Wednesday of the First Week of Lent Service - Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church - Holladay, UT - March 12th, 2014

      What an experience tonight was. This was my second time visiting the Orthodox Christian community, and my first time visiting a Greek Orthodox Church. If you want to go to a place where a service is set up for full devotion, this would be the place.

    First, to describe the setting. The setting is like crossing into a portal to the past. At the entrance there are three icons where I made the sign of the cross at each like the person before me and after crossed into the sanctuary. The sanctuary doors glass is dark enough that you cannot see what is inside. Once inside you are greeted by chandeliers, candles and a huge golden covering with life-size icons on an Angel (I think Michael), Prophet Elias, Mary and the baby Jesus and a few others. These are doors to the back where other icons and the altar is, the one area not covered except by a red curtain when the Eucharist is prepared. 

     A few minutes before the service started one of the priests (there were four of them) began chanting prayers. These prayers lasted until the Lenten service began and continued on from there. The only time when the chanted prayers stopped is when the head priest came from behind the curtain where the Eucharist was prepared on an altar below on Icon of Jesus on the cross and when the time for communion began.

     There were certain times where myself and most of the older folks crossed themselves and that was when "Hallelujahs" were said three times, and "By the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." There were also a few times were there was full bowing, such as during the communion prayer, and at one point the head priest bowed to all of us and we returned it...it reminded me of the Buddhist "Namaste." (The light in me honors the light in you).

    Besides the setting there were some other major differences I noticed, for one the Eucharist chant was more descriptive on it being a good meal intermixed with us becoming like Christ from the experience and that our kindness should be a living sacrifice to God. The kindness as a living sacrifice was something I very much agreed and supported.

    The experience was very long in the best way possible, there was respect for the people and the service taking place and the prayers/chants were like mantras with a positive and good message greater than the self. The theme was letting God transform intermixed with accountability to the self and to God...it was a somber service but not consumed by it...the somberness was reverence for the event taking place and honoring something greater that all were a part of.

   Suffice to say, I am looking forward to my next Orthodox Church visit and hopefully having a good conversation with one of the priests at some point during my stay here in Utah.

The Religious Heart of Taiwan - Dajia, Taiwan

  
 One of the things I learned about, and saw while I was in Dajia was the role religion played in the lives of the people. Beyond holidays there were shrines that I saw in use daily. The shrines had offerings and incense and placed at them and no matter what part of the day it was, I would witness at least a few people taking part in ritual at the Shrines or Temples.

       There are shrines all throughout Dajia ranging from no larger than a small box, to the size of an office, to a makeshift yurt where monks are invited and ceremonies take place. All of these I saw in my time there. 

                                           One of the small box sized shrines

         Some of the moments that stood out where where when I was exploring Taiwan at night. The first place was a small shrine where I witnessed a family laying offerings. At a shrine near the entrance Dajia I saw flowers being laid as the Chinese New Years was taking place, and the makeshift temporary shrines popped up all over Dajia depending on the day. It was at these shrines were I could see statues inside of Bodhisattvas, and a few times they were full of monks chanting.

                                                     One of the Temporary Shrines   
   Rarely, if ever, did I see someone visit a shrine or Temple alone. It was built around family, community and taking part in it with everyone there. It was a collectivism that I haven't noticed as much here in the States where ritual is mostly confined to the building and what social events there are are purely social verses honoring something greater (be it virtue, ancestors, etc.) that I saw in Taiwan.

     I look forward to returning someday and am grateful for being able to experience the religious center of Taiwan. As I was going to the airport I noticed something else - a Bodhisattva being driven around in a truck, with music playing. It was the middle of morning so no one would be at Temple most likely due to work, but the ritual of Temple was brought out, even if the way was pretty gaudy...though the intent was good I think of simply wishing to bless those in the area.

     

Return to Zhenlan Temple - Dajia, Taiwan - February 23rd, 2014

 

       My last day in Taiwan was also my return to Zhenlan Temple. Suffice to say, it ended up being just what I needed. The last time I was here it was so crowded and loud I could barely hear myself think...this time, there were people (families) but it was quiet and reflective...honestly one of the reasons I love hiking and being out in nature so much. In the place where there is silence is often the best place to find oneself and how it is connected to others.

    The only sound in the Temple was in the courtyard outside, where a musician played smooth jazz. Not exactly what I was expecting but the guy was talented, and the music mixed with the incense that I bought and used to pay my respects to the Bodhisattvas in the Temple (and Matzu who the Temple is built around) ended up making time feel as if it was slowing down. It was easy to find solace and the silence of the night and the stars, mixed with the silence in the Temple was perfect.

  After my prayers I explored in and around the Temple. I had just come from checking a small box shrine and another temple in town where I'd been thinking about the future, my time in Taiwan and where to go next. The trip wasn't what I expected, but I guess when traveling things rarely are. In the end the most we can do is make the most of the time we have and accept the constant change of life. I don't know when it will be, but I look forward to returning to Taiwan once more.

Lunar New Years Part 2 - Dajia Wunchang Shrine - Dajia, Taiwan - February 2nd, 2014

       One of the best things about getting lost is you'll never know what you'll find. In the case of today I was fortunate to discover the Dajia Wunchang Shrine. The Shrine was donated by a wealthy man in Dajia and it was originally both a shrine and a school built in the late 1800's, being eventually made a historical cite in 1985 by Dajia's local government. The location was on a corner next to a hamburger joint a new friend I made here is opening...so the location is inconspicious. This was one of the many ways it differed from Zhenlan Temple.

      Another difference was how uncrowded and peaceful it was. At Zhenlan it was too overwhelming to even say a prayer, much less buy incense...but here, incense was based on how much you chose to donate and there were only a few family present performing the rituals for the new year. It was here I got three incense and said my prayer as well. For virtue, fortune and luck...

     It was my first time being in a place where I could reflect on my time here so far and the possibilities of the year to come with all its trials and possibilities. Suffice to say, I plan on returning here again. It was the first and only place I stopped to stay at after Zhenlan Temple, though I did discover many more places I plan on visiting.

     The day ended with success and I found where I was soon after the Shrine. Here is to the coming year and the final days of this Lunar New Years.

Passover Seder - Evergreen Hillel - Olympia, WA - April 25th, 2011

       What is Passover? Passover is the celebration of God's liberation of the Jews from Egypt in the Torah. In the celebration symbolic food and drink is partaken of. For example a bitter food for the yoke of enslavement, a sweet food for freedom, meat (in this case a beat though) in the form of a lamb used to symbolize the blood on every door to spare the Jews from the Angel of Death, who was the final plague...

     That's the information on what it is...but the experience of it was so much more, as well as what it can mean beyond a wikipedia definition.

      I arrived an hour late due to my arrival on campus being while the Passover Seder had already begun. When I arrived the prayers where going on, and would be continuing for another hour and a half. Each of us read passages from the Passover Prayerbook and read some sections as a group.

    The book was made in 1985 and was a collection of Jewish Passover prayers, words from people fighting injustice (Martin Luther King Jr., Desmond Tutu, Refugees, Holocaust victims) all of them mirrored what the Jews were experiencing in the story of Exodus. It reminded everyone present what still needed to be done and the innate call for freedom that all people long for (as well as the resistance of those when free idealizing the past oppression - example, the whining in the desert).

   Each drink and special food had a prayer. It's amazing the awareness that comes with the simple act of ritual and prayer. I remember the process of eating each dish and drinking each drink so clearly...there was so much gratitude and reverence in the people around me and within myself.

   During the time of the meal proper was a time of growing community even more. I talked with a few friends there about Doctor Who after finding out they were Whoheads to. I talked to my friend, the leader of Hillel about the Interfaith Workshop I'm co-sponsoring that he is going to be a member as well. Letting him know the 2 main themes of the event (Abraham and the difficulties in Interfaith dialogue) This went on for sometime before the discussion of what Passover might mean.

    The leader of Evergreen Hillel and my friend proposed it showed the evolution of God. God does act immature through much of Torah, His growth is gradual and becomes more and more aware and compassionate towards the people, all people. This is a stark contrast to the genocide in Noah.

   Another was the Exodus story as a metaphor for our own liberation. That Moses represents the subconscious as Aaron represents God and our higher self versus Pharaoh who represents the Ego. The story of liberation is us freeing ourselves.

    Then there is the implied meaning that was in the prayerbook. That it is the story of God seeking to free all people from slavery and that the Jews in the story represent the oppressed people everywhere in the world in all times. The story is a call to action to not be oppressors and to have compassion for the oppressors and oppressed and to free the oppressed.

   Hearing the story of the people complimented by people who I knew from history made the event even richer, as did my conversations.

  So happy Passover to all...may we all do more to end suffering wherever it may be (within ourselves or in those around us) and help others to freedom.

Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church - Issaquah, WA - March 27th, 2011

      Hey everybody! On the issue of the blog being a ministry or not. I talked to one of my friends who gave me good explanation on why she thinks it is. I hope my and others' insights and experiences  outside and through this blog can help or continue to help you on your journeys, and hopefully I will be able to do faith visits with more of you in the future!

      How would I describe Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church? My experience with the community was one of the greatest ones I've had. It was the first time were I was told I could take communion. Which I will talk about later in the blog. The music was amazing! They have an old choir and the old hymns I have always found peace in. The church building is under construction and the community is fair size and extremely kind.

    At service there was a call for people with birthdays to come up and receive a blessing from the Priest. She didn't notice me at first, and I was surprised I took the initiative, most visits I tend to stick around in the back and not sit in the front. I wasn't noticed at first, but I got a few birthday wishes. My birthday was the next day.

     The sermon was about sticking to the end to discover how Jesus can change you. The example of the Samaritan Women who ended up seeing him as Christ and took responsibility for her questionable past was contrasted with Nicodemus who wasn't willing to give up his wealth to follow Jesus. In the story it laid down some of the signs for what would happen on the cross and at Easter with the resurrection.

    After the Nicene Creed was quoted (which reminded me of Catholic Mass where it's roots come from). It was at that time I was also aware how I am not a Christian. I see the possibility of it being true metaphorically (Three in One being/Trinity, resurrection, ect.) I just don't see it as probable, and think their are enough doubts about the texts for them not to be literal events exactly recorded. The theologian Marcus Borg's thoughts about the what happened (they were recorded by his followers post his death, and that they did experience something that inspired them to believe Jesus was God and rose from the dead) makes more sense to me. Regardless, it's the actions that I do, and that people do that matter I think. That's what defines us more so then any belief about reality.

     It was for this reason I was surprised that I was offered communion. Me, a total stranger who has great appreciation for the virtue in many of Jesus's messages (not all of them I think are virtuous though) and who is the Outsider was offered communion.

    I think I understand a bit more now why the Eucharist and communion is so central to many Christian churches. When the Priest gave me the wafer dipped in wine, it was the most aware I've ever been of what I was eating. "This is the bread of life." She said. I don't know if that's true, but the reverence of those around me (and that I myself showed for the symbol) transcended to the experience...or maybe something outside of me touched me. I'm not sure. Regardless, I felt alive.

     Afterwords I talked to the Priest, the Choir director and the old gentlemen who was sitting next to me during Mass. Involvement again became a huge theme...and honestly I need to think about it. It really depends on both parties. There is me the agnostic Theist who is clearly not a Christian, who calls himself outsider invited to take part in another's community in song and volunteer work. Whatever I decide on, I'm not going to stop exploring and visiting different communities. If I do settle somewhere where their is mutual acceptance then the community will have to know that this blog won't be stopping. Which means some Sundays I'll be missing. Strangely enough, the Outsider has found many places that he has connected to and hopes to return to as well as the journey and exploration continues here in Washington and beyond.