Ida

Today my father and I checked into a hotel near Princeton Seminary where I will move in tomorrow, and we were blessed to meet a woman named Ida. She is a Coptic Orthodox Christian from Egypt who immigrated to the US so her children could have the religious freedoms she did not have growing up. She joyfully told us about how much she loved God and how Egypt's religious laws are changing and how many people are converting. She asked us what kind of Christian we were, and we told her we were Presbyterians [which she hadn't heard of], but she knew what Protestants were. She said there were only three types of Christians in Egypt: Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant. She informed us that it didn't matter because we all worship the same God and Jesus. Ida had attended a Protestant church sometimes in Egypt with friends, and now she regularly attends the Orthodox church that is only a few miles up the road. As she was telling us about growing up Christian in Egypt I felt an incredible sense of connection. This woman's heart and soul were only for God, and nothing was going to stop her from expressing that. She sounded like so many Greek Orthodox people I know from my study abroad experience, old experiences flooded back to me. It was in the Orthodox world that I decided to become a pastor, and here I am.
We can make distinctions in Christianity all we want: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, right-wing, left-wing, Fundamentalist, Mainline... but when you are facing a person those labels don't matter. You're just a person who decided to live a faithful life, just like the person you're facing.

There's an incredible song entitled "Peace" by the Church of the Beloved:
"Let us see and not destroy. Let us listen. Let us listen.
Let us suspend judgement for the sake of love, for the sake of love.
We need each other more than we need to agree.
Father, Son, Spirit bless us with your love,
with your grace and peace."

This is my personal prayer as I enter seminary and for Christians everywhere: "We need each other more than we need to agree." Christianity goes beyond any human divisions whether they are political, cultural, or linguist. In Christ there is no East or West. Thanks be to God!

Ida's Church with information about the Coptic Orthodox faith and multi-media formats for their worship. It's a cool website.
http://www.saint-mary.net/