Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
"Giving Up Something" for Lent
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Update: This post is now available as an audio recording at Ancient Faith Radio. Mark Galli recently posted an article entitled Giving Up Self-Discipline for Lent which is actually a fairly fascinating look into what Lenten ascetical effort looks like from within a Pietist tradition. Pietism is, in brief, the belief that the private relationship with God is paramount and that doctrine and shared…
The Morning Offering
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The Caregiver Saint Gebriel Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Cathedral in Seattle. Caregivers must Care for Themselves My dear mother was diagnosed with dementia, back in 2003. Soon after the diagnosis I moved her from Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, and into an assisted living place on Vashon Island, where I could be involved in the supervision of her care. The dementia progressed…
Praying in the Rain
Forgiveness Sunday
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In the Western Tradition, Great Lent begins on a Wednesday, Ash Wednesday. In the East, Great Lent begins on a Monday. The Sunday immediately before Great Lent begins is called Forgiveness Sunday. The Synaxarion for the day–that is, the reading from Matins that explains the liturgical meaning of each day–explains the meaning of this day as follows: It is the Sunday of Forgiveness, known also as Cheese Fare Sunday. Today’s lesson from…
Glory to God for All Things
The God Who Is No God
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A God who remains generalized and reduced to ideology is no God at all. Only the daily encounter with the living God, with all the messiness it entails, can rise to the name Christian. Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe _____________ Belief in a true and living God is a very difficult thing, fraught with consequence. Belief in the idea of God can be tokenism at its very worst. This distinction…
The Morning Offering
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Depression First signs of Sprin Prayer is the remedy for gloom and despondency Depression is one of the plagues of the modern age, overtaking many with it’s insidious poison, and ravaging many a life. The pain and suffering that comes with deep depression can infect those who surround the sufferer, for the depression of one person can spread like mold…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Transfiguration of Place: An Orthodox Christian Vision of Localism
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Both parts of my talk, The Transfiguration of Place: An Orthodox Christian Vision of Localism, are now available via Ancient Faith Radio. Get them here: Part 1, Part 2 I have to say that this is one of my favorites among the things I’ve written. A number of folks have actually asked me to expand this into a book, but I don’t think I…
The Morning Offering
Wednesday February 22, 2012 / February 9, 2012
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Compassion Becoming a More Compassionate People As our nation faces critical decisions that will in all likelihood impact the lives of countless elderly and poor, it is right that we consider the teachings of the Orthodox Church concerning our duties to those who have less then we. Saint John Chrysostom taught that, “the poor are not the spectacle of human…
Praying in the Rain
The Sunday of the Last Judgement
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The final preparatory Sunday of pre-Lent is the Sunday of the Last Judgement. Just as for the previous two Sundays the Church has set before us for our consideration two types, two ways of approaching God; so also this Sunday we are asked to consider two groups and their response to Christ, who is in the guise of the least of His brothers or sisters. In this parable, the Glorious Second Coming…
The Morning Offering
Love
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Orthodox Christian Fellowship, University of Washington The Preeminence of Love Obedience is a central theme throughout the history of salvation. Without obedience to God’s commandments, there can be no salvation, for the nous (our spiritual center) must be healed before we can be made whole. The role of obedience is so central, in fact, that submission to God’s will must…
Glory to God for All Things
Stumbling Toward Salvation
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On occasion I have written on topics that seem to scandalize readers, or certainly cause difficulty for many. Some of those topics have been articles on the wrath of God; the radical forgiveness of everyone for everything; the commonality of our life and our salvation; and various posts on giving thanks always for all things (there are others as well). I am not intentionally contrarian – I do not write in order…
The Morning Offering
Lenten Journey
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The Patronal Icon of the Monastery Transformation through the Lenten Journey The Byzantine Court was filled with sycophants, busying themselves with building alliances that would help them rise in status and influence. Many emperors were tricked into believing these sycophants were truly their friends, and could be trusted, when in actuality they were being played, and these flatterers were not…
The Morning Offering
The Heart
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Heavenly Worship must Enter into the Heart The beauty of Orthodox worship is meant to lift us up, and connect us to the Heavenly Worship that is eternally taking place before the Throne of God. The very description of Heavenly Worship as found in the Book of Revelation is clearly an image of the Divine Liturgy. The beatific vision granted…
The Morning Offering
Post-Christian Era?
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The remains of Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church The Decline of Christianity in America Some twenty five years ago our monastic brotherhood arrived on Vashon Island, establishing ourselves in a rental house near the Village of Dockton. This little village had two churches, built by the original founders of the community. Dockton, in the 1880’s, had the largest dry dock north…
The Morning Offering
Christophobia
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Photos of the Monastery’s library and community room. Christianity Under Attack The cover of the February 13th addition of Newsweek magazine displayed a photo of a blood stained Coptic Orthodox icon of Christ, with the headline, “The War on Christians”. This article is the first of note that has appeared in the mainline media, and one would hope other publications…
Praying in the Rain
Souls Saturday
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On the Saturday before the Sunday of the Last Judgement, which prepares us for the final week of pre-Lent, the Church holds the first of several universal funeral services. These “Souls Saturdays” have at least two purposes. First, they are to provide a funeral for all who have died without one: “Since many have died at sea, in the mountains or wilderness, in the air, or, because of their poverty have died…
Glory to God for All Things
How Do You Feel About That?
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In the near decade-and-a-half that I have been Orthodox, I cannot recall ever being asked, “How do you feel about that?” It is not a wrong question, but one that simply doesn’t come up much in Orthodox conversation. The Tradition of the Church is not set by feelings (at least officially). Neither is the Church a therapy group (officially). But I sometimes suspect that conversation is neglecting an important question – and…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Interview with Theron Mathis on "Sword in the Fire"
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Theron Mathis, author of The Rest of the Bible: A Guide to the Old Testament of the Early Church, has graciously conducted a brief interview with me regarding Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy and other matters on his weblog Sword in the Fire. Excerpt from the introduction: Fr. Andrew does the seemingly impossible in a mere 224 pages. He gives a broad scope of Orthodox belief,…
The Morning Offering
Surrender
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In Surrendering we have Victory All that we have comes down from the Father of Lights. We should not become impatient, wanting more than we are ready to receive, for the Lord knows what is best for us. He measures His giving, according to our need, sometimes delaying the things we’ve asked for. When we give ourselves over to Christ,…
The Morning Offering
Disciplines
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The Three Disciplines: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving Jesus Christ called for a thorough conversion of our heart and mind, and a complete turning away from the old man (our fallen nature). The main act that begins this conversion is metanoia, which means thorough change of mind. This happens when we become aware that we have sinned, and that we are…
Praying in the Rain
Pride Masquerading as Confidence
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As a pastor, I often feel the tension in the lives of those I care for. And one of the greatest temptations I face is the urge to quickly resolve that tension by suggesting remedies that make sense to me. Like many people, I tend to think I know what others should do to resolve the tension in their lives. The temptations that I face are really common to all of us.…
Glory to God for All Things
A Young Missionary
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A young man whom I know from our local Orthodox Christian Fellowship at the University of Tennessee is looking to return to Tanzania as part of a mission team this year. It is a joy to see young people giving their lives for the cause of Christ and reaching out at home and across the world to bear witness to the fullness of the faith. If you are interested in following his…
The Morning Offering
Submission
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The Abbot’s Cell Submitting to the Will of God Pride keeps us from living according to the will of God, and pride causes us to focus only on self. Without submission to God, we wallow in the dankness of our fallen world, and our true self remains dormant. One cannot submit to God without humility, and when we submit to…
Glory to God for All Things
After My Own Heart
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I love this post on Pithless Thoughts. Good read. Good words.
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Eminem Ethic
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I spotted this image on Facebook today, and it puts forth a commonly accepted ethic, which I’ve dubbed here the Eminem Ethic. Essentially, various categories of race, sexual desire, physical appearance, and economic status don’t matter when it comes to winning his kindness. What matters is that “you’re nice to me.” This sounds pretty good. This is a morality bandwagon that probably most folks…
The Morning Offering
How to Forgive
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Put Aside Resentment The decision to forgive another person a wrong done to us begins when we decide to let go of resentment and thoughts of revenge. To forgive someone does not mean that we forget what they did to us, for this may be impossible. The memory of the hurt might always remain with you, but when you decide…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Return to God
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Sunday of the Prodigal Son, 2012 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. One of the principal themes that we meditate upon during these weeks that precede Great Lent and during the Fast itself is forgiveness. And it’s no wonder, because the Christian Church is really the only place in which forgiveness makes…
Glory to God for All Things
The Sacrament of Mercy
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There are many things that Christians think about that have been spiritualized out of existence. Our secular culture tends to grant two kinds of realities: the first is the reality of solid objects – or things we treat as solid objects. The second is the reality of thought and imagination. Of course, we do not really think that thought and imagination have any reality. This is one of the great weaknesses of…
