Re: Where did you come from?
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| March 15, 2006 04:42AM |
LC-MS (Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod)
Wow. looks like no one has posted here for a while.
Reading through all the stories has been pretty cool. And encouraging.
Technically, I'm not officially Orthodox yet; just a catechumen awaiting Chrismation.
I was raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran. The Lutheran roots go DEEP on both sides of the family. I'll be one of the first in generations to leave the Lutheran church for another Church. I have yet to tell my family. It's not going to go over well. They know I've been reading about it, but that's it. I plan on inviting them to the Chrismation.
From the time I began having conversations with Protestant, RC, Mormon, etc. friends back in high school, I knew something wasn't right. But I couldn't place it.
By my sophomore year in college, I had my feet swept out from under me. I majored in Christian Studies, and got a healthy dose of Church History, but sadly, also the Historical critics (yuck!).
All I knew was that I wasn't Lutheran. I was still a Christian, but not like any church I had ever seen (which are MANY). MANY classmates went Orthodox my senior year, but anything I went to to find out why was in greek. No comprendo Greek-o.
A couple years later, after some prodigal time and recovery, I inadvertantly stumbled across Frederica Matthewes-Green's website.
I read her story.
I was enchanted.
I started looking for more.
Two months later, I attended my first Divine Liturgy (in English) by myself.
Two weeks later, I stopped attending my Lutheran Church.
The next week (Meatfare), I was received as a catechumen in All-Saints of North America Orthodox Mission.
It has been, and continues to be a lonely journey, with no Orthodox support (save one, via email) outside of my new, still unfamiliar family in the local parishes. It's hard sometimes.
But I now eagerly await Holy Chrismation
I'm still adjusting, and there is soooo much I do not yet understand.
But I know I'm finally Home.
It's just strange how foreign and familiar a place can be all at once.
There is a quote from *Becoming Orthodox* That really describes my journey well:
...We grew less and less comfortable saying, "Are all the Christians in the second and third century in our church?" The issue was more the reverse: Are we in theirs?
...All we wanted was Christ and His Church. Instead of judging history, we were inviting history to judge us.
Our basic question was, whatever happened to that Church we read about on the pages of the New Testament? Was it still around? If so, where? We wanted to be a part of it.
~Peter E. Gilquist, Becoming Orthodox: A Journey to the Ancient Christian Faith
In searching through that History, the Church Fathers, and Councils, with a few others of varying opinions as my companion guides, I am finding what A.W. Tozer said to be true:
Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking.
~A.W Tozer, The Pursuit of God
I prayed years ago, when I first came across this quote from Tozer, that God would teach me that. That He would guide me to experience it.
Over the past several months, He has been faithfully answering that prayer.
He has finally brought me Home.
Wow. looks like no one has posted here for a while.
Reading through all the stories has been pretty cool. And encouraging.
Technically, I'm not officially Orthodox yet; just a catechumen awaiting Chrismation.
I was raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran. The Lutheran roots go DEEP on both sides of the family. I'll be one of the first in generations to leave the Lutheran church for another Church. I have yet to tell my family. It's not going to go over well. They know I've been reading about it, but that's it. I plan on inviting them to the Chrismation.
From the time I began having conversations with Protestant, RC, Mormon, etc. friends back in high school, I knew something wasn't right. But I couldn't place it.
By my sophomore year in college, I had my feet swept out from under me. I majored in Christian Studies, and got a healthy dose of Church History, but sadly, also the Historical critics (yuck!).
All I knew was that I wasn't Lutheran. I was still a Christian, but not like any church I had ever seen (which are MANY). MANY classmates went Orthodox my senior year, but anything I went to to find out why was in greek. No comprendo Greek-o.
A couple years later, after some prodigal time and recovery, I inadvertantly stumbled across Frederica Matthewes-Green's website.
I read her story.
I was enchanted.
I started looking for more.
Two months later, I attended my first Divine Liturgy (in English) by myself.
Two weeks later, I stopped attending my Lutheran Church.
The next week (Meatfare), I was received as a catechumen in All-Saints of North America Orthodox Mission.
It has been, and continues to be a lonely journey, with no Orthodox support (save one, via email) outside of my new, still unfamiliar family in the local parishes. It's hard sometimes.
But I now eagerly await Holy Chrismation
I'm still adjusting, and there is soooo much I do not yet understand.
But I know I'm finally Home.
It's just strange how foreign and familiar a place can be all at once.
There is a quote from *Becoming Orthodox* That really describes my journey well:
...We grew less and less comfortable saying, "Are all the Christians in the second and third century in our church?" The issue was more the reverse: Are we in theirs?
...All we wanted was Christ and His Church. Instead of judging history, we were inviting history to judge us.
Our basic question was, whatever happened to that Church we read about on the pages of the New Testament? Was it still around? If so, where? We wanted to be a part of it.
~Peter E. Gilquist, Becoming Orthodox: A Journey to the Ancient Christian Faith
In searching through that History, the Church Fathers, and Councils, with a few others of varying opinions as my companion guides, I am finding what A.W. Tozer said to be true:
Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking.
~A.W Tozer, The Pursuit of God
I prayed years ago, when I first came across this quote from Tozer, that God would teach me that. That He would guide me to experience it.
Over the past several months, He has been faithfully answering that prayer.
He has finally brought me Home.
