Open letter to Uncle Bud

Dear Bud,

I know there are some things about Orthodoxy that are wiggin’ you out right now. Everyone understands that. Most of us have been there. You really don’t have to come to any conclusions about the Orthodox Church immediately. Something attracted you to the Church at some point. Go back to that thing and pull it out of the closet. Look at it again. Try to keep focus on the Truth that you saw in our Faith as you examine things that you don’t like so much.

While it is possible to learn a lot about the Orthodox church on the internet, it is really hard to gain a proper perspective on the faith here. Everything is out of context. The Church cannot be found in books or forums. We say, as we always have, Come and See!

I have a few suggestions that I would like to make to you as a friend and an Orthodox Christian. Do not make any final decisions about Orthodoxy until you have:

1)Attended Divine Liturgy in English at least once

2) Spoken to an Orthodox priest or monastic (in person not on line) about the things that make you uncomfortable.

3) Read at least one book geared toward Orthodox inquirers from protestantism.

Think and pray about it.

Your friend,
Monica

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We have received the seal of the Holy Spirit. Our task now is to preserve the integrity of what we have received by living a truly Christian life.

We must give time to prayer, and to the study of scripture. Now speaking to God; now listening to His word to us, and letting His teaching mold us. He has enriched us with a treasure no one can take away.

We have eaten and drunk at His heavenly banquet, and can never again know the pinch of poverty. --St. Cyprian of Carthage


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Wise words Monica. Bud, I echo these sentiments. Take your time, learn, experience. Monica is correct in that Orthopraxis is more important than orthodoxy, or should I say, on an equal plane.One does not exist independently of the other.
Keep the faith, keep searching for the Truth. God is the rewarder of all those who earnestly and dilligently seek him.
In Xp,
Eusebios.

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Thanks you for the advice, I will do what I can.

I did read Clark Carlton's from Baptist to Orthodoxy yesterday, and found that his experience as a Baptist to be unlike mine in a lot of ways. A lot of the negatives that he mentions I never saw, and was never confronted with a third of the doubts he had been bothered by. Plus I found a lot of his generalizations about protestants to be as horrendous as Chick's calling Orthodox vampires.

(One thing I abhor about converts is the wake of people they leave behind in their zeal to promote their new faith. )

Anyway I am waiting on funds and I am going to buy Thirsting for God, and visit a Liturgy within the next month or so.

Thank you for the advice and the support.

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Clark Carlton has been criticized as being a little...harsh.

One of the best books I read when converting was The Mind of the Orthodox Church by Met. Hierotheos Vlachos, and also a very short little book by him called Orthodox Spirituality. You can read excerpts of them at www.pelagia.org I also have absolutely no problem with letting you borrow them from me.

Take your time Bud! I've been there too!
It took a while to sink in. And there's a lot to swallow at one gulp. Enjoy the banquet one bite at a time. Savour each mouthful.
Try telling a beggar on the street what chocolate mousse is like, when he's only ever had bread and coffee.

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I'm on a never ending journey to Eternity!

Good. That is all you can do.

Yeah, I remember reading it and not being able to relate to it. The first time I spoke with a priest, he said that no one should come into the Orthodox Church because they are dissatisfied with their denomination. That could be the impetus for looking but should not be the reason for converting. A person should come into the Church because they have found fullness in Her.

Too true in some cases. God help us all.

I haven't read it but I have heard good things.

No problem. You have my prayers.

One thing, I can't think of a single book that I feel infuenced me to convert. I read books that had information that was helpful, but what pulled me into Orthodoxy was experiencing the Church in worship. The Church is most fully Herself in Eucharistic worship. The prayer ropes, the devotions, the fasting, the disciplines, the Fathers are all on periphery of the Eucharist which is the center of our corporate and private lives. You can't begin to understand the Church without beginning to understand what the Eucharist is to Her.

Blessings,
Monica

__________________
We have received the seal of the Holy Spirit. Our task now is to preserve the integrity of what we have received by living a truly Christian life.

We must give time to prayer, and to the study of scripture. Now speaking to God; now listening to His word to us, and letting His teaching mold us. He has enriched us with a treasure no one can take away.

We have eaten and drunk at His heavenly banquet, and can never again know the pinch of poverty. --St. Cyprian of Carthage


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Bud, I just wanted to say I have no problem with you reading Photini's books either.

snicker...

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And I thought so much of Thirsting for God that I bought 2 more copies so that I could loan them out often enough for my liking...so you can borrow one of mine if you want, and anything else that I have... just PM me...

Bud,

I have a few more book suggestions, and you are welcome to borrow them from me as well. It only costs a buck of two to send books in fourth class mail or whatever that is.

"Evangelical is not enough", by Thomas Howard. This is probably the most non-polemical book explaining the why's of liturgical worship that I have ever seen. The author ended up becoming Catholic, not Orthodox, so not everything he says applies, but it's overall a fabulous, fabulous book.

Thirsting for God, already mentioned.

Facing East, by Frederica Mathews Green.

Becoming Orthodox, by Fr. Peter Gilquist.

All these folks are more... polite than Carlton.

As someone else said, books really aren't Orthodoxy, and only show a shadow of the Orthodox faith really is - without entering into the Life of the Church, it cannot be understood, because it must be lived. But hey, ya gotta start somewhere, right?

PM me for whatever books you want. I have probably close to 100 Orthodox books. What's mine is yours.

LK

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