New Comer

[Melony Martin]

So, I end up going today. The people were very friendly. I couldn't stay for the coffee hour though. I took along my fiance, and we were in a hurry to get my future step daughter to an appointment, as the service "went over." Everyone kept giving us blessed bread. My fiance can't chew; because, he just got dentures. I kept eating it, but after awhile, I had to politely decline. I have a stomach condition, and I usually throw up most of what I eat in first place. (If you don't want this problem don't destroy your stomach by drinking 3+ pots of coffee a day for years lol.) I was getting to that point. I didn't want to be rude, but I think it would've been ruder to throw up in the church. I really appreciated their thought though.

 

[ArmyMatt]

sounds like you had a good time, thank God if so. I say try to make it to coffee hour next time, especially if you can talk to Father then.

 

[~Anastasia~]

So glad you were able to make it!

You don't have to eat the bread, btw ... especially if it gets to be a bit much. Many people will wrap it in a napkin to take home and consume daily - if they see you with a double-handful they may take pity on you and not heap on more.

I hope you will get a chance to go to the coffee hour next time.


(Oh, and ETA: if you take the bread home, it is blessed, so it shouldn't be thrown in the trash. Father lets us give crumbs, stale bread, or leftovers to the birds though, if we toss it where it won't get stepped on.)

 

[Melony Martin]

So glad you were able to make it!

You don't have to eat the bread, btw ... especially if it gets to be a bit much. Many people will wrap it in a napkin to take home and consume daily - if they see you with a double-handful they may take pity on you and not heap on more.

I hope you will get a chance to go to the coffee hour next time.


(Oh, and ETA: if you take the bread home, it is blessed, so it shouldn't be thrown in the trash. Father lets us give crumbs, stale bread, or leftovers to the birds though, if we toss it where it won't get stepped on.)

Yeah I definitely plan to go to coffee hour next time. (Might trick my fiance into coming with again though by bribing him with lunch afterwords ) I didn't know that about the blessed bread. That would have been really good to know. Thank you!

 

[~Anastasia~]

Yeah I definitely plan to go to coffee hour next time. (Might trick my fiance into coming with again though by bribing him with lunch afterwords ) I didn't know that about the blessed bread. That would have been really good to know. Thank you!

You're most welcome! I just wish I had thought to tell you beforehand.

 

[E.C.]

Welcome to TAW!

Glad you could make it.

 

[SeraphimSarov]

Some people are human vacuum cleaners with the blessed bread! No crumbs to be found on the hands!

 

[Anto9us]

My son brings home plastic baggies with cubes of bread from the service...

I was able to eat the bread the one time I went -- not allowed to drink the wine...

Methodists let evverboddy come to table -- pretty poor stuff though,
hard little wafers and Welch's grape juice

but all Christians welcome

I am gonna try the hard-core fast til Pascha/Easter

when I was a kid, my sister got a whole handful of the little wafers and my grandmother made her put 'em back

I would run downstairs to the kitchen and pour all the leftover grape juice from the little cups into a big old glass

I'm sure the theological implications were staggerring

 

[ArmyMatt]

My son brings home plastic baggies with cubes of bread from the service...

that's called antidoron, it is blessed but not consecrated, so it can be consumed by everyone.

Methodists let evverboddy come to table -- pretty poor stuff though,
hard little wafers and Welch's grape juice

but all Christians welcome

yeah, that's how it was when I was Anglican. the reason in Orthodoxy is that to partake of communion, you need to be in communion with the Church.

 

[mcarmichael]

So some background: I'm technically an atheist. I run an atheist blog, which I make money from. I used to be Anglican. However, I always thought, if there was a one true Church, it was the Orthodox Church. I've been an atheist for quite awhile. I've always focused in a very logical mode of thought. I have a math degree, after all. I have some mental health issues, which make it near impossible to connect with other modes of thinking. (I'm not autistic. It's a long story.) Still, I've come to realize that empathetic intelligence is not some type of thrift store intelligence. It is an important mode of thinking, essential actually, and it is one strengthened and used by religion. It is a mode of thought I've been neglecting, and it is mode necessary for normal human function. Religion could help me.

Is there a particular logical "hurdle" that you struggle with?

 

[Melony Martin]

Is there a particular logical "hurdle" that you struggle with?

The problem is that deep down I'm a nihilist. I can't agree with "pop" atheism that secular humanism is logical. I've spent many a study trying to figure out their moral reasoning, and I think it's a pipe dream. To me it's either religion or nihilism. I'm hoping I can stomach the idea of Christianity. Living as a nihilist is horrible.

 

[Anto9us]

I'll bet you'll be able to stomach the IDEA OF CHRISTIANITY ok, Melony.

It might be hard to stomach some of the CHRISTIANS themselves.

Is for me, too, sometimes and I am one myself.

 

[ArmyMatt]

I'm hoping I can stomach the idea of Christianity.

the only thing here, is I would remind you that Christianity is not and idea or concept (although this is how it is often presented). God cannot be argued like some philosophy. He is a Person to be known and experienced.

so I think the thing to hope for is to get a glimmer of Him in Orthodoxy.

 

[Cappadocious]

How do I know if the Orthodox Church is for me?

Hello Melony.

Here is a way of thinking about "spirituality" that may be helpful to you:

As beings like us make our way in the world, we find ourselves having to adjust our positions, responding to the tangible aspects of reality that run up against us. For example, a surface we expect to give way ends up being hard, and so we dynamically adjust our footing; an object we expect to be near is not close enough to see clearly, so we adjust our visual focus to bring the object to greater clarity. In this way, our perceptions of reality are practically intertwined with our dynamic adjustment to that reality.

If Orthodoxy is real in a meaningful sense, then perceiving it might be similar to what I said above: You try to get a grip on the so-called "spiritual" life, the Orthodox way, and see how reality rubs up against you--see how you have to adjust to that reality.

This would mean performing concrete acts and seeing how you adjust to them, and how other portions of reality adjust to you in return.

Long story short, my favorite Orthodox theologian made a list of these concrete acts. Here it is:

10 Essential Conditions for Coming to Know God’s Truth and Finding Life. By Fr. Tom Hopko

Try doing these for a while.

All the best.

 

[Cappadocious]

The problem is that deep down I'm a nihilist.

That is interesting to talk about, I am working on something related to this atm.

 

[E.C.]

The problem is that deep down I'm a nihilist. I can't agree with "pop" atheism that secular humanism is logical. I've spent many a study trying to figure out their moral reasoning, and I think it's a pipe dream. To me it's either religion or nihilism. I'm hoping I can stomach the idea of Christianity. Living as a nihilist is horrible.

Ha, I was there once. Long time ago.