Orthodox Talk

Absolutely, that's why it's such a big deal. It should never have happened, and there is no way of fixing it.  Furthermore, it tarnishes the firm's reputation.

Many errors of the clerical type can be fixed easily. For example, I made a deposit of a check, and put down the wrong amount by mistake. It was off by a few cents. A short time later, I got a message in the mail, correcting the clerical error I had made.

Absolutely, that's why it's such a big deal. It should never have happened, and there is no way of fixing it.  Furthermore, it tarnishes the firm's reputation.

I cross from left to right.

I think it is going to depend on what Church you are in. Roman Catholics and Greek Catholics cross differently. If I recall correctly, the Eastern ORthodox method is older than the RC method according to the Catholic encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13785a.htm

As one who is coming from about 25 years of being a Protestant,  I'm very used to a systematic theological approach to understanding God, His attributes, etc.  I guess all along I have had a great deal of "head knowledge" (in as much as the "created" can have of the Creator) which has outweighed having actual communion with the Lord.   I would pray as a Protestant but, now that I've been on my journey toward Orthodoxy, wonder to whom I was actually praying - either, A) A god of my own making or B) The true God who heard my prayers and who has been merciful to me all these years even though I was understanding and worshiping Him in error.

My priest has suggested, in order for me to begin on the path of communion with God, that I need to take time daily and just sit in the silence before God and just "be" in His presence - to start with a few minutes.  As I sit in the quiet I will hear outside noises (cars driving by, a dog barking, etc.) or images/thoughts will come to my mind. Basically, from my understanding of what he said, I am to sit in the quiet (say starting with 5 minutes) and continue to do it for the same length of time until I come to the point where I am no longer effected by outside noise or images/thoughts in my mind (which may take many months to accomplish) - at which point I would lengthen my quiet time.  Father has not yet instructed me to pray the Jesus Prayer yet which, I thought, would be part of what I would be doing in my quiet time.  I guess in doing this it is a lesson in switching off seeking God solely from my understanding and switching to hearing Him speak to my heart.  Not to offend anyone - but this scares me (though I have been facing my fear and have been having quiet time as my priest has suggested).

My concern is that if I were ever to achieve the state that is the goal of this type of quiet time, how do I know that I am hearing from God?  How do I discern that in becoming quiet that I am not opening myself up to something of the evil one? As a Protestant the way I would "hear" from God would be in reading and studying Scripture and seeing what the Word said about a matter.

To those of you who are Orthodox and have had success with a personal quiet time like this, I'd be interested in hearing your experience.  Thanks 

Another Ethiopian Church question:

In recent years there has been an infusion of theosis teachings in the Coptic church, which isn't a traditional teaching and is likely the result of ignorance about theology over the last couple centuries.  The traditional teaching in the Alexandrian tradition is that of St Athanasius and his teachings on theopoiesis - the deification of man's flesh and spirit as the end prize and union with Christ. 

How has the Ethiopian church been teaching in this regard?

In Christ