On the Murder of George Floyd

George Floyd. Photo from The New York Times.

Over the past few weeks, I have had to deal with my own situation in a way that has left me with very little energy to engage with the news, or much of anything else. I don’t need to go into that here. Suffice it to say that while I have come through the ordeal intact—and indeed much happier—I am still deeply tired. And it will take some time to fully recover.

Nevertheless, the murder of George Floyd—the murder of yet another unarmed black man, at the hands of a police officer sworn to protect and to serve—has not escaped my notice. Nor has the gamut of reactions I have seen from my own personal circle of acquaintances, which is a decent miniature representation of this country as a whole.

Rebuke Me Not in Thy Anger?: Notes in a Time of Pandemic

We are living in strange times.

Certainly, I never expected to have occasion to sing the above molieben, “Sung in Time of Devastating Epidemic and Deathbearing Pestilence.” Or even had an inkling that such a service existed. (Not that I was very surprised—the Russians seem to have a molieben for every occasion…)

And yet, I sung it today after Liturgy, in a choir deliberately reduced to a handful of people, each of us prudently spaced at our own stand.

St Irenaeus of Lyons on the Eucharist, Gratitude, and Mortality

For some time now, I have been working my way through St Irenaeus of Lyons’s Against Heresies—rather slowly, off and on, as I’ve also picked up other patristic works along the way.

But when I do get back to reading him, I am often struck by just how clear and worked-out his theology is for a Christian writing so early. The popular scholarly narratives of slow Christological development simply crumble when you read someone like Irenaeus. (Or, for that matter, even the undisputed letters of Paul…)

On the Particularity of the Saints—and Us

Note: For various reasons, I haven’t felt up to writing for a few months. I was surprised to see from the blog stats that people have evidently kept checking the site during that time! I’m not sure that I’ll get back to posting regularly, but in the past couple days I’ve felt one taking shape in my mind, so here we go…

Halloween was a few days ago, which naturally got me thinking about two things: death and saints. However much the modern American holiday may have strayed from its religious roots, the celebration of All Saints is still reflected in its very name. And on the Western liturgical calendar, All Souls’ Day (November 2) immediately follows All Saints’ Day.

When Friends Suffer

William Blake, Job Rebuked by His Friends

Recently, some dear friends of mine have been suffering. This is hardly the first time I’ve had to watch people I care about suffer, nor will it be the last. However, the present case is hitting me especially hard, because of the people and the nature of the suffering involved. How are we to respond to the suffering of our friends and other loved ones?

On St Maria of Paris

Today, July 20th, the Church celebrates the feast of my beloved patron, St Maria of Paris, as well as her associates who were canonized with her: her son, St Yuri, still a young man; the gentle, courageous priest St Dimitri (Klepinin); and St Ilya (Fondaminsky), a Jew by birth who refused an opportunity to escape while his kin were being murdered, wishing in his last days to “live with the Christians and die with Jews.”

Books Read in June 2019

The books I finished last month (minus a manuscript I proofread for the Press), with some brief notes on each:

St Maria of Paris on War

St Maria of Paris

Today is Memorial Day. For the past few years I have returned to these words from my patron, St Maria of Paris; reading them seems to be the best reaction to the day I can summon. This is an excerpt of an essay titled “Insight in Wartime”—written during WWII—which can be found in this collection of her writings.

On Books and Life in the Church

A section of one of my bookshelves

I love books. In a real sense, my life is dominated by books. Dealing with books is the heart of my job—selling them, getting them together for orders, speaking to customers about them. At home, my free time is largely given over to reading; I’ve already finished five books this month, and I’m actively reading seven others at the present. Books have always been a big part of my life, ever since I learned how to read. I could attempt to wax poetic on this point, but if you’re a reader you understand—and if you’re not, I doubt I could help you do so.

I suppose it is a sense of mortality peculiar to being a reader (or at least one in the modern age) to be keenly aware that there are far, far more books in the world than anyone could ever get to in a single lifetime. Even if you reduce that set to merely the books you’re interested in, the sheer number of books still prevails. Our time is finite, the number of books continues to grow, and with each book picked up there is an opportunity cost of those left on the shelf.

“…and not to judge my brother.”

The prayer of St Ephraim the Syrian is the basic prayer of the Lenten season:

O Lord and Master of my life, give me not the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk.

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.

Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed art Thou, unto ages of ages. Amen.