In this post I give a brief biography and my beliefs so you know the world view behind every post. I also give a disclaimer you should always keep in mind.
BIOGRAPHY
I am a grandfather, self-employed consultant, widower, and withdrawn from the world. My days and nights are devoted to work and prayer, not as a matter of mere austere discipline, but to reach toward the holiness and perfection to which the Lord Jesus Christ Son of God calls us. May we have mercy.
I live in Florida where several groups present living history events and reenact military life and battles of the past. In a similar way every day I am an authentic reenactor of Adam and Eve’s actions in the Garden of Eden: I use my rational mind to exclude God as I decide what to do from one situation to another.
Not only do I enter that ancient battle, but the current battle lines run through my heart. Several times a day I find myself on the wrong side and against God. Then it is a personal battle to break free of the enemies lines to get back on the right side. When I get trapped behind enemy lines it’s because I hesitated and did not act quickly or decisive enough to avoid getting entangled in the passions.
WHAT I BELIEVED AND BELIEVE NOW
In 2021 I converted to Eastern Orthodoxy. I attend a ROCOR (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia) church. Before, during, and after the Divine Liturgy I don’t know whether I am in heaven or on earth.
Prior to 2021 I spent decades as an atheist, decades as an Evangelical Protestant including years as a five-point Calvinist (TULIP: Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and Perseverance of the saints) and thirteen wonderful years with many blessings as a Benedictine in Catholicism.
All those previous beliefs helped me and I treasure what I experienced of the Holy Spirit in each stage of my life. I have no strong regrets that it took me so long to become an Eastern Orthodox Christian because each stage worked to grind away falsehoods and prepared me for the next.
Are you an atheist, Protestant, or Catholic? I was too. You will receive no criticism or argument from me because those groups helped me so much and no amount of debate ever helped me come to Orthodoxy in 2021.
If you live as an Orthodox Christian and in its tradition, good. That is my life too. Please comment on posts to add your own experiences along the way, provide other resources, and correct my errors.
If you want to contact me directly, please email me at stillnessathome@gmail.com.
DISCLAIMER
To the best of my ability all my writing will be grounded in the saints and the holy church fathers of the Orthodox Church who followed tradition and avoided the dangers of ecumenism and modernism. If I write something that conflicts with the Orthodox faith and tradition, don’t believe it!