Greek Orthodox Church

Written by student-guest-blogger Laura W.

​Tradition is an aged, bearded man. He has lived for thousands of years, shaping societies
and connecting mankind. Tradition breeds conformity which fosters comfort. Tradition drapes
over every aspect of life, ranging from religion to athletics. There is an immense amount of
beauty in tradition. It passes us stories and rituals from predecessors and makes history easier
to appreciate and understand. It gives us something to connect to others with and to cling to in
times of trouble. Yet when we allow tradition to engross us for the sake of comfort and ritual,
the beauty of tradition is distorted. Tradition becomes a rote process devoid of meaning. Some
of the most powerful and inspirational movements have been born from diverging from
tradition.

​Across the world on Sunday mornings, Greek Orthodox Christians listen to the same
liturgy in Koine Greek. Their ceremonious service is somber and the constant chanting
discordant. The burning incense dispersed by the priest is mildly unpleasant. The service carries
on for several hours and worshipers come and go. This has been their tradition for hundreds of
years. Some church goers mindlessly form the sign of the cross with their hands, while some
seem intently focus on prayer. Several old Greek women mutter the chants they’ve learned
from years of attending services while others whisper to each other behind the leaflet handed
to them on their way in. People meander around the room kissing icons. Some linger to pray
while others move on as quickly as possible.

As I sat in my hard-backed wooden chair at an early morning Greek Orthodox service, I
couldn’t help but think about how simultaneously beautiful and ugly tradition can be. The
traditions that have driven the Greek Orthodox church for century are vital to the functioning of
so many aspects of Greece’s history. There is so much pride for what the church has done and
where it has come from. Their rituals and chants tell us a long history. People can sing the same
songs and chant the same prayers as their long-dead great grandparents. Grandmothers can
show their granddaughters how to kiss the icons and light the prayer candles the way their
grandmothers taught them. It really is beautiful, but it seems that when a church clings so
heavily to developing and maintaining rituals for the sake of unifying the congregation, the
reason these traditions were started is distorted. Very often churches focus so much on
preserving the “New Law” that they create their own law through “tradition”. When churches
do this, they distance themselves from God. I think this is what leads to corruption in the
church and abuse of power. Clinging too tightly to man-made tradition and not to God-inspired
Scripture is what twists so much darkness into the church that Christ intended to be perfect.

​I’m thankful for tradition, in common day things and in the church. It unifies us and ties
us to events that shook the world before we were even thought of. Man-made tradition is
beautiful, and briefly experiencing that at the Greek Orthodox service was a great experience
and gave a lot of food for thought. I’m also thankful for the freedom my nationality and family
has given me to stray from tradition, if needed, in order to draw as close as I can to God. N.T.
Wrights says it best: “Tradition tells us where we come from. Scripture itself is a better guide as
to where we should now be going.”