I have, in this article, emphasized the fact that our Eastern Spirituality, because of our theology and liturgical practice, must be different than Western Spirituality. I have also emphasized, in saying this, that one is not necessarily better than the other but that they are very much different. I have also tried to emphasize that our spirituality must be in concert with our liturgical practice. I do not feel that we can maintain a Western Spirituality and worship in an Eastern fashion. If we try this, our spirituality will only suffer. There must be harmony in the way that we worship and our spirituality.
The last major feast we celebrated, the Exultation of the Holy Cross, immediately comes to mind. Consider how we celebrate it. We present the cross enveloped in flowers and we make profound prostrations before the Cross while singing that we bow to the Cross and, within the same breath, praise Christ’s holy resurrection. We do not dwell on the Cross by itself but, rather, see it in the context of the Resurrection.
Further, the very fact that we make profound prostrations makes a difference. We engage our entire bodies in the praise of God. Praise is not just something that we mentally do. From past experience I know that many modern Christians find the profound prostrations as folksy and not something that educated people do. This actions seems just too primitive to some modern Christians and to make our religious practice so bodily seems not to fit with sophisticated, religious thinking.
Likewise, the manner in which we think about the Cross is so different. It is not that Christ suffered for our sins but, rather, that His suffering has revealed to us how we must live, knowing that suffering and pain are a natural part of human life. The Cross is much more an example, to us, of how we might achieve resurrection, that is eternal life, than it is a symbol of how God takes away our sins. Indeed the Cross is our salvation because it shows us how to live – how to live in the manner that God revealed to us. This is why the Cross is our salvation. It teaches us how to live.
A different emphasis! A different idea about the basic elements of our faith!