-
Wrestling with God
I remember the first time I was approached by an evangelist, hoping to save my soul. I was waiting to enter a concert venue, one of many impetuous young men standing in line. Yet he approached me alone, perhaps sensing my discomfort with his preaching. He couldn’t have known that at age ten I had…
-
Forging an Identity
As Christmas Eve approaches, the usual pundits have appeared claiming that our holy day is nothing more than a repackaged pagan bacchanalia. Such assertions are, of course, easily dismissed by those willing to do a little research. But what’s more intriguing is the growing desire to rehabilitate paganism in the first place. Some want to…
-
Reading Salvation
A new holiday tradition has taken root in the Orthodox world in recent years (who said we Orthodox never change?). Every year, on December 6 (and 19) there emerge countless memes of St. Nicholas punching the heretic Arius. For some, this is just a bit of mirth. For others, it is evidence that truth trumps…
-
Walking the Tightrope of Faith
We live in an age of extremes. Our social, political, and religious landscape is marked by exaggeration and polarization. And though we Christians are enjoined to live in the world yet not be of it, we are so easily drawn towards one side or the other. We are unable to find the via media that…
-
Cleanse Us of Our Secret Sins
Many a joke has been made about Jewish or Roman Catholic guilt, as though these two religions have the market cornered when it comes to that nagging sense one gets when shame is suppressed. But if we are honest with ourselves, all modern peoples—Orthodox Christians included—wrestle with feelings of guilt. We recognize, at least subliminally,…
-
An Owl in the Desert
In Psalm 102:6-7 (LXX Ps 101) we read “I am like an owl of the desert; I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.” The context of these verses is that of the suffering servant crying out to God for salvation as his enemies surround him. This is an apt description…
-
Follow
Following
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Prudence & Piety 