Daily Meditations Archives - Page 140 of 351

The First (Pure) Monday of the Great Fast.

03/02/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 15, 2010 [Pure] Monday marks the beginning of Great Lent in the Orthodox Church (which liturgically begins at Forgiveness Vespers on Sunday). Though Great Lent is kept with rigor in Orthodox Tradition, there is nothing unusual asked of believers – nothing that we do not do on many days throughout the rest of the year. We fast; we pray; we give alms; we attend services, etc. But we do these

The Invisible Shame

02/28/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, October 21, 2014 The young hobbit, Frodo, bears the terrible burden of carrying an evil ring to its destruction in Tolkien’s classic Lord of the Rings. As he travels deeper into the darkness of Mordor, he is described as becoming “thinner” and is somehow “less visible.” The Ring itself has the power to make its wearer invisible – but only to those in the world of light. It makes the wearer

The Poor

02/27/2020

Jesus Comes to us in the Poor What finally counts is not whether we know Jesus and his words but whether we live our lives in the Spirit of Jesus. The Spirit of Jesus is the Spirit of Love. Jesus himself makes this clear when he speaks about the last judgment. There people will ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?” and Jesus will answer,

Fasting

02/26/2020

The Lord condemned the Pharisee, not because he fasted, but because his motivation was based on pride. The Pharisee wished to be seen by men, and he had no fear of God. He dared to stand before the Lord in pride and arrogance, while the Publican stood afar off, beating his breast, begging for the Lord’s mercy. Whereas the Publican saw his sins, and repented, the Pharisee stood before the Lord in arrogance, thinking he

Living in the Now: Practicing Presence

02/25/2020

The presence of God is infinite, everywhere, always, and forever. You cannot not be in the presence of God. There’s no other place to be. It is we who are not present to Presence. We’ll make any excuse to be somewhere else than right here. Right here, right now never seems enough. It actually is, but it is we who are not aware enough yet. All spiritual teaching—this is not an oversimplification—is about how to be present to the

Knowing How to Learn. I Believe in Health, in Friendship and in Wisdom

02/24/2020

Knowing how to Learn Jerome said: ‘Take care not to seek to become a teacher first and then a pupil, or an officer first and a soldier afterwards. ‘Take care not to enter a street you have never been in before if you do not have someone to show you the way. You could get completely lost. ‘No art can be learnt without an expert teacher. ‘You will need a long time to learn what

Dostoevsky and the Sins of the Nation

02/21/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 27, 2015 For many, the idea that we are somehow responsible for the sins of others, or can repent on their behalf is counter-intuitive and deeply troubling. It is distinctly non individualistic. However, it is a cornerstone of Orthodox devotion. Dostoevsky presented a very popular version of this teaching in the words of the fictitious character, the Elder Zosima, in his The Brothers Karamozov. The elder was modeled, many say, on

Noetic Memory. Noetic Faculty

02/20/2020

The heart, in the Orthodox tradition, does not only have a natural operation, as a mere pump that circulates blood. In Orthodox patristic tradition the heart is the center of our self-awareness. Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain (+1809) calls the heart a natural and supernatural center, wherein resides “noetic” memory. Tapping into this noetic memory is manifested as the “incessant prayer” of the Holy Spirit inside the heart. Humankind’s mishandling of the memory of

Prayer of the Heart in an Age of Technology and Distraction, Part 17

02/19/2020

By Fr. Maximos (Constas) There have been times when I was in line to receive Communion, and some of the most horrible, dark, even blasphemous thoughts came into my mind. Is that me? Why would I think such things, that I’d never thought before in my life, when my entire self is concentrated on receiving Communion? It breaks my heart even to know that I had such thoughts. I feel so bad that I have

Faith and Science: Open to Change

02/18/2020

God comes into the world in always-surprising ways so that the sincere seeker will always find. Is sincere seeking perhaps the real meaning of walking in darkness and faith? It seems to me that many scientists today are very sincere seekers. In fact, today’s scientists often seem to have more in common with the mystics than do many religious folks who do not seek truth but only assert their dogmas and pre-emptively deny the very possibility of other people’s