Daily Meditations Archives - Page 318 of 332

Self-Knowledge and the Inner Journey

09/17/2012

Our operative God image is often a subtle combination of our mom and our dad and/or any other significant authority figures. Once we begin an inner life of prayer and in-depth study of sacred texts, we slowly begin to grow, and from then on it only gets better. Grace does its work and creates a unique “work of art” (Ephesians 2:10). Most early “God talk”—without self-knowledge and inner journey—is largely a sincere pretense, even to

The Elevation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross

09/14/2012

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

Being Sent into the World

09/13/2012

Being Sent into the World Each of us has a mission in life. Jesus prays to his Father for his followers, saying, “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (John 17:18). We seldom realize fully that we are sent to fulfill God given tasks. We act as if we have to choose how, where, with whom to live. We act as if we were simply dropped down in

Members of One Another (Part XII): Compassion Towards Plants

09/12/2012

The compassionate love of St Silouan extends beyond animals to plants: ‘Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees’ (Revelation 7:3). On one occasion when the two of them were walking together, Fr Sophrony struck out with his stick at a clump of tall wild grass. The Starets said nothing, but he shook his head doubtfully; and at once Fr Sophrony was ashamed. In his own writings St Silouan says: That green leaf

Members of One Another (Part XI): Compassion Towards Animals

09/11/2012

St Silouan gave careful thought to our relationship as humans with the animals. This is only to be expected. He had grown up in an agricultural community. The Holy Mountain which then became his monastic home abounds in living creatures, in birds, butterflies, snakes and jackals, and also (at any rate in the days of the Starets) in wolves and wild boar, not to mention the domestic animals, the horses and mules, that the monasteries

The Three Temptations

09/10/2012

I believe that all would-be Christians must face the same three temptations as Jesus did. These same demons are in all of us. The first temptation of Christ was to turn stones into bread (Matthew 4:3). Sounds good, but this is likely our need to be immediately impressive and effective, successful, relevant, and make things happen right now. It is our natural desire to look good. The false self tells you what it immediately wants

THE MOUNTAIN OF PRAYER (Part II)

09/07/2012

AND AFTER HE HAD DISMISSED THE CROWDS, HE WENT UP ON THE MOUNTAIN BY HIMSELF TO PRAY. —MATTHEW 14:23 It is only in this aloneness, this utter solitude, that dependence and desire will die, and the capacity to love is born. For one no longer sees others as means to satisfy one’s addiction. Only someone who has attempted this knows the terror of the process. It is like inviting yourself to die. It is like

THE MOUNTAIN OF PRAYER (Part I)

09/06/2012

AND AFTER HE HAD DISMISSED THE CROWDS, HE WENT UP ON THE MOUNTAIN BY HIMSELF TO PRAY. —MATTHEW 14:23 Has it ever occurred to you that you can only love when you are alone? What does it mean to love? It means to see a person, a thing, a situation, as it really is and not as you imagine it to be, and to give it the response it deserves. You cannot love what you

Persons in Communion: Blood and Fire

09/05/2012

In Christ, God has reunified humanity. From henceforth and without limit of time or space, it is nothing other than the Body of God. That is what Cabasilas meant when he said that people are more truly related to each other in Christ than they are according to the flesh. Carnal kinship leads to death, kinship in Christ to eternity. The blood that springs from the pierced side of Christ, the wine of the Eucharist,

Father Maximos on the Bible, Translations, Tradition and the Church

09/04/2012

“Meanings were lost in translation,” I muttered. “That’s what I was just thinking,” Teresa added. “Much distortion sneaked into the Bible though flawed translations.” “It is always a problem with translation,” Fr. Maximos agreed. “That is why many Christians who rely exclusively on the words of the Bible for guidance generated such great diversity of beliefs, interpretations, and, alas, distortions.” “And that is why a rigid and literal adherence to words can lead to all