This photo of a mountain lion came from a full video. The mountain lion came into this spring for a cool drink of water. In the midst of quenching his thirst, something caught his attention. He immediately crouched down facing the unsuspecting animal. He stayed in that position for quite some time and then began […]
Our deepest gratitude to Leadership 100 for their grant to Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry which allowed OCPM to “visit” more prisoners through correspondence during the challenging year of 2020 when most prisons were in lockdown. Reaching prisoners by mail was more needed than ever. Read about this major grant from “The Leader, Volume 22, Issue […]
On a recent hike into a nearby wilderness area, I discovered that one of the springs I often visit had dried up. It is easy to picture the wildlife that had been coming there for a needed drink suddenly finding themselves “panting for streams of water” (Psalm 42 (41):1. The extreme heat and drought in […]
Whenever I read the story of Jesus walking on the water in Matthew 14:22-33, I am reminded of my adventures crewing on a 41-foot ketch sailboat in the Pacific Ocean. The Gospel story takes place during the 4th watch of the night which is from 3:00-6:00 a.m. This was my night watch on the sailboat. […]
This morning’s reading from our devotional By Way of the Desert had a wonderful story of some people visiting a desert hermit. There were some young men shepherding sheep near his hermitage that were constantly using foul language. They asked the man of God why he didn’t tell them to stop. He replied: “If I […]
The Holy Scriptures tell us that every generation will call Mary “Blessed” (Luke 1:46-55). In fact, she is without doubt the most blessed woman to ever live. Considering all of the great women there have been throughout history, that is no small statement to make. Yet, out of all the women who have lived in […]
From my youth, I have spent much time in wilderness areas. If you do not pay attention to where you are, you can easily get disoriented. Growing up, we jokingly said that we never got lost, we simply took longer getting back than we anticipated. The most disoriented I have ever felt was a time […]
On a recent hike, I took this photo of a small mountain and cloudy sky reflected in a lake. It is a beautiful scene, but if you look closely at the reflection, you would note that it is not a perfect reflection by any means. In fact, you might say, “Father, why did you use […]
Have you ever been out on a walk and seen some old giant rock or tree? On such occasions, I have often said something along the lines of: “Oh, if this rock could talk or this tree could talk, what a story it could tell.” Take a close look at the photo of this tree. […]
Good day to you my brothers and sisters in Christ. Many Christians want to start using the Jesus Prayer in their lives. This is the prayer that uses the example from the story of the Pharisee and the Publican praying in the temple: The humility of the Publican is clear as he prays: “Lord Jesus […]