St Maximus the Confessor

AntiSemitism

Viktor Frankl’s Logo-therapy, Man’s Search For Meaning in Life, Love, and Suffering

09/16/2022 Bruce Strom 3

Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning, is a life-changing book and one of my favorites, it touched me deeply when I first read it many years ago. The main theme of the book is no matter what challenges you face in your life, or how busy you are, you always have time to be kind to all those whom you encounter, to be a positive influence on the lives whom you touch. Although he does not directly mention stoicism, his account of how he survived Auschwitz is a living example how a stoic mindset can help you survive and thrive through any challenge life may throw at you. […]

Catholic Middle Ages and Beyond

Dark Night of the Soul, by St John of the Cross, and Mystical Theology of Pseudo-Dionysus

07/06/2022 Bruce Strom 0

What is the Dark Night of the Soul? Many are misled into thinking that the dark night of the soul is a dark place, but St John of the Cross views the dark night of the soul not from his mortal perspective, but from perspective of the eternal, the unknowing, where light we cannot perceive is so luminous that we see it as darkness, this Mystical Theology he draws from the poetry of Dionysius. […]

Command 8 Do Not Bear False Witness

Do Not Slander: Church Fathers and Preachers, and Catholic Catechism, CCC 2464

05/27/2022 Bruce Strom 1

The Church Fathers focus on our love for our neighbor when contemplating this commandment.  St Gregory Palamas in our English translation renders the commandment as, “You shall not accuse anyone falsely.”  We are warned that if we accuse anyone falsely, we may “become like the devil, who falsely accused God to Eve and was cursed by God.  Rather, we should conceal our neighbor’s offense, unless by so doing others may be injured; and in this way we will imitate not Ham, but Shem and Japeth, and so like them receive the blessing.”
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AntiSemitism

Our Reflections on Morality, Philosophy, and History: Ancient and Modern Classics

05/11/2022 Bruce Strom 5

To a Stoic Philosopher, the question of Theodicy, or why God permits bad things to happen to good people, why God permits suffering, is simply absurd. The fact is, we do suffer, we will face injustices, we will suffer illnesses and death, and the rain falls on both the good man and the bad man. God will not shield us from suffering and injustice, but God will provide us with the strength to endure the challenges of this life. […]

Evagrios the Solitary

St Evagrios, On Asceticism and Stillness in the Solitary Life

04/09/2018 Bruce Strom 5

Evagrios begins by quoting Jeremiah, “You shall not take a wife in this place.”  The primary meaning of this verse is advice not to bear sons and daughters in time of war and troubles, but Evagrios interprets this allegorically, that we should not bear worldly thoughts and desires in our heart.  These worldly thoughts and desires are weak and sickly and lead to death, and “have no place in heavenly life.” […]