Category: The Morning Offering

The balance between rejoicing and repenting Within the self there is a battle being waged between good and evil and we endanger our soul if we start to treat God as though He were a sweet old grandpa who will love us regardless of what we do. His love does

Don’t hold on to guilt and shame There are many people who cling to memories of past sins, holding on to guilt and shame, reliving things long ago confessed, as though they happened yesterday. They struggle with regrets, often revisiting shame as though they were archeologists, digging for historical artifacts

If you are to win the battle, focus only on your own sins When we take our eyes off our own sins we focus only on the sins of the other.  As we allow their sins get our attention, we fail to struggle with the passions that keep us from

How do we find God in an unbelieving world? God is a merciful God, quick to forgive, quick to show mercy, quick to embrace us when we turn to Him. In all of eternity our God chose to create humankind in His image and likeness, offering His creatures the opportunity

And the workings of the Enemy of the Church Recent disturbing events within the life of the Church have left many, including some clergy and monastics, with the sense of gloom, wondering what’s coming next. During times like this it is good to remember that nothing has changed during the

The act of giving can change everyone’s life for the better As any history buff knows, these times we are living in can sometimes seem like reruns. News reports are filled with stories of wars, disasters, dictators, attacks on the innocent, increased crime, and the ever present persecution of Christians

I was in prison and you came to Me (Matthew 25:36) I served eight years as a volunteer Orthodox chaplain within three Washington State Prisons in Monroe, WA. With the goal of bringing the love of Christ to those, who, for whatever reason, found themselves serving hard time, I found

The democratic tradition and the world of submission The world is in a new struggle not unlike that  which happened during the Soviet Union and the cold war that was brought on after the fall of the Royal House of Romanov. This was followed by World War II when we

To prepare us for the vision of Christ in glory The work of the Church is to prepare its members to see God, not as an angry judge prepared to burn those who disobey His commandments, but to experience Him as a loving Father, prepared to join us to Himself

Anything that is quickly obtained is also easily lost Americans are not a particularly patient people, as demonstrated by the fact that the fast food industry began with us. We don’t tolerate slow service, thus much of the food we consume is prepared before we order it. We drive our