tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post6420304114936740047..comments2023-07-03T09:22:01.637+01:00Comments on tasting rhubarb: Without shared ritualsJeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690685768980280402noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-48958105695298037582011-04-24T16:44:08.495+01:002011-04-24T16:44:08.495+01:00I also resonate, from a Jewish perspective. We (h,...I also resonate, from a Jewish perspective. We (h, me, kids) celebrate them in a minimalist way (mainly for kids). I miss the larger congregation and yet I don't. The old liturgy, scriptures and practices are too exclusive in so many ways, that twisting myself into a pretzel to reinterpret them gets old. It doesn't fit my direct spiritual experience. And yet, what replaces it? The attempts to new-age it or to renew it don't have the old resonance. But it's the old resonance that has all the problems I mentioned above.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-39966682257798926522011-04-24T09:23:59.949+01:002011-04-24T09:23:59.949+01:00So much here that resonates and gives pause for th...So much here that resonates and gives pause for thought. In truth I really don't like congregations, at least not on a regular basis, and visiting for special occasions I will inevitably, and happily, be an outsider, a tourist.<br /><br />When we lived in Devon, near Totnes, (which by and large we disliked because of the pressure be part of an alternative but also quite conformist community, it wasn't any easier than the old kind in the end...) the vicar there, whom I respected quite a lot in any contact I had with him, was interested in the Orthodox church. He conducted a Good Friday tenebrae(?) service, with a special group of singers. It was extraordinary, deep and moving, and very contemplative. It's the galloping exctroversion of so much active religion now which puts me off, in part. It seems it should possible to have shared experience of ritual without feeling personally invaded... again though, it was really a kind of tourism, I suppose.<br /><br />Anyway, I am very grateful for the Easter holidays if they are giving you time to write like this!Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09764296105901909328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-84279680531920984902011-04-24T01:15:05.204+01:002011-04-24T01:15:05.204+01:00Jean, I much prefer the Greek or Russian Orthodox ...Jean, I much prefer the Greek or Russian Orthodox services (especially at Easter) to the Catholic ones, even though I was brought up in the latter. But I can't really connect to the Anglican tradition, it feels foreign to me. <br />I can well understand your and Munoz's dissidence and I think I would only be able to return to some regular religious rituals if they were held in some remote island monastery, probably Greek.Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-61056889320405864672011-04-23T23:28:59.309+01:002011-04-23T23:28:59.309+01:00I miss shared rituals - I'd like to belong to ...I miss shared rituals - I'd like to belong to a church or faith group but find their beliefs aren't that of my cast of mind (though I'm not against them at all). If I go to a Christian service I love the music but haven't much of a clue what they're talking about ("God was made man", "The meek shall inherit the earth", etc). <br /><br />Have written more in a comment on Beth's blog. <br /><br />Have been twice to the Easter Russian Orthodox service in the cathedral in Ennismore Gardens, SW7 - the music is wonderful. <br />At midnight the lights are dimmed and all the people light their own candles, to the cry of "Christ is risen". The silver frames of the icons glimmer in the candlelight.<br /><br />I do hope it still happens like this - maybe Elf and Safety have got wind of it! When I was last there someone's hair got slightly singed by the candle of the person behind - they didn't mind at all. <br /><br />It's a very conventional service, not as moving in a way as those in smaller churches. But the music is magnificent.Viviennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-46332520871382557052011-04-23T21:39:38.665+01:002011-04-23T21:39:38.665+01:00You're both too kind.
(I love the Maundy Thur...You're both too kind.<br /><br />(I love the Maundy Thursday ritual now, Peter! The sheep scatter...)<br /><br />Jean, my friend M., raised in the Catholic church of old Quebec, came on Good Friday and expressed some of the same feelings you do here. I think it's quite common - both the desire and the resistance,and sense it's too late to ever return to unselfconscious participation. Maybe it is - I don't know. I dont' think it matters how we access that side of ourselves. And I deeply appreciate your honesty.Bethhttp://www.cassandrapages.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-73296375714136657292011-04-23T13:42:21.040+01:002011-04-23T13:42:21.040+01:00Such a beautiful post. I was talking with some Ep...Such a beautiful post. I was talking with some Episcopalians yesterday about the drama of their Maundy Thursday service. At its end, the celebrants, having removed their surplices, remove everything from the altar except the cross, which they drape with a black veil. The recessional is entirely silent, as is everyone as they leave the building. I remember being positively shocked by it as a child.<br /><br />You're quite right about shared rituals. You're also quite right about Beth's blog!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com