Glory to God for All Things
Eastern Christian New Media Awards
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Nearly Orthodox
poetry among friends...
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This is cross-posted at Mrs Metaphor today…just so’s you know. vespers the light surprised me I thought it would be dark murky and mysterious but the sky was open wide and airy the scent was as I had expected heady and sweet I closed my eyes the priest walked down the aisles with soft footsteps garments rustling censer clinking and I took it all into me If only I could photograph…
Glory to God for All Things
"A Sword Will Pierce Your Soul"
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The Mother of God, while bringing the Christ child to the temple, was greeted by an elderly man, the “just and devout man,” Simeon. Taking the child into his arms he spoke the well-known prophetic words of the Nunc Dimittis, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace….” He spoke as well of the child’s future, with dark tones that hinted at the suffering he would endure. He turned as well…
Praying in the Rain
Michael Henchard, Power, and Me
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Michael Henchard has lost it all. He lost his wealth trying to squeeze his rival and former employee out of business. Blinded by his desire for revenge and willing to suffer loss to destroy Fanfrae, Henchard seeks in a Saul-like manner the guidance of a seer and based on the seer’s words mortgages his business to make a huge purchase only later to doubt the seer’s word and sell at a loss.…
Nearly Orthodox
push and pull...
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It won’t always be like this; me spinning out again and again with the struggle and the intoxication, will it?  I feel like I’m split in two most days.  In the early part of the day I wake up and spend time in prayer. I’m excited to be there, to spend time in this way.  In the middle of the day I seek out time to be alone and pray. I find…
Nearly Orthodox
water...
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I have the strongest urge to break away from my noisy life this week and just sit in the church.  I’ve asked Fr. G and he has said that if someone is at the church I can get in there.  I think it’s because I want some practice, some quiet.  It’s the toe in the water instead of just jumping in.  I’ve never liked just jumping in fast. Everyone says it’s the…
Glory to God for All Things
The Holy Angels
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This 8th of November is the Feast of St. Michael and All the Bodiless Powers of Heaven. The feast marks its own special occasion, but it seems entirely appropriate that the feast should be so close to the beginning of the Nativity Fast. There are very few Biblical stories where angels do not play a part, and their presence only grows greater with the incarnation of Christ. In the life of the Church…
Praying in the Rain
A Generous Reverie
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On the way home from matins this morning I fell into a reverie (“reverie” sounds so much more sophisticated than daydream). I was looking at a piece of property and immediately began imagining what sort of glorious Orthodox Church could be built there with 50 million dollars–although a quarter of that would do just as well. I noticed the feeling of goodness and generosity that swelled inside me as I imagined myself…
Nearly Orthodox
the holy kiss...
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I’ve written about The Holy Kiss on Mrs Metaphor in the past. I’m reminded of this concept again today as I consider the idea of the veneration of icons.  This practice is one that we did not employ in the Catholic church and so the “awkward” factor kicks up a bit more around this issue. I don’t have a problem with the idea of venerating an icon, I really don’t. It might…
Praying in the Rain
Emily Carr as Emily Carr
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For the last two or three years Bonnie has been on an Emily Carr kick. She has read everything she has written, read every book about her, and studied all of her paintings–she even visited her home in Victoria. Bonnie has been inspired by her, almost as if she has found a kindred spirit, a patron saint. I’ve followed along, reading a bit over her shoulder. Emily’s painting doesn’t do much for…
Nearly Orthodox
night...
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What is it about the night that it’s able to bring such moments of doubt and sadness? I’ve always loved the night, loved the quiet it offered. Lately, though, the night has been an enemy; I’m tired but unable to sleep. The nighttime becomes an opportunity for my confusion to come to the surface. Forget the noonday demon, acedia strikes at night for me. I label acedia as “why bother.”  I’m not…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Worship of Fire
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While I was in Toronto a few weeks ago for an educational event, I had the delight to spend many hours with a good friend from my seminary days. He turned out to be a fine guide to introducing an American to Toronto. One of the many places we stopped was a place of some religious curiosity that he’d apparently always wanted to look…
Nearly Orthodox
healthy...
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I’m not organized. I’m not tidy. It’s very very hard for me to find time, make time, be timely about things that ought to be done. Laundry and dishes are easy in the quotidian realm.  If I don’t do the laundry we have nothing to wear, if I don’t do the dishes we have nothing to hold our food.  The repercussions of NOT doing these daily tasks are fairly immediate.  Someone will…
Praying in the Rain
The Spirit Gives Life
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“Woe to you Lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear” (Lk 11:46). Sometimes I feel like one of those lawyers, when I talk about the ascetic aspects of the Orthodox life: fasting, prayers, disciplines, rules, rules, rules. Pharisees and Lawyers are where you find them. Just because I am an Orthodox Christian doesn’t mean that Jesus’ words to the religious leaders of the Jews two millennia ago can’t apply…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Voice from Antioch: An Ignatian Catechism
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Nearly Orthodox
live...
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Fr G. spoke about the “nous” last week. I know this word already. He spoke of “nous” as being the “eye of the soul.”  This is the metaphor I’ve heard employed in the past.  Everyone who has given that description has explained that it is incredibly lacking. What the “nous” represents to us is so much more which is why the loss of it’s meaning in our lives is so great. We’ve…
Praying in the Rain
Singing
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Sometimes I sing to my wife. I don’t sing very well, so I don’t sing very long. Just a line or two. I make up the words. Sometimes I have to sing, otherwise my wife forgets how much I love her. My mindless actions and strayings into grumpy old manhood often communicate just the opposite. It is easy for her to forget. It’s easy for her to be overwhelmed by my dirty…
Glory to God for All Things
Suffering in a One-Storey Universe
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A comment on a previous post which mentioned the Biblical and patristic teaching that we should “give thanks to God for all things” has been an occasion for personal reflection – the substance of which forms this present post. For those who wrestle with the inherent difficulties of giving thanks for all things – I hope this reflection will be helpful. The comment which occasioned these thoughts: ..I think the lines separating…
Nearly Orthodox
vespers...
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I attended Vespers at the Greek Orthodox church last night for the first time. I felt as I expected…awkward, confused, grateful, tired, did I mention awkward? I wanted it to be darker in there. It was so light. I wanted to hide, very badly. It was interesting because just as I began to realize no one was watching me, judging my feeble attempts to understand hand motions and timing and listening, just…
Nearly Orthodox
long distance running...
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I’m not a runner. I mean, I try but I’m just not really built for it. I’m more the flexibility and strength training kind of body. Running is something I do because it has merit for me and because I’m able to do it most places I go. I can take that practice with me wherever I go. It becomes a kind of prayer in that way. A friend mentioned a…
Praying in the Rain
Michael Henchard and Repentance: Ten Minutes Too Late
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“But the proposal came ten minutes too late.” These are some of the saddest words in The Mayor of Casterbridge. Michael Henchard, immediately after convincing his stepdaughter (whom he believes is his biological daughter) to take his name, finds out that she is indeed the daughter of the sailor, the man to whom he had sold his wife 19 year before. His Elizabeth-Jane had died three months after they separated, and Susan…
Nearly Orthodox
thirsting for God...
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I’ve begun a book suggested by a twitter friend called “Thirsting for God in a Land of Shallow Wells” by Matthew Gallatin. Ok so here’s the thing.  I’m only in the first section of the book, written as memoir he has an interesting story. At this point he’s been through the denominational wringer so to speak. This is a man in search of “truth.”  It’s funny, I have never sought “truth.” I…
Glory to God for All Things
Whom God Would Have Us Be
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When man stands before the throne of God, when he has fulfilled all that God has given him to fulfill, when all sins are forgiven, all joy restored, then there is nothing else for him to do but to give thanks. Eucharist (thanksgiving) is the state of perfect man. Eucharist is the life of paradise. Eucharist is the only full and real response of man to God’s creation, redemption and gift of…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Golden Mountain
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Glory to God for All Things
Falling Short
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I fail. We fail. It’s just how things are. It is not a conspiracy or the judgment of God or a universe arrayed against us – we simply fall short. At times falling short is nothing less than embarrassing. This is especially so if we have raised our own expectations as well as the expectations of others. I do not measure up to my own expectations much less to those of others.…
Praying in the Rain
Michael Henchard and A Dog That Kills Chickens
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I just chased a stray dog out of my chicken and goose run. It killed my beautiful hybrid rooster from good laying stock and chased all of the hens out over or under the fences onto the street and into the ditch in front of the house. They’ll slowly make their way back as they get hungry, I hope. I had a hard time chasing off the dog. I felt sorry for…
Nearly Orthodox
hot buttons...
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I’m making my list. I’m checking it twice…three times…maybe four. As I’m reading about the tradition I am thinking over and over about the reasons I have turned away from the “church” in this country. The odd thing is that I’m not REMINDED of this when I’m reading it. It’s not as if I’m reading the doctrine and think, “oh hey THAT is why I shun organized religion…”  Not at all. I’m…
