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I love being an Orthodox Christian, but I am not one to make it my whole personality. It's how I live, and it is an extension of me, and it is quite a big contender of what I talk about. But, I see people around make it their whole personality. I want to see you, the individual, not your faith. If I know you truly are Christian, then let me see YOU. Let me know your interests, let me explore your uncharted emotions, let me talk with YOU, not your faith.
Sometimes, I feel people who base their whole personality on just faith tend to be brick walls to talk to. Yes, I love Christ, yes, I like reading some of the Church Fathers, too. Yes, I am unfamiliar with what St. John Maximovich wrote.
Luckily, it is just a phase most people go through, and luckily, a lot of people do end up staying in the Church and adapting it to their needs, which I find great! So, be yourself, love Christ and keep your interests by your heart. But, above all, keep our lord Jesus Christ above your interests. Keep him personal, and keep him an extention of whom you are.
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d
Realest post I’ve seen all day. As a catechumen I struggle to get along with other converts/catechumens for this reason. Not that they’re all like that, my bf for example is a convert and he’s really cool :D but like I don’t mesh well with others at my parish tbh. I didn’t grow up with any Christian tradition and found Orthodoxy randomly on my own as an adult. My bf is the same. I am also autistic and I feel extremely cramped and suffocated when I’m around people who i feel like aren’t themselves because they’re like putting up some kind of fake personality. It makes me feel very anxious like I have to mask really hard And I feel that vibe a lot with the parishioners at my church. I used to go to a Greek parish and I got along much better with the yiayias there than I do with other catechumens my own age at my current parish lol. I’ve tried to get to know them better, but this weird ultra Orthobro front they put up, even the women tbh, is just too much for me. Lol
TLDR: people need to love Christ and also embrace what makes them fun and unique individuals!
Exactly! I feel for you, too! I'm high-functioning (i dont mention it much) and I feel the same way with some of the parishioners there, too! I'm very lucky to have several folks who see it as an extension of themselves too.
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SmogHotdog
I relate to this heavily in the sense that often, when meeting PPL of different religions they tend 2 weave their faith in every aspect of their personality,,,
I'm not sure how much I can say without being disrespectful, as I am not religious- however this is often a theme prevalent within my experience of talking 2 (mainly) those of the Christian faith.
I think there are times and places 4 that sort of discussion, and that it shouldn't be a constant. Maintaining hobbies, interests, etc outside of religion is important. =3
Indeed! Zeal is something that is so easy to fall in. I fell into it before.
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Midnight_Howler
This is some solid writing, dude. The "brick wall" phase is definitely something people go through (coming from experience...)
I went through it too, as well, and I find it to be most prone to catechumens rather then cradle Orthodox. It's just something everyone goes through finding out something new, I suppose.
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