Pondering the ultimate realities of death and eternal life may come naturally with the approach of mid-autumn and All Saints Day and All Souls Day. The fragility and imperfections of life on this earth are realities that may impinge upon our consciousness in a particular way at this time. All of us are vulnerable; all of us are broken in body, mind, and soul; all of are moving toward death in a manner that is largely out of…
My current wrist watch, like some of my previous watches, tends to lose time gradually, perhaps a fraction of a second each day. I measure its accuracy by our church bells since when I am at the organ I must finish playing the prelude before the 5:00 bell for Vespers. Now, I can easily grow accustomed to the watch‘s being slow; one day the bell will ring at 4:59:55, then a few days later at 4:45:50, and some days later at 4:59:30. Of course, I could move the hands up a minute at any time…
Truth is a commodity that is sometimes difficult to find in our society. The media regularly mislead us by promising happiness through the purchase of various products and services, whose benefits are highly overstated. The very use of language has been distorted in subtle ways to deceive both speakers and hearers. Instead of acknowledging the actual brutality of abortion, people may speak of “termination of pregnancy”; instead of admitting the sinfulness and destructiveness of fornication, people may refer to “companionship,” “significant relationship,” or other euphemistic misnomers. All of us can be caught up to some extent by such insidiously distorting terminology. Commitment to…
Our materialistic world tempts us to acquire as many possessions and pleasures as we possibly can. Subtle but powerful psychological appeals urge us to become attached to particular brands of food, clothes, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and cars so that we may keep buying more and more, desiring more and more, and thus having no time or energy to ponder the deeper meaning of life. In contrast, Christ lovingly but sternly exhorts us, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and begin to follow in My footsteps. Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses…
