Christ the King Lutheran Church - Gladwin, Mi.
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The Gospel in Scales

A Visit to Saint Demetrios Basilica, Thessaloniki

10/26/2019

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The Liturgisaur knows a lot about bones. Dinosaurs tend to be experts on the subject. When it comes to dinosaurs, bones are what people know for sure and everything else is well researched guesswork: skin, behavior, dietary habits, etc. There’s a lot of scientific wonderment that goes into paleontology.
But bones do have an air of mystery about them. There’s a certain reverence to standing in a museum hall packed with femurs, skulls, teeth, and questions. We are invited to reflect on the life of something bigger than us. Something imaginable, but not altogether knowable.
And we pilgrims encountered something similar when we arrived at the Church of Saint Demetrios in Thessaloniki. The church itself contains layers of mystery: in the seventh century the church burnt down and had to be rebuilt. While the destruction was extensive, efforts were made to preserve what artwork remained. As a result the building is filled with partial mosaics: an angel face and wing covering the corner of a blank wall, Saint Demetrios standing with hands extended in blessing, beautiful even in their incompleteness. Something imaginable, but not altogether knowable.
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​I joined in, crossing myself and kissing the mystery. Not because I believe Demetrios’ remains are any holier than someone else’s and not because I wanted a miracle. Rather, my own faith teaches me that God uses the ordinary to point us toward the wonderful. We encounter the unknowable by working with what we do know: blood, bone, and dust.

Today the dust of a dead saint and the loving devotion of his community gave me another glimpse of the kingdom of God, something imaginable, but not altogether knowable, at least not yet.
And then there’s the Saint himself.
On October 26th, Thessaloniki celebrates Demetrios’ saint day. In preparation the ciborium, a box which contains the remains of the saint, is presented in the church for viewing and veneration along with a special icon of Demetrios.
And so we pilgrims found ourselves in a long line of people coming forward to pray before and kiss an ancient container of...something imaginable, but not altogether knowable: the relics of a long dead saint.
Certainly not my piety and not the piety of our group as a whole, but there we were. Behind and ahead of us hundreds of others approached the ciborium with hope, longing, and awe.
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    Journey through the season of Advent with daily updates on the adventures of St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Belliacre, MI as they attempt to cobble together a Christmas Pageant with an unlikely cast of characters.   

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    Amelia Corbett
    Amelia is a cool chick, who enjoys board game construction, elephants, and overall tom foolery. She lives in Gladwin with her parents and younger sister Beatrice.  

    Pastor Emily Olsen
    The charmingly weird Pastor Emily is blessed to live in Beaverton, serve the people of Christ the King Lutheran in Gladwin, and stand up paddleboard in just about any body of water she can find.  She has cats not snakes, but wouldn't hesitate to take in a stray python. tarantula, or dinosaur should it show up on her doorstep.  

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    Stephanie Dubbs
    Stephanie is an art educator and a landscape/portrait artist.  Her inspirations come from the amazing people she meets and the gorgeous state of Michigan as well as her home state of Florida.  She and he husband love nature.  They are out in the water during the summer months and on the snow in the winter enjoying the simple pleasures of life.  
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Christ the King Lutheran Church
600 S. M 18 
Gladwin, Mi. 48624
989-426-1659
Pastor Emily Olsen
pastor.ctkinggladwin@gmail.com


Email ctkinggladwin@gmail.com for correction or to have information included on this web page
  • Home
    • Pictorial Directory
    • Contact Us
    • Links
  • Worship Procedures
  • Who are We
    • Mission and Vision
    • Staff and Office Hours
    • Church Council
    • History
    • Newsletter
    • Calendar
  • Faith Formation
    • Sunday School
    • Christ the King Youth
    • Camping Ministry
    • Kids Club
    • Confirmation
    • Vacation Bible School
  • Ministries
    • Stephen Ministry
    • Quilting
    • Food Distribution
    • Backpacks for kids
    • Prayer Shawl Ministry
    • Parish Nurse
    • Columbarium
  • Worship
    • Schedule of Worship
    • How we worship
    • Children
  • Special Events
  • Budget / Annual Meeting
  • Blog