Arvo Pärt is one of the most significant contemporary composers. He is nearly 80 years old now, but his output of extraordinary compositions continues unabated. A few years ago he set to music the opening section of Adam's Lament, by Staretz Silouan. Silouan (1866-1938) was a Russian Orthodox monk on Mount Athos and was declared a saint by …
The Root of Religious Conflict
The daily lectionary of Lent continues with three readings from the Old Testament: Genesis 3:21-4:7; Isaiah 4:2-5:7; Proverbs 3:34-4:22. For the most part I continue to use the Revised Standard Version as my basic English translation of the Bible. Occasionally I use the New Revised Standard Version when I want more inclusive or contemporary language, …
The Language of Seeing
The most remarkable words in today's Gospel reading (John 1:43-51) are these words spoken by Jesus: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” In painting this picture, Jesus is alluding to an incident in the book of Genesis (28:10-22) …
Human Freedom Revealed
The mythopoeic genius of the Yahwist writer continues to unfold in today's reading, Genesis 2:20-3:20. The readings from Isaiah 3:1-14 and Proverbs 3:19-34 contain a few gems - "O my people, your leaders mislead you, and confuse the course of your paths" (Isaiah 3:12); "Do not say to your neighbor, 'Go, and come again, tomorrow I will …
A Lower Origin?
After the exalted view of human beings made in the image and likeness of God, today's readings bring us back down to earth - literally: Genesis 2:4-19; Isaiah 2:11-21; Proverbs 3:1-18. Isaiah continues his attack on the haughtiness of men. Isaiah threatens that God will "terrify the earth." Thank you, Lord - I feel like …
Image and Likeness
What a marvelous trio of readings today, and how impossible to do justice to all three in a few paragraphs: Genesis 1:24-2:3; Isaiah 2:3-11; Proverbs 2:1-22. The Proverbs reading contains basic truth for believers in God: Receive wisdom by following God's commandments. Nothing profound or radical, but who doesn't want what verse 10 promises: "For wisdom will come into your …
Waiting for Humans
The story of creation continues in today's reading from Genesis 1:14-23. Everything is now almost ready for the appearance of human beings. I say "almost" because the "fifth day" of creation only brought into being the living creatures of the air and the waters. Land animals will appear on the sixth day, on the same "day" as humans! …
The Word and my words
And so we begin. During the weekdays of Lent, the Orthodox Church reads from the Old Testament instead of the Gospels and the Letters of Paul. And three books of the Old Testament in particular are read on a daily basis: Genesis, Isaiah and Proverbs. Today, it's the beginning of each of those three books: …
The Last Party
My hometown Patra is best known for its Carnival. On the last weekend before Lent (Feb 21-22 this year), Patra hosts the biggest party in Greece. I loved the Carnival parade when I was a boy growing up in Patra. I especially loved all the chocolate they used to throw from the floats. Perhaps that's …
Lessons for Lent
In an interview several years ago, the famous German conductor Herbert von Karajan (1908-89), was talking about his early years as a musician. He made this remarkable statement: "Then came the decisive day when I discovered that my two hands weren’t enough to express what I wanted to express.” His two hands were not enough to …
Ancient Answers 