Since December 1, I’ve been listening to the audio version of God is in the Manger, an Advent devotional comprised of excerpts from Dietrich Bonhoeffer letters and writings from prison. This is a book I often read through this time of year. Bonhoeffer isn’t Orthodox but his life and death under the Nazi regime are an important witness to Christianity in…
Yesterday marked the 35th anniversary of the falling asleep of Fr. Alexander Schmemann. I would like to follow up on this occasion with some poignant thoughts from one of his lesser-known works, The Liturgy of Death, a compilation of four talks Schmemann gave in 1979 at a summer institute at SVOTS. In these talks, Schmemann traced the historical…
How are we holding up, Time Eternalites? It’s kind of an interesting point in the Nativity Fast–the messy middle is slowly starting to give way to something else. The light at the end of the tunnel can be seen–for better, for worse. The “crunch time” of holiday deadlines is becoming real, but so too is the immanence of…
This morning I’m delighted to welcome Caroline Langston to the blog. Caroline and I met a year and a half ago at the 2017 Ancient Faith Conference for Writing and Podcasting and have continued to spur one another on in matters of writing and faith. Today Caroline is sharing a slice of her journey waiting for her youngest…
Happy Tuesday! Most Tuesdays of the year, I run a series on Facebook (and, to a lesser extent, Twitter and Instagram) called #TemporalTuesdays. It features a quote that somehow inspires awe an humility in the face of time or eternity, usually from a theological source but sometimes also from literature. I love these quotes not only because it…
Yesterday morning, the third Sunday before the Feast of the Nativity, a phrase I’ve heard on countless occasions rang in my ears as though for the first time: “… or rather…” It’s a tiny but profound phrase that occurs in a sentence sandwiched in the middle of the Eucharistic canon: In the night in which [Christ] was given…
In this unique guest post, doula Laura Jansson reflects on the connections between Advent and the kind of waiting and her work helping mothers birth their infants into the world. What a timely perspective! ~*~ Advent – a time of waiting. But if we’re honest, what are we waiting for? What are you most looking forward to about…
A month and a half ago, I was searching for something on my computer and randomly came across a mysterious file folder labeled “Conversion Notes.” After clicking on the folder, I was inundated by a cache of reflections I DON’T REMEMBER WRITING but which were all evidently penned during the first 6 months I started attending an Orthodox…
This morning, I’m glad to welcome Lynnette Horner, host of one of the newer blogs on Ancient Faith (Walking an Ancient Path) to Time Eternal. I appreciate Lynette’s writing and her ability to communicate the gems of Orthodoxy to a broader Christian audience. Today, her thoughts on the temptation to “click through” fasting seasons, and the “messy middles”…
In my continuing journey through Diary of a Russian Priest, I was struck by these words, which Fr. Alexander wrote in counsel to a young person: I advise you to keep a diary. This helps one to study oneself, saves one from making the same mistakes, keeps the past alive. It is worth while noting every great joy, sorrow,…