spirituality Archives - Page 4 of 4

Another Opportunity: A New Year’s Day Sermon by Father George Papadeas

01/01/2013

Another New Year has dawned, and it is normal that we give extra thought to the new time frame. We all make the customary New Year’s resolutions, only to have them short-lived. To this there could only be one answer, and this was spoken by the Lord: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41) Our intentions may be honorable, but we so easily capitulate to the espoused routine of life, simply

The Philokalia

07/13/2012

Virtually every spiritual tradition has an authoritative scripture or scriptures that serve as a foundational text for its beliefs, practices, and spirituality. For Christians, that collection of texts is the Holy Bible. But the fracturing of the Christian Church in the fifth century (following the Council of Chalcedon in 451), the eleventh century (the break between what came to be known as the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches), and the sixteenth century (the Protestant

Dying to the “I” Before You Die

07/09/2012

All religions in their own way talk about “dying before you die”! They are all indeed saying that something has to die. We all know this, but often religions have chosen the wrong thing to kill, which has given us a very negative image. In almost all of history it was always the “other,” the heretic, the sinner, the foreigner that had to die. In most ancient cultures it was the virgin daughters and eldest

My Rage and Spirituality from Below (Part IV)

07/06/2012

By contrast, spirituality from above reacts to the rage that boils up in us by repressing or crushing it: “Rage is not supposed to happen. As a Christian I’ve got to be friendly and balanced at all times. So I have to control my rage.” Spirituality from below would mean questioning my rage, questioning what God wants to tell me with it. Perhaps my rage is pointing to some deep injury. Perhaps in my rage

Spirituality from Below (Part III)

07/05/2012

For the monks humility is the courage to face the truth, the courage to accept their own earthliness, their humanity. The monks test one another in humility, so as to find out whether someone really is a man of God. “A monk was highly praised to Anthony by the brothers. Then Anthony took him and put him to the test, to see if he could endure insults. When it became clear that the man couldn’t

Father Maximos and the Key Themes of Eastern Orthodox Spirituality

06/20/2012

Fr. Maximos went on to say that he was going to speak about the Ecclesia, or the Church, which includes the practices, homilies, and teachings of the holy elders of Christianity throughout the ages, not just the formal organization. He proceeded to state some well-known presuppositions of the Christian faith: that the Bible holds that God created human beings in His own image, that a human being is an icon of God and a reflection

Spirituality from Below (Part II)

06/19/2012

The following remark has been attributed to Anthony: “If you see that a young man is striving for heaven with his own will, grasp his feet and drag him down; for it will do him no good.” It makes no sense for young people to meditate too early on, to take the path to mysticism too soon. First they have to come to terms with their own reality. They have to take a good look

Breathing Underwater: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps

06/18/2012

We are all powerless, not only those physically addicted to a substance. Alcoholics simply have their powerlessness visible for all to see. The rest of us disguise it in different ways and overcompensate for our more hidden and subtle addictions and attachments, especially our addiction to our way of thinking. We all take our own pattern of thinking as normative, logical, and surely true, even when it does not fully compute. We keep doing the

Spirituality from Below (Part I)

06/08/2012

The spirituality bequeathed to us by the moralizing theology of modern times works from the top down. It presents high ideals that we are supposed to translate into reality. Typical ideals include selflessness, self-control, continuous amiability, selfless love, freedom from anger, and mastery of sexual desire. Spirituality from above surely has some positive meaning for young people, since it challenges them and tests their powers. It prompts them to grow up and out of themselves

Archive

Another Opportunity: A New Year’s Day Sermon by Father George Papadeas

The Philokalia

Dying to the “I” Before You Die

My Rage and Spirituality from Below (Part IV)

Spirituality from Below (Part III)

Father Maximos and the Key Themes of Eastern Orthodox Spirituality

Spirituality from Below (Part II)

Breathing Underwater: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps

Spirituality from Below (Part I)

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