Orthodoxy is the foundation to everything.
A Year of Orthodoxy
Category: Faith
Toward a Sensitive Observance of Holy Innocents Day 2017
A few verses in Matthew are all that are granted to the tragedy of slain baby boys following the birth of Jesus. Christian Churches in the west have memorialized Herod’s paranoid panic as Holy Innocents’ Day, celebrated historically on December 28th, the fourth day of Christmas. In Medieval England, children were awakened to the solemnity… Continue reading Toward a Sensitive Observance of Holy Innocents Day 2017
A Day Like No Other Day
It was a day like any other day in the life-long ministry of Zacharias the priest. With Elisabeth’s goodbye kiss still warm on his cheek, he went about his business, reporting for duty in his scheduled commitment to serve in the Temple. It was a day like no other day when the honor of entering… Continue reading A Day Like No Other Day
Wait for the Spirit of Christmas
“Wait,” He said, and locked His gaze with eleven pairs of eyes brimming with question marks. “Wait. I have been your constant companion for three years, walking long deserted roads, sharing our meager meals, sleeping under the stars. I have answered your questions and rebuked your faithlessness, and now it is time for me to… Continue reading Wait for the Spirit of Christmas
A Season of Listening
Christmas is the season of listening. We gather around the story of Luke 2, as it's read aloud. We hang sleigh bells on our Christmas trees and on our door knobs and enjoy the nostalgia for days when holiday traffic was all "over the river and through the woods." Carols ring out in the most unlikely… Continue reading A Season of Listening
Thanksgiving Prayer
For those of us in the United States, this is a day of thanksgiving. However, gratitude is not circumscribed by geographic boundaries. Nor do we need a calendar’s permission to leave room for gratitude, so . . . LORD, we thank you! We confess that our hearts are often full of ourselves, for we mistake… Continue reading Thanksgiving Prayer
Sending Grace Downstream
Dining on cubes of watermelon and calling it breakfast, the youngest son stands pajama-clad at the counter, his toothpick a dowser for the juiciest chunks. In just a few end-of-summer days from now he will be up to his fetlocks in geometry, and I will be preserving the summer sweetness of our red tomatoes with… Continue reading Sending Grace Downstream
Rising in Grace and Glory
Because I am married to an unreasonably patient man, we hardly ever argue – except for when it comes to the Ascension. His (perhaps quite reasonable) conclusion from Acts chapter one is this: Jesus went up. The disciples looked up. Therefore, heaven is up. My (perhaps quite unreasonable) argument is that on that day when… Continue reading Rising in Grace and Glory
Start Where I Am. Use What I Have.
When my thrifty mother-in-law made mincemeat, she would start with the venison roast from a deer who may have had the audacity to nibble on her tulip leaves. From there, she would improvise, adding whatever needed using up on that particular day: a batch of jam that didn’t “set up” just right or an over-abundance… Continue reading Start Where I Am. Use What I Have.
Celebration and Lament
The walls had been rebuilt. The people living in and around the city of Jerusalem had gathered. Along with the fresh aroma of new lumber from Ezra’s wooden platform and his strong voice ringing out over the hum of the crowd, celebration was in the air! Within the barely-renovated city walls of Jerusalem, there was… Continue reading Celebration and Lament
Living Our Days 