Orthodox Christianity, Culture and Religion, Making the Journey of Faith
August 15 is the Feast of the Dormition, the Falling Asleep of the Virgin Mary. I offer this article as a reflection. The most difficult part of my Orthodox experience to discuss with the non-Orthodox is the place and role of the Mother of God in the Church and in my life. It is, on [ ] The post Why Mary Has Always Been Honored appeared first on Glory to God For All Things .
The hymn was familiar. Its chorus, deeply sentimental, ran: Come home, come home, ye who are weary come home! I was seven years old and walked the aisle, making a profession of faith in Christ in response to the hymn. I have no memory of the sermon at all. I have no memory of the [ ] The post Come Home appeared first on Glory to God For All Things .
My attention was drawn to the event of the Transfiguration during my college years. It was then that I first read a book on St. Seraphim of Sarov, who himself was transfigured in a famous incident in his conversation with Motivilov. There, on a snowy winter’s day, the saint shown with a brilliant light, and [ ] The post The Light of Christ and the Transfiguration appeared first on Glory to God For…
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and [ ] The post Tradition as Communion appeared first on Glory to God For All Things .
I love taking deep dives into history going beyond survey material and making my way through pages and pages of boring detail. I can t do it every day, nor even often. But it helps fill in detail that is often glossed over in broad treatments. My most recent foray has been into a book [ ] The post In the Form of a Slave appeared first on Glory to God For All Things .
Sir Walter Scott (1808) famously wrote: O what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. A modern pundit has rephrased it: Always tell the truth it s easier to remember. Lies inevitably create a web of false narratives. In many ways, it s a metaphor for sin itself. Sin begets sin that begets sin [ ] The post The Tangled Web appeared first on Glory to God For All Things .
In my childhood, it was not unusual to hear someone ask, “Who are your people?” It was a semi-polite, Southernism designed to elicit essential information about a person’s social background. The assumption was that you, at best, could only be an example of your “people.” It ignored the common individualism of the wider culture, preferring [ ] The post Mary: The Blessing of All Generations appeared…
St. John the Baptist said of Christ that His winnowing fork is in His hand. (Lk 3:17) That farm implement is a tool for separating the wheat from the chaff, that is, to separate the edible part of the wheat from the husk that is to be discarded. It is, in that sense, an instrument [ ] The post As the End Draws Near Silence appeared first on Glory to God For All Things .
You do not have a modern heart. Regardless of what any of us might think of modernity love it, hate it, mistrust it, cheer it it is not the stuff of which we are made. Like all cultures of every time, modernity is fleeting, nothing more than a puff of wind. Who we [ ] The post You Do Not Have a Modern Heart appeared first on Glory to God For All Things .
I have long been convinced that believing is grounded in something other than intellectual activity. I am simply unimpressed by most of the intellectual arguments that I see regarding both belief and unbelief. In both, I hear so much that is unspoken, and even much that is likely hidden from the speakers themselves. That being [ ] The post Healing the Soul and Unbelief appeared first on Glory to…
If I say one hundred prayers a day in the silence of Katounakia and you say three prayers amidst the tumult of the city and your professional and family obligations, then we are equal. St. Ephraim of Katounakia I ran across this small quote recently and was struck by its insight and typical Orthodox generosity. [ ] The post Finding God Amidst the Noise appeared first on Glory to God For All Things…