Praying in the Rain
Logocratic Tendencies
·
A Greek priest in Athens with whom I have been corresponding recently noted that Protestant converts to Orthodoxy have a “logocratic” mentality. He went on to suggest that this logocracy keeps them from entering very deeply into the Mystery of the Faith. “Logocracy” means rule of or by words. I thought some of my blog readers might be interested in reading my response: Dear Fr. C. Christ is in our midst! Thank…
Praying in the Rain
A Parable: by an Orthodox Christian priest who has just returned from an ecumenical gathering of largely Evangelical clergy
·
Once there was a starving man who found a field of potatoes, and finding the potatoes, he found life. Potatoes alone were enough to keep him alive. One day a family took a drive out into the countryside for a picnic and happened across the man saved by potatoes. He was a gaunt and sickly man with little strength, but he was alive and thanked God for his potatoes. “What are all…
Praying in the Rain
What is Not-Church?
·
Orthodox Christians affirm that Orthodoxy is the True Faith: That the Orthodox Church is the True Church. Many heterodox Christians are offended by the exclusivity of such a claim. I suggest that they are offended because they think we mean by such a claim what they would mean if they made a similar claim. I do not think we do. Of course, among Orthodox Christians there exists a range of opinion…
Glory to God for All Things
Existence, Choice and God
·
I recall a conversation with a Russian parishioner some years back. She had been baptized as an adult (by me) and I referred to her as a “convert” in the course of conversation. She bristled slightly at my comment and said, “I am not a convert. Converts are people who choose.” She went on to explain that although she had never been baptized, she was, nonetheless Orthodox, and would not have considered…
Nearly Orthodox
no room...
·
There is no room in my life for Orthodoxy. My life is simply not organized in such a way as to really allow me to engage this practice- to make time to pray, to find a community, to commit to new people…even to attend Liturgy. I just don’t have the room for it. I don’t have the space for it.  And this is the reality of my situation. It’s distressing. I’m distressed.…
Glory to God for All Things
Babylon and the Trees of Pentecost
·
From the Feast of Pentecost The arrogance of building the tower in the days of old led to the confusion of tongues. Now the glory of the knowledge of God brings them wisdom. There God condemned the impious for their transgression. Here Christ has enlightened the fishermen by the Spirit. There disharmony was brought about for punishment.// Now harmony is renewed for the salvation of our souls. +++ The first time I…
Glory to God for All Things
Saving Beauty
·
Everything is beautiful in a person when he turns toward God, and everything is ugly when it is turned away from God. Fr. Pavel Florensky +++ In thinking about darkness and light – and their role in our apprehension of the truth – I cannot but think about Beauty, which is a primary place in which the light of God is made manifest among us (if rightly perceived). The heart that is…
Glory to God for All Things
Getting Past Religion
·
My wife inherited a habit. It was her father’s not uncommon practice to sing his way through the day, especially the morning. A devout man, his songs were his favorite hymns. My wife’s habit is similar, only as an Orthodox Christian, her repertoir has grown to include the traditional hymns of Orthodoxy. It is not an entirely conscious practice (I think) – though her heart is clearly engaged in what she is doing.…
Praying in the Rain
a life together: too ecumenical?
·
I’m a third of the way into a life together by (OCA retired) Bishop Seraphim Sigrist (2011 Paraclete Press) He reminds me of many of the mid 20th century Orthodox thinkers who were much more ecumenically minded than many of the writers of today. By ecumenical, I do not mean that they advocate the obliteration of boundaries. They do not, as they are sometimes falsely accused, argue that there are no important or…
Praying in the Rain
Dom Christian de Chergé
·
Below is a testament written by a Cistercian monk, Dom Christian de Chergé, shortly before he was martyred by Muslim terrorists in Algeria. I recommend this testament to every Orthodox Christian. I have noticed a tinge of fear and sometimes anger in the discussion among Orthodox Christians in North America regarding Islam. It seems that many are relying more on CNN and Fox News to set their tone than they are the Scripture…
Glory to God for All Things
Where We Dare Not Go
·
My previous article spoke about the “moment” and the unique place it holds within our lives. It is strange, therefore, that the present moment is a place we seem to avoid – a place we dare not go. There are many ways to speculate about such an avoidance. In the experience of many, it is a place that seems almost impossible to read – which is strange indeed when we consider the…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Consumption, the Ascension and the Dignity of Man
·
The following sermon was preached on the Sunday after Theophany 2009. As we continue in the economic mess that was so fresh in that January of a little over two years ago, I think this still very much applies, especially as the referenced epistle reading makes mention of the Ascension of Christ, which is celebrated today. Our fundamental economic problem is still fundamentally a…
Praying in the Rain
A New Dog
·
Bonnie and I have been wanting a large dog. We live in the countryside, and Bonnie gets a little nervous when I’m out of town. I’ve been wanting a large dog for other reasons: mostly because a dog under 50 lb. just doesn’t seem like a real dog to me. The last time we got a large dog was in Pomona, near L.A. There, we just went down to the dog pound,…
Glory to God for All Things
The Moment of Small Things
·
“On the night in which He was betrayed…” These words echo hauntingly through the centuries – this phrase which begins St. Paul’s account of Christ’s institution of the Eucharist. Later usage in the liturgy will make a play on the Greek word for “betray.” Strangely, it is the same word used for “tradition.” It is a word which simply means to “hand over” or to “give over.” Thus the liturgy will say,…
Praying in the Rain
Some Christian Commandments
·
Twelve Commandments given by an angel to the Holy Apostle Hermas (commemorated May 31): 1. Believe in God; 2. Live in simplicity and innocence; do not speak evil: give alms to all who beg; 3. Love truth and avoid falsehood; 4. Preserve chastity in your thoughts; 5. Learn patience and generosity; 6. Know that a good and an evil spirit attend every man; 7. Fear God and fear not the devil; 8.…
Glory to God for All Things
Mere Existence and the Age to Come
·
C.S. Lewis, in his marvelous little book, The Great Divorce, uses the imagery of “solidity” versus “ghostliness” to make a distinction between those who have entered paradise, and those who have not. He clearly did not mean to set forth a metaphysical model or to suggest “how things are.” But the imagery is very apt and suggestive when we take a look at what it means for something or someone to exist. The nature…
Glory to God for All Things
The Specific Truth
·
The Truth, spoken in general, is, perhaps, the most easily spoken truth in all the world. It smooths over the rough edges of hard truth and says more easily that to which all can agree. If all can agree – it is not probably the truth – or it is not a truth worth speaking. As a priest of the Orthodox Church in America, I find the present time to be one…
Nearly Orthodox
wrestling...
·
For a long time now I’ve been wrestling…with my will, with my hubris…with my motivation and all this time I’ve been mistaken, gravely mistaken about the nature of my struggle. It’s not ironic but rather, comic, really, that all this struggle I’ve been thinking I’m trying to pin God, all “Jacob and the Angel” like but the reality is that I’ve been wrestling only myself. I see myself in this struggle, clearly…
Glory to God for All Things
Telling the Truth
·
My recent writings have caused me to want to offer this reprint. Truth-telling is not a moral activity, but an activity of true existence. It is a simple command: ‘Do not lie,’ but it is tantamount to saying ‘Exist!’ +++ Abba Poemen said, “Teach your mouth to say that which is in your heart.” Speaking the truth is as fundamental as the Ten Commandments. It also receives a great deal of attention…
Glory to God for All Things
From Under the Rubble
·
Dostoevsky wrote in the mid-19th century, a time when many ideas and cultural forces were only beginning to coelesce. We live in an age after which those forces have come together, and after which they have largely been judged by history to have fallen short of their stated ideals. The world has witnessed more than a century of failed promises and programs (not that we have completely rejected such things) and are,…
Praying in the Rain
What Is Abuse?
·
A friend has asked a couple of very important questions and I’d like to address them. The questions are as follows: Fr Michael your disclaimer intrigues me. I have never really understood where the line is between enduring insults, injustice, persecutions, etc. and rejoicing… and something supposedly psychologically unhealthy like enduring abuse. Secondly I find it very curious that “abuse” seems to be a modern category unaddressed in the scriptures (for example…
Praying in the Rain
Hell Is A Difficult Place To Go To.
·
Hell is a difficult place to go to. I made this comment a couple of blogs ago in the context of Pauline’s contest with temptation (in Charles Williams’ Descent Into Hell). As someone commented on that blog entry, such a thought is counterintuitive. Jesus’ words seem to say exactly the opposite: “Wide is the gate and broad is the way,” Jesus says, “that leads to destruction, and there be many who go…
Praying in the Rain
The Doctrine of Substituted Love
·
One of the most important ideas in Charles William’s Descent into Hell is called “The Doctrine of Substituted Love.” This is William’s attempt to apply the Christian principle of bearing one another’s burdens (…and so fulfilling the Law of Christ) in a way that goes beyond the common interpretation of this Christian imperative. Most people interpret “bearing one another’s burdens” to mean helping each other out in practical ways. But he wants…
Praying in the Rain
Descent into Hell: Mrs. Sammile
·
“My dear, it’s so simple. If you will come with me, I can fill you, fill your body with any sense you choose. I can make you feel whatever you’d choose to be. I can give you certainty of joy for every moment of life. Secretly, secretly; no other soul–no other living soul.” These are the words of Mrs. Sammile to Pauline. Mrs. Sammile is the sweet little old lady who is…
Praying in the Rain
The Scent of Green Papaya
·
I saw The Scent of Green Papaya on Netfix the other day. It is a beautiful film (“gentle” is the word that I have often used). In the film there is a lot a washing, and it got me to thinking. What follows has nothing to do with the film. It has to do with the routine of washing, spiritual washing. In a very dirty environment, you may be tempted to despair…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Is the Rapture today?
·
From suggestions that we should all release blow-up dolls filled with helium at exactly noon today, to an invitation on Facebook for post-Rapture looting (after all, many cars will be “unmanned,” you know), it seems that the world has taken notice of the latest prediction of the Rapture. Even atheist Stephen Hawking has grabbed a headline or two recently with his characterization of Heaven…
Glory to God for All Things
The Secular Man and the Christian Man
·
The Secular Man has been the great threat to the Christian faith over the past two or more centuries. Disguised as the person is only only doing the “normal thing,” he lives in a godless world, where others can be tempted to live as though there were no God. Earlier I quoted Berdyaev, “If God does not exist, then man does not exist.” I would add to that that the God Who…
