Thoughts on Questions and Answers
By Michael Haldas, July 13, 2016
“We must experience life as Job did—one day at a time and without complete answers to all of life’s questions. Will we, like Job, trust God no matter what? Or will we give in to the temptation to say that God doesn’t really care?” (Life Application Study Bible, Job 1:1)
“What defines this consensus, above all—what distinguishes orthodoxy from heresy, the central river from the delta—is a commitment to mystery and paradox. Mysteries abide at the heart of every religious faith, but the Christian tradition is uniquely comfortable preaching dogmas that can seem like riddles, offering answers that swiftly lead to further questions, and confronting believers with the possibility that the truth about God passes all our understanding.” (Ross Douthat)
“Christians themselves have been much to blame for the misunderstanding on these matters. They have a bad habit of talking as if revelation existed to gratify curiosity by illuminating all creation so that it becomes self-explanatory and all questions are answered.” (C. S. Lewis)
“At times we humans playfully indulge in deep questions or dawdle in idle speculation. Some of us devote weeks and months to profound soul-searching, reading and discussing the great issues. However, it is suffering which forces us to meditate on issues of ultimate meaning. Pain thrusts questions into our consciousness concerning the purpose of life, the nature of God, and our relationship with Him.” (OCPM 6/20/2016)
“The enormous size of the universe and the insignificance of the earth were known for centuries, and no one ever dreamed that they had any bearing on the religious question. Then, less than a hundred years ago, they are suddenly trotted out as an argument against Christianity. And the people who trot them out carefully hush up the fact that they were known long ago.” (C. S. Lewis)
Thoughts on Gratitude
By Michael Haldas, July 14, 2016
“…do we know that practicing simple gratitude brings about happiness? Researchers testing gratefulness have discovered that it actually changes the brain and makes us happier. But gratitude changes more than brain chemistry, for it makes us better and kinder to others.” (Abbot Tryphon)
“The secret of a happy, joy-filled life is a grateful heart. Without a heart filled with gratitude there is never a possibility of a life of happiness.” (Father Thomas J. Paris)
“Being grateful does not mean that everything in life is perfect, but that we look at life as a whole and receive with gratitude all the goodness in it…When it comes to our spiritual gifts, the need for a grateful heart is foremost.” (Abbot Tryphon, Marianne C. Sailus)
“Let us remember at all times that God makes Himself known to us in order to bless, heal, protect, and illumine us. To worship Him in gratitude is our natural response.” (Dynamis 5/1/2014)
“May God’s grace elevate our gratitude and keep us from every form of envy and dissatisfaction. Let us never question what God gives us, especially in relation to what He bestows upon others.” (Dynamis 8/6/2014)
~Michael Haldas, https://www.ancientfaith.com/contributors/michael_haldas.
Michael Haldas is an author, a religious educator and a speaker. He wrote Sacramental Living: Understanding Christianity as a Way of Life (published by Eastern Christian Publications), a book which he presented special editions of as gifts to Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in private audiences. Michael is also published monthly in Theosis Magazine and he has authored several Orthodox Christian themed articles for various publications. Additionally, he has recorded and contributed to multiple YouTube, DVD and CD educational projects. He teaches adult religious education and high school Sunday school at the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Bethesda, Maryland and has worked with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Religious Education Department to create educational lessons and materials.
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