During Orthros one Sunday, the chanters were singing a beautiful hymn that caught my attention. The words jumped off the page when I read what they were singing. The Virgin Mary gave birth to “the Abyss of Mercy.” I was so struck by the phrase that I brought the altar servers together and read it […]
When sailing in the ocean, one cannot simply set a certain compass setting and kick back for the next few weeks until the destination is reached. Winds and currents change. One needs to adjust their heading regularly or the destination will not be found. This is so very true in life as well. The spiritual […]
One day in making my rounds as a prison chaplain, I met a new prisoner. He told me that he had become a perfected Christian that he was without sin and in fact, could no longer sin. He would not accept any discussion on this topic from me (I was imperfect and sinned every day). […]
This morning my mind drifted back to a solo climb I had done of Kit Carson Peak. This is a remote peak in the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) mountains. It was a tough trek, made more difficult by a chest cold I had been fighting. After being up above 13,000 feet for a […]
Back in 1982, I was a Protestant pastor on my way to becoming Orthodox. I had never asked a Saint to pray for me in my entire life. I worked up the courage to do this and took a hike out in the desert. After much prayer, trying to make sure this would be okay […]
“I am sorry you got offended by what I said (or did), but…” When was the last time you did or said something wrong and then immediately found a way to justify your actions or words? If you are like me, it is not a very long trip into the past to find an example. […]
Growing up, did your parents ever tell you to avoid certain things? How many of us did it anyway? “Don’t touch the stove son; it is hot.” One burned finger coming up! I found my life governed by the old saying: “Even a Dumb Dog Don’t Lick a Hot Stove Twice.” Indeed, my tongue has […]
This summer, Colorado once again suffered from a lack of rain. Some of the springs out in a wilderness area where we have trail cameras had dried up. This photo is a pool of water that has gone down, but is hanging in there. The mother bear and her two cubs are certainly being refreshed […]
The one word that would seem to best represent the Holy Apostle John would have to be: LOVE. His first letter (1 John) is filled with that word: God loves us, we should love God, and we should love others (repeat several times). He could easily be called the Apostle of Love. But that is […]
This morning, I received an email from a member of our parish. This person was reading Hebrews and found a great similarity between Hebrews 1 and John 1. This got me thinking about some of the passages of Holy Scripture that would fit well with John 1 and what would it look like to put […]