By not reacting we bring about a peaceful heart Each day brings on new challenges regarding the health of our spiritual life. Those moments when a family member or coworker makes a remark that is meant to anger us, are those times we need to guard our heart. When those
The struggle against the passions and our victory in Christ As we struggle with anger, gluttony, with judging others, sexual impurity and a myriad of others passions, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and powerless. We find ourselves feeling defeated and tempted to give up the battle. Sometimes we even
And the faith of non-Orthodox believers Of all humanity’s faiths we must know that we have perhaps more, but we must never judge those who are not Orthodox. We rejoice in the knowledge they do have, but must not be filled with such pride as to think we have the
The ultimate sickness is that of unbelief Humankind’s ultimate sickness is that of unbelief. This world is the place of preparation for our life in eternity, the place where we are prepared for the Kingdom that is to come. Within this world, Our Lord Jesus Christ established a hospital in
Creating an Orthodox Christian home Creating an Orthodox Christian home begins with the icon corner, also known as “The Bright Corner”. This becomes the center for every domestic church, and is where the family gathers together for their common prayers, bible readings, and devotions. The icon corner also declares to
We must become collaborators with God If we are to be healthy spiritually, we must cooperate with God’s divine grace. The nous, as the center of our being, refers to the noetic energy that functions in the heart of every spiritually healthy person. Only the Holy Spirit can bring about
The Church is the Promised Land My entrance into the Orthodox Church was my personal escape from Egypt, in that I took refuge from the fallen world of my former secular existence. Coming into Orthodoxy was like the crossing the Jordan for me, for I beheld Orthodoxy as the land
The ultimate giving of thanks is found in the Eucharistic sacrifice Thanksgiving has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. The word Thanksgiving has it’s roots in
Sharing Christ in a world devoid of hope Without Christ, Orthodoxy is just another religion, devoid of the power to transform and deify the human heart. Without Christ the Church is nothing but a human institution, no different than a political party. For the Church to be herself, Christ must
We must never converse with demons In 1986 I spent fourteen days in retreat at Saint Tikhon’s Monastery in South Canaan, Pennsylvania. Staying in the monastic quarters, I had two weeks of wonderful fellowship with fellow monastics, worshiping in their temple, eating with them in trapeza, walking the trails through