Why do people cut, leave, or distance themselves away from the Church and from God? What is the logic behind this? Is it because they have found something more beautiful than God’s love, something more spiritual or holy? Or is it the fact that they allow the passions and sins of others within the Church to blur their view of …
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Theseus and the Minotaur It is difficult to imagine that there can be any reader of Vema, Greek or (like me) Barbarian, who has not known the story of Theseus and the Minotaur from infancy. But, of course, there is one reader, because there always is. So, briefly, ignoring the many variants and sticking to the bits that will concern …
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By Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver Strictly speaking, there never was a ‘Bible’ in the Orthodox Church, at least not as we commonly think of the Bible as a single volume book we can hold in our hand. Since the beginning of the Church, from the start of our liturgical tradition, there has never been a single book in an Orthodox …
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By Philip Kariatlis The most basic questions in life occasioning answers so that we can have peace of mind and happiness are often related to discovering our distinct ‘identity’. Those who have not found answers to such questions are said to be suffering an “identity crisis” which can lead to much anxiety and unhappiness. For this reason, it is not …
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FOREWORD FROM MODE OF LIFE Quite some time ago, at Mode of Life weblog we received a particular request made by one of our readers, who wanted some information or articles on St Spyridon the wonder-working Bishop and Confessor of Tremithoundas. We regret we were not able to respond to the request sooner, and given that we are inundated with …
Read More »Q. According to your thoughts and meditations Holy Elder, who was the first pious person to show genuine faith in God? A. As you may recall, in spite of what had transpired, people had become immensely savage and barbarian turning to all forms of idolatry. It seems that within this spiritually historical context, that Abraham was the first, some 2,039 …
Read More »“The Lord said: as you would want others to do to you, you also do unto others” Sometimes, dear brothers and sisters, we believe that the standard Christ gives us in today’s Gospel passage is not very different to what was stated in the Old Testament, which was very much in accordance with human logic. The Old Testament stated: “whatever …
Read More »LESSON 2 – ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TOWER Q. Holy Elder, after the events pertaining to Noah and the Flood, what was the next crucial turning point for humankind according to what our Faith asserts? A. My beloved child, since multitudes of people came into existence and repopulated the earth, once again the same problems arose, with people turning …
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Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Genesis Author: Fr Patrick H. Reardon Publisher: Conciliar Press (2008) The intention of this particular book is not to serve as a purely exegetical work on Scripture in the traditional sense, but to serve as an accompaniment to the Scriptures. It does not aim to spoon feed the reader, but rather to help …
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ModeOfLife Become love as God exhorts us, for this is the true starting point for changing your life and the world. For it is love that will bring respect, justice and equity into the world, not our personal opinion of what justice or equity is.