A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
|
|
|
| Volume 6 Number 48 - Tuesday, November 30th, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
|
• Search Engine
The Orthodox Christian Laity
|
The Orthodox Christian News Service |
|||
I would like to respond to Gregory Orloff’s editorial on Nicholas Cobb’s article on “Orthodox Fundamentalism”. I have read the Nicholas Cobb article. I believe that what he is writing about is a phenomenon that really has nothing to do with the things you write of in your response. I was raised in the Eastern Rite in a rural parish. When I was a child in the 50s and 60s, many in our parish were immigrants from the old country. Our parish was a spiritual parish, with most families having a member go into monasticism. Many, like my baba, prayed with their beads in and out of church. My grandparents took me to see Ben Hur, and as we watched, they prayed through the whole movie. We also had a "fool for Christ" in our parish. This old man would walk 16 miles to church in the ditch as he would not accept a ride. During the service he would pray around the church during the liturgy, doing prostrations. After church he would not talk to anyone, but would start walking home, praying his beads. Yes, the men would site on one side and the women on the other. And yes, the women had head coverings. I can remember my mother using a white flour sack for a head covering. I have attended some of these "new" or resurgent parishes of which you speak. The feel is very different from what I saw and felt as a child. This feels superficial, and almost forced. There is an all-convert parish about 3 hrs south of us in the States (we live in Canada). Near this parish is a large theme park. I contrast what is taking place in this parish with the theme park. In our day, one can choose and acquire an image or an experience very easily. Like at the theme park, there is a beautiful Victorian-designed and decorated candy shoppe. The people in it are all decked out in their Victorian dress. Are they Victorian? This consumer approach to spirituality is not a unique phenomenon to Orthodoxy. I have recently been reacquainted with an old friend of mine, Paul, who I have not heard from for 17 years. He is now "Jewish" and has changed his name to Shaul! You can bet that he has the hair and the dress, too! I introduced several families in my town to Orthodoxy. They chose to go south to the all-convert parish, as I was attending a Ukrainian church several hours east of here. Besides, the convert parish did not only have their service in English, but the people were very strict in their dress, fasting, and of course, there were no pews in the building. These converts advanced very rapidly in their faith. They grew beards and long hair, and would not do anything without their priest’s blessing. And blessings they got! Plenty of them. After giving Orthodoxy a bad name in this community by their extreme changes and letters about the one true church in our newspaper, they pursued clergy roles in the all-convert church. I had expressed concerns to the priest in that parish, and told him I thought the folks were moving too fast and were also given to extremes. As he was also caught up in this style of Orthodoxy, he dismissed my concerns. To make a long story short, the one man from here was ordained a deacon. He did not last 9 months. He has walked away from all of it, and now says that he is not a Christian of any kind. The concern that I have, and what I think is happening, is that people are getting caught up in some of these externals that can indeed be Orthodox. But they need to be understood within a certain context. This is not play! As Fr. Thomas Hopko has said, we should try to assimilate into our culture the best that we can. We should not try to stand out in a wrong way. And we should be realistic and use common sense. I agree with Fr. Hopko when he states that there are many priests in our day who are in delusion and believe that they are the equivalent to the spiritual fathers of old. Just because one tries to dress, walk, and talk like some of these fathers of old, doesn't make one their equivalent, nor any of us! Lord have mercy, David Basaraba
|
|
Home • Archives • Search • Submissions • Support Us |
||
|
Orthodox News, PO BOX 6954 |
