I’ve always loved summer–I relish the sense of freedom and expansiveness it seems to bring to my routines. At the same time, this very freedom can pull me into a Bermuda Triangle of sorts, and I begin to lose touch with important priorities–particularly those that concern the spiritual life. This time around, I’m pulling together a few of…
This past weekend, I was blessed to have the opportunity to speak at the biennial national assembly of the Ladies Philoptochos Association of Canada, a department of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada) that assists the Church with philanthropy and service. I was asked to speak about despondency (acedia), one of the primary spiritual passions, and how…
A blessed Feast of the Ascension to all reading this in realtime! This weekend, I have the opportunity to speak at the 29th-Biennial National Assembly for the Ladies’ Philoptochos Organization in Canada. (For anyone who read that and thought “Philo-… what?,” the Philoptochos is basically the Greek Orthodox equivalent of a deaconness society or sisterhood; most parishes have…
The last few days of Lent are winding down, and it’s usually at this time I find myself looking back on the last 40-odd days and wondering where it all went. Often, regret tinges my memory of Great Lent–I never feel like I quite “Lented” enough. This year, though, I find myself with a different–I daresay even uplifting–perspective.…
In Germany, where I’ve lived several times, there is a well-known proverb that translates: “Five minutes ahead of time is exactly the right time.” One of my supervisors there once threatened to dock pay when I showed up on time for work one morning. For her, if I wasn’t ahead of time, I wasn’t on time. And I was setting myself on…
O Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace. Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will. In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me. Bless my dealings with all who surround me. Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul, and…
I am praying again, Awesome One. . . . It’s here in all the pieces of my shame that now I find myself again. I yearn to belong to something, to be contained in an all-embracing mind that sees me as a single thing. Rainer Maria Rilke Last week, I realized something startling: it seems no one…
Last week, my husband forwarded a video to me called Ακτιβισμός και ακηδία. My Greek is just good enough to understand the title–Activism and Acedia–but not good enough to understand much of the speaker’s point, and we have yet to sit down and watch it together. Nonetheless, it got me thinking about the intersection between this pernicious spiritual…
So, this came in the mail last week. I guess that means it’s official… I’m writing a book! Actually, to be more specific, I’ve been writing a book–my deadline is now only a month and a half away. (Because all good things take TIME–including the logistics of hammering out book contracts–I haven’t been able to let the cat out…
