Poemen said that someone asked Paesius this question, ‘What am I to do about my soul? I have become incapable of feeling and I do not fear God.’ He said to him, ‘Go, and live with someone who does fear … Continue reading
If we compare the two ways of knowing, it is easy to see that modern men and women need at least a balance between the vita activa and the vita contemplativa, the active and the contemplative life, if they are … Continue reading
In his book on the stages of faith, James Fowler noted that when people move to a higher level of faith, they tend to despise those still in the stage they just left. There’s a tendency to take one’s one … Continue reading
“Our holy fathers hearkened to the Lord’s words, ‘Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, unchastity, thefts, perjuries, blasphemies; these are the things that defile a man’ (Matt. 15:19-20); and they also hearkened to Him when He enjoins … Continue reading
Today we celebrate Pentecost, which is a day that people from many nations heard words of hope to share together in a new experience of humanity. This is not a hope the world offers or a hope the world can … Continue reading
First, a prayer: God, creator of heaven and earth, it is time for you to come, for our time is running out and our world is passing away. You gave us life in peace, one with another, and we have … Continue reading
Good insights here talking about narcissism among pastors, though nothing surprising. I’m struck and stuck with the reality that church leadership is structured to select for narcissistic leaders, and that is what troubles me a lot about the huge emphasis … Continue reading
How different all this is from the instruction I received as I grew into my own Christian faith. I was taught to recite the creeds, I was prepared for confirmation on the basis of a catechism that in effect told … Continue reading
Something I wrote in 2011 for a now defunct site. Gets at how the theology we sometimes want, even in Christmas, isn’t really the theology we need. In this 2020 Christmas, we need a theology of hope within the messiness. … Continue reading
Read: Psalm 25; Lamentations 3; Romans 15:1-13; Ephesians 4 In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the … Continue reading
