The Hope of Unity

"Orthodoxy will be credible only when all local Autocephalous and Autonomous Orthodox Churches will be able to speak and act as one single body and not as separate ethnic or national entities."

+ V.Rev. Dr. Georges Tsetsis, "Ethnicity, Nationalism and Religion", October 5, 2002.

Unity in Diversity

I think then that the one great goal of all who are really and truly serving the Lord ought to be to bring back to union the churches who have at different times and in different ways divided from one another. 

-- St Basil the Great, Epistle 94

Unity in Diversity: The Opportunities and the Challenges

 Dr. Peter C. Bouteneff

http://www.svots.edu/voices/faculty/speaking-truth-love

“Unity in Diversity.” This expression speaks about a balance between wholeness and difference, between integrity and variety. The idea is sometimes rooted in our teaching about the Holy Trinity: God is a unity, one God, in a diversity of persons, Father Son and Holy Spirit. Unity in diversity can also suggest something very important to us, as human beings, but specifically as Orthodox Christians. Because it can illustrate that things or people don’t have to look, walk, talk, and think exactly alike in order to be in union with each other.

Understanding of Peace in the New Testament and the Orthodox Liturgy

For the Peace from Above: The Understanding of Peace in the New Testament and the Orthodox Liturgy
by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMzvBjlISfc

For the Peace from Above: The Understanding of Peace in the New Testament and the Orthodox Liturgy. The Academic Forum for Peace, Poland 2011, held by Wrocław University and Institute for the Study of Islam.

Transcript

A Mission of Bees and Honey: Excerpts from the Protreptikos of St Basil the Great

A Preamble

Recently finished Father Elia's book and I agree with some of the concepts such as his awareness of the dangers of creating cultural ghettos in the Orthodox world, the dangers of nationalism, and his argument for the benefits of cooperation and intercultural pluralism as a framework for Orthodox in the lands of immigration. His other suggestion of adapting to "Western modes" is a convincing one I think if one is considering the cultural milieu as one of technology and and dialogue and not necessarily 'religious'.  However I think that this understanding of integration and pluralism will also require further thought, further studies and deeper awareness of what Orthodoxy is.

Escapism

Escapism is not a Fruit of the Spirit
by Vincent Martini

http://onbehalfofall.org/2013/01/16/escapism-is-not-a-fruit-of-the-spirit/

In every generation, and perhaps more frequently, there is a belief set forth within various corners of Christianity that we are living in “the last days.” Many examples are given to support such a claim, despite the fact that we are never given any indication of “timing” or “events” that will precede the end of this age, and the beginning of the new.

In the Silence

In the silence of the heart God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you.

Memory and Thought

“Burden the soul with the labor of reading the Scriptures which make known the narrow ways of ascetic life and of contemplation, as well as the stories of the saints; that you may exchange one habit for another even if in the beginning your soul does not feel the pleasure because of the thick darkness and confusion of present memories. Then when you arise for prayer and for the office, instead of musing upon the things of the world, ideas from Scripture will be imprinted in the mind. And with these, the memory of what it already has seen and heard will be erased from it. In this way your mind will come to purity.”

+ St Isaac the Syrian

Prayer as Refuge

'Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.' 

+ St John Chrysostom

"The Robe of Glory" by Sebastian Brock

The Robe of Glory

A biblical image in the Syriac tradition

by Sebastian Brock

The background

‘The question of the relationship of the human person to clothing is basically not a moral concern . . . but a metaphysical and theological one.’ This statement, made by the author of a classic article entitled ‘The theology of clothing’,¹ may at first sight seem surprising, but it only needs a few moments’ reflection to recall that there are numerous passages in both Testaments where clothing imagery is employed with reference both to God and to human beings; thus, for example, in the Old Testament God ‘puts on righteousness’ (Isai 59:17), ‘is clothed in light’ (Ps 104:2), and ‘the Spirit of God clothed itself with Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest’ (2 Chr 24:20), while in the New Testament Christ tells the disciples they ‘will be clothed in power from on high’ (Lk 24:49) and the baptized ‘have put on Christ’ (Gal 3:27).

Prayer and Life

Prayer and Life

Mother Raphaela

http://www.stnina.org/print-journal/volume-3/volume-3-no-1-winter-1999/prayer-and-life

That they may have life and have it abundantly.
- John 10:10

In these words the Lord speaks of what He desires for all of us; indeed of what He desires for the whole of His creation. What means has He given us to gain this life? He has given us the fruits of His own life, passion, death, and resurrection. But how do we make these our own? How do we enter into the mystery He holds out for us?...