Nearly Orthodox
philokalia...
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I’ve been reading today about the Philokalia. The Philokalia is a gathering of spiritual writings which lend insights to the Bible. It is not “commentary” but more than that. I view commentary as it pertains to Scripture to be more a play by play on the Word whereas the Philokalia is not that mechanical. It’s not about understanding with our heads but with our heart. It is not a dissection of the…
Nearly Orthodox
poetry among friends...
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This is cross-posted at Mrs Metaphor today…just so’s you know. vespers the light surprised me I thought it would be dark murky and mysterious but the sky was open wide and airy the scent was as I had expected heady and sweet I closed my eyes the priest walked down the aisles with soft footsteps garments rustling censer clinking and I took it all into me If only I could photograph…
Nearly Orthodox
push and pull...
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It won’t always be like this; me spinning out again and again with the struggle and the intoxication, will it? I feel like I’m split in two most days. In the early part of the day I wake up and spend time in prayer. I’m excited to be there, to spend time in this way. In the middle of the day I seek out time to be alone and pray. I find…
Nearly Orthodox
water...
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I have the strongest urge to break away from my noisy life this week and just sit in the church. I’ve asked Fr. G and he has said that if someone is at the church I can get in there. I think it’s because I want some practice, some quiet. It’s the toe in the water instead of just jumping in. I’ve never liked just jumping in fast. Everyone says it’s the…
Nearly Orthodox
the holy kiss...
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I’ve written about The Holy Kiss on Mrs Metaphor in the past. I’m reminded of this concept again today as I consider the idea of the veneration of icons. This practice is one that we did not employ in the Catholic church and so the “awkward” factor kicks up a bit more around this issue. I don’t have a problem with the idea of venerating an icon, I really don’t. It might…
Nearly Orthodox
night...
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What is it about the night that it’s able to bring such moments of doubt and sadness? I’ve always loved the night, loved the quiet it offered. Lately, though, the night has been an enemy; I’m tired but unable to sleep. The nighttime becomes an opportunity for my confusion to come to the surface. Forget the noonday demon, acedia strikes at night for me. I label acedia as “why bother.” I’m not…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Worship of Fire
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While I was in Toronto a few weeks ago for an educational event, I had the delight to spend many hours with a good friend from my seminary days. He turned out to be a fine guide to introducing an American to Toronto. One of the many places we stopped was a place of some religious curiosity that he’d apparently always wanted to look…
Nearly Orthodox
healthy...
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I’m not organized. I’m not tidy. It’s very very hard for me to find time, make time, be timely about things that ought to be done. Laundry and dishes are easy in the quotidian realm. If I don’t do the laundry we have nothing to wear, if I don’t do the dishes we have nothing to hold our food. The repercussions of NOT doing these daily tasks are fairly immediate. Someone will…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Voice from Antioch: An Ignatian Catechism
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Nearly Orthodox
live...
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Fr G. spoke about the “nous” last week. I know this word already. He spoke of “nous” as being the “eye of the soul.” This is the metaphor I’ve heard employed in the past. Everyone who has given that description has explained that it is incredibly lacking. What the “nous” represents to us is so much more which is why the loss of it’s meaning in our lives is so great. We’ve…
Nearly Orthodox
vespers...
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I attended Vespers at the Greek Orthodox church last night for the first time. I felt as I expected…awkward, confused, grateful, tired, did I mention awkward? I wanted it to be darker in there. It was so light. I wanted to hide, very badly. It was interesting because just as I began to realize no one was watching me, judging my feeble attempts to understand hand motions and timing and listening, just…
Nearly Orthodox
long distance running...
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I’m not a runner. I mean, I try but I’m just not really built for it. I’m more the flexibility and strength training kind of body. Running is something I do because it has merit for me and because I’m able to do it most places I go. I can take that practice with me wherever I go. It becomes a kind of prayer in that way. A friend mentioned a…
Nearly Orthodox
thirsting for God...
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I’ve begun a book suggested by a twitter friend called “Thirsting for God in a Land of Shallow Wells” by Matthew Gallatin. Ok so here’s the thing. I’m only in the first section of the book, written as memoir he has an interesting story. At this point he’s been through the denominational wringer so to speak. This is a man in search of “truth.” It’s funny, I have never sought “truth.” I…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Golden Mountain
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Nearly Orthodox
hot buttons...
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I’m making my list. I’m checking it twice…three times…maybe four. As I’m reading about the tradition I am thinking over and over about the reasons I have turned away from the “church” in this country. The odd thing is that I’m not REMINDED of this when I’m reading it. It’s not as if I’m reading the doctrine and think, “oh hey THAT is why I shun organized religion…” Not at all. I’m…
Nearly Orthodox
matins...
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It turns out that the church I’m courting does have a matins service during the week…so, there’s that. I’ve been looking for a way to do a kind of location scout and maybe this is the way to do it. I’m told that there are not many seats in the typical orthodox sanctuary…most people stand during the service. This thought lends me some angst. I wish I could just be invisible until…
Nearly Orthodox
hurry...
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I’m always in a hurry. I hate to wait. That whole patience thing is a train I can hear whistling in the distance but can never seem to catch. I watch it going by on a trestle far above my head and think, “well, that’s really majestic and beautiful….and unreachable. I wonder where it’s going.” This is how I feel about Orthodoxy today. I just can’t seem to get to a service.…
Nearly Orthodox
people...
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I’m an introvert. Most people who know me will say I hide that well and I guess I do. I’m an extroverted introvert. I can be outgoing-ish and I can handle myself in a group of people but I’m completely worn out for meeting people. I don’t mind being IN FRONT of a large group, I’m a performer. Being IN a large group is hard for me. I’m afraid of a number…
Nearly Orthodox
first steps...
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I’ve attended my first Orthodoxy 101 class. I know that I already know most of this. I am at once encouraged and discouraged. I look around the small table of people sitting and listening. The priest, Father G is very kind. He’s young, passionate about the faith. He keeps stopping in his instruction, asking for questions. We all stare blankly. There is a sweet young couple sitting next to me, they identify…
Nearly Orthodox
long time coming...
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I’ve been considering a return to ancient traditon for a long time now. I was raised Roman Catholic, left that faith when I was in college and then while I kept my belief and love of God and the person of Jesus I just never found a home. I have a family now. They are, I recognize, a brood of little prophets. I have a husband who is strong in theologian leanings…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Text
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Whenever I have not read The Lord of the Rings for some time, I feel as though I am a long way from home. I try (but sometimes fail) to read it annually. And yet I have all these books around that I bought but just haven’t gotten around to reading yet. They’re good books, mind you. Being a geek who married a geek,…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Can you then think that you are still among men?
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For the priestly office is indeed discharged on earth, but it ranks among heavenly ordinances; and very naturally so: for neither man, nor angel, nor archangel, nor any other created power, but the Paraclete Himself, instituted this vocation, and persuaded men while still abiding in the flesh to represent the ministry of angels. Wherefore the consecrated priest ought to be as pure as if…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Arise, O Lord, Thou and the Ark of Thy holiness
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The Nativity of the Theotokos, September 8 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. In the Book of Exodus, after the Hebrew people left the land of Egypt, they wandered in the desert for some forty years before they finally came to the Promised Land. During this time, they met with God on…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Priorities and Practicalities
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The following is a recycled post from my previous weblog, originally posted in October of 2008. In a conversation I had recently, I was struck by how religious fervor is so often given over to nearly everything but religion. In this particular discussion, my interlocutor was greatly concerned about people who had no health insurance, because of a frequent interaction with such people, some…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
"Foundations of the Orthodox Faith" series fully online
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My Foundations of the Orthodox Faith series is now fully online at Ancient Faith Radio. This series represents an attempt at a sort of catechism—approaching the faith from four foundational angles: the revelation of God to man, authority in the spiritual life, worship, and morality. As with most of my work, I attempted to keep these talks fairly free of religious jargon, approaching the…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Discerning the One Thing Needful
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Holy Dormition, August 15, 2010 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Silence… is something that our culture wants to avoid at all costs. Some of us look for it on vacation. But on our way to that vacation, we make sure that we’re well insulated with noise, whether it’s blaring from the…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Hussedaag
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Some years ago a resident of Emmaus said to the writer in her native dialect [Pennsylvania German], “Heit iss der Hussedaag” (Today is Huss Day). I asked her what that meant. She did not know, but said that they always sowed their turnip seed on that day. Thus did the memory of John Huss, the great pre-Reformation reformer, find a place in our local…
