Being in Awe

I went to my often weekly Greek Orthodox meeting yesterday and was rather bored. It was all stuff I knew except for the beautiful end reminder which I knew in my intuition since attending for eight years my Greek grammar school Saint Demetrios in Jamaica,Queens about how the lovely sensual, material reminders combine with our spiritual worship in the Church and liturgy coincides with Nature, the Cosmos and all of God’s creations.

Although it’s not as bad is it would be in a fundamental situation, perhaps in a hillbilly village somewhere in Greece or the South (God forgive me), I found the context of the meeting to veer too much into dependence and “Give me money, for I know better than Thou”. Much of it felt small, putrid, puny, small-minded and insulting, geared to those that don’t have a deep connection to the Holy Spirit and confidence.

As usual, I believe it’s all a yin-yang balance. I have been and am a personal trainer. If you work in gyms, the manager tells you to show clients exercises on the floor so they don’t think they can do them on the machines, and show them new things enough to keep them hooked and dependent. Unless a client is taking on a new challenge like a Marathon, my goal really is to have them be able to do it on their own, as much as I’d want their money, and of course power. I think being selfish/selfless is another balance. I sure have my ego and it thinks I am the most special of God’s creations. Perhaps that is good for everyone to think on some level. We all have our masks and dark sides, including religious leaders, and we all should have our humble sides and our commitments greater than “My religion is the best.” After a while, that song sounds the same as “Go Yankees!” or “Let’s beat the enemy!”, etc. It is not ultimately what we want.

It seemed the leader thought that social networking, like the type that led to Egypt’s freedom this week, is a threat to the special oligarchy of Church and other leaders. This is not Christ-like or the Truth. The Parliament of World Religions sent links on how people of different faiths worked together in Egypt (see other blog post). The leader seemed to imply that people not of Orthodox faith do not like rules. Hmm, what about an atheist scientist with a Ph.D. that endures years of rules of laboratory research? How about a Protestant dancer who endures years of rules on dance and practice? A Protestant woman in my group protested. A fitness client of mine is an Orthodox Jewish woman who does not even flip a light switch on Saturdays. I'd prefer I could train her on Saturdays, but she does no work. She told me about hundreds of rules Orthodox Jews follow. To me, the rules are important but not as important as being present to the Holy Spirit, self-actualizing and being true to yourself and growing. There is a time that some rules must be broken. For instance, we usually don't use regular grammar in poetry, yet it's usually more touching the prose. It's been written that people don't like to think. People like to group people in black-white categories: religious or spiritual, black or white, artist or scientist, rule follower or rule breaker. Think deeper.

Yes, I think my religion is the best and the Truth. Yet, I believe the most important thing is just what the priest touched on last night: to be present to the Holy Spirit all the time. People spoke about, as Orthodox Christians appreciating Nature, being close to the Holy Spirit, and serving others. To me that is the same thing, yet the priest did not give credit to us catching that important distinction, and just seemed to want to take credit for the Church in observing that our Faith and liturgy are one with God. He almost seemed to want to take credit for Orthodoxy in being in awe on God’s creations. I think Native American Indians or even “witches” or pagans are. The Mayans came up with a calendar, correct? Scientists, even atheists, are in awe. Other Christians or groups are in awe and grateful. Let’s acknowledge each other.

I am most of the time connected to the Holy Spirit, even when I may be doing what the Church says is sinning. We must be part of a group but also be ourselves. We must take part in community but dare to disagree, be ourselves and act. Thank goodness the Founding Fathers did years ago and taught religious freedom, or this country would not be here. People of other religions or atheists may be close to the Spirit, although it may not be the same as us, or Love or Source. Do you want to argue about it? Gay performers may be at One with the Spirit when they are showing the result of hard years of discipline and showing themselves off while being selfless and performing for the audience at the same time. Muslims who defended Christians in the square in Egypt may be too. Eastern philosophies teach us about Oneness.

A woman in my group appeared to be close-minded in saying she knows “The Truth”. “What is that?” I asked. She said she believed in Christ. I wanted to go on: “So what do you want, a medal?” What actions is she doing? Proclaiming being right? Great! We all need that! Another woman and she questioned my input that one is open to other ideas and shares their own in Orthodoxy. They said you don’t have to do that to be Orthodox. I believe you are grounded in your faith but, being in awe of life, you can be in awe of what others have to teach and the continuous growth process for us, priests, and religious groups. Part of being like a child is being curious. After all, if one is walking with the Holy Spirit, is she or he closed and right, or open to contribution and contributing?