In my just over half decade as an Orthodox Christian I have had many opportunities to observe “Syrian Time” in its operation.

For those who aren’t Orthodox “Syrian Time” is the rather casual relationship of the faithful to the starting times of services and sometimes attendance in general. Depending on where the immigrants in a parish may come from it can also be called “Greek Time” or “Slavic Time” or, you get the drift. But its not unusual for people to trickle in and out of liturgies at will and if you’re twenty minutes late or so, well that’s just the way it is.

Now anyone who has been Orthodox for more than a day or two knows the services of the Orthodox Church, even thought they are often the condensed versions, are still long and especially so by our everything has to be done in microwave time culture. If you think for a moment you’re going to get out in an hour think again, we’re just warming up, and if you visit an Orthodox church in tight clothes and bad shoes you won’t do it twice. Depending on the ebb and flow of things and what time of year it is the services, which on Sunday morning basically flow into each other, may not start right on the dot either.

But there are starting times and if morning prayer runs a little long it doesn’t hurt to catch that service as well. I believe there are many Orthodox who’ve never attended a complete Matins (Orthros) Service. Its sad that this great service, rich with prayer and scripture and time to let the world out there slip away, is often about a Priest and a chanter or two or the odd visitor who is under the impression that since the liturgy is scheduled it would be good to be there. And as to the starting times…

Apparently that’s another story. Somehow the normal rules of life seem not to apply and what would be considered rude if done in the business world or even a casual affair is apparently appropriate for our dealings with God. There are a lot of reasons, of course, but about 99 percent of them are pretty much just air. Occasionally the weather is bad, sometimes there are emergencies, a few parishoners may be on call or medical personnel but mostly its just about the will. If a person wants to be on time they will make the adjustments.

Now beyond the normal inconveniences to others that comes with being late there is something more important. In coming to Orthodoxy you cannot imagine how relieved I was to know that all I needed to do was be at the Liturgy. The success of the services had nothing to do with whether I “felt like it” or not or my emotional state. I need not generate any false enthusiasm. I could be tired or less than happy to be there. And if all I could do was just stand there on any particular Sunday morning at least I was there in the presence of holy things and even if I didn’t leave emotionally “charged” or changed in some life shattering manner I was still blessed just for being there in ways that I could not always understand. If only one short phrase or word mattered that day it was still time well spent. What a joy it was not to have to pretend or feel bad about not being able to conjure up the appropriate feeling for the day. What freedom to come, even if I was a mess, to worship. No matter how I was at the moment, even if my worship was through clenched teeth, just being in the presence of God in some small way was all that mattered.

And you miss the fullness of that if you come late or wander in or out. What hymn, what prayer, what word did you miss when you decided to hit the snooze button on Sunday morning? When you left to have a cigarette what part of the feast that God provides for even the least grateful of us passed you by? In the casualness of your attendance what benefit from just taking an hour or so out of your day to acknowledge God was lost forever? That’s the real reason a person should come to every Liturgy they can at the right time. Anything less means fragments, scraps, or sometimes an opportunity to bless or be blessed that may never come again.

And, oh by the way, don’t forget to set your clock one hour ahead (in the United States) this coming Saturday or you may be later then is usual even for you. : )

St. Paul is covered in snow today, a foot or so already and some inches to come. The Global Warming event planned by the good folks at Public Radio was cancelled. I guess there’s nothing like the actual weather to get in the way of the best laid plans.

The secret to handling a big, heavy, wet snow like this is to take it a little at a time. Some folks may look out the window and see the person pushing a shovel or walking behind a snowblower while the flakes are falling and think “What a fool”. But the next morning when they’re out there with an enormous shovelful and a later aching back they’ll get the wisdom of lightening the load a bit at a time over taking one large painful scoop.

Same thing with sin, by the way, since I should be writing about something to tie this in to Lent. It takes us a while to get in to a sin and therefore a while to get out, a little at a time sometimes because it may be too much for us to handle at one time.

Ask me how I know this.

The weather reports are out and another big storm is on the way.

During last week’s storm the LaCrosse area took the brunt with almost 30 inches of snow but now its our turn, just a few hours north but a world away in weather terms, to take the hit. Rain, sleet, and then up to 20 inches of snow in the next three days. Snow banks will look like they did when I was a kid. The commutes through Minneapolis will be legendary in their crawling horror. Tow truck drivers will circle the streets like vultures seeking unfortunates who didn’t understand the snow emergency rules.

Yet we need the snow. Snow is water and water is life. So we’ll put up with it all and do the best we can. In the end, no matter how big we think we are or how important we imagine ourselves and our technologies to be, creation still calls the shots.

Alwasy will.

Lent is underway and the struggle is on.

Now it’s not about the meat. As I have gotten older I eat less and less of it and it wouldn’t be unusual to go without it for months at a time. But would to God that I could control my sins in the same way, that I would know they, like meat, would taste good at first but then sit in my stomach like a rock. How is it that I’ve learned that lesson with meat but not with the sins which could kill my soul?

Being who I am, of course, I’ve been able to for the most part master the appearances and mostly avoid, as it were, what my pride would consider to be the “biggies”. But in my heart its another story. There are things inside that need to go, things dark and miserable so deeply imbedded their removal could even damage what little is healthy. I invited them in, or they came in disguised as something else, or hitchhiked their way along, but the door was mine to open and now it looks like they won’t leave without something more than a subtle hint. The party is long over but some guests just don’t want to leave.

And I don’t know how that’s all going to work out. I just know that I don’t like to feel the way that I do, helpless and under the control of small and vile things. There are times, as well, when I wish that God would simply remove them from my life but there must be something important for me to gain in the struggle.

In it all I gain glimpses of why people of true Christian faith would be unafraid of death because they embrace the release from the struggle against the darkness within and the realization of mercy to come.
And that’s where my hope probably should be as well, not in death, not in my own abilities to conquer the demons within, but in the mercy of God that can somehow transform the mess that I’ve made of things into something good and holy even as I have only a small idea of how and basically no idea of the why.

Those of you with the memory will recall the writings of the late Dr. John Boswell of Yale University. A scholar, theologian, historian, and openly gay man Dr. Boswell made a huge splash when he unearthed obscure documents of Christian antiquity he claimed were proof the Church had once celebrated gay marriage. The media went wild. Here was a story that allowed them to mask their anti-religious and particularly anti-Christian attitudes with scholarship and strike a blow for that sacrament of the hippie culture, unlimited sexual expression. The problem came when other scholars started examining the claims, especially the claim of a long lost rite for same sex marriage, and soon discovered that Dr. Boswell had played fast and loose with some of the evidence and liberally inserted his own wishes into his interpretations of the text. Only hard core activists now consider this part of his work to be serious scholarship.

Some years later Dan Brown made headlines over the world with a novel he claimed was truthful, well researched proving Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and a secret order of people through the ages, including Leonardo DaVinci, had protected the dynasty founded with Jesus and Mary’s child. Again the media went wild and many Christians felt the blast of his claims. In the weeks that followed the fervor scholars examined the book and found numerous flaws, inaccuracies, and distortions. DNA evidence taken from the royal line claimed by the author to be the family of Christ turned out to have no evidence at all of semitic origin. No one now, except for conspiracy theorists, sees the DaVinci Code as a serious historic work.

And now the same carefully scripted media machine is at work with the unvieling of the supposed tomb of Christ and his family in a documentary by “Titanic” director James Cameron. Timed for a holy period in the Christian calendar, Lent, the director takes information that has been in circulation for decades and repackages it via film as “proof” that he has the bones of Christ. Two months from now, of course, when scholars have basically torn apart his “proof” and exposed his profiteering and shoddy scholarship the media frenzy will have passed and the story, if there is one, will be buried on the bottom of page 20 in the local paper.

So what do we need to do when the next one comes down the line?

First, don’t panic. The Christian faith has been challenged from the very days Christ walked the Earth and we’ve survived and always will. In fact most of the current crop of people taking shots at the historic Faith are actually just repackaging stuff the Church has faced centuries ago. The Faith has remained constant and so have the heresies and we’ll get through whatever comes next just fine.

Second don’t be impressed with credentials, star power, or media savvy. They have no direct relationship or claim to truth. People with important titles, advanced degrees, or media competence can be wrong or choose to lie for their own ends. Even educated people can sometimes say or write very dumb things, or have their vision clouded by an agenda, and just because its in print or on TV doesn’t mean its valid. Christians need to develop a healthy skepticism as consumers of popular culture and always look beyond what it presents.

Third, learn your Faith. I am consistently amazed at how little even people who would claim to be devout Christians know about what they believe. Knowledge is power and when you know your Faith you will not be easily panicked or impressed when someone comes out with a well written book, a powerfully staged documentary, or impressively footnoted lecture. Opponents of Christianity are counting on you being uninformed and will, given that chance, attempt to fill that void with their own skewed vision. Its tough, though, to crack a Christian who has taken the time to know their Faith.

Finally, consider being attacked a kind of honor. If Christ and the Faith didn’t matter no one would bother but the truth is they do, and those who attack for whatever reason they choose give, in their own way, a kind of respect to our Lord and to those who struggle to follow Him. It makes one wonder what they are afraid of and points, in its own way, to the power, often unrealized by even those who claim Christ, of who we follow and what we believe. And when the claims, as they always have been, are proved bogus it is our Faith and not the critics who will be stronger for it all.

At roughly 11 AM, Saturday, we passed through Cannon Falls heading south towards Rochester and the big left turn to take us, via Interstate 90, to LaCrosse. As the miles passed the sleet, which had been an annoyance in the Twin Cities was now heavy and the road was covered with ice the consistency of mud and slippery enough to turn one small twitch of the steering wheel into uncontrolled trajectory.

Looking out over the fields, now white, and the road now gray with ice my thoughts were first about the long journey ahead as the weather turned worse and the mph went down. Four hours to LaCrosse? Five? Then they turned to vertical LaCrosse with its winding driveways to homes tucked into valleys and the brunt of the storm sweeping by at that moment. My wife and I talked about it a bit, then there was silence, and when the opportunity presented itself we turned back north and went home.

A few miles from where we turned we stopped at a local gas station and made the calls. Everyone was fine with staying home. There was already a foot of snow on the ground, then rain and sleet, and another foot was expected. The hotel we were supposed to stay at still hadn’t gotten their parking lot cleared. LaCrosse was locked down and would be for some time. Perhaps we could have made it down but we would not have gotten back, at least not on Sunday.

The truth is that I wasn’t happy with having to turn around and 20 years ago who knows what I would have done. Caution triumphed over duty and part of me is glad because the news this morning indicated that around 30 inches of snow had fallen in Winona, Minnesota, just north of LaCrosse. I made the right decision.

Does this mean I’m getting mature or just old?

The winds are already starting to blow up from the southwest, which in this part of the world and this time of year means snow is on the way. On the TV the talking heads are trying to make their best guess and they mostly say some freezing rain today and 6 – 12 inches of snow over the weekend. Most of it will be in southeastern Minnesota which is exactly where I’ll be traveling. Oh well.

The truth is we need the moisture, we’re way behind on the snow and in this watery state we count on it to help keep us from drying up and blowing away in the summer. What can be a nuisance for us is a major source of replenishment for fields now resting in the cold for spring planting and lakes covered in ice but still needing fresh water to sustain thier ecosystems when the sun finally triumphs and the melting begins.

The stores are already full of people getting stocked up with food and supplies for the hunkering down to come. Its part of the drill in this neck of the woods and most people just stay off the roads, watch TV, and wait for everything to blow over. The big winners will be the folks driving snowplows who stand in line for a windfall of work and overtime and the pizza delivery people with four wheel drive who’ll have barely enough down time for a cup of coffee.

My Saturn Vue shines in this kind of weather. Tall and kind of ungainly in the intricacies of urban commuting it becomes masterful when the weather turns bad. The extra foot of clearance makes for good road vision, the transmission is geared for traction, and there’s space aplenty to store items needed to make the long run endurable and even, God forbid, survivable if need be. There’s something to be said about a car that actually can sleep two people comfortably. It’s gassed, the windshield wiper fluid is full, and ready to go.

So we’ll keep an eye on the skies in the hours to come. First for the weather because these storms can take so many turns and we may not know the extent of things until its actually upon us. Second, and more important, for the blessing of God. It’s always wise to do both, prepare as best you can and trust God for the unexpected. Then which ever way the wind blows it will still be okay.

I’ll get back to you on Monday.

From time to time I will take a break from jottings about my travels and views on things to give you links to various articles of interest.

Why? It’s basically the “pastor” part of me kicking in.

I started this blog in part to provide a place that hopefully isn’t as nasty as much of the blogosphere, shares some of my life, and provides access not just to complaints about the nature of things but to solutions as well, most especially the good news of Jesus Christ.

I’ve noticed over time that many Christian feel overwhelmed by the waves of popular culture and the sometimes very anti-traditional ideology of our times. They don’t know there are well written, thoughtful, cogent, and reasoned arguments for the historic faith of the Church and often don’t know where to find them. Bombarded by junk, especially from theologians and clergy who have abandoned themselves to the tides, they may begin to wonder “Are they right after all?”

As I wander about the www I find articles of interest and blogs of worth to share with you. I hope they will strengthen your faith, encourage you to carry on, and above all rediscover the great depth of wisdom found in historic Christianity. Above all you need to know you’re not alone, not some kind of freak, and, regardless of what the TV tells you, actually on the right side of history as you (and I) seek as best as sinners can to know Christ and follow in His footsteps.

Enjoy the articles. Know your faith. Live with confidence.

A powerful and well written article on sexuality and the Scriptures. Worth the read.