Fear (and Love)
“There’s a lot of fear circulating these days. Fear in the secular realm, and fear, I think, in the Christian too. We are cowed by the violence and brutality of a fallen world. We’re drawing in, we’re identifying what we’re against. That’s natural. We were made for safety and joy, and the wild danger and grief of the world is not natural. And in a way it is necessary: I am not saying that evil must not be countered or truth spoken. But I think we are in danger of slipping int
Life and Death
“Why was the entire dispensation of history and work of Christ necessary? Could not God simply have saved humankind by fiat?...The solution God has provided is to heal our nature from the inside out. By joining His divine, eternal life to human flesh, Jesus Christ has overcome the power of death; hence mortality will be abandoned in the grave when the universal resurrection dawns. If this explanation is not sufficient for the inquirer, ‘Say something like this to reasonable p
Theosis/Union with God (2)
Quotes of the Day for October 16, 2025 – Thoughts on theosis and union with Christ “…the goal of the spiritual life is theosis, union with God, such a union does not represent the loss of our humanity. Rather, it entails its fulfillment. We say of Christ that He is fully God and fully man. Our own path to theosis is not found beyond our humanity, but within it. As we have become fascinated with the power and potential of our technology, we even imagine such things as the marr
Spiritual Blindness and Deafness
“He [Gadarene Demoniac – Luke 16:19-31] is an icon of our brokenness and represents us all in many ways. He did not ask Christ to deliver...
Peace
“Christ then appears through shut doors in the midst of them and tells them one thing: ‘Peace be with you.’ For these to be the first...
Image and Likeness
“…by entering into His created order by means of the Incarnation, God intimately unites Himself to our nature, thereby infusing it with...
Love (Toughness of Love)
“One of my students came to seminary when he was already middle-aged, after considerable success in the world. This student was later...
Money
“God needs a place in our hearts, to grab a hold of something in a man’s soul. Then the man can be helped. But if his heart and soul are...
Rest/Renewal/Restoration
“What is spiritual renewal? It is when you are no longer weighed down by the burden of past traumas and mistakes, your present is filled...
Holiness
“One of the most encouraging lines of the Divine Liturgy comes shortly before Holy Communion, when the priest says “The Holy Gifts for...