from the pages of Christianity Today. Suffice it to say that answers are not easy. How do you deal with a dictator who provides protection for Christians versus a “democratic” process where Christian’s rights may be even more severely limited?

WASHINGTON BUREAU: Terry Mattingly’s religion column for 8/17/11.
Contact: tmatt@tmatt.net 

There is nothing unusual about a priest who is dressed in clerical
garb having a stranger ask him a religious question during a long
airline flight.

“You ask a guy where he’s from and what he does and then he asks you
the same thing. Many people just want to talk,” explained Father John
David Finley, a missionary priest in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese of North America.

The man in the next seat recently asked the priest a question he has
heard many times: “What is Orthodox Christianity, anyway?”

 Ironically, Finley was — at that moment — writing some comments
about a contest in which participants prepared a 30-second “elevator
speech” response to strangers who asked that very question. The
contest was organized by the archdiocesan Department of Missions and
Evangelism, Finley’s home base.

This particular man was a convert to Buddhism, although he was raised
in a home that was Christian, to one degree or another. He was
interested in how different churches interpret scripture and how
Eastern Christians pray.

“He wanted to talk about icons,” said Finley. “He thought they were
beautiful, but he also knew there was more to icons than wood and
paint. He said, ‘They’re not just pictures, right? There’s more to
icons than art, right?’ … What you hear in questions like that is a
search for beauty and mystery and spiritual power.”

The term “elevator speech” comes from the business world and
describes a punchy presentation of what a company does and “what it’s
all about,” said Howard Lange, administrator of the missions and
evangelism office. The idea of a national contest emerged from
discussions in his parish, St. Athanasius Orthodox Church, near Santa
Barbara, Calif.

“The idea is to convey the essence of your organization to someone in
two or three sentences, in the short time that you’re on an elevator
or maybe in a grocery store checkout line,” he said.

This is a hard task for all religious leaders in the increasingly
diverse arena of 21st century American life. However, this challenge
is especially hard for Eastern Orthodox leaders in a land shaped by
Protestant history and culture, as well as the rising influence of
Catholics from around the world.

Americans know, or think they know, what people believe in Baptist,
Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist or Episcopal pews. But for many, the
first word that comes to mind when they hear “Orthodoxy” is “baklava.”

 When Protestants talk about church, they usually jump into
discussions of their preacher’s pulpit skills, their children’s
programs, the excellence of their classical, gospel or rock musicians
and other selling points. The Orthodox (I know this from experience,
as a convert) need to back up a millennium or two and cover basics.
Then there are the complicated — literally Byzantine — histories of
the churches in Palestine, Greece, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria,
Ukraine and, yes, even in lands such as North America.

The goal of the “elevator speech” contest, said Lange, was to focus
on broad strokes, using language outsiders could understand — while
not oversimplifying to the point of inaccuracy. The winning entry,
selected through an online ballot, stated:

“Orthodox Christianity is the authentic and original Christian Faith
founded by Jesus Christ,” wrote Valerie Ann Zrake of New York City.
“As an Orthodox Christian you can experience heaven on earth through
the Divine Liturgy which is mystical, spiritual and beautiful, with
it’s incense, icons, and sacred music. You can transcend time and
space while you meditate upon the words and teachings of Jesus Christ.
It’s the most pure form of Christianity — nothing artificial added.
It’s the real deal.”

 Even in this simple statement, it was hard to avoid nuanced language.
“Divine Liturgy,” for example, is the Eastern rite name for what, in
the West, would be called the Mass. That reference would stump many
seekers.

 The bottom line, said Lange, is that there is no one ideal “elevator
speech” to introduce faiths that are as ancient and complex as
Orthodoxy. What works with a next-door neighbor who is already a
churchgoer would not work with a skeptical graduate student who walks
in the door ready to argue.

“You have to be able to relate to the person who is standing in front
of you,” he said. “If this contest got Orthodox people to start
thinking about that, then it did some good. It’s a start.”

“There is no need at all to make long discourses; it is enough to stretch out one’s hand and say, “Lord, as you will, and as you know, have mercy.” And if the conflict grows fiercer say, “Lord help!” God knows very well what we need and He shows us His mercy.”

Abba Macarius

we forget that the older people in our parishes, the ones who struggle to hear or come to the Eucharist with a walker are also often the ones that bequeathed us the gift of our church. Theirs was a time when they paid the bills, sang in the choir, taught the children, and kept the community together through thick and thin. Consider them quaint sometimes, or a relic from another era and we miss the point. They did what they could in the time when they were strong and we owe them at least the thanks of our acknowledgement for how their lives have blessed ours.

Anoint my heart with the oil of Your mercy, my most merciful Lord.

May neither anger against the strong nor scorning of the weak ever erupt in my heart! For everything is weaker than the morning dew.

May hatred never make a nest in my heart against those who plot evil against me, so that I may be mindful of their end and be at peace.

Mercifulness opens the way to the heart of all creatures, and brings joy. Mercilessness brings fog to the fore, and creates a cramped isolation.

Have mercy on Your merciful servant, most Tender Hand, and reveal to me the mystery of Your mercy.

The Ultimate Man is the child of the Father’s mercy and the Spirit’s light.

All creation is merely a story about Him. The mighty suns in the heavens and the smallest drops of water in the lake cany in themselves one part of the story about Him. All the builders of heaven and earth, from the exceedingly mighty seraphim to rulers and the tiniest particle of dust, tell the very same story about Him, their fore-essence and fore-source.

What are all the things on the earth and the moon except the sun in stories? Truly, in this way all visible and invisible creation is the Ultimate Man in stories. Essence is simple, but there is no end or number to the stories about essence.

My neighbors, how can I tell you about essence, when you do not even understand stories.

Ah if you only knew how great the sweetness, the expanse, and the strength are, when one reaches the bottom of all thestories—there, where the stories begin and where they end. There, where the tongue is silent and where everything is told at once!

How boring all the lengthy and tedious stories of creatures become then! Truly, they become just as boring as it is for one who is accustomed to seeing lightning to hear stories about lightning.

Receive me into Yourself, O Only-Begotten Son, so that I may be one with You as I was before creation and the Fall.

Let my long and weary story about You end with a moment’s vision of You. Let my self-deception die, that would have me think that I am something without You, that I am something else outside of You.

My ears are stuffed with stories. My eyes no longer seek to see any display of clothing but You, my essence, overladen with stories and clothing.