On the airplane from Athens to Minneapolis
Greetings to all who continue to read this blog.
Thank you for your interest. I realize this could get boring after a while. I have felt the love and prayers of family, friends and folks from Messiah and First Lutheran Churches.
She started by saying,
Cathy was on the flight with me which had a layover in Toronto, Canada. Her parents are Greek, but moved to Canada when she was 5 years old. That is why she is totally fluent in English and Greek. She grew up in Canada and them married a Greek man from Canada. Her husband’s family had the fish business on Crete, so when they got married, they moved back to Crete.
Thank you for your interest. I realize this could get boring after a while. I have felt the love and prayers of family, friends and folks from Messiah and First Lutheran Churches.
When a person travels, of course, there are always things that could go wrong. Reflecting on the five weeks in Greece, I can only see the grace that has surrounded Robert and me. We feel so thankful to have had such a gift.
My two girlfriends Jodi and Lynn, are still both working. Jodi has gone back to her job as a psychologist today at the Hennepin County Medical Center. Lynn works as an RN at University of Minnesota Medical Center and starts three 12-hour shifts of work tomorrow. That is how travel is for most working people. To have a three month sabbatical is a priceless gift. I am stopping now and trying to be a Pilgrim.. and simply say, “God, thank you so much.”
The flight from Athens to MSP is quite long. Robert and I sat in two middle seats. Next to me was Cathy from Crete, Greece. I want to include some of what she shared with me. This is from yesterday’s conversation on the airplane, so it is still pretty fresh.
The flight from Athens to MSP is quite long. Robert and I sat in two middle seats. Next to me was Cathy from Crete, Greece. I want to include some of what she shared with me. This is from yesterday’s conversation on the airplane, so it is still pretty fresh.
“I am a 58 year old wife, mother and grandmother. My husband and I have a fish business. Now our son does much of the day to day running of the business. He gets up at 3:00 am to go to the port to buy the fish from fisherman. Then, he brings it to our three fish shops. His typical day starts at 3:00 am and he is done at 7:00 pm or so. His wife also works and her day starts at 7:00 am and goes very long also. (I forgot to ask who takes care of the children. We have seen that sometimes the children can be with the parents during the work day if it is a family owned business).Tell me about how it has been raising children in the faith.
We have four grown children. One is married with two children, ages 3 and 7. I have been religious all of my life. The Greek Orthodox Church is very important to me. (I received my first clue because she crossed herself quite a few times when the airplane took off. I asked Cathy if she minded if I asked her a few questions. She was so willing to talk with me.)
“This is most important to me. Not quite so much for my husband, but that is OK. I tried hard to make sure they knew about God and Jesus and Holy Spirit. One way I taught my children is to help them observe the fasting during Lent and during other times in our church calendar. We celebrate something called the small Easter from August 1-15 every year and I have my children fast during that also. Our fast is no meat, no oil, no dairy. Then we end the fast with a Feast Day. I tried to get my children to observe until they are about 18 or so. Then they are on their own. I let go of trying to force them. For example, the married son who is running the business-Sunday is their only day to rest so they rest instead of go to church. I understand and that is OK.
However, I love taking my two grandchildren to church. At their young ages of 3 and 7, they already know how to make the sign of the cross on their chest and they also know how to kiss icons. My 7 year old grandson gets to be an altar boy. He loves it. I do wish his parents would see their grandson do the altar boy things at church. We are all so proud of him. (I forgot to ask if there are special things young girls can do at church.)
We kiss icons to show our devotion to God. I pray all the time. It is a way of life for me and of course, I am always praying for my family to also know God. I then, let go. She smiled and said, “What are you going to do?”
I love all of the religious holidays in Greek Orthodox Church. Holy Thursday, Friday and Saturday during Easter. And recently we had Saturday of Souls where Koliva is made. I actually had a bakery make it for me. It is the boiled wheat with pomegranate seeds, sugar, etc. (Robert makes this also.)Then, since she was so willing to talk about anything, I told her about my experience at the Greek Orthodox Church on Patmos, that the priest held a forum to tell his parishioners about how the government is not following the ways of the church. Then, I asked her about it regarding things like homosexuality, etc.
She started by saying,
“Our prime minister is not a Christian. He is a communist and far left. So that might be why the priests are not happy with our government.
Regarding homosexuality, I have many friends who have children who are LGBT. Some of my friends were harsh toward their child. After the parents lived more years and met other people who were LGBT, then these parents started to regret how harsh they were to their own children. I know of people who have reunited with their adult LGBT children. These parents were harsh, mainly due to the teaching of the church. I believe that everyone is God’s children. You might be born gay, so of course, God loves you. I don’t like it when they flaunt it, but it is surely not wrong.
Cathy was on the flight with me which had a layover in Toronto, Canada. Her parents are Greek, but moved to Canada when she was 5 years old. That is why she is totally fluent in English and Greek. She grew up in Canada and them married a Greek man from Canada. Her husband’s family had the fish business on Crete, so when they got married, they moved back to Crete.
“I still see Canada as home, though. My mother is there and sister. That is why I am going back, to see them.”