Yes, if you haven't already noticed, I have issues. That said, I wanted to take some time and flesh out some of my initial issues with Eastern Orthodoxy and how I over came them. The first one starts last summer when I gave Eastern Orthodoxy a first glance. Immediatly, I noticed something, MARY (and I had some issues with Joseph)!Ummmmm, this was a bit of problem for me. I got that she was special, she was chosen, and she was a beautiful example of humility and godliness. But that was i,t right? What was this Ever-virgin thing? Jesus had brothers, right? At first, I really grieved and was a bit angered by the thought of her ever virginity. Already there was so little of Mary in my Protestant faith and now I wouldn't even me able to relate to her as a wife. It was like I didn't even know her.
Months, went by and I refused to look at EO. But, some of the arguments where working in my heart. Could it be that Joseph was an older man when he married her? That he stepped up as her protector and the protector of Jesus? That Jesus "brothers" really were cousins or step-siblings? Maybe, just maybe, I wasn't losing Mary so much, as gaining a deeper and more complex understanding of her and Joseph.
What about her "ever virginity?" Was I really supposed to believe that Jesus was not born in the way of normal babies? I had to approach this one backwards. After his death, Jesus appears to His disciples in the upper room, by walking thru a door. A miracle, right? Well, if He could walk thru walls, why couldn't He be birthed thru a wall of flesh? I don't have an answer. If I believe the one, by default I can believe the other is possible. It is a very foreign concept to me, I grant you, but not as outrageous when viewed in light of His other miracles.
In the end, I didn't lose anything. I gained a ton! My respect and admiration for Joseph. My awe for what it must have been like for Mary. And Jesus, somehow I had fallen into the thought that He started being God-like at the age of 32. Now, there was so much MORE!!!
I won't gloss over this and say it all sits perfectly, sometimes I still struggle, but what it really comes down to is: I can't compartmentalized when or how God gets to demonstrate Himself.
I didn't know EO believed that Jesus was born in a non-traditional manner. I have to say, that rocks my world, makes me angry. But like you said--He walked through walls after the resurrection.
ReplyDeleteI think it's just so foreign to anything I've heard or been taught...of course the God who created the world & was born of a virgin could make that happen in literally *any* way. And, in fact, the logistics of a stable birth was a point I was pondering recently. TMI, but it suddenly occurred to me that...that would have been tough.
I had to go through a similar discovery with the Trinity doctrine. I'd come from non-Trinitarian teaching and it was pretty well ingrained in my heart and backed up by Scripture that the Trinity was a man-made doctrine. However, as I grew in faith and realized that it is possible, with God, and that there really are mysteries beyond my comprehension, I was able to let that stumbling block go and move forward in my walk. Plus, once I read the same Scriptures in the light of Jesus as God in the flesh, many other things fell into place for me.
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Peace,
Cindy.
So true. I still struggle, and I think I will for a while ot come yet, but at this point I can see why, and that, at least, is a first step.
ReplyDeleteI love that you're looking at what you gain from embracing Mary - that is lovely. In becoming Orthodox I found that the Bible opened up in SO much insight that I had missed before. One thing that helped me was listening to the scriptures that pre-figure Mary's ever-virginity. She is the "bush that was not consumed"(Exodus 3:2).. she was the "door that the Lord passed through and then remained shut (Ez. 44:1-3). If you are able to go this week to the Vesper/Vigil service on Thurs. night (if your parish has it) you should hear these scriptures read.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, on the face of it in our modern, scholastic mindset it is hard to swallow. Just like the bodily resurrection or the healing of a paralytic. Who can do these things? "Our God is in the heavens and He does whatever He pleases." (Ps. 115)
I'm just glad you actually found out about this Orthodox/biblico/patristric tradition of Mary's ever-virginity. There is a very famous Orthodox priest who says precisely the opposite for no other reason than his own incredulity. This man writes books and speaks, and blows much hot air that should not pass for Orthodoxy at all. My advice, give people like that (people who want to pick and choose what they want to believe from the Church's teachings) a very, very wide berth, and understand that in the utter backwaters of Orthodoxy that America is, you must scrutinize what you hear because of the ignorance and the continued process of adopting the Orthodox phronema that is still very much in its infancy here.
ReplyDeleteWhat parish have you found to attend? What books are you reading? What prayer book do you use?
Aubrey, it was disorienting for me for quiet awhile. Now, though I realize I have gained so much more, than I lost. Take care of you!
ReplyDeleteCindy, Mouse, Deb it has been a lot to wrap my mind around. Thankfully, with EO I have answers to my previous questions, and lots of new questions to fill there place!
ReplyDeleteIsaac, my husband and I have found a wonderful Antiochian Church here in Houston.
ReplyDeleteunshackled- hope you are doing well in your journey. May your experience of Holy Week be precious. And a Joyous Feast of Pascha to you too.
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