Distraction
“Sons of the world see distraction as innocent, but the Holy Fathers see it as the beginning of all evil. One of the greatest ascetics of old, St. Poemen the Great, teaches that the beginning of evil is distraction.” (St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, Archbishop Averky Taushev) “Quiet, for me, seemed an impossible quality to cultivate without a sense of time as ample. I wanted our lives to be, not crammed with endless activity or entertainment or things, but ordered, roomy, so that
Existentialism and Existential Crisis
“I have no desire to wake up every day and look at the world and see only hopelessness. God did not create us to be hopeless. He created us, knowing us even before we were born, because of His infinite love and mercy. We too, are called to have love and mercy for each other.” (Jackie Morfesis) “Christ’s resurrection forced His disciples into a true paradigm shift: the finality of death was gone forever. Yet, life with all its trials and problems was still ongoing and the disc
Faith and Success
“Whatever circumstances I am in, I can serve God. We may think that serving God means successfully accomplishing great and miraculous things. But St Paul saw himself serving God even when he languished in a prison cell. Even through the many disasters he endured (2 Corinthians 11:23-28), he believed he was there to do God’s will. The spiritual life is not always about success as the world measures it. Sometimes it is about remaining faithful no matter what.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)
Transformation
Quotes of the Day for March 11, 2026 – Thoughts on lives transformed “Perhaps there is nothing so powerful as a testimony of a life transformed. I don’t believe it’s necessary to suffer so deeply that one’s life is crushed seemingly beyond repair, broken into a hundred pieces, before we fall to our knees and hear God’s longing for our soul. But this we do know; it certainly is an explosive doorway and being witness to God’s mercy. Pain transformed is holy space.” (Jackie Morf
Hope
“The Christians who worshipped in that original roofless shrine could look up into the sky, in their imaginations following Christ as He ascended from earth to heaven. There is always something inspiring and uplifting about looking up. The sky is one of the many miracles surrounding us, whether we see it filled with clouds or with stars. Sorrow makes our heads hang down and look towards the earth, while joy lifts up our heads.” (Fr. Lawrence Farley) “Christian hope is the con
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
Meaning of Life
“Let us talk about life. Do you have anyone interesting to talk to about this? If not, then don’t worry as I have very few myself. If you...
Compassion
“It is of note to me that there is a great darkness associated with God in some presentations of the Christian faith, enough to drive...
Salvation
“…Chrysostom understands original sin not in terms of inherited or personal guilt but in terms of an inherited mortality that causes...
Holy Spirit
“If we try to describe our perception and experience of the Holy Spirit, we will quickly realize that human words are not enough for...
