the hitchhiker's guide

Almost there, almost

Michael — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 06:05:02 +0000

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.

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He is Risen!

Jamison — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 04:01:47 +0000

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….

Fighting the passions

Michael — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:29:10 +0000

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.

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Holy Week

Jamison — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:21:37 +0000

This week is the culmination for me in my journey to the Catholic faith. Tonight begins the Triduum, the three holy days of the church year. It begins tonight with the commemoration of the institution of the Eucharist, then tomorrow night with a Tenebrae service where the lights are slowly extinguished. Then on Saturday night begins the Easter Vigil. This is a long (2.5 hours) service where the entire Salvation History is recounted and new members like myself are given the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Communion. I’m looking forward to this weekend, even if the services will end up being long. This is where it all comes together for me and I finally feel like I’m coming home.

A community for Orthodox arts — not a solo journey

Michael — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 19:24:22 +0000

This morning I was ceremonially welcomed and prayed for as a catechumen into the Orthodox faith; and with tears welling up in my eyes I finally felt like I was nearer and nearer to finding and coming home to where I feel God has been drawing me. And what is even more exciting to me, I am finding a few answers to questions that I have had going into this journey from the very beginning.

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The church is not a museum piece

Michael — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:02:18 +0000

In my previous posting, I had laid a spread of questions on the table regarding the arts and Orthodoxy and my frustration with no contemporaries to look to for guidance, inspiration, and fellowship. These frustrations are accentuated by the idea that there is a fullness of the arts that ought to be created, expressed, and shared with the world, a fullness that just isn’t that prevalent in America. And it’s the idea of that fullness that has put a desire in me to find answers, and God willing, be a part of the awakening of the arts in the Orthodox church in America.

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Coming Home: Part II—Good Baptist Boy?

Matt — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:24:31 +0000

Where I last left off, I had been seriously following the Lord in the Baptist church for only a few months when I dealt with a serious struggle for assurance of my salvation. Despite the Evangelical insistence on 100% assurance, I had finally come to the conclusion that I had to keep serving Christ as best I could, and trust in Him that, if I wasn’t saved, He would save me.

Over the next four years, I did this. I served the Lord in a number of ministries at church: orchestra, visitation, the high school (and afterwards, college) mid-week Bible study, etc. I was a leader in an evangelistic club my last year of high school, and was involved in the other Christian groups. When I went to college, I went to both the Baptist Student Union meetings and the Campus Crusade for Christ meetings, until finally settling in just the BSU. Based on what others said of me, it would seem I was respected in my church groups. I’ve even had it suggested to me that I should become a pastor. As those four years went on, though, I found myself moving further and further from the accepted doctrines of my church. In fact, before I graduated college, I began to be criticized for various things I said and did. (more…)

Why Rome

Jamison — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:41:16 +0000

Many people have asked me why I chose to join the Catholic church, as opposed to the Anglican church or the Eastern Orthodox. There are some very foundational reasons that I made this choice, but I want to stress at the beginning one point. I’m not trying to put down a different branch of ancient faith practice, or say that one is better than the other. I simply want to present why I chose the place I chose, and why I simply couldn’t see myself going down the other roads (as parallel as they may be).
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Orthodoxy and culture: what is the fullness of the arts?

Michael — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:30:01 +0000

There has been a topic on my mind over the past several weeks as I’ve started on this journey towards Orthodox Christianity and into a life of theosis — when I become Orthodox, what becomes of my artistic expressions and what is that supposed to look like within the context of being an Orthodox Christian? And I must forewarn you, that there are far more questions in this particular entry than useful reflections or things we can all learn from. Instead, I would hope that it might generate some significant discussion that would ripple into the arts community within Catholic and Orthodox traditions — especially the latter of the two.

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First Scrutiny

Jamison — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 17:45:03 +0000

Last night we had our First Scrutiny. At it’s core, the scrutinies are an exorcism. Asking for the power of God to bring us out of the power of sin and darkness and cast evil away from us. It was a neat little ceremony, and the priest delivered the prayers well. We have two more scrutinies and then it’s ready for Easter Vigil.

Wesley Brings Me Home

Jamison — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:20:55 +0000

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.

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Various Rites

Jamison — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:54:00 +0000

Don’t worry, I’ll be continuing my story, I simply wanted to pause for a moment to talk about some of the things that are happening right now in my journey to the Catholic faith.

In the Catholic church, you join by engaging in what are called the Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA). Although it’s not required for people who are already baptized, most parishes simply lump both catechumens (those who are not baptized) and candidates (those coming form other traditions) together for ease of instruction. The class runs for about nine months from Fall until Spring, meeting once a week. Every parish develops it’s own RCIA class, so there are no two churches that do it exactly the same way. However, one thing that they all share is various rites that happen throughout the course of the year. So far in our class we’ve had two different rites.

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The daily journey in prayer, reading and meditation

Michael — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:47:33 +0000

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.

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Coming Home: Part I—The Assurance of Salvation

Matt — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 14:48:49 +0000

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…)

Rise of the Ancient Faith

Jamison — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 21:25:33 +0000

When we left the story, I had just started Seminary in 2002. I also took this time to immerse myself in the Evangelical™/Charismatic church that I was attending. Playing on worship team, sitting on staff meetings and doing a small internship. I was very firmly planting myself in the Evangelical™ stream and seeking out where it was that God was calling me to be when I graduated. I was barreling full steam ahead, not really knowing what lay at the end.
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