Some Lenten Perspective

Maybe you are feeling pretty good about yourself; maybe as the second week of Great Lent (first for the Orthodox) winds down you have succeeded in whatever sacrifice you have undertaken, made real progress. Lest you succumb to pride, let me share this with you, the traditional rules of fasting from the Orthodox Church in [...]

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Unprecedented

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Walking Home

This morning I took my Saturn to be repaired at a mechanic’s shop about a mile from home. After dropping it off I walked back to the house. It is always a delight to walk a route one has driven many times, always a surprise to see the details one misses driving by in an auto. [...]

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Finishing the Base Coat

I had time to paint on Sunday, and finished the underpainting. Not all iconographers build the color up until it is solid; some prefer mottled effects, and I have done that on occasion. This is a slow process, and progress is gradual. A lot of work goes into this with very little effect. But from [...]

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The Greatest Movie Ever Made by Native Americans About Native Americans

Well, actually it is the only movie ever made by Native Americans about Native Americans. Byzantine Catholics and Orthodox Christians don’t have a big blow out the night before Great Lent begins, like Western Christians do with Mardi Gras. Instead we ease into the fast, first with Meatfare Week, two weeks before Lent begins, where one can [...]

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The Absolute Coolest Way to Peel Garlic

I love cooking with garlic, and loathe peeling it. Not only is it time consuming but it leaves your hands reeking. And while I don’t consider the odor of garlic to be unpleasant, I am told that those who do not indulge in the Blessed Bulb find it noxious. Then one day I tuned into [...]

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For the First Sunday of Great Lent: The Litany of Peace

Icon by Mother Anastasia

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Laying Down Color

After drawing all the lines of the pattern with black paint and a fine brush, I begin  laying down the color for the underpainting. In iconography, as in the spiritual life, we begin with darkness and work toward the light. Many people find this part of the process painstaking or boring, but I find that painting [...]

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Right and Left and Self-Deception

The Akron Beacon Journal juxtaposed two editorials today, originally printed in The LA Times, that illustrate as well as anything I have seen the hopeless impasse that exists between the dominant political paradigms in this country. As one who does not fit easily into either camp- for I am prolife, prolabor, antiwar, anticapitalist, and a moral [...]

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An Icon Completed

I have completed my first icon since August. To give some perspective to this, I have averaged two icons a month over the last ten years. As regular readers know, I began having trouble painting last spring, and it took a while to figure out that I had cataracts, which made hand-eye coordination excruciating. After [...]

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