I am a covert of nearly 20 years. My wife and I have been members of Ascension Cathedral (GOA) in Oakland CA for the past decade. Our first decade was spent in Russian OCA parishes.
This is my statement from my profile, which pretty much sums up where I am at.
I am an Orthodox Christian, not a particularly good one, but like Walker Percy’s Dr Tom More I do believe, and like J Maritain I am an inveterate layman. I confess the Orthodox faith as stated in the Nicene creed, and my theological perspective is also in line with the Mere Christianity of C S Lewis and the Romantic Theology of Charles Williams. I am also a Slavophil and Philhellene and a sort of a Platonist. Unlike many American Orthodox converts I did not come from a politically conservative background, and I maintain a politically independent progressive point of view (paraphrasing J Maritain again) neither left nor right but closer to the former in matters pertaining to Caesar and closer to the latter in matters of the Kingdom of God.
My wife and I are fond of paradoxes and challenging ways of of stating things. I know this sometimes impresses people as less than serious, but there is a serious intent. In this culture we frequently confuse virtue with respectability and theological truth with (usually protestant) cultural cliches. Stating things in new and unexpected ways can allow the possibility of actually hearing what we and other say. Of course, we try first not to offend...but we love engaging in friendly, courteous if sometimes spirited discussions.
(Dispite my surname, I am a layman. If anyone is familiar with Dorothy Sayers\' The Nine Taylors, I assure them that Geoffrey Deacon is my given name.)
Dorotheos Geoffrey Deacon
Living in paradox with an eschatological tension headache...No Insurrection without Resurrection! Apocatastasis Now!
Be the first person to like this.