Walking an Ancient Path

The music of the Orthodox Church can feel strange and foreign. But in the current Protestant worship landscape, concert-style performances and emotionalism dominate. In this episode Lynnette explores our need for the Church's otherworldly music.

When Lynnette’s husband contracted a painful case of shingles, neither of them thought to use holy oil in his journey of healing. Why not? This episode explores three reasons—faith background, culture, and personal doubt—that many of us don’t connect the physical and the spiritual in prayer.

Hymns about the three Holy Youths in the furnace keep popping up in Orthodox services. Their placement seems random, but it’s not. In this episode Lynnette discusses the meaning and symbolism in this story, as well as the sections of the Book of Daniel that are missing from Protestant Bibles.

How do we continue celebrating the living reality of the Resurrection once Pascha is over? In this episode we look at habit formation and applying to our daily lives the lessons we’ve learned during the Great Fast.

Great Lent is the season for making prostrations. But aren’t these a Muslim thing? Lynnette explores the history and powerful meaning behind falling to the floor in our prayers to the Lord.

The Akathist to the Theotokos is an important part of Great Lent in many parishes. But why do we stand? And why is the Virgin Mary called “Champion General”? In this episode, Lynnette explores the content and history of this beloved hymn.

Outward silence can be difficult to find, but the Church is more concerned with inner silence, a quietude of the heart. Lynnette explores the saints’ advice for cultivating stillness at times, regardless of our circumstances.

In Lynnette’s Protestant past, “speaking the truth in love” was emphasized. The Orthodox Church’s emphasis on silence, both outward and inward, was new to her. In this episode, we’ll consider what the saints teach about limiting what we say.

It happens to all of us—our minds drift, and we’re filled with worries when we should be worshiping. Yet God meets us in the nave even when we’re distracted. Lynnette shares some wisdom from the saints as well as some truths to keep in mind when we struggle to pay attention during the Divine Liturgy.

The Christian life is a path of repentance, but lots of us carry negative attitudes about repentance and confession. In this episode, Lynnette discusses the Fathers’ life-giving understanding of repentance and the baggage we carry