https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0...Cindy C. | Doxacon co-chair
It’s almost a truism that Doxacon has the potential to reach out to the “nones” — the ever-increasing population of Americans not aligned with any religious faith. But what if I told you that Doxacon can also enrich the spiritual lives of the faithful?
In pedagogy, we talk about diverse learning styles — that one person may learn best by reading, another by seeing, another by doing. This aligns with St. Paul’s discussion in I Corinthians 12 about the diverse gifts within the Body of Christ. God created us with different talents and interests, and He empowers us in different ways.
A few years ago, when the Lord of Spirits podcast launched, we found an abundance of Orthodox Christians, friends from other traditions, and spiritual seekers yearning to hear about fantastical topics that have a foundation in the Bible or at least in the extra-biblical literature that informed the worldview of early Christians. The yearning to talk about gods and giants and biblical monsters served as an entry point into deep theological and spiritual discussions that (like the Philokalia) challenged listeners to develop their spiritual lives.
Doxacon taps into that same yearning but focuses its discussion on works created by the human imagination — works engaging in what J.R.R. Tolkien called “subcreation.” This year our speakers — led by keynotes Amy Browning-Dill and Fr. David Subu — will be investigating “Echoes of the Incarnation” in works of science fiction, Gothic horror, and fantasy.
Alongside the members of our parish who beautify the temple, or mow the lawn, or pray the Hours or the Akathist, or study the Philokalia, or sing, or serve in the altar, or offer financial support, there are members who grow spiritually by getting together with other lovers of speculative fiction and delving into Loki’s sacrifice in the Marvel series, or Joss Whedon’s inability to escape a moral universe in Firefly, or the challenges Frank Herbert offers Christians in Dune. May these discussions enrich our faith.
For a list of speakers and talks at this year’s Doxacon, scroll down our home page at doxacon.org.
