Stumbling Upon the Living God

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.

Speaking of the Lynx

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!