Selections from Seminary

Another unarmed black man dies at the hands of police. This throws me back into an old struggle of mine, a series of thoughts that makes me question my own motivations, my own assumptions, my own safely-white existence, and above all, the question of why the Church, the very Church established by the Apostles, the Church which has collectively retained the unadulterated truth of the Gospel, the Church which obviously is for all mankind, the Church which prays "that all would be saved"...why is that Church mostly white? ...well, why is it mostly white in this country ? In a way, I feel powerless to say anything, because I am white. Who wants to hear another white guy defending his conscience? Well, I am not going to say I am not racist. That is too easy. These ways of operating are often among the involuntary sins for which we ask forgiveness, the habitual sins that we commit without even knowing it, sins that are only revealed to us through years of Confession and guidan...

The paschal season is over...ish. We have celebrated the Feast of Ascension, so we are not singing "Christ is risen..." anymore, but if you follow the example of St. Seraphim of Sarov, it is always the season for Pascha. Every Sunday is a little Pascha. So, since we can still celebrate Pascha, here is a little look into "Christ is risen..." in Chinese. This little family started in China, and there are plenty of ties to China deep in our hearts. We have been singing "Christ is risen..." in Chinese for several years now as a family. Interestingly, when I wanted to share that version here, I went poking around online, and could not find it, anywhere...but stick with me...I do share it at the end. About the only version I could find in Chinese was set to a common Greek tune . That one is easy to find...you even run into the same recording of it, by the same ensemble, over and over. I will have to say, I like that same arrangement much better sung by some ...