“God is gracious and loves mankind.” This is a deeply-rooted dogma of Orthodox Christianity, repeated in prayers and benedictions constantly.
How (not how much) does he love mankind? John 3:16 comes to mind. He “so loves the world that He gave his only-beggoten son.”
Is His love limited — to semites, or to those in the western realm called Christendom? Continue reading “How He loves mankind”
Sometimes Father Stephen says something that shocks me:
I would suggest that it is a mistake to describe Christianity as a “historical” religion, Continue reading “Historic or eschatological?”
The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.
They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them. Continue reading “Who sees and hears?”
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a strange land?
Psalm 136 (Septuagint, 137 in KJV)
Remembering, therefore, this command of the Savior, and all that came to pass for our sake, the cross, the tomb, the resurrection on the third day, the ascension into heaven, the enthronement at the right hand of the Father, and the second, glorious coming, we offer to You these gifts from Your own gifts in all and for all.
Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Anaphora
I used to pay dearly and too dearly for every flattery of the world. I would always break off a piece of my heart and give it as payment, until eventually I gave my whole heart to the world Continue reading “Giving the heart away, piece by piece”
Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways.
You shall eat of the labor of your hand.
You shall be happy and it shall be well with you.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house.
Your children will be like olive shoots around your table.
Lo, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.
May you see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel.
Psalm 127 (according to the Septuagint), sung at Orthodox Crowning (Wedding) Services.
“What use will your prayer be to God?” ask the swarthy workers of the earth.
You speak rightly, sons of earth. What use is the mariner’s telescope to the North Star, when it sees the mariner even without a telescope? But do not ask me, since you already know, what use a telescope is to a mariner. Continue reading “God in our image”
Do you know, my child, how a mother can feed her children without nourishing them?
By not singing a song of love to them while nursing them, but a song of hatred toward a neighbor. Continue reading “From the Oasis”
Netflix a while back sent me (at my request) the 2006 film adaptation of P.D.James dystopian The Children of Men. I actually had time to watch it tonite.
I’m not really into thrillers, and there was too much of that for my taste. There was also way too much of “the F word,” mostly in its adjectival form. Surely with a bit of imagination they could have conveyed “these are desperate revolutionaries” or “these are fascist, xenophobe soldiers” some other way. (The nudity is not erotic and is, in my judgment, necessary.)
But the premise was a fascinating one.
Alfonso Cuaron directs this Oscar-nominated film version of P.D. James’s classic dystopian novel, a futuristic drama set in a world in which humans have lost the ability to reproduce and subsequently face certain extinction. Things change when a single woman mysteriously becomes pregnant, prompting a conflicted government bureaucrat (Clive Owen) and his ex-wife (Julianne Moore) to join forces to protect her. Michael Caine co-stars.
Overall, I recommend it. Just be sure the kiddies are down for the night, and don’t play it too loud.
While at the Oasis tonite, I picked up Bishop (now Saint) Nikolai Velimirovich’s Prayers by the Lake and read two gems, XXXVIII and XXXIX. After watching the movie, how could I not notice the opening of XXXIX?:
Do you know, my child, why the clouds are closed when the fields are thirsty for rain, and why they open, when the fields have no desire for rain?
Nature has been confused by the wickedness of men, and has abandoned its order.
Do you know, my child, why the fields produce heavy fruit in the springtime, and yield a barren harvest in the summer?
Because the daughters of men have hated the fruit of their womb, and kill it while it is still in blossom.
…
(Note that (1) this is a prayer, and not necessarily literal; (2) if taken literally, it says that our sin confuses nature, not that God screws up nature to punish us; (3) that point 2, and the prayer in its entirety, is evocative of how Orthodox Christianity differs from many other Christian traditions.)
From John Cleese comes advice on writing, creativity, getting in the zone, and interruptions:
While we can all use tips on such things, I made a connection that I don’t think is too eisegetical: Continue reading “Out of the mouths of …”
Tipsy Teetotaler ن 