Orthodixie

A long time in coming and worth the wait!

Advance word:

The first week of October found me in Mecca — Orthodox Mecca, that is:

Pennsylvania.

Pictured, above, the beautiful Holy Cross Church – Williamsport.

Fr Dan Kovalak has labored long in this vineyard, even building (literally) the church building back in the 70s.

About 60 people turned out on a blustery wet Monday night for my presentation, The Way of Christ Is Easy, We Just Make It Hard. Some excerpts from that presentation available here.

Formerly in the Houston area and now serving Holy Trinity Church & the Chapel of the Holy Spirit – Fr Basil Biberdorf, Matushka Claudia, and new addition, George.

On Tuesday, October 4th, I toured St Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary – South Canaan …

And was blessed to speak at a lunch assembly and a class full of senior seminarians.

Tuesday evening’s lecture was at the lovely St Nicholas Church – Bethlehem.

On Wednesday morning I caught up with former North Carolinian, Fr Andrew Damick of St Paul Church – Emmaus. Following Matins, I got my first ride in a Toyota Prius as Fr Andrew taxied me to …

Agia Sophia! (Agia Sophia Coffee & Books, that is — right smack in the midst of the state capital area!)

Icons mixed in with old church photos — not your typical Starbuck-fare!

Yes, here you may have a man in a black dress and a cross serving as your barista! (Especially if you agree to lead his Noon Bible Study down the block in an upper room near the capital building.)

My final speaking stop: Christ the Saviour – Harrisburg.

… where a local barista, Fr Stephan Vernak serves as parish priest.

See that guy to your right? That’s Fr Daniel Ressetar. He stood up at the end of my presentation and humbly asked a very serious question. God help me …

You can listen to a portion of my poor answer and his follow-up response (and other excerpts from my talks in Pennsylvania) on:

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

Iconographer Dmitry Shkolnik is in Houston for the next few weeks to install images in the dome of St Joseph Church.

These pictures, snapped with my cell phone, do no justice to the images as (especially as they are laid out on the floor awaiting assignment).

New meaning to “How many angels can dance on …”

The four Evangelists look ready.

The head of the Christ Pantocrator.

The Mother of God.

A measuring tape shows the scope of the chief dome image.

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The first image is attached to the walls …

More to come.

Thanks to all who donated (and donate) toward this huge project!

Click HERE for more pics of the icon install!

This is the final post, 6th in a series (one, two, three, four, five), of my recent trip to Syria – September 13-18, 2011. You can listen to the Orthodixie Podcast about the trip by clicking HERE.

Our final full day in Syria, Saturday, September 17th, began with a visit to the Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus (formerly the Basilica of Saint John the Baptist). Unlike my visit last year — HERE — this time, as part of an official delegation visit, I got to see the “VIP Lounge” (so to speak).

You’d think I’d have learned that when taking a picture of a mirror you do so from an angle so as not to be in the picture!

In this entry salon, there is a model of the Umayyad Mosque.

You can read about its history here.

After enjoying some refreshments here …

… instead of taking off our shoes, like everyone else, we got to don little blue booties.

The only female member of our delegation got to don more (think: Harry Potter 8.5).

Looking back toward the public entry of the mosque, toward the street.

And turning to view the inner courtyard.

Inside, the Umayyad Mosque is massive open space. The tomb of John the Baptist can be seen to the left.

This shrine is the main attraction, especially for those visiting Syria.

Like this guy.

The Dome of the Treasury (more here).

After the mosque, it was time to dive into the Souk El-Hamidiyeh (the sprawling market in Old Damascus).

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A perfumery where I was able to get some essence for my daughters … and my son.

We discarded our tourist identities around 2:30 PM; little did we know that our “day” still had a good 12 hours yet to go.

This image (not the official pic) was taken with my camera following our 2-hour meeting with President Assad. A bit of an overview of that meeting, including the question I asked the President, is presented in this episode of the Orthodixie Podcast.

Our meeting with the President was 5-7:00 PM, around 7:30, back at the hotel, we met with a group of tribal leaders, Sheiks, about their views of the current situation in Syria.

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Looks like Fr Timothy is starting to feel at home.

Originally, we were to meet with the Grand Mufti of Syria, Ahmad Badr Al-Din Hassoun, around 7:30 PM, with dinner following.

He was delayed in Aleppo, however, and our meeting did not commence until 11:30 PM.

And yes …

… “dinner” followed. We did not lift our forks till after midnight.

The outdoor courtyard of a local banquet hall, where we dined, had a huge chandelier with glass globes for oil.

I should have snapped a pic of every course of this massive meal. Y’all? — They served two entrees! There was an imam across the table from me who did not speak English, but when they brought out the second hefty entree, he and I both laughed (a universal language) until we had tears in our eyes.

A little after 2:00 AM, September 18, 2011.

But this …

Though I would have sworn I had no room for another drop of food, this was the best kanafeh I’ve yet had. (Notice the word yet; I stand to be corrected.)

The podcast about this trip is available by clicking HERE.

Last year’s podcast about my trip to Syria – here.

Thanks to all for your prayers for a safe and profitable journey.
Pray for peace in Syria.

Some images courtesy of John Maddex.

August 31st was a long day at the church office, from 7 AM through Evening Liturgy for Church New Year; the work day’s start to finish: about 15 hours. I’m getting older and I have a couch in my office. No-brainer; I took a nap.

I awoke around 2:30 PM Central Time, just 10 minutes before my cell alarm was set to pester me. I didn’t recognize the Area Code displayed on the Blackberry.

I won’t recount whole the conversation. The voice on the other end is not known for verbosity. The upshot? The Metropolitan wanted me to go with a delegation to Syria. When? In two weeks, for a stay of 4 days!

Y’all?

The nap may have been a no-brainer, but this … this seemed to require something more cerebral. I mean, does one say No to the Metropolitan? I asked that question … was told Yes. I asked, “When do you need my answer?”

I fumbled through my Franklin-Covey to check my schedule …

The Man-of-Few-Words said something like: Heh, now.

Uh-oh. Being the father of a high school senior, I was scheduled that weekend to visit a college for a look-see. I mentioned this. Few-Words became fewer.

I asked “Can I call you back in an hour?”

One word: Sure.

I called the Mrs. She’s great – God bless her, she married me. (That’s the best part of the Great part.) She seemed kind of excited for me.

Now I was confused.

I called another guy, you probably know him, I won’t reveal, let’s just say: he has known both the Metropolitan and Man-of-Few-Words for a long, long time. He said: Say NO! Don’t go!

Okay: Wife = yes; friend = no.

I called a parishioner who hails from Lebanon.

He said:

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.