Glory to God for All Things
Many Thanks for your Support
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As the ministry of Glory to God for All Things continues to grow, I give thanks to readers who read, comment, and share with others what they find useful. Tonight or tomorrow we will have logged 800,000 visits to the site, a very gratifying number. I recently added a “flag count” to the blog, which has noted that since about July 10 we have had visits from over 80 countries. A number…
Glory to God for All Things
Our Capacity for Love - An Update
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An earlier form of this article appeared in 2007. Our first child was born over 27 years ago. I remember feeling completely overwhelmed by the event – staggered at the seriousness of what had happened in my life. Evey aspect of her coming into our life was new – and I felt completely unprepared. On her first night home from the hospital, I slept on the floor next to the crib fearing that…
Glory to God for All Things
Good Without Any Effort
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A Hermit said, “We fail to make progress because we do not comprehend our capacity. We weary of the work we have started. We want to be good without making any effort.” From the Sayings of the Desert Fathers There is a popular cultural statement, “I’m only human,” that serves to make excuse for our failings. In truth, I would that we were only human. Our sin lies in our failure to…
Glory to God for All Things
Seeking God
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If I seem to avoid Church arguments on this blog site, there is a reason. For one, debates between Orthodox and Roman Catholics (or Orthodox and others) are interminable and unresolvable on the level of the internet. Most of us are arguing about things in abstract and are thus engaging in useless arguments. Secondly, it really is not the point. I believe the Orthodox faith and hold it to be the truth.…
Glory to God for All Things
Frederica Mathewes-Green and the Holy Grail
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Khouria Frederica Mathewes-Green, a long-time friend and well-known Orthodox writer, has an excellent piece in First Things that I had not seen (it’s almost a year old). A friend sent me a link and I deeply enjoyed the read. It is a creative use of sources that I really appreciate in a writer – someone who shows me something about God or the world I had not known or considered. I recommend…
Glory to God for All Things
Reading Recommendations
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Having just posted “ten books of influence,” (by request) – I’ve been reflecting on the role of books in the Orthodox life. I’ll start with the story of a brief encounter: During my years as an Anglican priest, I continued to read Orthodox writings, a practice that had begun in college. I worked on “digesting” what I read and making it part of my life. To an extent it certainly had an…
Glory to God for All Things
Ten Books of Influence
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It is always difficult to say what has most influenced you when it comes to books. My Orthodox reading began when I was in college and has thus spanned some 35 years or more. I’ve read much outside of Orthodoxy, very little of which I would recommend. But in response to several requests, I’ll give this short annotated list: The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church, Vladimir Lossky. This was the first…
Glory to God for All Things
Orthodoxy and the Apocalypse
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And Christ said unto them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power” (Acts 1:7) We live in difficult times, and for some of us the times are more difficult than others. We also live in a culture of apocalypticism, in which numerous movies, made from many angles, use imagery drawn from one Christian corner or another to create…
Glory to God for All Things
Scenes of Orthodox Monasticism
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Glory to God for All Things
"And For Thy Whole World"
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Anyone familiar with Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazovshould remember the teaching in that novel of the Elder Zossima. He states that “each man is responsible for the sins of every man,” and holds this realization as the key to the life of paradise. The great novelist is not inventing a new idea, but simply allowing one of his characters to give voice to a teaching that is essential to the Orthodox life. We…
Glory to God for All Things
The Habit of Prayer
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Though created in the image of God – man has fallen far. The image is not demolished, but we have not fulfilled the likeness and we frequently distort the image beyond recognition. Part of the true human life described in Genesis, are the “walks in the Garden” with God. Man and God converse – they share communion with one another. We see the restoration of this in the life of Christ whose…
Glory to God for All Things
The Consequence of a Full Faith
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As noted in a number of earlier posts, I prefer to use the term “fullness” when describing the Orthodox faith because it is far more explanatory than simply saying that we are the “true Church,” etc. “Fullness,” of course does not deny this, but it moves us onto more fruitful ground. I want to take a short look in this post at some of the consequences of giving one’s life to the…
Glory to God for All Things
Prayers By The Lake - St. Nicolai
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This poem by St. Nicolai Velimirovic reminds me of the cadences of the Song of the Three Young Men. All creation truly gives voice to its praises. XXVI Arise all you creatures and serve the Living Lord who cares about you. Worship Him and serve Him, for no one greater than He has visited you in this vale of fear and tears. Servants come and make themselves lords. The Lord came and…
Glory to God for All Things
A Royal Nun and the Angels
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The following is a short excerpt from Mother Alexandra’s (former Princess Ileana of Romania) small book, The Holy Angels. It is by far the best treatment I have seen on the subject despite its short length. This short account tells of her encounter with her guardian angel at age seven. In the service of Orthodox Baptism, the priest specifically prays that an angel of light be assigned to the life of the…
Glory to God for All Things
That Which Is Lacking
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In one of the most unusual of St. Paul’s statements we hear the following: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church… (Colossians 1:24) There are mysteries within mysteries in St. Paul’s statement (particularly if one does not accept the idea of “merits” – an extra-Biblical term). What could…
Glory to God for All Things
St. Nikolai Velimirovic - Prayers By the Lake
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Glory to God for All Things
The Strange World of Ecumenism
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I remember in my early years as an Anglican priest being appointed as the “Ecumenical Officer” of the Diocese. It was a tip of the hat from my Bishop that my interest in other Churches (including the Orthodox) would make me a very good candidate for ecumenical representative. As it happened, there really were no great ecumenical events in South Carolina in those years with the single exception of the visit of…
Glory to God for All Things
True Prayer
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True Prayer uniting us with the Most-High is nothing other than light and strength coming down to us from heaven. In its essence it transcends our plane of existence. This world contains no source of energy for prayer. If I eat well so that my body may be strong, my flesh will rebel against prayer. If I mortify the flesh by excessive fasting, for a while sbstinence favors prayer but soon the…
Glory to God for All Things
Stones Cry Out
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Christ, in a dialog with the rulers of His time, refused to ask His followers to be quiet. His answer is very instructive: As he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name…
Glory to God for All Things
Speaking Carefully
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I officiated at a wedding last Sunday – one of several this year at the Church. It is always interesting to be part of an Orthodox wedding. Unlike most of our services, there is likely to be a majority of non-Orthodox in attendance. And they will have come to a service which even Baptists (no criticism intended) have a mental model for how it should look, liturgically. I recall my first Orthodox…
Glory to God for All Things
Risky Business
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Amoun found Abba Poemen and told him, “When I visit a neighbor or he visits me, he hesitate to talk with each other. We are afraid that we might bring up a worldly topic. The old man replied, “Yes, young people need to guard their mouths.” Amoun asked, “But how do old men handle this problem?” Abba Poemen said, “Those who have advanced in virtue no longer have any worldliness in them.…
Glory to God for All Things
Scattered Thoughts
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We have noticed with sadness that nowadays men suffer dreadfully because their mind is fragmented. Imagination, which is only one of the mind’s activities, is overindulged and dominates men’s lives, leading some to hardness of heart due to pride, and others to mental illness. According to the teaching of the Gospel and the Scriptures, the mind works naturally only when it is united with the heart. Mind and heart are naturally joined…
Glory to God for All Things
The Fullness of the Fullness
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It is frequently the case that Orthodox theology uses the word “fullness” to describe its understanding and life of the gospel. This is a far more apt expression than simply saying “we have the truth.” Fullness, I think, better describes something. Truth, in our modern vocabulary, can mean something quite flat – as in a correct answer on a test. However, “fullness” describes not only the truth but the truth with an…
Glory to God for All Things
Good To Be Home
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I give thanks to God for a safe journey home from Dallas. Slight mishap with our plane in Memphis. It was delayed because the cargo bay caught on fire. Then things got complicated. But we arrived home just a few minutes ago. Glory to God. I hope to do more writing in the next day or so. I was greatly moved by my time with Archbishop Dmitri and with the life of…
Glory to God for All Things
A Father in God
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I occasionally have to answer the question from the non-Orthodox who wonder why we refer to priests as “father,” particularly when the Scripture says, “Call no man father.” Of course, the verse following that would also forbid the use of the word, “mister,” but few seem to notice. St. Paul uses the term “father,” however, and it became and has remained a useful term, not because there is any disdain for the…
Glory to God for All Things
Dallas and the Diocese of the South
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I will be in Dallas on Tuesday through Friday, attending the annual Diocesan Assembly of the Diocese of the South (OCA). My great joy is to spend time with my Archbishop DMITRI. It is also on our agenda to elect Igumen Jonah Paffhausen of St. John Maximovitch Monastery in California as our Auxiliary Bishop. May God direct our hearts. I will post articles from Dallas as I am able, and ask…
Glory to God for All Things
Repentance for the World - Prayers by the Lake XXIX
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This xxix prayer of St. Nicholai of Zicha from Prayers by the Lake, echoing the prayers of Pentecost should give us all hope in our sins as we seek the merciful God. For all the sins of men I repent before You, Most Merciful Lord. Indeed, the seed of all sins flows in my blood! With my effort and Your mercy I choke this wicked crop of weeds day and night,…
