Prayer can be like an hourglass at its narrowest point. At this point everything flows to it and everything flows from it. All flow is silent. Silence is a great help to listening. Listening to God is a little more difficult than listening to a...
Despite contrary feelings or inclinations toward prayer, we pray. Prayer is more powerful when we pray even though we would rather do something else. At times, praying morning prayer at an early hour may be annoying. We would rather sleep in, relax...
Although prayer and service have many splendors within Christianity, one cannot exist without the other. Prayer is spiritual respiration to the soul, which oxygenates Christian service. Pope John XXIII said, “Perfume all your actions with the life...
Thomas Jefferson wrote: “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” The heart of truth is honesty. A person is as good as his or her promise. It is said that ‘my word is my bond’ was used before written documents were common...
Sacred signs around and within us indicate God’s presence in our lives. By acknowledging them, we acknowledge the divinity of God and the mystery in us. We become more aware of God’s presence as our sensitivity to his attributes in people who live...
“To weep is to make less the depths of grief.” (Shakespeare) Grief is as much a part of life as joy. Grief can overshadow us in many ways. We grieve at the anticipation of the loss of a loved one, at the loss of a loved one and in different ways at...
Prayer is less a work of mental exercise than it is a rest in God’s love. In his book, Creative Prayer, Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh relates the following story: “I remember one of the first people who came to me for advice when I was ordained...
Joseph was the beloved husband of Mary and the beloved foster father of Jesus. The gospels describe Joseph as a tektōn. Traditionally, the word has been translated to mean “carpenter” although the Greek term suggests an artisan with wood in general...
