Is there still a need for me to call this website Ancient Answers? What can ancient thoughts possibly offer in answer to the problems of today? My 'ancient answers' have usually come from the Bible or ecclesial/patristic theology and spirituality. But at the same time that I've looked to ancient answers, I've also been drawn …
Life in the time of Coronavirus
The psalms often speak against 'enemies' and often plead for God's protection against these enemies. Our biggest enemy today is the coronavirus pandemic which is threatening lives everywhere. So, replace 'They' in this verse with 'It' and it becomes a plea for protection against the 'enemy' coronavirus. (My Logos/Faithllife software provides me with many illustrated …
Re-inventing the language of prayer
Like Anne Frank, Etty Hillesum lived in Amsterdam during the German occupation. Like Anne Frank, she kept a diary. And like Anne Frank she died in a concentration. But unlike Anne Frank, she was not a teenager; she was 29 when she died in Auschwitz in 1943. Her diaries cover her spiritual journey during the …
God’s ‘hidden love’
Lord, stir up within me at this timethe sense of wonder at your Cross;fill me with a fervour of faith at this moment,so that my thoughts may be inflamedwith the fire of your love;and may my eyes become for yourivulets of waterto wash all my limbs;may your hidden lovebe infused into my thoughts,so that my …
Life is Eucharist
Human life is the expectation of that which is at the end, and at the end is the joy of the bridal chamber, the joy of the Resurrection. At the end are Mary and John and all the saints; at the end is the wonderful fullness of life. When I see this end, I want …
A Haiku for Now
this world of dew is yes, a world of dew and yet. . . This haiku by Issa Kobayashi (1763-1828) captures my own moments of sorrow in these days of the coronavirus devastation. I copy it here from the book haiku mind by Patricia Donegan. We know that nothing lasts forever. Not a human life, not the planet we live …
Luminous Conversations
St. Isaac the Syrian is also known as St. Isaac of Nineveh, because he lived in the 7th century in what is today Iraq, and is one of the most renowned of all the ascetic saints of the Orthodox Church. He composed many prayers that are scattered throughout his writings. May his prayer for those …
Prayer Words for Today
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. …
New Beginnings
"I believe, help my unbelief!" Those could be our words every day, especially in this time of daily fear and uncertainty. Is today the day that I will begin showing symptoms of the Covid-19 virus? Every day we ask God to help our unbelief, the attacks of fear and uncertainty in our lives. And every …
Where Distance Disappears
One member of our congregation told me the other day that she saw this time of social distancing as a time of retreat with herself. Isn’t that a wonderful way to see this thing we now call "social distancing"? And isn’t social distancing itself a rather poor label? We are social beings, after all. Haven’t …
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