I had just bought a new flashlight for youth camp. It was one of my first times serving at camp as a newly ordained priest and my cabin was a bit of a hike away from the center of the retreat center. I confess I was a bit nervous and the last thing I needed was to stumble in the dark and be out of commission with a sprained ankle! On the…
St. Porphyrios said “Do not fight to expel darkness from the chamber of your soul. Open a tiny window for the light to enter, and the darkness will disappear!” What a contrast to our current cultural chaos where it seems all sides want to “fight” all the time. We are driven by our egos to “defend” this or that and, in the process, we become the very thing we hate. We “fight”…
It’s amazing how powerful even a little light is when it’s dark. A small, flickering flame can brighten a dark room, and, amazingly the darker the room, the more powerful even the smallest amount of light! I remember visiting Ruby Falls as a little boy and going into the underground caverns with the tour, holding my mon’s hand tightly. It got even tighter when the tour guide turned out the lights in…
It was a favorite Sunday School song in my 1st-grade class on Sundays! “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine!” We would hold up our right index fingers as we sang the song. What a nice memory. But then something…
It was a favorite Sunday School song in my 1st grade class on Sundays! “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine!” We would hold up our right index finger as we sang the song. What a nice memory. But then…
It was a favorite Sunday School song in my 1st grade class on Sundays! “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine!” We would hold up our right index finger as we sang the song. What a nice memory. But then…
A few weeks ago we were all at home, just sitting in the living room when there was a noise outside the back door. My wife turned to me and asked “did you hear that?” I had and went to investigate. It turned out to be nothing more than a bullfrog trying to get the attention of the object of his affection! But it got me thinking: Why do we ask such…
The ancients kept the stories of their past alive through storytelling and through communal memory. It was just expected that a young person would memorize the tales of the tribe so that he could pass on this communal memory to the next generation. Now don’t laugh, but when I think of this, I think of the perfect illustration of this fundamental idea of human self-knowledge from a movie! The movie is “Enemy Mine” and in this science…
