Conflict Reveals Important Truths

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
It seems we humans have an ingrained “love” of fighting, defending ourselves, and drama. We are really good at it. Just look at the conflicts that are raging today in our world. We seem to love to fight, and that, in itself, should be a sign of deep brokenness in us. Our impulse to fight, to demand our rights, to “get even” and “settle the score” all reveal a wound in humanity…

Learn To Compete According to the Rules

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
I love a line from the Paraklesis to our parish saints, Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene: “We entreat you, O Martyr of Christ, who with Nicholas and Irene for His sake competed according to the rules: Save us from injuries by our unruly opponent, through your earnest prayers to our tender-loving Lord.” The good Monk Gerasimos Mikragiannanites wrote this Paraklesis to our patron saints and I love how he contrasts the saints,…

The Path To Wise Living

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
It took me a long time to finally get my mind and heart around the profound difference between wisdom and legislation. For most of my life, I spent most of my time being a rule keeper. After all, I was the firstborn son. I was responsible to obey the rules. I was supposed to be the “good boy” that would grow up to be a “good leader” who taught everyone to obey…

An Old Story Still True Today

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
“…of the holy and righteous ancestors of God Joachim and Anna…” At every liturgy, at the end of every prayer service, the priest remembers the grandparents of Jesus, the parents of the Theotokos! If something like this is repeated long enough, we humans start experiencing it as the familiar “noise” of prayer. The dangers of this “sound” becoming mere nostalgia increases and the greater danger of us “forgetting” WHY we pray this…

Preaching the Paradox of Freedom

· Fr. Barnabas Powell 1 Leave a Comment on %s
It’s just who I am. I remember my time at an Evangelical Protestant school for my undergraduate degree, and the 2 years of homiletical (how to give a sermon). It was a bit grueling and my professor was particularly tough on me. One day, I was walking with another seminarian and he overheard our conversation. He stopped me and said, “Brother Powell, you are a preaching machine!” I chose to take that…

True Healing at Jesus’ Feet

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
There is a story about a great man. He had searched the world over for wisdom. He had gone to gurus and sought out great religious leaders and learned philosophers. But still, his heart ached for more. Sure, he learned great and awesome ideas and heard wonderful words, but still, he felt empty from the searching. Discouraged, he cried out to God “Lord, where is true wisdom? Where is true knowledge of…

The Temptation of Shallow Self Awareness

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
“Shove me into shallow waters, before I get too deep.” This was a popular song in the 1980s espousing the “virtue” of shallow living. “I don’t want to get too deeply insightful about myself. I’d rather be shallow.” I get it. Doing the work to truly know yourself is hard and scary! Because IF you put the humble work in to explore the vast universe that is your own soul, you are…

The Poison of Doing Right with a Wrong Heart

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
“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 honesty, as my grandmother use to say. We inherited that attitude from the…

The Merciless Mastery of Undisciplined Passions

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
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 definitions.…

Woman, Go In Peace

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
Listen to this quote from Fr. Alexander Schmemann, of blessed memory, “Man was created priest of the world, the one who offers the world to God in a sacrifice of love and praise…Priesthood, in this sense, is the very essence of manhood, man’s creative relation to the “womanhood” of the created world.” Notice the “gender” language, and stay with me here, notice the implications of this understanding of God creating this binary…