It's been two and a half years since I decided Orthodox Christianity was the thing I needed to immerse in, to draw up, if you will, into my proboscis. I had a friend when I decided this, a besty, and we'd been very close. Very on the same page. For years I had encouraged her in the shared paradigm of our understanding, and she had me.
The wonder is, today she and I continue in a good friendship. Even though my move disoriented us both. Even after she recognized rather forcefully she could not go with me wherever I flew.
This was a very good thing. It has humbled me to learn I'm not the be-all and end-all of her life, and at the same time I've had a particular exterior tension with her, a line in the sand I needed to cross alone, helping me recognize the Orthodox Church as the Where that everything in my life had been leading.
These days my besty and I explore and practice, each dipping into different flowers. Yet in many ways our relationship hasn't changed. We continue to encourage one another. More carefully than before, perhaps, we converse regarding many things.
We hum in the background. Bumbling along, we attempt to entrust our tunes, our footing, our shades and songs, to the Reality we both still seek. Some afternoons are dust dry. Others we nearly flutter, and the pollen is sweet.
