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This exchange underscores what I said above, this seems to bear repeating, since it appears not to have been heard: ”Pretending that challenges to the side we favor (which has its own tendencies to go wrong) are unimportant, and that the only serious consideration is the wrongs of the side we...

They have crossed the border safely and will soon be home! It is an important step toward our re-legalization in this exile here. if things had gone wrong, it could have gone very badly. Glory to God, and thank you for your prayers!

Asking for prayers for traveling family members. The risks are considerable. Especially in the next few hours.

There IS position that can be called “far-right” in the Church. There is ALSO a position that can be called “far-left” in the Church. There are positions that go too far in restricting legitimate liberty and economia in favor of a conception of “one size fits all”. There ARE positions that go...

I just responded to Platina and made the distinction I think we can agree on. It is not a formal doctrine, but it IS current practical policy. The Patriarch’s support and words do carry a lot of weight.

I hear what you are saying as well, and get it. The meaning of “the Orthodox Church as a whole” is of course not the same as “the current practical policy of a given national Church”. I think if we make that distinction then we are in the clear. People will still attack those saying it, but they...

My wife’s best friend thinks a lot like you, gzt. We have been writing a little civilly, she keeps sending me posts from Public Orthodoxy, Fordham, etc. The latest was from PO by Sr Vassa, and I pointed out to her that Sr Vassa and Fr Peter are both champions to their own side and preachers of...

It’s on the Patriarch’s site. That certainly makes it look like the Church is saying it. Sure, it’s not a Synodal or Ecumenical statement. But it is being promoted by the head of the Russian Church. That means that it is, for the moment, what the practical decisions of those running things in...

It sure ruined my life and I didn’t even need to experience it close-up.

Yes, and we admit that in that sense, God meets us where we are. But what you seem to mean by the expression is that He meets you in a form that YOU choose, that is pleasing to you. We’d say that He meets us in a form that He knows best. I don’t think the burning bush was something chosen or...

What this guy says is largely spot-on, but the this part seems to confuse Western civilization of 100+ years ago with today’s. Today’s Western civilization is in no wise a special champion of Christianity: ” Отметим, что "христианский мир" близко связан с понятием "западный мир" и "западная...

I guess another thing for me is that I’ve said everything that can be said. People heard me or didn’t, it was helpful or it wasn’t. I’m in a spiritual and material dead end and waiting for something to happen. I’m a dinosaur even among my fellow believers with my silly old-fashioned ideas, such...

It’s been on the ebb for a while now. I don’t want to go around finding “new communities”.

There are times when a man, a weak, ordinary man, needs a little more than that. Times when such quotes come across as unintentionally condescending, as spoken to suffering people by those who have not truly suffered. At such times, quotes even from Scripture are not enough.

I was there when the beards were outlawed. It was January 1, 1985. It really hurt the petty officer in charge of our electrical division that I was in. He looked imposing with it, and without it, he looked like a big nobody.

There’s a verb in Russian, “osirotet’”, “to be orphaned”, which is used when one’s parents have died. Already there, and I feel for you, Fr Matt. My own loss was catastrophic, and heralded the end of having a close person who understood me well that I could open my heart to. She was the last...

Memory eternal!!

Well, I’ve been Orthodox for over twenty years. Coming in as a middle-aged adult, I was humble enough but excited to join a Church where people maintained the same shared beliefs since the foundation of the Church. For the first new years, as a new convert, learning what was what, how we ought...

It’s a side quest, but there is a counterpoint to the issue of ancient languages versus modern vernacular. While it is obvious to all that people need to basically understand what is being said in worship, it is also important that the language be older, higher, and more formal, then the slang...

Your first sentence here seems reasonable, but I don’t think that what you described to be the problem is accurate. It certainly doesn’t describe how people like father Tom understood things. Where you may be right is on the issue of synthesis or attempt to synthesize knowledge, belief and...