The Uncomfortable Church

On the fifth Thursday of Lent in the Orthodox Churches we chant the service of the Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete.  It is a monumental work of hymnography with more than 250 odes, or verses, to which we also add the lengthy reading of the life of St Mary of Egypt. This makes it probably one of the longest services of Great Lent. If one also a counts the number of prostrations performed after each ode, it becomes also one of the most uncomfortable services for any casual observer.

But the length of the service and the physical discomfort of the standing and the prostrations is not the… Continue reading

Silence of the minds

elevatorI always liked this dialogue from the movie Pulp Fiction (slightly adapted for language):
“Don’t you hate that?”

“Hate what?”

“Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it’s necessary to yak about nonsense? In order to be comfortable?”

“I don’t know. That’s a good question.”

“That’s when you know you found somebody really special, when you can just shut […] up for a minute. Comfortably share silence.” Continue reading