Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
New Jerusalem
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It seems that Allentown (our three years younger neighbor to the north of Emmaus and my temporary place of residence) has hired someone to come up with a new slogan: “City without limits.” I know that the purpose of this slogan is essentially for marketing for development, but I can think of few worse slogans for any town. Allentown, it should be noted, is…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Upcoming lecture at Bucknell University
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Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Dancing the Ruins
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Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Blessing the Waters
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Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Ecological Vision in James Cameron's Avatar
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Ecology was never particularly a subject I thought I would find myself thinking too much about, much less writing about, but it seems to keep coming to the fore for me, especially as I’ve begun to apprehend more of its theological, rather than secular/political, significance. Framing this theological vision in terms of “the story of home” (which is one literal rendering of oikologia, from…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Cosmic Cathedral
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Sunday of the Forefathers of Christ, December 13, 2009 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick Emmaus, Pennsylvania In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. If you follow the news, you know that this past week and in this coming week, the city of Copenhagen, Denmark, is hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference. During…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Christianity and Ecology: Lessons on Sustainability from the Early Irish Sea
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A fascinating event held recently at St. Paul’s was this seminar and discussion led by Prof. Alfred Siewers of Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania (referenced in this previous post). You can now listen to both parts of the recording made of the seminar via Ancient Faith Radio: Part One—the bulk of the seminar, introduced by your host, in which I warble on a bit…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
"The machine thus spoke for itself"
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Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost, November 29, 2009 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick Emmaus, Pennsylvania In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. On November 29th, 1877, a 30-year-old inventor in New Jersey handed a sketch to Swiss-born machinist John Kruesi and instructed him to build a new machine. Over the course of the next…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Sweet Afton
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Flow gently, sweet Afton! amang thy green braes, Flow gently, I’ll sing thee a song in thy praise; My Mary’s asleep by thy murmuring stream, Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream. Thou stockdove whose echo resounds thro’ the glen, Ye wild whistling blackbirds in yon thorny den, Thou green-crested lapwing thy screaming forbear, I charge you, disturb not my slumbering Fair. How…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Growth in two directions
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Dramatis personae: The Rev. A. S. Damick, Evangelia Damick (aged 2 yrs., 9 mos.) Rev. Damick: Look! Snow! Evangelia: Yes! We can play in it! It’s on the ground! Rev. Damick: Probably not tonight, youngun. Evangelia: Oh, well. Maybe later. Rev. Damick: Yes, maybe later. Evangelia: When you get small! Rev. Damick: What? Evangelia: When you get small! Rev. Damick: I don’t think I’m…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Defamiliarization of the Christ
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There are many times when I am speaking to someone about Christ, even within a church context, that I feel like I am speaking about an alien visitor from outer space. It is quite similar to the feeling I sometimes have when referencing some piece of history that interests me for which my interlocutor has no context or experience to make it meaningful. I…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
My Emmaus
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I remarked to my wife the other day that I now really don’t want to live anywhere but in Emmaus (we live in Allentown for the moment but hope that that will change in the next few years). I have started referring to this place occasionally as “my Emmaus.” (The genitive case is, of course, not merely the possessive.) I’ve moved a good many…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Images of Emmaus
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Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
New Podcast: Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
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Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
"[He] didn't see any God there."
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In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. On October 4, 1957, the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union made the following transmission: “As a result of great, intense work of scientific institutes and design bureaus the first artificial Earth satellite has been built.” Indeed, it had not only been built, but Sputnik 1,…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Voice
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Today’s saintly commemoration is the conception of John the Forerunner, known to most English speakers as John the Baptist, which is narrated for us, along with his birth, in the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel. A major thematic element for today is the Voice. Zachariah, not believing the archangel, is made bereft of his voice until such time as he participates in the naming…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
For us, there is only the trying
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Among other saintly commemorations today, we remember Ninian, the Enlightener of Scotland. From all apparent worldly analyses, St. Ninian was something of a failure. He’s called the Enlightener of Scotland, because he first brought the Christian faith there in the final years of the 4th century, but he wasn’t terribly successful. He never saw the astounding conversions the way Columba did nearly 200 years…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Barton Decker, barber
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This past Friday, I made another assay into the streets of and around Emmaus to find myself a decent barber shop. My first haircut experience in Emmaus, to put it frankly, hurt. I have no idea exactly why that gent had such a need to dig the clippers with such fervor into my neck, but, suffice it to say, once I did my fiduciary…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Ancient History meets American History
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On Saturday the 15th of August, after we completed services for the Dormition, members of the Orthodox Church of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, manned a booth at the festival marking the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Borough of Emmaus. One could say that we are a church obsessed with history, and so it is only fitting that we should make one small footprint into…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
"This ancient and honorable name"
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The image above is of the Knauss Homestead, one of the founding family homes in Emmaus, established in 1777. It was the patriarch of the clan, Sebastian Knauss, who first donated land in 1759 on which Emmaus was to be built. The Homestead property borders directly on that of St. Paul Orthodox Church, where I am pastor. It’s probably a decent assumption that we…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Religion's Changing Face in Emmaus
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My koumbaro (fancy Greek term for “ecclesiastical relative,” in this case, my daughter’s godfather) is visiting with us here for a few days, and this afternoon, he and I visited my favorite local coffeehouse to get a little caffeination and chat in. While we were there, we talked a bit with the proprietor, as well as with a fellow who stopped in and was…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
In the world, but not of the world
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Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, July 5, 2009 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick Emmaus, Pennsylvania In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Yesterday was the 233rd anniversary of our country. This year marks the 250th anniversary of the town of Emmaus and its 150th anniversary as an incorporated borough of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Arrival
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Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Road to Emmaus
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