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O, Happy Day
Read more: O, Happy DayToday I return to my home parish, my home altar, and the people who are my home in the Orthodox Church. We are not a perfect lot, but it is the lot that I know and love, and who, largely, know and love me. Some of them have suffered long with me from early early […]
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Where We Stand in Time
Read more: Where We Stand in TimeAn aspect of travel through the ruins of earlier civilizations is a sense of walking through the past. Here in the South we have numerous Battlegrounds, preserved as reminders of our nation’s struggles in the 19th century (and some from the 18th as well). There is even a lively sub-culture of “re-enactors” who seek to […]
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In the Garden of our Heart
Read more: In the Garden of our HeartThe Holy Land, it is said, is a microcosm of the world. It is certainly a microcosm of the Middle East – but I’m willing to accept the idea that it is also a microcosm of the world. And if that is the case, then it is also a microcosm of the heart of man. […]
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Can This Really Be the End? – Musing about the Eschaton
Read more: Can This Really Be the End? – Musing about the EschatonThis is one of the earliest articles I wrote. In view of our current crises (plural) it seemed worth reprinting. O, Mama, can this really be the end? To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues again. Bob Dylan Ok. I’ll confess it right up front – I’m a Dylan fan. It shows […]
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Longing for Jerusalem
Read more: Longing for JerusalemMy wife and I, as well as other pilgrims from our group, have been spending our time since coming home letting our bodies adjust to the “jet-lag.” It is easy to blame many things on jet-lag until the excuse will no longer work. I noticed towards the end of last week, that beyond any expectation, […]
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Memories – Prayers By the Lake XXX
Read more: Memories – Prayers By the Lake XXXThis poem by St. Nikolai Velimirovich should not be read as looking back to a pre-existence of souls – but to the fullness of our Baptism and the purity that was ours at the font. It emphasizes in the imagery of memory, the desire to have communion with God above all else. XXX Blot out, […]
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What Do You Want From God?
Read more: What Do You Want From God?This may seem an entirely innocuous question. But I ask it in earnest. What do you want from God? On the level of the trite, we may want more of what we already have, but have it in abundance. We may want less of what we have, only have it in a healthy manner (relationships […]
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Truth and Existence – A Second Look
Read more: Truth and Existence – A Second LookThe original article (which follows) was published in August (not long ago). However, questions that continue to arise tell me that I need to publish it yet again. I will here emphasize its connection with the Atonement. Theories of legal indebtedness as the problem of sin are certainly popular in some circles of the Christian […]
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Pascha And Creation
Read more: Pascha And CreationThere are several religious or theological mistakes to make about Christ’s resurrection. They are generally innocent, and refelct the faith as a number of people have been taught it. The problem lies in the fact that many do not rightly understand the resurrection nor the true scope of its significance. I am just a sinner […]
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A Single Monk
Read more: A Single MonkI earlier shared the story of my conversation with a monk at Mar Saba Monastery in the Judean desert. For me, it was both an oasis of rest (it really is in a desert) and an oasis of truth. We had spent the morning traveling, with our guide also giving us a political commentary – […]
There is a psychological method called Internal Family Systems, developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz. It addresses the various internal “parts…