Thaddeus Patrick (Orthodox Coaching)

"A person who dwells in a state of Grace is ready to weep for anyone. He weeps when he sees the suffering of an animal, a plant, a person… Such a person is always ready to shed tears for the whole world...Those are tears that save."

One of the biggest dangers I have had to work to overcome, and one I am often talking about with my coaching clients, is letting go of the illusion that growth should always be immediately felt.

No, your good behavior and good feelings don't mean you are in a good state spiritually. Neither do your bad feelings or dry spiritual state mean you are in a bad place.

"He who has the Kingdom of God in himself will imperceptibly pass it on to others. People will be attracted by the peace and warmth in us; they will want to be near us, and the atmosphere of heaven will gradually pass on to them. It is not even necessary to speak to people about this. The atmosphere of heaven will radiate from us even when we keep silence or talk about ordinary things. It will radiate from us even though we may not be aware of it."

I wrote a while back about some of the issues with the war against masculinity, and also the war for masculinity. I proposed that we often shoot ourselves in the foot in our good intentions, and that the only true path to masculinity comes from the sacrificial love of Christ revealed in the Cross. This time, I want to focus on what I believe is the deeper problem in our culture: the war against…

The Scriptures often describe the Christian’s relationship with sin as warfare. The Orthodox Christian tradition is full of incredible writings on this subject from its 2,000 years of experience, such as The Ladder of Divine Ascent and Unseen Warfare. I do not intend here to write anything comprehensive on this subject, as these texts do a far better job than I could even dream of, but instead, I…