God’s Kairos at St. Aidan’s (Manchester)

Felt truly blessed by Agape, the warmth of fellowship. Nunc dimittis

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple

Simeon’s Song of Praise by Aert de Gelder, painted around 1700–1710

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But see how the Russian icon above emphasizes the meeting aspect. Pay attention to the way Jesus and Simeon are so face to face

Eucharist! The redemption of Man’s Chronos into Kairos. “The ultimate form of communication we can engage in as human beings  …  Our true communion of God’s icons as opposed to our reduction to fleeting, ephemeral, hollow images in a World of Social Networking (Oh the irony of this post for this blog, and for a poor little hermit …)

… If we think of one of the primary functions of the Divine Liturgy as a means to engage in a more meaningful experience that transcends the Chronos of everyday life, cyber social networking does the complete opposite. Kairos, a more personal and meaningful use of time is the Greek term used for the time spent at the Divine Liturgy. Cyber social networking then, has become the epitome of Chronos, the ordinary and the mundane use of time.

… Moreover, if we are all created in the Image of God, than how can we see this image in a person’s face, or hear it in his or her voice when communicating through texting or Facebook? The answer is simple. We can’t. If we are all icons, as the church fathers tell us, then the image of that icon remains unseen through a cyber connection. Can you imagine walking into an Orthodox Church with no icons?  The soul of that church would seem quite empty.

Please read the whole article “The Image of God in a World of Social Networking” at Pemptousia, to see how we should meet in worship, in Church, and not in the social media … Let us let go of this virtual world and sink into the real one … Never before in mankind history probably was our presence in church services so indispensable.