When We Want to Be Treated Unfairly: The Story of the Fathers’ Unacceptable Behavior

If you’re like most kids, you probably had arguments with your parents when you were a kid, and I bet those arguments intensified when you became a teenager. 

 As your blood boiled in frustration, I bet your teenaged-self wished

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The Lie of the Boot Straps

In America, we have a saying, “Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.” This saying encompasses the attitude that one will get ahead in life through education and a good hard day’s work.  But, what if this saying was a

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A Woman’s Faith and the Disciples’ Shame

What do we need to do in order to walk the Way and allow others to eat the breadcrumbs that fall from our table?

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Christ and the Mask Challenge

We often hear stories from the Desert Fathers and think of them as sayings from the past. But, we are also given the opportunity to live the sort of lives they lived and grow as we walk the Way.

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“Thank you, O Lord!”

As many of you probably know, one of the most famous Orthodox theologians of the 20th century was Fr. Alexander Schmemann. He was dean of the seminary I went to (St. Vladimir’s), and his life’s work was to teach about

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The Impossible Burger and the Fast

This week, the Nativity Fast began for Orthodox Christians around the world. This 40-day period, is a time in which we prepare for the Nativity of our Lord according to the flesh. But, as we watch our diets and take

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Theophanies (Type-Scene 4)

If I were to ask you what feast Christians celebrate on January 6th, what would you say?  It probably depends on which Christian tradition you were brought up in. If you are a western Christian, you’d probably say “Epiphany.” But,

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The Woman at the Well (Type-Scene 3)

In the Gospel of John, we hear the story of Jesus meeting a Samaritan woman at a well. Most sermons focus on the foreignness of the Samaritan woman: her identity as a “Samaritan” is contrasted with Jesus’s identity as a

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The Barren Women in Scripture (Type-Scene 2)

One motif that appears over and over again in the Bible is the image of the barren woman.  All the matriarchs of Genesis had problems having children: Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel; and
 the motif appears again in the New Testament:

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The Cross, Archaeology, and Orthodox Hymns

If you could go back in time and speak with a 1st-century Roman about crucifixion and how the empire used them, what would they say?
 They might say that “… By [the cross] barbarian nations are subdued, by it the scepters of kings

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