[Magdalen] Facing East (long)

[Clarissa Canning]

I think this is wonderful. TO feel something you spiritually belong to.
When I was first in Uni in Michigan I Had a RusSian roomier who went to the
Russian Orthodox church in Albion  Mich. Then a few years ago a Lutheran
clergy told me about his time with orthodox tradition in Lutheran  Church.
He was ordained with Vestments of that tradition not often seen in
Lutherns. there were these beautiful embroidery cuffs that matched stole &
Vestments.

On Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 5:16 PM Eleanor Braun <eleanor.braun at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 5:13 PM, Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > May you continue to feel a belonging in your new church home.  This is a
> > wonderful story of your life's journey, Jay.  May you be blessed forever.
> > Ginga
> >
>
> And let the people say......AMEN!
>
> Eleanor
>
>
> > On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 5:02 PM Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Dear All,
> > >
> > > As you all probably know, I have for the past year been attending a
> tiny
> > > Old Rite Russian Orthodox church in Mt. Jackson, Virginia. I wandered
> in
> > > one Sunday and had the immediate and very strong feeling that this was
> > > where I was supposed to be. I had been "wandering in the wilderness"
> > pretty
> > > much ever since I got to this area. The only Episcopal church I felt
> even
> > > remotely welcome in was really too far away to be practical for me to
> > > attend with any regularity and was in what appeared to be a very long
> > > interim at the time I went there. I went to the nearby big Lutheran
> > church
> > > for nearly three years and although I really liked the pastor, I never
> > felt
> > > like part of the congregation and there came a point where I just
> > couldn't
> > > "Lutheran" any more. I even tried the Anglican church, but though I
> loved
> > > the people there, I couldn't quite deal with the theology, and frankly,
> > the
> > > music gave me a headache. I was pondering checking out the Russian
> > Orthodox
> > > Church in south Harrisonburg, which is ROCOR (Russian Orthodox Church
> > > Outside Russia) when I happened to drive by Sts. Joachim and Anna in
> Mt.
> > > Jackson on my way back from the optometrist and decided to check it out
> > the
> > > following Sunday. I felt like I was where I should be.
> > >
> > > My pull toward Orthodoxy started in my teens when I was introduced to
> the
> > > music of the Russian Orthodox Church through my high school choir. The
> > > first service I ever attended was a vespers service in the new/old
> Greek
> > > Orthodox Church in Madison, WI, in which my dad sang in the choir. IIRC
> > it
> > > was the first service in that church as an Orthodox Church (it had
> been a
> > > Methodist church for many years) and it was attended by bishops and
> > whatnot
> > > from Milwaukee and Chicago. I remember clouds of incense so thick you
> > could
> > > barely see the iconostasis. (The Greeks were kind of surprised that
> they
> > > had to deal with all the other Orthodox in the area coming into their
> > > church as they were the only Orthodox around for a number of years, but
> > > they got used to it, I think.) Anyway, for a number of years I had
> little
> > > contact with Orthodoxy other than reading, listening to music, and
> > > attending Pacha service at the Greek church in Knoxville with my friend
> > > Sheila. I was always more attracted to the Russian branch, primarily, I
> > > think, because of the music but also there were aspects of the
> > spirituality
> > > that attracted me. All this is by way of explaining where my path has
> led
> > > me.
> > >
> > > I will be chrismated into the Orthodox Church on September 18. There is
> > > some significance to the date we have chosen, as the following Tuesday
> is
> > > the Synaxis (coming together) of Zacharias and Elizabeth, and we are
> > > celebrating it on that Sunday. Elizabeth is my middle name, was my
> > mother's
> > > name, and is the name of a saint that in recent years I have felt close
> > to.
> > > Mary's older cousin has a motherly aspect that appeals to me and that I
> > > also try to emulate.
> > >
> > > It is not that I don't love the Episcopal Church that I was born and
> > > brought up in and that I raised my family in. I do. It is more that I
> > have
> > > found what I need at this time in my life in Orthodoxy. I will continue
> > to
> > > worship in my old church whenever I go back to Tennessee. And I'm not
> > > leaving here either. We have a number of folks of several religious
> > stripes
> > > (and even a few of none!) and nobody seems to mind.
> > >
> >
>