Author: Abbot Tryphon

Due to the order of Washington State’s governor, Jay Inslee, that all State employees be vaccinated against Covid, or be fired, it looks like I will no longer be allowed to serve as Police and Fire Chaplain for Vashon Island. After some twenty years serving the people of this island,

Demanding Miracles from God Because of Our Smugness and Pride Demanding miracles in order to believe betrays a sort of smugness on our part, sort of like asking for an expensive gift from a prospective friend, before considering their overture for friendship. It could hardly become a true friendship if

Remembrance of God Leads to Conversion of Heart The importance of having a regular confessor can not be underestimated. Most of us find it uncomfortable to think upon our faults, failures, and sins, because we like to “feel good” about ourselves. We puff up our image around others, brag about

 https://www.cbsnews.com/video/st-nicholas-greek-orthodox-church-ground-zero-national-shrine-60-minutes-2020-04-12/

Civilization Needs Unity Between Religion  and the Secular State The great divide between the secular state and religion has grown substantially during my lifetime. Gone are the days when our nation was based on Christian values and where religion played an important role in the public life of this country.

The Limits of Human Reason and the Knowledge of God There is the seen, and there is the unseen, the material and the immaterial. That which is material can be scientifically examined and experienced, the immaterial can only be seen and experienced spiritually. These are two worlds that are only

Waging War Against  the Flesh Since the eyes and the ears are the doors of the soul, an Orthodox Christian must not leave the body without attention. Unlike the religion of Gnosticism, which teaches the separation of soul and body, with the physical world being evil and something to be

The Evangelical and Apostolic Faith One of the most powerful reasons for embracing Orthodoxy is to be found in the Church’s insistence that she holds to the evangelical and apostolic doctrine of the Ancient Church. In an age when everything is up for change, there is a certain security and

And the Church as the Hospital for the Healing of the Soul Our Orthodox Faith defines sin as an illness that is in need of healing, not as a crime that requires punishment. The Church is a hospital for the soul whose therapists (priests) first sought therapy and then became

We Must Pass on the Gift of Love My father was a golf pro in Spokane, Washington, during my grade and early middle school years, and the country club was the center of our family’s social life. My brother, Dwayne, and I used to play an average of 18 to