Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy due out in May 2011
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Praying in the Rain
A Terrifying Good
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In Charles Williams Descent into Hell, one of the characters contemplates “a good so alien as to be terrifying.” I think that is what Peter Damascene sees. How can being a slave, being sick, or being in subjugation bring about anything good? I can see why some would worry about possible philosophical slight of hand. They wonder, how can evil produce good? But what if good is much more alien than we…
Nearly Orthodox
winter people....
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Every picture of the saints shows grief. Some may read the looks on their faces as anger or seriousness…I see sadness everywhere I look. I see grief. I see the deep grief of the world on their shoulders. I don’t only see it, I recognize it in me. It reaches out of the icons and into me, hands pulling hard on my heart. I can feel this, visceral and vibrant. I worry…
Glory to God for All Things
The Scandal of Salvation
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On occasion I have written on topics that seem to scandalize readers, or certainly cause difficulty for many. Some of those topics have been my treatment of the wrath of God; the radical forgiveness of everyone for everything; the commonality of our life and our salvation; and most recently my posting on giving thanks always for all things (there are others as well). I am not a purposeful contrarian – I do…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
New Facebook page
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Nearly Orthodox
all Greek...
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If it’s not bad enough that everything is new in this ancient tradition it’s also in a language I don’t know. There’s an app for that. I downloaded it. What I’d really like is a babblefish in my ear. (google: hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, babblefish) I actually downloaded three apps. One I paid for, two were free. Some of the phrases in one of the “free” apps was “I’ve been watching…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Be merciful to me, a sinner
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In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. It is fundamental to the theology of the Orthodox Church that without humility we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That is, if we do not become humble, then we cannot be saved. We cannot be healed of the wounds of our sins. We cannot…
Praying in the Rain
Where You Are Right Now
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We are all tempted at various times to think that if the conditions of our life were different, we could serve God better. This is not wisdom. Right now, where you are, in the condition of your life today, you not only can serve God, but it is also the only way you can serve God. A sick man can not serve God as a healthy man, for he is not a healthy…
Glory to God for All Things
The Difficult Path of Giving Thanks
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The mark of a soul that loves wisdom always gives thanks to God. If you have suffered evil, give thanks and it is changed to good. He has not sinned who suffered the evil but he who has done the evil. Give thanks even in disease, lack of possessions, or false accusations. It is not we who are injured but those who are the authors of them. – St. John Chrysostom +++…
Glory to God for All Things
To Cultivate a Forgiving Heart
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Nothing is more difficult to our heart than forgiveness of our enemies. Forgiveness of anything is hard for some, while forgiveness of everyone for everything is God-like. As we progress towards Great Lent, we progress towards the place where only forgiveness (both given and received) will move us closer to the goal of union with the Good God. I cannot think that any of my readers is a stranger to forgiveness, either…
Praying in the Rain
Lucky Ducky Feeds the Hungry
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I watched two coyotes frolic in our field today. One of them was probably the one that got “Lucky Ducky” a few days ago. Lucky was an amazing duck. We hatched her under a bantam hen, and she was raised to think she was a chicken. When she became mature, we bought another duck to try to teach Lucky to behave more duck-like. Lucky was afraid of the water. She…
Nearly Orthodox
shame...
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Every so often I google my name and that of “doxasoma” in an effort to keep track of things on the internets. While doing this I ran across a very old entry on someone’s forum about DoxaSoma which basically said I was going to hell. It was a very strict group of christians who were discussing yoga. There were several fearful, accusatory, judgmental posts about “christian yoga” and then a pasting of…
Praying in the Rain
Emma, Truth and Salvation
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As I have been reading Emma, I have been repeatedly struck by the importance of truth in Emma’s growth. I think this is one of the reasons why I like this novel so much. One of my theologoumena (personal opinions about theology that are not a matter of dogma) is that all salvation, repentance and spiritual growth have to do with seeing and accepting the truth. Not particularly the truth about Jesus…
Nearly Orthodox
hubris...
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It was probably the icon of Christ speaking loudest. As I looked at Him this weekend in the sanctuary of the church this word came to me. I may have asked, without realizing, why I’m so angry or perhaps when I walked in He could see it, as though I was wearing it for clothing. It’s not a soft wool sweater, my anger, it’s a red metal suit of armor, I have…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Incarnation and the Lament in Ramah
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The following sermon has been preached by me in several slightly different versions a number of times over the years. This is the one I preached on December 27, 2009. For the Sunday after the Nativity In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Christ is born! Glorify Him! There is much confusion in…
Glory to God for All Things
Love and True Faith
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In the life and teaching of St. Silouan of Mt. Athos, it is interesting to note that what he considered to be “true faith” was the manifestation of the love of God in us towards all the world. It would have certainly been the case that as an Orthodox monk, St. Silouan would have believed all of the Church’s teaching without question. And yet when he spoke of the true faith it…
Nearly Orthodox
family: mother...
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It’s a little embarrassing that I’m giddy about having ordered some icons. I feel as though I’m waiting for family to arrive from out of town. I’ll tell you that I ordered them from a bookshop I like a whole lot called Eighth Day Books because I’m all about supporting the independent spirit. The hard part is waiting. I’m so conditioned by my internet amazon.com addicition and big box store mentality that…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
A Song for Simeon
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A Song for Simeon Lord, the Roman hyacinths are blooming in bowls and The winter sun creeps by the snow hills; The stubborn season has made stand. My life is light, waiting for the death wind, Like a feather on the back of my hand. Dust in sunlight and memory in corners Wait for the wind that chills towards the dead land. Grant us…
Glory to God for All Things
The Grace of Just Showing Up
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There has been a tendency in much teaching about the notion of salvation by grace to ground the image in a legal or forensic metaphor. Thus, we are saved by grace in the sense that someone else’s goodwill and kindness (God’s) has now freed us from the consequences of our actions. Thus we speak of grace as the “free gift” of God. There is no denying that grace is a free gift…
Praying in the Rain
Communities and Loneliness
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Communities: more than one. Most of us move in and out communities. The advent of modern transportation (beginning with the railway in the mid ninetieth century) first made it possible, then made it necessary, for people (in large numbers) to leave traditional communities and form new and increasingly temporary communities. The advent of the internet has made community something even more transient. We belong to many different communities–communities related to work, to…
Glory to God for All Things
Whose Feast Is It?
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Some years back I had opportunity to celebrate the feast of Our Lord’s Presentation in the Temple with His Eminence, Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas (retired). Afterwards, several of us were sitting around and Vladyka asked, “Whose feast are we celebrating? Is this a “feast of the Lord” or a “feast of the Theotokos?” This is a relatively technical question within Orthodox liturgics. None of us present were liturgical scholars and thus he…
Nearly Orthodox
joy...
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Joy comes in the morning, sometimes… I woke up in an oddly good mood. I don’t think it’s the addition of a new coffee maker but I won’t rule out that possibility.  It may be that I was up late last night. I sat in the quiet long after the kids were asleep and listened to the wind blowing. Dave is out of town this week. I miss him when he’s gone.…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Canticle for the Meeting of our Lord
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Canticle for the Meeting of Our Lord Long years ago I heard the Voice of God— foreshadowing to me the news of Christ, that death I would not see ’til I had seen th’awaited coming of the Son of Man. “Behold, the Virgin shall conceive,” I read, Isaiah’s vision did foretell the One to bring salvation to old Israel, His flesh and blood to…
Praying in the Rain
Community and Repentance
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[I have been asked to give a talk on “community” to a group of zealous, young, mostly Mennonite Christians who have been trying for a couple of years to form an intentional community. Below is an initial reflection.] If we look to the earliest Christians for a model of community, surely we must begin with Luke’s description of the first days of the church recorded in Acts 2:42: “And they continued steadfastly…
Nearly Orthodox
community...
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For whatever reason several of the local people I’ve approached about Orthodoxy have been less than accessible. I get it, I do. I’m busy too. I have not returned phone calls and emails because I’m overwhelmed. Overwhelmed is not my middle name…it’s my first name. Cranky is my middle name these days. Obviously I’m narcissistic enough to think it’s about me. I hope I grow out of this soon. I’m in my…
Nearly Orthodox
desperation...
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I prayed this morning with no lack of desperation. At first I stepped into my regular morning prayers from my prayerbook. I gripped the pages and felt the desperation whisper to me, “not now..” and “you’re busy…” and “do this later…” I nearly threw it to the ground. I was not angry. I don’t think I was angry. I was overwhelmed and I was tired and rushed but not angry. The prayerbook…
Glory to God for All Things
Candlewax and Hedgehogs - Groundhog Day
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This article, from an earlier parish newsletter is posted here by request. Candlewax and Hedgehogs—a peculiar way to entitle an article, I’ll admit. But both have their associations with the second day of February. The first is more important so we’ll begin there. The second day of February is one of the 12 great feasts, and is also celebrated by Christians in the West. The feast is the Presentation of Christ in the…
