HOME | DD
alimuse — Church in Maheras Forest
Published: 2009-06-22 05:11:33 +0000 UTC; Views: 194; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description
A tiny church in the Maheras National Forest, near Lazania, Cyprus.Related content
Comments: 9
people do some amazingly beautiful
things in the interest of their
"Gods", also some horrifying things.
religion, such an oxymoronic persuit
it can be.
pip
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Well, as a devout Christian, I have grown up with some of the trappings of faith, albeit very limited since I grew up evangelical and Protestant. Actually, as foreign as the decorations in these churches are to me, I find them beautiful and compelling in their own way. The Greek Orthodox Church emphasizes that the icons are for the education of the people and the focus of worship, but I do believe that sometimes, for some of the simpler people, they become objects of worship in themselves. Of course, Cyprus - like much of the Westernized world - is becoming increasingly secular. These little churches are now all but abandoned by the congregations, while there may still be priests holding services.
I've done a lot of reading on the Greek Orthodox Church and it's a relief to find that it, as an organized Christian religion, has not been guilty of some of the atrocities carried out in the name of Catholicism over the history of Christianity. Not that I'm throwing off on Catholics in general, mind you, but speaking historically of some of the things the Catholic Church was a party to in the past.
I think in our western minds, we equate the Greek Orthodox or any of the Orthodox Churches (Russian, etc.) with Roman Catholic, but they are not at all the same.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
something to believe in, is a necessary part
of the human psyche for most people. what i
refer to and object to is the arrogance of
any particular believer to think he or she
has a corner on the truth. to lack doubt,
which would be the simple acknowledgement
of other beliefs, is ego in the extreme, and
is used to demonize the "other", keeping
one from seeing him as "brother".
"the love of money is the root of all evil"...
not quite. a whole lot of evil is birthed
from fundamental belief.
actually, a firm atheist has his own brand of
arrogance, but generally less dangerous. i'm
agnostic... who knows?
pip
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I have seen also, like you, that some of the most fundamental of believers are also the most rabid and militant, and that's a scary thing.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Heh, "tiny" was the first thing I thought when I saw this. What? The congregation is 6 people?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
And the question is, where are the people coming from who go to this church. There is no dwelling around for miles. Interesting. I expect long ago, there were a group of farms in this area, but since being designated as national forest, these are no longer around.
Used to be that the Greek Orthodox only stood for services. So, I guess they could cram in 15 or 20, but they'd have to be friendly with each other.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hmmmm, that's a good question; perhaps the parishioners are older folks who grew up in this particular church and are willing to make the trek.
People from that part of the world are nothing if not friendly 8).
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yes, that's true. I think they're getting weary of tourists, though. Understandable. If I come back here next year, I'm going work very hard to learn some more Greek.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1