Molded
Molded
June 8, 2025
My artistic skills leave much to be desired. But I have always loved looking at art, and art history was one of my majors in college. Since then, I have relished visiting numerous museums whenever I travel. Perhaps because I lack any artistic skills in any medium, I appreciate those with talent to create art. The fact that I have no talent or skills in this area was pointed out to me by my fifth-grade art teacher. I do not recall the exact assignment, but I vividly remember painting a picture of a vase with flowers. The vase that I painted had no base at its bottom, but instead came to a V-shape. The art teacher was quick to point out that my creation was silly, as the vase was incapable of standing up without a base to hold it up and therefore would collapse. My eleven-year-old ego was somewhat bruised after the negative comment made by the teacher. Only decades later did I think of a retort. If Picasso could paint a woman with one eye and three breasts with flesh in several colors, why couldn’t I paint a vase that rests on a point? (more…)
Are you a fan of or afraid of the dark? My husband and I frequently have a “battle of the lights.” Bright lights bother my eyes. Also, I was raised in a time when leaving any lights on in an unoccupied room would elicit a negative comment from my father about the high electricity bill. On the other hand, my husband never met a light he did not want to illuminate, and I frequently accuse him of holding stock in our local electric company.
The recent Olympics in Paris were quite a spectacle. From the unusual opening parade on the Seine River to the amazing story of US gymnast Simone Biles, the Olympics were an impressive competition to behold. Nevertheless, the event was not without its controversies. What struck me, in particular, was the storm surrounding the women’s boxing match and the boxer from Algeria.
The architectural layout of a traditional Orthodox Church is something that I have always loved. Usually, the conventional interior design of an Orthodox church has three main sections, the narthex or vestibule, the nave or main part of the church/temple, and the sanctuary or the altar area. While I imagine that most people do not think much about the vestibule or narthex section of a church, traditionally it is an essential part of the liturgical rites of the Orthodox Church. Those preparing for baptism, the catechumens were to remain in this area and were prohibited from entering the main part of the church. It was also the place penitents were relegated to stand during the Divine Liturgy until the end of their penitential period. Today, many of the divine services and mysteries of the Church, begin in the narthex. For example, baptisms, marriages, funerals, and certain Lenten and Holy Week ceremonies are called to start in the vestibule. Today, in many Orthodox Churches the vestibule is the place to purchase and light candles or find parish bulletins, but rarely is this area given much of a second thought by most Orthodox Christians. The important sections are usually seen as the nave or church proper as well as the sanctuary, behind the iconostasis or icon screen. 
Through the generosity of the editors of “Orthodoxy in Dialogue,” we are pleased to re-post a wonderfully sincere and poignant piece entitled “A Gay’s Man Dormition Story”, published on their website on August 15, 2023, by an anonymous source. Please read the full article by following the link to “Orthodoxy in Dialogue” below, following the first paragraph of the work. 
One of the things that good teachers know is that there is no such thing as a stupid or wrong question from their students. To suggest to a student otherwise is to immediately shut down the possibility of further learning by the student. Every teacher has encountered numerous instances in class when a student raises their hand and begins with one of these phrases “I know this is a stupid question… OR… I am probably wrong but…” It takes a lot of courage for many students to raise their hand, risking judgment by their teacher as well as their peers, to ask a question that might be perceived by others as a stupid one or the wrong one. To dismiss that student’s question is the complete opposite of what teaching is all about. The Socratic method of teaching, based on asking and answering questions, promotes critical thinking and draws out new ways of thinking and understanding.