Wisdom

To Become Like God We Must Have Knowledge of Him

To Become Like God We Must Have Knowledge of Him - St. Basil by St. Basil the Great –
Those who are idle in the pursuit of righteousness count theological terminology as secondary, together with attempts to search out the hidden meaning in this phrase or that syllable, but those conscious of our calling realize that we are to become like God, so far as this is possible for human nature.

But we cannot become like God unless we have knowledge of Him, and without lessons there will be no knowledge. Instruction begins with the proper use of speech, and syllables and words are the elements of speech. Therefore to scrutinize syllables is not a superfluous task. [Read more…]

Sense the Guiding Hand of God in Your Life, Walk in the True Path

Sense the Guiding Hand of God in Your Life, Walk in the True Pathby Alexandr Solzhenitsyn –
I have done many things in my life that conflicted with the great aims I had set for myself—and something has always set me on the true path again.

An acquaintance with Russian history might long ago have discouraged any inclination to look for the hand of justice, or for some higher cosmic meaning, in the tale of Russia’s woes, but I had learned in my years of imprisonment to sense the guiding hand, to glimpse that bright meaning beyond and above my self and my wishes.

I had not always been quick to understand the sudden upsets in my life, and often, out of bodily and spiritual weakness, had seen in them the very opposite of their true meaning and their far-off purpose. Later the true significance of what had happened would inevitably become clear to me, and I would be numb with surprise. [Read more…]

Happy Are They Who Practice Righteousness

Happy Are They Who Practice Righteousnessby Pope John Pall II (1999) –
The Psalmist refers thus to those who follow the path of the commandments and keep them to the end (cf. Ps 119:32-33). Keeping the divine law, in fact, is the basis for obtaining the gift of eternal life, that is, the happiness that never ends.

To the question of the rich young man, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (Mt 19:16), Jesus responds: “If you would enter life, keep the commandments” (Mt 19:17). This response by Jesus is particularly important in our modern reality, in which many people live as though there were no God.

The temptation to organize the world and one’s own life without God or even in opposition to God, without his commandments and without the Gospel, is a very real temptation and threatens us too. When human life and the world are built without God, they will eventually turn against man himself. [Read more…]

Speak the Truth and Carry Your Cross Toward the Kingdom of Heaven

by Chris Banescu –
“Pick up the cross of your tragedy and betrayal. Accept its terrible weight. Hoist it onto your shoulders and struggle impossibly upward toward the Kingdom of God on the hill. The alternative is Death and Hell.” ~ Jordan Peterson

This wisdom from Jordan Peterson is as close to an Orthodox understanding of what it means to be a Christian as you can get from a non-Orthodox Christian. He speaks the truth and honors the Truth. He helps people understand fundamental principles. A lot of his teaching is grounded in Scriptures. “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).

I would like to believe that Peterson is a sincere follower of Christ and a trustworthy messenger, even though he himself does not seem to see it or is not willing to admit it. It’s not “flesh and blood” or earthly (godless) knowledge that have revealed these truths to him. It’s evident that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, Who proceeds from the Father, co-eternal with Christ (the Logos), illumines some of Peterson’s teaching. This is why his insights have authority. This is why he gives people genuine hope. [Read more…]