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Morning Dew. From the Morning, O Lord…

09/06/2018

Morning Dew “My child,” God says, “I want you to feel yourself in communion with my splendid universe, with its uncertain aspirations, its unexpressed thanksgivings. I want above all, especially in those moments when you seek to become one with boundless Love, that you be perfectly humble. You have often seen morning dew. It places sparkling jewels on blades of grass and on leaves, shortly before the rising of the sun. Dew is abundant there

Turning Back (Part II)

09/05/2018

Turning Back (Part II) ‘The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Master, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?”… But Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him,

On Silence and Stillness (I)

09/04/2018

On Silence and Stillness (I) Although they are often used interchangeably, the terms “silence” and “stillness” are not synonymous. Silence implies in part an absence of ambient noise, together with an inner state or attitude that enables us to focus, to “center” on the presence of God and to hear His “still, small voice.” To silence, the virtue of stillness adds both tranquility and concentration. Stillness implies a state of bodily rest coupled with the

Heaven: The Home of Love

09/03/2018

Only love can move effectively across boundaries and across cultures. Love is a very real energy, a spiritual life force that is much more powerful than ideas or mere thoughts. Love is endlessly alive, always flowing toward the lower place, and thus life-giving for all, exactly like water. In fact, there is no form of life that does not need water. No wonder water is such a universal spiritual symbol. When you die, you are

To Be or Not To Be – A Moral Question?

08/31/2018

By Father Stephen Freeman, February 3, 2015 As I continue this series on morality (or unmorality) the conversation continues to push me back to basics. There are deeply important reasons for unthinking the morality of the modern world and rethinking its place in our relationship with God. The most important reason is because it is incorrect to think of us as primarily moral beings. So what would constitute a moral being? A Moral Being A

We Are Created

08/30/2018

We are created, we are creatures; this basic statement of faith sums up the truth that we are not self-sufficient, that we cannot find fulfillment without turning towards the unknown God who holds us in existence and calls us to himself. We must avoid static, objectifying language, as if the Creator and his creature existed side by side. Creatures exist only in God, in that creative will which is precisely what distinguishes him from his

The Beheading of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John

08/29/2018

The Beheading of the Prophet, Forerunner of the Lord, John the Baptist: The Evangelists Matthew (Mt.14:1-12) and Mark (Mark 6:14-29) provide accounts about the martyric end of John the Baptist in the year 32 after the Birth of Christ. Following the Baptism of the Lord, Saint John the Baptist was locked up in prison by Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch (ruler of one fourth of the Holy Land) and governor of Galilee. (After the death of

On Silence and Solitude (II)

08/28/2018

On Silence and Solitude (II) A catena of sayings, drawn at random from the desert ascetics of the early Christian centuries, well expresses the value and necessity of authentic silence, silence of the heart. “A brother asked Abba Pambo if it is good to praise one’s neighbor, and the old man said to him, ‘It is better to be silent.’” “A brother asked Abba Poemen, ‘Is it better to speak or to be silent?’ The

The Cross. The Universal Pattern: Loss and Renewal

08/27/2018

I believe that the Mystery of the Cross is saying that the pattern of transformation is always death transformed. Death and life are two sides of one coin, and you cannot have one without the other. The theological term for this classic pattern of descent and ascent was coined by Saint Augustine as “the paschal mystery.” We now proclaim it publicly at every Eucharist as “the mystery of faith.” But why? The pattern of down and up, loss and renewal,

The Unmoral Christian Revisited

08/24/2018

By Father Stephen Freeman, January 31, 2015 My article, The Un-moral Christian, along with You’re Not Getting Better, have continued to generate conversation around the internet, and within parishes. At least that’s the impression I get from numerous conversations, emails, social media, and even phone calls. Most of those conversations seem to be serious and are engaging the question of how Orthodox Christians should think about the moral life. A recent conversation in my parish has yielded

Daily Meditations

Morning Dew. From the Morning, O Lord…

Turning Back (Part II)

On Silence and Stillness (I)

Heaven: The Home of Love

To Be or Not To Be – A Moral Question?

We Are Created

The Beheading of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John

On Silence and Solitude (II)

The Cross. The Universal Pattern: Loss and Renewal

The Unmoral Christian Revisited

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