Category: Orthodox Blogs

Shame in the Public Arena

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 25 Leave a Comment on %s
In 401 AD, twenty-nine Saxon “slaves,” strangled each other to death with their bare hands in their prison cells. They chose this death rather than being forced to fight one another in Rome’s arena. Better death than shame. Their “owner,” the Senator Symmachus (famously known as the “Last Pagan”), wrote of them that they were a rebellious “band of slaves, worse than any Spartacus.” In the pages of the New Testament we…

A Milestone for the Blog

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 43 Leave a Comment on %s
Glory to God for All Things is nearing the publication of its 2,000th article. The total amazes me, and simply speaks for how things add up over time. I certainly did not set out to write in such volume (although I think I published two articles the first day). I simply set out to write. I did not then, nor do I now, have a great sense of mission in my writing.…

A Writer’s Reflection

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 34 Leave a Comment on %s
The composed and uninterrupted remembrance of our absolute weakness and sinfulness is truly the, par excellence, (yet admittedly peculiar) means to permanent, spiritual joy. – Dino (in the comments) Readers of this blog who stay around for a time discover that often the best “meat” is found after you crack the shell – that is, the comments often transcend the article itself. I, myself, am one of those readers. I write the articles,…

Self-Emptying

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 12 Leave a Comment on %s
I offer a brief apology to Buddhists – forgive me if I have mischaracterized your religious practices. We are enjoined by St. Paul to have within us the mind that was in Christ – specifically in His self-emptying love in going to the Cross (Philippians 2:5-11). It is the very heart of humility. Of course there are difficulties when we seek to practice such a thing – difficulties for which I have already…

The Habit of Prayer

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 23 Leave a Comment on %s
Though created in the image of God – man has fallen far. The image is not demolished, but we have not fulfilled the likeness and we frequently distort the image beyond recognition. Part of the true human life described in Genesis, are the “walks in the Garden” with God. Man and God converse – they share communion with one another. We see the restoration of this in the life of Christ whose…

Prayers By the Lake – I

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 2 Leave a Comment on %s
Saint Nicholai Velimirovich, of whom I have written before, is the author of the wonderful, Prayers By the Lake, which he composed on the shores of Lake Ochrid. They are a treasure of modern Orthodox verse. His first poem in the cycle reflects a sense of the creation as God’s own, rather than an inert arena for secular life. I offer this poem and a link to an online edition of His…

Sacraments: The World as Mystery

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My recent post on Pentecost and Evangelism occasioned several thoughtful responses. One of the responses seemed to me particularly worth further reflection. I start with an excerpt: Truly it is God we need and want, nothing less. I experienced in my heart, but didn’t realize in my head until I began to study Orthodoxy, that in my evangelical world we affirmed “by faith” having God living by His Spirit within us and that…

He Ascended on High

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There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he led a host…

Of Calendars and Christians

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 17 Leave a Comment on %s
This year the Gregorian Calendar and the Julian (and the Revised Julian) differ on the date of Pascha (Easter) by about as much as possible. The story of the calendars, both in the East and West is a very convoluted tale, sometimes requiring a knowledge of math (hence my reluctance to go into the matter). We know that even in the early 2nd century there was a difference on when the Pascha…