Perhaps at some point you might consider having a real-life discussion on making the paradigm shift from the US/Protestant cultural approach to the advent season, which is a time of happiness, generosity/charity, parties, carols, and decorations, to the more penitential and somber Orthodox approach...around which evolved the Medieval and Eastern European Christian cultures. As an inquirer, I'm honestly finding this difference, and I'm certainly not an exuberant, extroverted, or gregarious person, to be very disconcerting. I know Orthodox are suspicious of the passions getting out of control, but do you think they ever just experience joy in God's blessings?
Hi Shanna. Have you experienced Easter / Pascha in the Orthodox church? Lent and Holy Week are certainly rough, but the joy at the other side, beginning on Holy Saturday, is beyond anything I ever went through in my own Protestant days. And it is such a joy continuously, at least for me, throughout the rest of the year. "Christ is Risen!" I remind myself during the darker moments, for in that there is eternal joy (and I often find my Protestant friends forgetting that He is Risen indeed, having trampled down death by death).
But yes, you are right that the penitential Advent is a bit disconcerting given the culture we live in (and the Advent fast is extremely difficult). That being said, I do find it a helpful counterweight to the now near endless materialism that permeates everything from September onwards (my daughter worked at a Cracker Barrel where they were putting out Christmas stuff for sale in August). But if you make it through, the 12 Days of Christmas that follow (something only our Roman Catholic brethren now seem to follow) are nothing but delight. And the Feast of Theophany at the end is just *fun*.
So, we're not somber all the time. And the periods of penitence and anticipation are at times difficult. But the joy that comes in the feasts that follow is sustaining, made all the moreso by having walked and lived through the fasts. Especially Holy Week.
Perhaps at some point you might consider having a real-life discussion on making the paradigm shift from the US/Protestant cultural approach to the advent season, which is a time of happiness, generosity/charity, parties, carols, and decorations, to the more penitential and somber Orthodox approach...around which evolved the Medieval and Eastern European Christian cultures. As an inquirer, I'm honestly finding this difference, and I'm certainly not an exuberant, extroverted, or gregarious person, to be very disconcerting. I know Orthodox are suspicious of the passions getting out of control, but do you think they ever just experience joy in God's blessings?
Hi Shanna. Have you experienced Easter / Pascha in the Orthodox church? Lent and Holy Week are certainly rough, but the joy at the other side, beginning on Holy Saturday, is beyond anything I ever went through in my own Protestant days. And it is such a joy continuously, at least for me, throughout the rest of the year. "Christ is Risen!" I remind myself during the darker moments, for in that there is eternal joy (and I often find my Protestant friends forgetting that He is Risen indeed, having trampled down death by death).
But yes, you are right that the penitential Advent is a bit disconcerting given the culture we live in (and the Advent fast is extremely difficult). That being said, I do find it a helpful counterweight to the now near endless materialism that permeates everything from September onwards (my daughter worked at a Cracker Barrel where they were putting out Christmas stuff for sale in August). But if you make it through, the 12 Days of Christmas that follow (something only our Roman Catholic brethren now seem to follow) are nothing but delight. And the Feast of Theophany at the end is just *fun*.
So, we're not somber all the time. And the periods of penitence and anticipation are at times difficult. But the joy that comes in the feasts that follow is sustaining, made all the moreso by having walked and lived through the fasts. Especially Holy Week.
Hi Shanna, I think this is a good idea. Indeed, there are many that simply present as austere and joyless. But the joy of the Lord is our strength!