Here's a long quote from C.S. Lewis' book "The Weight of Glory" "It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which,if you saw it now,...
I've noticed that some folks appreciate straight talk and some folks don't. In fact, there seem to be whole cultures where plain talk is discouraged because certain cultures consider it rude. I've seen this reality play out with different concepts about honesty as well. A friend of mine told me...
He was a canny businessman. He actually took real pleasure in knowing he had gotten the better of his business associates in deals, in negotiations, and in life. He seemed to know just when to strike and just the right words to say to get his way and get...
Faith is something we humans take for granted. We seem to just assume that we "have" faith or we "keep" the faith merely by wanting to do so, but is that true faith? Is faith something we simply "think" about and so we "have" it? I don't know about you...
If you have a younger sibling then you've heard this before: "She did it! Why can't I?" I know I've heard it in my house on numerous occasions, especially when the younger kiddo wonders out loud "What about me?" But sometimes (actually, many times) the younger child isn't developmentally ready...
Why did 5000 men, not counting women and children, follow Jesus and His disciples to a "lonely place?" What can we learn from the bravery of the crowd that cared more about their connection to Christ than their own comfort? ...
Someone once said that God has four answers to our prayers: "Yes", "No", "Wait a while", and "You've got to be kidding me!" When I think of our requests we make of God, I find my own requests break down into a few categories - Personal needs, Family concerns, Parish...
Is your eye evil? Little did I know when I converted to Orthodoxy that there was a whole body of writing and even prayers against "the evil eye." Turns out this is shorthand for the toxic power of envy and jealousy to poison a community. And it certainly can do...
I confess to being both addicted and often overwhelmed by daily news headlines. I am an information junkie and have my daily routine of reading different sites and news aggregators that (I hope) keep me informed about my world. From politics to disasters, to cultural and social trends, to even...
"Every calamity is to be overcome by endurance." so says the ancient Roman poet Virgil. The ability to have "stick-to-it-tiveness" is a learned trait. The fact is endurance is both a gift and a habit that can be developed. That means our ability to learn how to endure is something...
