Freedom
“But we hear the word limit in much the same way we hear the word quiet: as a form of subtraction, a curtailment of what could or ought to be ours. We despise it as old-fashioned, a diminishment of personal freedom,…But what is freedom to begin with? Something boundless we’re born with, innate to human existence? Are we truly free, mired as we are in nurture and inheritance, the strictures of our time, the limits of science? Or is freedom a gift, something we do not own and c
Love of Self
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple (Lk 14.26). This is the extreme and terrifying warning against all passionate attachments stronger and more powerful than one’s passionate attachment to Christ alone. And the greatest passion of all which keeps one from the love of God and the love of one’s neighbor is the sinful passion for oneself. Sinful sel
Mystery
“In the Christian context, we do not mean by a "mystery" merely that which is baffling and mysterious, an enigma or insoluble problem. On the contrary, a mystery is revealed for our understanding but we never understand it exhaustively because it leads into God's depth or darkness. The eyes are closed—but they are also opened.” (Metropolitan Kallistos Ware) “The Greek word, mystery, originally meant "initiation," "secret," or "revelation of a secret." Christianity inherited t
God's Will vs Self Will
“…sin lies in the direction of the will…A person sins when he looks upon his life as if it belonged only to him…It is necessary for...
Individualism versus Personhood
“The Holy Bible and the Church Fathers encourage us to become persons, not individuals. Only then we can be in the likeness of the Holy...
Solitude /Stillness /Silence
“Stillness of the heart is the practice of quieting yourself to such a degree that you can finally come to hear the voice of God clearly...
Time
“It is the eternal, timeless God who gives meaning to time by imbuing it with holiness and incorporating time into eternity…Time was...
Hearing/Listening
“I am becoming increasingly convinced that in our age of inattention, distraction, and scattered focus, the greatest gift we can offer...
Resurrection
“St. Maximus the Confessor describes human beings as a “microcosm,” that is, as the universe (cosmos) made small (micro). This indicates...
Charity
“Perhaps a great surprise in Christ’s parable of the Last Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46) is that God’s judgment of us is not based on the...