SACRAMENTAL LIVING

Understanding Christianity as a Way of Life

Process

“…“what does it mean to process something?” To process something means to have gained understanding and acceptance about any particular experience, event, or change. It means to have gained a sense of mastery over an experience. It means what happened is now understood, assimilated into our lives, and we have found peace and closure. It may also mean having to get out any emotion associated with the event such as grief or temporary anger. There might be tears or there might b

Self-Centeredness

“James [James 3:13-18] is also leery about us counseling others, for what is offered as wisdom can be based on pride and other sinful passions. Self-centered faith will manifest itself in self-centered works, in this case “helping” others.” (Orthodox Study Bible, James 3:13-18) “The mind is the great defense system we need to process all the information we receive. However, in so doing, the mind is self-centered, judgmental, and fearful of attack. It expects and assumes the w

Food

“Virtues and vices are the food of the soul, which can feed on either one, turning to whichever one it wants to. If it is bent toward moral excellence, it will be fed by virtue—by righteousness, temperance, meekness, endurance. In other words, it’s just as St. Paul says, “being nourished by the word of truth.” That’s the way it was with our Lord, who said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me.” (St. Athanasius) “The mind should seek spiritual food. This consists of r

Jesus Christ (Life in Christ)

“The Lord Jesus clearly teaches in this parable [Parable of the Sower - Mark 4:1-9] that there is irresistible power in life, physical and spiritual alike. Everything that can be called life flows from God; it comes from His Person. For this reason, Christ our God says, “I am the . . . life” (Jn 14:6), which makes the parable exciting. He who is Life yields life many times over.” (Dynamis 9/4/2020) “The “works” that a Christian does, are properly done in union with Christ, su

Identity

“The modern world is a difficult place in which to find the self, if, for no other reason, than its own fascination with what it describes as the self. The creation of an identity is among the many modern projects – it has become an object of our consumption. We not only “pick” an identity, we tend to “accessorize” as well.” (Father Stephen Freeman) “We recognize that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14)—completely unique and incomparable to any other human be

Fear (and Conflict)

“…we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears (2 Corinthians 7:5). In this passage St. Paul captures what many experience and feel today. Society seems riddled with conflict and constantly watching and reading about these conflicts is breading anxiety and fear in many of us. Yet we should understand that times like these are opportunities to go deep, really search our own hearts, to get honest with ourselves, and grow in faith and love. Christ Hi

God's Nature and Our Well-Being

“Why did He not say, ‘Before Abraham was, I was, but I AM [John 8:58]. Christ used this expression, for it signifies continuous Being, removed from all time…He says, ‘Before Abraham was, I AM.’ ‘Before’ indicates past time, ‘I AM” present time. Because divinity does not have past and future time, but always IS, He did not say, ‘I was before Abraham.” Hence it is said to Moses, ‘I am the Being [KJV translates ‘I AM WHO I AM’]. Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, ‘Th

Fulfillment

“The opposite of autonomy is theonomy. This is the belief that the fulfillment of human existence, while it begins in this world, is nonetheless entirely dependent on grace and communion with God.” (Vigen Guroian) “That communion and participation in the life of the other is possible is one of the single most contradictory challenges to the modern world-view. We are not utterly individual in our existence nor in our experience. We are beings whose lives are best expressed and

Restraint

“Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Jude 1:9). The archangel Michael showed this restraint (Zec 3:2) even though he was dealing with the devil himself…St. Michael the Archangel would not dispute with the devil over the body of Moses, but said, “The Lord rebuke you” (Jude 9). Even more astoundingly, Jesus Christ (the Lord) says, “

Breath and Breathing

“God has given to the earth the breath which feeds it. It is his breath that gives life to all things. And if he were to withhold his breath, everything would be annihilated. His breath vibrates in yours, in your voice. It is the breath of God that you breathe—and you are unaware of it.” (Theophilus of Antioch) “The soul that is united and transformed in God breathes God in God with the same divine breathing with which God, while in her, breathes her in himself.” (St. John of

God's Presence

“Within our daily lives, if we confront the day with thanksgiving, the Cross will quickly reveal itself. The first moment that the giving of thanks becomes difficult, we have reached the wood of the Cross itself. We stand in the very gates of Hades. If in that moment of difficulty we persist in giving thanks, then Hades trembles and the dead are raised. This is our personal kenosis, our self-emptying in the presence of the good God. “Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be do

Surrender

“It is a surrendering of our fleshly will (our gnomic will) to the will of God, which involves our spiritual will (our noetic will). This comes through kenosis, emptying ourselves of our theories, our carnal thoughts, our opinions, and our sins before God. When we do this, the Holy Spirit shows us who we really are: one made in His image, our true-self, a child of God in all splendor and glory.” (Father David L. Fontes, PsyD) “The Spirit wants to lead you. "For all who are le

Self and Self-Will

“Many people today, dazzled by the possibility of “reinventing” themselves, perceive no limits on what they can become. “Be everything you can imagine,” they tell themselves. The illusion that we can define ourselves is as old as the human race. Christians, however, recognize that its source lies in the song of the serpent, who used identical “sales talk” to deceive our first parents into believing that they could “be like gods” (Gn 3:5). This fatal error has wreaked havoc on

Knowing God

“Today we have a “Christian” society, but to most people, God is still unknown… ” (Life Application Study Bible, Acts 17:23) “Somewhere in every one of us is a deep longing to make contact with the unknown, with some “higher power”—something greater or wiser or more powerful than ourselves.” (Derek Prince) “It is easier to measure the entire sea with a tiny cup than to grasp the ineffable greatness of God with the human mind…No matter what kind of language is used, it will be

Life and Death

“When a seed dies, it produces fruit. Life comes by death. This principle is not only true in nature, but it is also true spiritually.” (Foundation Study Bible, John 12:24) “Every year we have autumn and winter when things begin to die and then die, and spring and summer when things begin to come back to life and then come back to life fully. What we see in physical nature is part of spiritual nature too. Often something about our lives and ourselves must begin to die and the

Ego (Self-Will)

“The world encourages us toward godless self-reliance rather than meek dependence on God…The spirit of contemporary culture is foolish, for it never invites us to consider God. Many people never think to turn to the Lord “until they [are] struck” (Isaiah 9:12). What an accurate definition of godlessness! And even the nicest people are guilty of indifference…” (Dynamis 3/26/2019) “Divine love does not tolerate this elevated status of self, for the ego is the enemy of our commu

Fasting

“In the coming fast we have the opportunity to awaken our hearts and minds to Christ, who calls us to undertake the regimen of fasting. However, He does not wish us to abstain in narrow, slavish obedience to a set of rules concerning the intake of food. Rather, the Lord Jesus asks us to direct our Lenten efforts to Him personally: “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, wailing, and with mourning; rend your heart” (Joel 4:12-13 LXX/Joel 3:12-13).” (Dynamis 3/7/2019) “B

Worldview (Changing the World)

“The world here [1 John 2:15-16] is creation after the fall and under the dominion of Satan. It is creation no longer oriented toward God, but temporary and dominated by inordinate passions (see Mt 6:24; Lk 16:13; 1Co 7:29–31)…The world distorts every realm of God's good creation (see Jam 1:13, 14). There are (1) sensual pleasures of the flesh (physical passions), (2) intellectual attainments and capacities of the eyes (the soul's passions), and (3) inordinate possessions, po

Freedom

“A common misunderstanding of liberty or freedom is to see it as standing apart from all moral restraints, to say there is no such thing as sin. But this results in slavery of the worst kind, bondage to egotistic and sensual passions. True Christian freedom begins with freedom from sin, freedom from immoral activity. A Christian is called to live in purity in an impure world.” (Orthodox Study Bible, 2 Peter 2:19) “In truth there is only one freedom—the holy freedom of Christ,

Consciousness

“The Incarnation shows us that the divine world and the personal world coexist within each human being. It is when the two natures live together in a conscious synthesis that a person becomes a conscious self.” (Robert A. Johnson) “The lack of authentic self-knowledge nags at our souls. We sense we should be able to know our own hearts—consciously or unconsciously, we attempt to resolve this fundamental confusion with all kinds of lesser remedies, without success.” (Father Ba

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