February 2012
3 tags
The Most Unhappy of Pleasures
Saw this today at The Atlantic:
The Bible teaches us that pleasure doesn’t pay. If you don’t destroy yourself, then God will do it for you. Four thousand years later and the rules are still the same…
When did the world become so obsessed with pleasure? Scripture argues that the goal of a righteous life is happiness, not pleasure. The Declaration of Independence affords us the...
3 tags
What happens when we get rid of Lent?
Peter J. Leithart writes:
As a historical matter, the churches that have excluded Lent have not replaced it with a permanent atmosphere of joy… In Reformed churches, the suppression of Lent has been simultaneous with the suppression of Carnival and other seasons of playful joy. Suppression of Lent did not produce perpetual Easter; it produced a perpetual Lent.
Read more…
Original Article
5 tags
A sketch of Rastafari history
See also:
Christ and Tafari
Songs of Freedom: The Rastafari Road to Orthodoxy
by Norman Hugh Redington, Editor The St. Pachomius Orthodox Library
INTRODUCTION: The spread of Orthodox Christianity in the New World has occurred mainly as a result of immigration from Eastern Europe. There are two regions, however, where this is not the case: Alaska and the Caribbean. The story of the...
St. Valentine's Day Was For Martyrs, So Kick Butt... →
Jacob Heiss writes:
Here’s the thing: Valentines Day was originally a commemoration for martyrs, people butchered for their unyielding commitment to sharing God’s love no matter what. So can we all agree to shuffle our various decks of expectation and get out there to kick some butt for love’s sake?
More…
1 tag
On the Importance of the New Russian Martyrs →
PravMir.com asks: Why is it important for Orthodox Christians outside of Russia (Americans, Europeans) to revere the Russian New-Martyrs? We understand what they did for Russia, but why should they be revered outside of Russia?
4 tags
Letter to a New Convert
Dear “John”,
I understand that you are on the way to becoming Orthodox. I know nothing about you, beyond the fact that you are English.
Before we go any further, there is one point I should make clear. I have not been told why you are about to convert, but I assure you there is no point whatsoever if it is for negative reasons. You will find as much “wrong” (if not more) in Orthodoxy as in the...
3 tags
Wisdom in dog terms
Kevin Hearne’s enjoyable Iron Druid series of books feature the last of the druids, a 2100-year-old living in Tempe, Arizona. He is out for a run with his Irish wolfhound, with whom he can talk because of course he can. The dog asks him to promise to adopt a female poodle. He answers:
It is good to have a dream so long as you do not let it gnaw at the substance of your present. I have seen...
7 tags
Existential Multitasking
Adam Miller writes:
God does not come and go – your attention does.
Put your phone away. Recent studies agree with Jesus. In their distressing 2009 paper “Cognitive control in media multitaskers,” Ophir, et al. found that heavy media multitaskers (or HMMs) “have greater difficulty filtering out irrelevant stimuli from their environment.” They are “less likely to ignore irrelevant...
3 tags
Hipster Nimoy
(via mishappenings: lookatthisfrakkinggeekster: dinnerinthedarkroom: fyeahjewishmen: tumblingnoodle: ohsara)
Original Article
2 tags
Manual for the Cold
As the Siberian cold snap sweeps the whole of Europe, bringing the temperature to below zero degrees Celsius (C) even in the Mediterranean, on the Internet there is circulating a guide to what happens at certain temperatures. (Translated from Serbian by Fr. Ivan Moody.)
+18 ° C In Hawaii, take another blanket.
+10 ° C The temperature In buildings in Helsinki without heating.
+2 °...
3 tags
The sport of the future
Ever watch soccer and think to yourself “I wish the ball was bigger. And the players could use their hands. And they should all be armed with Tasers”?
Enter: Ultimate Tazer Ball. It’s just like regular Tazer Ball, only ultimate.
(via devour: thedailywhat)
Original Article
For what it's worth...
Planned Parenthood wasn’t giving women mammograms in the first place.
Komen simply cut out the middleman (Planned Parenthood) and instead now directly supports hospitals that actually provide life-saving services.
5 tags
“Masculine” Christianity: Two views
Here are two Web articles by Christian women on the topic of “Masculine” Christianity. One is offended by the concept, and the other examines why it seems to attract and keep people. I think the contrast is illuminating:
John Piper wants a “masculine Christianity.” What do you think? — Rachel Held Evans
Men and Church — Frederica Mathewes-Greene
I’ll refrain from commenting till you’ve...
5 tags
A place neither saves nor destroys: deeds do
Saint Nikolaj Velimirović wrote:
Although the Holy Fathers praised monasticism as the angelic state, and although many of the greatest saints lived their lives and attained perfection in the deaf and lifeless desert, nevertheless, the Orthodox Church does not recommend tonsuring to all the faithful. “Neither all those in the desert were saved nor all those in the world were lost,” said one saint....
3 tags
I wish I had a great lake of ale for the King of...
February 1 we commemorate Brigid of Kildare.
I wish I had a great lake of ale for the King of kings, and the family of heaven to drink it through time eternal. I wish I had the meats of belief and genuine piety, the flails of repentance, and the men of heaven in my house. I would like vats of peace to be at their disposal, vessels of charity for distribution, caves of mercy for their company,...
2 tags
Yes, yes, yes
(via jamesfromta: andrewwrichard: sinirella)
Original Article
January 2012
4 tags
Wherever you go...
Amma Theodora said, “There was a monk, who, because of the great number of his temptations said, ‘I will go away from here.’
“As he was putting on his sandals he saw another man who was also putting on his sandals, and this monk said to him, ‘Is it on my account that you are going away? Because I go before you wherever you are going.’”
— from the Desert Fathers
Original Article
1 tag
So evidently I'm in the right place...
The Internet said so.
This Christian Denomination Selector seems to have got me figured out. These tests usually tell me I should be an “Orthodox Quaker” first; Nice to see one that agrees with me :-)
Your Christian Denomination Selector Results: Link: Christian Denomination Selector
Eastern Orthodox Church
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church
Roman Catholic...
4 tags
Where did Cain's wife come from?
She would have to be another descendant of Adam’s - a sister or cousin to Cain.
Incest? So it seems.
We should ask, though: Is incest sin because it reinforces accumulated genetic defects, causing much more likely birth defects?
Or is it sin because God says so in Leviticus 18?
That matters — because (if we choose to Genesis as history) Adam and Eve were created fresh with no genetic...
4 tags
In Adam's image?
Here’s an intriguing thought by SF/fantasy writer Tim Powers:
The world, before the first sentient man left the garden of Paradise and looked at it, had not yet been defined by attention — it had been a spectrum of worlds-in-potential that had not yet included humanity, an infinity of possible prehuman histories; but by the time Adam stepped out and turned his attention on it, he had...
2 tags
Could God make a rock so big He couldn't lift it?
Click to embiggen
Original Article
3 tags
European Parliament official in charge of ACTA... →
“I want to denounce in the strongest possible manner the entire process that led to the signature of this agreement: no inclusion of civil society organisations, a lack of transparency from the start of the negotiations, repeated postponing of the signature of the text without an explanation being ever given, exclusion of the EU Parliament’s demands that were expressed on several occasions in our...
2 tags
5 tags
St Silouan on accusing
From the life of St. Silouan (1866-1938):
Among the stewards was a certain monk, Father P., who was outstandingly capable, yet somehow always unlucky – his initiatives usually met with no sympathy among the fathers and his undertakings often ended in failure.
One day, after one such enterprise had resulted in disaster, he was subjected to sharp criticism at the stewards’ table. Father Silouan...
5 tags
The Pro-Life Cause, Orthodoxy, and Hope
by Frederica Mathewes-Greene
(a talk for an Orthodox Christian Pro-Life Event; January 22, 2012)
Today is the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion—through all 50 states, for any reason whatsoever. When I was a college student, back in the 70’s, I was in favor of legalizing abortion. I wasn’t a Christian then, but I was a feminist, the first feminist...
4 tags
What Happened Before the Big Bang? The New...
Ross Anderson at The Atlantic writes:
This is what Einstein was upset about; this is what Schrodinger was upset about. Quantum mechanics was merely a calculational technique that was not well understood as a physical theory. Bohr and Heisenberg tried to argue that asking for a clear physical theory was something you shouldn’t do anymore. That it was something outmoded. And they were wrong, Bohr...
2 tags
We're communicating!
Original Article
5 tags
How the Septuagint was originally received by the...
From the Jewish Encyclopedia article on “Hellenism”
Greek Versions of the Bible.
The Hellenistic Jewish literature is the best evidence of the influence exercised by Greek thought upon the “people of the book.” The first urgent need of the Hellenistic Jews in Alexandria was a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible.
The strange legends which are connected with the origin of this...
4 tags
Study, knowledge, and spiritual practice
This month I have been reading (and quite enjoying) the works of Philo of Alexandria. A contemporary of Christ, Philo was a great thinker who expressed biblical Jewish beliefs in the language of Greek philosophy. Many of the early Christian Fathers are indebted to Philo, and even St Paul uses some of the same ideas. In the early first century there were at least as many Jews in Alexandria as in...
3 tags
The black gold of Haiti, coffee creole is hot...
Related:
Haiti’s coffee: Will it come back?
My First (Glorious) Taste Of Haitian Coffee
Jacqueline Charles at the Miami Herald writes:
THIOTTE, Haiti - Connoisseur Osier Jean steps into the sterile room, pauses and clears his mind.
With notebook and flavor wheel in hand, he quickly turns to the task at hand – checking the quality.
He sniffs, slurps and swirls, allowing his senses to take...
2 tags
4 tags
Not a wizards’ duel despite all signs to the...
A Romanian bishop, right, and a Serbian priest bless the water, marking the Orthodox feast of Theophany on the river Nera, between the two countries of Serbia, left bank, and Romania, near the village of Vračev Gaj, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. AP / Darko Vojinovic
(via Byzantine, Texas)
Original Article
3 tags
Channel 4 continuity announcers mispronounce The...
Channel 4: Doing it right.
Original Article
5 tags
Not where, but when
Sam Spratt writes:
“Inspector Spacetime” »(Fine Art Prints Available Here)« - by Sam Spratt
NBC’s Community may be in a state of potential cancellation, but before I dive deep into my art hole on new year client-projects, I wanted to knock out something fun. If you’re not a fan of the show already—get on it. (Thanks so much to those who contributed advice to change the phone booth...
3 tags
Problems for modern Christian apologists →
Historical Christianity came into an already religious world and won converts from Jews and then pagans. The modern situation of converting secular, materialist, utilitarian hedonists is very different…
4 tags
Religion, rules and reality
Background:
Last week, a video called Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus was generating some buzz in the blogosphere. Fr Andrew Damick’s response, Why I Love (True) Religion Because I Love Jesus, got shared widely and started some additional conversations of its own.
With that for context, this week Fr Andrew has hit some very important notes in Religion, Rules and Reality. If the recent...
3 tags
Grandpa, what was offline research?
Wiki Dependency of the Day: Katie Notopoulos is using her Twitter account to catalog the complaints emanating from Millennials worried about how the Great Wikipedia Blackout of 2012 is going to affect their school projects.
(via thedailywhat: @katienotopoulos)
Original Article
3 tags
Is there free will in heaven?
This question comes up with surprising frequency in dialogue with my unchurched friends. On my blag I started a category called INfrequently-Asked Questions (IAQ) so that, on interesting ones like this, I could easily recall what I said last time. Someone’s just asked me this again, so I’m reposting:
Maybe the real question is, would we recognize free will if we saw it? What we call...
3 tags
You might be Orthodox
You might be Orthodox if your first thought is, “That is the ugliest prosfora seal I have ever seen.”
Original Article
2 tags
Jacob of Nisibis
Jacob [James] of Nisibis, 4th century AD, was the spiritual father of Saint Ephrem the Syrian.
Nisibis is a state on the borders between the Romans and the Persians. At one time it was subject to the Romans and paid taxes to them. This is where the great Jacob (James) came from to embrace the quietness of a solitary life. He chose the peaks of the highest mountains as his abode. In summer and...
5 tags
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian,...
Buy The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, Revised Second Edition online
Kevin Edgecomb at Biblicalia writes:
I have mentioned before the works of Saint Isaac the Syrian, with a special focus on those appearing in English, and in particular the first edition of the Holy Transfiguration Monastery publication of Dana Miller’s translation, The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the...
4 tags
It will be summer again. Promise!
(via infini-ty)
Original Article
5 tags
I am a Spiritual Materialist! Oxymoronic?
or Eating in Restaurants and Finding God!
by Father James Lloyd, CSP
Since I was a mere stripling of fifteen or so, I have been delighted with Hilaire1 Belloc’s little ditty: Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine/ there’s dancing and laughter and good red wine/ at least I have always found it so/ Benedicamus Domino. My delight stems, I think, from my deep seated Catholic sense of the essential...
5 tags
Worse than ignorance
Spurious knowledge, or ‘knowledge falsely so called’ (1 Timothy 6:20), is that which a man possesses when he thinks he knows what he has never known. It is worse than complete ignorance, says St. John Chrysostom, in that its victim will not accept correction from any teacher because he thinks that this worst kind of ignorance is in fact something excellent. For this reason the fathers...
3 tags
Vampire Domestication
Taming Yesterday’s Nightmares for a Better Tomorrow
Original Article
6 tags
Basil on repentance
From the letters of St Basil (330-379 AD)
Make the effort to rise from the ground. Remember the good Shepherd who will follow and rescue you. Even though it is two legs or only a lobe of an ear, spring back from the beast that has wounded you.
Remember the mercies of God and how He cures with oil and wine. Do not despair of salvation. Recall your recollection of how it is written in the...
Weird fact
On average, so far 2012 has consisted entirely of Sundays. 0.o