Comments on: The Katavasia of Pascha http://benedictseraphim.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/the-katavasia-of-pascha/ An occasional record of one man's struggle for the salvation of his soul; or, the intersection of the Faith once for all delivered to the saints with the life of a man, a husband, and a father. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:30:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU By: sophia http://benedictseraphim.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/the-katavasia-of-pascha/#comment-14456 sophia Mon, 05 May 2008 09:34:39 +0000 http://benedictseraphim.wordpress.com/?p=1838#comment-14456 Hello all... i am currently seeking a true spiritual life. I am seeking out people who can help me in this journey of discovery. I'm looking for the best books you can think of about Orthodox and its beliefs and culture (one that is from an academic point of view not a missionary trying to convince me something. God gave me a brain, I can put things together myself once I have all the information! With some guidance of course, but no Persuasion please.) Anyways, here is a little background on myself. I come from an Orthodox family where my Grandmother was the religious one, to the core. My parents divorced and I was living with my father. My father’s side of the family is “church goers on holiday” type of people so as an eight year old I had no clue what the Orthodox Church was about. My father passed away and my aunt (on my mother’s side) adopted me into her family. This is where my religious life begins. My aunt and her family are Protestants therefore when they went to church, I went to church. That’s how it all began. I had no problem with it when I was young but as I grew up I started really paying attention and stuff like (this will go to hell, that will defiantly go to hell, oh please, we are better than that, of course the devil is in that one, etc…) stared to pierce my thoughts. I grew up being told that the rest like the orthodox, Catholics were idol worshipers that they are just are “empty”. Oh and don’t mention Muslim, I was raised to believe that they are “out there.” So having Jewish, Muslim and a lot of orthodox friends, I just found all this very hard. I mean come on; God just can’t be like that. Currently as a senior in college, I started taking a lot of African history classes, ethnic classes, sociology, political science, etc… and …. I’m just going to say that something clicked in my head. This something was the need for me to cut myself completely from anything that has to do with “church.” I finally freed myself from the fears of “what my family will think if I go to a bookstore and look up “the origins of religion”” ways of being and just went to the dame bookstore. Now, I’m on a path of finding not necessarily the “right way” to God because I believe there is not ONE way to God but that many people/culture have their own way to getting and understanding the creator; GOD. Right now, I’m searching for knowledge, history, culture, scripture that will help me. I’m researching, investigating, and asking both my heart and mind if one particular way is right for my well being and spiritual connection to God and his creation. All I know is that I want nothing to do with the protestant religion. It’s nothing personal, I don’t hate those who are it’s just the path that they offer is not right for my well being and my journey. So, if there is any one, two, three or heck 10.00000000 orthodox out there that are willing to help me out on my journey by recommending books, CD’s churches(to ask questions, if it’s possible), etc… I’ll truly appreciate it. Thanks. P.S. I am in no way generalizing about the religions mentioned. I am merely expressing my situation and my feelings pertaining to those situations. Please don’t be offended. Hello all… i am currently seeking a true spiritual life. I am seeking out people who can help me in this journey of discovery. I’m looking for the best books you can think of about Orthodox and its beliefs and culture (one that is from an academic point of view not a missionary trying to convince me something. God gave me a brain, I can put things together myself once I have all the information! With some guidance of course, but no Persuasion please.) Anyways, here is a little background on myself. I come from an Orthodox family where my Grandmother was the religious one, to the core. My parents divorced and I was living with my father. My father’s side of the family is “church goers on holiday” type of people so as an eight year old I had no clue what the Orthodox Church was about. My father passed away and my aunt (on my mother’s side) adopted me into her family. This is where my religious life begins. My aunt and her family are Protestants therefore when they went to church, I went to church. That’s how it all began. I had no problem with it when I was young but as I grew up I started really paying attention and stuff like (this will go to hell, that will defiantly go to hell, oh please, we are better than that, of course the devil is in that one, etc…) stared to pierce my thoughts. I grew up being told that the rest like the orthodox, Catholics were idol worshipers that they are just are “empty”. Oh and don’t mention Muslim, I was raised to believe that they are “out there.” So having Jewish, Muslim and a lot of orthodox friends, I just found all this very hard. I mean come on; God just can’t be like that.
Currently as a senior in college, I started taking a lot of African history classes, ethnic classes, sociology, political science, etc… and …. I’m just going to say that something clicked in my head. This something was the need for me to cut myself completely from anything that has to do with “church.” I finally freed myself from the fears of “what my family will think if I go to a bookstore and look up “the origins of religion”” ways of being and just went to the dame bookstore. Now, I’m on a path of finding not necessarily the “right way” to God because I believe there is not ONE way to God but that many people/culture have their own way to getting and understanding the creator; GOD. Right now, I’m searching for knowledge, history, culture, scripture that will help me. I’m researching, investigating, and asking both my heart and mind if one particular way is right for my well being and spiritual connection to God and his creation. All I know is that I want nothing to do with the protestant religion. It’s nothing personal, I don’t hate those who are it’s just the path that they offer is not right for my well being and my journey. So, if there is any one, two, three or heck 10.00000000 orthodox out there that are willing to help me out on my journey by recommending books, CD’s churches(to ask questions, if it’s possible), etc… I’ll truly appreciate it. Thanks.
P.S.

I am in no way generalizing about the religions mentioned. I am merely expressing my situation and my feelings pertaining to those situations. Please don’t be offended.

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