“During the Ferguson disturbances, near St. Louis, MO, a young Black Orthodox man told me that he would like to be involved in the Black Lives Matter movement, to which I replied, “By all means, do it right away, but you must take my direction in this matter. I want you and your friends to […]
No Repentance No Peace
(Originally offered as the opening speech for the “March for Peace and Equality” May 30, 2020, Crawfordsville, Indiana) George Floyd Ahmaud Arbery Dreasjon Reed Breonna Taylor We know these names because we read about them in the news. Some of them we heard or saw their murder. Four people with unrepeatable lives, families, friends, […]
Revisiting Mediocrity: The Secular, The Sacred and The Artist’s Soul
This essay originally appeared in the journal “Wonder” Vol. 2 No. 5. 2011 About fifteen years ago (I can’t recall if it was from the suggestion of a friend, my wife, a pastor, or a review in one the Christian art/music magazines I read at the time), I picked up and read Frank Schaeffer’s book […]
Jesus, Erika, and ICE
It was still dark the morning that ICE agents knocked on Erika Fierro’s door. Her two young children were still asleep. Her husband, Jesus, had already left for work at his construction job. Jesus was not coming back today. This was the first information the shadowy figures at the door gave to a groggy mother […]
Do you know this Jew?
Dimitri Klepinin was an Orthodox priest, a Russian emigre in Paris. The 35 year old husband and father of two went to aid a remarkable and dynamic nun, Maria Skobtsova in her work among the poor, outcast, and marginalized in the city. On June 14, 1940, this ‘flock’ of homeless people, poor families, mentally ill, […]
Mental Illness, Stigma, and My Dad
Twelve years ago my father died of pancreatic cancer. I got to spend many evenings with him in the month before he died. In the last week of my dad’s life, he shared with me one of his greatest fears. It’s probably one that most fathers, if they are good fathers, fear at the end […]
Why Water? A Reflection on Holy Theophany
In the Orthodox Christian Church, the Feast of Holy Theophany is traditionally one of the most important and significant days in the liturgical year, second only to the Feast of the Resurrection (Holy Pascha, Easter) and on par with Holy Pentecost (The Descent of the Holy Spirit). In the early Church this “Holy Day” was […]
Politics and the Heart
It’s almost election day. Is anyone else exhausted? I can only speak for myself, but I sure am. I have experienced an especially oppressive spirit over the past few months, and in conversations with others, I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. I think it’s more than just news fatigue. I think there is something spiritual […]
On Water and Loss
What do you say to someone who has suffered a great loss? This is a question all of us face at some point in our lives. It’s certainly a question pastors, chaplains, and anyone whose work focuses on offering consolation to the broken-hearted encounter regularly. As a trained disaster/crisis chaplain I have been deployed twice […]
The Klan Comes to Town
Originally published in the Journal Review, August 2014 When I was twelve years old my parents took me to a Ku Klux Klan rally in downtown Crawfordsville. It wasn’t because they supported the Klan, quite the contrary. Rather, they wanted me to see, to be exposed to the fact that this was a real and […]
