I am honoured that you've chosen to "follow" my blog, or that you have taken the time to stop by and read about this small but special topic in the world. I - the blogger - have taken quite a leave of absence lately, and have not been here to update either the blog or the web pages which I had put together to accompany my research. I plan to take some time in the coming months to review, research and update the "Those Headcoverings" pages and blog, and I have a special request of You, Gentle Readers:
Please take a moment to let me know, either here or at using the poll above, why head covering is important to you at this time. Maybe it is a new phenomenon to you, or perhaps you are looking for encouragement or ideas to continue with an old habit. (er, no pun intended there...)
Being human, I cannot answer every question; but I do hope to be able to share links to blogs or websites or articles that may be of some interest and help to others. I probably won't be publishing and updating daily, but if you will please be patient, I hope to make this blog much more helpful and encouraging to all, as I had originally intended.
Me? I am a head covering (for 3 years now) Christian (for about 24 years), trying to follow the Bible as the Word of God. I have friends who are Muslim and Roman Catholic, have had several Sikh neighbors, and I have had internet-friends of Jewish and Orthodox Christian faiths. I have known ladies and men who covered their heads when cancer treatments took their hair, and I know many in food services and nursing who wear hair coverings to keep their hair to themselves. I enjoy the many styles of head coverings, from hats to berets to scarves to veils, and really enjoy reading blogs and articles about old fashioned hats and other coverings from the past. I have a friend from Nigeria who was going to teach me how to wrap a gele, but I just couldn't get it - it takes quite a talent to wear those African crowns. :)
But most of my friends go bare-headed, letting their hair down, or cutting it short; just so you know. It's the same all over - but though we are in the minority, and "stand out in a crowd" because of our choice, we are not alone.
Once again - please let me know what you'd like to see in this blog or in a web page. (I may completely redo the web pages.) Add notes or links in your comment here to clarify your choice in the poll above. But most of all, please.... be encouraged!
2 comments:
First of all I'd like to let you know I do appreciate the work you've put into this site.
I'm like the friends you have who don't cover, I'm a Chrstian who wasn't raised in the tradition of headcovering nor was my husband. He doesn't want me to cover, so I don't. I do in my private worship time. I've sometimes covered during worship times at church, but not often.
Thanks again for your site and encouragement thru it.
Blessings,
Wendy
This is an interesting website, and should be helpful to many. If I express some dissent in the remainder of this letter, I am not expressing disdain toward any woman who freely chooses to cover her head. I just want to clarify the situation for Orthodox Christians.
I am a very (VERY) conservative Orthodox Christian woman. I cover in church, and when praying before the icons at home (or in other people's homes). It is not, however, asked of an Orthodox Christian woman to cover at all times, everywhere. This is a misunderstanding held by a small number of women whose intentions are sober and pious. They just happen to be misinformed. I have searched for instruction from the Holy Fathers, and from the contemporary Elders, regarding this. It is not there, or, at least, is not there in English-language materials. I have asked conservative priests this question.
Orthodox women monastics cover at all times, of course. For laypeople, to cover all the time may be allowed as a personal act, and even then, should be done only with the blessing of the confessor and/or spiritual father. (The confessor is not necessarily the same priest as the spiritual father.)
I think that what has happened in America, among some women who convert to the Orthodox faith, is that they notice customs from other countries and fail to distinguish between religious practice and cultural practice. In (older) Greece, for example, and in the Christian Middle East, a Christian woman would cover her head at all times. These are examples of Christian religious practice and historical cultural practice (concerning dress) overlapping.
Perhaps I am wrong with what I write. If so, however, it would not be owing to a lack of serious enquiry. Even if a woman covers her head from ignorance of what actually is taught by the Church, she may be blessed by God anyway, if the intention is to honor Him.
Thank you.
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