Holy Pascha - through UN-Orthodox eyes

Today is Pascha, the day the Orthodox church celebrates the resurrection of Christ. I attended services at St. Silouan, the Orthodox church in Walla Walla, with my friends Juliana and Herman. It was quite an experience. My belief system and my personal history of how I typically worship both hold several key differences from Orthodoxy. In some ways, walking into their church is like walking into another world for me. My senses dance with soaking up all the tokens of symbolism and ritual…the icons, the incense, the candles and the liturgy. Still, my heart was warmed by the sincere welcome of the people there and I love hearing the rich acapella cadence of their choir.

The usual Sabbath services at St. Silouan run about the same schedule as my own church, but Pascha is entirely different. Today’s service was to begin at 4:00 AM. So I was a little bit bleary eyed when I arrived. I walked into the church in total darkness. The only light came from a tiny bulb illuminating the text that a reader was chanting out in a sing-song cadence. I found a place where I could see what was going on but didn’t think I would be very much in the way to begin my long vigil of standing.

There are no pews in an Orthodox church. There is one bench along the back wall for the elderly, infirm, or others who are not physically able to stand for long periods. But the general congregation stands through each service, which in this case was about three hours. The ability for all of them to stand for so long in such reverence, even the very young kids, is pretty impressive.

Slowly, in silence, the room began to fill up. Most (but not all) of the women wore head scarves and long skirts. People brought with them decorated candles to be used later in the service and many came carrying baskets of foods to be blessed by the Priest.

Pascha marks the end of Lent, the 40 day fast leading up to it. Every person’s fast is individual, with accommodations made for those with special health circumstances. But in general, faithful members of Orthodoxy do not eat meat, dairy products, eggs, or use any olive oil or wine for the entire 40 days. The baskets of food were things they had fasted from during that time that now could be a part of their celebration feast.

I’m not sure how to describe the service to someone who has never been inside an Orthodox church or around Orthodox people. Definitely high ritual. The officiators wear elaborate ceremonial robes in rich gold or white. At various times the Priest, Deacon and Sub-deacons walk around in a circle carrying sacred objects, intoning things I didn’t always understand. The movements and the words are all very specifically prescribed. There is quite a bit of symbolism and repetition. Much of the service is sung rather than spoken, with some phrases in Greek and others in Russian. On all sides of the room there are icons-- representations of Christ and various saints. Members of the congregation “venerate” the saints by approaching the icons, making the sign of the cross and kissing the pictures. It was all quite amazing to my eyes that are so accustomed to a very different sort of worship.

At one point in the service the Priest came out with lit candles and passed his light to others who in turn went around the chapel sharing their fire until everyone’s candle was lit. Brought out of the darkness, we could finally see each others faces clearly, so there were many smiles of acknowledgement as people spotted each other in the group. Then everyone went outside into the night and walked around the church with the choir singing. The bells that hang in the frame just behind the church were all rung together in an amazing pattern of deeply resonating tones. I imagine the neighbors were not too fond of that part in the wee hours of the morning, and it did start the local dogs to barking. But to me, a long time bell fan, it was utterly magical. (Check out All Saints of America Bells link on the side of this blog to see what these bells look like…sound files will eventually be added but aren’t up and running yet.)

Next we all stood in front of the church under the spreading branches of a tree that was completely covered in pink blossoms, listening to the Priest read the scripture passages about the resurrection. The sight of all those people worshiping in the darkness, with points of light shining from everyone’s candles and from the stars overhead was truly breathtaking.

When we went back into the church for the next portion of the service every light was on making the chapel glow with brightness. Where as the early part of the service dealt more with the death of Christ and the sins of the world, this part was all about the resurrection and the atonement, coming alive to the spirit as we die to our old lives.Communion was administered and the Priest blessed the baskets of food people had brought with them.

After the service was over, there was a gathering feast at the Senior Center and then the little kids got to have an egg hunt. There was much warm association, laughter, hugs as people greeted each other with “Christ is Risen!”

There were parts of the service that truly lifted me and parts that my mind turned away from – the references to the things I flat out do not believe. Yet the overall feeling of the whole service was one of reverence and deeply committed faith. I was honored to be there to participate.

In this post 9-11 world there has been so much animosity and mistrust between people of different faiths. I wish with all my heart that the world could find more tolerance, more genuine desire to understand one another rather than festering with so much ill will.

I do not believe in the concept of Trinity. I do not accept the Nicene Creed. I do not venerate saints. I do not view the mother of Christ, who Orthodox know as “Theotokos”, as one who can intercede on my behalf. Because of those things, there are some in the Orthodox faith who would declare that I am not Christian. But that’s ok. By their particular definition, I guess I’m not. I choose to believe anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as savior and the son of God, and does the best he or she can to follow His teachings is Christian. I have nothing to gain by arguing the point with others who believe differently.

Despite our many differences, I was richly blessed to stand with friends throughout this service to ponder what it is I DO believe. Rather than focus on the things that would set us apart, I chose to be enriched by the many places we have common ground. Like them, I too believe the central purpose of this life is to work out my salvation by coming to know God and by learning to submit my will to His words. Although my general style of worship may not resemble this service in the least, we are united through a faith in Christ that shapes each day of our lives.

However, I’ve also had friends or colleagues who were Buddhist, Moslem, Hindu, Jewish, Pagan or atheist who did NOT share my views about Christ being central to salvation. Even then, in most cases I was still able to find ways to relate to them as spiritual brothers and sisters, and to benefit by working toward understanding their various world views. In my mind, there is an important distinction between having a strong testimony of the truth of ones own beliefs and becoming condescending or arrogant toward others who believe differently.

There is much about Orthodoxy that is entirely counter to my understanding of the nature of God and my relationship to Him. But that doesn’t stop me from loving my Orthodox friends and deeply appreciating their willingness to accept me into their world without expecting to change who I am.

So today, in honor of Pascha, I continue the refrain so oft repeated by their choir:
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy.

I know I need it, sinner that I am.