liturgy

The devotion below has been circulating the internet in the days since it was posted, particularly among the Orthodox.  It is, frankly, quite nice to have such sympathetic attention drawn to Orthodox liturgical practice.  I suspect much of its popularity is precisely because of such sympathetic attention on an otherwise quite Protestant website.  In addition, it highlights a number of aspects of Orthodoxy which are true, or, more honestly, which some of us would like to be true.  So while I appreciate elements of its characterization of Orthodoxy, and certainly resonate with the danger inherent in cults of personality, there is quite a bit here that is disingenuous.  I wouldn’t think the more disingenuous elements worthy of comment except that they are rhetorical descriptions which are voiced by many Orthodox, and I am not at all sure they are true.  They feed into a construction of ourselves, and a construction of us by others, which seems more about how we want to portray ourselves (or be portrayed) than about how we really are.

I recently quit the choir, primarily because I realized that I was having trouble praying while singing.  It took me a long time to make this decision since I couldn’t understand how it is that I could sing the liturgy and not be praying.  I am not sure I have ever regularly attended a church and not been in the choir.  Any number of factors probably contributed to the problem: concentrating on timing, the music, singing in a language I do not actually speak.  All of these things can distract from actually praying rather than just mouthing the words I sing in (thought not always) tune.  At other times in my life, these elements were not distracting, but they were now for whatever reason.  It was just time for a break.

My first Sunday standing in the congregation was, well, surprising.  I must admit, I sang virtually everything I would have sung had I been in the choir.  I am not sure I am able to participate in liturgy without singing.  At various points though, I didn’t sing.  Sometimes, I read the translation (if it was in Greek).  A number of times, I read the prayers along with the priest.  And it was wonderful, reading these prayers.

I had ample opportunity to read scripture this past Holy Week, as close as I get any more to “preaching the good news.”  During Holy Week, significant sections of the Psalter are read, and the otherwise too rare opportunity to read texts from the Hebrew scriptures is plentiful.  As is my custom, I modify the language a bit.

May I apologize to you?  You don’t know who I am, and I barely know you.  I saw your grandmother take you to the front, offering your strong young arms in service.  I watched as the kind young te

It seems that putting up a provocative Hauerwas quote without explanation is a bad idea.

Sometimes, you just have to toss something out there and see what happens. There is no ethicist better at this than Stanley Hauerwas.

Last month when I was at New Skete, Sr. Rebecca and I got into an interesting conversation about the emphasis on sin in the lenten season.

Fr.