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  • Glory to God for All Things

    Of One Substance

    May 2, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    We are used to confessing that the Son of God is of “one substance” with the Father – meaning that the persons of the Holy Trinity are of one “essence” or “being.” It is also true, however, the all human beings are of “one substance” with all other human beings. That is to say there is only one human nature, essence or being, and that each of us as persons share in…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Conversion Amidst Family Strife

    May 2, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    My posting yesterday spoke of things we could do as a family to strengthen ourselves in the common mind of Christ, allowing for the possibility of greater unity, particularly when considering something as major as conversion to the Orthodox faith. Sometimes, all efforts to the contrary, no peace or common mind arise. If someone believes the Orthodox faith to be the true faith, then finally, it would be a tragic sin not…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    An Orthodox Family

    May 1, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Yesterday, at least two of the comments on the post about my son’s birthday asked questions about the family and Orthodox conversion. This is extremely close to my heart – both because of the blessings we have enjoyed in our family – and the blessings and difficulties I have seen in others. I should quickly add that my own family then and now faces issues. In 1998, myself, my wife, my three…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    A Link to Father John Parker

    April 30, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    One of my dear friends, Fr. John Parker, pastor of Holy Ascension Orthodox Church in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. (Charleston), has recently had an article published in Touchstone. You can read the article here. I have also added his Blog, Holy Ascension Blog, to my Blogroll. Fr. John is a former Anglican priest, an excellent writer, and pastors a wonderful community in South Carolina. I encourage you to read him.

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Twenty Years Ago Today

    April 30, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Twenty years ago today, I witnessed the birth of our third child, our son, James. Always a joy to our heart and those of others he has become a young man of whom I am proud and whose company is a delight. He was ten years old when I announced to the complete family that we were converting to Orthodoxy. He had heard nothing of this before and had been blissfully enjoying…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Solidarity and the Christian Life

    April 30, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    I commend the collection The Inner Kingdom, volume 1 of Bishop Kallistos Ware’s collected works. Writing in essay on martyrdom, Bishop Kallistos, offers the following observation and stories: This notion of exchange, of solidarity in suffering, forms one of the master-themes of Martin Buber’s Tales of the Hasidim. It is said of one of the most attractive of the Hasidic teachers, Rabbi Zusya, “He felt the sins of the people he met…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    On the Other Hand

    April 29, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    On the other hand – irony is probably too much to ask of youth. If I can remember myself in my college years, the most I could muster was sarcasm. Irony required more insight. There is a deep need for the appreciation of irony to sustain a Christian life. Our world is filled with contradiction. Hypocrisy is ever present even within our own heart. The failures of Church and those who are…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Ironic and Sardonic

    April 29, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    I am the father of two children who still (for at least the next day or so) measure their lives in numbers that fall in the “teens.” My son turns 20 on Monday. Be that as it may, I still qualify as the father of teenagers. They certainly hear plenty from me about God, about the faith, about Church, and I give thanks that they take it seriously and are committed Christians.…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Reminder - I Am an Ignorant Man

    April 27, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Last January I posted a note on Ignorance and God. It has since been translated and posted in both Romanian and French. My first thought was, “Great. My first taste of international recognition will be because I am an ignorant man.” That, of course, is a kindness from God. I would be in danger should I be known for something else. Within that first article I included a quote from Father Sophrony…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Saint Silouan and the Wisdom of a Married Man

    April 26, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Following such interesting discussion of the necessity of monasticism, I offer a small story from the life of St. Silouan of Mt. Athos in which he comments on the spiritual wisdom of his peasant father (a married man). Truly, we are all called to different stations in life, but in every place, those who love God and seek Him, find Him and with God, they find wisdom. This excerpt is from the…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    The Necessity of Monastics

    April 25, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    A month or so ago I received an email from a young protestant who wondered: “What good is monasticism?” His arguments and observations were pretty similar to others I’ve heard over the years. I recall my older brother once asking me, “If a hermit is in the desert and is very holy, what good does it do since no one knows he’s there.” These questions, of course, come from our modern mindset…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Pardon Our Mess

    April 25, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    I am working on some cosmetic changes for Glory to God for All Things. So if you see changes over the next few days, please be patient. I would also appreciate feedback if you find any changes to be improvements or bothersome. As I’m learning a little more about how wordpress works, I am looking to see if there are improvements worth making. Thank you for your patience.

  • Glory to God for All Things

    The Choices We Make

    April 24, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Our culture celebrates the ability we have to choose – and so we think a lot about choices. We are told every four years that we get to “choose” our leaders (though the choices given to us might not be suitable in either direction). As I look back and think of my preaching over the years I can see a change – and not just a change wrought by my conversion to…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Speaking Ecumenically

    April 24, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    A recent note from a young Orthodox acquaintance referred to me as “irenic” in my writings. I was grateful for the description and glad that something I actually intend is also actually conveyed. I learn a lot from other Orthodox bloggers or frequent posters on other sites where the discussions can get heated (I think especially of my dear Catholic friend, Fr. Al Kimel’s Pontifications). I have always intended to write and…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    More Thoughts on a Metaphor

    April 23, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Some metaphors are just that: metaphors. Images that are useful for thinking or working our way through something. They are a roadmap – not the road but the map. The image of Christ’s Descent into Hades, though it provides a metaphor, is more than a metaphor. Christ truly died, truly descended into Hades, truly trampled down death by death, and truly rose again from the dead. I have to say that lest…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Watch Your Metaphors

    April 21, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Metaphors are very important when thinking about any aspect of our salvation. People can sometimes state what they believe as doctrine very precisely without thinking about what their beliefs imply about God, the world, or themselves. Metaphors can work in a very hidden way – particularly those that are referred to as “root metaphors.” A root metaphor is the over-arching imagery that generally governs how a train of thought goes. It provides…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    With Heart and Mind

    April 20, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    When mind and heart are united in prayer and the soul is wholly concentrated in a single desire for God, then the heart grows warm and the light of Christ begins to shine and fills the inward man with peace and joy. We should thank the Lord for everything and give ourselves up to His will; we should also offer Him all our thoughts and words, and strive to make everything serve…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Praying with Icons

    April 19, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    In one of our recent services (Paschal Vespers as I recall) we had a handfull of visiting Russian Nationals. I’ve noticed this before – it’s sort of a cultural distinction – but the women (they were all female) came in, and stood for extended lengths of time before the icons, as if waiting for something, and then lit their candles. It is not universally true, but I have often noticed that we Americans,…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Deep in the Heart of Texas

    April 19, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Today (Wednesday) and tomorrow I am in Dallas, Texas, with my Archbishop, DMITRI of Dallas and the South (OCA). I’m here for a small meeting with him and my fellow deans. Probably more social than practical – but time will tell. The Church in Dallas could have been pulled from the countryside of Russia. Built around 2000, it’s frescoes continue to slowly grow as the entire interior of the Church proclaims the doctrine…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    The Struggle for Prayer

    April 18, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Fr. Sophrony relates part of his struggle for prayer and the grace he received to help others. The passage is from On Prayer. …On more than one occasion I felt as if I were crucified on an invisible cross. This would happen on Mt. Athos when I got angry with those who vexed me. My wickedness would destroy prayer and fill me with horror. At times it seemed impossible to struggle against…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev on the Descent into Hades

    April 18, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Thank you to LadyMacbeth for the lead to the following link. Bishop Alfeyev is an excellent source and worth reading! http://orthodoxeurope.org/page/11/1/5.aspx  I commend him to you!

  • Glory to God for All Things

    A Journey through the Heavens

    April 18, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Not to be too melodramatic, but I will be traveling today at about 20 to 30,000 feet to the city of Dallas, yes in a airplane., to meet with my Beloved Archbishop Dmitri and fellow Deans of the Diocese of the South. I have a post loaded alreday which should appear around noon. I’ll check in on the web this evening. I never imagined I’d be flying this much when I converted.…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Carolina in my Mind

    April 17, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Some readers might appreciate the fact that I was born in South Carolina. For some other readers, I think especially of our Europeans and others across the internet globe, South Carolina means little. It is “Deep South” in the U.S., with its own distinctives. Perhaps one of its striking characteristics is that it has a strong sense of place. I know many Americans who do not have a sense of place –…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Reflections on Florovsky

    April 16, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    The following is from my earlier post of Florovsky on Ecumenism:  The entire western experience of temptation and fall must be creatively examined and transformed; all that “European melancholy” (as Dostoevsky termed it) and all those long centuries of creative history must be borne. Only such a compassionate co-experience provides a reliable path toward the reunification of the fractured Christian world and the embrace and recovery of departed brothers. It is not…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    With Apologies to my Readers

    April 16, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    There really are no shortcuts – even in something as trivial as a blog. My last two posts have been pulled – one a small quote from Fr. Sophrony, added last night before bedtime (because you have to add something), the other written today when I was not entirely certain of what I wanted to write. But both of those are part of the stuff of life. Comments were on target and…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    The Ecumenical Vision of Fr. Georges Florovsky

    April 14, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Fr. Georges Florovsky remains, in my mind, one of the most neglected of modern Orthodox scholars. His vision of the place of Orthodox theology in relation to the West was instrumental in the birth of the ecumenical movement – which has sadly lost that vision. The cruciform nature of his ecumenical vision exonerate him from charges of “ecumenism” in the negative sense of the word. He saw a mission for Orthodoxy within…

  • Glory to God for All Things

    Cleansing the Temple in John

    April 13, 2007 · Fr. Stephen Freeman

    A rather oddly placed story – always a problem for those who need to harmonize the gospels (and many of the Fathers tended to desire this themselves) – is the story of the “cleansing of the temple” found in the second chapter. In other gospel accounts it is always part of the story of Holy Week. But here in John it follows immediately after the miracle at the wedding in Cana (another…

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