From Protestant to Orthodox - In search for Truth

Christ is Risen! I hope everyone had a blessed Feast of Feasts in celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! 

I want to share with you a story of a friend named Markus who is Danish by nationality and Coptic Orthodox Christian by faith. I met Markus while celebrating Palm Sunday in the Coptic Church in Denmark, and we began to discuss how he found the Coptic Church and how things have been going for him. Please watch the video above, and I will share some of my thoughts on what he said.

The start of his journey, as he said, was that he was attending a Protestant church for a while but kept leaving 'hungry'. He didn't want to have this feeling. He read in the Bible and tried to, objectively, see what faith today most closely resembles what Christ had instituted. As he continued reading and learned about Orthodoxy, and read the Philokalia and Didache - he found the Orthodox Church to be his new home.

As he explains, when he learned about the Divine Liturgy and the richness of it, he said he always got 'full' and left stuffed, as he would from a 3 hour Danish feast :). This was just one aspect that stood out to him. The full sacramental life and how important it was to us individually as part of our daily lives really resonated with him. It reminds me of something St Gregory of Nazianzus said on Resurrection Feast - "Unless you relive the saving events that happen at the Feast, you have not celebrated it"

I don't want to add too much to what he said, but the last thing that really stuck out to me was about what he felt the most connected with and what key parts drew him to stay. As much as some of us may not agree on this - Language and Culture was a huge barrier for Markus. He explained to me that the priest who he was meeting with didn't take that away from him. He advises young evangelists and says "don't kill the culture, but Christianize it" His example was having a beer, which is a very big part of Danish culture. He says he will have one once in a while, and for him that is important in not feeling stripped of what he was used to. [I'm not saying alcohol was the thing he was used to, and I'm also not saying its okay for everybody, just giving his example;)]

The Bishop who prayed the Feast liturgy used Danish. This means SO much to the natives there. Markus said something that I won't forget. He understands English and Danish, but Danish is his first language. He said "When I hear in English it stays in my mind, but when I hear in Danish, my native language, it reaches my heart and that is very important in Christianity". Its like how some of us may never say a curse word in our native language, but know them in other languages and they flow freely off our tongue - "it doesn't count if its not in English" we'll say. =P

If we want to spread the Love of God and the news of His Resurrection, remember to meet people where they are at. From culture to language to social class to age to sports and favorite foods, there is always a middle ground where we all stand.

Holy Week.. Almost there!

"It is HIS cross that saves us, not ours" - Fr Alexander Schmemann

So, for many Orthodox Christians, Holy Week and Easter is just a week away.. we're almost there guys!

You know how it goes in lent, the first week goes by and you say to yourself, "Gosh this one is gonna be soooo long!" Then when there is a week left, you say to yourself, "I can't believe its almost over!" Well just over a week ago, I had one of those moments - but for a different reason. The latter thought continued like this "I can't believe its almost over, and I haven't benefited!" This is no ones fault other than my own. I was searching around my heart and mind the reason for this, and out of nowhere - BAM, it hit me! There was so much I was doing, but I wasn't actually doing anything.. I was fasting, only felt that I missed out on certain foods, I was praying, just felt that time was passing, I was reading, just as a duty...

I've been in Europe for the past few weeks and have really gotten the chance to spend time alone. (Side note: It was pretty funny actually because I was talking to one of my friends the other day and was telling him that being alone in another country is tough, he responded saying 'yea it must be tough but spend time with yourself', and I clarified saying 'That's not so much the issue, but I literally speak about 20-30 words the whole day!'. Hotel receptionists, waiters, co-workers, all but a few words in English.) Back to what I was saying, spending time alone. So I spoke to my Father of confession telling him that lent is almost over and I don't want it to pass without me gaining anything. He told me to pray more, fast harder, and read more diligently. At first I said okay that's the typical answer, but then I thought about it and it was just what I needed! Not just to simply do the tasks more, but to use them as tools to strengthen my relationship with God, and realize just how much I need His saving-ness. "Save us now!," we will cry out on Palm Sunday, and it isn't until we realize that it isn't because of the prayers or fastings or prostrations that we will receive salvation, but by them we will be able to "see ourselves" and truly notice where we are sick, and be able to go to the True Physician to heal us.

Which leads me back to the beginning quote by Fr Alexander Schmemann, "It is HIS cross that saves us, not ours"... Don't give glory to yourself for being able to abstain for a certain time, or for reading a certain amount, or disciplining your body harshly - for these will only allow you to think you've done something that deserves a reward. God did, is doing, and will do the work for our reward.

I will end on a quote from St John Climacus from Ladder of Divine Ascent on detachment, "Derided, mocked, jeered, you must accept the denial of your will. You must patiently endure opposition, suffer neglect without complain, and put up with violent arrogance. You must not be angered by contempt and you must show humility when you have been condemned. Happy are those who follow this road and avoid other highways. Theirs is the kingdom of Heaven."

Lent! - Woohoo!!

"He who has been able to see himself has accomplished more than one who has seen the angels." - St Isaac the Syrian

So as we begin Lent, I just wanted to think out loud a bit as to what is in store this year.  Lent means different things to different people. Giving up certain foods, practices, routines, among other things. Everyone has experienced different things, grew up in different places, and made their own decisions about what to do during this time. Initially, I thought, there was a cookie-cutter way of doing things --everyone has to abstain till 3pm, no TV, no radio, no meat or dairy-- and we'd be set. Everyone has their own modifications as well, some with cheese, some with milk, etc. This is between the person and their father of confession of course, and is not a bad thing. Its good to personalize it to make it real to us individually. I'm by no means giving any rules or guidelines here, just expressing what I am trying to do this Lent period.

Fr Thomas Hopko wrote a book called Lenten Spring, which discusses the journey of Lent. There are a few reasons it is correlated to Spring. From spring cleaning (getting rid of the junk laying around), to flowers and plants budding and being watered and growth - we can learn so much from this. From the quote above by St Isaac, we can see there comes a lot with knowing who we really are. And this is my focus for lent.

Once we know who we really are, we do that spring cleaning, we will really be able to see where we lack. We may get a lot of advice to focus on reading, alms giving, helping the poor, less TV, this and that - if we focus on everything, we are focusing on nothing. That's what St Isaac was talking about, about seeing ourselves - self examination. If we sit with ourselves and really focus, then we will see what we need to focus on. Some will need to read more, some will need to care for the homeless more, and that's the beauty of it. We shouldn't judge others if they are not doing the same things we are doings - because we are all "fearfully and wonderfully made" Ps 139:14

The last thing I want to share is a personal reflection. Way of the Ascetics by Tito Colliander is a pretty rough book in its instruction. One of the chapters called On Obedience was telling the reader to search for opportunities to be obedient, so that we may grow in virtue and submission. My goal is to look at fasting the same way - I don't want to say ''ugghh, the fast is starting'', I want to say "Yes! Lent is here baby, lets do this!" Seeing the importance of fasting, why I personally need it, and seeing the real benefit of it, will make me go through it and really benefit.. what do you guys think?

Also lastly, this is a post called "I want real food" that I wrote last year before lent. Enjoy!