One of the first tasks you face after converting to Orthodoxy is to decide what stance to take towards the West and towards Western Christianity. There is a real temptation to despise the West, or even worse, to let the whole West just simmer in all the heresies you had to renounce when you wereContinue reading “Winning The War, Part VI: He Who Proceeds From The Father”
Category Archives: Mule Chewing Briars
Winning The War, Part V—It Is To Your Advantage That I Go Away
The layoffs, in retrospect, shouldn’t have been a surprise. All of the signs were there, the top management jumping ship, the ramping up of the propaganda concerning the rosy future of the company, the wave of earnest young consultants walking around asking questions. I was taken in the first wave of three, and so IContinue reading “Winning The War, Part V—It Is To Your Advantage That I Go Away”
Winning The War, Part V—“You Shall Receive Power”
“But you are to be given power when the Holy Spirit has come to you. You will be witnesses to me, not only in Jerusalem, not only throughout Judea, not only in Samaria, but to the very ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (Phillips) At that time, indeed, the Church seems to have moved inContinue reading “Winning The War, Part V—“You Shall Receive Power””
Losing The War, Part IV: Identifying The Real War
If we are not involved in the Syrian Civil War by the time this essay percolates to the top of the IMonk rotation, I believe it will have been partly due to the fervent prayers of my wife. She came home from the gymnasium weeping and speaking in tongues aloud. She is an intransigent PentecostalContinue reading “Losing The War, Part IV: Identifying The Real War”
Losing The War Part III–Love In The Ruins (continued)
NOTE: Comments closed. All happy families are alike. Every unhappy family is miserable in its own way. Leo Tolstoy Last week I spoke about the ruins. This week I want to speak about the love. Specifically, I want to speak about marriage and sex roles. Please remember that I’m trying to share from something prettyContinue reading “Losing The War Part III–Love In The Ruins (continued)”
Losing The War Part III—Love In The Ruins
Note from CM: I think our discussion has outgrown its usefulness on this post. Comments are closed. * * * I believe in God and the whole business but I love women best, music and science next, whiskey next, God fourth, and my fellowman hardly at all. Generally I do as I please. A man,Continue reading “Losing The War Part III—Love In The Ruins”
Losing The War Part Two—Hell On The Installment Plan
This post is about the sin of acedia. It is known by a lot of other names, none of which entirely capture or circumscribe this sin; ennui, anomie, alienation, despondency, carelessness, boredom, but the Fathers who describe it called it by its Greek name, acedia. It is an old word. meaning literallyContinue reading “Losing The War Part Two—Hell On The Installment Plan”
Losing The War
The problem with going to war is that there is a very real chance you may lose. It was August 14, 1945 in the United States, but due to the International Date Line, it was already August 15 in Japan. The Japanese Empire was reeling. The United States had just obliterated two major cities, HiroshimaContinue reading “Losing The War”
The Big Rip
One of the only benefits of having a one hour, one-way commute is that I get to download a lot of stuff off the Internet and listen to it during the drive. It is a great way to catch up on your “reading,” if you loosen your definition of reading enough. Of course, I listenContinue reading “The Big Rip”
Lady Days
The first fifteen days of August the Orthodox Church dedicates to Mary, the Mother of God. There is a fast, the Dormition fast, that lasts from the first of the month to the fifteenth, which is the Feast of the Falling Asleep of the Most Holy Mother of God. On this day, the 15th ofContinue reading “Lady Days”
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