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 […]
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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 […]
17 Things to Do This Week
Get out and live. Get to know the people in your neighborhood. Create more than you consume. Don’t let opinions on social media affect how you treat or even think about others. Go for a walk. Go for a run. Have a drink with a friend. Have a meal with an enemy. Get together with […]
What Has Corinth To Do With America?
I’ve been reading through the writings of the “Apostolic Fathers” recently. These works, some pastoral letters in the same vein as St. Paul’s epistles, others sermons, others accounts of martyrdom or histories, have one things in common: their connection to the Early Church, the Christians in the time just after the time of the Apostles. […]
Opinions
“A truly humble person never behaves like a teacher; he will listen, and, whenever his opinion is requested, he responds humbly. In other words, he replies like a student. He who believes that he is capable of correcting others is filled with egotism.” – St. Paisios the Athonite I read that quote at some point […]
Surprised By Soccer
or… ‘How I Got Hooked On the Beautiful Game This Summer’ It might be a sign of midlife crisis, or, if Ann Coulter’s right, a ‘clear sign of moral decay’, but whatever it is, I can’t explain it, but it’s real. This Midwestern ‘born-and-raised on John Madden’s color commentary – still gets chills at the […]
Ask, Don’t Take
“For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.Where do wars and […]
A Pastor of Pastors
(This reflection was originally published in the 2009-2010 edition of the Tikhonaire and reposted on the St. Tikhons Website – http://www.stots.edu) On an afternoon in mid-December, as my final fall semester at St. Tikhon’s concluded, and as questions and decisions about “what comes next” were weighing on my heart, I picked up the phone and […]
Hiding from the Cross (Mark 8:30-34)
Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him […]
Saved Together 