Come to the Dark Side! We have Cookies!

I had this conversation a little while ago that stuck in my head. A good friend of mine said, "No offense but your church is boring." I laughed it off at the time but it stayed with me. I mean, I love my church and have a very hard time seeing the pageantry and beauty of the liturgy as boring.

Another good friend told me, "Your church is rooted in Greek paganism. All the icons, just imitations of Egyptian art. Especially the ones of Mary. They are just like the paintings of Isis and Horus." I found this laughable too since I've done the research and those accusations are simply not true.

I ran into the spouse of a friend in the mall who said, "If we had known you were going to leave the church we would have come to see you to help you through that crisis." What crisis? Leave the church? Really?


I wonder how they would feel if I told them my thoughts about their church, one I went to and consider myself well out of?  If I told them I do consider myself blessed to finally be in a Church that worships God without thought of how entertaining it might be to someone who is not part of the Church. The Church was never meant to be "seeker sensitive" after all. Originally, it took three years to become a Christian because people had to know they might die, and die painfully, for their faith. Services weren't looking for folks. Folks were looking for the services! Why should I go somewhere that looks and sounds exactly the same as the place I left to look for God?

I don't feel the need to remove them from their chosen church and I try my level best not to poke fun at it (although it is difficult when the sillier doctrines are discussed). I try to just let it be. I do not need to be saved out of the Church which was founded by Christ through the original Apostles (and there were only 12 of them and ALL of them came from Israel and ALL of them lived and died 2000 years ago. Just sayin'.) I do not need the Nicene Creed explained to me although I do wish someone would use sola scriptura to explain sola scriptura (can't be done). I follow the faith of the Fathers. I do not need anymore than that.

I believe, in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things, visible and invisible.

And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of Light; true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father; by Whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man. And He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; whose Kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

In one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

This is our God, Who took thought for and established His beloved inheritance, the holy Church, setting her foundation in Paradise, comforting with His true word our forefathers who fell through disobedience. This is our God, Who, directing us to His promise of salvation, left Himself not without witness, but foretold the coming salvation, first through the forefathers and prophets, and by many images gave a lively description of it. This is our God, Who by the prophets of old often spoke to the fathers, and in these latter days spoke to us by His Son, by Whom time was created; Who declared the goodwill of the Father towards us, disclosed the mysteries of heaven, confirmed the truth of the Gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit, sent His apostles through the whole world to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, and confirmed it by various powers and miracles.
This is the faith of the Apostles! This is the faith of the Fathers! This is the Orthodox faith! This faith has established the universe!

I usually put quotes from the Fathers in italics but I did not here because I. Say. This. Too.

Just a thought.

Lord have mercy on me a sinner.

Relevant Reading
Sunday of Orthodoxy
Triumph of Orthodoxy
Anathemas of the Sunday of Orthodoxy
Orthodoxy & Heterodoxy: the Podcast
For the Life of the World: the Podcast