Practical Theology in Verse: Volume II

Bishop Paul of Tracheia is a well-known and popular figure in anglophone Orthodox circles, where he speaks on theology and comtemplative/corporate worship to a wide audience. At one level, his obvious delight in the creator's work as revealed in nature and the changing seasons, and their impact on the person of an aging hierarch, touch us all - Orthodox or Protestant, or of any faith under the sun. At a deeper level, Paul's verse stories about Noah, Daniel, the Pharisee and the publican, St Simeon and the mystery of Christ's Resurrection, together with his finely crafted sonnets and poems of pure prayer, hint at some of the issues specific to Orthodox Christianity: the idea of theosis (becoming godlike); the monastic (Athonite) tradition; the cleansing of the spirit through Hesychastic prayer; and the importance of phronema (mindset). Paul's God is a God of Love; for, as the other Paul said, 'Without love I am nothing.' Here is a message we can all understand, told by a man who lives far from the madding crowd, but is definitely engaged with the world, both spiritually and physically.