silouanthompson.net

Too modest to believe in the multiplication table

Too modest to believe in the multiplication table

Apr 19, 2010

But what we suffer from to-day is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed.

The Loneliness of the Cities

The Loneliness of the Cities

Jan 23, 2010

Toward the end of the eighteenth century, St. Kosmas Aitolos foretold that a time would come when a person would have to travel for days to meet another person whom he could embrace as a brother. We are living in an age where this is already happening. Contemporary man, in his loneliness, experiences pathological anxiety, anguish and suffering. He is tormented and, in turn, torments others.

Does feeling like a victim make you selfish?

Does feeling like a victim make you selfish?

Jan 22, 2010

Three experiments demonstrated that feeling wronged leads to a sense of entitlement and to selfish behavior...
 
 
 
 

The known universe

The known universe

Dec 24, 2009

...

Rob Bell and Don Golden on eucharist and the new humanity

Rob Bell and Don Golden on eucharist and the new humanity

Sep 7, 2009

A church is not a center for religious goods and services, where people pay a fee and receive a product in return. A church is not an organization that surveys its demographic to find out what the market is demanding at this particular moment and then adjusts its strategy to meet that consumer niche. The way of Jesus is the path of descent.

Practical apocalypticism

Practical apocalypticism

Jan 26, 2009

The point that apocalyptic makes is not only that people who wear crowns and who claim to foster justice by the swords are not as strong as they think… It is that people who bear crosses are working with the grain of the universe. One does not come to that belief by reducing social process to mechanical and statistical models, nor by winning some of...

In the Temple of Broken Hearts

In the Temple of Broken Hearts

Nov 19, 2008

The Way, through tests, introspection, and suffering, is hard and has many pitfalls. There is a strong temptation to look for happiness and consolation right from the beginning. If we experience disillusionment or disappointment, then we might start fearing that our journey to God might turn into torment and punishment...

The inverted pyramid

The inverted pyramid

Sep 25, 2008

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross...

When you are wronged

When you are wronged

Sep 4, 2008

Elder Porphyrios said: Our aim is not to condemn evil, but to correct it. A man can be lost through condemnation, but through understanding and help he will be saved. We must treat the sinner with love and respect his freedom.

Saint Silouan the Athonite

Saint Silouan the Athonite

Mar 15, 2008

Saint Silouan was born Simeon Ivanovich Antonov in 1866...