Heavenly Worship must Enter into the Heart The beauty of Orthodox worship is meant to lift us up, connecting us to Heavenly Worship that is eternally celebrated before the Throne of God. The beatific vision granted Saint John, and revealed in the Book of Revelation, describes the connection between the
Category: The Morning Offering
The Preeminence of Love Obedience is a central theme throughout the history of salvation. Without obedience to God’s commandments, there can be no salvation, for the nous (the eye of the soul) must be healed before we can be made whole. The role of obedience is so central, in fact,
The Need to Reunite a Society Divided by Age There are two major populations within our society that are seeing a statistical rise in the number of suicides. At a time when a growing body of research shows that people with the most social power pay scant attention to those
Quartermaster Harbor, Vashon Island () The Three Disciplines: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving Jesus Christ called for a thorough conversion of our heart and mind, and a complete turning away from the old man (our fallen nature). The main act that begins this conversion is metanoia, which means thorough change of
Don’t Shelve a Part of You When we enter into communion with one another in the life of the Church, we come broken, and far from the image and likeness that God intended when He created us. We, to a one, are in need of the healing that comes from
Mt. Rainier as seen from Vashon Island (click on photo) What Should be Our Attitude Toward Icons and other Holy Things? One of the attributes of God is holiness, and is reflected in His people, and in physical objects that have been blessed by the Church for the use of
Mt. Rainier as seen from Wax Orchard Road on Vashon Island The Willingness to Suffer with the Other Person What does it mean to truly love another person? It means we carry the other person in our heart. If we do not bring the other person into our heart, we
God Infuses His Energies into the Icons The Old Testament God was revealed to us by Christ Jesus. Prior to the incarnation of the Logos, God’s people were forbidden to make any image of Him, for no one had seen His face. Yet when Christ said to His disciples, “he
Holding up Standards of Behavior We have all witnessed those embarrassing moments when someone has lost their temper. The boss who comes into the office with family worries, and shouts at his secretary, often over something very insignificant. We’ve sat uncomfortably as a hostess made a nasty remark to her
Your Closest and Most Intimate Friend is Yourself If you have never learned to accept and love yourself, you will never be able to love another person. If you don’t learn to forgive yourself, you will never be able to forgive another person. You must learn to be your own