Ok, fine– many words about suffering… A quick search on the topic of suffering brings out the heavy hitters– Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. Helen Keller Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. Khalil Gibran And that’s not even tapping into our massive supply…
With the national election now (mostly) in the rearview mirror but yet not so distant, we are again in a time of reflection on national service and what it means to be a citizen, most especially on our duties to our fellow citizens. Unfortunately, most of the reflection is of a rather cynical and externalized sort, trying to figure out why this candidate won…
Feast of St. John Chrysostom / Eighth Sunday of Luke, November 13, 2016 Hebrews 7:26-8:2; Luke 10:25-37 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Today is the feast of the greatest preacher among all the saints of Christian history—John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople, whose Divine Liturgy we…
Are you unfriending people who voted for Trump (or Clinton or someone else)? Ending friendships (online or otherwise) over political preference doesn’t make any sense to me. (And I’m speaking of friendships here, not following public figures.) At the very least, it is highly likely that all the horrible things that made you vote against your friend’s candidate are not the reasons why he…
You probably don’t want to be my Facebook friend, at least, not this week. I keep my Facebook “Author” Page focused on writing and cat memes and breaking news about donuts, but my personal page is just that. It’s personal. I like to keep that personal because these are the people I need to talk real to me when things are tough, and that’s hard to do with only social media as…