Today is one of those days where victory and defeat come simultaneously. I have to realize that the world does not understand the Orthodox faith. I do not understand the Orthodox faith as it often strikes me as too great a mystery to ever fully be known. Yet, now more than ever before, I am called to be an evangelist.
In so many ways, Orthodoxy is good news! While She does not shy away from moral instruction, She charges those in Her fold to an ever-greater pursue of Christ-likeness. Each person enters his or her own ascetic struggle within the broader ascetic struggles of the community.
Yet some people can only see the externals. They see that we have male priests and bishops; therefore, the Church must oppress women. They see that we use a Liturgy that finds its origins in the time the Apostles; therefore, the Church must be outdated. They see that we practice confession; therefore, the Church must be trying to regulate every facet of the community’s life through legal means. They see that I as a catechumen cannot partake of Holy Eucharist; therefore, the Church must be exclusionary and discriminatory.
My heart grieves.
I’ve dealt with those types of conversations a lot. Being a recent “convert”, many of my friends and all of my family (besides my immediate) are not Orthodox.
The best thing to do in those moments is to pray that God will give you the right words to say.
Don’t let them get to you, and never let any one get you down. You’ve found your path, and you see the narrow gate. Your eyes are fixed to it, and let no one distract you from your destination.
Some people’s hearts are hard, and they cannot be convinced otherwise. They are granted through free will the ability to choose what they must. If they choose the incorrect path, they only have themselves to blame.
The best witness is to be transformed through askesis into the Living Image of Christ. If people can see theosis in operation, then all other arguments will fall silent. The proof of the path is in getting there.
It is saddening when people go about informing themselves and even worse ‘informing’ others on what they *think* they know as opposed to what’s actually known in regards to Orthodoxy. I got to experience this even before I could be classifed as an Inquirer much less a Catechumen. The mind boggles in realization of just how blinded by the enemy’s lies people are, when instead of answering God’s call to obedience the pursuit of very human and very fallible (despite cries of protest to the contrary they try and make) are rushed into.
I have found more love, more acceptance, more life and more joy in Orthodoxy than I ever could have in any other ‘church’. So I too experience confusion when others don’t see what I’m eagerly pointing towards to share in the goodness that is Orthodoxy. In the end I simply pray and hope the Holy Spirit does for them what I can’t begin to do on my own.