The Beach Mode of Existence

The last day of our time near Miami, Florida. We are grateful for all the adventures great and small, difficult and enjoyable.

I sit in the lobby of the hotel named for the city that gave it birth: Hollywood, Florida. The weather today is in between that of yesterday (cloudy and rainy) and the day before (warm and sunny). Today so far it is just cloudy and cool. A hotel lobby is the perfect place to observe a vast cross section of humanity and to hear their stories as they check in and check out. Of course, we are all hoping for the same miracle that happened the first day when a cool and cloudy forecast gradually evolved into a tropical paradise. But we are preparing for other possibilities.

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The Sunshine State

A great gift was given to our family this Christmas by a heavenly benefactor known for his extreme generosity and timely interventions. On St. Nicholas Day in December, we found this gift in one of the stockings meant for mama, papa and the three youngest homeschoolers. We are now enjoying this gift: four nights and three days in the Sunshine State of Florida!

Hollywood Beach, Florida
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Building Institutions of Love

“Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity.”

Psalm 133

There is nothing quite like hearing a group of brothers sing a hymn of praise and thanksgiving to their common mother. Our weekend Lenten Clergy Govenie (retreat) at St. George Orthodox Church in Orlando, Florida concludes today with a bang: a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with our Diocesan Metropolitan Dedo Vladika Joseph. But before the bang comes this solemn moment on Friday, the climax of our quiet contemplation, our heart-felt prayer, and our ascetic labor:  the Akathist prayer service to the Most Holy, Ever Virgin and Birthgiver of God, the Virgin Mary. It is a moment in our retreat when all the counsel and reflection of the previous two days is applied to each one of us personally. The fathers from the Govenie all confess their sins to one another and travel back to the hotel to sleep peacefully in anticipation of the morning.

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