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Daily Meditations

The Goal of Life in Society: Cultivating Love, Assuaging Anger (Part I)

10/24/2017

Because we are exploring life in society as a web of relationships, it is important to establish from the outset a picture of what the fathers of the Conferences thought relationships should be like for Christians. No matter how deep into the desert they went, none of the fathers was under any illusion that a human being can live free from relationships with others. What is more, the fathers did not consider a life of

Jesus: Forgiving Victim

10/23/2017

It seems we always find some way to avoid the transformation of our pain. There’s the way of fight. Fighters are looking for the evil, the sinner, the unjust one, the oppressor, the bad person “over there.” He or she “righteously” attacks, hates, or even kills the wrong-doer, while feeling heroic for doing so (see John 16:2). Philosopher René Girard sees this tendency to scapegoat others as the central story line of human history. Why?

Everything is in Motion

10/20/2017

By Father Stephen Freeman For years I have been told that the meaning of the word hamartia (translated “sin”) means “to miss the mark.” This is certainly accurate. However, the image I have always had in mind has been an arrow aimed at a target and missing the bull’s eye. Thus I have thought of my life as a moral effort to hit the target. This is not incorrect but it leaves out important information. First, the

Stillness and Silence: Being Present to God, Ourselves, and the World

10/19/2017

While still living in the palace, Abba Arsenius prayed to God in these words, “Lord, lead me in the way of salvation.” And a voice came saying to him, “Arsenius, flee from men and you will be saved.”1 Having withdrawn to the solitary life he made the same prayer again and he heard a voice saying to him, “Arsenius, flee, be silent, pray always, for these are the sources of sinlessness.”2 The call of Abba

Inner Stillness: Stillness is a Choice

10/18/2017

ON AN AIRPLANE, as a flight prepares to depart, the flight attendant tells the passengers that, in case of an emergency, oxygen bags will drop from overhead. Those passengers with infants will receive two masks. The adult is to put his or her own oxygen mask on first, and only then put a mask on the infant. For me, as an Italian grandfather, those instructions are counter-intuitive. I want to give my life for my

Society

10/17/2017

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgement; because as he is, so are we in this world.  I John 4.17 In many ways the word “society” serves to summarize most or all of that which a non-monastic Christian encounters on a daily basis, but which a desert monk seeks to avoid as a general rule. This includes constant interaction with other human beings, as

Transforming Our Pain

10/16/2017

Spirituality is always eventually about what you do with your pain. It seems our culture has lost its own spiritual foundation and center, and as a result we no longer know what to do with universal pain. If we do not transform our pain, we will always transmit it–to our partner, our spouse, our children, our friends, our coworkers, our “enemies.” Usually we project it outward and blame someone else for causing our pain. In

Patience (Part VIII): Patience Is a Trustworthy Guide for Living with Other People

10/13/2017

There were two monks living in one place, and a great old man came to visit them with the intention of testing them. He took a stick and began to bang about the vegetables of one of them. Seeing it, the brother hid himself, and when only one shoot was left, he said to the old man, “Abba, if you will, leave it so that I can cook it that we may eat together.” Then

Feast Day of Saint Symeon the New Theologian. Union of Christ’s Body

10/12/2017

Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022), a saint and mystic revered to this day by Eastern Christians, wrote some words that point beautifully to this “force field” that we call the Body of Christ. It is a living organism created by those who live in love, much more than any mere religious organization. Symeon describes this cosmic embodiment created by God’s grace and our response, naming the divine union that all the Bible is forever inviting

Authority: Answers without Questions

10/11/2017

By Father Stephen Freeman We imagine that life is made up of questions seeking answers. The opposite is also true: life is often made up of answers seeking questions. More troublesome than this are pseudo answers seeking questions, for the questions created by pseudo answers are inevitably pseudo questions. This, I suggest, goes far in describing the landscape of modern Christianity. For whatever the real question might be, what we see in modern Christianity cannot be the

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