My Spiritual Journey
Joe Yevich
I’d like to compare my spiritual journey to a long automobile trip along highways and byways.
The journey began in the religious faith of my parents and grandparents, the Russian Orthodox Church. Attending church is among my earliest memories. The Orthodox service is unlike any that you are lifelong Protestants have ever experienced. It is a beautiful service but one steeped in ceremony, ritual and even mysticism. Hundreds of candles burning, incense, icons (pictures of Jesus, Virgin Mary, saints). The scriptures are not just read, they are chanted. When I was young the services were mainly in the Russian language and lasted close to 2 hours. I went to church every Sunday with my family and even though much of it was a mystery to me it instilled in the foundations of my religious, spiritual beliefs— a foundation for the roads that I would later travel. I went to college at Carnegie Mellon University and majored in chemistry. In college I encountered many other science students and professors who had no religious beliefs. They were agnostics or atheists who viewed belief in God and religion as crutches for the weak and that science and religion were incompatible. In science one can go into the laboratory, run experiments and collect data to prove a scientific hypothesis. How can you prove the existence of God they’d ask. I went on to get my B.S. in chemistry and would later obtain my doctorate in organic chemistry. I adhere to the scientific method of experimentation and to scientific laws and principles, including evolution. However due to the solid foundation I had, my belief in God and my religious beliefs remained intact. During my journey there have been times when the road passed through some dark and gloomy valleys and other times when it reached exhilarating peaks.
Before I went to grad school I reached one of the peaks when I met and married a wonderful young lady named Mary. I now had a partner or co-pilot for my journey and in the years ahead we would most often be on the same road although at times our paths would diverge. After grad school I accepted a job with a pharmaceutical company in Indiana. During the years of graduate school and my first several years in the new job my journey didn’t progress very far.
It was as though I had taken a long stop at a road side rest. Within the first 4 years in Indiana, we were blessed with children, our son Paul and 2 years later our daughter Eileen. With two important new passengers on board, we reached a junction along the road and saw the need to head in a new direction. We bought a house in a neighborhood where most of our neighbors were Roman Catholic. We began attending the local Catholic church with some neighbors and liked what we heard and saw. It was a very active and vital church with many young families many of whom, like us, had come from other places. We took the required instructions and joined the church. The journey progressed well in the following years— we became quite involved in church activities, our children would go to the parochial school and through the church we developed many close and enduring friendships.
Then in 1986 I was transferred to work in the new research center that my company built in Wallingford. Unfortunately the move itself and some events that occurred soon after marked a time when the journey passed through one of those dark valleys. We had joined a Catholic church in town and while I continued to attend church regularly, Mary drifted away. Some good things would happen--for example we became grandparents with the birth of our grand-daughter, Brianna. However, for a number of subsequent years I see my journey as being like driving along an interstate with the cruise control set below the speed limit, obeying all the traffic laws, not taking any risks but no clear idea of where I was going or why.
If the Spirit was calling me during those times, I might have had the radio volume turned up because I didn’t hear the call. About 5 years ago, Mary began attending the 1st Congregational Church and soon joined. She would tell me about what a great an all-inclusive church it was with many friendly people and so many ways to become involved. I began attending with her occasionally, once a month or so. I began to see that this might be the place where I could get in closer touch with the Lord and find what I might be called to do. I joined the church 2 years ago (our granddaughter Brianna also began attending with us) and have become involved with a number of things: the Hospitality committee, being an usher, the Mens' club, participating in religious ed courses such as Companions in Christ and several scripture courses that I’ve led. Perhaps most significantly I have begun to find ways to reach out to others outside my own family and circle of friends. I’ve worked the Bread for Life soup kitchen a number of times, two years ago I went on a mission trip to the Pine Ridge Indian reservation (a powerful emotional and spiritual experience) and last year I was commissioned as a Stephen Minister.
So that’s the story of my journey. It hasn’t ended and it may well pass again through some gloomy valleys and hopefully may reach some more lofty peaks. I feel that my experiences in the Orthodox, Catholic and now the Congregational church have each in their own way provided me with some important insights and values. I am open to it taking me to some places I haven’t been before.