Orthodoxy Live September 20, 2026

This is Orthodoxy Live with Father Evan Armitage, a live interactive call-in program where your questions about the Orthodox faith are addressed. Father Evan is the priest at St. Spirit and Greek Orthodox Church in Loveland, Colorado. Call in your question at 1-855-AF-RADIO. That's 1-855-237-2346. Here now is Father Evan. Good evening and welcome to Orthodoxy Live, your live call-in show about the Orthodox faith, her teachings and traditions. I'm your host Father Evan and we're streaming to you here tonight on Ancient Faith Radio. I'm glad you're with us. However, this is one of our special mailbag episodes. So if you dial into the number that our announcer just gave, you won't get anybody on the other side. Instead I welcome to the program Mike who is often sitting behind the scenes in our studio engineering, producing and answering your calls. And Mike, here we are again, one more episode of the mailbag that sort of accumulates all sorts of emails and questions that come in throughout the weeks and we still have hundreds to get through. Yeah, I think at this point they outnumber the amount of letters to Santa that the post office gets every year. They're just strewn everywhere at Ancient Faith headquarters, literally coming out of the closets and doors and piled everywhere, stacked high. I never thought of it that way. I guess you're right. Yeah. Well, there are certainly many, many questions, still the answer. And I've, as I've said in previous episodes like this, really come to enjoy this opportunity to kind of go through some of the questions that don't usually get attention because we've got live callers going. But for those of you who will be tuning in again another time when we are live, that number you can jot it down is 1-855-AF-RADIO-1855-237-2346. And of course, if you've got a question for us even tonight, but we're not streaming live, you can still email me with your question at orthodoxyliveatancientfaith.com and maybe your question will appear out of one of the closets in which we've stuffed them for one of our mailbag episodes. Mike, I know you've got a list of questions and as we were getting ready to go on there, you said, should I just, you know, kind of go through my several questions that I have and as usual, I'm like, yeah, I don't know what you're going to ask and it's almost better if I don't. It's just better to just jump in. So maybe we should just get to our first question. Absolutely. Right off the top. All right. Here we go. This one comes from Chance, who asks, are we born at the time we are born because this life is the life in which we are most likely to attain salvation? You know, that's just a fascinating question. And I think, you know, there's a lot actually behind the question and believe it or not, some of the luminaries of the faith like St. John, Chrysostom, St. Basil, the great, they addressed a similar type of question. And the way that they, you know, addressed it was related to, for example, in the Gospels, the arrival of the Magi, which, you know, we're and are the equivalent of our modern day astrologists, right? And astronomers, you know, it was kind of a technical skill. But unlike maybe most of us today, although there are still people who sort of ask, you know, what's your sign and they want to know what phase of Saturn you were born in. I don't even know all the lingo. But there was, you know, in the day of Christ, the sense that, you know, where you were born and when you were born and the time you were born, all of that would predetermine, you know, aspects of your life, you know, down to your personality and what you would do and who you'd become and the greatness of it all. And so, you know, they comment on this and commenting on, you know, Christ's birth and say, you know, none of that is true. You know, none of that is part of God's plan. In fact, freedom and the coming of Christ actually kind of obliterates all of that. And instead, we understand that a human person and their agency is not predetermined, you know, and what they can do and who they can become is really a matter of their own relationship with God in this life. And so, you know, I think the liberation from that type of thinking is inaugurated in Christianity. Right? We gave a retreat a couple of weeks ago on prayer and we were looking at the prayer of the Lord, our Father, right? Who art in heaven. And that simple word, hour, is liberating at the time that Christ uttered it because there was no sense of people being, you know, common in the sense of equal. You know, women were looked at as less than men and the rich more than the poor and the powerful certainly had a place in society that, you know, those without power didn't. And that use of the word hour changed everything, right? We have a common Father. We stand before Him, not based on our status, our wealth, the order of our birth, the place of our birth, the people who gave birth to us, right? None of that's true. And we see that in the saints, right? The lowest, you know, uneducated backwater sort of town dweller becomes a luminary in the church because of their repentance and their relationship with Christ. And so that's an important thing to point out, right? We don't have that kind of thinking. And so it would go to say that even the particular time you are born is not in the sense based upon the idea that this is the best time for you to even attain your salvation. If I was born, I was born in 1969, March 31st. If I was born a decade later in the fall instead of the spring, that wouldn't change the opportunity I have to attain salvation, right? Yet, we could also say by the fact that we are born, you know, this fits into God's providence, right? And we could ask ourselves the question, you know, what am I doing with the life that God has given me? And that's pretty important. And the church gives us a way of reorienting ourselves around, you know, who we are and the timeline of our life. You know, I remember, I think it was this past Sunday, somebody called in about how to celebrate their name day. And we talked about, you know, how when you have a birthday, people usually throw your party and give you gifts. And when you have a name day, you throw a party and you give gifts. It's kind of the opposite. And so there's a way the church looks at our life very differently than the world does, right? So we might say, you know, perhaps maybe the most important day is the day of our baptism. And then, you know, our feast day. And then we might mark the other sacramental events in our life, maybe the day we got married, you know, but because of that sacramental grace that came. And then of course, the church is going to celebrate not the day we are born, but rather the church celebrates the day that we pass, you know, the day we fall asleep. That's what we do with saints. So it's a complete reordering, right? But I wouldn't say that the particular time that you're born has any specific spiritual power or predictive significance, at least not within the idea of Orthodox Christianity, and that, you know, we're not a product of the time, the place, the stars that we were born under. Instead we are a person created in the image of God, possessing freedom and called to communion with them. You know, that's how I'd answer that. But that's an interesting question. Yeah, I really, I don't know. It kind of struck me, I think, just because of the strong connotation. Maybe I'm just projecting. I read, I kind of read into this strong sense of why me. And, you know, it's, that's a very fair question and it's been asked, you know, basically since the fall. And yeah, I guess that's really kind of the whole theme of a lot of the old Testament really and they kind of dramatically struggled with that question. And I think that that's probably would be, I don't know, anything resembling advice I'd have for somebody kind of grappling with that is the drama of the Old Testament, you know, with a good guide through it. I think that somebody could drive a lot of wisdom from that. Yeah, and I think the sense of fatalism like why me, you know, of course, you know, it's because of who I was, who I, you know, who I was born to my family of origin, the place of my birth. Again, all that's racked in the life of the saints. We just don't see that becoming a limiting factor, you know. In fact, we see constantly people who rise above every circumstance of life, every sorrow or difficulty thrown at them and that's inspiring, you know. And even if someone is exiled or locked away in prison, it doesn't change what's possible. And we, again, we see that in modern saints like Saint Nectarios, right? He's cast off. He's persecuted. And yet in the midst of that, he becomes something beautiful for God and for the world. And then we see that in saints of old, like for example, in Saint John, he dies in exile, right? And yet at his death, in the fringes of the empire, you know, sick and on the road, he says, glory to God for all things. And so it's amazing really to notice that. And I think that's maybe another way to look at this idea of time and the providence of my birth, right? So, yeah. Anyway, OK. What else do we got tonight? We have had a lot of interesting questions come in, especially kind of a really, like a deluge in the past month. This one comes from Lisa from Louisiana. She was a little shy. She didn't want to come on the show, but she called in to leave us a message as so many people can do if they don't feel comfortable discussing it live. And she writes, so she's basically, she related to me that she's an inquirer into orthodoxy who has been using chat GPT to answer a lot of basic questions about the faith. So she's aware that it's probably not the most reliable source of information in the world. So she wanted to run something past you. Basically one thing that's caused her difficulty in her journey, hopefully, God willing, into the church is that she really has trouble with the speed at which chanters seem to kind of rush or speed through prayers. It almost struck her like the chanters didn't really want to be praying or they were not enthusiastic about what they were doing. And she asked chat GPT and was told that the reason why the orthodox do this is so that you don't rationally think too much about what's being prayed. So the prayers are being applied more like medicine and for healing by the church on behalf of the people. And she just wanted to know if that is kind of a correct summary of those things. Yeah. Well, I think before we even get into the specific question, I think it is important maybe to address something that she mentions in the opening of her question, which is the use of technology to learn about faith. And I think there are people on either sides of this idea, people who would say, oh, you should use nothing. It's kind of like the movement of the old calendar. Or that no innovation is acceptable. People want to still have churches without electricity. And then there are those who are like, no, bring it all in. Let's put touchscreens in the pews and wire everybody up. And I don't think either of those extremes are particularly helpful as usually is the case. I think of technology as like a handrail. Because when you're climbing up the stairs or down the stairs, and depending on your strength and vigor and time of day and the light and the slippery ness, if I could say that of the stairs, you might need a handrail. And we can say that technology has certainly assisted the church throughout the centuries. The church has never been afraid of technology, but it has to be used appropriately and has to be used within the context and framework of the church and not on its own. So I don't think chats. I mean, I think there are some things to think about when using chat because of its environmental impact. And there's certainly literature out about that. And I think there's some stuff out there about there is something about reading books and processing and the slow accumulation of knowledge, which I'm older. So most of what I know, I had to do it the old fashioned way. But chat can be used. Good to check it as she's doing. Okay. So this idea of why does the particular chanter at the church that I've attended chant in a manner that's maybe at a fast pace? The answer she got from chat is an answer, but it's not the answer. What I mean by that is it is perfectly acceptable for chanters not to chant quickly. And in fact, one of the central books that is used to teach someone how to chant is called the Anastasimetaryon. I don't expect you to be able to repeat that word or spell it. Yeah. It's the hymns of the resurrection related to Saturday night, Vespers and Sunday, Mattens. And so it's the orthodox and the and the Vesper service of our celebration during the week in the eight modes. And there is the slow and the fast melodies. The very existence of slow and fast tells you that there is a usefulness and a reason for both. Right. Right. And so, you know, just saying, well, all chanting should be fast so that, you know, the rational mind doesn't get to participate would be an answer, but it's not the answer. And it's a possibility for why perhaps it's been done. But it's not again the only possibility. There are, there are times and reasons for slow chant and there are times and seasons for chanting with a quicker pace. Some of those reasons are practical. Right. So, you know, in a parish with a lot of children and family, young families in my parish, the liturgy, I don't say as quick, but we're efficient. You know, we start at 930 with the divine liturgy and we're done at 11. Okay. Sometimes 1115. But there are times of the year, Holy Thursday. That service is not going to be efficient. It's going to be long. Right. It's appropriate and it's understandable that it is. I would also say that whether a hymn is slow or fast, it can become unintelligible. Right. And that is something that I disagree with wholeheartedly. The hymns are to be heard and, if you will, understood by the people. It's the means of our theology. It's the means of our instruction of the people. So, for example, there's a type of chant using very slow melodies and even the use of phonetics. Teddy Dem is one of the ways that chanters will know what I'm talking about. I don't agree with it in parish use because it really draws out the hymn. The word might be drawn out over, quote unquote, in Western ways of thinking, several measures. And so you even lose track of the words. But for those in a monastery who are in deep contemplative prayer, it might be useful. Right. And then there are other things that impact what's going on. The setting, that means the time of year, the liturgical season. It could be the preference of the priest or the local hierarch. It could be the skill set of the chanter. It's easier to chant something quick than slow. If you're going to chant something slow, you've got to have very good vocal control and quality. Less skill is needed to do something quickly. You notice fewer of the imperfections. I think that the golden medium is really where we should be. Not too fast, not too slow, kind of goldilocks. Not too hot, not too cold, but just right. And this allows for people to pray. It does allow for the person sitting and or standing or kneeling during the chanting to not get caught up in their own thoughts. Right. There is a sense of the chant displacing our own thoughts. That's true. That's true of the prayers. It's true of the entire service. But there's no single way in which we could execute any of those things and get rid of distraction. Right. That's a full hearty exercise. So simply to say, well, if we chant fast, it'll keep people from switching into the rational mind. It's like, what are you talking about? And at the same time, we wouldn't say, well, we don't want you to be rational. You know, actually there's prayers in the church. You're rational flock. We call the people of God. Right. We're not like a mindless, faceless personality lacking mob. You know, there are specific persons with specific ideas and challenges and talents. Right. That the chanting is it is being offered to. Right. And then finally, I would say, you know, depending on the setting, it is of course important that chant not be solely, you know, performative. I say solely because, you know, if it's not to some degree performative, it's hard to listen to. Yeah. Right. In other words, we do need our chanters to be trained and to be able to sing well. So, you know, that's, I don't mean performative in the sense of this is done for me and for my pride and for everybody knows me, but you have to know how to do the hymns and sing them well. And also chanting shouldn't just be for chanters. It's not like, well, I really love this specific setting of the cherubic hymns. Oh, and it's complicated. And, you know, wait a minute, there's people in the church. And, and, and ultimately we want the people to be able to sing the hymns. They got to know them and sing them so that they can learn them and be formed by them. Right. And so, but that's a good question. And I like it. Yeah. It's definitely food for thought as somebody like myself who's been in a lot of different Christian traditions over the years. I don't know what it is about orthodoxy that does get you thinking about pace. I think it's because we do so many prescribed chants throughout the liturgical services. So for Protestant, you know, they're already kind of struggling with the idea of, you know, vain repetitions and, you know, conflating the two and making it so that, you know, they think that all repetitions are vain sometimes. I've heard that before. And, you know, I think my only observation would be that I've never been to any church service anywhere where it was like the perfect pace. I think, you know, there are some parts that sometimes feel a little too fast and sometimes feel a little too flow, but it's, you know, it's not up to me and it's not up to my feelings, right, about whether or not that was, that was the appropriate pace. And, yeah, just I think it's, you know, it's a way to literally try to fit yourself into the rhythms of the church. Yeah, and something to say there, you know, Mike, you mentioned never having it, you know, maybe just right. In a parish like mine, you know, we have several lead chanters. So, and they're all a little bit different. So if you did the Orthodox service with, you know, Matt versus Lily versus Jay versus Charlotte versus, you know, and on and on I go, it's going to be different. Right. Okay. The second thing, and I want to, you brought up something really important, this idea of repetition. You know, it's interesting when we go to learn something. You know, like our ABCs, how song helps us, right? You learn your ABCs, ABC, D, F, G, you know the song. Yeah, absolutely. Right. You learned it when you were a kid before you could write. Yeah. And you can still sing it. And you know all the layers of the alphabet. And so there's something about singing that helps in learning and remembering. Right. And then there's also something truly elevated about song. You know, the spoken word is certainly beautiful, but when it's put to song, it can take on a different quality and spiritual character. And the repetition, you know, like if I say Lord of mercy one time in a day and that's it, it's likely that it will be hard for me to even connect with what I'm saying. So sometimes we have to remember that the repetition is to get us to finally pray it. Like if you say Lord of mercy 40 times, right, maybe at the 38th time, you actually are praying it. Yeah. I would hope at some point I would actually be more emotionally connected to what I'm saying, you know. Yeah. And then there is the sense that, you know, the language of the church through the repetition of our prayers becomes our language. As someo