Children in the Church Today- Part #2

" When we consider the question of church attendance, and Holy Communion, and prayer at home, we must have in mind not only the immediate result, but also a long-term view: what is the best preparation for this child to live a Christian life in this world? What will sow in the child a spiritually healthy attitude to Christ, to the Church, and to the sacraments? What will help him/her to preserve until adulthood the desire to know Christ and have communion with him? Sometimes children attend church very often and yet inwardly they are rebelling and rejecting grace. Some athiests were brought up in pious families."



In reading this, I was very impressed. This is such a refreshing view; that we are working to help the child to "desire to know Christ and have communion with him." We are not trying to make it to every service, or impose certain expectations on a child. Rather, we are trying to teach them to love Christ. This makes me think of the verses in Ephesians exhorting parents to not exasperate their children. This does not mean of course that we sleep in on Sundays instead of going to church, but it does make the point that we are dealing with a unique human life, and we need to maintain a long-term view.

Stations of the Cross

Usually a Catholic tradition nowadays, we, as a Western Orthodox Church also celebrate the Stations of the Cross during the lenten season every Wednesday night. We walk through the stations after a 7pm liturgy (which most people fast for beforehand so that they can receive communion). The Stations are not a long service, but after not eating since noon, and an hour of liturgy, our wills often become weak, and thoughts of dinner and rest nearly overwhelm us.

It is at this time, however, that some of the most beautiful words are spoken and prayed, and if we listen, we come away renewed and with a deeper understanding of the Lord's suffering. We also come away with some greater knowledge of ourselves. It is a kind of knowledge that only comes through such an experience; a spiritual meditation of the cross, crossing oneself and bowing, praying, and hearing healing words. The soul and the body putting forth effort together.


When I was a little girl, I prayed that God would show me what his suffering meant; why Easter was so special. It took me until my first lent in the Orthodox Church to really make any headway in this. It took the effort of these long services where we, in our own small way, partook in the sufferings of Christ. That is what I had always been missing- the partaking in Christ's suffering before his resurrection. He calls us to die with him, that we might rise. If we do not die during a preapratory period like lent, the resurrection does not have the same depth or "gravitas," as a friend of ours likes to call it.

On the Easter morning after my first journey through lent, I was filled with such a joy. Christ had risen! Actually, the Hymn "He is Risen!" woke me up, like the Spirit of the Lord coming to announce his resurrection again, afresh. I was so joyful that day and cried as we rang the bells at Church in celebration. Many people did actually, it was hard not to. My emotions matched by desire to know the resurrection that day.

The lenten periods where I have fasted and made the spiritual effort have been the times when the resurrection meant the most. Though this year, my fast is different ( I am not restricting diet so much, except sweets), I need to make a similar effort towards His glorious appearing.

Anyways, I anow off track with my original thought- that of the Stations. Here is an excerpt that caught my eye last night. May it be a blessing to all.

From Station 10: Jesus is stripped of his garments-

Behold the Lord who clothed the world in beauty, who
now submits, for love of man, to all man’s hatred. He is
stripped of His clothing and prepared for the Cross.

P. HOLY GOD, HOLY MIGHTY, HOLY IMMORTAL,
R. HAVE MERCY UPON US.
P. THEY GAVE ME ALSO GALL FOR MY MEAT:
R. AND IN MY THIRST THEY GAVE ME VINEGAR TO DRINK.
Let us pray.

O BLESSED LORD JESUS, now prepared for the gallows tree;
Help us to strip off all false pride and to be clothed with sincerity
of heart: Let love rule in our hearts and fill them so that no
room remains for anger; let us rejoice in the success of others, and
pray for them in their shortcomings, that we have no room for the
cloak of envy; for lust, give us singleness of purpose; that all our
desires may be lived in the pure crucible of this Thy holy sacrifice;
Grant us for greed a love of holy poverty; for sloth a holy industry;
for gluttony a wholesome discipline; that resisting all temptations of
the world, the flesh, and the devil, we may live in faith, through
hope, with love by Thee, who now livest and reignest with the Father
and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

Disneyland!!!

Yay! I got an email today from our Office Manager saying that we were having an end-of-busy-season party all day at Disneyland. How fun! We get to take a whole day off, and they are providing a meal for us too at the ESPN zone. :) Last year the party was an Angel's game. Not that I don't just love the Angels, but this year sounds much better.

A tidbit

It has been interesting trying to keep my mind on work today. I keep getting these little pokes in the stomach. :) Whats that? Oh, right, baby is trying out the newly calcified bones.

A little scare and why I love my Midwife

Yesterday I was feeling crummy and very weak, almost faint. So, I decided to stay home from work. It was my first sick day of the whole pregnancy and I even worked from home a little. I was kind of nervous about how I was feeling since everything feels a bit new right now. It was something like having really low blood sugar, but I had been eating just fine, so that didn't seem right.

I called my midwife's office at 9:10am, and they were ready to see me at 10am. Very quick. Since they handle so few patients at a time, I was able to be seen right away. She checked me out in all sorts of ways, for anemia, low blood pressure, adn a couple of other things that I can't remember. She talked with me for about 20 minutes at least (nice to have someone actually take the time). In the end it was determined that I just had a blood pressure that was a bit low (98/60). I am usually on the low side to begin with, so she wasn't too worried. She said to call if the symptons persisted.

I was just so pleased with the service. They do not pack people in like at some doctor's offices and I see one of the two midwives each time. How can we get this kind of health care for other areas? They don't even charge as much as regular doctors/hospitals.

Long Overdue....Pictures

Well folks, there is still not a whole lot to see. I can tell that I am changing, but it doesn't look like much. People still can't tell at work. At church I usually wear a dress, which shows more. The view from just about 19 weeks:

Nathan says that the picture that I took looking down at my belly looks like a bunny, with my feet being the ears.

The Annunciation

For those of us still in Lent, the Annunciation is an especially bright feast day. Besides being one of the great Twelve Feasts of the church, it is the world's first message of hope. Until this day, no one knew exactly how God would bring salvation to the world. I am making salmon, couscous and asparagus tonight for dinner in celebration (good baby food :) ). Have a blessed feast day!

"Today marks the crowning of our salvation and the revelation of the mystery before all ages. For the Son of God becomes the son of the Virgin, and Gabriel proclaims the grace. Wherefore, we also cry out with him, 'Hail, O full of grace, the Lord is with you.' "

Annunciation of the Theotokos

The Reading is from Luke 1:24-38
In those days, Elizabeth the wife of Zacharias conceived and for five months she hid herself, saying, "Thus the Lord had done to me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men." In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you! But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?" And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible." And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.