The Catalog of Good Deeds: Personal Thoughts on Orthodoxy

Showing posts with label Personal Thoughts on Orthodoxy. Show all posts

In today’s heated political season it is important not to get distracted. Saint Paisios warns,

"Now days, too much "world"–an excess of secular spirit–has entered the world and will destroy us. People have taken this "world" into their hearts and have expelled Christ."

Take for example the current popular political slogan, "Make America Great Again." (I use this as an example at the risk of being accused of being political, but this is not my intent. Hear me out. Its not an issue of being Republican or Democrat on any other political persuasion.) Have you thought about what Great means in this context? If you ask around, you will find that there is no agreement what is meant by this. Each person has their own idea about what will make their country great.

We can think about “greatness” in two ways. One is secular or worldly and the other spiritual. Generally we think in secular terms, worldly or politically, seeking ways the government can better our lives. This is the realm of politics. In this realm we all have differing views. Some want new laws while others want old laws revoked. Some want a racial bias in our rulers and others more diversity. Some want an economy where there is some income distribution while others oppose any. Some are pro-life and others pro-choice and so on. The issues are all worldly. The list of differences is endless and sometimes they are very extreme. There is no basis for a common view. Everyone has their own option. There is no absolute truth, right or wrong. When we become aligned with a political part, we are no longer capable of having a rational dialogue with those of another party. Friends are lost as we find our selves angered by opposing views or personalities. It is like our minds are frozen. Each person thinks that if their idea is implemented by the government it will make society greater and any other view will bring disaster. The political slogans become divisive rather than unifying.

When we think of greatness in spiritual terms, the focus shifts from thinking of the government as our savior to our relationship with God. As we examine the ideal life taught by Jesus, we discover the limitations we have in ourselves. Jesus came to teach that peace and joy only comes from within ourselves. It’s no longer about the external laws. The "kingdom of God is within," "Purify your heart and see God," He teaches.

Even Jesus struggled with communicating this message because the Jews were expecting a great political leader to make them great and free them from a oppressive Roman government. They could not grasp His spiritual message about the Kingdom of heaven. They were blinded and distracted by their political or worldly aims of control and power to enforce external laws.

When we view greatness spiritually, we see that for greatness it is necessary for each of us to correct the imperfections in ourselves, learn to control our own passions so that we can truly love God and love others as ourselves. We need to overcome our anger, our desires, our lust, and so forth. This is what is meant by, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." In heaven there is no struggle. Greatness in this spiritual sense then becomes unifying. We find that all of us are struggling to become better persons, and with mutual love seeking forgiveness and forgiving others. With this view, a great society is one where everyone is seeking to improve themselves, learning how to love each other as themselves, and with faith calling on the Holy Spirit to help us all.

I think this spiritual quest is the only way we will gain what we are seeking. While there may be some small incremental improvements that can be made in the secular arena, our aim must be a union with God and eternal life in His kingdom. This may not be possible in this earthly life, but we can have hope with faith, and give our best efforts to purify our hearts to be worthy of eternal life is His kingdom.

We must heed the warning given us by Saint Paisios and not become distracted by the many worldly slogans that politicians bombard us with through highly polished advertisements. Don’t let this heated political season distract you from our goal to be united with Christ. Guard against anger. Don’t fall into hatred of anyone or any group of people. Have compassion for those who think differently from you. Try to understand their point of view. Remember we are all made in God’s image and all struggle with our passions. Don’t put time into watching cable news instead of your daily prayer time. Read Scripture and a book by one of our Church Fathers. Attend Liturgy, prepare and receive Holy Communion and pray for the well being of all humanity. Review the Ten Points for an Orthodox life and focus on becoming more like Christ in all your daily activities.

Don’t let the “world” overtake your heart and blot out Christ.

Source: http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com/2018/09/politics-and-spirituality-feeling.html

I’ve never liked running. In fact, I dreaded those fated days in gym class when we’d have to run the mile. I just knew I’d be too slow and afterwards would feel too sick. The same goes for sports. I was too self-conscious to enjoy playing them. I didn’t want to feel uncomfortable; I didn’t want to be judged. So I would take the easier route during class and walk the track instead. It was my way of escaping the seemingly inevitable pain of gym class.

There’s a lot about life that is painful or uncomfortable. But there’s also a lot that’s beautiful and joyful. I’d just rather skip the pain and move along to the joy. I’d rather not feel the discomfort of disappointment or the pangs of fear or the stress of work that needs to be done. And when I’m not feeling super-connected spiritually, I might even avoid prayer. But the reality is, the more I train myself to run away from the negative in life, the more I run away from Life Himself. When I run, I miss an opportunity to encounter the Lord, and instead believe the lie that I’m alone.

So how do we stop this pattern of emotional escapism? How do we stop running from Life?

1. See struggle as a potential good

There is a certain inevitability about hard times. We are all going to experience the death of a loved one, the stress of a job, the loss of a friendship. Though we might intellectually understand this, we oftentimes aren’t prepared when they come. We’re blindsided and don’t know how to handle it. Being around difficult people can be a challenge, and it’s easier to escape into social media than face reality.

Saint John of Kronstadt (+1909) speaks to the instinct to escape struggle:

Do not fear the conflict, do not flee it. Where there is no struggle, there is no virtue; where faith and love are not tempted, it is not possible to be sure whether they are really present. They are proved and revealed in adversity, that is, in difficult and grievous circumstances, both outward and inward - during sickness, sorrow, or privations. (My Life in Christ, p. 375)

Adversity reveals to us the current state of our hearts. How we react to loss and pain shines light on our own ability or inability to trust God and our personal acceptance that we aren’t in control of everything. And we don’t like being out of control. But we have a God mighty in power and able to turn our sorrow into joy.

2. Let church be a training ground, not an escape

There are a lot of people who see faith as an escape. Either they’re opposed to religion and see it as escapism from the reality of life, or they’re Christians who look for respite from the world. Recently, I read a quote by an atheist that said, “An atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death.” There’s this idea that people go to church so that they can ignore their problems and try to pray them away.

Saint Maria Skobtsova of Paris (+1945) once wrote:

It would be a great lie to tell searching souls: ‘Go to church, because there you will find peace.’ The opposite is true. The Church tells those who are at peace and asleep: ‘Go to church, because there you will feel real anguish for your sins, for your perdition, for the world’s sins and perdition. There you will feel an unappeasable hunger for Christ’s truth. There, instead of becoming lukewarm, you will be set on fire; instead of pacified, you will become alarmed; instead of learning the wisdom of this world you will become fools for Christ.’ (“Under the Sign of Our Time” p. 113)

This great saint of our times saw the danger that comes from using church as a means of escaping the reality of life. St. Maria did not see worship as a respite from the world, but as an opportunity to encounter the Truth and the truth about ourselves. Worship should lead us to more passionately serve Christ and our neighbor in the world.

We find peace in Christ, but not because He takes our problems away. “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We find peace in Christ – even in the midst of tribulation – because in Him we no longer have to face the world alone.

3. Remember you are not alone

God created us for relationships – with Him and with each other. When we start feeling overwhelmed, when we start to turn to fear and anxiety, we tend to isolate ourselves. We forget that we’re not alone. Sometimes we as Christians can act as if we’re spiritual orphans. We can’t see Christ, so we aren’t sure if He’s actually with us.

We run away from something when we are afraid to face it alone. We run from discomfort and problems because we think they’re up to us to solve. "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up" (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). When we truly know that God is our strength and that the Church is here to support us, we’ll understand that we’re never alone.

But it’s still up to us to actually connect to God through prayer and the sacraments and to reach out to the Church by being a part of community.

*****

When we run from life, when we run from Christ, we miss out on truly living. Life with all its struggles and difficulties is the only reality we have so avoidance isn’t an option. There is no “walk the track” easy way out: we all have to run this race. Instead, we can turn to the Source of our Life, to Christ, as our support and our peace. With Him, we can see how challenges that we face (perhaps we’ll only see this later) can be used for good. And we’ll see the Church not as a place to escape the world, but as a community that trains us to live in the world. Living as a part of this community, connected to one another and to God, we’ll be able to face life’s trials instead of running from them.

What in your life are you afraid of facing? How can the Church be a place you work through your fear?

By Sam Williams, Pastoral Assistant

at Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church

in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Source: https://blogs.goarch.org/blog/-/blogs/running-from-life

I lost my patience recently. Then, I lost my temper. These are two things that I rarely experience, and, as self-flattering as this pronouncement may appear, they are behaviors I would like to believe would not be associated with me by those who know me. Yet, under the escalating weight of a host of professional demands and other pressures that had been building for several weeks, I reacted with anger and indignation at two young men, both of whom are my juniors in age and station, and both of who unfairly suffered my misdirected frustration. My immediate embarrassment and my subsequent apology to these two young men were genuine and sincere, but I remained very upset and disappointed with myself. I shared my distress with a Greek Orthodox priest and friend who himself was privy to the situation that had produced my pique. In so doing, I was reminded why priests—good priests—matter.

I have been a steward, and, in some cases, a parish council member, of Greek Orthodox communities in places as diverse as a predominantly working-class, immigrant parish in an industrial city in northern Indiana; an enormous suburban church in New Jersey; an affluent, professional congregation in Manhattan; and a large, once-thriving parish in a Boston area town. One thing that I found to be a constant in all of these different congregations was the decisive, determinant role that the priest played in shaping the life and character of the parish community. Priests clearly at peace with themselves and happy with their pastoral ministry tended to lead communities that were united, whole, and spiritually alive. To what extent each—priest or parish—had either a positive or negative influence on the other could be debated. Nonetheless, what was clear and recurrent in my experience was the simple, and perhaps not surprising, fact that priests who were in harmony with their calling not only deepened the unity and well-being of their parishes, but, in those instances where churches had experienced strife, they were able to restore health and love to their communities. Conversely, priests in personal crisis, whose calling was imperiled, inexorably exported their own crises into their parishes.

We are all “priests.” Indeed, Orthodox Christianity proceeds from the understanding that inasmuch as the whole body of the faithful—His Church—forms a holy and royal priesthood, we, the people of God, are all priests. Nonetheless, it is recognized from the time of the Apostles that within the universal priesthood of believers there is a special, sacramental priesthood, hence the distinction between clergy and laity. The sacramental priest—known originally and formally as presbyteros (from “elder,” as in the Jewish rabbinic tradition)—is established through the sacrament of ordination. Ordination, which invests a new priest with the ecclesial authority to administer sacraments, is performed by a bishop, with the consent of the people of God—meaning, in practice, a congregation which completes the ordination by shouting “Axios, Worthy!”

Dispensing the sacraments—holy rites, mysteries, in which Orthodox Christians experience the reality of God through the enacting of His Grace—are the exclusive responsibility and prerogative of the priesthood. Nonetheless, the effectiveness and fullness of the sacraments are not dependent on the personal virtue or character of the administering priest. Precisely because the sacraments are understood to constitute the presence of Christ acting through the Holy Spirit, the priest, despite considerable popular misunderstanding among Orthodox faithful (and even among some priests), is neither a vessel nor an intermediary between God’s Grace and God’s people. Instead, Orthodox teaching explains that the priest is an icon of Christ. His role is weighty, a fact reflected in every aspect of a priest’s life, both public and private, both pastoral and non-ministerial.

The priesthood is a calling, meaning a dedication to a way of life, not merely a chosen profession. In short, this means that a man has been called by God to commit his life to serve God’s Grace. The priest assumes throughout his life the responsibility of uniting all the people of God together in Christ and sacramentally manifesting the presence of Christ in the Church.

In carrying out his calling, the ordinary parish priest must do extraordinary things: he must preach the message of Christ; promote love and peace; enrich the religious and theological literacy of his communicants; deepen his community’s understanding of the teachings of the Church; and foster awareness and respect for the Orthodox Church’s history and traditions. Furthermore, he has to accomplish all this in the midst of answering the day-to-day needs and demands and challenges of a parish community. Above all, the priest must live a life that is always unwaveringly centered on Christ’s love, and that is consistent with the principles, morality, and ethics he—the priest—preaches. I recall from my youth, a visiting priest at my parents’ Sunday table confiding to my sympathetic father that the priesthood is simultaneously both the greatest blessing and the greatest cross to bear. Truly, only a genuine calling can lead to the making of a priest capable of facing and fulfilling such imposing, yet stirring, responsibilities.

I have known many extraordinary priests. Few among us have not had our lives blessed or have not been inspired by a great priest. All the same, Orthodoxy correctly affirms that priests do not manifest the presence of Christ through their talents, charisma, knowledge, or other personal attributes, but through their sacramental function, which is not affected or influenced by a priest’s qualities. But what is also clear is that a priest’s imprint extends beyond his sacramental functions. In that sense, and in that sphere of life in the Church, we most often encounter the benefit and grace of a good priest.

The priest in whom I confided my recent story of pressure, anger, and regret is an extraordinary priest and a good man. He responded to me with this liberating Christian perspective:

"Aleko, I understand. Just know that there is so much love in the world, that no matter what others say to us it can never diminish God's love for us. Try to focus and search for this love even in the most trying circumstances. You will see that you will find joy in even the uncomfortable times and with the most difficult people. God loves you, as do I."

In my friend priest’s earnest words to me I sensed the presence of Christ’s message of love, and so I was reminded of why good priests matter. Their commitment to live according to God’s love, along with their ability to fervently convey that love to the world, is what makes priests not only important, but also, good.

By Dr. Alexandros K. Kyrou, a Professor of History

at Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts,

where he teaches on the Balkans, Byzantium,

and the Ottoman Empire

Source: https://blogs.goarch.org/blog/-/blogs/-why-good-priests-matter-

Here’s a quick quiz for you.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.

4. Name five people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.

5. Name the last five Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last five year’s worth of World Series winners.

How did you do? Me either! The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades, awards, and certificates are often buried with their owners.

When I was in college, I remember the University of Arizona baseball coach, Jerry Kindall, speaking to a Christian group I was with. He was an excellent major league ball player in his day. He pulled out his World Series ring and showed it to us. He said there was a time in his life when he almost sold his soul to be able to obtain that ring. It meant everything to him. As he was preparing to speak with us that night, he had to search high and low to find the ring. He finally located it in his sock drawer underneath a pile of socks!! His point was simply that giving our lives to gain the world’s treasures really amounts to nothing. Even if we gain the treasure it will mean nothing in a very short time. He went on to say that the real treasures we need to strive for are the ones we lay up in heaven. These come from our relationship with God and our relationship with those around us.

Now this can easily be applied to our personal lives or our work! Have you ever observed someone “selling their soul” to make the next rung on the ladder of success? Promotions and titles also get buried with their owners. Even if they make it, the cost to their lives… especially their inner selves… can be so very great. The change can be slow, but family and friends begin to see it or at least feel the change. No matter how much a person might think they can live one life at work and another at home… there is really only one life that each of us lives. It is similar to the person who thinks they can appear one way at Church and yet live another way the rest of the week. We are all simply one person… living one life. The relevant question in this article is “Where are we laying up our treasure?”

Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a teacher who aided your journey through school.

2. Name a friend who has helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name a person who has taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a person who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of someone you enjoy spending time with.

6. Name a hero whose story has inspired you.

Easier? You bet! The lesson? The people who make the biggest difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, the most awards, or the best promotions. They are the ones that care! And just as true: You make the biggest difference in other people’s lives not because of your credentials… or money… or awards… or promotions… but rather you touch their lives because you truly care about them!

Jesus has the final word on where we put our treasures: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

By Fr. Stephen Powley

Source: https://upwordglance.com/2016/10/19/where-will-your-treasures-end-up/

There is a huge difference between a precentor and a choir conductor. A real conductor doesn’t need a diploma—it’s not my own phrase but I agree with it. Many famous conductors became outstanding performers first. David Oistrakh, Vladimir Spivakov were fantastic violinists and then became conductors; Mikhail Pletnev is a remarkable pianist who later became a conductor; Yury Bashmet originally played the viola.

A musician grows from within. The conductor’s gestures also come from within, not from outside. That is why it is great if you already have a set of gestural patterns and conducting skills under your belt, if you know the basics of this profession, but you can get to the same point via a different route.

I didn’t know why the Lord put me in charge of the choir but now that’s what I see: God knew that He would make me a nun. I had never wanted to become a nun: I was a down-to-earth mother of three kids. Convent? Really? But God had a plan for my life. I sang in a choir conducted by a friend of mine. It turned out that the cathedral needed another choir. They suggested that I try. When you’re a neophyte, you have no fear: got the blessing? Go and fight!

At first, I was scared. I didn’t know how to conduct the choir. For a long time, I was unsure of how I even dared conduct a choir. Later, I understood that if God needs it, it will happen whether you like it or not.

The participants of our choir hailed from the Academy of Music and from College of Music, so they all demanded a lot from themselves and from each other, and no one was left behind. That’s how we organised our work: “Listen to what I want; I’ll explain it to you, and please do it.” We all had diplomas of conductors and musicologists. When we started performing at concerts, I needed different conducting gestures and I learned them by looking at other conductors and seeing that some of their signs didn’t suit me and didn’t provide the sound that I wanted to hear. So I adapted their signs to fit our choir better. I saw that my singers didn’t understand some gestures, so I showed them what they had to do in a different way, and they finally understood what I meant. I asked for their feedback, and they said, “Keep it simple, do it that way…” and showed how. Sadly, the “conductorship” gets in the way. I see other conductors, even precentors (who are basically singers who stand on the other side of the lectern), and I notice that the usual conducting gestures are exaggerated most of the time, especially at a concert where the audience can see the conductor (as opposed to the church, where the choir is in a separate place). For example, a conductor conducts The Door of Repentance Open Unto Me. That is the first chant sung in anticipation of the Great Lent, and no matter whose music it is—by Chesnokov, Bortnyansky, or just plain obikhod chant—its spirit must be special; it is penitential; you must not wave your arms like a windmill! When things like these happen on stage, I feel distaste and I say to myself, “Regardless of how well you sing, it’s not right.” The visual impression of the conductor on stage is crucial: he or she provides clues as to what people should feel. Whether we want it or not, this indication goes on. That is why every conductor who stands on stage with his or her back to the audience, facing the choir, willy-nilly shows with his posture and all his motions what we should feel according to his interpretation of the piece that is being performed.

A precentor’s job is different. He doesn’t have to demonstrate anything. He stands in the choir loft or in a corner where no one can see him. All he needs to do is lead the choir and provide timely information for the choir about to the text, and know the service, of course, so that everything is in time. A precentor’s gestures must be modest. Everything he does must be aimed at enabling people in the nave to hear the sacred texts of those chants and at avoiding all shades of affection, i.e., passions, like I’m sad—I’m scared—and that’s a siiiin! When a church choir highlights the texts like that, you can’t expect a prayerful mood. Sometimes I hear people say, “They sang so well! So loud and emotional!” That’s the opposite of praise for a church choir. We must not be emotionally unstable. Even Saint Ignatius Bryanchaninov said so. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky didn’t call himself a church composer, although he composed a Liturgy and an All-Night Vigil. He didn’t intend it for church use. A humble priest, whom I had heard of before I came to the Convent, approached our choir after we sang the Cherubic Hymn by Tchaikovsky and said, “You sang really well but please never sing it again. When I hear your Cherubic Hymn, I imagine Russian birch trees.” It was Tchaikovsky’s music.

June 23, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

The Encounter

If you haven’t had an encounter with God, you might have wasted your day.

We’ve got to be looking for Him and finding Him throughout the day in prayer, in our actions, and in conversations with other people. It is that encounter that shapes the utmost reality called life.

It is only our encounter with God that reveals and unveils the profound meanings of everything that we come in contact with. First of all, this encounters opens the depth within our souls. It is God’s calling that our hearts respond to. Our hearts are like oceans that hide unknown depths. Only if we dive deep into our own souls, we can discover God.

“Find the door of your own heart, and you shall see that it is the door that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven” (Saint John Chrysostom).

The Lord descends to the bottom of our souls, penetrates their darkest and deepest layers, and enlightens them with the light of his eternal love — and darkness disappears.

The Other

You haven’t wasted your day if you live and let other people live. If you acknowledge the right of the Other to exist. If you don’t distort the Other person’s words, if you don’t libel nor betray the Other, if you aren’t jealous of them. If you are courageous enough to shift the focus of the Universe from yourself to the Other.

You will have to die, to deny yourself, to overgrow your selfishness if you want to achieve it. This growth is painful but it’s the only way that you can give place to the Other with all his or her demands and his or her world.

Only if we break free from ourselves and our passions, will we be able to perceive the light that radiates from other people and the presence of God in them.

We should learn to hear the Other and to yield to his words, to accept the silence and the beauty of his soul and see the whole world in that person. We’ve got to learn from others, to appreciate and thank them, to enjoy mutual creative work and joint efforts. We should allow the Other to be better than we are and not to depreciate his efforts and actions.

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh wrote the following: “Our every encounter with humans and with God does not only call for special conditions. When we seek God, we have to love humans; when we interact with humans, we have to love God.”

Witness

Without daily witness, our faith is futile.

God is Love, and His sacrifice on the Cross is the triumph of love. Therefore, the power of His Church and the sacrifice of her ministry also consists of love.

Nothing can explain the martyrs’ attitude to their ordeals and the apostles’ attitude to their lives, filled with dissemination of the faith in Christ, like genuine love.

What else, except love, can explain the suffering that the apostles had to endure while preaching the Gospel?

This is vividly pointed out by Apostle Paul who writes to the Christians of Corinth, “Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; and labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.” (1 Cor. 4:11–13).

If the apostles hadn’t known what they endured that suffering for, would’ve they put their lives at stake?

The virtue of the holy apostles lies not only in their preaching but first of all in their witness.

One can transfer another person’s idea only if he is inspired and captivated by the idea.

The apostles renounced everything in the world for Jesus’s sake. He became the most valuable and the inalienable treasure for them. He filled their whole lives with Himself.

We must remember that if we deny God, we will deny the eternal life, too. Our steadfast adherence to the faith and the Church of Christ is the pledge of our salvation. Salvation is possible only if we profess Christ and bear our witness.

Our witness consists not only of mere words but of our actions, too.

Our witness occurs on every day that God gives us.

Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanic)

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

We’re all for it! Patriotism is a good thing: loving, treasuring one’s homeland and people, a sense of belonging, our own way of doing things, our particular gifts from God.

Americans have much to be patriotic about. (We’re certainly not alone in this; think “Canada” again, for another example.) We have much for which we should be grateful to God, things we easily take for granted:

Political stability for almost 250 years. Despite huge changes in society, threatening events including a civil war, some major missteps and failings and also the occasional bizarre politician, the system still stands. America’s founding fathers were brilliant visionaries in this regard. Imagine anyone today fashioning a form of representative government that would still be around in the year 2245.

Our freedoms – elected government, freedom of worship, of speech, assembly, the press. We have often been slow to apply these God-given rights, as the founders described them, to women and minorities. It’s still a struggle, and these freedoms are not infrequently under attack, but we’ve made progress.

Peace. In parts of the world there is little peace for anybody. Here, despite occasional ethnic strife brought on by rabble-rousers, or because we have mistreated minorities, people of many sorts generally get along together. Our Milwaukee Orthodox Churchwomen’s Association, which includes Greeks, has held luncheons at a Turkish restaurant!

America’s capacity to provide a refuge for people from all over the world (may we continue to do so) and incorporate them into our society – perhaps some of you who are reading this blog. In The Journals of Father Alexander Schmemann he wrote how he and his wife Juliana came to America as immigrants, she not speaking a word of English, and 25 years later she was made head of one of New York’s most prestigious schools for girls. He wrote, “The American dream is still alive!”

Orthodoxy and the Nation

Orthodoxy has always formed a close bond with society and culture so that the faith is connected with life, not just with Sunday morning. Actually the modern nation state, with its sharply defined boundaries, is a relatively new development. Things were more flexible in ancient times. But Orthodoxy has associated itself with modern nations too. That’s why we have the national Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the Romanian Orthodox Church and so on.

However, patriotism can also be dangerous. Father Schmemann wrote in his Journal that one of the worst things that ever happened to Orthodoxy was its identification with modern nations, so that people cannot distinguish between the two – like those who think that to be really Orthodox you’ve got to be Greek or Russian or whatever, or like some evangelicals who can’t seem to separate their Christianity from Americanism (of a particular type). When my wife and I were first looking at Orthodoxy 30 years ago a Ukrainian Orthodox woman, a good friend (memory eternal, Helen+), asked me, “Why do you want to be Orthodox? You’re not Ukrainian.” Someone I know was interested in Orthodoxy and visited a Greek church, where the priest told him, “I’m glad you visited. Now go back to your own church where you belong.”

This attitude is called Phyletism (“tribalism”): the odd notion that Orthodoxy is limited to a particular tribe or culture or nation. It was condemned at a pan-Orthodox council in Constantinople in 1872. The great danger of Phyletism is that it limits Orthodox people to one narrow national way of looking things. Orthodoxy is multi-cultural: for all the world, all peoples. Orthodoxy is super-cultural: wider, broader, deeper, higher, wiser than any one nation or culture.

Our Lord Jesus made this clear regarding Jewish tribalism. How often he made foreigners the heroes: the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan leper who alone returned to give thanks, the Roman centurion of whom he said. “I tell you many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in kingdom of heaven, but the sons of Kingdom [the Jews, or us if we are unfaithful] will be cast out into the darkness”. John the Baptist warned,“If God needs sons of Abraham, he can raise them up out of these stones.” And so it is if God needs Americans… or if he needs Orthodox.

Orthodoxy in America

American Orthodox are not much tempted by Phyletism. This is not an Orthodox country. Nor, despite what we read, did the United States have a Christian foundation in the classical sense of that word. At the time of the American revolution only about 30% of Americans had any formal religious affiliation. The conversion of America to “believing” Christianity began in the 18th century with the evangelical Great Awakening and continued in the 19th century with the arrival of many Roman Catholic immigrants. However, among well-educated Protestants of the 18th century the predominant theology was deism, the belief that God like a clockmaker created the universe, then largely left it running on its own. No miracles, please.

I think many of America’s founding fathers were affected by deism: they often gave God an impersonal deist title, “Providence”. But they weren’t consistent about it: they also spoke of his involvement in human affairs. Also, very much in the spirit of of the times, few of them believed in the divinity of Christ. Thomas Jefferson revised the New Testament leaving out all miracles. George Washington, an Anglican vestryman, never received Holy Communion. John Adams was a Unitarian. They believed in the social value of religion in general but established no particular religion. I hate to tell you this, but in today’s terms many of America’s founding fathers were religious liberals. I don’t mean to disparage them or their work. Goodness, wisdom, intelligence and political brilliance are not limited to Orthodox Christians.

As Orthodox Christians how should we relate to a non-Orthodox America? We should incorporate what is good here, which is a whole lot. The Orthodox Church has always moved into new lands and has taken what is good in the culture and brought it into the Church. Unlike Protestant missionaries who made Hawaiian natives dress like Scottish Presbyterians, American Orthodox women do not need to dress like Russian peasants – though they certainly may if they want to. Alaskan pagans had spirit houses in their cemeteries where they went to commune with their dead; today many old spirit houses have Orthodox crosses on them where the natives pray for their dead.

Already some good American things are being pulled into the Orthodox Church. America is in many ways a democratic culture. Americans like to participate. This is helping American Orthodox recover some elements of authentic ancient Orthodoxy that have been underplayed: more frequent Communions; worship in the local language, so people can understand and participate; more open icon screens so people don’t feel cut off from the action in the altar; parish councils and national conventions, so laypeople can take their proper place in the running of the Church, and more. Some churches appropriately have services on American Thanksgiving Day. And I think America’s emphasis on freedom fits well with Orthodoxy’s hard-to-explain unity in the faith without external compulsion.

But Orthodoxy rejects those things in cultures which do not conform to the faith. Here are some things in American culture that we do not want in the Church:

1. If Americans have loose sexual mores (as apparently many do, judging by television and the movies and the behavior we accept in some of our political leaders), they are to become strict when they become Orthodox.

2. Arrogance. Many Americans both conservative and liberal take it for granted that we are right and the rest of the world is wrong, and our job is to tell them how to do it. I once watched a visiting American secretary of state on Greek television publicly telling Greek leaders exactly what they must do and how they must do it, and I could see by the Greeks’ facial expressions that whatever she said (even if she was right, and I think she was) they were not going to do it. Arrogance (even if it’s unintentional as hers was, for she is not by nature an arrogant person) is destructive. Since we Orthodox believe we are the original and authentic Church we are tempted by this kind of triumphalism. We need to reject it. It will drive people away – or, worse, it will attract proud, arrogant people. The Orthodox virtue is humility.

3. The confusion of political freedom with spiritual freedom. In John 8 when Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free”, the Jews responded, “We are sons of Abraham. We’re not slaves to anyone.” (“I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free.”) Jesus answered, “I tell you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin.” If pride, greed, lust, anger, hatred, drink, drugs, whatever, control you, you are not free. You can vote in every election and pray in every school and still be a slave. In fact one can have no political freedom, no religious freedom and still be truly free. Freedom from sin is the ultimate freedom.

4. The modern American attitude towards money. It is taken for granted in our culture that money comes first: the purpose (for many the sole purpose) of life is to make bigger profits, get rich, accumulate as much stuff as possible, have the perfect kitchen. (I refer to HGTV.) The Church calls this the sin of greed. American Orthodox are very tempted by this: to think that the measure of success is big houses, big churches, big budgets, big money. This is not compatible with Orthodoxy. I am glad that God has provided my church, Saint Nicholas, Cedarburg, with the money we need (including 10% for charities) but not much more.

The Orthodox Mission to America

Our mission here is not to change Orthodoxy to make it American. Orthodoxy is what it is, always has been, always will be.

Our mission is twofold:

1) to make Americans Orthodox. To make authentic Orthodoxy available and accessible so Americans can enter into it. By the grace of God this is happening, slowly. I believe the Orthodox Church has arrived in America at just the right time, and that Orthodox from the old countries, whether they know it or not, have come here by the hand of God, for the purpose of God.

2) to make America Orthodox. To contribute our Orthodox values and gifts to this society: our strong families; our theological and moral stability; our worship with its sense of mystery and wonder and of being “at home in heaven”, now so lacking in most American religion and society; our ability to transcend political divisions in a way that many American denominations cannot, and more. The Orthodox Church has always been concerned not only with saving souls but with the conversion of cultures, creating Orthodox societies. If God wills, we hope to convert the nation. In the Roman empire 2000 years ago we were a small minority but growing even despite persecution, and you know what happened. Today we are a small minority in America but growing. In time who knows what may happen? Hang in here for a few more centuries.

For the sake of America and Americans I hope these things will happen. Despite all that we Americans justifiably complain about, we are blessed to live here, now. But all nations and empires, even the best of them, come and go – this is no secret – while the Church, by the promise and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, will endure forever. The gates of death will never prevail against her, and in her and her ways are found true freedom and security for every nation and every people.

By Fr. Bill Olnhausen

Source: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/frbill/21-patriotism/

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