In the graceful encounter of theology and psychology, Fr. Stephen Muse guides us, weaving through his personal narrative, an opus of Orthodox tradition. His testimony witnesses of Christ’s glory, attests to the luminous lives of the saints, echoed through the centuries. His faith resonates with the profound proclamation—Christ’s journey through creation to sanctify humanity in His image. In rhapsodic chapters, inflamed with divine thirst, Fr. Stephen pours out his soul, searching for Christ amidst the static of our postmodern, falsehood-clad culture. From one Christological feast to another, from the Nativity and Epiphany’s hidden revelations, through the crucible of Gethsemane and the Cross, to the Resurrection’s surprising dawn, he teaches us the grace of wounds, the value of failure, our shared culpability in casting stones at Jesus, and the redeeming power of involuntary suffering. He shows us that Christ’s image isn’t discovered in memorization or analysis, but in the heart’s encounter with His person.
The Church, he professes, is not a structure of religion, but a communion pursued in the authenticity of repentance, a hallowed path to salvation. Fr. Stephen’s work, tinged with his warmth and interest in psychology, theology, culture, and the arts, captures the reader, a bridge over the chasm between the world of Spirit and creation. These considerations of the author of this book deeply affect theological education, which views knowledge not just as acquisition, but as a shared, communal journey. The essence of its teachings, the cadence of its lessons, and the unique nature of its curriculum unfold truths that can’t merely be imparted from the outside; they’re intertwined with living. Fr. Stephen implores us to approach Christ with questions, akin to Luke and Cleopas on their journey to Emmaus, seeking answers not in stark revelation, but in the shared meal’s eucharistic reciprocity of love. As the bread breaks, they recognize their guest turned host, only for Him to vanish, leaving behind a world forever changed in their eyes. Here, Fr. Muse might be hinting at larger cultural evolutions and their profound impacts on human thought and behavior.
—-From the Preface by Bishop Maxim (Vasiljević)
See interview on OCN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uXN0pNvJkM
Available from Sebastian Press in paperback and from Amazon.com in kindle.
