Orthodox Theology

Orthodox Theology

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You can find works from several Orthodox books here, but this section itself is really one big Orthodox book: an anthology of Orthodox mystical theology.

The works in this collection span many types and genres, but overall they can be gathered into three large categories: theology articles, hymns and poems, and odds and ends, curiosities and creative works, Each of these has author's picks highlighted; the author is personally partial to hymns and poems.

If you are looking for a place to start in these attempts to share the Orthodox Church's mystical theology, I suggest Silence: Organic food for the soul or Doxology. Both are taken from the hymns and poems section.

Theology Articles, Including Religion and Science

Suggested starting points include Creation and Holy Orthodoxy: Fundamentalism Is Not Enough, Exotic Golden Ages and Restoring Harmony with Nature: Anatomy of a Passion, Money, A Pet Owner's Rules, and "Religion and Science" Is Not Just Intelligent Design vs. Evolution.

AI: Particle or Wave?

In physics, there was a fair amount of discussion about whether light was a particle or a wave, before people recognized that light acts as a particle when treated as a particle and acts as a wave when treated as a wave. A suggestion is made regarding how AI might be seen.

Alchemy: Fool's Gold in Today's World

G.K. Chesterton said, "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried."

Alchemy glitters on the outside, but it is only fool's gold. It's an easy way out that doesn't work.

All Orthodox Theology is Positive Theology

No critique to Pseudo-Dionysius or apophatic / negative theology, but all theology is the same kind of thing as positive theology.

Amazing Providence (short)

One thing I have learned as a Christian is what it means for God to look after you.

Amazon Book Description for The Seraphinians

St. Seraphim of Platina is a newly canonized saint, and should be recognized as such.

However, some of his followers do not quite match his degree of holiness.

The Anti-Game: Better than Materialist Magic

C.S. Lewis posited that the devils do not care about whether someone is a materialist or a magician, but suggested that they have an unholy grail in trying to find the materialist magician.

There's a good case to be made that games provide just such a materialist magic.

Archimandrite Zacharias: An Appreciation

Archimandrite Zacharias has written a number of books my abbot has recommended to me, and they have been tremendously helpful to me. Here is an appreciation of Archimandrite Zacharias's works.

Ask for the Ancient Ways

This article endorses some rather interesting exercises for nature connection. They are worth trying.

Avoiding Needless Liabilities: "Crank Magnetism" for Orthodox

Orthodox need not be afraid if some of their beliefs, religious or otherwise, are classified as "crank theories." However, may I make a suggestion?

Blessed Are Those Who Repent

A look at what exact blessedness corresponds to what repentance, and really and truly blessed are those who repent.

Book Review: A New Face on an Old Ecumenism (The Orthodox Dilemma Second Edition : Personal Reflections on Global Pan-Orthodox Christian Conciliar Unity)

Ecumenism has been formally anathematized as heresy, but heresies sport new masks: the very name of "New Age" is a lie, and Orthodox concerned about ecumenism might be interested in the particular permutation of ecumenism shown in this title and answered in a review.

Branding is the New Root of All Evil

St. Paul wrote, "The love of money is the root of all evil." Here is a look at branding that lies downstream of that truth.

That Beautiful Strength (medium)

A look at the hideous strength of C.S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength, and the beautiful strength that is even stronger.

Can You Smoke Without Inhaling? Martial Arts and the Orthodox Christian (medium)

After ignoring an uneasy conscience, CJS Hayward tried to study a martial art on Orthodoxy-appropriate terms. Here is a retrospective that looks at the broader question of whether we can "smoke, but not inhale."

A Comparison Between the Mere Monk and the Highest Bishop

St. John Chrysostom wrote A Comparison Between a King and Monk, which I tried and failed to locate at a U.S. library (it's not on Orthodox Church Fathers, so far as I can tell). So I wrote my own.

The position of a simple monastic is that position which is to be most desired in the entire Orthodox Church. And that is what I am seeking.

Contemplation (short)

We were made to enjoy contemplation, in more than one sense.

Could we Aim for Zero Hours Unnecessary Screen Time?

An ascetical look at how to avoid a constant go-to activity of going to screens whenever we need something to do.

Coronavirus and COVID-19: The Best Pandemic Yet?

A meditation as COVID was hitting the world.

Creation and Holy Orthodoxy: Fundamentalism Is Not Enough (short)

Years back, I wrote a couple of pieces about origins questions. This is a more recent piece that addresses a very specific point about bringing Protestant fundamentalism into Orthodoxy, and it moves away from origins questions towards a more important issue.

You might also read the companion piece, Note to Orthodox evolutionists: Stop trying to retroactively shanghai recruit the Fathers to your camp!.

Our Crown of Thorns (short)

Christ's crown of thorns has every relevance to our daily lives. Is it something we can have on our own terms?

The Cup Is Full

Things that are tinged with occult themes seem to sparkle. But there is more to be had in life than chump change.

Desire (short)

A meditation on covetousness, desire, and true happiness.

Dastardly Duo Considered Harmful: "Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives" and "Wounded by Love"

A look at two works that may reveal less about Orthodoxy than fashion.

Dissent: lessons from being an Orthodox theology student at a Catholic university (medium)

When I was studying at Fordham, the question of dissent loomed large. This is an attempt to respond to what was "in the air" at that school.

Does God Suffer? (medium)

A grieving pastor, after the death of his son, wrote that God suffers with his Creation. This is a respectful look at his masterpiece that tries to explain why it is good news that God does not suffer.

Its central points revolve around what is called "theology proper," or "the doctrine of God." It responds to a powerful picture, in the masterpiece A Foot in Two Worlds, of a God who can handle creaturely suffering because he suffers with them. And it looks at what it means for God to be so great that he is beyond suffering.

Do We Have Rights? (medium)

We have a lot of rights these days. Or at least we think we do, and the list of our rights is growing longer and longer.

What if I told you that people can get along well without thinking in terms of rights?

The Eighth Sacrament (short)

In Orthodoxy, you can say that there are seven sacraments, or that there is one, or that there are a million.

In Orthodoxy, there are seven sacraments, officially speaking; but there's a great deal of truth in saying that there is only one sacrament, or that there are a million of them. This is a look at one among many of the "other" sacraments.

The Emperor's New Fantasy

A look at what is always missing in fantasy.

Escape

Escape or escapism represent a devastating thing to give into. Here is a meditation about it.

Exotic Golden Ages and Restoring Harmony with Nature: Anatomy of a Passion (medium)

There is a perennial cry in some quarters to reclaim former glory. We thirst for the exotic, but not always in the best places. Do we appreciate what we have?

Farewell to Gandhi: The Saint and the Activist (medium)

Years back, the author was very attentive to Gandhi's writing, enough so that his first public speech was formed by that attentiveness. Now, years later, he has some second thoughts, and realizes areas where he was wrong.

Getting my Bearings on AI

An article written after a dissertatation on AI, and after realizing there were some new changes I would do well to familiarize myself with.

A Glimpse Into Eastern Orthodoxy (medium)

Eastern Orthodoxy is both Christian and Eastern. and sometimes other Christians, and the West in general, don't pick up on what exactly this means. A Glimpse into Eastern Orthodoxy is written in the hope of creating a spark of connection.

God the Game Changer (medium)

A meditation on God as the Game Changer who responds to sin, evil, pain, and death by changing the game.

God the Spiritual Father (medium)

A collection of quotes and reflections on God the Father in light of the spiritual fatherhood in Orthodox monasticism, in its relevance to us today in an economic depression.

Halloween: A solemn farewell (short)

I enjoyed Halloween for many years, but it looks different as I begin to understand Orthodoxy.

Happiness in an age of Crisis

Happiness is not only for easy times.

Happiness is available in times of crisis, too!

A Heart-to-Heart About Technology, Big Brother, and COVID

Many strange things have happened in relation to COVID, that may look strange in history books. Here's a heart-to-heart.

That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis: A Lens for Our Day

That Hideous Strength is perhaps the greatest example of C.S. Lewis reading as if he had plagiarized things written decades after his death.

The Horn of Joy: a meditation on eternity and time, kairos and chronos (medium)

A meditation on eternity and time.

How Can I Take my Life Back from my Phone?

It is possible.

How to Find a Job: A Guide for Orthodox Christians (short)

A concise summary of both the sacred and secular dimensions to an Orthodox Christian's jobhunt. (Getting a job for Orthodox Christians calls for both.)

How to Survive Hard Times (medium)

Would you like to know how to survive an economic depression? People have survived every kind of disaster from recessions to economic collapses. The way they have survived may have had something to do with spirituality and faith. Do you want to dig deeper into how to survive a depression? You might find some answers here.

How to Think about Psychology: An Orthodox Look at a Secular Religion

This describes pretty much the current state of psychology. Elder Sophrony and Elder Zacharias are reticent to take psychology away from people for whom that is all they have, but there is better to be had.

A Humanist Eye Looks at Evolution

The theory of evolution is ordinarily looked at through a scientific lens, or what is considered to be scientific.

Nonetheless, a look at evolution from the perspectives of the humanities can be very interesting.

Humanize the Enemy

The post arising out of a discussion on Substack that led me to create a substack. It is a call, whether or not one is a pacifist, to always see "the enemy" as human.

On Humor (short)

A look at humor (off-color and otherwise) in the light of Orthodox Christian classics.

The Hydra (short)

A look at a hydra whose heads include the covetousness of Romanticism's Sehnsucht or longing, escapism, fantasy, the occult, and the freedom that comes when one rejects all of these.

I Deleted my ChatGPT App

A posting made after I started to realize how serious some of the consequences of generative AI are. I went on to try to get to know ChatGPT, but I've been staying away from AI a second time after writing this article.

Ignorance

Sometimes ignorance stems from just not knowing yet. But there is another kind of ignorance that shuts its eyes to facts and acts more stupidly than it has to be.

Incarnation and Deification (short)

An written for the Feast of the Nativity and the Fast before it, about Incarnation that unfurls in deification.

Introduction to the Jesus Prayer (short)

When we pray the Jesus Prayer, God uses it to build silence in our hearts and untangle those things we have knotted inside.

The Law of Love Leaves the Golden Rule Completely in the Dust

Albert Einstein famously said, "Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them." The Law of Love exists on the scintillating plane of virtue and offers something better than the level of thinking represented by the Golden Rule.

Lesser Icons: Reflections on Faith, Icons, and Art (medium)

An Orthodox artist looks at art as a variety of icon.

The Little Way

A look at what may seem a very little and lackluster way for caring for the life of the polis.

The Magician's Triplet: Magician, Scientist, Reformer

In The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis argues that the foundations of science come from an unsavory neighborhood and are much closer than the occult than was commonly thought.

But there's a third shoe to drop, even if Lewis would not drop it for important reasons. The same neighborhood is the neighborhood the Reformation came from, and the age of the Reformers was seedy.

Man

Otherkin identify as not simply human.

This is a theme interestingly engaged by the Orthodox Tradition and what it really means to be man.

The not Martian but Human Complete Set of Working Instructions for Happiness

One of several works on happiness.

A Mechanism

A look about a mechanism by which we can influence others without needing to corner them in arguments.

Of "Melanesian" and "Martian"

This is a look at an archetypal felt need to grow up by taking a radical departure from how humans have lived time out of mind.

Mindfulness and Manners

We are seeking mindfulness from the East because we have rejected it in the West.

Boomers knew mindfulness as a department of manners.

Modus Tollens: Meandering Reflections on Life, Faith, and Politics (medium)

Loss is a part of life. In fact, loss is a part of Divine Providence: "Every branch that bears fruit, [the Vinedresser] prunes that it may bear more fruit."

In truth, everything in life is either a blessing from God or a temptation which has been allowed for our strengthening.

Modus tollens explores this pruning.

Monarchy (short)

A meditation of mystical theology about kings and kingdoms, monarchs and monarchy.

Monasticism for Protestants

Monasticism is best understood by direct experience, and probably by someone who is a monastic. However, I wanted to write something to give some concrete face to my monastic aspirations when I might as well be describing something as foreign as living on the moon.

Money (short)

A homily touching on a subject that doesn't get much treatment for how important it is.

More than Royalty

Did not St. Paul say we are "more than conquerors"? The same applies to royalty.

Muslims and Buddhists: A Note Not Just to Divorced Orthodox Dads

It has been said, and is true up to a point, that Orthodox are divided into Muslims and Buddhists. And the analogy is interesting.

A New White Post

G.K. Chesterton famously said, "If you leave a white post alone it will soon be a black post. If you particularly want it to be white you must be always painting it again; that is, you must be always having a revolution. Briefly, if you want the old white post you must have a new white post."

However, there are a lot of other interesting things he said, and most of his literary achievements are unknown to most people who parrot the new white post quote.

A Note to Childless Couples: Christ is Born!

Wanting to have a child and not having one can be a form of profound suffering. There are one or things Orthodox couples should know about this cross.

Note to Orthodox Evolutionists: Stop Trying to Retroactively Shanghai Recruit the Fathers to Your Camp!

Orthodox Christians may believe in evolution, but when Orthodox claim that the Fathers' overall teaching goes hand in hand with evolution, there is something fishy going on.

You might also read the companion piece, Creation and Holy Orthodoxy: Fundamentalism Is Not Enough.

Oops... Could the Western Rite Please Try Again? (short)

There is something that is not quite right about the Western Rite in the Orthodox Church. (Really? When they are trying so hard to reconstruct the authentic Western Orthodoxy of the first millenium? Yes!)

An Open Letter to Catholics on Orthodoxy and Ecumenism (medium)

An open letter about an elephant in the room that Orthodox are painfully aware of and Catholics seem not to see at all.

Ordinary (short)

Some of us wish, or are tempted to wish, that we lived in the age of the great Christological controversies, or nineteenth century Russia, or perhaps the Middle Ages or the Baroque era.

But God has placed us here and now, and ordained for us our ordinary lives to live out. Has God made a mistake in doing so?

The Orthodox Martial Art Is Living the Sermon on the Mount (long)

One perennial debate is about war and peace, just war and pacifism, violence and nonviolence, soldiers and armies, and figures like Gandhi. Listen to the mystical theology of the Orthodox Christian Church as She listens out of the depths of Her silence.

Our Thoughts Determine our Lives: beyond The Secret and the Law of Attraction

A look at Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica's title, Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives, as uncovering a more interesting secret than just Rhonda Byrne's The Secret' and the Law of Attraction, and a secret for inner transformation—and outer!

Persuasion for Orthodox Converts

A crucially important read for Orthodox who believe they need to corner non-believers into having to accept Orthodoxy.

A Pet Owner's Rules (short)

God is like a pet owner who has only two rules.

The Pleasure-Pain Syndrome (medium)

A look at the pleasure-pain syndrome that for an instant crystallizes in the discussion of the Philokalia under a work attributed to St. Maximos the Confessor.

Pope Francis is Not a Holy Fool

Being a holy fool is a solid and well-established tradition within Eastern Orthodoxy.

Here is a corrective to the thought that Pope Francis, by virtue of odd behavior, is a member of that tradition.

"Porn?" is a Question of Cosmological Significance

Porn can seem attractive enough and many of us have been ensnared by it.

This is a look at what's really at stake in the porn that seeks you out.

Pride (medium)

A look at the venomous hydra called narcissism and pride, by which Satan fell from being an Archangel in Heaven to being the Devil.

It isn't good for us, either.

The Protestant Phenotype

There are certain kinds of interpersonal boundary issues that, among Orthodox, seem to happen only with conversations with former Protestants.

A Public Act of Repentance

I received Stage 1 of Pfizer's COVID vaccine. It was by caving in to pressure, and being put into a delicate position pastorally by my bishop. However, this is my confession after I and no one else decided something I shouldn't.

QUICK! What Is Your Opinion About Chemistry?

A look at "religion and science" that takes a slow, careful look at how we should receive patristic attitudes towards what is now considered to be the academic discipline of chemistry. (Note: this has nothing to do with alchemy even if there is a historical relation between modern chemistry and alchemy.)

Reflections on my Life and That Hideous Strength

There's a lot that I connect with in C.S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength.

Remorse is not Repentance

Judas Iscariot had remorse. Would that he had instead had what Orthodox view as repentance!

Resurrection

A look at how every day is Pascha.

The Retortion Principle

As an undergraduate, I was asked, "How do you overcome the evidentalist objection to Christianity?" I answered, "What is the evidentialist objection to Christianity?" He answered that it was that we should only believe what was demonstrated by evidence.

I asked, "How do you overcome the evidentalist objection to evidentalism?"

Repentance, Heaven's Best-Kept Secret

Virtue is its own reward.

Repentance leads us into the rewards of virtue.

It is Heaven's best-kept secret.

Revelation and Our Singularity

Hucksters claim to be able to see details of Revelation fulfilled in our day.

Here is another way of taking our day's singularity seriously without getting into murky grounds interpreting Revelation.

Rules of Engagement

Soldiers entering a scenario are given a brief list of "rules of engagement" that often fits on a single card.

Science and Knowledge: Regenerate Science, Philosophia Naturala, and Human Ways of Knowing

A not entirely successful musing about the nature of science.

This work isn't quite so brief, but it offers rules of engagement for Orthodox spiritual warfare.

A Shaft of Grace (short)

A description of an everyday religious experience.

The Silicon Rule

The Golden Rule is a feat in formulating ethics, a simple criterion that sheds light on a wide variety of situations.

The Silicon Rule is a tribute to such feats and asks a simple question relevant to almost anything containing silicon computer chips / electronics.

"Social antibodies" needed: a request of Orthodox clergy (medium)

An article exploring the social issues surrounding technology and faith and inviting Orthodox clergy to provide pastoral guidance, in other words "social antibodies", for the internet, iPhones, and other features of the technological nexus that we are in.

Fr. Seraphim of Platina: In Origins, Like a Next Cyril Lucaris?

Cyril Lucaris, Patriarch of Constantinople in the days of the Reformation, raided the Protestant armory for weapons and armor to defend Orthodox.

St. Seraphim of Platina may have done the same.

My Signature Contribution to the Conversation

An article articulating what I believe is my signature contribution to the conversation, as reflected in my best books.

Some Tentative Guidelines for Using AI

This is not an attempt to establish a last word on anything, but to establish a good first word, if we are going to use AI personally, of how we might best approach it.

The Swiss Army Knife and God (short)

Do Swiss Army Knives offer a lens to see God with?

Take Your Shoes Off Your Feet, For the Place Where You Stand Is Holy Ground (medium)

The Fathers see something in the Lord's command to Take your shoes off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground, and it has every relevance to Great Lent.

What do the Fathers see? And what does it have to do with Great Lent?

Technology is Part of our Poverty

People concerned about living simply may be wary of having a late model of a darling brand of phone.

Nonetheless, there is good reason to view our technology as part of our impoverishment.

(t)ollhouses and (T)ollhouses: There's a Difference!

Looking for an apocalypse and finding things in the Book of Revelation is a spiritual trap, even though what is written in the Book of Revelation certainly will come true and it is possible that such things in fact are coming true already.

Too much attention to tollhouses might fit in the same bucket.

Tong Fior Blackbelt: The Martial Art of Joyous Conflict

This is a work I am still not happy with, and it should be taken with a grain of salt. None the less, it has its strengths as it discusses martial arts as a lens to see the Do / Way of Orthodoxy.

The Transcendent God Who Approaches Us Through Our Neighbor (short)

Everything we say of God is inadequate. Yet this God who is far beyond anything we can say has a vicar on earth: not the Pope, but every person who crosses our path.

Treasure (short)

Calvin and Hobbes said, "There's treasure everywhere!"

And really, there is.

The Treasure of Humility and the Royal Race

It is no blessing to say, "May you have all of the wealth in the world and the health with which to spend it." There are conditions in health where no money in the world is worth it...

...and there are blessings in the spirit that one would be utterly scorned to buy for all of the wealth in his house. It's not just love that is like that: humility, true humility, that someone who understands things would scorn rooms full of silver and gold to part with.

The proud person is enchanted with only one person, and the enchantment fails. The humble person sees the beauty in many people, and the beauty never ends.

Treasures in Heaven: The Inner Meaning of "Do Not Store Up Treasures on Earth"

"Do not store up treasures on earth," in the Sermon on the Mount, may seem to be the ultimate strict standard of sacrificial living.

It is a strict standard, but its plain sense may be the outer shell of an important inner meaning.

What is Wrong with the World

Not quite as concise as G.K. Chesterton's "Sir, I am," but concise.

True Woke is Repentance (long)

There are much better ways to wake up than becoming "woke."

Two Decisive Moments (short)

One of the moments is long ago. The other one can be right now.

A Visit from the Buddha

Remembering something about Buddhism helped me when I was in a bit of a fix.

What Evolutionists Have to Say to the Royal, Divine Image: We Are Missing Something (short)

An article by someone who believes humans genuinely ARE a special flower and royal, on what evolution / revolutionary punk eek has to tell us who believe in the divine image.

What Makes Me Uneasy About Fr. Seraphim (Rose) and His Followers (short)

A look at what exactly about Fr. Seraphim (Rose) and his followers could disturb an Orthodox Christian.

What a Saint Looks Like Today: A Commentary on 55 New Maxims

Extended comment on 55 New Maxims for the Cyber-Quarantine.

What the Present Debate Will Not Tell You About Headship (short)

Among Christians, there's a debate about "headship". And those involved can miss something very important.

Where is the good of women? Feminism is called "The women's movement." But is it? (medium)

In the days of Luther, the Roman hegemony was strong enough that even Protestants had difficulties imagining how one could be at odds with the Roman Catholic Church and yet be right with God.

Feminism enjoys a similar position today for women's interests, but "the women's movement" is slipping, and there are signs a growing number find that "the women's movement" is not their movement.

Work-Mystic (medium)

Work offers something of a missed opportunity for many of us: drudgery we endure to get pay, rather than an opportunity to serve and enjoy in a very high sense.

It doesn't have to be this way, and there is in fact room for a mystical theology that encompasses work, and transforms it.

Why I Don't Want a Personal Genie

A brief look at why it may not be such a good idea to have something serving you as your personal genie.

Why I'm Glad I'm Living Now, at this Place, at this Time, in this World

It took years for me to be ready to write this, but God's maximum Providence includes just where he has placed me in the history and pre-history of our human race.

Why we Should Believe in Hell (medium)

Hell is something you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy, but there are excellent reasons to believe such.

Why? (A Look at Matthieu Pageau, "The Language of Creation: Cosmic Symbolism in Genesis")

A look at a current recent convert's work.

Will There be a Place for Me?

A topic that comes readily to mind for many of us.

You Can Choose to be Happy in the Here and Now

Orthodoxy is for the here and now, and happiness is for the here and now, not some other place we think we should have been placed.

Hymns and poems

Suggested starting points include Doxology, A Pilgrimage from Narnia, Silence: Organic Food for the Soul, and Why This Waste?.

Akathist Hymn to St. Philaret the Merciful (medium)

An akathist hymn celebrating St. Philaret the Merciful of Asia Minor, who was generous and merciful when he had much, and remained no less generous and merciful when he had little or nothing.

A Canticle to Holy, Blessed Solipsism

There is a saying: "Only God and I exist."...

Death (short)

We may have hospitals to hide death from our eyes, but all of us are moving towards death, even if we are in denial as a society. But there is another way; love is stronger than death.

Doxology (short)

A poem to hymn the glory of God.

Glory (short)

We thirst for glory. There is only one way that thirst is rightly slaked.

How Shall I Tell an Alchemist? (short)

A musing prayer about how to open the eyes of an alchemist.

Hymn to the Creator of Heaven and Earth (medium)

A celebration of the resplendent beauty of the natural world.

I Thank Thee

In the New Testament, rarely if ever do Christ or the apostles thank God that everything is going their way.

Now everything going your way is something to be thankful for, but we also have things to be thankful for in hard times.

King

Written in the struggle not to reach for things that are not helpful.

Maximum Christ, Maximum Ambition, Maximum Repentance (medium)

A meditation on the Maximum Christ we approach and maximum repentance as the true realization of God's maximum ambition for our lives.

Now (short)

A poem pouring forth mystical theology of eternity, time, and that precious moment we call 'now'.

Open (short)

A poem about closed fists, open hands, and true joy.

Pilgrim (short)

A prayer and poem about pilgrimage on earth.

A Pilgrimage from Narnia (short)

A poem about a pilgrimage that begins with C.S. Lewis's Narnia and ever presses 'further up and further in.'

Random Psalm of the Day Generator (KJV)

This was a tool I made for myself after realizing I wasn't spending nearly enough time praying through the Psalms. This will pull up different psalms, and there is a a mobile-friendly version too.

Silence: Organic Food for the Soul (medium)

A meditation on spiritual discipline and silence as an organic diet for the soul reaching out to the whole person.

Why This Waste? (short)

A poem that opens when a woman opens a priceless jar of perfume and a thief asks a question that was deeper than he knew: "Why This Waste?"

A Yoke That Is Easy and a Burden That Is Light (short)

A prayer.

Odds and ends, curiosities and creative works

Suggested starting points include The Angelic Letters, The Best Things in Life Are Free, The Most Politically Incorrect Sermon in History: A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, and Technonomicon: Technology, Nature, Ascesis.

The Angelic Letters (medium)

A collection of letters from a senior angel to guide a guardian angel watching over a man, as envisioned by an Orthodox Christian. Inspired by C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters.

Apprentice gods (short)

A look at this life as an apprenticeship of becoming gods and time as the womb of eternal life.

Apps and mobile websites for the Orthodox Christian smartphone and tablet: best iPhone, iPad, Droid, Samsung, Android, Kindle, and Blackberry mobile websites and apps (short)

A look at the best that's available for Orthodox Christian app seekers with iPhone and Android smartphones and tablets.

The Arena (short)

A work of mystical theology that looks at life as a great spiritual arena and training ground.

Athanasius: On Creative Fidelity (short)

Ever hear a broken record talking about how Orthodoxy has always been a matter of creative fidelity and never a matter of parrot-like repetition?

The Best Things in Life Are Free (short)

An exploration, connected with the chalice, of what it means that the best things in life are free.

To a Friend

Originally written to an audience of one.

Here I Bow

Some minor tweaks on Martin Luther's most famous declaration.

That Hideous Impotence

A not-so-light parody of C.S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength.

The Magic Stone

When you're living life sucked into your phone, it seems like there is "nothing to do" when you do not return to the maternal breast of your phone. This is a list of activities intended to partly remediate that.

The Most Politically Incorrect Sermon in History: A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount (medium)

A commentary on the Sermon on the Mount intended to unfold just how it appears to be the most politically incorrect sermon ever.

A Note on Reading St. John Chrysostom

St. John Chrysostom is well worth reading. Here is a note about how to get the best out of reading him.

Orthodox Affirmations

Some very basic admonitions worth repeating.

An Orthodox Bookshelf (medium)

An Orthodox Bookshelf covering The Orthodox* Study Bible, some of the Fathers, Neo-Platonism, and one or two works today.

"Physics" (short)

An Orthodox 'Physics', or study of the nature of things, designed to respond to Aristotle's 'Physics.'

Prayers (short)

A collection of short prayers for different occasions and purposes, offered to and for the Orthodox Church.

Public Portions of the Divine Liturgy, in Russian and in English

This is not something I've written (besides a preface), but something I put together from The Divine Lutirgy to help me understand the public parts of the Russian Liturgy. I offer it in the hope it may help others.

A Question about the Classic Orthodox Bible (and One that Others May Have, Too!)

I was asked what my credentials were for the Classic Orthodox Bible. Here's how I replied.

Refutatio Omnium Hæresium

The Refutation of All Heresies.

The Royal Letters (short)

Three intimate letters from a father to a son about God, kings, and men.

From Russia, With Love: A Spiritual Guide to Surviving Political and Economic Disaster (long)

The Russian Orthodox Church has a lot of experience living with hard times. This piece talks about not only survival lessons but the spiritual beauty that can come in political and economic difficulties.

The Sum of Popular Religions

Sometimes the rumor mill gets things half-right.

St. John the Much-Suffering

As the text accompanying this beautiful icon begins, "St. John the Much-Suffering is a saint who fought industrial-strength sexual temptation for decades and WON in every sense of the term."

Technonomicon: Technology, Nature, Ascesis (medium)

We are entranced by technology, and yearn for harmony with nature. But there is more to life than getting technology or taking walks in the woods.

Twelve Quotes on Orthodoxy, Ecumenism, and Catholicism (short)

Twelve quotes to explain in particular why Orthodoxy seems to have such a cold response to Catholic ecumenical advances.

Socratic Dialogue

Socratic dialogue: philosophy with more than a dash of drama. If you're looking for a place to start, I reccommend The Watch.

Beyond the Unbearable Burden of Non-being

A look at "Christ is risen!" as the foundation to everyday living.

The Consolation of Theology

Many people reading Boethius's classic The Consolation of Philosophy wonder why the Christian author did not write a consolation of theology.

This represents an attempt to write what people wondered why Boethius did not write.

The Damned Backswing (short)

A dialogue about a "damned backswing" that keeps coming up in life and society.

How Shall We Live This Instant? (medium)

Humans have long lived as hunter-gatherers, then in a geological eyeblink adopted the agricultural revolution, and then in an eyeblink even compared to the agricultural revolution, spin out in a cascading, coruscating, coruscating succession of technologies.

The Law of Attraction: a dialogue with an Eastern Orthodox Christian mystic (medium)

In shaky times, many people look to the Law of Attraction. Orthodox Christianity has a way to delve deeper.

The Martian human complete set of working instructions to happiness: life, the Paleo diet, (Paleo) Orthodoxy, and other things (medium)

A Socratic dialogue between a fan of Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land and an Orthodox theologian about Martian and human life, happiness, and the Paleo diet.

The Mindstorm (medium)

A dialogue which has a brilliant alumnus return to his school and discuss philosophy of education with its founder.

Plato: the allegory of the... Flickering Screen? (short)

A slightly updated look at Plato's Allegory of the Cave... or perhaps not really an updated look at all. Should the most famous piece of Socratic dialogue have been called the Allegory of the Television?

Singularity

A Socratic dialogue about the present cultural singularity emanating from the West and reaching across the globe.

The dialogue is between Merlin, chrismated John, and Herodotus.

Sinners in the Providence of a Loving God

A slightly different perspective from "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."

Spirit (medium)

God is spirit, and he invites us to be spirit too.

Veni, vidi, vomi: a look at "Do You Want to Date My Avatar?" (short)

"Do You Want to Date My Avatar?" is a viral music video that is funny and demure by music video standards. At first glance, at least...

Yonder (long)

Yonder is a science fiction story that starts in a world where mind and body are separate. Or at least that's one way of looking at it. You could also describe it as a miniature Divine Comedy, a journey which begins in Hell and ends in Heaven, but uses none of the traditional imagery: Hell is a place where you can have any pleasure you want, while Heaven is a place with intense suffering.