Author Archives: Fr. Kevin+

About Fr. Kevin+

Fr. Kevin completed his studies for a Diploma in Anglican Studies at Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA, and did his coursework almost entirely online. He was ordained as a transitional deacon in the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) on February 9, 2008 and as a priest in CANA on May 1, 2008. He is now a priest for the new parish plant, St. Augustine's Anglican Church in Columbus, OH, part of the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes and the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA).

Aldersgate Remembered

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John WesleyToday marks the 275th anniversary of Fr. John Wesley’s Aldersgate Experience, in which his heart was “strangely warmed” and which changed the course of the Methodist movement forever. I was a Methodist for the first 50 years of my life and am proud of that heritage. It is a sad testimony to the human condition that Wesley’s followers eventually split from the Church of England. But that does not take away the fact that Wesley and his movement came from the great umbrella that is the Anglican Tradition and we are the better for it.

Wednesday, May 24, [1738]. I think it was about five this morning, that I opened my Testament on those words, “There are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, even that ye should be partakers of the divine nature.” ( 2 Peter 1:4.) Just as I went out, I opened it again on those words, “Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.” In the afternoon I was asked to go to St. Paul’s. The anthem was, “Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. O let thine ears consider well the voice of my complaint. If thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it? For there is mercy with thee; therefore shalt thou be feared. O Israel, trust in the Lord: For with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his sins.” In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate-Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation: And an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. I began to pray with all my might for those who had in a more especial manner despitefully used me and persecuted me. I then testified openly to all there, what I now first felt in my heart. But it was not long before the enemy suggested, “This cannot be faith; for where is thy joy?” Then was I taught, that peace and victory over sin are essential to faith in the Captain of our salvation: But that, as to the transports of joy that usually attend the beginning of it, especially in those who have mourned deeply, God sometimes giveth, sometimes withholdeth them, according to the counsels of his own will. After my return home, I was much buffeted with temptations; but cried out, and they fled away. They returned again and again. I as often lifted up my eyes, and He “sent me help from his holy place.” And herein I found the difference between this and my former state chiefly consisted. I was striving, yea, fighting with all my might under the law, as well as under grace. But then I was sometimes, if not often, conquered; now, I was always conqueror.

—John Wesley, Journal

Haley Gray Scott: Auditing America’s Political Integrity

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Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. This is an outstanding article and worth your serious musing. At the very least Scott reminds every American that moral integrity does count and counts a lot. It is also a wake-up call for Christians to make their voices heard as well. See what you think.

It’s been a long time since we’ve heard anything about what it means to be a good, virtuous person, much less saw those characteristics demonstrated regularly throughout our political system. “We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise,’ wrote C.S. Lewis. “We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.”

It’s not only our politicians. It’s endemic to our culture, baked into the structure of our society. This corrosion of morality affects our businesses, schools, appetites, sports, and yes, churches. In my role as a seminary professor, I’ve interacted with seemingly innocuous colleagues who were eventually charged with heinous crimes and then went on to rationalize them, rather than take responsibility and offer remorse. I’ve seen administration manipulate faculty and students abuse professors, cheat on assignments, and rarely receive anything more than an academic penalty and an apologetic slap on the wrist. We don’t even have the appropriate safeguards in our churches to ensure those helming the ship aren’t sexualpredators.

It’s a tale as old as time. We sweep the sin under the rug and make the victim go away. In cowardice we fail to confront evil in our midst because we all too often care more about power and money (which is nothing more than monetized power) than we care about the integrity, the character, of our leaders and future leaders.

A Prayer to the Holy Spirit from Augustine

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Breathe in me, Holy Spirit, that I may think what is holy. Move me, Holy Spirit, that I may do what is holy. Attract me, Holy Spirit, that I may love what is holy. Strengthen me, Holy Spirit, that I may guard what is holy. Guard me, Holy Spirit, that I may keep what is holy. Amen.

–Augustine of Hippo

Got Fruit? That’s the Spirit!

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Sermon delivered on Pentecost Sunday, May 19, 2013, at St. Augustine’s Anglican Church, Columbus, OH.

Lectionary texts: Acts 2.1-21; Psalm 104.24-34; Romans 8.14-17; John 14.8-17, 25-27.

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

We can all relate to Philip’s request in this morning’s gospel lesson. Anyone who has ever shown any kind of interest in God would like to see God and this is confirmed consistently by Scripture (cf. Moses and the psalmists). In fact, if we are honest with ourselves, many of us would admit that we wish we had been a contemporary of Jesus because it would have been so much easier for us to follow him. He would have been around to answer all our questions and we could have seen Jesus in action first-hand. But even a superficial reading of the gospels proves this notion is mistaken. How many times did Jesus have to correct and rebuke his disciples, especially Peter? (Quite often.) How often did they get to share in Jesus’ mighty acts of power? (Not much.) No wonder we hear echoes of sorrow and frustration in Jesus’ answer to Philip (and to us when we essentially ask the same question in different ways in our doubts and fears)—“You know me and have seen all the works I have done. How can you say show us the Father? I speak and do the things I do only because the Father is in me. If you want to see the Father look at me. The Father and I are one (John 10.30).”

Then Jesus makes the most astonishing promise. He tells his disciples (and us) that those who believe in him will do even greater things than he does and it will be easier to know him than it currently is! How can that be? The answer, of course, is God’s giving of the Holy Spirit and this is what I want us to look at briefly this morning. Specifically, I want to set the story of Pentecost in its proper context, to look at why it is important for us to have the Spirit present in our lives, both collectively as the Church and individually, and then for us to look at some of the ways we can recognize the Spirit’s presence in our lives today because recognizing the Spirit’s presence and activities is not always as straightforward as it sounds.

Luke’s account of the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost reminds us that this particular instance of God’s gracious action among his people was no isolated event. Like everything else in the Bible, the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost—itself an OT festival that came 50 days after the great Passover celebration—had a context. Ten days ago we celebrated Jesus’ Ascension into heaven, an event that occurred 40 days after Jesus’ death and resurrection, events we have celebrated these past 50 days of Easter. On the cross, Jesus made atonement for our sins and reconciled us to God. He also defeated evil and the dark powers behind it. And in Jesus’ resurrection, God not only conquered the ultimate evil of death, he also ushered in his promised new creation, although not fully (cf. Romans 8.1-4; Colossians 2.13-15; 1 Corinthians 15.35-57). That’s why we, like Peter and the first disciples, still live in the last days. God’s new creation has not yet come in full and so we must wait for the final consummation. Now Jesus has ascended to the Father to take his rightful place at God’s right hand—NT code meaning that Jesus is ruler and Lord of all creation—and to intercede for us. There would be no more post-resurrection appearances (with the notable exception of Paul). So how is Jesus going to manifest his rule over creation? How are Jesus’ followers going to know he is still present with them if they cannot see him and interact with him as they had done prior to his Ascension?

Jesus provides us the answer in our gospel lesson this morning when he promises to send another helper, the Advocate. The Greek for another, allos, means another of the same sort rather than another of a different kind. In other words, Jesus promised that the Spirit would be another Jesus, but who would not be limited by space/time constraints the way the human Jesus was limited. The Spirit would therefore make it easier to know Jesus in this new mode, not harder, and the Spirit would be the one who would enable Jesus’ followers to do greater things than Jesus had done in his earthly ministry and to help us understand all that Jesus said and taught. The Spirit also advocates for us in our weakness to the Father and comforts and helps us in our trials and sufferings, not unlike how we are comforted by others in our grief and loss. This reminds us that even when we are given the Spirit to live in us, we are not promised to be immune from all the hurt, heartache, and suffering that exists in God’s good but broken world. Rather, what Jesus promises is that he will give us the needed resources to cope with and even transcend the world’s brokenness and our own. Paul says essentially the same thing in our epistle lesson when he tells us we are not given the Spirit to fall back into fear, but to transform us into the very image of Jesus so that we too can become God’s children. In other words, the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives is equivalent to God’s presence with his people in the wilderness in the pillars of cloud and fire and later in the Temple Solomon built at Jerusalem.

Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit was of course fulfilled at Pentecost, and in spades. No longer would the Holy Spirit fall on a select few like it had done with the OT prophets, e.g., Moses, David, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, et al. Now the Spirit would be given to all believers of Jesus the Messiah to transform us into his very likeness. And it is through his Spirit-empowered and transformed people that Jesus will manifest his rule over all creation. This is what Paul means when he talks about us being joint heirs and rulers with Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 6.2). Let that sink in for a moment. We who are followers of Jesus and who are being transformed into his likeness by his very Spirit living in us are called to be joint heirs of the kingdom with Jesus. It truly boggles the mind; but it is quite consistent with God’s original intention for humans at creation (cf. Genesis 1.26-27).

But before we get too giddy over this mind-boggling promise, let us also consider the clause that immediately follows Paul’s promise about being joint heirs with Jesus. Paul tells us we will be joint heirs with Jesus if, in fact, we suffer with him. Uh oh. We are all about that joint heir thingy but not so red hot about the suffering part. But the fact is that throughout Scripture God shapes and equips his prophets and the followers of Jesus to become like him through suffering. Consider Moses, who had to endure the rebelliousness of God’s people for 40 years of wandering in the wilderness and who provoked him to sin so that God denied him entrance into the promised land. Or consider David, who after being anointed by Samuel, had to endure the wrath of Saul, who was determined to murder his God-appointed successor. Then there was Ruth, the Moabite woman, who suffered the loss of virtually all her means of support but who remained faithful to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and as a result found great blessing. The writer of Hebrews presents an interesting litany of suffering saints that is a powerful reminder that this is how the game is played for those who love God (cf. Hebrews 11.32-40). And of course there was Jesus himself, who suffered mightily for us, and not just on the cross. Consider his wilderness experience and the profound sorrow he must have felt at seeing so much need and injustice and oppression in his day, as well as a reluctance by most people to do what was necessary to be God’s people. As the writer of Hebrews reminds us, our Lord learned obedience and was made perfect through suffering (Hebrews 5.8, 2.10) and so apparently must we do likewise.

More about that in a moment. But for right now as we consider the prospect of ruling with Jesus we must remember that he came to serve rather than be served, and to give his life as a ransom for many. The greatest in God’s kingdom will not be those who lord it over others but who serve in the manner of humble slaves and this is only made possible by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.

So how do we recognize the Spirit’s presence in us? While he can sometimes enter our lives in dramatic fashion like the day of Pentecost, the Spirit more often than not comes to us quietly and gently. He never imposes himself on us so that we are forced to act against our will and it is entirely possible to quench his presence in our lives (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5.19). We see this poignantly illustrated in the wilderness narratives contained in Exodus and Numbers. Despite the fact that God is present with his people in the pillars of cloud and fire, they often rebel against him and fall into idolatry and apostasy. We wonder how this can be. But is it any different than those Christians who have the Spirit living in them but act as if they do not for whatever reason? God respects us and our relationship with him enough that he never forces us into a relationship with him. Neither does he force us to act in a certain manner because that would destroy the essence of a real relationship. But typically when we ignore his presence and act contrary to his wishes, we can expect him to withdraw his presence from us, just like he did with his rebellious people in the wilderness and later in the promised land when God withdrew his glory from the Temple and allowed it to be sacked and burned by the Babylonians. That is why Paul is adamant that we must put to death our sinful nature if we ever expect to reap the fruit and benefits of the Spirit’s presence. The Spirit will indeed transform us but we must put in the sweat equity and be willing to allow him in to help us become more and more like Jesus.

All this, of course, sometimes makes it difficult for us to recognize the Spirit’s presence in us and so we must learn to look for evidence of his presence. A good place to start is to look for the fruit of the Spirit in our lives—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. The Spirit is not like booze we pour into our bodies so that we come under its influence and lose control over our thoughts and actions. Instead, through prayer, study, and life circumstances, the Spirit will help suggest certain courses of action to take and then we have to decide if we will follow those courses of action. The following brief stories from C.S. Lewis illustrate this dynamic perfectly [read from The World’s Last Night]. We note two things about Lewis in these stories. First, he had to recognize the Spirit’s promptings and movement in his life and the life of others. This is only possible by cooperating with the Spirit and learning to recognize his voice. Second, he had to say yes to the Spirit’s prompting because he had the option to say no.

But perhaps the best indicator that we have the Spirit living in us is our ability to love, just as Jesus told his disciples. Biblical love is always the antithesis of the modern notion of love that seeks to give the beloved all that the beloved desires because the Bible recognizes that we are fallen creatures and our desires are inherently disordered. Rather, biblical love always seeks to act for the benefit of the beloved and this gives us continuing opportunities to assess how loving our behavior really is. Are we seeking to build up the other and point him/her toward Jesus? Are we looking out for others’ physical, emotional, and spiritual needs without enabling the other? In other words, are we feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, praying for and forgiving our enemies and persecutors, etc.? Do we love others enough to warn them when we see their behavior is leading to death and/or destruction? Do we love God and others enough to be outraged by acts of injustice or anything that dehumanizes us? This, of course, is where our suffering comes into play so that God can use it to mold us further into the image of Jesus. As Jesus reminded his disciples, much of the world does not know him because it hates him and will therefore hate us as well for advocating kingdom values. As this happens remember that God is equipping you to be joint heirs and rulers with Jesus in the new creation even as he is using your efforts to exert his Lordship and bring the kingdom on earth as in heaven (cf. 1 Corinthians 15.58). Take heart and be encouraged by that so that the Spirit can help you bear your suffering.

Then, of course, we can also tell if the Spirit is living in us by how well we are imitating Jesus’ mighty acts recorded in the gospels. Not all of us are called to ministries of healing and certainly not many of us are called to raise the dead (but then apparently neither were the first followers of Jesus because the NT only records a handful of such acts). But still there are many examples of Christians doing mighty and miraculous acts of power in the Lord’s name. Take John Wesley and the 18th century Methodists for example, who arguably saved England from social revolution because of their tireless efforts to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, minister to the sick, and fight against all that dehumanizes God’s image-bearers, from alcohol abuse to prostitution. If preventing a revolution is not miraculous, I don’t know what is. The Methodists were ordinary people who gave their lives to God and allowed him to work on them to transform them into Jesus’ image so that they could transform the society in which they lived. They were able to do this because they believed the promises of Jesus to never leave or abandon his children in the power of the Spirit so that he could equip them to do far greater things than he did in his earthly ministries. This very dynamic is exactly what our mission statement is all about.

And speaking of St. Augustine’s, I would also call your attention to our many ministries. Every time we visit Worthington Christian nursing home, we are being led by the Spirit. Every time we bear each other’s foibles and burdens instead of ignoring them or being hostile toward each other, much as we might like to, we are being led by the Spirit. Every time we feed the hungry at Faith Mission, we are being led by the Spirit. Every time we talk to others about Jesus and why he matters in our life, we are being led by the Spirit. Then of course there are the individual ministries that we all have, which we don’t advertise (but perhaps we should). Anytime we can think of examples where we act for the benefit or building up of others instead of ourselves at their expense so that the kingdom comes on earth as in heaven, we are being led by the Spirit. And all this is possible because we worship, pray, and study Scripture regularly to make a fertile place in us for the Holy Spirit to live.

So this week, if you want to nurture the Spirit’s presence, I encourage you to do two things. First, learn the fruit of the Spirit as well as the fruit of the flesh (Galatians 5.19-26) and then keep a diary of what fruit you are bearing. As you assess your behavior, ask the Spirit to help you accordingly and have confidence that your prayers will be answered because as you get to know the mind of Christ better, you will know better what to pray for, and surely God will answer those prayers just as Jesus promised. Then second, find a Christian friend, preferably from St. Augustine’s, to share your successes and failures on a regular basis so that you can learn to encourage and exhort one another as needed. As you do, you will surely learn to see more clearly the Spirit’s presence in your life and be reminded that you have Good News, now and for all eternity. Who knows? People might even ask why you’ve been drinking so early in the day.

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Another Prayer for Pentecost

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Grant, we ask you, almighty God, that the splendor of your brightness may shine on us and the light of your Light confirm with the illumination of the Holy Spirit the hearts of those who have been born again through your grace: for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

—The Gregorian Sacramentary

An Ancient Description of how Pentecost was Celebrated

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From here.

But on the fiftieth day, that is, the Lord’s Day, when the people have a very great deal to go through, everything that is customary is done from the first cockcrow onwards; vigil is kept in the Anastasis, and the bishop reads the passage from the Gospel that is always read on the Lord’s Day, namely, the account of the Lord’s Resurrection, and afterwards everything customary is done in the Anastasis [the cross], just as throughout the whole year. But when morning is come, all the people proceed to the great church, that is, to the martyrium [the church], and all things usual are done there; the priests preach and then the bishop, and all things that are prescribed are done, the oblation being made, as is customary on the Lord’s Day, only the same dismissal in the martyrium is hastened, in order that it may be made before the third hour.

And when the dismissal has been made at the martyrium, all the people, to a man, escort the bishop with hymns to Sion, [so that] they are in Sion when the third hour is fully come. And on their arrival there the passage from the Acts of the Apostles is read where the Spirit came down so that all tongues [were heard and all men] understood the things that were being spoken, and the dismissal takes place afterwards in due course For the priests read there from the Acts of the Apostles concerning the selfsame thing, because that is the place in Sion—there is another church there now—where once, after the Lord’s Passion, the multitude was gathered together with the Apostles, and where this was done, as we have said above. Afterwards the dismissal takes place in due course, and the oblation is made there. Then, that the people may be dismissed, the archdeacon raises his voice, and says: “Let us all be ready to day in Eleona, in the Imbomon [place of the Ascension], directly after the sixth hour.”

So all the people return, each to his house, to rest themselves, and immediately after breakfast they ascend the Mount of Olives, that is, to Eleona, each as he can, so that there is no Christian left in the city who does not go. When, therefore, they have gone up the Mount of Olives, that is, to Eleona, they first enter the Imbomon, that is, the place whence the Lord ascended into heaven, and the bishops and the priests take their seat there, and likewise all the people. Lessons are read there with hymns interspersed, antiphons too are said suitable to the day and the place, also the prayers which are interspersed have likewise similar references. The passage from the Gospel is also read where it speaks of the Lord’s Ascension, also that from the Acts of the Apostles which tells of the Ascension of the Lord into heaven after His Resurrection. And when this is over, the catechumens and then the faithful are blessed, and they come down thence, it being already the ninth hour, and go with hymns to that church which is in Eleona, wherein is the cave where the Lord was wont to sit and teach His Apostles. And as it is already past the tenth hour when they arrive, lucernare takes place there; prayer is made, and the catechumens and likewise the faithful are blessed.

And then all the people to a man descend thence with the bishop, saying hymns and antiphons suitable to that day, and so come very slowly to the martyrium. It is already night when they reach the gate of the city, and about two hundred church candles are provided for the use of the people. And as it is agood distance from the gate to the great church, that is, the martyrium, they arrive about the second hour of the night, for they go the whole way very slowly lest the people should be weary from being afoot. And when the great gates are opened, which face towards the market-place, all the people enter the martyrium with hymns and with the bishop. And when they have entered the church, hymns are said, prayer is made, the catechumens and also the faithful are blessed; after which they go again with hymns to the Anastasis, where on their arrival hymns and antiphons are said, prayer is made, the catechumens and also the faithful are blessed; this is likewise done at the Cross. Lastly, all the Christian people to a man escort the bishop with hymns to Sion, and when they are come there, suitable lessons are read, psalrns and antiphons are said, prayer is made, the catechumens and the faithful are blessed, and the dismissal takes place. And after the dismissal all approach the bishop’s hand, and then every one returns to his house about midnight. Thus very great fatigue is endured on that day, for vigil is kept at the Anastasis from the first cockcrow, and there is no pause from that time onward throughout the whole day, but the whole celebration (of the Feast) lasts so long that it is midnight when every one returns home after the dismissal has taken place at Sion.

—Egeria, Abbess (late 4th century), The Pilgrimage of Egeria, 85-90

A Fifth-Century Teaching on the Holy Spirit

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From Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem (d. 444). It contains good examples of how to recognize the Spirit’s activities in our lives. Check it out.

“The water that I shall give you will become in you a fountain of living water, welling up into eternal life.” This is a new kind of water, a living, leaping water, welling up for those who are worthy. But why did Christ call the grace of the Spirit water? Because all things are dependent on water; plants and animals have their origin in water. Water comes down from heaven as rain, and although it is always the same in itself, if produces many different effects, one in the palm tree, another in the vine, and so on throughout the whole of creation. It does not come down, now as one thing, now as another, but while remaining essentially the same, it adapts itself to the needs of every creature that receives it.

In the same way the Holy Spirit, whose nature is always the same, simple and indivisible, apportions grace to each as the Spirit wills. Like a dry tree which puts forth shoots when watered, the soul bears the fruit of holiness when repentance has made it worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit. Although the Spirit never changes, the effects of the Spirit’s action, by the will of God and in the name of Christ, are both many and marvelous.

The Spirit makes one a teacher of divine truth, inspires another to prophesy, gives another the power of casting out devils, enables another to interpret holy Scripture. The Spirit strengthens one’s self-control, shows another how to help the poor, teaches another to fast and lead a life of asceticism, makes another oblivious to the needs of the  body, trains another for martyrdom. This action is different in different people but the Spirit is always the same. “In each person,” Scripture says, “the Spirit reveals his presence in a particular way for the common good.”

The Spirit comes gently and makes himself known by his fragrance. The Spirit is not felt as a burden, for the Spirit is light, very light. Rays of light and knowledge stream before him as he approaches. The Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console. The Spirit comes to enlighten the mind first of the one who receives him, and then, through that one, the minds of others as well.

As light strikes the eyes of those who come out of darkness into the sunshine and enables them to see clearly things they could not discern before, so light floods the souls of those counted worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit and enables them to see things beyond the range of human vision, things hitherto undreamed of.

–Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, Catechesis 16 1

Dr. Ben Witherington: The Love Commandment in the NT-Pt.2

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Be sure of this. Whatever it is that you love more than God— he will require it of you at some point. You will have to lay that dream, that possession, that obsession, on the altar. You will have to furthermore lay yourself on the altar, present yourself as a living sacrifice. God doesn’t merely want something from you God wants you, the person he created in the first place!! No wonder Jesus told his disciples they must take up their crosses and follow him. It’s a life and death matter, and if you would gain your life, you must first lose it in the love of God and the following of his Son. And if you say in your heart of hearts— this is too much for me. I can’t do it… you are right.

See what you think.

Dr. Ben Witherington: The Love Commandment in the NT-Pt.1

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In this post I would like to explore two of the horizontal love commandments– ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ and ‘love one another as I have loved you’ (the ‘I’ in question being Jesus). Let’s start with the observation that love is commanded. It’s not optional. It follows as well from this that the sort of love we are talking about in this post, while it certainly may involve feelings is not basically grounded or based in feelings one has for others. Feelings are notably unresponsive to attempts to command them. The sort of love Jesus has in mind then is commandable as well as commendable. It has to do with a decision of the will, resulting in loving actions.

Read it all.

Holly Finn: Online Pornography’s Effects, and a New Way to Fight Them

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Looks like there’s some hope for this highly addictive disease. See what you think.

Repetitive viewing of pornography resets neural pathways, creating the need for a type and level of stimulation not satiable in real life. The user is thrilled, then doomed. But the evolutionary plasticity of our mind makes this damage reversible. In “The Brain That Changes Itself,” psychiatrist Norman Doidge writes about patients who overused porn and were able to quit, cold turkey, and change their brains back. They just had to stop watching it. Completely.