Leaven and Clouds
One of the greatest attractions to me towards the Orthodox Church was the continuity of practice and, more importantly, memory. There's an old story about a British journalist visiting the library of one of the ancient monasteries on Mt. Athos in Greece. He was walking among the stacks with the...
Have Salt in Yourself!
There's a song I heard in my youth that was popular on the Christian radio stations at the time. It went something like this: "Salt makes people thirsty. People are thirsting for more of His word. Sisters and brothers pour salt on each other. You are the salt, the salt...
The Christians of Egypt
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-coptic-christians-of-egypt/
A Prayer to Begin Your Day
O Lord, grant that I may meet the coming day in peace. Help me in all things to rely upon Your Holy Will. In every hour of the day, reveal Your will to me. Bless my dealings with all who surround me. Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the...
Monkey See, Monkey Do
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And they (whoever they are?) are right. The truth is mimicking behavior we see starts from our earliest days. Infants get to know the face of their parents and start to try to copy the facial expressions they see. It's...
LIFE!
OK, here's the scene, Harrison Ford playing Indiana Jones, finally passes all the tests to get into the chamber where the ancient knight stands guard over the True Chalice used at the Last Supper by Christ. The old knight, having taken a vow with his three brothers, to guard the...
Derailed by Criticism and Offense
Illness gets in the way of today's update, dear ones, but I wanted to share this with you. As one who enjoys the gift of being a leader, I can assure you the quickest way to get derailed from your vision and goals is to allow criticism and offense...
WORK AND FAITH
At this time of year, there is a familiar sound in front of the stores I visit. It is the distinct sound of bell-ringing and the seasonal sight of a red bucket. Frankly, it is a comfort to me. And I have taught my children that we have a...
No One Goes to Heaven Alone
Faith is too big for just one person. That's the reason why the shallow reduction in modernity of the person to a mere individual has such horrible results for that person, society, and world. Just today, I was reading an article about how worried folks are in Colorado about legalized marijuana...
Why?
Why do we make time for everything, but worship? Why does it take a tragedy or a problem to turn our hearts toward God? Why do we handle this treasure of faith so loosely? Why do we treat our souls in a way we would never treat our bodies? Why are we so...