Blessed Theophany !

[Anhelyna]

Blessed Feast to all !

 

[ArmyMatt]

blessed Feast!

 

[rusmeister]

To all of you New Calendar folks!

I guess you know what's going down on the Old Calendar tonight...

 

[Anhelyna]

Of course - the Holy Supper

 

[Not David]

To all of you New Calendar folks!

I guess you know what's going down on the Old Calendar tonight...

Christmas Eve, of course!

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

And here I am sick on Christmas Eve

 

[rusmeister]

And here I am sick on Christmas Eve

That’s actually why I think it so important to resist the trend of the world to celebrate the holiday before the holiday, so that when the Day comes, it comes, not as joy, but merely as relief that the particular strains and demands we perceive it to place on us will soon end. (Or why observing the fast that precedes it as best you can is so good for attuning us to the joy of the Holiday, so that it is fresh and new.)

It’s also understandable that you wouldn't want to celebrate the same holiday twice on both calendars. (There’s a line from Lewis’s “Perelandra” about it being really possible (as Fallen beings) to have too much of a good thing.) it’s hard enough on someone like me, caught between cultures, and trying to continue to bask in and be part of my native culture, and share it, at least as much as I can, with my children, who are now mostly at an age when they want to resist and rebel against any good guidance from Dad, when the competing culture (Russian) absorbs most of their time and attention.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

My three kids are pretty solid. My daughter went through a wobbly stage for about 2 years wondering if God is really out there. She saw so much misery in the world, some pets dying, COVID, and just the way the world is going and it got her questioning things. I tried to kindly work her way through it without making her feel like scum for being honest and asking. It took a while. My priest told me it's ok and she'll work her way out of that, to just keep coming to Matins and Liturgy and praying and it'll resolve itself. She confessed it as well. It took some time, but she is back on track spiritually it seems and she said she's ok. She sings in choir and has a good attitude about Church.

My boys are VERY devout. Never a complaint or whimper, and all 3 kids never push back on me or roll their eyes. We've been a family that has tried to shelter the kids on one hand, give them space on the other so they don't feel smothered. We kept them out of public education, so that sure helped .

At my kids' high school, this girl asked my eldest son, "Are you open to the LGBT community? Are you ok with it?" Luke replies, "I'd prefer to check the decline to state box"

My kids are great. My only complaint is how much they love to pine away in their bedrooms like hermits! I swear they're like the Unabomber without the manifesto and shrapnel

That’s actually why I think it so important to resist the trend of the world to celebrate the holiday before the holiday, so that when the Day comes, it comes, not as joy, but merely as relief that the particular strains and demands we perceive it to place on us will soon end. (Or why observing the fast that precedes it as best you can is so good for attuning us to the joy of the Holiday, so that it is fresh and new.)

It’s also understandable that you wouldn't want to celebrate the same holiday twice on both calendars. (There’s a line from Lewis’s “Perelandra” about it being really possible (as Fallen beings) to have too much of a good thing.) it’s hard enough on someone like me, caught between cultures, and trying to continue to bask in and be part of my native culture, and share it, at least as much as I can, with my children, who are now mostly at an age when they want to resist and rebel against any good guidance from Dad, when the competing culture (Russian) absorbs most of their time and attention.

 

[Mary of Bethany]

And here I am sick on Christmas Eve

I hope you’re better now! I’m home with COVID so I missed Theophany services and today’s as well. I hope to be back at church for Thursday’s Divine Liturgy.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

Yep weeks after getting over a strong cold virus, I caught COVID from a kid at science camp up in the foothills. My daughter has it, too.

Blessed Theophany! God is Revealed!

I hope you’re better now! I’m home with COVID so I missed Theophany services and today’s as well. I hope to be back at church for Thursday’s Divine Liturgy.