Spirituality

By Fr. Glenn Jones:

Wow. What a tempest in a teapot this whole Elon-Musk-buying-Twitter thing has stirred up. For some it seemed as joy-filled as the Second Coming, and to others like the end of the world.

Hyperbole and overreaction seem to be the order of the day these days, or at least what’s reported in the media. Of course, most people fall between the extremes—of left and right, of “liberal” and “conservative”, etc.—somewhere along “the average” in ways of looking at things—having a more reasoned and open-minded view. Most people realize that any good idea or theory must not be protected from Read More

The Six Psalms being read at Saint Tikhon’s Monastery. Courtesy/Fr. Theophan

By Father Theophan
Saint Job of Pochaiv Orthodox Church
Los Alamos

Someone once asked me, “Did you wear all black before you became a priest?” 

Yes. Yes, I did. 

I grew up in the late eighties and early nineties. Some who know me better, might say that I never grew up at all. Elementary school, for me, took place in a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama in a small, private, Christian school (evangelical). My father was the headmaster; my mother, the librarian; and my grandmother was the lunch lady. My two brothers and I couldn’t Read More

By Fr. Glenn Jones:

Phones, phones. Everywhere phones. And the ubiquitous selfies—social media awash in selfies, videos of self, comments from self, etc. Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, etc., etc. Pride, or bids for attention? Not all, of course, but likely some of both.

Pride is highlighted in a parable of Jesus, in which an arrogant religious leader takes “… up HIS position [in the Jerusalem Temple] and spoke this prayer to himself (!)” …O God… I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity …” How Jesus phrases the parable is interesting, framing the man as worshiping the self.  “Aren’t Read More

By Fr. Glenn Jones:

Came down with COVID the other day – the “Mack truck” variant, as in “hit by a … ”. No fun whatever. We men like to think ourselves as rough and tough (our egos tending to revolve around our virility and strength), but even tiny little microscopic “bugs” can drive us to our knees.

But there are a lot of “viruses” apart from physical sickness, even to the point of manifesting themselves IN physical illness. We want to control every facet of our lives, often becoming grouchy and irate when things don’t go our way, or despondent when the unexpected occurs. In some manner, then, we can be Read More

By Fr. Glenn Jones:

The concept of seasonal fashions has always perplexed many of us. They seem to be a type of one-upmanship—“See, I can buy what’s new; can you?” (Apparently a new “fashion” for young women are jeans which look like a lion’s discarded scratching post. Ooookaay)

This touches on how many people seem to set their value on their net worth, and why many are never happy with what they have but are always grasping for more. Having counseled more than a few couples, this often leads to the end of relationships as one spouse drains the savings, even spiraling them into hopeless debt—all for Read More

Clergy from left, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired; Pastor Nicolé Ferry, Assistant Rector Lynn Finnegan and Pastor Deb Church. Courtesy photo

By Pastor Nicolé Raddu Ferry
Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Los Alamos

“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea’, and it would obey you.” Luke 17: 5-6

“It is nice to have valid competition; it pushes you to do better.” –Gianni Versace

“Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but Read More