The Geography of Heaven and Hell

Glory to God for All Things

I noticed tonight in a Facebook discussion a reference to this article – thus I thought a reprint might be timely. I continue to be amazed at the literalism that infects the minds of many Christians. Just because Scripture uses the language of geography to describe something does not at all mean that we should assume that it is referring to a literal geography. Those whose imaginations are filled with various versions of heaven and hell in literal terms – it seems to me – lack imagination. The accounts of Christ after the Resurrection, though marked occasionally with very physical descriptions, are clearly marked as well with things that defy everything we know of physicality. His Resurrection is the only “image” of a tangible/non-tangible sort that we can point to for the character of life after death. Some Christians so lack imagination that they won’t let Christ off a literal…

View original post 999 more words

“Open the Bible at any page and you will find it extolling love”

Eclectic Orthodoxy

I know, beloved, how well fed you are every day by the exhortations of Holy Scripture, and what nourishment your hearts find in the word of God. Nevertheless, the affection we have for one another compels me to say something to you, beloved, about love. What else is there to speak of apart from love? To speak about love there is no need to select some special passage of Scripture to serve as a text for the homily; open the Bible at any page and you will find it extolling love. We know this so from the Lord himself, as the gospel reminds us, for when asked what were the most important commandments of the law he answered: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And then, just…

View original post 332 more words

St Silouan The Athonite: God’s Mercy

Source: St Silouan The Athonite: God’s Mercy

St Porphyrios: Holy Humility

Source: St Porphyrios: Holy Humility

Political Polarization and Christian Unity

Source: Political Polarization and Christian Unity

Between Rigorism and Relativism: The Givenness of Tradition

Source: Between Rigorism and Relativism: The Givenness of Tradition

St Nektarios of Aegina: Wounded By Divine Love

Source: St Nektarios of Aegina: Wounded By Divine Love

St Philaret of Moscow: Every Christian..

“Every Christian should find for himself the imperative and incentive to become holy. If you live without struggle and without hope of becoming holy, then you are Christians only in name and not in…

Source: St Philaret of Moscow: Every Christian..

St Maria of Paris: Love One Another

“No amount of thought will ever result in any greater formulation than the three words, ‘Love one another’, so along as it is love to the end and without exceptions.” –…

Source: St Maria of Paris: Love One Another

St Silouan The Athonite: Spiritual Father

“The Holy Spirit acts mystically through the spiritual father, and then when you go out from your spiritual father, the soul feels her renewal. But if you leave your spiritual father in a sta…

Source: St Silouan The Athonite: Spiritual Father

Mother Gavrilia: God’s Will

“When you wish deeply to act always according to the will of God, He will reveal It to you. This is what He asks. He wants us to reach out our hand for His Grace, so that His Grace may guide …

Source: Mother Gavrilia: God’s Will

St Nektarios of Aegina: Christians

“Christians, have we understood the great responsibility that we have taken on before God through baptism? Have we come to know that we must conduct ourselves as children of God, that we must align…

Source: St Nektarios of Aegina: Christians

St John Chrysostom: Afflictions

“Of all the afflictions that burden the human race, there is not one, whether spiritual or bodily, that cannot be healed by the Holy Scriptures.” – St John Chrysostom

Source: St John Chrysostom: Afflictions

St John Chrysostom: Supplication To God

“It’s not an abundance of words that supplicate God, but a pure soul which manifests good deeds” – St John Chrysostom

Source: St John Chrysostom: Supplication To God

Mother Gavrilia: God and Your Purpose

“Let God intervene between you and your purpose, instead of letting your purpose intervene between you and God” – Mother Gavrilia

Source: Mother Gavrilia: God and Your Purpose

Mother Gavrilia: Knowledge You Suffer

“Not knowledge you learn, but knowledge you suffer. That’s Orthodox spirituality.” – Mother Gavrilia

Source: Mother Gavrilia: Knowledge You Suffer

St Porphyrios: Living in Christ

“If we wish to follow Him, then this life, too, with Christ, is joy, even amid difficulties. As Saint Paul says, I rejoice in my sufferings. This is our religion, and this is the direction we…

Source: St Porphyrios: Living in Christ

Father Seraphim Rose: Truth

“Why is the truth, it would seem, revealed to some and not to others? Is there a special organ for receiving revelation from God? Yes, though usually we close it and do not let it open up: God̵…

Source: Father Seraphim Rose: Truth

St John of Kronstadt: Battle With Self

“My life — is a lengthy, stubborn and constant battle with myself, a battle which I am waging at present, being constantly fortified by God’s grace.” – St John of Kronstadt  …

Source: St John of Kronstadt: Battle With Self

St John Chrysostom: Richness in Giving

“A rich man is not one who has much, but one who gives much. For what he gives away remains his forever” – St John Chrysostom

Source: St John Chrysostom: Richness in Giving

St John Chrysostom: Doing Good To Man

“For in nothing do we draw so close to God as in doing good to man.” – St John Chrysostom

Source: St John Chrysostom: Doing Good To Man

St Paisios: God Wants Humility.

“God wants only one thing from us – humility, nothing else. He only wishes to help us through His Divine grace, which He gave us through Holy Baptism, even before we do anything, before we lo…

Source: St Paisios: God Wants Humility.

St John Chrysostom: Jesus At The Door of Your Heart

“Find Jesus at the door of your heart and you will discover paradise” – St John Chrysostom

Source: St John Chrysostom: Jesus At The Door of Your Heart

St Seraphim of Sarov: Acquire Peace

“That I am a monk, and you are a layman is of no importance…rather that we are both in the light of the Holy Spirit…acquire the spirit of peace and thousands around you will be saved”  – St Seraphi…

Source: St Seraphim of Sarov: Acquire Peace

Archpriest Vyacheslav Reznikov: Rejoice in God’s Will!

“If something happened not according to your will – rejoice! It means it happened according to the will of God!” – Archpriest Vyacheslav Reznikov

Source: Archpriest Vyacheslav Reznikov: Rejoice in God’s Will!

Fr Arsenie Boca: God’s Love

“God’s love for the biggest sinner is greater than the love of the holiest man for God” – Father Arsenie Boca

Source: Fr Arsenie Boca: God’s Love

Elder Thaddeus: Pray for All Men.

“It is our duty to pray sincerely for all men, that God may grant peace and joy to all.” – Elder Thaddeus

Source: Elder Thaddeus: Pray for All Men.

St. John Maximovitch: Humility

“The power of God is effective when a person asks for the help from God, acknowledging his own weakness and sinfulness. This is why humility and striving towards God are the fundamental virtues of …

Source: St. John Maximovitch: Humility

St Isaac the Syrian: Tribulations and Humility

“God permits tribulations and adversities to befall people – even the saintly – so that they may persist in humility. But if we harden our hearts against adversities and tribulati…

Source: St Isaac the Syrian: Tribulations and Humility

Metropolitan Anthony Bloom: Humility

“The word ‘humility’ comes from the Latin word ‘humus’ which means fertile ground… Humility is the situation of the earth. The earth is always there, always taken for granted, never remembered, alw…

Source: Metropolitan Anthony Bloom: Humility

St Basil The Great: Bear With Patience

“And so let us be glad and bear with patience everything the world throws at us, secure in the knowledge that it is then that we are most in the mind of God.” – St. Basil the Grea…

Source: St Basil The Great: Bear With Patience

Metropolitan Anthony Bloom: Open Yourself to Love

“We are told in today’s Gospel, “Turn away from yourself, take up your Cross, Follow Me” (Mark 8: 34) — we are not called to something dark and frightening; we are told by God: “Open yourself…

Source: Metropolitan Anthony Bloom: Open Yourself to Love

St Seraphim of Sarov: Joy in Heaven!

“Oh, if you only knew what joy, what sweetness awaits a righteous soul in Heaven! You would decide in this mortal life to bear any sorrows, persecutions and slander with gratitude. If this ve…

Source: St Seraphim of Sarov: Joy in Heaven!

St Paisios: Humble Prayer

“If you want to tune in to God so He listens to you when you pray, turn the knob to humility, for on this frequency God always operates, and humbly ask for his mercy.” – St Paisios

Source: St Paisios: Humble Prayer

St John of Kronstadt: Only Christ Keeps Me Alive

“I know of my spiritual poverty, my own nothingness without faith. I am so weak, that it is only by Christ’s name that I live and obtain peace, that I rejoice and my heart expands, whil…

Source: St John of Kronstadt: Only Christ Keeps Me Alive

St Basil The Great: God’s Providence

“Do not say, “this happened by chance, while this came to be of itself.” In all that exists there is nothing disorderly, nothing indefinite, nothing without purpose, nothing by chance … How m…

Source: St Basil The Great: God’s Providence

St. Ieronymos of Aegina: Entrust Our Life To God

“Let us entrust our life to God, and may it be done as He wishes. Whatever the outcome may be for us, that’s the one that is for our good. For God does not want the perdition of man, bu…

Source: St. Ieronymos of Aegina: Entrust Our Life To God

St John of Kronstadt: Why did the Lord give me life?

“Why did the Lord give me life? So that I would turn with my whole heart to God, for my purification and correction. Remember this and correct yourself. Why does the Lord add day after day, y…

Source: St John of Kronstadt: Why did the Lord give me life?

Elder Thaddeus: Live Simply, Humbly, and Meekly

“When He came to dwell among us He showed us the way to live: simply, humbly, and meekly. We should approach Him just as He created us – as innocent children.” – Elder Thadd…

Source: Elder Thaddeus: Live Simply, Humbly, and Meekly

St John Chrysostom: Glory to God

“Glory to God for All Things!” – St John Chrysostom (St John Chrysostom’s Last Words)

Source: St John Chrysostom: Glory to God

Mother Gavrilia: Humility of Christ

“If the humility of Christ becomes the way of our life, any place may, and will, become a place of Resurrection”- Mother Gavrilia

Source: Mother Gavrilia: Humility of Christ

St John Chrysostom: Always Give Thanks To God

“The mark of a soul that loves wisdom always gives thanks to God. If you have suffered evil, give thanks and it is changed to good. He has not sinned who suffered the evil but he who has done…

Source: St John Chrysostom: Always Give Thanks To God

Jesus Prayer

Eclectic Orthodoxy

View original post

St Nikolai Velimirovich: Struggles

“If your entire life passed smoothly and without worry, then weep for yourself. For the Gospel and the experience of the people, with one accord assert that no one has, without great sufferin…

Source: St Nikolai Velimirovich: Struggles

St. Nikolai Velimirovich: Our Cross

“What does it mean to take up your cross? It means the willing acceptance, at the hand of Providence, of every means of healing, bitter though it may be, that is offered. Do great catastrophes fall…

Source: St. Nikolai Velimirovich: Our Cross

C.S. Lewis: A Living House

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof an…

Source: C.S. Lewis: A Living House

St Basil The Great: Helping The Poor

“When someone steals another’s clothes, we call them a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry…

Source: St Basil The Great: Helping The Poor

St Irenaeus: Glory of God

“The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and to be alive consists in beholding God” – St Irenaeus

Source: St Irenaeus: Glory of God

St John Chrysostom: The Holy Scriptures

“The Holy Scriptures were not given to us that we should enclose them in books, but that we should engrave them upon our hearts.” – St John Chrysostom

Source: St John Chrysostom: The Holy Scriptures

St John of Kronstadt: Praying to Panagia

“When you are about to pray to our Lady the Holy Virgin, be firmly assured, before praying, that you will not depart from her without having received mercy. To think thus and to have confidence in …

Source: St John of Kronstadt: Praying to Panagia