Entry 312 - Orthodox Church Musings

9/30/20

I find it fascinating that a little baby can receive the Eucharist at an Orthodox Church, but then a full-grown adult cannot unless one becomes a member.... Even though the baby never decided to be a member and was born into it. They still have precedence over a full-grown adult. I don’t know, that seems weird to me. 

I also find it interesting how the service and elements within the Orthodox service seems to be enveloped in a lingering but strong fear of some sorts. “Don’t go outside the boundary we have created or else the fear you feel will become your physical downfall in some way” seems to be the feeling I get. 

There is love, BUT there is also a consequence for overstepping whatever we present you within this church. You can receive the love, but you also must receive the fear because that is how it’s set up. You can’t have one or the other. The fear keeps you in submission to the church, and the love keeps you coming back. 

However, love is more than the church, more than the community, more than an object of adoration. Love is God Himself. Love is beyond fear, as warmth is beyond coldness. One cannot coexist with the other because perfect love casteth out fear. So how do we make sense of the two simultaneously coexisting within the chambers of the Orthodox Church?

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