Hello again everyone!

On September 8, Presbytera and I welcomed our second child, Dimitri Bekris, into the world and are lives are now full of even more love and joy!  The other side of that, of course, is that one’s own life changes a great deal when a newborn, not to mention a rambunctious two year old, are in the family, and things like blogs tend to fall by the wayside.  ☹

Even so, I wanted to let everyone know that although I haven’t put anything on the site recently, I am still very much the same geeky Orthodox priest and a lot of new things are coming down the pipeline which I’m really looking forward to!  You may remember my dear friend Chris Kotsakis (who I interviewed here and here), who runs the Artistacon show on the East Coast for established as well as aspiring artists, and is a successful commercial artist in his own right, as well as faithful Orthodox Christian.  Shortly after my interview with him last year, Chris asked me about the possibility of doing a podcast together on a regular basis, one which would bring Christ, Coffee, and Comics into the audio realm.  It sounded like a great idea, given how huge podcasts are nowadays.

I’ll confess that I mulled the idea over quite a bit at first, as I had no idea how on earth I could keep up with being a dad, a parish priest, and having a once a month blog, let alone a podcast on top of all that!  However, after much prayer and deliberation, I felt like it was something I should do.  I think what ultimately convinced me was simply the belief that, as I always say, each of us has something- a calling, a talent, a destiny, whatever- that is meant to be shared with the world for the glory of God, and for our own good as well.

Even though “Christ, Coffee and Comics” has been a ton of fun and, I hope, helpful for youth ministry as well, it feels as though I’m just barely scratching the surface of what can be accomplished.  There is so much that whirls around our heads on a daily, if not hourly basis in pop culture and news, and a lot more that can be said about it- both from the Church’s perspective and the perspective of an individual Christian, not to mention fan!  Once a month is nice, but a lot more can be done, especially given how mainstream comics and the superhero genre have become.

So for the first time ever, I’d like to announce that the podcast “Creative Blessings” will be launching very soon!  To add to that, I’ll be changing the look of the site to blend with both podcasts and articles and bring them to the foreground a bit more.  We’ll see where it goes in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, please continue to pray for the blog as a ministry.  I could very easily talk about comics and movies all day long, and sometimes have!  But unless I feel that someone is reading and being helped by it in some way, I can’t see myself justifying the time it takes.  When I write an article, my hope is that someone reading is being given something to chew on, maybe by looking at what’s in pop culture in a different light. Hopefully by reading the blog they don’t just hear about a cool movie or book, but receive strength and assistance in their faith and in their life.  I always love seeing sites, podcasts, webcasts and so forth that people can use as a discussion starter among friends or in a formal setting, like parish reading group or youth group.  Please pray.

Thank you to everyone who has made this so much fun for me over the last two years and before that.  Please let me know what you’d like to see from this podcast, and if there’s a specific topic you’d like us to cover!  We need the feedback just as much as anything else, so please let us know.

Thank you, especially, to Chris Kotsakis who is covering all costs associated with “Creative Blessings” and whose connections are taking care of the nuts and bolts of the podcast itself.  It’s been a blessing to get to know you, I’m really looking forward to doing this together.  God bless you brother!

Looking forward to seeing where the Lord takes us.  Stay tuned, more is coming soon!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

– Proverbs 3:5-6