It is said that Aristotle once declared "Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom." And yet, St. Basil taught that the most terrifying thing for a man to do was to look into the "abyss" of his own soul. It seems one of the most important activities of...
Pre-Order is open now for the Workbooks and the DVD sets! At every parish festival; during weddings and baptisms; and even at Orthodox funerals, we always have folks who take the church tours, attend services, or visit on a Sunday morning that know little to nothing about the Orthodox Faith....
I love this Armed Forces Motto: "The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle." Isn't that great? In other words, when you put the time into preparing for battle, the more ready you are to face the fight. And what is true for physical fighting...
Steve Jobs said " Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't use to an environment where excellence is expected." So true. Most of us are far too comfortable with mediocrity or "that's good enough." Because of this we get a life that never is pressed to discover its...
"There's no time like the present." This and many other "time" quotes really get to a central wisdom we humans have learned: Timing is everything. I have a dear couple who are dating. And, on top of that, they are exploring becoming Orthodox. Talk about a double whammy! Their relationship...
Sometimes, the scriptures say things that really unsettle me. But I've learned when that happens, that's a clue that I am approaching a place in my own heart that needs attention. And it's beginning to dawn on me that most of the time I am unsettled by the wisdom...
"Father, give us a word." The young men sat in the cell of the holy elder and longed to hear his wisdom for their lives. As the elder spoke, the men's hearts burned with joy and revelation. The elder then turned and asked each one of the young men...
"Consider your origins: you were not made to live as brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge." Dante, poet and author of the Divine Comedy. Origins consumes much of the scientific inquiry of our day. Where did we come from? How did the universe begin? Where did humanity come...
The word gets thrown around a lot today. "Love" seems to be everybody's goal, and it seems to have been this way forever. I'm reading a great book now called "How Dante Can Save Your Life" by Rod Dreher, and in it Dreher gives me some wonderful background on...
Real inspiration isn't easy! In fact, I've become suspicious of the real lasting power of inspiration based on mere sentiment or even "good intentions." It just always seems to be reduced to nothing more than making someone else "feel" better about "inspiring" someone else. And the sentiment seems to...
