Signs and Symbols
Initial Reflections on my Christian Year
As I prepare for the coming light of Christ, I am called to reflect on my Christian year. The most notable aspect of it was perhaps the fact that I began to officially explore Orthodoxy (which can be understood to mean “Right Worship” or “Right Praise”). I fit right in to this due to my experience practicing Vajrayana Buddhism (which I hope to describe in greater detail in the coming months — suffice it to say for now that the idea of Celestial Beings was not foreign to me, nor was the practice of repeating many prayers over and over, nor prostrating before icons, nor praying for the hierarchs [the Bishops, Rinpoches, and Lamas] of our Sangha/Church).
I coupled this practice with two online figures: Bishop Robert Barron and Iconographer Jonathan Pageau. Both of these figures helped me to understand the faith in ways I was unprepared to do on my own. Bishop Barron, a Catholic, walked me through figures like St.s Aquinas, Augustine, and Ireneaus, teaching me about Divine Simplicity and the necessity and elementariness of Love. His Sunday sermons online helped me make sense of the Scripture that I was hearing in the Orthodox Liturgy, interpreting it in a meaningful way to put to use in contemporary practice. Pageau helped me understand how to think Symbolically (along with help from his brother), guided me toward a cognition more attuned to the ancient mode, and situated me in a place where I could experience Liturgy and Scripture in an embodied consciousness that positioned me such that I might be more capable of acting in accordance with Arete.
As I learned online, I also practiced in a community at St. Raphael’s in Iowa City. Named after the famed First Orthodox Bishop in America, an Immigrant from Syria, St. Raphael’s has been a welcoming home where I have been able to embody my Christian consciousness through the practice of ritual worship. In addition to this, and bolstered by the many, many icons that decorate the Church and guide us to worship, St. Raphael’s also introduced me to Father Ignatius Valentine, who helped me obtain a prayer book and invited me to both a bible study and an eight-week Introduction to Orthodoxy Class. Father Ignatius also took the time to lead me through the icons that illustrated the Orthodox calendar year, which feature prominently in our church, and ornament the gateway between the congregation and the altar and tabernacle.
While I would by no means consider myself a convert, I have had a number of spiritual experiences this year, and have felt my faith embodied in a way that (excepting the Buddhism) I had not felt since second grade. Those who know me might not be surprised that I began to attend Saint Raphael's after a life-threatening car crash. Those who know me even better will not be surprised that I am continuing to wrestle with all of these ideas despite my immense gratitude for having been spared. That I accept nothing at face value. I hope that this blog will serve as an opportunity for me to consider these signs and symbols over time, sharing my experience with you.
Yesterday, I put the pieces in play to start a Recovery Dharma chapter in Iowa City. You'll be hearing a lot about this next year. I thank you all for the support you've already given me, and I hope that in this blog I will continue to offer these thoughts in a considerate and respectful manner. Thank you for walking alongside me.