I came to this Church in part in search for the Living God. “Gee… didn’t know he was… like dead or anything.” Yep. Neither did I… but folks seemed to act that way, and in truth, I guess I realized I did, too. How that changed is a step-by-step process that if I really knew all the steps, well… I wouldn’t be stuck in my fakin’ it two-step shuffle along. But that’s not really why I bring this up.
I bring up the “The Living God” because I just received this two-volume set by that name. It’s a catechism translated from the French by Olga Dunlop and put out by St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press. So far, it seems exceedingly good. The ambition for the group of Orthodox priests that wrote it was to explain Orthodoxy through prayers, scripture, icons and liturgy to a Western audience. The catechism focuses on Orthodoxy’s ecclessial nature. And I like it.
I like it because so far, unlike so many others, it seems to strike out for a definition that stands on its own rather than attempting a compare-and-contrast approach that would risk polemics, or a here-are-the-elements approach that could risk systemization or philosophy. No, “The Living God” is a narrative told in music, psalm, scripture, and picture (icon). It lacks the body language… but what’s a two-dimensional guy to do? About the only nice-to-have I can think of would be a coffee-table-size version in full color on fine high contrast paper…. like an art book. My reason for suggesting this is that the icons in B&W are sometimes harder to see (too small or too dark) and this might have overcome that… but hey… you go with what you’ve got. And most folks don’t expect anything French to sell too well here in the States…. tradition or something.
Anyway, I expect to post more on this as I progress…. and like all my other intentions – yeah… I hope so. But for now I am curious whether anyone else has visited these pages.
I’ve wanted to add a few links to the blogroll for a while. Seems travelling means we still leave the “Favorites” behind, so one thing useful on the ol’ blogroll is the ability to keep up with wha’s hap’nin. But more than that, there are others I find and then lose for a while until I find them again, lose them again, tell myself to “add that thing!” but forget until I find them a third time. By then I’m so senseless I’m paraphrasing William Hurt and Keano Reaves in “I Love You to Death” as they struggle through their stoner-hood to remember their jobs as hit men:
“Dude!” “Whaaaat?” “It’s the… the… the blog!” “You’re foolin’ me.”“Nah.. check it out.”“What blog?”“Y’know…. The Blog! The one you liked.”“Ohhhhhh. Yeaaaah. The Blog. What’s…. what’s a blog?”
Really. As they say, sentences that begin with “Dude” don’t usually lead to enlightenment. And yes, I have to agree with Ancient Faith Radio’s own Bill and Steve (Yap’n the Ancient Flap Brothers?) that the greatest testament to the utter unknowability of God has to lie in that of all His goodness, of all His love for his faithful and loving people, God somehow “keeps giving TV shows to Geraldo and movie roles to Keano” (I loved that line!).
All that aside, these two blogs offer more witness to the general puzzlement of all things Orthodox for those of us still pinching ourselves that we’re here.
Have to say that Mairs’s “Thoughts from the Other Side of the Mountain” caught my eye from her following some of Archbishop Lazar Puhalo’s writings… and given that I’ve got a bunch of his stuff… I’m glad to find another fan. Synaxis Press has a new link as well where you’ll find many of their materials…. few of which seem to be available elsewhere. Some is quite heady stuff (Freedom to Believe is a dense account of Orthodox Existentialism; the Missionary Handbook a decent introduction; and Evidence of Things Not Seen a good rendition of the balance between Orthodoxy and contemporary science) but there is also much that is just good straightforward material. My hat’s off to her for dealing with yet another of their series I hadn’t heard of.
Benedict Seraphim’s “This is Life!” first caught my eye for his video comments on… I think it was the Orthodox Study Bible. This is the new one with the Septuagint that somehow I found myself the liason for selling in my parish. I’d just plunked down for another box of these puppies at the time – with no advance orders. Some of the would-be uber-Orthodox critics were beginning to post their “It’s not quite….” reviews and some of the rest were begining to wonder what it would take to get a little positive buzz. Then Benedict posted his positive video, the tide turned, stuff flew out of the box… and the rest is history. Thanks!
Like so many other things, silence suffers from increasing scarcity. One imagines this may present a circumstance precisely opposite that of the ancient world. We might even ponder whether this cacophonous collusion sounds out a hollow nothingness that inures and disables our hearing, and by contrast to this modern desert within, our infrequent encounter with real silence presents an oasis of experience where we are simply overwhelmed by the challenge of engaging the few remaining sounds around us.
Indeed, there seem so many rhythms in our lives that the little silences we find are often beaten to no more than intermezzos, brief interludes between two main course movements. This brevity rushes us onward before we chance to savor and distill the last experience, and ends all too readily with both moments lost, memories faded, and new unfiled folds in time. And if we struggle later to recollect, these moments all too readily blend into our muffled background like a vague two-stepped shuffle rather than a crisply defined dance. We may even find within ourselves a certain leering awkwardness as if our struggle affords more of an experience of discomfort than actual listening.
Perhaps our discomfort arises from the echo chamber of our internal narrative, the self-serving voice of our consciousness that alternates between soothing comfort and unnerving digs, yet seldom speaks of the omnipresent loneliness that may lie within. And perhaps more is found by those blessed in this to hear the soft whispering that calls us back to God, that reminds us of better, that affirms how we are loved and not meant to be alone. And maybe in this remembrance we can in turn find peace even in the midst of all these people, their doings and sounds. We mourn equally where this does not happen, and that it happens less in our lives than we might wish. Yet we can be thankful all the same for the merciful measure that is our portion to witness.
For we witness that silence restores and refreshes us. Wearily, we admit that like a void created for study on a laboratory bench, this refreshment seems something we seldom stumble across, but increasingly must seek out and create through active effort. It takes effort not just to hear the silence in-between that surrounds us, but to still our passions, our egos, our complaints, our “insights” and even some of our joys. This is indeed a hard creation, and requires restraining our seemingly irrepressible desire to usurp our place and fill the void. Yet maybe this is what it takes; and even at some short-term cost is what we think we need. And maybe all of us whose ears ring all too readily with the timbre of our own voicing of “I am here” can allow of another; can trust another; and can admit that perhaps God already knows we are here.
Maybe that will be enough, or maybe it will prove only a start. Whichever… surely it challenges our unsounded depths and turns us in a new direction.
Had a moment to pick up reading Elder Paisios again the other night, and in view of recent news photos of “launchings”, was rather struck to reflect on our better days.
Yes, amidst the summer doldrums of my “sophomore year” in Orthodoxy, I began to think about all our ascetic practices: our fasts, our prayers, our lighting of candles, our long services, our works of charity, our confessions, our private devotions and all the rest… and whether this really amounts to the “works righteousness” we’re slammed with on this account. Believe me, this ain’t my issue.. but it was handy to stumble on something unlooked for.
“So, you see whichever virtue you apply, you are led to the same result, that is, to the elimination and purification of your own will. Man will spiritually progress and be benefited only when he manages to eliminate his will to zero. When the Americans want to send a missile to space, they do the same thing; they count from ten to zero. When they reach zero, then the missile is fired. The same applies to our soul; when our wills are eliminated to zero and our soul is cleansed, then it is elevated towards God!”
I guess the good folks on the Holy Mountain were more aware of current events than I would have supposed! This YouTube video helps conjure up the launch sequence in all its glory as I remember it. You’ll have to provide you own countdown, but this was the only one with all the camera shots I used to thrill to: The roar of the engines, the billowing flames, the falling ice and debris, the all consuming clouds of fire and smoke, the falling tower arms and twist of the rocket as it rises is captured in the film. The sound is there, but not the physical wave that hit you like a wall, literally knocking folks down to their knees at three miles down range. I love this! No doubt the Elder picked a good metaphor for certainly the process of stripping out our old man and making our assault on the heavens is accompanied by a roar, by a languishing degree of destruction, and by a falling away of much we have known before we finally unhinge ourselves by grace to ascend. But I digress.
Elder Paisios continues:
“The grace of God entered our soul through the Holy Baptism; it is a gift granted to all of us. Sometimes, we think that God gave to a saint more gifts than others; this is wrong. Christ loves all of His children the same; it is we, however, who do not value and appreciate God’s gift to the same degree. When someone is grateful and believes that the grace of Christ, which he received through Holy Baptism, is inside his soul, he humbles his own will and purifies himself in order to allow divine grace to function. When divine grace functions inside a soul, it makes us think that God favored this person with more gifts. However, the truth is that this person loves Christ more, and through his humility, permits God to act on his behalf.”
The purpose of these “works” then, if that is what they are and purpose is what they have rather than grace, is to make room for the Holy Spirit by humbling ourselves. I’d tend to think this is the action of grace itself… but only to an extent: either we invite the action in our hearts through our consent, or there can be no free will and the love of God does not exist. Since this cannot be, there must be some action on our part. This is why I think the Elder underscores that the relationship between asceticism and grace is fundamental to the path of the saints.
His inquirer asks for citations from scripture, and while there are many good ones given (2 Tim 2:20-21; 2 Cor 7:1; 2 Cor 10:3-5; and Phil 2:5-9), I favor a few not given because they continue this emphasis less in the detail that the Elder prefers to hear, and more in terms of reminding me to work on allowing the image and likeness thing to come through. But then I am Thickheaded to the core. Hence my suggestions are the words of the Forerunner in John 3:30, and of course those of St. Paul in Galatians 2:16-20 ( especially 20! ).
In the end, I guess the trick is less about setting a launch date. These things seem a bit uncontrolled at our end and more a matter for our inspired Mission Control team. Yet a similar amount of endless training, development, and all the rest lies ahead if we’re to succeed. And while surely (Don’t call me Shirley!) folks wonder what all the fuss is about, let’s face it… it’s a big program no matter where you head… or what your launch vehicle. And maybe like the Bumble Bee that theoretically can’t fly… maybe our so called “works righteousness” won’t get us anywhere either. Then again… what if the whole of these ancient, warmed over dichotomies are no more than tower arms holding us up while earthbound as our engines roar to life, until lift off and we escape their clutches? Indeed… what if.
jamesthethickheaded