Nearly Orthodox
Day Three: Vanity
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I began coloring my hair when I was 14. The house we lived in had belonged to my grandparents and my grandmother left a bottle of her “Fanci-full” temporary hair color under the sink. My pre-teen hair color stared me in the face every morning before school. My grandmother called it “dishwater blonde” and that term came first to mind as I stared into the mirror to begin another day in middle…
Nearly Orthodox
Day Two: Fasting
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In the middle of summer there is no better place to be than Margie’s Candies. If you live in Chicago then you may already know this. If you travel to Chicago you should not miss this neighborhood treasure. When we moved back to Chicago from Nashville two years ago it was one of the first places I brought the kids. It was a celebration after a rough road home. The trip to…
Nearly Orthodox
Day One: Beards
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It’s not cheating for me to post an excerpt from my book, “Nearly Orthodox” (coming soon from Ancient Faith Publishers!) Ok, it’s a little bit cheating but when I read about the prompt from the Preacher’s Institute for today’s topic it jumped into my brain. So, there’s that. ………. The first time I rode a two-wheeled bike it was with my older brother J.D. standing behind me, both hands on the back…
Nearly Orthodox
30 (40) days of blogging...
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With the Nativity Fast upon us I’ve taken up a challenge set forth from the folks at the Preacher’s Institute to write posts every day for the length of this fast. Now, considering I’m not a preacher it might seem a strange fit but I threw my hat into the ring and they answered with “yes” so there you have it. Beginning tomorrow I’ll post a short piece based on the writing…
Nearly Orthodox
in lieu of certainty...
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Thoughts on faith and truth and the dangers of certainty on Mrs Metaphor today…
Nearly Orthodox
on being contented...
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“Faith does not need to push the river because faith is able to trust that there is a river. The river is flowing. We are in it.” ―Richard Rohr I didn’t even realize the dryer had caught fire. There was no smoke that I could see, no signal from the smoke detector. The only tip-off was the faint smell, a chemical or charred scent, like an aftertaste of flint and fire. The…
Nearly Orthodox
hating the flesh...
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Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves…
Nearly Orthodox
perspective...
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Last night I dreamt of Liturgy. Recently my priest got a haircut and beard trim. Trim is perhaps a conservative word for it. A trim is what’s required for an average neighbor’s yard in the suburbs just after a small bout of spring rain. Andy Griffith gets a trim from Floyd the barber. Father John had a full on makeover. I had to ask my pal, Toni, who the visiting priest was…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Fall Speaking Engagements: New Jersey, Georgia, SE Pennsylvania
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I’ve got several upcoming speaking engagements this Fall. If you’re in the area, I’d love to see you: October 19: Sharing Orthodoxy in the New World: Conversations on Faith with Family and Friends (a conference on Orthodox evangelism) at Assumption Orthodox Church in Clifton, New Jersey. October 26: The Church in the Bible & The Church After the Bible (two separate talks) (event page…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Thoughts from just south of Dunder Mifflin
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I watched the series finale of “The Office” (US) last night (yes, after watching the entire series). And I have to admit that I got a little sentimental at all the Jim/Pam stuff of the last few episodes. I very much appreciated that, during the course of their marriage, the writers gave them some real problems and that Pam even says in the final…
Nearly Orthodox
busy work...
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Every morning I stumble into prayer, in fits and starts, in sickness and in health. I am only awake in the quiet of the school day morning for about 5 minutes, just long enough to start the coffee and nod a quick “whassup” to the icon stand. It’s okay, they know where I live. They know I weave and bob around piles of laundry and worry. They know I’ll be back again…
Nearly Orthodox
Memoria...
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A year ago, give or take a few days, I was welcomed into the Orthodox faith. On that day I took the name of Saint Theodora of Vasta, whose story echoed in me the moment I read it. Theodora came to the aid of her village while it was under attack, she dressed as a man to fight for its survival and became mortally wounded. As she lay dying it was said…
Nearly Orthodox
love and marriage...
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I married into this family. When I first met Orthodoxy I was taken by its beauty, its long tradition, its steadiness. I was taken by its ability to transcend the chaos of my life, of the world, of the pressure that pushed in on me every minute of every day. When I stand in Liturgy I catch glimpses of this- the eternal, the now, the not yet. I love it. I chose…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy 20% off until Labor Day
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Nearly Orthodox
"Inked"- an excerpt...
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This small piece comes from a chapter in Nearly Orthodox…now in it’s 4th round of revisions on my end. It’s coming together, words tightening up, taking deep, full breaths and small sips of water mixed with brandy when things get heavy. For now, though, this is where my brain is hovering so that I thought I’d let you take a peek. The skin’s reaction to the needle and ink is to seal…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
A Decade that Belongs
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Ten years ago today, Nicole Ann Boury married me. After ten years, I’m still not entirely sure why she did it. I know I haven’t always made her happy. I know I’ve many times made her unhappy. But even through all the uncertainty and instability of the past ten years—which is not very much for some, but is for us—we still belong. Over this…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Rootedness and Uprootedness: A Lament
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In the past few weeks, I’ve learned of impending relocations of more relatives west of the Mississippi River, including one family that has been in the same state for decades and one elderly relative who has even been in the same house since the mid-1960s. One by one or in clumps, over the past several years it seems that both sides of my family…
Nearly Orthodox
falling asleep...
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The week begins the fast of the Dormition of the the Theotokos. I confess, my track record historically with keeping the fast, this or any other, has been sketchy at best. It’s less an intentional slight and more a lapse in memory. I just cannot seem to keep my focus long enough to remember to abstain. It’s a habit I hope I’ll grow into over time, that’s the plan anyhow. Rather than…
Nearly Orthodox
On fire- about being a convert...
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Being raised Catholic in a mostly Catholic area I did not know many protestants. And though there were converts to Catholicism in our parish I could only name one that I knew, because he was my grandfather. We never spoke of it when I was a kid. I found out that he’d converted long after the fact. I was in college before I knew it. He converted because he fell in love…
Nearly Orthodox
The thing about cavities...
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For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. -Romans 7:15-17 In the back of my head I know…
Nearly Orthodox
On giving thanks...
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O Christ our God, bless the food, drink, and fellowship of Thy servants, for Thou art holy always, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. “Are you going to pray?” he said, pulling me aside and whispering so that our guests would not hear. I nodded my yes and walked into the diningroom with my husband. It was our habit now to discern it ahead of time so that the…
Nearly Orthodox
Absenteeism...
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When I’m away from Liturgy I miss it, like being in the habit of getting to the gym on a regular schedule and then finding that space empty. In the moment, it’s right, my hacking cough could not possibly be a comfort to anyone standing in church with me but I always question myself as I lay there in bed while my church family gathers. I mark the time, thinking, now comes…
Nearly Orthodox
weak...
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Illumine our hearts, O Master Who lovest mankind, with the pure light of Thy divine knowledge. Open the eyes of our mind to the understanding of Thy gospel teachings. Implant also in us the fear of Thy blessed commandments, that trampling down all carnal desires, we may enter upon a spiritual manner of living, both thinking and doing such things as are well-pleasing unto Thee. For Thou art the illumination of our…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Priest vs. Machine: Dollar Rent A Car as an Emblem of Bureaucratic Nihilism
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I offer up the following experience as a data point along the continuum into deeper inhumanity because of the too-big-to-care nature of much of corporate and government life in these latter days: I recently had the misfortune of renting a car from Dollar Rent A Car at the Atlanta airport. The original estimate for the rental was $93.50 for three days’ use. But in…
Nearly Orthodox
nearly orthodox...
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Now that the ink is dry on the contract for the book version of “Nearly Orthodox” I’m sitting down to sort through the accumulated posts, notes, scribbled quotes and half thoughts written on receipts in my purse. It’s weird to read through the array of words now, over three years since I first put my feet on this ancient road. It’s weird because although I still recognize the fears and doubts, I…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
"Churching the Nation: Sharing the Orthodox Faith in America" near Atlanta on May 26
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Nearly Orthodox
great and holy friday...
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Probably it will last another 10 minutes, maybe only 8 or so. This morning quiet spot, after prayer and lighting candles, coffee in hand, reflecting on what lies ahead and I’m struck with some grief. And maybe that’s appropriate, this being Holy Week and all. Being so far out of step with the western calendar puts me in an odd place. There is something powerful about having all the accountability, the cultural…
