To wear a scarf
essays, sacred space May 16th, 2008
For all of you who have recently found this blog due to my mom ramblings, this post is going to take us back to the original idea behind my spending naptime in front of a laptop. Yes, I don’t want to clean or do laundry, but I also wanted to write about some of the things I’m wrestling with but without the time it takes me to put together a full essay. So, today will be hopefully less snarky. No promises though.
One of the reasons I named the blog after Mircea Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane, is because I find myself constantly in a state of flux between the two. I would like my life to be more filled with the sacred but I also love Cheetos. And How I Met your Mother. What’s a girl to do?
The biggest way our family encounters the sacred is through specific actions (you can call them rituals) associated with the ancient practice of the Eastern Orthodox church. We light incense and candles, we listen to Byzantine chant, we bow and prostrate ourselves before icons–all of these things serve to transform what could be an everyday activity into something outside our selves. By engaging our senses in the act, it propels our entire bodies into a more sacred frame of mind. I love how these things help me get out of my own head and engage our daughter in the prayers and life of the church.
See exhibit A–incense is fun:
It’s been pretty easy to integrate these sorts of things into our life. I can’t imagine trying to explain the concept of God or church or prayer to a young child without these tangible helps provided by the Church.
But. There’s another one out there. Just for us ladies.
The head covering.
If you’re interested in the most turned to article about this in American Orthodoxy go here. If you think I’m crazy and spitting in the face of feminists everywhere, please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll post your opinion. That’s fair.
I still don’t know where I stand on this one so I’m open to both sides but the topic seems to keep coming up.
I read this article in Slate a couple of nights ago about how some Muslim women decide to put on and take off their head coverings, called hijabs. I know we’re not Muslim, but it was an interesting perspective because part of my hesitation has always been that once I start covering my head during the liturgy or prayers–it’s for good. And I’m young and impetuous.
So that’s one part of it. But on the other hand, I’m all about acknowledging that church isn’t just something to do on Sunday mornings to build business contacts and make sure our daughter learns morals. I believe we are worshiping a holy God and that we engage in something radically different than the secular world outside the church doors. If wearing a scarf over my head helps to enhance that differentiation for me (and someday my little girl) then perhaps I just need to get over myself.
Being Orthodox in America is an interesting experience. That may be about as generic of a statement as it gets, but yeah.
May 18th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Common thoughts on the covering, I think - may God guide your hearts!
May 18th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
PS - your little one is beautiful!
May 20th, 2008 at 12:39 am
Christ is risen!
Great post. I have had a weird experience with this whole thing myself, but yes, I wear a headcovering almost all the time. It’s weird and cool and weird and cool and …
heh. Get the idea?
Many years!
May 20th, 2008 at 12:40 am
Oops. Mis-typed the address of my blog: http://www.offbeatmodestdress.wordpress.com
May 20th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Mostly, I’m just glad I do it and I feel blessed by it. But sometimes it does feel weird. I mean, how many of us are there? Not many.
But … the number is growing, I think!
May 20th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
We converted almost two years ago and I have been really intrigued by the head scarves. No one in our church really wears them but I would like to get some input from different POVs. It seems to express what I have always believed about my womanhood but it still seems a bit controversial even among Orthodox. thanks for your thoughts
May 30th, 2008 at 6:50 am
I’m the only person in my parish who covers and I cover outside church *most* of the time. Like 99.9% of the time. Enough that it’s uncomfortable now to be uncovered. It’s like being naked in public. My husband (who is not Christian, let alone Orthodox) had a hard time with it at first but seems to have gotten totally used to it now.
I’ve gotten a couple of weird comments at places like the grocery store but most people seem to ignore it (except on the days when I’m wearing one of my gorgeous scarves from tznius.com but then I think they’re admiring the scarf more than thinking I’m strange.)
At my parish, people who first meet me either ask if I’m Russian (we’re a Greek Orthodox parish) or ask where I’m from and seem surprised to hear “Kentucky” as the answer. We have a Russian family this year and the wife doesn’t cover, either.
No one has ever asked why I cover, but if someone did, I’d say “because Saint Paul told me to.” But I’m 100% non-judgy about whether others cover or not because it’s not about what’s on someone else’s plate.
It used to take bravery to cover all the time but I’ve been doing it for three or four years now and it’s become a part of me now.
June 8th, 2008 at 1:24 am
This discussions of covering are always a bit perplexing. I always wear a scarf in church, I don’t think I could enter without one! It just wouldn’t feel right. As for covering outside of church, I’m not sure I understand this. I’m not Muslim, nor Amish. I cover my head in God’s house, but I don’t feel a need to do it otherwise (BIG understatement here!) I’ve only know one Russian (cradle)Orthodox woman who always wore a scarf, and she had been a catacombnik. I find a wearing a scarf a very helpful thing in church. But I feel no need to cover otherwise, or wear dresses all time, or give up make up. These seem to be convert practices, if they help you, fine. I guess I just need to be aware that my sins are very great, and I’m not better than anyone.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
I’ve created a yahoo discussion group for women interested in Orthodox Christian headcovering — in church, out of church, whatever. Here’s the link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coveredorthodox/
Under His mercy,
Kristin