[kosta50]

My dear Marmema, thank you so much for that wonderful link. I would like to add one more "Pitfall" to it: the pitfall of cutting corners, the pitfall of brevity. A day has only 24 hours and often what we have to say would fill up the entire day. It is simply impossible to say everything in a short and concise way and be perfectly understood. We are, after all, just human.

However, Agrarian will remember that I once hinted that to fail is not in itself a sin as it is if it is not an honest failure. So, when I fail to observe the fast as I would like to, it is my own conflict, but I would never serve milk to Orthodox Christians with their coffee during fast. If they asked for it, I would give it to them without judgment, understanding that we are all weak and sinful.

My point was that the priest allows bagels and cheese and eggs and milk and so on, and even partakes in the same himself! It is the intention that counts. To honestly try and to honestly fail, admitting our ingratitude and weakness and agonizing over it is one thing; to engage in breaking the fast or ignoring the fast or willingly "modifying" the fast is an altogether different phenomenon.

It is indeed "Protestant" to the core! For the teaching and the Liturgy are Orthodox, but the praxis is not! If you ever listen to the Protestant preachers and ministers, their message rings very much as ours do. But they never put that pride away; they only like the soothing message, but do not live by it (generally speaking). So, when you see the same thing among the Orthodox of American extraction you see the mirror image of their Protestant past -- they talk the talk, but they don't walk the walk (generally speaking).

We are all sinners, but there is a difference how we approach our sin. Do we apply "pecca fortiter" of Luther's persuasion and sin boldly, or do we wrestle with our own weakness and lack of faith and, above all, love for God.

If I had to put it as succintly as possible, I would say that they fail to live the faith. Instead, they bend and modify the faith to fit the society, so that they don't have to give up anything, not even for God!

[MarMema]

Well Kosta, I have been to a church in this area that is NOT OCA and they were having cheese pizza during Great Lent, among other things. It was a teen group meeting.
Additionally there was a post (from my OCA bishop) on the most infamous Orthodox list a few years back with a poster that had been sent out, from another jurisdiction, can't recall the state - but the parish was having a beef dinner of some kind, and advertising it, during Great Lent, to the best of my memory. Our bishop was really not happy about it.

I know in our parish the spirit and not the letter of the law is greatly emphasized. And then it seems to me that people judge each other way too often for all kinds of things. A man who apparently judged me for not being happy about gays coming into the church went on to talk negatively about one of our Matushkas and how she talks too much during liturgy. In almost the same sentence...

Lots of people have judged us because we held our kids out of the churchschool this year, and because our boys moved from the parish Boy Scout troop to another near our home. And because we are strict in our parenting and our girls wear longish skirts to church, dressing modestly, and not that stuff we deplore seeing on girls today.

We're going to liturgy in the morning to worship God and expecting more of the same, because it seems like our parish is going through a growing pains thing right now, and everyone is crabby and crowded and unsmiling.

Save your money and go to Tbilisi. :-) You will find friendly, warm people who are very traditional in worship and praxis, and the most lovely liturgy you can imagine. I wish I could experience it every Sunday but here I am....