Daily Meditations Archives - Page 313 of 355

The Untamable Textbook and Its Handouts: Ruminations on Scripture—Tradition Relationship (Part I)

10/07/2013

The Bible is a scented garden, delightful and beautiful … Let us seek in the fountain of this garden “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” We shall taste a joy that will never dry up, because the grace of the Bible garden is inexhaustible. ~ST. JOHN OF DAMASCUS, AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH, 4. 17 REV. DR. EUGEN J. PENTIUC The fourth-century exegete and theologian St. Gregory of Nyssa passionately

The Destiny of Eros: Monks and Martyrs

10/04/2013

When the emperor was converted, and the ever-present danger of martyrdom disappeared, monasticism arose to take its place. There was a fear that Christianity would be secularized, that, as it stood, it would become the cement of an earthly city. Monasticism was the revolt against all compromise. Monasticism, in its early form, was a steep path, that of ‘the violent, who take the kingdom of heaven by force’. Utter obedience to the Gospel demands the

Serious about the Scriptures

10/03/2013

My dear friend, Dr. Gerald May, made a distinction years ago that I have found myself using frequently. He says spirituality is not to encourage willfulness, but in fact willingness. Spirituality creates willing people who let go of their need to be first, to be right, to be saved, to be superior, and to define themselves as better than other people. That game is over and gone; and if you haven’t come to the willing

The Forgotten Connection between Liturgy and Theology (Part III)

10/02/2013

By Rev. Dr. Philip Zymaris In our sacraments we emphasize the use of matter precisely because of this Orthodox stress on the incarnation, the resurrection and the resulting theological affirmation of the goodness of matter because Christ took on a material body and in the resurrection our material bodies so that they may participate in the glory of the Kingdom. Therefore matter as created by God is good (“And God saw everything that He had

The Forgotten Connection between Liturgy and Theology (Part II)

10/01/2013

By Rev. Dr. Philip Zymaris This theological emphasis on the incarnation as foundational for the way we worship has been somewhat forgotten in some other Christian denominations, and this has resulted in clear differences in the venue and style of Orthodox and non-Orthodox worship. For example, some Western churches are reminiscent of a classroom: the proverbial stark chapel, devoid of icons and church furniture except for pews and a pulpit in a prominent position in

The Forgotten Connection between Liturgy and Theology (Part I)

09/30/2013

By the Rev. Dr. Philip Zymaris Since the theme of this issue of PRAXIS is the application of theology in real life, I have decided to write on this subject from the point of view of liturgics, the study of liturgy. Our Orthodox liturgy, our communal worship services and especially the Divine Liturgy, the Eucharist, are the best reflection of this “lived theology.” At first sight this statement might seem surprising, because most people seem

The Destiny of Eros: Eroticism, Passion and the Gospel

09/27/2013

Today, partly as a result of daring experimentation, but mostly because of a willingness to go along with fashion, sex seems to be everywhere. The mass media, advertising, and a general inclination to rebelliousness, have together encouraged the spread of a sub-Freudian culture which, combined with Marxist fantasies, has even lost the awareness of death which Freud had recovered. The horror of ‘repression’, the shallow sensation-seeking demanded by our jaded nerves and imagination, seem to

We are God’s Workshop

09/26/2013

Reading the patristic texts is not always easy. And sometimes, at first sight, it seems disagreeable. The view of the physical world is rudimentary, simplistic. Some dissertations on the human faculties, on the five senses or on the structure of the body are deadly boring. Certain ‘genealogical trees’ of the virtues, certain ‘slotting-in games’ of the vices are even irritating. Certain notes on clothes and certain rules of behaviour are a nuisance or make us

Father Maximos and his Atheist Friend, & Saint Isaac the Syrian

09/25/2013

One of [Father Maximos’] close associates was Thanos, an environmental architect who was for a while a professor of architecture at the University of Slovenia. Fr. Maximos and Thanos had been friends since their high school years. Upon Thanos’s return to Cyprus with his Slovenian wife and two children, he became one of Fr. Maximos’s key advisors on several of the bishopric’s architectural projects. But Thanos was also a self-confessed atheist. He told me that

MASHUP: Conversations about Cinema and the Church (Part II)

09/24/2013

By Paul Lundberg With regard to work, changes in the American and global economy have undermined stable, lifelong careers and replaced them with careers of lower security, more frequent job changes and an ongoing need for new training and education. It’s no longer a straight upward path: getting your foot in the door, working hard for your first promotion, and then moving into management or trading up for another position in the same field. Young