lethargy that rests and sleeps when it is time for activity and work. The sage writes, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man” (NKJV vs. 10).  Today, we will apply this admonition to the spiritual vice of “sloth.” We will…
Faith Encouraged
You Shall See Greater Things - Sunday's Homily
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On this Sunday of Orthodoxy where we celebrate the Triumph of Orthodoxy and the restoration of the Holy Icons, we are invited by Christ to see greater things because God becomes visible for our salvation. Our great Faith is meant to enchant the world with greater things, and we are meant to make the invisible visible through the great Normal Orthodoxy of the Incarnate God Who comes to recreate the world and…
No Other Foundation
Reflecting on the Jesus Revolution
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I sometimes tell inquirers at St. Herman’s when they ask that I began my Christian life in earnest as a Jesus People—which usually results in blank stares, since most of them are too young to have heard of the cultural phenomenon known as the Jesus People Movement. The movement has recently come up again for notice in a film called “Jesus Revolution”, based on the true events of the founding of Calvary…
Walking an Ancient Path
Too Many Words: Our Noisy Hearts
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Good strength to you during this second week of Great Lent. I hope you have consulted with your spiritual father regarding your Lenten journey and the disciplines you are practicing. All together now: Prayer, fasting, almsgiving! You’ve probably noticed that the lectionary includes much longer Bible passages than the rest of the year, and we begin the fast with Old Testament readings in Genesis, Proverbs, and Isaiah. You may also be trying…
Faith Encouraged
Isaiah Preaches Fire and Brimstone!
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In front of the Supreme Court is the statue of “Lady Justice.” This is an ancient symbol of the purpose of law-based society. Notice the “Lady” is blindfolded. In one hand she holds the scales and in the other a sword. The symbolism is clear. The application of the Law will be blind and won’t show favoritism AND the law will be enforced. No wonder St. Paul declares about the authorities “if…
The Word of the Day
Every Word and Deed is Significant in God’s Eyes (Wed. March 8)
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The word of the day is “eyes.”  We attribute importance to the events that advance the world’s history.  And we count the occasions of births, graduations, weddings, and funerals as having special meaning. But do the seemingly trivial moments of our lives have any lasting significance? Does what we say and do on ordinary days count for anything?  In our reading of Proverbs 5:15-6:3, the wise poet teaches that the Almighty sees all we do from day to day.  Nothing escapes His scrutiny. The sage writes, “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all his paths” (NKJV vs. 2). Today, we consider what it means that God sees everything we do, hears everything we…
Glory to God for All Things
My New Book Has Been Released!
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Faith Encouraged
Blinded By Prosperity
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Lech Walesa was the Polish electrician who helped found the Solidarity Trade Union in 1983. This was the first independent trade union in the old Soviet Union and became the political movement that drove communism out of Poland. While visiting the United States after becoming the 2nd president of a free Poland he commented on the wealth of the US: “You have riches and freedom here but I feel no sense of…
