Tim, Shalome, and the girls are playing "the Game of Life". y'know, that 'Bored Game' published by Hasbro for 2 - 6 players ages 9 and up.
I've always hated that board game. even when I was a wee lad... I always felt like the game was frustrating and dull, that there were lots of annoying rules and that every obnoxious random factor. and, of course, there was the undeniable sub-text that more money, children, material resources were the key to living a worthy life.
that's it!!! the Game of Life promotes avarice and materialism! this hateful game encourages us to worship Mammon! Jesus said that you can't serve God AND money! you can only have one master... renounce the satanic and coal black heart that is created by playing this hateful Hasbro game!
Get behind me Satan! ;)
(for those of you who don't know, I'm just kidding. although I DO hate the game I don't think it's ACTUALLY from the fiery depths of Hell)
Sunday, April 20, 2008
my first Orthodox service
for reasons that defy my comprehension I've decided to create a blogger.
I attended my first Orthodox service yesterday morning. I was generally impressed. I liked the fact that congregational worship was integrated into every aspect of the service. I liked the fact that the music was fairly easy to sing and comprehend. the Biblical text was intoned, and although a little jarring at first, didn't take THAT long to get used to. there was a nice variety of texts (from Scripture, from old prayers, and the like).
the two aspects I didn't particularly care for go as follows:
it was exceedingly long. in fact, I'd wager they picked the longest possible way to do everything in that service.
my second complaint was the utter lack of a 'sermon' or 'lecture'. perhaps this reflects my profoundy Protestant upbringing, but the lack of a sermon means that these services are not for new converts or the unitiated Christian. from what little I've seen and heard from the congregation most of these people have been life-long Christians as, to put it quite plainly, Orthodoxy is not exactly a hospitable environment for new converts of the Modern persuasion!
I would have enjoyed the service more if I had been able to look over the specific texts and music being used in that service (kinda like reading a musical score along with a live-performance or audio recording)
all in all, I enjoyed myself. I did make the effort to stand through nearly the whole thing (there was a portion where we kneeled, which was the only real exception).
the people in the congregation were friendly and gracious as I rather expected them to be. the priest(s) had a good (and dry) sense of humor that displayed itself throughout the service.
[I suppose I should have mentioned this earlier, but I had family members getting baptized at the service, so this particular occassion was probably significantly longer than usual. and, oh yes, it happened yesterday--on Saturday morning]
I attended my first Orthodox service yesterday morning. I was generally impressed. I liked the fact that congregational worship was integrated into every aspect of the service. I liked the fact that the music was fairly easy to sing and comprehend. the Biblical text was intoned, and although a little jarring at first, didn't take THAT long to get used to. there was a nice variety of texts (from Scripture, from old prayers, and the like).
the two aspects I didn't particularly care for go as follows:
it was exceedingly long. in fact, I'd wager they picked the longest possible way to do everything in that service.
my second complaint was the utter lack of a 'sermon' or 'lecture'. perhaps this reflects my profoundy Protestant upbringing, but the lack of a sermon means that these services are not for new converts or the unitiated Christian. from what little I've seen and heard from the congregation most of these people have been life-long Christians as, to put it quite plainly, Orthodoxy is not exactly a hospitable environment for new converts of the Modern persuasion!
I would have enjoyed the service more if I had been able to look over the specific texts and music being used in that service (kinda like reading a musical score along with a live-performance or audio recording)
all in all, I enjoyed myself. I did make the effort to stand through nearly the whole thing (there was a portion where we kneeled, which was the only real exception).
the people in the congregation were friendly and gracious as I rather expected them to be. the priest(s) had a good (and dry) sense of humor that displayed itself throughout the service.
[I suppose I should have mentioned this earlier, but I had family members getting baptized at the service, so this particular occassion was probably significantly longer than usual. and, oh yes, it happened yesterday--on Saturday morning]
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