SACRAMENTAL LIVING

Understanding Christianity as a Way of Life

Hope

“The soul that desires to please God needs first of all patience and hope, because one of the tricks of the devil is, in time of trouble, to make us despondent and divert us from hope and trust in God. God never allows those who trust in Him to be overwhelmed by temptations so as to reach utter exhaustion; for says the Apostle, God is faithful and He will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation, He will also dispose the issue of it, and enable you

Fear

“…fear can lead to aggression: “Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.” (Robert J. Wicks) “The temptation to dispense a rough “justice” against some individual or group flares up whenever we lose our focus on our common humanity and succumb to fear…Fear of men, with their finite power and unproven opinions, always rises from the wellspring of atheism. Those who fear men do not see the hand o

Righteousness

“No one can save us except the One Who created us. The Lord could have chosen to save us in a different manner, for He is Almighty and All-powerful. Instead, He took upon Himself our human nature and showed us by His own example the way of righteousness. Had He chosen to save us in any other way, we could say to Him, “You are the Almighty God. You were never a man as I am; You were never hungry or thirsty, sad or sorrowful.” This is why God took upon Himself all of human natu

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

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

Worth and Worthiness

“…a good man and a very bright priest, sent me an email. In it he said, “I’ve come to the realization that my all-too-easy focus on my own unworthiness is tragically connected and interconnected to some of my own demons, that is, ‘I’m not good enough and never will be.’ And I easily call to mind my faults and blunders. I usually forget immediately anything good that I’ve done.” I’m a clinical psychologist who sees all kinds of people in all kinds of roles and all kinds of occ

Love (Abundant)

“The God revealed in the Bible has endowed creation with overflowing beauty. This God is not characterized by utility but by abundant love. God desires his creatures—especially those who in Christ are adopted as his children—also to be creative and generative.” (Makoto Fujimura) “…love is overcome by more abundant love. One repents not because one is virtuous, but because human nature can change, because what is impossible for man is possible for God. The motive for repentanc

Narratives

“The term “worldview,” from the German word Weltanschauung, means the comprehensive perspective from which we interpret all of reality. But a worldview is not merely a set of philosophical bullet points. It is essentially a master narrative, a fundamental story about (a) what human life in the world should be like, (b) what has knocked it off balance, and (c) what can be done to make it right.” (Pastor Timothy Keller) “Every worldview is in essence a story, a metanarrative th

Beauty

“…a Christian’s experience of beauty is by necessity a faith experience.” (Jeffrey L. Morrow) “What Christians call “repentance”—from the Greek metanoia, to turn back—is often sparked by an encounter with the beautiful.” (Makoto Fujimura) “…beauty requires people who live beautiful lives. They need neither wealth nor power, only the living icon of the Logos to be manifest in their being. It is the secret to Christian “civilization” – not an empire maintained by force of arms

Modern Culture

“The term culture wars, which has become stock parlance in our day, can mislead and obscure the real drama unfolding. Culture wars is a hopelessly inadequate description of the choices that contemporary society is making for the future of humankind…growing indifference to the incarnation and rejection of it can only mean decadence and demise of the culture.” (Vigen Guroian) “…modern man has continued to travel ever further away from the eternal truth of Christianity. We hav

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