Octopodial Chrome

James Nee writes about his thoughts on his son’s growing up. A must-read for any guy.

David Schneider writes about the path which brought him from evangelicalism to Orthodoxy. A must-read for Protestants everywhere—it’ll raise questions you’ve probably not dealt with before.

I saw this today:

Today many people, wishing for an excuse not to do what God asks of them, find fault with the teaching of the Holy Church and reject correct Christian belief. Instead, they choose to believe what they wish. This is akin to a man, not wishing to believe that he will die, simply because the notion does not comfort him. Not only will he fail to prepare for death, as one ought to do, but he will inevitably find himself in the snare of death. Correct belief is not based on what we wish were true, but on Truth itself.

Archimandrite Chrysostomos, The Ancient Fathers of the Desert

That about says it all. It also dovetails nicely with my thoughts on sin, which are that it is not bad so much because it is breaking divine law (although it does do so, of course), but because it is bad for us; sin is a disease. We may not wish to admit that murder, or pride, or lust, or greed are bad for the soul, but they poison it nonetheless—that’s the truth.