Last week I went to my first Eastern Orthodox service in well over a decade. I was struck once again by its unique hymnography, which doesn’t shy away from either theological sophistication or deep cuts of biblical allusions, and which delights in literary phenomena such as irony and paradox. In all of this, this tradition … Continue reading St. Ephrem the Syrian and the Way of Glorifying God in Challenging Times
Of all the commemorations of the Saints on the calendar, few are as well known among society at large as St. Patrick’s Day, which is of course, today, March 17. So, it felt too strange not to explore the way of St. Patrick of Ireland today. The problem is that, while few Saints are better … Continue reading St. Patrick and the Way of Trust in Christ’s Protection
Last Sunday, we saw how throughout the Scriptures, in the life of Jesus, and across Christian history, the desert or wilderness has been a major symbol for what I call ‘the arena’ — that place where we as individuals stand up, show up, and test our mettle. The term used in this context comes from … Continue reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Way of the Arena: A Reflection on Luke 13:31-35
Last year, my Lenten series looked at the wisdom recorded in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. One of the figures we briefly met there was a certain Abba Moses, better known in hagiographical history as St. Moses the Ethiopian, St. Moses the Abyssinian, or St. Moses the Black. From these cringe epithets, you can … Continue reading St. Moses and the Way of Faithfulness amidst Prejudice
Of all the things that make optimism hard to find in our current social and political climate, one of the ones that I find most concerning is the lack of civility, grace, and curiosity in public discourse. Everything is attacks, knee-jerk responses, and assuming the worst possible motives — for one’s allies as much as … Continue reading St. Peter Faber and the Way of Dialogue
Matthew Root 