A Baptist preacher in San Antonio takes his wife and kids to visit an Orthodox liturgy. It was sensually overwhelming, confusing and exhausting for the man and his family. Sounds unpleasant, right?:
I LOVED IT. Loved it loved it loved it loved it loved it.In a day when user-friendly is the byword of everything from churches to software, here was worship that asked something of me. No, DEMANDED something of me.
"You don't know what Theotokos means? Get a book and read about it. You have a hard time standing for 2 hours? Do some sit ups and get yourself into worship shape. It is the Lord our God we worship here, mortal. What made you think you could worship the Eternal One without pain?"
See, I get that. That makes sense to me. I had a hard time following the words of the chants and liturgy, but even my lack of understanding had something to teach me.
"There is so much for you to learn. There is more here than a person could master in a lifetime. THIS IS BIGGER THAN YOU ARE. Your understanding is not central here. These are ancient rites of the church. Stand with us, brother, and you will learn in time. Or go and find your way to an easier place if you must. God bless you on that journey. We understand, but this is the way we do church."
I'm going back again on Sunday. I started to write, "I'm looking forward to it." But that's not right. I'm feeling right about it.
And feeling right is what I'm looking for.
Uh oh. God bless him, he's a goner. There are many of us who knows just how he feels.
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Hector, I agree about the hymns. As a Lutheran I seized on the example of Bach, but that's more for special occasions. But I'm a big admirer of the great hymns and their writers.
I didn't read through the entire comment thread, but I'm wondering how many people who are uncomforable with how long or difficult an Orthodox liturgy is have spent much time there? I have a much harder time getting through a typical Protestant service, with the long sermons and repetitive songs. Orthodox liturgies are participatory and experiential. It was hard for me to "get through" the first couple of times (although I was completely in love with the service itself, albeit overwhelmed and tired), but after that, the flow of the liturgy makes more sense, and the arch is much easier to follow. It seems to be just the right length, because everything said and done is right and proper, beautiful and worshipful.
I am seven months pregnant, with back problems and terrible sciatica. I have been to many, many churches, in several states and of just about every jurisdiction, and I have never found one where a person could not sit when they needed to. I certainly can't stand the entire time, nor does anyone expect me to. Older people, pregnant women, children, or those who just have tired feet, are more than welcome to sit when they need to. Even in the most traditional and strict monasteries, no one even notices if one needs to sit for a while.
It is a challenge to teach children to appreciate the liturgy and participate, but a challenge most of the parents I know have taken on with success. You can't bring a child who is unable in his normal life to contain himself to a liturgy and assume he will both behave and actively participate, but it is certainly possible (and laudible!) to teach a child to participate just as we participate, to pray, to sing, to know who are depicted in the icons, what the priest is doing, etc. Children often do better in the liturgy than I do!
I'm not sure why some Orthodox people feel the need to either brag or complain about how long the liturgy is. Our liturgies are not meant to be a test of endurance. I am glad that they demand some time and attention from me, that they are not "easy," but I don't think there's anything particularly bragworthy about being able to "endure" a liturgy. I find the beautiful services to be outside of time.
On taking children to an Orthodox liturgy: it's not like in the Western Church.. Usually there are no pews, and kids move around, a lot. If they start to disrupt, they are gently corrected, or taken outside. Normally, though, in the Orthodox parishes I have been in, they just hang out, sit on the floor (often all together in the back) and play quietly or pray like the rest of us. It's very natural and organic. And the liturgy of St. John (less orthos) only lasts little more than an hour and a half.. It's not too much.
I love the way the children behave, and are seamlessly accepted and integrated. Much better than the usual Catholic practice (I'm Catholic) of hushing and then expelling, with many shooting looks of disapproval at the "offending" mother..
On the endurance aspect, personally I dig having to stand. It pleases me. A lot. It hurts sometimes, but so what. If I'm especially weak, I retire outside for a little bit, a few minutes to catch some air, sit down, then return.
Like the good pastor says, it "just feels right."
I hope he comes home, already. God bless him.
This sounds for all the world like our first visit to an LCMS church. I was raised Baptist and my wife is the daughter of a former Baptist minister. We were confirmed in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod on the Sunday before Ascension Day this year.
Rod,
This is the way I feel about Orthodox worship also.
Once I even cried at Holy Cross. (The same day someone told me you had converted, before you announced it publicly.)
But I cannot unconvince myself about the Catholic Church, being The Church. I believe there is a The Church, and I cannot believe Orthodoxy, by itself, is it. I think the Catholic Church, still holding councils and issuing decress and able to define doctrine, is acting the way The Church has always acted. And I think I am pretty imbued with Thomism and even Austinianism in a kind of baseline, underlying way.
But I have no sympathy at all for what I call American Suburban Catholicism.
I worship now in an Eastern Rite Catholic church in a rust belt city. Clearly, absent a miracle, this parish will be closed within 15 or 20 years, as almost everyone there is old. The Orthodox parish which split from them is doing much better. I would be just as happy to worship with the Orthodox, if I didn't have to renounce allegience to the Pope! But I can't help it, I am a Papist. I can't unconvince myself in order to become Orthodox.
However I will be very happy if this Baptist becomes Orthodox.
Erin, as far as the kids go, you have to see it in practice in an Orthodox church without pews. The kids fit in fine, it is much better if you don't have to stay in a pew, their movements are well accepted, and if absolutely necessary, it is easy to leave, and there is much less sense of missing something when you do.
I do have trouble standing the whole time, and usually sit on the chairs around the edge for some portion of the service. For the sermon you sit on the rug, or on a chair if gettign up and down from the rug is too difficult.
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