Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
"We have to begin building our own institutions."
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October 9, 2011 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. I have a friend who is a Ph.D. student at a university in New York City. He is a brilliant, traditional Orthodox Christian who is serious about his faith in Christ and also serious about doing real scholarly work. He is also possibly…
Nearly Orthodox
tethered...
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I was up late last night. At 3am I was washing the dishes and the countertops after the last guest left our housewarming. Everyone was asleep already and I was tired but awake. When I looked at the clock and saw it was 3am my first thought was, “that’s got to be wrong” and my second thought was, “I wonder if it’s daylight savings time.” I’d wanted to go to Liturgy in…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Review of Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy from Leitourgeia kai Qurbana
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Nearly Orthodox
shopping...
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I’m not shopping for a church. For me, church should not be a matter of shopping, I’m not buying anything here. I’m searching for a community, a tribe, a safe place, but I’m not shopping because I walk into these places with lots of baggage and no coin. As far as consumer purposes go, I come into church a beggar. I come in empty-handed. So I’m not “church shopping.” Lately, though, my…
Nearly Orthodox
kind...
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Sometimes when it’s late at night like this and the house is quiet I can write. Not always and not often. Usually the screen gets blurry and I find my typing skills drop to naught, my spelling- atrocious and my sense of grammar leaves me completely. But every once in a while when it’s late at night and the house is quiet I can write and the writing is prayer. I suppose…
Nearly Orthodox
words...
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My prayers don’t have words these days. It feels empty, forced, not at all genuine. I’m the kid calling home who really has better things to do. I’m not paying attention, just nodding my head and uttering a faint “uh huh” every couple of minutes. I know this happens to everyone, I know it’s to be expected. I feel so emotionally and physically tired I don’t even care. Well, I must care…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Orthodox Christians and 9/11: We wrestle not against flesh and blood
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Sunday before the Elevation of the Cross, September 11, 2011 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. “Nothing will ever be the same.” So went the refrain again and again and again on September 11, 2001, and for weeks and now years following. I also clearly remember Dan Rather just saying over and…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
As Lambs Among Wolves
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Tenth Sunday After Pentecost, August 21, 2011 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. “Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.” These are the words that were heard nearly two thousand years ago by a man named Thaddeus, and they were spoken by the Lord Jesus when He sent out the…
Nearly Orthodox
light from light....
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There is no getting around it. I still feel stupid and awkward standing in front of my altar at home, praying. I feel stupid and awkward at the church, mind you, but at least we’re all there for the same drill. At home it’s just me. I’m not sure what I’m modeling to the small carlson folk at this point so I guess I am choosing stupid and awkward. I’ve had votives…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Orthodox History Symposium early registration discount expiring
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I was asked to pass this on. God willing, I’ll be giving a short paper at this symposium about the detachment of the Antiochian parishes from the Russian archdiocese in the 1920s and 30s. For Immediate Release Registration Discount for Orthodox Conference at Princeton About to Expire There are still a few days left to register at the early-bird rate for “Pilgrims and Pioneers:…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Why I Can't Be Your Spiritual Father: A Localist Lament
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As I think probably happens to just about every clergyman who has some sort of media presence (even one so minor as mine), I get requests every so often from folks essentially to do the job that their local pastor should be doing. Now, it may be that they don’t have a local pastor, perhaps because there is no Orthodox church near them, because…
Nearly Orthodox
social anxiety as a crutch...
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Finding a community in Nashville has been daunting for me. The choices were limited but remarkably different. I was alone, mostly. I’d drift into the back and try to blend into the paneling. It usually worked. I’d sneak out early because being in the space was intimidating enough but then having to meet and greet actual real life humans…that’s when my hands would start to sweat and I’d go all tongue-tied. This…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Encomium Fidei
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In light of yesterday’s post, I thought it might be useful to comment on the “other” side of the questions of inter-religious relations. By no means is this a sort of antithesis of yesterday’s thesis. Indeed, I believe a vigorous engagement precisely on doctrinal terms is the basis on which the best inter-religious friendships can occur. I’ve known some good men who have been…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The God in the Bread: A Sermon for Lammas
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The following is a repost from last year of the sermon I gave on Sunday, August 1, 2010. Happy Lammas! In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Today, let’s spend some time thinking about bread. I don’t think we have any British wheat or grain farmers here, but if you were such a…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
And the winner is...
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…JENNIFER HOCK! Jennifer Hock has just won a free, autographed copy of Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy. Her entry was drawn randomly from numerous entries via the True Random Number Service. Jennifer entered the contest via both Facebook and Twitter, giving her two entries. (By using a combination of weblogs and other social media, one contestant had 10 entries!) Coincidentally, Jennifer is also the person behind…
Nearly Orthodox
blades of grass...
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This is what comes to me today as I scatter what I like to call “wishful thinking” and “hope” on our poor damaged lawn. Again. It comes in a plastic, resealable bag, boasts the ability to grow in most any soil or weather condition and most people know it as grass seed. When we killed all the weeds in the back yard lawn we killed pretty much anything green in the back…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Antiochian Convention Booksigning Flyer
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Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Win an autographed copy of Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy!
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Are you an Orthodox Christian who wonders how to explain to your Baptist grandmother, your Buddhist neighbor, or the Jehovah s Witness at your door how your faith differs from theirs? Or are you a member of another faith who is curious what Orthodoxy is all about? Look no further. In Orthodoxy & Heterodoxy, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick covers the gamut of ancient heresies,…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Updates and Notes
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A number of updates and goings-on of variable interest: Book News: Conciliar Press tells me that Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy is selling very well. Thank you to all who have bought copies, recommended it to friends, or written reviews! I honestly had no idea when I did the original parish lectures in Charleston and then repeated them in Emmaus that they’d get so far away…
Nearly Orthodox
relax...
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I always hear his voice in my head when I start to spin. For a long time, the words of greeting were, “do not fear” or “be not afraid” and “be at peace.” Now, we’ve moved past the formalities and in the midst of my spinning a loud crack of “Relax!” breaks in. Perhaps I recognize this because it’s the tone I use when my kids don’t listen to me and I…
Nearly Orthodox
small town...
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I had an interesting and somewhat surprising (to me at least) feeling while I attended Wild Goose Festival in NC last month. Wild Goose is an “emergent” music and arts festival some friends of mine have helped put together. I went to teach some DoxaSoma sessions. Many of my friends spoke or played there as well. I was very excited to go and see the fruit of what I knew firsthand was…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Freedom, the Path to God, and the Orthodoxy of Orthodoxy
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I was recently passed on a question by my grandmother from some of my non-Orthodox relations who live out in the mountains of Western North Carolina. The question was whether, in my preaching, there is room for a “personal Gospel.” I must be honest that I don’t know exactly what that phrase means, but I cannot imagine they are asking whether I am “allowed”…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Humanity, Unplugged
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The Third Sunday after Pentecost, July 3, 2011 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Today, let’s talk about sin. Yes, of course, almost all sermons are in some sense about sin, and sin is certainly mentioned a great deal in the hymns and readings of the Church. But let’s take a moment…
Nearly Orthodox
under pressure...
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The pressure is the weight of my hands pressing down on my shoulders. At first it was a reminder to keep my shoulders from hiking up around my ears, stress-making, hunching, not at all open as postures go. Now, it’s a binding of sorts. I find I’m hugging myself tight, trying hard not to unravel and that seems all kinds of wrong to me. There’s always been some talk in our house…
Nearly Orthodox
falling...
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Converting to Orthodoxy has been kicking my ass lately. My response has been less than holy. I’ve been kicking back and swearing a lot, clearly. There are a number of people in my life, people who know me well who may tell me now that I’m making far too much of this and perhaps I am. Drama queen much? Probably. Is this what “taming the passions” means for me? To choose to…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Voice and the Silence
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Behold Elizabeth as she speaketh with the Virgin Mary: Wherefore art thou, the Mother of my Lord, come unto me? Thou carriest the King, and I the soldier; thou the Giver of the Law, and I the expounder of the Law; thou the Word, and I the Voice that shall proclaim the Kingdom of the Heavens. (Theotokion of the Aposticha, Nativity of the Forerunner…
Nearly Orthodox
Theodora...
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I’ve been writing a lot lately on my other blog about being the river, being the mountain, being the forest. As Mrs Metaphor I guess it comes naturally to me to see myself not as being outside of nature but as being fully engaged in it, being a part of everything that breathes and so it seems right that I stumbled upon a story today about Theodora of Vasta. It is said…
