Daily Meditations Archives - Page 150 of 351

Thoughts on Our Faculty of Reason. Thoughts on Spiritual Blindness

09/18/2019

By Michael Haldas Thoughts on Our Faculty of Reason, June 1, 2016 “… as a human faculty, faith is unlike, but in a way connected to, the act of reasoning, by which we make sense of the world around us. It is an “understanding” of that which is beyond understanding. Just because something is beyond understanding does not make it unreasonable. Like music and art, faith is not opposed to human intellect, but rather makes

The Greatest Prayer there is.

09/17/2019

By Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis The GREATEST prayer that there is, is the Divine Liturgy. There is no higher expression of prayer. For at the climax of this prayer is the Eucharist, is receiving Christ Himself. No other expression of prayer affords us this. However, the Divine Liturgy is very dry without a personal life of prayer. The Divine Liturgy should be the crown of a week of private prayer. I like watching documentaries and reading

Path of Descent: Participating in God

09/16/2019

What I have seen is the totality recapitulated as one, received not in essence but by participation. Just as if you lit a flame from a flame, it is the whole flame you receive. —St. Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022) [1] The path of descent involves letting go of our self-image, our titles, our status symbols—our false self. It will die anyway. So don’t make anything absolute when it is only relative. This is one

The Elevation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross

09/14/2019

Each year on September 14 the Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of “The Elevation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross.” This is one of the great feasts of the Church year, and one which has an important historical background. Although one or two of the hymns for the day refer obliquely to the vision of the cross in the heavens, the actual commemoration is not that of Constantine’s vision before his battle with Maxentius on

The Cross as the Way of Life

09/13/2019

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, September 15, 2015 Our lives make sense. This may not always seem to be true, but it is. For each of us, there are inner principles that guide our decisions and prioritize our actions. Life is not entirely random. Much of that inner sense of things is not conscious. The day becomes very busy, and we can’t stop and analyze each action and think about its meaning and purpose. Sometimes, you just

Prayer of the Heart in an Age of Technology and Distraction, Part 1

09/12/2019

By Fr. Maximos (Constas) I was intrigued by the organic connections that the feast of the Presentation which we’re still celebrating and obviously of the Mother of God with the Crucifixion and Resurrection, largely through the prophecy of Symeon, who at this remarkable moment in the Temple says that this Child is a sign that will be spoken against and is set for the rising and falling of many in Israel, and turning to the Theotokos he

Thoughts on Service. Thoughts on Spiritual Sensitivity and Discernment

09/11/2019

By Michael Haldas Thoughts on Service, May 30, 2016 “God values self-control, a spirit of generosity, and a commitment to humble service…The trials and hurts we experience for Christ’s sake build our character, demonstrate our faith, and prepare us for further service to the Lord.” (Life Application Study Bible, 1 John 2:15,16, 2 Corinthians 11:23-29) “Whatever struggles we have on our plate will seem like nothing once we’ve given ourselves over in service to others.

Prayer: The Need for Intentional Silence

09/10/2019

By Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis, May 23, 2018 We all know the externals of prayer. Many people also pray in front of icons. Today’s reflection is about the need for intentional silence. Before we can encounter God, there is a necessity for silence and stillness. You might be wondering “it is not silent when we worship,” so does there need to be silence in order to encounter God? There has to be a sense of stillness,

Trust and Surrender

09/09/2019

Power, according to Jesus and the Trinity, is not something to be “grasped at” (see Philippians 2:6-7). I don’t need to cling to my title, my uniform, my authorship, or whatever other trappings I use to make myself feel powerful and important. Waking up inside the Trinitarian dance, I realize that all of this is rather unimportant; in fact, it’s often pretense that keeps me from my True Self and gets in the way of

The Last Banquet

09/06/2019

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 23, 2015 Once a week I teach a class at a local alcohol and drug treatment program. It is on the “spirituality of recovery.” Recently I shared Marmaladov’s speech from Crime and Punishment (at the end of this article). There were tears in the room. For many, the version of the gospel they have heard only condemns. Most of the men I meet want to get well, to get sober. Not all