Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Mud

Man is mud whom God has commanded to become god.

St. Gregory of Nyssa (via Fr. Stephen)

Faith

Is faith to be understood simply as a mental exercise, or is it somehow something more? [...]

When speaking of faith, we are describing a relational trust that is rooted in our participation in the life of God. St. Paul says that “faith works by love” (Gal. 5:6). Marriage, at its best and highest moments, can have something of this experience on a human level. The relationship is more than mental and emotional. It is physical and involves a union with the other than can only proceed from trust, freedom and love. It would not be wrong to describe such a relationship as faith. The Church asks husbands and wives to be faithful – which means far more than simply avoiding sex with other persons. It is little wonder that marriage is a common image used for the relationship between God and His Church.

Fr. Stephen

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Praying when weak

I often tell people who say they are struggling with prayer to quit trying to pray like a Pharisee and learn to pray like a Publican. We often want to pray from strength – to approach God when we at least feel spiritually alive. The Publican refuses to lift his eyes to heaven. The contradiction of his life and the goodness of God are more than he can bear. And yet he prays. And, ironically, it is he who goes down to his house justified rather than the Pharisee.

Father Stephen

Monday, March 22, 2010

Reasons to not read the Bible

Reasons 4th century Christians gave for not reading the Bible, from St. John Chysostom via Presbytera Jeannie. From another podcast I've started listening to and highly recommend, Search the Scriptures.

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Thursday, March 11, 2010

Be still

The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be still.
Exodus 14:14

Sunday, March 07, 2010

Success

We are called upon not to be successful, but to be faithful.
Mother Teresa

Friday, March 05, 2010

Living and dying

To live as a Christian is impossible. As a Christian you can only die.

Elder Sophrony via Fr. Zacharias (24 MB MP3)

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Bodily afflications

An excerpt from another podcast, this one from Fr. Thomas Hopko, about how our bodily afflictions contribute to our salvation.

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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Lent, salvation and the body

An excerpt from a recent podcast I've listened to. An interesting insight, I think, into how our bodies contribute to our interaction with God and are not just things to be despised because of their inclination to sin. And a profitable saying at the beginning of Lent.

This is Fr. Meletios Webber is the Abbott of the Holy Monastery of St. John of San Francisco.

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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

TV for baby

“I’m proud of what I made,” Ms. Aigner-Clark said in an e-mail message on Monday night. “Welcome to the 21st century. Most people have televisions in their houses, and most babies are exposed to it. And most people would agree that a child is better off listening to Beethoven while watching images of a puppet than seeing any reality show that I can think of.”

Julie Aigner-Clark, Baby Einstein founder

That's setting the bar pretty low, isn't it? Better than a reality show?

Regardless, I'd be interested to see if there are flaws in studies showing that television is bad, period, for children 2 & under.