Nothing about the human body is as intimate as the face. We generally think of other aspects of our bodies when we say “intimate,” but it is our face that reveals the most about us. It is the face we seek to watch in order to see what others are […]

In about 1968, Prime Minister Trudeau (not our current disaster, a previous one) famously declared that “the government has no business in the bedrooms of the nation”.  Even then it was a touch asinine when you really thought about it, for it all depended on precisely what was happening in […]

On September 8, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II reposed in the Lord at the age of 96.  She had reigned as the Queen of Great Britain and other countries (such as Canada) and head of the British Commonwealth for 70 years, which is somewhat longer than oldsters like me have […]

Russia is a unique country with its own special path. The poet Fyodor Tyutchev (1803–1873) wrote that it is impossible to understand Russia—you can only believe in it. This country has experienced a great deal. How many times Russia could have disappeared! How many times it stood on the edge […]

My Dad was an auto-mechanic, and a good one. He worked in the pre-computerized engine days. The way cars and trucks operated was pretty much the same as the airplane engines he worked on in World War II. I never learned more than a fraction of what he knew, but […]

On my sainted parents’ graves, I swear the following conversation actually took place. Perplexed Man: “Male gametes—that’s what makes me male.” Transgender Apologist:  “No—your sperm don’t make you male.” PM: “Then what does?” TA: “It’s a constellation.” PM: “In reality, in truth.” TA: “Whose truth are we talking about?” PM: […]

The recent decision of Archbishop Elpidophoros to baptize the adopted child of an openly gay couple in Greece is only the latest addition to a series of actions which have raised Orthodox eyebrows, coming as it does hard on the heels of his decision to consecrate as bishop an archimandrite […]

From my earliest childhood, I always heard the future spoken of in superlatives: the best, the best possible, etc. There was an unspoken assumption that each human being was uniquely suited to something and that if they found that unique thing and worked at it, they could become the best […]

Among the many things that Christians say that annoy people is their assertion that Christianity is the only true religion.  Given the tremendous number of alternatives to Christianity on the religious market today, the assertion savours of intolerable arrogance, blindness, insensitivity, and self-righteous conceit.  “The only true religion?”  Who do […]

I have long been convinced that “believing” is grounded in something other than intellectual activity. I am simply unimpressed by most of the intellectual arguments that I see regarding both belief and unbelief. In both, I hear so much that is unspoken, and even much that is likely hidden from […]

Pascha (Easter) comes with a great note of joy in the Christian world. Christ is risen from the dead and our hearts rejoice. That joy begins to wane as the days pass. Our lives settle back down to the mundane tasks at hand. After 40 days, the Church marks the […]