On Two Wheels

 Reading is fundamental. Listening is essential. Speaking is consequential. Well, at least when it comes to the synchronization of  my brain with my mouth it is. Now, there is nothing bad here to report, I didn't insult anybody (at least I am not aware of doing so) or create an incident that would be shown on the 11 o'clock news. In fact I am probably the only one that may even be aware of the situation. To some it may be of no consequence at all. I mean it is only a simple matter of "giving the appropriate response" to a greeting that I encountered many times at my "second Orthodox Service" which was Vespers on Saturday night last.
Most of the people who were there greeted me with, " Christ is Risen!" which is a wonderful spiritual greeting in perfect accord with the celebration of Pascha. However, my reactive response to this beautiful greeting was for the most part spewed out from my lips to their ears as, " He sure has!" or " You betcha!" It wasn't until the about the 90th time ( the number is exaggerated for dramatic effect ) that I remembered something about the correct response being, " He is Risen, Indeed!" It was about this time that I overheard my friend Jim (yes, Jim V. of  "You Must Be Jim"  fame) who was standing next to me, respond to someone's greeting of  "Christ is Risen!" with, "Indeed! He is Risen!" So, quickly I realized that, "hey, I got this now! I only have to put the word "Indeed"  in front of  "He is Risen!", instead of after.

Alright, good, got it. ( Hopefully, it is not that important where the "Indeed" is, but I like conformity, and it certainly sounds a lot better than, "Back at ya")

You know, now that I think about it, I have noticed that over the years, I have had a tendency to jumble a few words here and there, which in hindsight may have been the reason that I was always the kid with the "lightest bag of candy" on that dark night at the end of October, due to my occasional habit of saying "Trick or Trout! Oh, well, at least I no longer "celebrate" that day.

Now I started this post off with "Reading is Fundamental" for a good reason. So far, I have finished reading 2 books on Orthodoxy, : "The Orthodox Church" by Timothy Ware and "Becoming Orthodox" by Peter Gillquist, plus I have also received my copy of the "Orthodox Study Bible" which I am in the process of devouring.  In recent days, when I have informed friends of my "exploration and consideration" of the Orthodox Church, I was asked the same question by all, which is "Why?"

 I told them of what I said in my first post here that there was this "space" inside of me that is empty and I long to have it filled. Now, I can understand their question to me. After all, here I am, a Ministry Leader of a weekly Men's Meeting at our church called "Man Up", a member of our church's Men's Ministry Team. A musician on the Worship Team, involved in a Christian Motorcycle Ministry, and years' back in my former church (Church of the Nazarene) I was a District Licensed Minister, where for 3 1/2 years I was pastor of a small church ("Barnegat Bay Church of the Nazarene", a small mission church), former church treasurer, Sunday School Superintendent, Supply Pastor and so on, and so on.

It is also a bit understandable as to why  these friends would ask the following, after I stated my answer to their "Why?" question, They would say, "What are you talking about? "You seem to be right on top of all this spiritual God stuff, and yet YOU say that you feel a bit empty? C'mon Dude, what's the story????? I can't believe this?????

Well, the truth is, " I do feel the emptiness."

However, I believe I have now found the answer to both questions.
1.) "Why do I have this emptiness?"
2.) "Why the Orthodox Church?"

Let me explain.

"Come here, Mr. Watson, I have found something ! "

"Jim", I stated, as I was talking to my friend Jim on Saturday Night past in the parking lot of the church where we had both just attended Vespers ( I would love to do a study on how many things are discussed in a parking lot, it always seems that the person who had to "leave right away" always has time to stand around and talk in the parking lot. why is that?)
 "Jim, I found something as I was  "re-reading" the book "Becoming Orthodox", I said.  It was something I "missed" the first time, that I read it, which was only a day or two ago, I told him.

"I believe I have found "THE Answer" to my search." I said.

"The reason I have been "led" to the Orthodox Church." I followed up with.

"And the feeling, is the same feeling, ( only multiplied a "ga-zillion times) that I got when I took the "training wheels off of my bicycle, so many, many years ago",  "It's about riding on two wheels!" I said.

I then explained it to Jim.

I'll tell you what I said, in my next post.