There and Back Again: A Long-Expected Journey

“‘You may know or guess what kind of tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people in it don’t know. And you don’t want them to.’” –Frodo Baggins, The Two Towers

This quote is one of my favorite quotes from Tolkien’s LoTR trilogy because it is a reminder that true transformation happens through faith and trust. Frodo and Sam are in the middle of a story that seems unlikely to end positively in their favor, and the only thing they decide they can do is to keep going. Of course, we all know how the trilogy ends (if you don’t, it’s 2026 and the movies are on Amazon prime—you can even get the books on Amazon kindle. Seriously, it’s super easy) but what made it meaningful and what makes the characters’ choices heroic is that they made them in the face of uncertainty.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably expressed this exact sentiment many times: “When are we going to /actually/ start building this new Temple? It’s been years and it seems like all we do is talk about money.” Waiting is something that is not easy for me and is something I’ve always struggled with, ever since I was old enough to repeatedly ask “Are we there yet?” on a car trip (sorry mom and dad). I have recently been diagnosed with ADHD and while the difficulty with waiting makes a lot more sense to me, I have also realized that my life has had a lot of waiting in it. I waited 27 years to meet the man I married, and let me tell you, Michael was (and is) well worth the wait. I waited 15 years for the little sister that I had been begging for since I could talk, and she was absolutely worth the wait. I waited a total of 8 years to finish college and graduate with a masters in English. That’s a lot of waiting. All of that waiting led to wonderful blessings, but it was hard for me to recognize the transformations that were happening in my life because I was focused on the uncertainty that comes with waiting.

Similarly, I think we are experiencing a period of transformation as we work towards our goal of building a new Temple, We can’t know when this journey toward our new Temple will end, but the faith and trust that is at the root of this project has already shown us small pieces of that transformation taking place: our parking lot was recently extended, we have a new exit door in the nave, there are railings on our sidewalk, our Discord page allows us to connect as a community in ways we weren’t able to before, and we are blessed to continue to catechize and baptize new members of our parish on reception Sundays. These are just some of the things that I have noticed in the past several months, but I am sure that there are many more things that could be added to this list.

The building project has been an ongoing conversation within the community over the past several years. Currently, the focus is on the new Temple, but I can recall when the conversation was about building the building we are currently in. Back then, we were holding services in the Parish Hall (the building that we now use for Sunday School) and the foosball table (yeah, we had a foosball table) had a waitlist. I was a teen at that time, so a lot of the logistics that went into building the Long Hall were lost on me. I didn’t understand the effort it took to raise the money needed to start construction, or the numerous meetings, discussions, and sacrifices that occurred during the entire process. The biggest thing that I was concerned about was the unfortunate fact that the building that we are currently in was going to sit right on top of a wild blackberry patch that had been growing on the property for years and which I would miss when it was gone (I do still think about that blackberry patch).

However, just because I was a kid at the time, doesn’t mean that I couldn’t contribute or participate in meaningful ways. I was old enough to put my tithing money in the building fund bowl, and to attend liturgy and participate in the life of the parish. I also recall that there was one Sunday we all wrote our names on individual pieces of wood and placed them in the ground where the building that we are currently in would eventually go to mark the place where we usually stand during liturgy. I remember looking at all of those sticks in the ground and feeling this intense sense of belonging unlike anything I had experienced before.

Looking back, I realize that even when the building that we are currently in was the focus, the building project included plans for the temple we’re fundraising to build right now, which means we’ve been praying about it for a lot longer than we’ve been raising money for it. Not only that, but Fr. Aidan (and others) have been talking about this building project for years. One of the Fall/Spring theological seminars was dedicated to the physical aspects of the building, and we learned a lot about the style of building, the importance of squinches, the history of basilicas (although it seems really unfortunate to me that Orthodox churches are never bult in the gothic cathedral style. I think Orthodox gargoyles would be SO cool) and the pros and cons of a dome. We’ve also had several presentations from our very talented team of iconographers regarding the plans to adorn the inside of the new temple. In short, this is a process that has been ongoing for a long time and that will continue for the foreseeable future. This period of waiting that we are in right now is a chance for all of us (especially me) to practice patience, trust, and faith that God knows what we need.

So, I invite all of you to wait with me on this long-expected journey towards our new Temple. And while you’re waiting, consider donating to help us build our new temple: Building Fund Donation or sharing this post to help raise awareness!

And don’t forget to subscribe to our Substack, “Come See Something Beautiful” if you haven’t already!

There may not be dwarves knocking at the Narthex doors, or a wizard who shows up to blow smoke rings during coffee hour (unfortunately), but we have already gone there and back again. This is St. John’s story and we are the people in it—if we take one more step it will be the furthest away from home we have ever been.

And just because I think we could all use a little dose of nostalgia (it helps with waiting), check out this classic LoTR music video:

And lastly, I want to share a video from a channel that I listen to frequently whenever I need peaceful background music: