Posts Tagged ‘suffering’
Half-Way Evaluation
Today is the half-way point of Great Lent. You now realize the days go by quickly when you’re focusing on Christ. You also realize that Pascha will be here ‘before you know it,’ and you still have work to do. It’s time for evaluation. Let’s review what the Church has asked us to focus on…
Read MoreDependence on God
There was an expression I heard often when I was young. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” I don’t hear that much anymore, but it still rings true in the life of the Church. When life gets difficult, people of faith get going to Church and God, and blessings flow. Today the…
Read MoreThe Promise of Salvation
When a young child reaches for a hot stove, a loving parent slaps the child’s hand away from the stove. The child feels the pain of the action and likely feels punished. What really happened was that the parent saved the child from serious injury. Sometimes being saved feels like pain. The man gave names…
Read MoreDon’t Walk Away
For this year’s Daily Lenten Journey we are focusing on the Power of God’s Promise. One way God speaks to us is through His Prophets. Throughout the Old Testament the Prophets have reminded us, at least those willing to listen, of God’s Promise. Too often, many did not and do not listen. “If you are…
Read MoreAccept Suffering
It goes against our nature, it seems, to accept the reality that we are called to suffer. From an early age we fight against our parents when they use the unwanted ‘no’ in response to our requests. Even as adults we have tantrums when we do not get our way, at work and among our…
Read MoreFair Warning
Throughout our childhood years we learn to listen to those in authority. If we do not, we learn the consequences of not doing what we are told. Our parents, teachers, and even clergy give us ‘fair’ warning. If we do not change our behavior, we will have consequences. Eventually we learn, or we suffer. At…
Read MoreRepentance of the Mind
You’ve heard me in my sermons. You’ve read my words in this blog. Repentance comes from the Greek word μετάνοια (metania) which literally translates to change of mind. Although we think of repentance in terms of changing our behavior, until we change our mind our behavior will always remain. Brethren, I count everything as loss…
Read More2023 Daily Lenten Journey – Day 30
We live in a harsh world filled with crime, war, and poverty. Violence rips through our neighborhoods sparing not even little children attending school. It can be difficult to remain faithful that God will ‘make everything ok’ in the end. He has a plan for our salvation, but between now that then, things can get…
Read More2023 Daily Lenten Journey – Day 18
Winter storms last a couple days. Hurricanes a bit longer. Each leaves destruction in its path. Can you imagine a storm that lasts more than six months? Can you imagine being tossed around in a boat for months wondering if you would ever get out alive? Then suddenly everything is calm. In the six hundredth…
Read MoreWhat Does it Mean to Bear One Another’s Burdens?
I remember one time at a parenting workshop, we learned to suffer with our children. This meant that rather than solve every struggle our children experience, we need to co-suffer with them. Help them understand that sometimes things are difficult. Sometimes the best we can do as parents is experience the suffering with our children.…
Read More