surrender Archives - Saint Sophia

The Superiority of Being over Doing (Part I)

09/23/2024

By the Very Reverend Stelyios S. Muksuris, Ph.D One of my favorite passages in all of Scripture is Psalm 46 (45 LXX):10, which reads: “Be still, and know that I am God.” This brief but powerful assertion, applicable to virtually any age in history, speaks to the uneasiness and distress every person or group experiences throughout life. Specifically, the Psalm addresses signs of violence in nature and the tumults that exist between nations which seek

The Thirty-Fourth Day of Christmas Advent: The Advent of God on Earth and in our Lives

12/18/2023

By Archimandrite Nikanor Karayannis, 20 December 2021 The feast of Christmas, which is approaching, invites us to experience the mystery of God’s coming to earth. This advent is a fundamental starting-point which deepens the meaning of our life and existence and renews our faith and hope in the living presence of God in and around us. The Church triumphantly proclaims that God has become human so that we can become gods. This truth shines a light

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Sixth Tuesday of Pascha: Belief and Faith, Water and Wine

05/23/2023

The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. John. (3:13-17) The Christian message is very, very simple. God loves the world. He loves us. Seeing his creation falling into death, he sent his Son, to liberate us from death, from sin, from fear and to grant eternal life to all who believe in this simple Gospel. And he has accomplished in taking on human nature and matter the deification of all things. In Holy

Idolatry

11/11/2021

The idolatry of self-esteem By Abbot Tryphon, January 15, 2020 Among the contributors to self-worship, is the possibility of falling into a form of idolatry associated with self-esteem. It is easy to fall into this form of idolatry, since our society has placed a great deal of emphasis on the need for self-esteem. The modern religion of psychoanalysis has promoted self-esteem as though it were the modern equivalent of enlightenment. The priests of this modern,

Unknowing: Dying by Brightness

07/14/2021

I die by brightness and the Holy Spirit. —Thomas Merton (1915-1968) [1] For most of us, growth is a long process of being drawn “by brightness and the Holy Spirit,” as Merton says. I interpret this brightness as being overwhelmed and undone by Immense Mystery and Goodness. Yet the Holy Spirit leads and must direct this undoing. We cannot take control, and this is our “dying” as we have to gradually let go of our need for control,

We Are Not Here to Help

01/11/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, October 21, 2015 My writings are sometimes treated as though I’m offering some new insight. That only tells me that the reader has only just begun to read. I pray God never to be original in my thoughts, for I long for nothing other than the Tradition. At best, I simply bring the Tradition back into the conversation again and again. I offer here a short passage from Fr. Alexander Schmemann’s For

Stop Complaining! Happiness.

01/08/2021

Stop Complaining! Complaining weakens our resolve By Abbot Tryphon, November 8, 2019 · Abbot Tryphon If we are always complaining about how unfairly we are treated, we will have failed in our imitation of Christ, Who was abused by His enemies unto death. We should strive to reign with Our Lord by loving our enemies and never complain. Christ looked towards His Heavenly Father and when we are tempted to complain we should gaze upon the cross.

Contemplative Consciousness: Awe and Surrender

07/14/2020

To begin to see with new eyes, we must observe—and usually be humiliated by—the habitual way we encounter each and every moment. It is humiliating because we will see that we are well-practiced in just a few predictable responses. Not many of our responses are original, fresh, or naturally respectful of what is right in front of us. The most common human responses to a new moment are mistrust, cynicism, fear, defensiveness, dismissal, and judgmentalism.

Fourth Tuesday after Pascha. Death and Resurrection: Transition and Transformation

05/12/2020

Just as we have borne the image of the earthy one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one. . . . Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For that which is corruptible

Trust and Surrender

09/09/2019

Power, according to Jesus and the Trinity, is not something to be “grasped at” (see Philippians 2:6-7). I don’t need to cling to my title, my uniform, my authorship, or whatever other trappings I use to make myself feel powerful and important. Waking up inside the Trinitarian dance, I realize that all of this is rather unimportant; in fact, it’s often pretense that keeps me from my True Self and gets in the way of

Archive

The Superiority of Being over Doing (Part I)

The Thirty-Fourth Day of Christmas Advent: The Advent of God on Earth and in our Lives

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Sixth Tuesday of Pascha: Belief and Faith, Water and Wine

Idolatry

Unknowing: Dying by Brightness

We Are Not Here to Help

Stop Complaining! Happiness.

Contemplative Consciousness: Awe and Surrender

Fourth Tuesday after Pascha. Death and Resurrection: Transition and Transformation

Trust and Surrender

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