A Healing Driven Life
Anxiety: Our Ally in the Pursuit of Insight and Self-Awareness
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Anxiety can be a frightening feeling, but it is also the feeling of fear itself. Those two truths are at the core of what can make our anxiety much worse by snowballing into something that gets bigger to the point of it causing impairment in our lives.  In reality, everyone has anxiety. In fact, we could not live without it. The goal is not to have zero anxiety; for if we did, we would not function. We would have no motivation to get anything done.  We also do not want to have our anxiety to be (say from a 0-10) at a 7 or an 8 all of the time. The truth is, we want it to be between 1…
Behind the Scenes
Advice, Anxiety, the Mountain of God, and more on AFR this week!
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LIVE SHOWS: There are 6 live shows this week! Remember, you can hear our live shows on the Ancient Faith Radio app or on our website. During the show, call 1-855-AFRADIO (1-855-237-2346) with questions or comments. All programs are recorded. Listen to previous episodes at the links provided. Having established that we are saved by Christ not the Law of Moses, justified because we believe in him, Paul continues his careful exposition in Romans to explain the effects…
Faith Encouraged
Garments of Skins
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Animal sacrifices are found in many cultures and many belief systems. Which begs the question, where did this idea that blood was necessary to atone for sins originate? Glad you asked. It originated from the beginning. Look at our Lesson today in Genesis 3:21-4:7: And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them. Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like…
Word of the Day
How To Read Proverbs as Poetry (Mon. March 22)
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The word of the day is “but.”  Almost all people thrive when there is order in society, but hardly anyone can prosper when chaos rules.  We naturally seek balance and equilibrium and consider harmony to be beautiful, right, and true.   Today in our reading of Proverbs 3:21-4:7  we find that symmetry is built into the structure of the sayings of wisdom. For example, our reading begins, “Surely He [God] scorns the scornful” (vs. 3:34).  Here we discover a basic underlying sense of justice.  It is only right that those who scoff at others will themselves be scoffed (Strong’s #3887, 191). Today we will analyze some selected sayings of our reading to illustrate this sense of righteousness.  Then we will reflect…
The Morning Offering
Humility
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The dark ink God’s grace uses to write His Law on our hearts We all struggle with our passions, and like Saint Paul we can say we do that which we do not want to do and do not do what we want to do. The passions hold us down close to the ground in our sin and fallen nature.…
The Morning Offering
The Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy (YouTube video: click here)
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Remembering Sion
"Our Fathers Have Told Us"
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By God’s grace we have reached the completion of the First Week of Great Lent, and have come now to the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. Great Lent is the Season of Repentance par excellence, and in general the Sundays of Great Lent all reflect this theme: next week we will celebrate the great hesychast, St. Gregory Palamas; then we commemorate the Precious Cross of our Lord; next we honor St.…
Word of the Day
Leaving Pharaoh’s Palace: The Example of Moses (Sun. March 21)
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The word of the day is “choose.”  What way of life do we choose?  Is it the way of the pleasures of this world or the way of the promises of God?  In today’s reading of Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-12:2, we focus on Moses, who had a choice to make between his Egyptian upbringing and His lineage as a member of the People of God. The apostle writes, “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin…” (NKJV vs. 24-25). Today we will explore that choice and apply it to ourselves. Today’s reading recalls that…
The Morning Offering
Witnessing Faith to Our Children
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We must empower children in the Orthodox faith Every Orthodox parent wants their children to grow up attending Sunday Liturgies and staying active in the life of the Church throughout their lives. Yet many parents don’t demonstrate the importance of having a relationship with God in front of their children. If we do not make God important, neither will our…
Eastern Christian Insights
Live Like the Icon You Are: Homily for the First Sunday of Great Lent (The Sunday of Orthodoxy)
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Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-40; John 1:43-51       There are many ways to view ourselves as human beings. All too often, we accept false definitions that we find appealing in light of our passions, weaknesses, and other forms of personal brokenness.   When we do so, we set our sights too low, for the Savior became one of us in order to make us perfectly beautiful icons of His salvation. …
Glory to God for All Things
Pay Attention! See What You See!
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It has been said that the whole of Orthodox theology and teaching can be found in a single, well-executed icon. I believe it to be true. Over the years, I have found that certain icons have been invaluable in efforts to teach a class of inquirers or catechumens about certain aspects of the faith. Those “certain aspects” could easily be expanded until, time permitting, the whole of the faith would be expounded.…
Every Thought Captive
The Poor: The healer of our wounds
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Let us hasten to cleanse the pollution of our sins, Through fasting, charity, and love for the poor, That we may enter the wedding feast of Christ the Bridegroom, Who offers us great mercy! Apostikha from Monday of Cheesefare Week The Lenten Spring has sprung for us Orthodox Christians. We now stand at the end of an intense week of services. Many of us spent our evenings this week hearing the penetrating voice of St. Andrew of Crete calling us to deepen our repentance. This Wednesday, with stomachs rumbling, we laid prostrate waiting for the entrance…
Word of the Day
“Light of Light:" the Bible and the Creed (Sat. March 20)
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The Word of the Day (Saturday, March 20) “Light of Light:” The Biblical Basis of the Creed Most of the time, we fix our gaze downward on the challenges and struggles of the fleeting moment and tiny space we occupy in this life. But today’s reading invites us to lift our eyes to the heavens and to consider the majesty of the Eternal God and the equal splendor of the Son of God, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Our reading proclaims that the Son of God is far greater than the angels in authority,[i] dominion,[ii] eternity,[iii] agency in creation,[iv] and divine status. In the Creed, we profess that the Son of God, the Only-begotten of the Father, is “Light of Light”…
The Morning Offering
The Inverted Pyramid
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It is essential for us to find the way of humility Saint Sophrony of Essex, himself the spiritual son and biographer of Saint Silouan of the Holy Mountain, wrote that the empirical cosmic being is like a pyramid: at the top sit the powerful of the earth, who exercise dominion over others, and at the bottom stand the common people,…
Faith Encouraged
It Wasn't My Fault!
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“She made me do it.” This was the “excuse of my daughter when I asked her why she hit her sister! Wow, that’s a lot of power to give to someone else! It seems we humans have a particular gift for shifting the blame to someone else when we make mistakes. We also seem to be particularly good at excusing or justifying our choices even when those choices turn out badly! Look…
Word of the Day
Almsgiving: Medicine for the Soul and the Right of the Poor (Fri. March 19)
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The word of the day is “give.”  We naturally think that our possessions are ours to do with as we choose.  Accordingly, if we should give some of them to those in need, well, that is our choice.  If not, that is our right as well.  But in today’s reading of Proverbs 3:19-34, we discover a striking insight. The writer of Proverbs teaches, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is the power of your hand to do so” (vs. 27). Today we will draw out the meaning of this wisdom for our stewardship of what we possess. On first reading, this verse sounds like the commonplace advice that we should pay our debts…
The Morning Offering
God in Art and Music
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True art is a mirror of God’s beauty and light Some time ago I wrote, “some secular music sounds like it had its birth in the depths of hell”. Certainly music itself cannot come from Satan, for it is given birth from the creative mind of people. Some people, however, are influenced by evil powers, and their music, and their…
No Other Foundation
Holy Tradition
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One great difference between Orthodox and Evangelicals is their reaction to the little word “tradition”. The former regard it as a kind of armour and as an immune system, while the latter regard it almost as a disease to guard against. The Orthodox therefore usually speak of “holy Tradition”, while Evangelicals usually speak of “man’s tradition” or (more often) of “dead tradition”. For them, all tradition is dead, and even deadly, for…
Faith Encouraged
The Breath Of God
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Phillip James Bailey, an English poet of the late 19th century, once said: “Let each man think himself an act of God; his mind a thought; his life, a breath of God; and let each try, by great thoughts and good deeds to show the most of heaven he hath in him.” One of the amazing revelations of the Orthodox Christian Faith is the high dignity humanity has in this wondrous creation.…
Word of the Day
On Trusting the Lord and Relying on His Wisdom (Thurs. March 18)
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The word of the day is “trust .” Our society values self-reliance. We teach that maturity means that we no longer depend on others for direction or support. When we are fully grown, we should take our own  path in life.  However, our reading of Proverbs 3:1-18 teaches us the opposite. The wise teacher of Proverbs says, “Trust the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight (OAB vs. 5). Today we will consider what it means to trust the Lord for wisdom.  We will also find that reliance on God’s wisdom should apply to everything we do. Our key verse (vs. 5) is a favorite of many. It is  worth memorizing so that we…
The Morning Offering
Are these the End Times?
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We dare not surrender to the temptation of despair The cultural and spiritual warfare that is taking place because of the pandemic, with the forced separation of mass numbers of people from their extended families, elders, parish communities, and fellow workers, has brought our world to a place not experienced in hundreds of years. Coupled with the polarization of the…
Faith Encouraged
Made For Him to be LIKE Him
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Shakespeare’s Hamlet has a character named Polonius and Shakespeare has him utter those now famous words “For the apparel oft proclaims the man.” And then, of course, there’s the famous business advice “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have!” All this focus on apparel makes one wonder if men are unaware of their true selves. And that, dear one, is seen in the fervent scramble of humanity to…
Word of the Day
Four Things Necessary for Seeking Wisdom (Wed. March 17)
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The word of the day is “seek .”  We would like to think that gaining spiritual understanding comes from the sudden unveiling of a revelation, a quick flash of insight.  But our reading of Provers 2:1-22 teaches us we must search diligently for wisdom. And it assures us that this earnest search will be rewarded. Solomon writes, “If you seek perception with a strong voice, and if you seek her as silver and search for her as treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God” (OSB vs. 4-5). What, then,  is necessary for our search? Knowing What We Seek When we search for something, we need to know what we are looking…
The Morning Offering
Together
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We are all in this together As we struggle in this life, it is good to remember that we are all together. We find our place of silence, where we encounter God, but even in this place set apart, we are together. In our journey to God, our common goal is the acquisition of a humble and contrite heart, and…
Faith Encouraged
The Gift of Time
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Harvey Mackay said “Time is free but priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back” This “gift of time” is all about perspective and maturing enough in your life to appreciate the nature of your time here in this life. And time is, in fact, God’s idea. He created time; the…
Word of the Day
Three Ways of Closing Our Ears to Wisdom and How to Open Them (Tues. March 16)
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The word of the day is “reject.” Many think that the ways of God are hidden and only known to a select few who have the time and resources to probe into them. However, in our reading of Proverbs 1:20-33, we hear Wisdom herself speaking in urgent cries in every public place. Thus, we read, “Wisdom sings in the streets. She moves boldly in the squares.  She preaches on high city walls.  And sits at the gates of lords.  At the gates of a city, she boldly says…” (vs. 20-21).  But do we hear her when she calls to us?  Today’s reading describes several ways of closing our ears to the teaching of Wisdom and the corresponding ways of opening…
The Morning Offering
Ending Judgement and Cruelty
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We must be sensitive to other people, regardless of differences We humans are an odd species. We are capable of great sensitivity and compassion, yet can also be capable of much cruelty. The outpouring of aid and support received by Japanese citizens, following the terrible earthquake and tsunami that caused untold suffering, and great loss of life, was an example…
