Jul 04 2022
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The Impermanence of Friendship

After 58 years of making friends I’ve discovered something. Close relationships are fluid, they are seasonal. Friendship is impermanent. Those friends who wrote in your high school yearbook and inscribed above their signature, with all sincerity, “Best Friends Forever” (BFF) were unaware of this. They have moved on. So have you. Or perhaps it’s more…

May 09 2022
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The Lost Epistle of Martha

Embracing Rebuke Martha of Bethany, servant of the Lord Jesus Christ as one who receives the dead back to life. To my brother, Lazarus. Grace and peace to you and to all who meet in your home. My dear brother, not only in the flesh but in the Spirit, it was good of you to…

Mar 23 2022
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Francis and the Fifth Crusade

As the Russian Orthodox Patriarch blessed Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, I could not help but think of the Crusades (which, by the way, were not just directed at Muslims, but also toward Orthodox Christians). As a young man, St. Francis attempted to join the fourth crusade but turned back due to a recurring malarial fever.…

Mar 16 2022
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Poverty and Abundance

Lessons from Francis of Assisi For his whole life possessions had possessed Francis, especially clothing and fashion. His addiction to finery was like a prison, even more confining than the dungeon where he had languished for a year after a battle with nearby Perugia. His father had taken him to court for selling the family…