| | Soorp soorpMy choir sang the service music for an Armenian wedding today.
First, I've never seen, nor will I probably ever see again, such a beautiful wedding (and I've been to more than my share). They had an unbelievable amount of white roses and orchids throughout the church; everything was meticulously decorated; they had three priests (at least two of whom were bishops) presiding over the service.
The whole service was in Armenian save for the personal message, so it was mostly lost on me. The bit that was in English, though, was an intriguing glimpse into a Christian faith I didn't even know existed until today. (In Googling later, I found out that the Armenian Apostolic Church separated from both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox strains over the doctrine of Christ's nature.)
A fellow singer in the choir described the priests as "unaffected" (in the sense of "free of artificiality"), and that was a perfect description for them. They came across as humble, godly people who had no need to put on religious airs. I was deeply impressed, partly because "unaffected" is the perfect word to describe the faith I aspire to. (It's also the biggest reason why I can't see myself as a clergy member in the near future, because I don't know that I could be in that position and remain authentic.)
I also learned that Armenia was the first country in the world to declare Christianity the official state religion (I wonder what Hauerwas would have to say about that), and that as of 2001 there were just over 40 000 Armenians living in Canada. (That's not a lot of people.)
The idea that people could be "culturally Christian" used to deeply bother me, as though it were an obstacle to the Gospel, but now it intrigues me. Isn't that what we believers all are striving to become -- cultural Christians, not merely believers in proposition but also in language and life?
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| | Posted 12/29/2006 11:15 PM - 1 comments
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