“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Luke 15:1-2 Muttering. Jesus responded to their muttering (“grumbling” in other translations) and heavily implied distaste and disapproval of his actions with a series […]
Tag: Christian
Never Forget: The Importance of Names
“…Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king…” On the Sunday before Nativity in the Orthodox Church we read St. Matthew’s account of the genealogy of Jesus. Beginning with Abraham the lineage is recounted… […]
Body of Death: A Quarantine Reflection
On December 5th, the Eve of the Feast of Saint Nicholas, I fell ill quickly. Three days later I found out it was COVID-19. Despite my best efforts to mask, distance and limit being out the virus found me. At the time of writing this I am now two days feeling pretty good – Day […]
BLM and The Cross
“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, […]
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 […]
On the Christian Response to the Orlando Shootings
“I am so sick of this! I can’t believe people say those kinds of things!” My fourteen year old son burst through the door, visibly agitated. We could barely discern exactly what he was trying to communicate. But it was certainly urgent, and it appeared to have something to do with social media. “Ugh, more […]
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. […]
Awake at the Airport
I recently had to travel by plane to a church conference. Anyone who has been in an airport, especially since 9/11 knows about the high focus on security. In airports this focus is not just in the hands of the TSA workers and law enforcement, but there is also an expectation that everyone be vigilant […]
Saved Together 