by Isaac Bell I was raised Mormon, as was Rachel, my wife. Early in our marriage we had a stillborn son. Our bishop called us into his office to tell us that God had not yet revealed the point at which a fetus becomes alive and the church therefore does not consider our son to be a person. This shocked me. I thought the whole point of having a prophet was to provide guidance from God on important moral issues, and given how much time legislatures spend debating when life begins I figured that would be an important topic for a prophet to speak on. Over the next couple of weeks, while Rachel was reeling from the bishop’s lack of empathy, I … [Read more...]
Off the Side Roads onto the Illumined Path
March 12, 2018 By 4 Comments
by Michael Fiocca The Way We Are Meant to Be “The person who loves God values knowledge of God more than anything created by God, and pursues such knowledge ardently and ceaselessly.” -Saint Maximos the Confessor When we speak of something as being generic, it often stirs up thoughts of a product being “mediocre” or “less reliable.” I admit that I find my generic paper-towels to be less easy to rip, my generic bread crumbs to require some more spices, and my generic phone charger to burn out too quickly. In the same way, I found my generic form of faith and spirituality to be quickly running dry and barren. Like a brand name, it did … [Read more...]
I was a Catholic Priest: The Story of Fr. John Tanveer
March 7, 2018 By 4 Comments
by Fr. John Tanveer I was a Catholic priest. I was waiting for the opportunity to convert to Orthodoxy for fifteen years, and the opportunity to become an Orthodox priest - three more years. The Lord felt my desire. I belonged to the Catholic community and entered the seminary in 1974, and four years later I continued my studies at another institute, studied Holy Scripture, church and civil law, church history and ethics for six more years. I remember how I prayed: "Lord, you are my Father, if I am worthy to be a priest, Your servant, please grant me the courage to serve You and Your people." My journey to Orthodoxy began in 1990. … [Read more...]
From the Buddha to Christ: A Young Man’s Journey to the Ancient Christian Church
February 5, 2018 By 1 Comment
My name is Johan Trisanjaya. I am of Javanese ethnicity in Indonesia. I was born in 1982 in the village of Prigi in Central Java. I was raised in a Buddhist family; my father is a government servant and my mother is a house wife. Most people in our village are Muslim, but many adhere to Buddhism. As a Buddhist, I was so active that I was appointed as the President of the Buddhist Youth Association. The essence of Buddhist teaching is “to love without limit”, where the law of deeds (“karma”) is emphasized, in which all our deeds in this life will bear fruit in our next reincarnation. The love is not limited to only humans either, but in … [Read more...]