SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“What leads to the inner decision to ignore Wisdom’s call? Since the issues that Wisdom raises “are the issues of life” (Proverbs 8:34), it really depends on how we define life. The Lord Jesus says, “I am…the life” (Jn 14:6). If we exclude Christ from our consideration of any aspect of our lives, then we are operating on an entirely different ground from that of the Lord. Life’s issues might then seem to encompass nothing more than health, wealth, status, ideology, or the boa

“It is possible we could have forgiven someone cognitively (with our thoughts and even verbally) but not forgiven them emotionally. Sometimes this occurs because we fear the wrong or hurt happening again and don’t let our guard down. Also, we might, due to our faith convictions, embrace the concept of forgiveness and thus readily extend it verbally, but under the surface we still harbor resentment. Sometimes we do this intentionally and sometimes we are not conscious that we

“Being renewed by God’s power, we become partakers of the divine nature. This does not mean we become divine by nature. If we participated in God's essence, the distinction between God and man would be abolished. What this does mean is that we participate in God's energy, described by a number of terms in scripture, such as glory, life, love, virtue, and power. We are to become like God by His grace…” (Orthodox Study Bible, 2 Peter 1:4) “…the apostle [Peter] writes, “… that y

“When things do not happen as expected, we are often at the mercy of our impulses. The accusation of a lowly servant girl ambushed Peter as he waited outside in the courtyard while Jesus was tried inside. Despite Jesus’ warning, Peter’s fearful impulse overtook him. From then on, his fright controlled him…Our tendency today is to avoid, suppress, act out, self-medicate, and even blame others by displacing or projecting our feelings onto others. We are too quick to believe our

“...all introspection is in one respect misleading. In introspection we try to look “inside ourselves” and see what is going on. But nearly everything that was going on a moment before is stopped by the very act of our turning to look at it…Unfortunately this does not mean that introspection finds nothing. On the contrary, it finds precisely what is left behind by the suspension of all our normal activities; and what is left behind is mainly mental images and physical sensati

“It is so tempting to identify the way of the Lord with whatever or whomever we happen to admire, but that usually serves only as a distraction from the repentance necessary to acquire the purity of heart to which He calls us. Whenever we invoke Christ to reinforce our preconceived notions, regardless of how moral or justified we think our goals may be, we risk becoming guilty of the idolatry of trying to use God to get what we want in this world on our own terms. Those who o

“Perhaps the most salient aspect of the sacramental life is something that has almost been forgotten within contemporary Christianity: noetic experience. The fact that I will now be required to explain the very meaning of noetic experience for my readers makes my point. In the writings of the Church fathers, it is assumed that this is the true character of the saving knowledge of God. “Noetic” refers to that knowledge that is acquired by the “nous,” an aspect of the soul that

“Faith is critical if we are not to remain earthbound. Divine matters cannot be comprehended with the mind, but we are conditioned in our Western society to believe that the highest level of comprehension is intellectual…the highest level of understanding is not intellectual but spiritual, and spiritual realities are beyond reason, since God’s ways are beyond human comprehension…Intellectual answers are limited and partial at best. It is truly tragic if we willingly remain at

“The culture of our own time continues this separation from Christianity, but not only from Christianity. Contemporary culture is losing its religious spirit, its meaning, and its beauty…The standard of permanent Christianity must be kept clear in our minds and it is against that standard that we must test all contemporary thought. In fact, we must at all costs not move with the times. We serve One who said ‘Heaven and Earth shall move with the times, but my words shall not m

“…imagine the serenity and peace of contentment. Contentment is a form of faith. It trusts that the Providence of God will not fail us. From the moments of our conception and birth to our passing from this life to the next, the source of everything we have is God. And if we do not let our desires surpass our needs, we will have enough. We will possess all that is sufficient for the fulfillment of God’s good will for us. Such faith is fundamental to the Gospel of Christ. He pr