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    A Paradoxical Wonder: The Double One

    …A double man, made from two natures In an inexpressible wonder… O paradoxical wonder [You are] among… the creatures, Both immaterial and material: The material are the things that you see, And the immaterial are angels. Thus, among them are you The living man, the double one: Immaterial among the sensible [creatures] And sensible among the immaterial ones. +St Symeon the New Theologian, Hymn 53   As he looked on the vastness of the sky, contemplated the night stars and beheld the moon, the psalmist asked, “What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?” The question of the human person is an ancient itch that continues to gnaw away…

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    Impulsivity, Addiction, and the Passions

    It should come as no surprise to those familiar with individuals struggling with addiction that impulsivity is a core issue. In technical terms, there is a certain fundamental correlation between addiction and impulsivity. People who are impulsive are more vulnerable to developing addictive behavior, because they give little regard to adverse consequences (Impulse Control Disorders and Co-Occurring Disorders, Potenza, p. 51) or to be more precise, they prefer immediate reinforcers to delayed ones, instant gratification to long-term satisfaction. Being impulsive means acting without forethought. And although those struggling to be free of an addiction know full well that not acting on impulse is in the long run more beneficial than…

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    Raising the Mind, Warming the Heart

    By Blessed Seraphim Rose of Platina Raising the Mind, Warming the Heart 1. Faith and Reason The writings of the Russian philosopher Ivan Kireyevsky contain some basic ideas which are very apropos for us today. The usual argument between faith and reason, he wrote, is not correct. Reason is such a thing that it must be raised up to a higher level, and this is what the Orthodox Church tries to give. By itself, reason does not offer any more than an understanding of this two-dimensional, corporeal realm, with which most of the critics and scholars of the West are occupying themselves. There is something, however, above this. According to…