Some things are worth the wait

I am thankful to Fr. Michael for many things:  converting me to Apple computers,  helping me with getting my I Phone set up, turning me on to the Flavia coffee maker, etc.  But, one thing I am very thankful for is how he handled Kristi and me when we walked into his office a couple of years ago and said quite bluntly, "we want to become Orthodox".

He listened very attentively to our story, and then told us that becoming Orthodox is not something that you do overnight.  There is a learning curve.  There are ways of thinking that you have to come around to.  There are practices that you need to get comfortable with.  There are ways of doing things, and then there are ways of not doing things.

We were very anxious, and we purposed to do whatever he said.  When we asked him how long it would take, his response was, "when I  decide.  We will start a catechumen class in a couple of months".  We thought, "a couple of months, that's forever".  And, a couple of months later we did start our class.  It was wonderful.  We couldn't wait for the next class each week.  Then we had to miss a class here and a class there.  Christmas came with its delays.  Meanwhile, each service we had to painfully stand and watch the faithful come up and receive the Eucharist.  Of course, we were excluded.  It was painful.   Then,  the Saturday before Easter (Pascha) we were  brought into the church.

Fr. Michael  was right.  You don't become Orthodox overnight  The early church sometimes made people wait from one to three years before they could be baptized.   They were not allowed to stay for the whole service in the meantime.  In fact, to this day there is a time in the service where the priest says, "The doors, guard the doors" and this was the time that the nonbaptized, catechumens included, were forced to leave.   We are thankful for his caution with us.  He wanted to do things right.  And, he did.