Thanks for this, it really resonates. As a former Protestant I was steeped in end times theology and hour-and-a-half-long sermons from the pulpit, with oversized timeline banners stretched behind the lectern (no offense intended to my Protestant brothers). I’ve come to realize that Christian eschatology was never meant to be a parlor game for doomsday prophets or a riddle for theological hobbyists. It’s a call to presence, to live now as if the Kingdom is not only coming, but already brushing against our skin in bread, wine, breath, and silence.
What really struck me is how profoundly your message aligns with incarnational mysticism, which is the core subject of my reflections in Desert and Fire: the conviction that the eternal doesn’t hover above history, but seeps into it… through matter, through moments, through us. Saint Basil’s teaching that time began in an indivisible instant is a mystical heartbeat, a pulse that continues, not just in cosmic chronology, but in every liturgy, every act of mercy, every encounter with the real. Zizioulas picks up that thread, reminding us that the Eucharist is not just remembrance but rupture, a sacred breach where heaven enters the room and time kneels.
From that perspective, eschatology ceases to be a countdown and becomes a calling: to live as if Christ already reigns, not only at the world’s end but in this moment, in this place. And if being itself is relational, as Zizioulas writes, then the Kingdom isn’t just ahead it’s within, waiting to be realized in how we see, serve, and share. The end, as your piece explains so well, is not escape, but union. Not someday, but now.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts—they really hit home. You've captured the idea of eschatology so well, moving it from speculation to the real presence of God "brushing against our skin in bread, wine, breath, and silence."
I love how you painted a powerful image of the Eucharist as a "sacred breach where heaven enters the room and time kneels." Appreciate this conversation about living the Kingdom right now, not just as some future escape, but as union with Christ today.
I hope you'll likewise enjoy the follow-up coming next month.
This is wonderful. I didn't know where I could get your email address to request for the pdf but please do send me the pdf of the presentation if possible @ eden.demissiee@gmail.com
Zoe press, out in California, has an outstanding English Translation in Five Volumes 😌 of the sermons ⛪✍🏼📘 of Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios of Greece on the entire Revelation of Saint John. His deep insight and Orthodox patristic commentary from the 1980's is absolutely wonderful. ✅ Can't recommend this work 🕯️📯🪽and this publishing house enough! Grace and peace to you, ☦️ Christ is RISEN! Blessed Feast of ✳️ Mid-Pentecost, 2025. ⛲
Thanks for this, it really resonates. As a former Protestant I was steeped in end times theology and hour-and-a-half-long sermons from the pulpit, with oversized timeline banners stretched behind the lectern (no offense intended to my Protestant brothers). I’ve come to realize that Christian eschatology was never meant to be a parlor game for doomsday prophets or a riddle for theological hobbyists. It’s a call to presence, to live now as if the Kingdom is not only coming, but already brushing against our skin in bread, wine, breath, and silence.
What really struck me is how profoundly your message aligns with incarnational mysticism, which is the core subject of my reflections in Desert and Fire: the conviction that the eternal doesn’t hover above history, but seeps into it… through matter, through moments, through us. Saint Basil’s teaching that time began in an indivisible instant is a mystical heartbeat, a pulse that continues, not just in cosmic chronology, but in every liturgy, every act of mercy, every encounter with the real. Zizioulas picks up that thread, reminding us that the Eucharist is not just remembrance but rupture, a sacred breach where heaven enters the room and time kneels.
From that perspective, eschatology ceases to be a countdown and becomes a calling: to live as if Christ already reigns, not only at the world’s end but in this moment, in this place. And if being itself is relational, as Zizioulas writes, then the Kingdom isn’t just ahead it’s within, waiting to be realized in how we see, serve, and share. The end, as your piece explains so well, is not escape, but union. Not someday, but now.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts—they really hit home. You've captured the idea of eschatology so well, moving it from speculation to the real presence of God "brushing against our skin in bread, wine, breath, and silence."
I love how you painted a powerful image of the Eucharist as a "sacred breach where heaven enters the room and time kneels." Appreciate this conversation about living the Kingdom right now, not just as some future escape, but as union with Christ today.
I hope you'll likewise enjoy the follow-up coming next month.
Yes, looking forward to it.
This is wonderful. I didn't know where I could get your email address to request for the pdf but please do send me the pdf of the presentation if possible @ eden.demissiee@gmail.com
Zoe press, out in California, has an outstanding English Translation in Five Volumes 😌 of the sermons ⛪✍🏼📘 of Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios of Greece on the entire Revelation of Saint John. His deep insight and Orthodox patristic commentary from the 1980's is absolutely wonderful. ✅ Can't recommend this work 🕯️📯🪽and this publishing house enough! Grace and peace to you, ☦️ Christ is RISEN! Blessed Feast of ✳️ Mid-Pentecost, 2025. ⛲
Truly he is risen! Thanks for the suggestion, Robert!