Daily Meditations Archives - Page 340 of 354

“Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1)

09/20/2012

In ecclesiastical circles today one often hears the lament, “The faith is evaporating.” Despite an unprecedented “pastoral approach”, the faith of many Christians in fact appears to be” growing cold” or even, to put it colloquially, to be “evaporating”. There is talk of a great crisis of faith, among the clergy no less than among the laity. This loss of faith, which is so often lamented in the West, stands nevertheless in contrast to a

The Desert and Temptation (Part I)

09/19/2012

One of the great themes of monasticism is the desert. The monks deliberately went into the desert to be alone and to seek God. The ancients considered the desert the dwelling-place of demons. Anthony went into the desert to fight the demons on their own turf. It was a heroic decision to push his way into the realm of the demons — and a declaration of war on the demons that plagued him and sought

TIME

09/18/2012

A brother came to see Abba Theodore and started to talk and inquire about things which he himself had not tried yet. The old man said to him: “You have not found a boat or put your gear into it, and you haven’t even sailed, but you seem to have arrived in the city already. Well, do your work first; then you will come to the point you are talking about now.” ONE OF THE

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