Read the
Washington Post article, "
How to Be Good," a review of Wendy Shalit's new book,
Girls Gone Mild. I'm glad to see that young women are becoming more self-aware of the problems within our culture and the consequences of living according to warped cultural values. While I hope to see a strong trend among young women toward "traditional morality" and ethical living, even those who reject the harmful cultural values don't have a complete understanding of what "good" means, why being bad is harmful to their own souls and to others, and why it's good to be good.
American culture is like a ship in a wind-tossed sea. We can see over the last several decades how the pendulum has swung from one movement to another, reacting against the one before. Within the Orthodox Church, however, a certain continuity has been maintained for 2,000 years. What young women in secular American culture are rediscovering, we have known since the beginning. Orthodoxy offers a holistic understanding of the self and life that can help young women live truly good lives for their own benefit and the benefit of their families.
Copyright © 2007 by Dana S. Kees.
(Italian Girl Drawing Water, by William Adolphe Bouguereau, is in the public domain.)
Today is the 1600th anniversary of the falling asleep of St. John Chrysostom, recognized as one of the greatest preachers in the history of the Church. The name given to him, "Chrysostom," meaning "golden mouth," testifies to his eloquence.
