Normal Orthodoxy Produces Wisdom, Not Laws
It took me a long time to finally get my mind and heart around the profound difference between wisdom and legislation. For most of my life, I spent most of my time being a rule-keeper. After all, I was the firstborn son. I was responsible to obey the rules....
Normal Orthodoxy Produces Light
St. Porphyrios said "Do not fight to expel darkness from the chamber of your soul. Open a tiny window for the light to enter, and the darkness will disappear!" What a contrast to our current cultural chaos where it seems all sides want to "fight" all the time. We are...
Normal Orthodoxy Produces Generosity
You may have seen a trend this week in our daily devotionals. I am using the phrase "Normal Orthodoxy" on purpose because we live in an age and society where our faithful struggle with a lack of robust catechesis. What too many think of as "normal" Orthodoxy is too...
Normal Orthodoxy Is Discerning
Here's my biggest problem: I can't tell a weed from a good plant. So, when I discovered that my smartphone could help out with this, I was ecstatic! Maybe now I'll stop overlooking plants that are choking out my flowers! But that's one of the benefits of attentiveness - it...
Normal Orthodoxy Leads to Knowing Yourself
Every wisdom literature of every ancient culture has a form of the wisdom "Know Yourself." The ancient Hellenic philosophers were all focused on developing that kind of self-knowledge to cultivate ways to live life well. But self-knowledge isn't very helpful if you don't have a reference point. What is...
Normal Orthodoxy Leads to Growth
I'm not a gardener. I'm just not good at it. But the reason I'm not good at it is that I don't take the time to get good at it. Like any discipline, it takes perseverance to build proficiency. And, another problem I have is that I really don't...
Normal Orthodoxy Makes You Teachable
I've spent too many years of my life convinced I was right about everything. That immature mindset never produces wisdom, only heartache, and slavery to my passions and desires. That mindset sees "enemies" everywhere. That mindset creates walls where bridges should be. And it prevents me from growing and...
Childish Thinking Leads To Childish Living
The older I get, the more I see myself reacting to today's culture in full "Old Man Yelling at a Cloud" mode! And I promised myself when I was younger that I wouldn't be that kind of "old man." And yet, there really are deeply troubling consequences of foolish...
Called To BE The Church
Our modern age is suffering a crisis of meaning. This, of course, is a natural consequence of decades of the proactive dismantling of the timeless wisdom that had been shaping our culture for centuries. You can't tear down something and not have chaos during your attempt to reconstruct something...
Reality! It’s What You Need
American author Laird Barron once said "Mom was all about hellfire and brimstone. Her Old Testament God was a colossal, ancient brute, a maelstrom of blood and fire, of appetite and wrath." Sounds familiar. Our society has been shaped by a narrative, both subtle and overt, about how we think...