Thoughts on Body Image & Christ’s Transfiguration
Walking up to the little corner of the church, my hand clutching a small post-it note of scribbled sins, my heart starts to beat a little faster. I’m a little nervous, though I don’t know why. I have done this many times before. Perhaps my soul realizes what my mind does not yet -- the weight of the Sacrament in which I am about to participate: Holy Confession.
Thoughts on Lenten Hanger
Raise your hand if you’re starting to feel those physical effects of fasting...hungry, a little tired, maybe even irritable? We call it being snippy in our household. When we strip away the excess comforts of life, fasting from food and other pleasures, feasting on prayer and silence, our latent sinful tendencies start to bubble up. There’s a reason “hanger” is a thing!
The Gift of Hunger
Hunger, the basic desire or need for food, is not always as “basic” or straightforward as its definition makes it sound. We feel it all the time or maybe hardly at all, we blindly obey it or frequently fight it, we confuse it with other needs, and ultimately, it lets us down.
a book & a dream
It’s the beginning of a new school year. I am a recent graduate of Cornell University, sitting in the basement of the religious studies building on campus at our weekly Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) meeting, our small but mighty group of six brainstorming possible speakers to bring to our university for the school year.
Start your journey
Your journey in bodily health does not have to be a separate path from acquiring a healthy soul. To quote St. Gregory Palamas, “Man as God’s image is body and soul, and they interact and ascend toward God.” The two paths actually intertwine and support each other quite beautifully.