Category Archives: Uncategorized

Christmas Parties in Desolate Places

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02closeup_scrooge_cratchit“I’m a Christian, so I don’t go to parties,” said a person to me recently. There was a time in my life I would have accepted such a judgment about parties without qualification. The theology behind the idea of canceling Christmas is partly to blame for this tepid approach to life. Indeed the Lord does give his peace to us not as the world gives  with the implication that all worldly parties without Him will always fall short of the mark. But where does this trepidation towards partying in general and towards specific Christian feasts/parties mean for the life in Christ? How do we answer Scrooge’s argument to his jubilant nephew in our musical adaptation of Dicken’s classic Carol:

“The 25th of December from what I remember is no special day, just a date.” Continue reading →

Theatre You Can Believe In

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scroogeMonday, November 15/28, 2016
First Day of the Nativity Fast
Commencement of Advent in the Orthodox Church

It has been a New Year’s resolution of my oldest daughter since she saw her first show three years ago: To act and sing in a production of New Life Fine Arts out of Concord, MA. What she saw in Ebezener Scrooge: A Christmas Carol sparked her imagination while deepening her understanding of this literary character’s repentance. Now that three of us have been blessed to be chosen as cast members in this year’s production, it has allowed us an even more intimate acquaintance with NLFA’s uniquely spiritual approach to musical theatre. Continue reading →

Happy Birthday Blog!

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Blog celebrates its 4th birthday today. So glad for all the pilgrimages and chances to reflect on cultural trends and spiritual matters. Thank you to all my readers for sticking it out this long. We hope to keep it going as long as we are taking trips to inspiring places. Also look on the about page for an updated photo of the fam. God bless you all.

Coming to an Orthodox Church near you!

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crucifixion2For those of you in my faithful readership who have yet to experience an Orthodox Christian Holy Week, now is your chance. At an Orthodox parish near you, begins a week of services next week unlike any you have experienced anywhere else on the planet. If you are local to Boston, you are cordially invited to attend all of the services our parish offers. If you can only do one, come to either Saturday morning Liturgy or late Saturday night, early Sunday morning for the Feast of Feasts, GREAT AND HOLY PASCHA.

Worse case scenario, if you are unable to appear hypostatically (in person), you can at least listen to a youtube channel created that has much of the key music or the ever-mellifluous Ancient Faith Radio. WARNING: Once you have gone to one service, you won’t be able to stop, so clear your schedule for God because He deserves your praise more than baseball games, concerts, or that addicting TV series. Let the divine drama begin!

Forgotten Treasures

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But in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.

― C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism

snowedinOf all the children’s picture books we have read or reviewed for our yearly  Best of the Best, none stands out more dearly to me this time of the year than a tale about a family in the early 20th century in the American Wild West. They settled in one of the most desolate regions of the West, the open, wind-swept prairies of Wyoming, and the story opens with their yearly ritual at the onset of winter: saying goodbye to their community schoolhouse, buying gobs of paper and pencils at the town store, and raiding the local library for pounds of books to last them through the isolating months ahead of closed roads and home-bound activity. Continue reading →

Christmas Kitsch

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Okay, I will admit it. I am a sucker for Christmas decoration in whatever form it takes. I am one of those crazy papas that likes to drive around the neighborhood with his children on Christmas Eve looking at everyone else’s Christmas Kitsch. Below is something I found online: a church which seems to share my enthusiasm for the rich diversity of this season. St. Andrew’s in Ayer, MA is currently host to 450 nativity scenes from around the world. Enjoy the press release, and watch their video below. Happy Christmas and joyous preparation for the upcoming feast of our Lord’s birth in Bethlehem!

The Mysterious Writing and the Selfish King

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Belshazzar palace was close to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had a son named Belshazzar. When Belshazzar became King God was angry at Belshazzar for being so selfish that he forgot about God. God sent Daniel to help Belshazzar understand God’s message. By those rivers a wondrous thing was about to happen.

God sent a message to the king. A mysterious hand wrote a cryptic message on a wall. The king called for his super-wise men, but they could not understand the language that it was written in. Belshazzar started shaking head to toe in fear. The queen announced, “I know a man who is very wise and whom your father trusted.” He sent for Daniel who interpreted the writing, “God is angry at you for worshiping false gods.”

That very evening, a king named Darius of the Medes took over the kingdom of Babylon. He captured the city of Babylon while Belshazzar died horrifically.