Today is the Sunday After the Feast of Epiphany (Theophany) and we read in our Gospel Lesson that St. John the Baptist has been arrested. Our Lord’s response to that new was to tell the people to repent. What does metantia (the Koiene Greek word that English translates as “repent”) have to do with facing reversals in your life? Let me just quote St. Isaac the Syrian: “This life is given to…
It seems the book by Simon Sinek “Start With Why – How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone” has struck a chord with many. And the question is “why does asking why help so very much?” The answer is found in knowing the fundamental nature and purpose of any activity. You can use a hammer to do many things, from nailing a board to a stud to breaking a window to even more nefarious…
The Centers for Disease Control came out with their 2012 report on Births in the US and they discovered that out of the almost 4 million births in America, over 1,600,000 babies were born this past year to unwed women. You can read the entire report at www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr62/nvsr62_09.pdf While I truly appreciate the old saying that figures don’t lie, but liars figure, I can’t help but be struck by the almost complete…
Einstein’s theories of relativity and space time mark science’s attempt to explore and understand the created order. And reading about these ideas gives me a headache! But I am fascinated by the complex beauty and wonder these ideas reveal. A recent long term experiment conducted to test the theory of curved space time and the effects this has on our perception of time is awe inspiring. Scientists have more information today about…
Ralph Waldo Emerson once suggested that the greatest invention of humanity is friendship. But Emerson is mistaken. Friendship isn’t man’s invention. It is God’s. No matter how hard we try to hide it, our hunger for intimacy, relationships, and communion always “spills” out of our hearts. That’s why we hunger for friends and companions. That’s why, as rare a true love may be, true friendship is rarer still. And yet, we long…
“When You, O Lord, were baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest. For the Voice of the Father bore witness unto You and called You His beloved Son. And the Spirit, in the form of a dove, confirmed the truthfulness of His Word. O Christ, our God, Who has revealed Yourself, and has enlightened the world, glory to You!” On this Feast of Theophany, let us drown…
Words for me at the beginning of the year: “Love, endure, overlook, do not get angry, do not become irritated, forgive one another, in order that you resemble our Christ and are counted worthy to be near to Him in His kingdom.” Elder Ephraim of Philotheou Mount Athos, “Counsels from the Holy Mountain” Today, when you can only notice the need for these words in your own life and take no thought of…
OK, I’ve got good news and bad news, and, it turns out it’s the same news. Confused? Don’t be. This reality is as old as time itself. One man’s Good News is another man’s bad news, and, as usual, it depends on the condition of your desires and your perspective. But that is true in so many other aspects of our lives. Take the financial markets. When bonds are cheap and the…
At the height of the Jesus Movement in the 1970’s in America, we had a “born again” President, Jimmy Carter, and we had the beginnings of the modern Church Growth movement and the start of what would become the megachurch movement among religious Americans. We also had a New York Times Best Seller by Rev. Billy Graham called “How To Be Born Again” (1977). While I know many of those who grew…
