Orthodoxy and beauty are inseparable Orthodox Christianity attracted me from my very first encounter with the magnificence of its churches and the grandeur of her divine services. Having grown up amid the natural beauty of Northern Idaho, with mountains and lakes that could take our breath away, I’d previously found
The philosophical nihilism that is atheism Many of us are challenged as believers as to how we might reach out to family and friends who have declared themselves atheists, and lead them into an encounter with the God that really does exist. How can we impart faith to those whom
The importance of the desert to the inner life The Russian word, “Poustinia”, means “desert”, and the importance of the poustinia to the inner life can not be dismissed. If we are to hear the voice of God speaking to us, we must listen to His silence. If we are
Giving in to the temptation to judge another As Orthodox Christians we must resist speaking against another, for if we judge another it is because Satan wishes to drag us down into the sin of thinking we are better than them. The best defense against the Evil One is to
The Homosexual person in light of the Orthodox Faith My heart goes out to homosexual men and women who face a life of rejection and loneliness. I do not believe the majority of them chose to be homosexual. A person would have to be insane to chose a sexual proclivity
Divine-Human Oneness Sobornost is a word that means spiritual harmony based on freedom and unity in love. It is a necessary component in our membership within the Body of Christ, for if we are not bound together in love, our freedom becomes our enemy, separating us from others, and, ultimately
Concealing our sins from our confessor I have been a monk for over thirty-five years, and I must say that I can not think of a sin I have not heard before. Not one person has shared anything that was shocking to me, for the human condition is shared by
Isolation does not have to be a part of our world The Church, by Her very nature, is anything but an institution where one can be isolated from others. We only let it be so if we fail to involve ourselves as the people of God, with one another. The
The saints serve as our guides in serving the poor In many parts of the American countryside one can find the remnants of poorhouses (sometimes called workhouses), institutions run by local county or state governments as a means of dealing with the issue of the unemployed poor and homeless. These
Thoughts on the oneness of creation There is no formal doctrine in the Orthodox Church concerning the afterlife for animals, including our pets. Those Fathers of the Church who have expressed themselves on this matter were simply expressing theological opinions that have not become universally accepted, and remain known as