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The Dormition (An Essay In The Understanding Of The "Dawn Mission") by Gerasimos Letts
The Theotokos of the Tree of Life As a person who was brought up with no understanding of the Bible and little understanding of the words preached during the services I rarely attended, I embarked on the road of Greek Orthodoxy with a clear and open mind. However, through my ignorance, I have made a most important mistake. When I heard a new word, I did not question it’s meaning; I did not ask for guidance from my Spiritual Father; I simply accepted the word for what I believed I had heard. To say The Dormition of the Mother of God meant nothing to me would be totally incorrect. Not only did I accept the word Dormition as something very important in Orthodoxy, I also felt it’s importance, spiritually; a warmth which gladdened my heart and was personal to my own feelings. However, it was not the word Dormition that I had heard! I was under the impression that The Dawn Mission of the Mother of God was being talked about. How easy it is to misinterpret what someone is saying to you. This belief of The Dawn Mission lived with me for nearly two years and it was only when I was visiting Keffalinia this year, that I learned how wrong I had been all this time. Or had I? Let me describe to you what my understanding of The Dawn Mission was all about and perhaps any ridicule may be suppressed. If we take the words as they stand, I understood it to mean the mission of the new dawn, preparing for the events ahead, and can liken it to a tree, in the following way. The roots of the tree are the many paths, which meander through darkness; oppression, despair, need, the search for light, truth and understanding in everything around us. The darkness is the soil which feeds the roots, which gives the tree its strength to grow, and fed by these roots is the trunk of the tree; dawn. The trunk of the tree is like the birth of a new day. It sprouts hope, new life and heralds the wonders of what the new day will bring and every passage are the branches of the tree, and from these branches are the many diversions that follow, forming the twigs. As leaves sprout from buds, these are the expectations of success we look for and when they wither and drop from the twigs, like leaves in Autumn, we experience sorrow but look forward to the spring when renewed hope can be brought into our lives. When the fulfilment of everything we work for is evident, the bud bursts into flower and we are in awe of it’s beauty, it’s richness and we carry the flower in our hearts forever. This is the Tree of Life. If we look at the word Dormition, we learn from the books that it’s meaning is quite clear; it is the taking of Mary, Mother of God, from earth into Heaven, and is celebrated by a Feast. When I look at The Dawn Mission, as understood by me, and at The Dormition of the Mother of God, I see similarities in my beliefs that knock aside any ridicule that might have been cast in my direction. To me, Mary is the Tree of Life, who, through her, gave us Jesus Christ, who is the flower living in our hearts forever. It would be interesting to learn if other people have faced similar misunderstandings in their lives, only to discover that what they believed to be so was incorrect, but actually not so very different from their understanding after all. Gerasimos Letts |
