trademarks

On naming babies

The Orthodox are supposed to name their child after a saint or a godly concept (Sophia, Agapos, etc.). That saint can be an Old Testament or a New Testament saint. Obviously a New Testament saint means anyone in Church history from any culture. It may include reasonable derivations of the saint’s name into another language. For instance, whether you name your child Iohannes, John, Juan, Johann,... [Read more]

A possible solution to the illegal crossing problem

Well, I must admit to typing this tongue in cheek, but wondering whether it would work. In the area of Florida I live in, the unemployment rate is higher than the national average. Companies are laying off or have hiring freezes. Many have said that the economic and political crises of many Latin American countries was driving the undocumented border crossings. But, where I am, there is no economic... [Read more]

faq

On kisses in the Orthodox Church

Father Orthoduck so appreciates Pithless Thoughts. One of the challenges facing converts to Orthodoxy is that we have this way of going around kissing everyone. You kiss when you first see someone. You kiss when you say goodbye. You kiss during the Kiss of Peace. And, sometimes, for no known reason, you kiss some more. And, as Pithless points out, it is not just one kiss. You kiss a minimum of two... [Read more]

Normal versus abnormal? — Weird world we live in

People always seek to justify themselves. It is easier to justify one’s self than it is to admit that one could be wrong. We have been this way since Adam and Eve.  The whole description of the confrontation with God in the Garden of Eden begins with a scene of denial and self-justification. But, if the denial and justification go far enough, eventually the whole structure of what is true about... [Read more]

information

Father Orthoduck needs to lose weight

It is Sunday night and I am tired. That is not unusual, it is my typical Sunday night condition. But, this cartoon got to me. There is enough of an American legalist Anabaptist in me to consider that the phrase that says that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit may be a call for me to begin to lose weight. I do feel guilty about my weight. There was a time, and not that long ago, when I was in... [Read more]

conditions

They will insist on growing up, won’t they?

I can remember that when our children were young, there was a big debate in Evangelical circles as to whether you ought to say anything to your children about Santa Claus. The Easter Bunny was very clearly a no, no. The Tooth Fairy usually did not come under as much fire, but that is because she did not interfere with any Christian beliefs. Of course, Halloween came under the most fire, as it still... [Read more]

blog

Bad Book of Revelation pun

Sigh, it is a horrible set of puns. That is what makes them so good. The strip above starts out with a nice Latino pun and then move on to a pun from the Book of Revelation. I have no smart comment on the above strip. But, I have a secret to confess. I enjoy truly awful puns. As a husband, have you ever felt that maybe, just maybe, there was nothing you could say that was quite right? Speaking the... [Read more]

participate

Speaking the truth in love — Pithless Thoughts

Why is it that the ruder a Christian is, the more that they are likely to insist that they are simply “speaking the truth in love?” Contrast the modern American attitude with that of the Early Church Fathers. What was the Early Church Fathers’ attitude towards speaking the truth in love, towards what we would probably call “constructive criticism?” He, therefore, who... [Read more]

A hobbitt Anglican priest?

One of the interesting things about the English is that one never knows what interesting bits of eccentricity one will run across. The photograph at the right is actually from one of the BBC sites. It is the lead for a television show called, How To Live A Simple Life. Unfortunately, you cannot watch this online in this country, as it is blocked for us. But the description is interesting: In this... [Read more]

The Lord’s Prayer in Klingon

For those of you Trekkies who are interested, see below. Research has turned up this manuscript of the Our Father in Klingon. This could be proof that the universe is larger than we think. about Read More →