Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Faith Portrayed


An Inkling
Traffic was thick at the corner of Malvern and Grove this past weekend.  It was the annual Greek festival at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral, and thousands came.  Since we live nearby, Sarah and I walked over to join in.
What fun!  It’s no wonder that this annual festival has become a Richmond event not to be missed.  The “Greeks” serve up marvelous Mediterranean cuisine, and sell their arts and handicrafts.  Troupes of various ages deck themselves in traditional Greek outfits, and proudly exhibit their culture’s music and dances. 
For those with an observant eye, the festivities themselves point to a common life our Greek friends have in Christ.  But to make the center of their life more apparent, they also offer a tour of their sanctuary, which Sarah and I took.  If you’ve not been to an Orthodox sanctuary, I recommend it.  It’s not just a meeting place; it’s an architectural creed, a right-brained confession.  And the cathedral on Malvern is a particularly lovely expression. 
Our tour guide was a laywoman who clearly loves the Lord, and delights in the particulars of Orthodox worship.  She explained the candles and icons in the narthex, and how they use these aids to prepare themselves to enter a holy place to worship.  She explained the iconostasis (the front wall with all of the icons, shown in the attached snapshot I took), and the sanctuary behind it, where only the priests may go.  She also showed us the large baptismal font where they dunk their babies!  To Protestant ears it was a different sort of testimony, but clearly a testimony to the same One we honor a few blocks west on Grove at St. Giles.
We Presbyterians have our own strong suits, and our own ways of demonstrating the life we have together in Christ.  But our Orthodox friends serve as good tutors in what it means to combine fun, fellowship, and proclamation.  May we learn and do likewise!
And may God bless the Orthodox!
Keith