I had a few hours of newsletter work to do this afternoon, and I chose to do it while listening to the four symphonies of Johannes Brahms, performed by the greatest conductor of all, Wilhelm Furtwängler, in live recordings made in 1948-1952. Brahms, the most humane of the major composers, and Furtwängler, the most humane of all the …
An Open Ending
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is, in my opinion, the greatest of all the parables told by Jesus. Not only the greatest parable, but it is a genuine short story. It has more dialogue than any other parable that I can think of and fully developed characters that evolve in the process of the …
Lessons from a hero
Where do people earn the Per Capita Income? More than one poor starving soul would like to know. In our countries, numbers live better than people. How many people prosper in times of prosperity? How many people find their lives developed by development? Eduardo Galeano, quoted in Partner to the Poor: A Paul Farmer Reader, …
Thanks to a Martyr
I often wonder that we have too many monks in the Orthodox Church and not enough martyrs - martyrs who had a voice in shaping our liturgical tradition, that is; martyres, witnesses, to faithful living in the midst of a complex world. Then perhaps we might have more readings like today's Epistle reading from Romans. The …
“You should never be a bystander”
While all the American "news channels" spent the morning covering the non-blizzard of New York-New Jersey, BBC World News immersed the viewer in complete live coverage of the Auschwitz ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of that awful death camp by the Soviet army. Several survivors spoke, including Roman Kent who spoke passionately …
Going for broke
Did Jesus have serious concerns about wealth and the wealthy? Clearly yes. But let's not forget that Jesus had many wealthy people among his followers: Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, several wealthy women that supported him and his disciples financially and materially… and in his parables he often used images of rich people to represent God and the …
Simple words that make life possible
The lesson of our Gospel reading this morning is very simple: Say "thank you"! The lesson is simple, but the consequences are profound. Our failure in this simple but essential act is at the root of so much of our woes. Consider only the news of the past week or so. Fact: 2014 was the …
The Heart is the Mediator
(Apologies for some sound glitches on this audio file) Our Gospel reading this morning takes us to the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. After his baptism, he was tested in the desert by three temptations. It was only after he overcame these three temptations that he began preaching that the kingdom of God had arrived. …
Untitled
A sad day for freedom of expression.
The Scoop on “Orthodox Christmas”
You undoubtedly heard or read at least one reference today to this being "Orthodox Christmas." One of my cousins posted this article on his Facebook page; it's typical of the misunderstanding that exists about January 7th being "Orthodox Christmas." Orthodox Christmas 2015: Russian, Greek and Other Eastern Churches Begin Celebrations Some of the information in this …
Ancient Answers 