Fear and Faith in the COVID Crisis

[SingularityOne]

What needs to be said.

 

[ArmyMatt]

looking forward to this, thanks!

 

[Andrei D]

I must say, this brought me such a sense of normality / sanity. What is this, ROCOR?

 

[Phronema]

I must say, this brought me such a sense of normality / sanity. What is this, ROCOR?

Fr. Josiah Trenham is apart of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America. He also has website called Patristic Nectar Publications which has very informative podcasts.

 

[com7fy8]

As a guest, if I may > he seems to be saying the pandemic has been a blessing, even though it has involved very horrible things. A number of Orthodox churches have doubled in number of people at services, I think he is saying.

And he says most of the world, though, has been feeding on fear and having fear dictate what they do, and letting people tell them what to fear and what to do about the fear. And if some feared thing comes to an end, there is some next thing standing in line, for people to fear.

He says it is not Christian to go by fear, plus a main thing which people fear is death, and in Christianity fear has been destroyed so we have nothing, then, to fear. So, fear should be anathema, plus there is nothing to fear, anyway, I see he is saying.

So - - though you might feel fear, at times, do not let it rule you!!

He seems to be saying people should keep doing the Orthodox things, including confession and communion and embracing each other and touching Orthodox articles of veneration. And do not let fear stop them.

He says the fear of the COVID-19 was not in touch with reality of science; so does he mean that taking precautions and getting vaccinated is not really scientific? He did say people should not stop embracing, among other things.

And he seems to say we need to trust God and not fear suffering and God can choose if we get sick and suffer, or not, and He can bring joy out of our suffering. But people fearing do not have joy.

Where I am, it seemed that non-Orthodox churches were caught kind of flatfooted. Ones went totally with precautions while others changed nothing. And I think we have groups who went along with rules in order to avoid legal problems and problems with certain members. Or, there might be guards and masks at the door, but inside there might be some amount of mixing without masks and distancing.

It seems there was a lot of dependence on seeing what the leaders would arrange . . . when people easily could have met at a safe distance, outside each other's windows, or in a yard, or parking cars next to one another, and they could have prayed, sung, shared God's word. But it seems a number of people are car-dependent and money-dependent and depending on buildings and schedules in order to meet with each other > they do not have nearby people with whom they can share in worship and prayer and God's word, in a back yard or at a shut-in's window or at a park or parking lot nearby. They would not know how to do this, if they wanted to.

Fear could be keeping them from such intimate sharing. If fear kept them from being able to share so personally with neighbors, before the pandemic, that could be part of why they became quite isolated when their buildings and more usual activities became shut down. Even so, we could share on the Net, and at least see someone while shopping and appreciate every moment of loving . . . quality if not quantity.

But, for many, it was a shock to suddenly not have meetings at some only place certain ones knew how to meet in.

 

[SingularityOne]

I must say, this brought me such a sense of normality / sanity. What is this, ROCOR?

ROCOR / Antiochian

 

[ArmyMatt]

I must say, this brought me such a sense of normality / sanity. What is this, ROCOR?

Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

 

[Justin-H.S.]

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