Faith Encouraged
You Can't Handle the Truth!
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I love the scene in “A Few Good Men” when Jack Nicholson’s character looks at the military lawyer questioning his leadership of his troops in Guantanamo. It’s at a pivotal part of the drama. The commandant, Colonel Jessup, was a rough and tough Marine leader. He was a strong man, and he didn’t have any respect for the Navy Colonel lawyer questioning his judgement in leading his men. In that moment Colonel…
The Morning Offering
Harmony
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Creating harmony out of chaos The inevitability of death is particularly difficult to face for most Americans, as we’ve become a people that eschew traditional funerals, preferring to “celebrate the life of our loved one, while disposing of the body, and banning any sign of death from the memorial service should we even decide to have a service. Yet the…
Faith Encouraged
You Hypocrites!
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“Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?” You can almost hear the sneer in this question to Jesus in the passage for today! And, frankly, it’s a good question. You see, as a Church, we Orthodox place a great deal of confidence in the consistent witness of the Faithful through the centuries. And we get that honest, as my grandmother use to say. We inherited that attitude from the…
The Morning Offering
Happiness
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All we need for happiness is right in front of us It is easy to resist taking care of oneself if we run at full speed as though we are the only one who can get things done. We all need to set priorities, making sure we focus on Christ and not let that which is transitory rule our lives.…
No Other Foundation
See You in August!
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Just a quick note to my dear online friends: I will be on vacation and away from the office from July 19 to August 5. During this time I will not be able to receive, moderate, or post any comments to my blog. So, if you do post, please don’t wonder why your comments are not appearing immediately. I am not ignoring your comments, but walking the beaches of Oregon and reading…
Faith Encouraged
Making Masters Servants!
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I know it is a bit “old fashioned” and it may be hard for those of this generation to understand, but the timeless message of the Faith is that we are called to battle and tame the passions SO THAT they are our servants and never our masters! So what are the passions? Some may say “I thought being a passionate person was a good thing.” Well, as usual, it depends on…
The Morning Offering
The Orthodox Practice of Burial
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Cremation versus the Orthodox Practice of Burial The first time I ever attended a funeral service where cremation of the body of the deceased had taken place was in Portland, Oregon, many years ago. An Episcopal priest friend had died and had requested his body be cremated. Walking into the church and seeing a small box sitting before the altar…
Glory to God for All Things
A Better World is Within You
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“We must eliminate poverty, oppression, racism…” How is it possible to disagree with the demand for justice? Who would not agree to end all suffering? How can we not commit our lives to bringing about a better world? The desire for justice and an end to suffering are deeply seductive in our modern world. Being told that these are false desires flies in the face of almost everything that characterizes our present…
Faith Encouraged
A Deeper Knowing
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I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to “eat crow” over some idea I had or position I held that turned out to be, oh not necessarily “wrong” but “too small” or “too narrow” for the subject at hand. It’s made me a bit gunshy at times to make a definitive statement before I’ve had the time to really contemplate my own thoughts. After all, as the scripture says, “The…
The Morning Offering
Isolation
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Putting an end to isolation The Church is the Body of Christ and by Her very nature is anything but an institution wherein one can be isolated from others. We only let it be so if we fail to involve ourselves as the people of God, with one another. The greeting given by Orthodox Christians, passing on the holy kiss…
No Other Foundation
The Johannine Pentecost and the Social Context of the Early Church
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Ever since my college days many centuries ago, I have been reading about “the Johannine Pentecost”, by which scholars meant John’s version of the Pentecostal bestowal of the Spirit. The reference, of course, is to John 20:19-23. In this post-Resurrection appearance of Christ to His disciples, Jesus greets them by saying, “Peace be with you”, adding, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you”. He then “breathed on them” [Greek…
Eastern Christian Insights
Shining with His Light: Homily for the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Council in the Orthodox Church
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Titus 3:8-15; Matthew 5:14-19 In just about anything we do in life, it is helpful at times to sit back and ask ourselves what we are trying to achieve. Unless we have a clear purpose in mind, we are probably not going to get very far in anything. By taking a hard look at ourselves, we may find that there is a disconnect between our…
The Morning Offering
Knowing God
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Hesychasm versus Aristotelian Scholasticism The 14th century dispute between Augustinian theologian Barlaam of Calabria, an Aristotelian scholastic, and Saint Gregory Palamas, whom he accused of heresy for his hesychasm (the Orthodox teaching on mystical prayer), was important because it demonstrated one of the major differences between the Latin West, and the Orthodox East. In the Latin West, God could be…
Orthodox Reformed Bridge
Sola Scriptura’s Epistemological Problems - Summary
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Sola Scriptura’s Epistemological Problems (4 of 4) A Response to David Roxas (3 of 4) See also: (2 of 4) and (1 of 4) Within the Protestant tenet of sola scriptura are significant epistemological problems. I list them below and describe how Orthodoxy addressed these problems. First, if Scripture is divinely inspired but interpreted by flawed, fallible men, then how do we know that we have the right interpretation and not some…
The Morning Offering
The Critic
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The critic, fearing he will fail, does nothing It is easy to be critical of another person, finding fault with what we perceive they are doing, have done, or have not done. Yet the man who points out how another man has stumbled, finding fault in something he himself has not done, and in what he himself thinks he could…
Father Bill's Blog
22. The Story of the Holy Prophet Elijah - Part One
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July 20 is the feast of the Prophet Elijah. This is a wonderful story – of how God’s faithful prophet stood up alone to paganism and to power, and paid the price and triumphed. In order to tell the story and comment about it in this short space, I’ve had to leave out a great deal. The full text is found in I Kings chapters 17-20 and II Kings chapter 2. The usual…
Faith Encouraged
Sell Everything and Buy the Field
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He looked at me right in the face and said the words I will never forget: “When you’re ready to ‘sell all you have’ to have this faith, then, and only then will you be ready!” Whoa, wait a minute, let’s talk about this! Everything? Yep, everything. It was a turning point in my own spiritual journey and I was having to confront my own desire to “play it safe” or not…
The Morning Offering
Darkness
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Avoiding this present darkness For those who embrace the enjoyment of partying and entertainment, all in an attempt to avoid the hardships and life struggles that make great souls, they will have failed to embrace the essential element that makes this life journey salvific. They will have avoided their service of love by enduring those difficulties that unite them to…
Faith Encouraged
The "Weeds" in Your Heart
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OK, let me confess something; I am not very talented when it comes to growing things. In fact, every time I’ve tried to plant and tend a garden, it has ended up either overrun by weeds or eaten by critters or over watered or under watered! I just don’t have the proverbial “green thumb.” I don’t know why. Maybe it’s a lack of patience, or a lack of discipline. Or maybe it’s…
The Morning Offering
The Good Old US of A
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Just whose country is it anyhow? As we Christians find ourselves more and more marginalized in our society, as increasing numbers of people are declaring themselves “none” on questionnaires, we must face the reality that we’ve, essentially, become a minority in a country that was traditionally identified as a Christian nation. As Orthodox Christians we look to the Holy Virgin…
Roads from Emmaus
Seven Ways to Argue on the Orthodox Internet
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Orthodox Christians argue on the Internet. It seems like everybody does it. Well, it’s not everybody, of course. But, boy! is it rampant! I figure that, so long as we’re going to do it, we might as well keep some things in mind so that we can do it better. 1. Actually, you probably shouldn’t. It’s so super-easy to get into arguments on social…
Glory to God for All Things
The Poor, Debts & Your Enemies: Learning to Forgive
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He who has pity on the poor makes a debtor of God. (Prov. 19:17) Jesus told a story about a man with a huge debt. He owed it to his master and was unable to pay. When he was dragged before his master, he begged for mercy. Strangely, the master was so moved by the man’s begging that he forgave him the entire debt. This same man, Jesus said, turned around and…
No Other Foundation
Replying to Sr. Vassa’s Mail
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Recently Sr. Vassa Larin (famous for her “Coffee with Sr. Vassa” podcast) has attracted much and varied attention from a correspondence she published in which she replied to a question from a woman of a fourteen year old boy about how to handle her son’s “coming out”. (The mother’s question and Sr. Vassa’s response may be accessed here.) Her advice, prefaced by a disclaimer of sorts that it was but her “personal…
Faith Encouraged
You Tell The Best Stories, Pawpaw!
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My grandfather was an amazing storyteller. He was always a larger than life figure in my eyes as a boy and still is even as a grown man. He had this ability to mesmerize us grandkids with his stories of being a police officer in Atlanta, and his stories of his adventures with his friends. To this day, I have no idea if any of these stories he told actually happened! He…
The Morning Offering
Fishermen of Men
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The Common Men Called by the Lord As we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, it is good to remember that the Lord did not call academics, religious leaders, or important members of the King’s Court, as His Apostles, but rather He called what were essentially the blue collar workers of the time, fishermen. The Lord…
Roads from Emmaus
Where Does Zeal for God Come From?
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Fifth Sunday after Pentecost and the Fifth Sunday of Matthew, July 9, 2017 Romans 10:1-10; Matthew 8:28-9:1 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. (Romans 10:2) St. Paul says this…
Faith Encouraged
How Much Do You Love Me?
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My daughters and I have this little game we play. I ask them “How much do you love me?” And they, giggling and smiling, try to stretch their little arms as wide as they can and say “This much, daddy!” Of course then they ask me how much I love them and I make as big a show as I can to stretch my arms as wide as I can and say…
