The recent passing of several giants has grieved me. There were the passings of Fathers Feltaous and Mettaous of the Syrian Monastery, then the passing of Anba Mikhail of Assiut. These and others, to me, symobolise the ending of a great era, a loss of giants. Hearing the news of Abouna Fanous el Anba Bola today, only added to this feeling. With every passing generation, I fear, humanly, that there’s a rich tradition that dies with them. I feel that there are secrets and mysteries that are symbolically lost forever. There are ways that are not explained, and stories that are untold. They are the ones that link us to the past, that tell us of the monks of old and can see with clarity the monks of our generation. They were stalwart pillars of the philosophy of monasticism, and no longer can they, in the flesh, transmit ancient truths to us modern hearers. I pray He raises up a new generation from among us.
Tag Archives: doubt
The Authentic Addict, Atheist and Saint: Moses
Today is the eve of the feast of one of the most inspiring Saints of the Church universal. He belongs to the whole church, irrespective of nationality, denomination, or biases. What makes so many people fall in love with him, I think, is the relatable nature of this man. St. Moses was real. Most people are familiar with his story, so I am going to go through just a few aspects of his with which I feel like I personally can connect.
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On the importance of balanced critical thinking
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Q: I feel like I’m not encouraged to use my mind in our culture at Church. I get the sense that if I question things, I’m seen as being heretical or something, and that I am doing something wrong. If it’s so wrong to think critically, then why did God even give us a mind?
– Frustrated
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Cold-blooded murder: are you afraid of the truth?
The Truth is not afraid of discovery, because it helps us inform us more about God.
Last Friday you find out from watching the news that Hany Shenouda, prominent steward of the Service (amin el khidma) at your church, is found guilty of the murder of Hermonia Grangeria in an alley near his house. To most people in the church, he has only been an image of piety. He’s at every church service, he’s the go-to deacon for mid-week anything, and he’s at every tasbeha/psalmody every week. He taught you how to make korban. He taught the kids Sunday School. Everything about him points to, “this guy is clergy material.”
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More discussion about miracles
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Where do we draw the line between running after any miracle we hear about and having some kind of discernment? What about miracles that happen to people outside the Church?
Heaven is for Real: the Sceptic, the Faithful, the in-betweeners
How do we deal with miracles? Some of us love them, some of us run from them….What to do?
This post is a discussion of miracles and the supernatural based on the movie “Heaven is for Real”
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1. Introduction
If you were born anywhere from the 1980s on, it is almost impossible to believe that you never met an atheist in your life. It is also difficult to believe that there has never been a time in your life where you experienced some doubts of your own. These doubts may be about the church and/or her authority, about the truths of the Bible, or even, for some of us, the very existence of God.