A man was opening a new business and one of his friends sent him flowers for the occasion. They arrived at the new business site and the owner read the card, which said: "Rest in Peace." The owner was angry and called the florist to complain. After he had told the florist of the obvious …
Operatic Beauty for Earth Day
Wie dünkt mich doch die Aue heut so schön!... "How fair seem the meadows today!... never did I see so fresh and charming the grass, the blossoms and flowers, nor did they smell so sweet of youth or speak with such tender love to me." With these words spoken by Parsifal begins the "Good Friday …
A Holy Earth for Earth Day
Δόστου, Χριστέ μου, τη στερνή χαρά να ιδή και πάλι τη γνώριμή του τη ζωή κοντά στο ακροθαλάσσι Άχ! έτσι αθώα κι έτσι απλά κι αγνά την είχε ψάλει που της αξίζει εκεί ψηλά μαζί μ΄αυτόν ν΄αγιάσει. This little verse was composed by a poet, Λάμπρος Πορφύρας, in memory of one of the most important writers …
Perfected in forgiveness
As I think upon the Cross of Jesus Christ today, I remember the first words that Jesus spoke on the Cross: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” Forgiveness, the hardest thing for human beings to do. Yet, the thing most characteristic of the one who was God and Man! …
Take hold of your life!
I woke up this morning with a song that I kept singing quietly all morning: Κράτησα τη ζωή μου κράτησα τη ζωή μου ταξιδεύοντας ανάμεσα στα κίτρινα δέντρα κατά το πλάγιασμα της βροχής σε σιωπηλές πλαγιές φορτωμένες με τα φύλλα της οξιάς, καμιά φωτιά στην κορυφή τους˙ βραδιάζει. The very first line is the hardest to translate, for me at …
The Next American Orthodox Saint?
Did you know that there are American Orthodox saints? We already have quite a few that have been canonized by the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), and I pray that this simple Eskimo woman of Alaska will be the next one. She died in 1979, and there is a push for the OCA to officially …
Deep theology = Deep ecology
In Norman MacLean’s A River Runs Through It we read this fascinating bit of dialogue between a father and a son: Then [my father] told me, “In the part I was reading it says the Word was in the beginning, and that’s right. I used to think water was first, but if you listen carefully …
Solidarity and love
Excellent commentary in the Guardian newspaper in the aftermath of the Brussels terrorist attacks. The key paragraph is near the end: The biggest nightmare for Isis was how some European countries, such as Germany, welcomed Syrian refugees with open arms. The solidarity shown by thousands of citizens from Greece to Sweden harmed Isis. It cannot …
#JeSuisBruxelles
This is the most used hashtag today in Twitter space, and it's the title of this short blog post. The Guardian newspaper published a selection of artistic responses to today's terrorist attack in Brussels. They all have one thing in common: lamentation. It is indeed a day to lament the divisive and destructive urge in …
The evils of rigidity
As the world is once again shocked by another brutal terrorist attack - this time in Brussels - I want to quote some words written by the late, great French theologian and philosopher, Jacques Ellul (1912-94), in his book Living Faith. He wrote of the connection between rigidity and violence, and thus the two faces of violence …
Ancient Answers 