I won’t lie — I’ve neglected my contributions to The Hitchhiker’s Guide [psst... and I'm the admin]. In fact, because I felt like I had nothing to say or to contribute to the discussion of the ancient faith, I didn’t say anything at all.
It was probably better that way.
Written and posted by Michael on July 15, 2009, 2:52 pm.
Filed under: Daily Walk, The Journey, The Road Ahead
>мебелиe are tough days indeed — plenty of anxiety, stress, and negativity to go around and then some. And of course the overly-spirited mud slinging between Presidential campaigns, their supporters, and anyone with a political point of view has only contributed to further divisions, polarizing individuals even further than before. My wife and I have even been the target of some of that mud slinging because we don’t hold to a certain party line, which I think is just preposterous. But before I get distracted with political points, I’m going to lay that aside to reflect on something of greater importance: finding peace by drawing near to God and His mercy through the simple act of prayer.
Written and posted by Michael on October 20, 2008, 2:26 pm.
Filed under: Daily Walk, General Discussion, Orthodoxy, Transformation
It’s been an interesting summer — obviously having taken the summer off from writing in HHG with April being my last posted entry — and I’ve walked away with a few observations about Orthodoxy, culture, and plenty of introspective conclusions about myself and the life I lead.
Written and posted by Michael on September 16, 2008, 10:43 am.
Filed under: Culture, Daily Walk, Orthodoxy
Tonight we celebrated the lamentation service of our Lord, where throughout a beautiful and ornately decorated setting, we expressed our lament of Christ’s death through spoken words, through sung lamentations, and in the candlelit sanctuary processed under an icon of Christ’s body representing our passing into death as did Christ — an expression of sharing in His sufferings and His death.
It was one of the most beautiful services that I have been to in a long time — the sanctuary was dimly lit, candles lighting up various areas of the alter, and an ornately decorated arc-like structure covered in roses, washed over in candlelight, and containing the cross of Christ, symbolizing his burial into the tomb.
The service was nearly two and a half hours, and with just twelve hours before I become christened into the Orthodox Church, I honestly felt like I have not sufficiently prepared myself for this moment.
Written and posted by Michael on April 26, 2008, 12:05 am.
Filed under: Catechumen, Orthodoxy, The Journey, Transformation
Tonight was the night! At the Easter Vigil tonight I was welcomed into the Roman Catholic Church! My son also took his first communion with me. It was an amazing service (even though it was over 2 hours long) and I’m not too “manly” to admit that I had tears in my eyes as I saw the Eucharist consecrated for the first time for me. I felt such a huge feeling of release and comfort as I took the Lord’s Body and Blood for the first time as a Catholic Christian.
I’m home Lord, I’m home….
Written and posted by Jamison on March 22, 2008, 10:01 pm.
Filed under: Catholicism, General Discussion, The Journey, Transformation
We all have great intentions — I know I do anyway. I have great aspirations of maintaining strict disciplines, like a rule of prayer, fasting from certain passions, and even cultivating some of the artistic gifts I’ve been given. But the problem is that my passions (as known by the Orthodox; different from a passion for music, for example) are not passive and do not sit back and allow me to just lay my stake in the ground and claim it done. Unlike Evangelicalism™ which generally professes a transactional version of salvation — an event that happens, and then you’re saved — I am finding that maintaining and working out this gift of salvation and becoming more like God is going to be a long, slow, and arduous process, requiring much patience, faith, endurance, and above all humility.
Written and posted by Michael on March 20, 2008, 1:29 pm.
Filed under: Culture, Daily Walk, Orthodoxy, Transformation
This morning I was ceremonially welcomed and prayed for as a catechumen into the Orthodox
Written and posted by Michael on March 9, 2008, 1:24 pm.
Filed under: Catechumen, Culture, Orthodoxy, Transformation
At the beginning of 2006 I began my studies at a Lutheran seminary in town that was approved to train Methodist pastors. It was a seminary I had attended many, many years before and so I felt very comfortable there. I also enjoyed the fact that they had daily chapel and weekly communion, with a sense of some liturgical heritage. However, the one difficulty with this school was that it was not structured for working adults. Meaning that it was becoming harder and harder for me to find classes that fit into my schedule, since I couldn’t just give up my job to go to school.
Written and posted by Jamison on February 18, 2008, 11:20 pm.
Filed under: Catholicism, General Discussion, Looking Back, The Journey, Transformation
It seems that every time I walk out of St. George Antioch Orthodox Church — whether on a Sunday morning or at my catechumen class — I come home with more and more books to read. And anyone who knows me well, I don’t exactly finish books in a timely fashion (let alone at all). How I will manage to keep up is but a mystery… fitting as I am pursuing Orthodoxy and they’re all about mystery.
Written and posted by Michael on February 14, 2008, 4:47 pm.
Filed under: Catechumen, Daily Walk, Orthodoxy, The Journey, Transformation
In my last post, I left off at the point in my life where I had gotten the furthest from the Lord, and surrounded myself in darkness. However, it was also about this time that a friend of mine had become very concerned for me, and had talked to my sister, who, in turn, talked with my mom. The three of them (and, I’m sure, not a few others) began praying for me.
As it happened, the week before my mother finally confronted me about taking drugs, I was sitting on a bus coming back from a band trip to Disney World, and decided, I still don’t know why, that I didn’t want to be like I was anymore. This allowed me to be honest with my mom when she asked me if I was doing drugs, but also allowed me to say that I had already decided to quit.
I began to be more attentive in church, and even started going to a Wednesday night prayer meeting. Slowly, through this, and through the death of a friend of mine while we were swimming (which caused me to realize I had never spoken to him about Christ and didn’t know where he was), God was drawing me back to Himself. However, I still had some sinful habits that, despite my best efforts, I couldn’t let go of. (more…)
Written and posted by Matt on February 11, 2008, 8:48 am.
Filed under: Communicant, General Discussion, Looking Back, Orthodoxy, Our Roots, The Journey
Hello, ya’ll, and, as Jamison said, welcome to my story. Like Jamison, I plan to post my story in parts. I expect I will probably use three parts, though I haven’t outlined everything yet, and I may have to extend to four. Before we get into all the gritty details, I though I’d like to introduce myself.
Online, I go by the handle ‘coderforchrist.’ This gives a small amount of info about me: I am a computer geek, programmer, and a Christian. I’m the youngest of the four here, being (as of this writing) in my mid 20’s, and graduated from college a few years ago with a B.S. in Computer Science. Despite my youth relative to the other authors here, I am the only one of us four who has, currently, completed Catechism and been received into the Church (I was received into the Orthodox Church by Holy Chrismation on May 20, 2007). Having been Orthodox for only less than a year, I often feel like an infant learning to walk. Orthodoxy is not something you do on Sundays; it demands your entire life (as it should). Likewise, our Tradition does not merely govern how we worship in Church (or even merely how we pray at home); it is a way of life. There is so much to learn, but, at the same time, there is also so much help. Why this is appealing to me is something I hope to explore as we continue this blog.
Written and posted by Matt on February 5, 2008, 11:32 am.
Filed under: Communicant, General Discussion, Looking Back, Orthodoxy, Our Roots, The Journey
My first Sunday as a catechumen was most certainly a different feeling for me than before when I was attending and admiring from afar. Instead,
CONTENT LOST DUE TO INJECTION ATTACK
Written and posted by Michael on February 4, 2008, 2:07 pm.
Filed under: Catechumen, Looking Back, Orthodoxy, The Journey
As they say, “today is the first day of the rest of my life.” It’s a bit melodramatic, sure, but going to my first catechumen class today was a huge step for me — it’s saying, “yes, I want to be a learner of the Orthodox faith, that I might align myself to you and be in communion with you.”
Our first class was really more of an informative session, where Father Tom shared about the meaning and symbolism of all the imagery within the sanctuary. It was quite impressive to hear of all the deep meaning behind what things were placed where and why they appeared where they did. As he said, nothing is where it is just because it looks nice — there is meaning for everything here.
Of course there is no way that I could have hoped to remember everything he said — I’m getting older and brain capacity isn’t what it used to be, so it’s harder to retain all the information he shared. But that said, there were a few things I pulled from it that I was hoping to understand, and now have walked away knowing more.
Written and posted by Michael on February 2, 2008, 1:27 pm.
Filed under: Catechumen, Orthodoxy, The Journey
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