Today I finally began the official cathecumenate process at my church, Saint Basil the Great Orthodox Church, here in Wilmington. And, man does it feel good!
Allow me to preface this by saying that I've been ingesting information on the church like a shark ingests a surfer. Needless to say, I thought I was going at a great pace, but, oh, how thankfully wrong I was.
For starters, I can read all the theology I want, I can observe and replicate the mechanics of prayer and worship, but with out the knowledge imparted to me today, it would lack any true depth of meaning. So beginning after a lengthy and eye opening discussion about my faith, my journey, and my basic understanding, I got what was, for all intents and purposes, a crash course in the front of house operation in The Orthodox Church. Granted, I knew quite a bit about why the building is the way it is, where to bow, when to cross, and what to kiss. My understanding ended there. The Father was very thorough and loving in his explanations as to why we cross and when, what we kiss and when, and, most importantly HOW TO PRAY DURING IT ALL. Such a simple thing, yet, with out it, all for naught.
Now mind you, much of this information has been at my fingertips, both on line, and in my prayer book (to one extent or another), but, for some reason, I'm the kind of dope who just needs to be literally walked though and spoon fed this kind of information. Besides, what good is it to know how to bake a cake, but never actually bake it?! Practice, practice, practice.
I know it may not seem like a lot, and, really, it's not. What it is, though, is immensely important to a strong worship and spiritual foundation. And for that, as well, I am eternally grateful.
Love, in Christ Jesus,
-Adam
P.S. Here's some links from my church, and some amazing blogs from Orthodox Fathers!
St. Basil the Great Orthodox Church
Glory to God for All Things
Journey to Orthodoxy
Death to the World (Hardcore Punk Orthodoxy!)
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