How is Lent going for every one?

[Italianguy]

Stilllllllllllllllll Lenting!

 

[Mary of Bethany]

Haha. I agree, you guys are definitely a good bunch. I plan to go visiting other parishes at some point. Right now though, I'm kind of in the doghouse for spending too much time at church. lol Like tonight. Well it was supposed to be an hour for Vespers, but there were Inquirers' classes afterward and I was interested. So even though I've been through inquirers' classes before I spent 4 hours at the church feeding my curiosity and got myself in a bit of trouble.

I know what you mean. Even though my non-Orthodox hubby is supportive of my time at church, sometimes I feel like I have to leave earlier than I'd like, in order not to make him feel abandoned.

Mary

 

[Coralie]

I reallllllly wish I was over there in the US with [most of] y'all. All our Lenten services (except for Sunday DL) are in Greek only. So it's kinda hard for me to follow things. I don't feel motivated to go to Church at all, I'm just lost the whole time.

Yesterday I had to call Father and ask him what I should do about fasting... hurt my neck/back a week before Lent started and my recovery has been so much slower than I anticipated. He told me to stop fasting (but for Wed and Fri) until Holy Week, to see if that helps.

I'm trying not to feel like a failure. I'm such a Westerner!! Why do I have to turn EVERYTHING into a competition with myself???

But at the same time I'm relieved. Low blood sugar seemed to make the pain SO much worse, especially in those afternoon dips. At least things feel a bit steadier today, after a chicken dinner last night. Back on the peanut butter till tomorrow though

 

[Musa80]

I reallllllly wish I was over there in the US with [most of] y'all. All our Lenten services (except for Sunday DL) are in Greek only. So it's kinda hard for me to follow things. I don't feel motivated to go to Church at all, I'm just lost the whole time.

Yesterday I had to call Father and ask him what I should do about fasting... hurt my neck/back a week before Lent started and my recovery has been so much slower than I anticipated. He told me to stop fasting (but for Wed and Fri) until Holy Week, to see if that helps.

I'm trying not to feel like a failure. I'm such a Westerner!! Why do I have to turn EVERYTHING into a competition with myself???

But at the same time I'm relieved. Low blood sugar seemed to make the pain SO much worse, especially in those afternoon dips. At least things feel a bit steadier today, after a chicken dinner last night. Back on the peanut butter till tomorrow though

Warning: Following comments should be read with the knowledge that I don't know anything

You should not feel like a failure for having a different fasting practice, especially if it's advised by your Priest. The fast is not done for God's benefit but for our own. Just hold the best Wed/Fri fast you can.

I used to feel a bit weird about differing language in the liturgy too. At the first parish where I was at for over a year they used English. Arabic, and Greek (insanely multi-lingual Priest). Anyway, after visiting a monastery and attending an Akathyst entirely in Greek I commented to my Priest that even though I could translate the words themselves, my heart felt a great surge of uplifting and I could feel the the veil between heaven and earth become just that much thinner and more transparent. He told me that was part of the reason I was asked to come along on the trip. There is a point where true worship transcends human language.

Now I'm in an OCA parish where it's 100% english, and to be honest I'd give me left arm to have the English/Arabic/Greek multi-lingual Liturgy back.

 

[-Kyriaki-]

I reallllllly wish I was over there in the US with [most of] y'all. All our Lenten services (except for Sunday DL) are in Greek only. So it's kinda hard for me to follow things. I don't feel motivated to go to Church at all, I'm just lost the whole time.

Yesterday I had to call Father and ask him what I should do about fasting... hurt my neck/back a week before Lent started and my recovery has been so much slower than I anticipated. He told me to stop fasting (but for Wed and Fri) until Holy Week, to see if that helps.

I'm trying not to feel like a failure. I'm such a Westerner!! Why do I have to turn EVERYTHING into a competition with myself???

But at the same time I'm relieved. Low blood sugar seemed to make the pain SO much worse, especially in those afternoon dips. At least things feel a bit steadier today, after a chicken dinner last night. Back on the peanut butter till tomorrow though

Don't worry *hug* I'm on the same fasting rule at you, and you're not a failure and neither am I. We just have our own crosses to bear.

And I know what it's like to not understand the services...a lot of them are online in at least a skeleton form though, so if you print them out you can take it with you to understand. I do that with the PreSanctified Liturgy, and Great Compline, neither of which I have in book form, though I have a copy of the Akathist (as done in Great Lent) in Greek&English book form.

 

[heart of peace]

This is the first year that the world of vegan eating has actually been appetizing, I don't know if it's because it's been since 2004 that I have fully observed the fast (for personal reasons due to motherhood) or what but I'm actually doing okay. There are some days that I feel a bit weak and I will think of all the foods I normally eat but as soon as the thought comes in my head, I rebuke it out of my mind and pray the Jesus prayer. Hubby had to make his own dinner a few times and the poor guy suffered something awful those days! He is just not as creative as me when it comes to making foods that actually taste good...lol

I made a decision before Lent started that I would embrace this process and not view it as negative - instead I made a choice to enter Lent ready to accept all that comes my was as part of this process that God intends for me to strengthen me and to help me grow. So far, the first week I had a serious head cold, the second week my aunt died and not only was it a sad time but my family and I drove in a Noreaster to attend the funeral services, this week the car decided to not start....lol Though there was one shining moment in all of that, I visited my first monastery! All in all, I feel blessed and I am excited to reflect back on this Lenten season and the process that I went through to arrive at Pascha.

Praying for my fellow Orthodox as they continue on with the fast.

 

[OrthodoxServant10]

I was wondering, for my Orthodox Brothers and Sisters, is Holy Week/Easter Procession your favorite time in the Orthodox Calendar? It is to me , I enjoy Easter Sunday- The Procession, Hymns, The Overall Tone/Mood is spiritually uplifting.

 

[Nichole]

What about when you're working out more? TKD class leaves me famished.

Hey! I know how you feel. Sometimes I feel like I am going to fall over working out, when I go. I have learned to take extra calcium supplements during fasting periods and to eat LOTS and LOTS of BEANS!!! They are chocked full of protein! Nuts are great too!

 

[Mary of Bethany]

I was wondering, for my Orthodox Brothers and Sisters, is Holy Week/Easter Procession your favorite time in the Orthodox Calendar? It is to me , I enjoy Easter Sunday- The Procession, Hymns, The Overall Tone/Mood is spiritually uplifting.

All of Holy Week. The Paschal Liturgy. Paschal Vespers when we come back to the church in the afternoon and the kids have their easter egg hunt and we have more food, lol!

Mary

 

[cobweb]

Look what I found:

Be A Saint Bumper Sticker - CafePress

I'd buy it, but I'd probably get smacked on the back of the head with a cane.

 

[Musa80]

Look what I found:

Be A Saint Bumper Sticker - CafePress

I'd buy it, but I'd probably get smacked on the back of the head with a cane.

I like it!

 

[Blackknight]

LOL! I bet our priest would get a kick out of that.

 

[snowbirdling]

Haha, that's great

 

[Blackknight]

Going back to the OP, Lent isn't going that great, when I actually follow it any way. All I keep asking myself is why am I depriving myself? Life is short, enjoy it while you can.

 

[Josiah14]

Lent has been different this year. I discovered, after visiting a dietician and changing my eating habits a little, that my spiritual struggles had been grossly intensified by nutritional deficiencies that I didnt know I had (most likely these deficiencies are due to the fact that Eastern Orthodoxy has forced me onto an entirely different diet). I take a few suppliments now and my mood is 200% better, as is my health and energy.

Other than that, however, Lent has really brought out the true severity of my spiritual illnesses. I need prayers, lots of them. I'm not being humble, this is just the truth, that I am in a bad position spiritually.

For those on here who know who I am, I would appreciate you not hypothesizing or spreading rumors about what might be wrong. Just pray for me.

 

[Josiah14]

Going back to the OP, Lent isn't going that great, when I actually follow it any way. All I keep asking myself is why am I depriving myself? Life is short, enjoy it while you can.

I think, in time, you will find that abundance constricts and smothers the soul. Fasting and asceticism will eventually uncover who you really are, though you will be the only one able to see this as it is an internal revelation. Give it time, and self-denial will become a joy. It just takes time and perseverance until the good done by fasting becomes apparent.

 

[snowbirdling]

Going back to the OP, Lent isn't going that great, when I actually follow it any way. All I keep asking myself is why am I depriving myself? Life is short, enjoy it while you can.

Josiah14 had some worthy comments to that, but he forgot to mention something very important. Life is NOT short. You are thinking about time spent on earth-- and this earthly time is so minute compared to what we will have soon.
I'm pretty sure that if you have the chance to look back from heaven and see this earth and what you did on it "enjoying" yourself, compared to heaven, will be the last thing that comes to mind. "...thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life." 1 Tim. 6:19
The true scope of life is not limited to what is only here; here where there is decay and death.

So store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matt: 6:20

An excellent movie that illustrates this point is "Babette's Feast". I highly recommend it, it is one of my favourites and is an excellently rated film.

 

[Josiah14]

Josiah14 had some worthy comments to that, but he forgot to mention something very important. Life is NOT short. You are thinking about time spent on earth-- and this earthly time is so minute compared to what we will have soon.
I'm pretty sure that if you have the chance to look back from heaven and see this earth and what you did on it "enjoying" yourself, compared to heaven, will be the last thing that comes to mind. "...thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life." 1 Tim. 6:19
The true scope of life is not limited to what is only here; here where there is decay and death.

So store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matt: 6:20

An excellent movie that illustrates this point is "Babette's Feast". I highly recommend it, it is one of my favourites and is an excellently rated film.

The length of life becomes sort of a moot point as you start to recognize yourself, thats why I left it out. You will find the suffering involved in discovering God within yourself and recognizing yourself as a bearer of the Holy Spirit to be lighter than the suffering involved in staying the way you are.

 

[snowbirdling]

The length of life becomes sort of a moot point as you start to recognize yourself, thats why I left it out. You will find the suffering involved in discovering God within yourself and recognizing yourself as a bearer of the Holy Spirit to be lighter than the suffering involved in staying the way you are.

I guess I don't see it as a moot point right now because sometimes it can be so hard to endure the suffering that I need the hope of knowing it will be eased soon, and that suffering, whether through metanoiea, or, as you say "staying the way you are", will not always be forever -- thanks be to God!

 

[Blackknight]

But I LIKE the way I am, mostly. There's just nothing like sitting in the yard grilling up some burgers and having a few beers with your friends or going out for ice cream with the kids (soy is no substitute), etc.

I guess I'm a bit of a hedonist but if being Christian requires me to give up everything I enjoy then what is the point of living? My grandpa always said, "I'm gonna die any way and I'm not going to spend my life eating tofu."