The Frantic Pace of the West

I live in the west. I am an academic in the west. My roots are in Scandinavia, and so everything I do professionally or practically in my daily life is western, and I'd like to think (most of the time) are rooted in the genius, comfort, and convenient lifestyle of the western world.

After all, we and our ancestors are the ones who -- perhaps not invented, but -- more so perfected health care, running water, electricity, computers, free enterprise, mass production of materials, etc.

We have created for ourselves a life that includes comfort, freedom from many diseases that previously were debilitating; everyone has enough to eat, and when we get sick there is often a cure, and if not a cure, there are certainly pain relieving drugs that help us end our lives in comfort at home with our loved ones.

There is much good to say about the west; and of course there is much ill to say about the west too. With free competition in the market place comes greed, brutality, ruthlessness, and many other horrible behaviors as we want more and more, and no matter what we have, it is never enough.

With the ability to medicate, do surgery, and help people restore their bodies to functionality after disease comes the abuse:  abuse of painkillers, abuse of  cosmetic procedures--a quest for the perfect body. With that comes our veiled intolerance of those whose bodies or minds are less than perfect: and wors of all, our culture hides from old age and death.  -- We basically have a culture that worships youth, accomplishments. Old age is ignored and disrespected -- and we often lack in compassion for the destitute, partially because they are ugly, old, and disease-ridden, and partially because my culture is so about me and what I own and what I want, that I forget they exist.

I won't mention any more faults of the west. You know them already, and you also know that this culture because it is market-based and 'sells well' is the culture that so much of the developing world tries or hopes to adopt for themselves too. After all, who doesn't want comfort and convenience?

Now, in spite of the flaws of the west, I love living here. I love having the freedom to write and absorb myself in the details of the narrow subjects that i love most (science and rhetoric), and I love being able to publish, communicate with people freely, and generally indulge my own whims, while I eke out a living for myself and my family. It is a good life. There is much satisfaction in it (in spite of the flaws of the west) and I have no desire to move to Russia, Greece, or India, to get more in touch with the circular, slower paced life of the mind [and that may be my biggest flaw]. At least, I do not think I want to trade what I have (an orderly clean country with a mostly functioning and not so corrupt government) in exchange for what I might get in the east.

And yet ... I try to get a taste of it. I try to live in both places. Thus, I go to church.

For me, Eastern Christianity (Orthodoxy) bridges the west and the east. The eastern liturgy is contemplative, slow (the services are long), and by the time you have sat through a Sunday morning, which with Orthros (the prayer service before the liturgy) 3 hours, your mind has undergone a transformation, it has been soothed, and you feel more at peace and at one with God for having gone through the service even if you did not hear a word of it.

No, I am not advocating not listening to the litanies or the readings or the words of the music. What I AM saying is that in the eastern service, it is not just the words that count, it is also the style and organization of the service that matters. Content, form, and style all speak to the soul -- at least they speak to my soul.

However, I do not believe that most church goers would agree with me.

In the United States we have every possible type of church service, including (as I attended once in Minnesota) drive-through churches where you stay in your car and receive communion through your car window. We have 'express' (15 minute) services for those who don't have much time on Sundays.

Also, I know of one church in a major city (and perhaps there are many like this) where there are 3 or 4 worship 'rooms', so you pick your own style of music: hard rock, heavy metal, traditional hymns, or gospel lite songs, and then the sermon is piped into each room, so everyone gets the same message (note: here, it is the WORDS only, that count). Many people think it is wonderful that we can each worship the way we like to (and it is!!). And that those who choose or those who are confined can stay home and have it piped onto their computer screens.

The western church is a perfect example of western ingenuity: worshipping in the comfort of whatever surrounding you choose.

It is not my place to criticize the above mentioned styles of worship. Though by bringing them up, I have obviously called their merits into question.

We all look for different things in worship, I suppose. Personally, I am looking to clear the clutter of my mind, to relax, to find peace in God and His salvation, and to focus on the Word... and of course finally to receive the Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I don't do worship very well in a setting that involves dancing or rock n roll music, and I was criticized once by a colleague who accused me of snobbery because my worship is distracted by loud music and dancing. He claimed I did not want to be one with people and meet them where they are at --- but here is the issue. Worship, in my understanding of it, is about meeting God, not about meeting other people.

No, to be frank, I have no perfect sense of how or where God manifests Himself to people, or at least I would be hesitant to pronounce that I have found His 'formula', but what I do know is that being still is part of what I need to physically slow down and get away from the frantic pace of the world and its overtime work, its crowded commuter streets, and its constant demands. Loud music and dancing has its places, but Sunday morning, I am looking to slow down my body and my mind to focus on God and his Word, and I find that peace in the quiet serenity of the Orthodox services, be it a liturgy (Mass) or a vespers (evening) service.

I recently skipped a service at my usual Orthodox church and went to an Episcopal service at a church that is 5 minutes' walk down the street. Why? you might ask. Well the truth is, I have visited just about every type of Christian church available in the world (including a Coptic church and Assemblies of God) but I had never set foot in an Episcopal church. -- What struck me (as relates to the topic of this blog) was that it contained many, indeed all the elements of the Orthodox worship service, but they were all abbreviated and run through must faster. The Orthodox take 90 minutes to do what that particular Episcopal church does in 50 minutes. That has been my experience in the Catholic and Lutheran churches I have gone to on occasion as well. All the elements are there, but it is pared down, compared to what I am used to.  -- Again, not a criticism, but an assertion that my body and mind are so in overdrive most of the week that I need really looooooooooong church services to put on the brakes, the same way a run-away truck in the Rock Mountains needs a really long path with a sand bank at the end to safely come to a complete stop.

In my church, we still start with litanies (streams of prayer by the celebrant followed by the congregation saying Lord, have mercy), then the Word is read (Epistle and Gospel), then another streamm of litanies, followed by communion. Each set of prayers reminds you to pray for different parts of the world and when you are done, you have pretty much prayed for everyone: your family, your loved ones, the military, the government, those who are sick, those who are suffering, etc. The Orthodox litanies are longer than litanies in most other churches, Orthodox have more special readings read, more special hymns sung, longer Scripture readings, and in the case of comparing to the Episcopal and Lutheran services, the Orthodox naturally have songs and readings pertaining to the saint of the day or the liturgical event of the day more so than those churches.

The words, the sounds in the service are important, but had I been deaf, I would have still worshipped with my body, bowing, kneeling, with my sense of smell as the incense comes around, with my sight, as I behold the Old Testament and New Testament imagery all of the wallls of the church, as well as with my tastebuds, as I receive the body and blood of Christ. It's bells, smells, frescoes, prostrations, songs, bread, wine -- a full sensory experience for all our senses.

Not to belabor the details, but I would say this. The lengthy Orthodox service is necessary to clear my mind of all the clutter of the week well enough to prepare me for communion. I am fantastically grateful for the slow movement of the Orthodox liturgy that refocuses my mind on things divine and slowly  and repeatedly recalls my wandering attention back to the service to bring me before the altar to receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Even if I knew nobody, even if not a soul talked to me after the service, I would still go to calm and focus my mind on the things that really matter, and to receive the life giving healing body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I would still feel blessed that I had come, and I would still feel compelled to return the following Sunday.

I take that healing and peace with me --back into the world-- and it sustains me for the rest of my week.

Indeed, as a result of that healing and peace, I have found that I can recreate that spirit of calm and faith at home, in my little corner where I sit and pray -- with a few icons, depicting God and his glory shining through his saints -- with a few candles and an incense stick --- and with the quiet that I secure, I sit down to pray and read the Scriptures for the day.

Peace is a gift. Church brings about that peace as it spreads the ancient Gospel message, which almost always started with an annunciation by an Angel, saying either 'Fear not' or 'Peace be upon you'.  It is that peace that I seek as a refuge from my daily frantic toils.