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The Hidden Breath
On the Holy Spirit as Muse After the Ego Falls Silent “Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6 There is a voice in us that wants to create, to speak, to write, to shape meaning out of experience. At first this voice feels like gift. It gathers words quickly. It arranges thoughts. It enjoys clarity and the response of others. It believes itself inspired. But much of what we call inspiration is only the ego warmed by attention. The dism
Father Charbel Abernethy
Mar 33 min read
Begin or Die on the Road
The Refusal of Delay and the Violence of Undivided Faith “Death in battle for God’s sake is better than a shameful and sluggish life.” There is always a lion for the man who does not want to begin. Always a reason. Always a danger. Always a wiser moment to wait for. And so he remains on the road his entire life. Careful. Thoughtful. Unbloodied. Unchanged. St. Isaac is merciless here. Much wisdom can damn a soul. Not the wisdom that fears God, but the kind that calculates and
Father Charbel Abernethy
Feb 252 min read
The Mouth That Reveals the Heart
On Speech as the Measure of Inner Poverty or Inner Delusion “I said, I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue. I have set a guard upon my mouth while the sinner stood against me.” Psalm 38:2 (39:1) Synopsis of Tonight’s Group on The Evergetinos Hypothesis XLVII B4-10 The Fathers do not treat speech as a social matter. They treat it as a matter of life and death. Because speech reveals what the heart lives from. A man may fast and remain proud. He may pray and r
Father Charbel Abernethy
Feb 94 min read
Two Kingdoms, One Heart
Why St. Isaac Refuses All Half Measures in the Spiritual Life Synopsis of Tonight’s Group on The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily 6: 14-18 St. Isaac the Syrian does not allow us the comfortable fiction that we can want less than everything and still be safe. His words strip away a thousand modern compromises. To say I only wish to escape Gehenna but not to enter the Kingdom is for him a form of madness. There are not three places. There are two. To fall sho
Father Charbel Abernethy
Jan 213 min read
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