PARISH VOICES

Every year around this time, I notice a familiar pattern at work. Annual review season shows up, and people start asking the same questions underneath the formal conversations. Things like: Am I doing okay? Am I growing? What's coming next? They aren't really work questions — they're human questions. They show up whenever life shifts, whether we want it to or not. These questions follow us everywhere. They show up in our families, our routines, and our decisions. They show

I recently saw the movie "The Sheep Detectives," and thoroughly enjoyed it. As I was leaving the theater, I saw a movie poster with the tagline, "Truth. Justice. Whatever." written at the bottom. This is for the upcoming film, "Supergirl," and the tagline is a nod to the old Superman phrase, "Truth, justice, and the American way." I keep thinking about that "Whatever," line. It certainly expresses a youthful angst and a rebellious disillusionment with the world. The image on

When we look at the world around us, it's easy to feel like everything is splitting apart. Institutions we once trusted feel unsteady. Technology is changing faster than our hearts can keep up with. Even our own inner lives feel stretched thin, as if the familiar structures we relied on are cracking. I've felt a lot of this in my own life lately. Most days the pace of change is faster than I can absorb. Things I thought were stable have shifted. Routines I depended on have be

Did you hear the joke about Fr. Tom having a meeting with twenty people from our Church consisting of five women, five men, five kids, and five parish council members? The joke is: how many priests were in that meeting? The answer is twenty-one! I bet that you are not laughing, and you might be thinking, "Do you even know what a joke is, Josh? That isn't a joke!" I agree with you. It is not a joke, so my question is, why do we live like it is a joke? We live like Fr. Tom is t

During Holy Week, Fr. Tom spoke about exploring our inner space — in contrast to the exploration of outer space — as the Artemis II was completing its mission around the moon that week. What is our inner space? How can we access our inner space? What do we find in our inner space? In Orthodox theology, the word nous is often used for what many in the Christian world use for soul or heart. Given that the Greek definitions that come up for nous are "eye of the soul" or the "min

Recently I was blessed to spend three weeks with my Scottish granddaughters. Scotland is roughly 4,500 miles from Seattle and 8 hours ahead of us. It makes for difficult FaceTime and phone calls. The oldest is now 8½ so I've accepted the distance and relish the times I can be with them. The youngest, almost 2 years old, so loved "reading" books. She had her favorites and even if they were placed randomly on the bookshelf, she searched them out easily. The 5 year old still enj

Do you know what a Champion Leader is? In the Old Testament, we find that a champion leader was one soldier that was sent out to represent the entire army. The other army would also send out their champion leader, and the two soldiers would battle instead of the whole armies. Obviously, the most famous example of this is David and Goliath. We all know the story of the youngest, runt of the family, David going out to fight the behemoth, giant Goliath. Many times in Scripture,

One of the things I love most about the Orthodox Liturgy is how full it is. We don't just sit and watch something happen, we step into it with our whole selves. Every sense is invited to participate: we see the icons and the saints standing with us, we hear the hymns and the Gospel proclaimed, we smell the incense rising like our prayers, we touch the sign of the Cross and the hand of our neighbor, and we taste the Body and Blood of Christ. Orthodoxy doesn't treat God as an i

The decision to follow Christ is filled with much joy and wonder. It is a decision that takes us on a journey through the rest of our life. This journey is filled with high points, low points and all areas in-between. The Bible and the Church provide us with plenty of wisdom and guidance in which to follow His path. Fear not, for the Lord is with you and gives you all you need. His light, given to you at Baptism, shines within you. Our relationship with God is much like marri

"Fake it till you make it." It's a popular self-help phrase that encourages us to act like the person we want to become. Pretend you're confident, calm, or capable until eventually you actually feel that way. But at its core, it's about performing a version of ourselves we don't authentically possess: hiding real feelings, presenting a polished exterior, and pushing down our struggles as if everything is fine.

In a culture focused on pronouns, what if we focus instead on prepositions? I think as a follower of Jesus, I need to shift my prepositions; maybe you will feel the same way. If you are like me, then without realizing it, there are a lot of things that you want from other people. In fact, many of us build our identities and self-worth on what we can get from others. We often want others to make us feel good. This could be through praising us, being nice to us, doing what we w

The words "Come and dine" jumped out at me recently. Jesus wants everyone to experience time spent with Him. Sharing food together is one of the most common ways we spend time with family and friends. It is a time to share our lives, the good, the bad, and everything in between. Why not spend time with Jesus? It seems so easy — and yet spending time with Him can sometimes be elusive. As I go through my days, time seems to slip away. There is so much to keep me busy and dis

Recently my dog Charlie had to make a trip to the vet for an open sore on his foot that just wouldn't heal. They sent him home with antibiotics and the infamous cone of shame to keep him from licking the wound so it could finally recover. As I watched him navigate life with limited vision, I noticed he bounced between freezing and panicking, and both reactions only made things worse. As I tried to help him adjust, I couldn't help but think about how we sometimes live with our

I have been thinking a lot about communication, so this Nativity season, I've been considering how God changed His communication with us through Christmas. In the Old Testament, God revealed Himself to individuals, and He primarily communicated to His people through the prophets. The first great prophet was Moses, and way back in Exodus 33, Moses meets with God on Mt. Sinai. Moses asks to see God's glory, and God says that He will reveal His goodness and His name to Moses.

We are blessed to live in a Christian church that is so full and rich with tradition. Christ initiated and taught us how to live, walk, pray, and worship Him through His words which are visible in the written word of the Bible and His directives to His close followers. The Apostles continued Christ's teachings through speaking and writing to those in their travels. The teachings grew from the original followers to other people around the world throughout the centuries.

For the past 15 years I've worked in technology, learning new tools and software that promise to help us work smarter, not harder. Yet I've also seen how these same tools, if left unprotected, can make us work harder and even cause us to lose something far more precious than data - our true identity. Last month we heard a presentation on Unseen Intruders reminding us how quickly artificial intelligence (AI) has become part of our daily lives. When ChatGPT launched three year

It's that time of year again! Need I say more? The stores are already decked out for the dark days of December making them a beautiful sight to the eyes. How many Christmas songs come to mind about the holidays - snowfall, holly, Christmas trees, reindeer and jingle bells. An exciting time for many. It also brings about a pressure to do it right, provide the best Christmas for the family and be joyful doing it all. For others, it is a time of mourning as they remember loved o

A few years back, a friend was talking to me and used the phrase, "Middle-aged people like us." It was one of those phrases that made me stop listening to whatever else he was talking about. I looked around and noted that only the two of us were present. I realized with shock that my friend thought that I was middle-aged. I received a second shock when it occurred to me that my friend was right. I suppose another indicator that I am aging happens when I'm around teenagers...

A dear, old friend texted me. She had questions about Orthodoxy. She was raised Catholic and has been Protestant over 45 years. We have known each other the same amount of time so she knows my journey and my joining the Orthodox church eight years ago after first attending a liturgy eleven years ago.

On November 21st we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Theotokos in the Temple. The story of Mary's early life is not found in the Bible but rather the Book of James (also called the Protevangelion). According to tradition, Mary was just three years old when her parents, Joachim and Anna, fulfilled their promise to offer her to the Lord. She ran joyfully into the arms of the priest Zacharias, even danced, and remained in the temple for nine years until she was rea