Nothing Is Sinful
“So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”
—Revelation 3:16
The “Harp of the Holy Spirit” was the nickname given to the fourth-century poet-saint Ephrem the Syrian. Gregory of Nyssa compared him to the River Euphrates because he “irrigated by his waters the Christian community to bring forth fruits of faith a hundred-fold.” Ephrem was declared a doctor of the church by Pope Benedict XV and is especially known by all Orthodox Christians for a prayer he wrote that is recited often during the season of Lent:
O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk. . . .
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Thomas S. Buchanan is the George W. Laird Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware. He has studied at UCSD, Northwestern University, and MIT, and has held visiting professorships at the University of Western Australia and the University of Aix-Marseille. He has served as department chairman, deputy dean, and institute director, president of the American Society of Biomechanics, and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Biomechanics. He is on the Board of Trustees of Saint Katherine College, the editorial board of Touchstone, and the board of The Fellowship of St. James.
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