The Nativity Fast, and the banishment of hell One of my favorite authors as a young man, was Thomas Merton, the famous Trappist monk. In the introduction to his work “New Seeds of Contemplation”, he wrote: “Hell was where no one has anything in common with anyone else except the
We must put aside all resentment The decision to forgive another person a wrong done to us begins when we decide to let go of resentment and thoughts of revenge. To forgive someone does not mean that we forget what they did to us, for this may be impossible. The
An article written for clarification My article titled, “The Dark Side”, elicited numerous critical responses. I therefore asked a number of trusted priest friends for their feedback. One priest had his matushka read it, and her response made me realize the necessity of my revisiting the topic, that I might
What about your burial plans when your family is not Orthodox Some Orthodox Christians, whose family members are either not Orthodox, or who are no longer practicing the Orthodox faith, think they should skip any funeral arrangements that would involve the Church. They figure their relatives would likely not attend
Am I a real believer? “Believe” is for me a sort of loaded word, since it usually means for a western-formed person a mainly intellectual activity. It seems to me that it more properly means a combination of love and trust. Perhaps the real sign that we are a believer
When we experience the “dark side” of the Church For those who have experienced what has been called the “dark side” of the Church, the struggle to remain faithful to the Orthodox Faith can seem daunting. The dark side is the result of the sinful, fallen nature of all of
And the acquisition of a humble and a contrite heart When the monk attempts to rely on his own strength to do battle with his fallen nature, he will be defeated. The arena, his field of battle, takes place in his own heart, and will be a life long battle.
Embracing Absolute Truth In an age when many people think truth is relative, the knowledge that there is such a thing as absolute truth, is comforting. The freedom that comes with the knowledge that we are able to embrace teachings that are a continuation of an unbroken line dating back
Tending the garden of the heart Both my Norwegian grandfather, and my mother, were avid gardeners, so I grew up surrounded by the beauty of plants and flowers. The cottage garden is a distinct style of garden that is certainly my favorite. The use of traditional materials, in an informal
Thinking upon our own death Saint Sisoes, the great ascetic, who stood before the tomb of Alexander the Great, beheld the skeletal remains of one who was once covered in magnificent garments. Astonished, the saint mourned for the vicissitudes of time and the transience of glory, and tearfully proclaimed, “The