The importance of setting sensible priorities We all need to set sensible priorities, making sure we pay attention to our health, our family, and our spiritual life. We must not let our life be so full of work that we don’t allot time to focus on the things that bring
Author: Abbot Tryphon
I am abbot of All-Merciful Saviour Orthodox Monastery (ROCOR) on Vashon Island, WA. The island is a twenty minute ferry ride from West Seattle, and a fifteen minute crossing from Tacoma.
Surrounded by the Salish Sea, the island is some 87% undeveloped forest, with a rural population of around eleven thousand citizens. If you wish to contact me personally, you can email me at: abbottryphon@vashonmonks.com
Even our enemies are our brothers and sisters It is a terrible temptation to wish our enemies destruction. Christ instructed us to love our enemies and to do good to those who hate us or persecute us. To wish their destruction is to ignore the love that God has for
Practicing gratefulness makes us happy Most people are not aware that practicing simple gratitude can bring about happiness. Being grateful for the people we have in our lives, and for the things that we have, brings about a happiness that can not come about by endlessly trying to acquire things.
Changing the world must begin with me It is personally comfortable to notice the failings and the sins of others, but if we do not take stock of ourselves we will do great harm to our soul. Judging others opens wide the gates for evil spirits to enter, laying waste
When good deeds lead to vainglory If the performance of good deeds are done in order to attain personal benefit for oneself, or to receive the praise of others, it falls under the sin of avarice, vanity, and greed. Anyone who performs good deeds for such purposes is guilty of
More than acquittal and justification Salvation can not be explained in legalistic terms of acquittal and justification, for salvation is much more than simply being forgiven and getting into heaven. The close tie between faith and works, when it comes to the Orthodox view of salvation, is not about being
The saints should be models for how we live our lives Our Orthodox Christian life is not designed to be invented as we go, for by the very nature of the Church we are instructed to use as our model of living, the lives of the saints that have gone
The veneration of the Holy Virgin in the Ancient Church All the early reformers, including Luther and Calvin, believed Mary to be Ever Virgin. The practice at the time was to refer to all cousins as siblings, and none of the early Christians believed Mary had born any children other
God created us with freewill One of the primary differences between Islam and Christianity has to do with the basic view of the nature of God. Islam teaches total surrender to a god who demands submission. There is no invitation to enter into a relationship, freely, nor is there room
How do we keep our youth in the Church? We are living in an age that has witnessed changes on a massive scale as never before. The way we communicate has changed with the coming of the internet, with information available that would have required a library and advanced degrees