Paper advertisements

I suppose the amount of advertising that is delivered to our house is not actually that large. A couple of flyers each day is about the norm. Still, I can't help wondering about, for example, Verizon. For over a year, week in and week out, they've sent a flyer to our house advertising their FIOS program. It's still not available at our location according to their website, but this doesn't seem to deter them from wanting us to join their as of now fictitious offering. I guess I should be glad we have a pretty good recycling program around here...

Reading "Angels and Demons"

The book club we have at Holy Trinity will be discussing "Angels and Demons" in October. As a result, I couldn't simply take presvytera's warning that it is not a well-written book; I had to see it for myself. This post started out as a Facebook status and evolved through several comments. I'll try to expand on that a bit.

For starters, I am treating "Angels and Demons" as what it is - a work of fiction. With that in mind, I don't mind historical conjecture, reality-stretching, and even the occasional questionable belief or practice that would seem to be espoused by the author. In other words, I don't mind make-believe. I mind badly written make-believe. My current favorite example in that vein is Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series. I may not always agree with the way certain aspects of our lives are reflected and analyzed in Discworld. However, he actually develops characters, has good story lines, interesting plot twists... And he's just one example of a contemporary author who, in my opinion, turns plot into good book repeatedly.

A friend of mine made two comments. The first was about the portrayal of Italians and sex. I have to confess that I have not seen much of that so far (a bit over half-way through the book) - maybe it comes later, maybe it relates more to the DaVinci Code, I don't know. So far, the only even remotely sex-related intrigue consists of some rather puerile attempts at making the Langdon-Vesta whatever it is into a love interest. The whole attempt seems formulaic and trite, but fortunately it doesn't (up to this point) take up too much of the book.

The second comment referred to Mr. Brown's political inclinations and how they affect the book. As I hinted above, I don't think religious/political inclinations are necessarily deleterious to the quality of a book. I can disagree with ideas but still find a book good. This one just isn't. From the stand point of the writing itself, employing the same "cliff hanging" device to switch from one tableau to another becomes tiresome after, oh, the fifth time. Rather than tension-building anticipation, this becomes annoying interruption, especially since, if you're paying attention, you should be able to figure out what comes next in the story. Perhaps I am too picky, but I expect ingenuity in a book; not just in the plot, but in the way that plot is transferred unto the page.

My final comment about the writing is that good writing creates characters. There's something interesting - perhaps intriguing would be an even better word - in a character. Over the course of a story you tend to find out more about a character, watch the character develop (positively or negatively)... you may even get to a point where you start hoping the character makes certain choices and decisions. So far, at least to me, that is missing almost entirely in the book. To put this in terms of my former occupation, it feels rather like a race in which several machines (with competing goals programmed in) take place. It may make for interesting action, but not for a good book.

And I did reserve my final comment about the book to the research and thinking processes that went into writing it. There was a page and a half towards the middle of the book that, as an Orthodox priest and occasional user of logic, made me just scratch my head. In that page and a half space, Langdon claims that the Church got its idea of God-eating/Communion from the Aztecs. Um... because the Church, in its goal to keep everything secret, hid the fact that America had been discovered until Columbus got there? Followed right on its heels by the claim that the depiction of God as an old man with a long beard was inspired by the depiction of Zeus. That depiction in itself is rather new and Western in nature. The early Christians - in particular the Greeks who would have been most familiar with that representation - did not use it. The fact remains that (despite a number of unfortunate uses of the "new" representation in some churches) the only valid/canonical representation of the Trinity in the Orthodox Church remains an extrapolation of the icon of the Hospitality of Abraham, where the three angels who visited Abraham are taken to be a representation of the Trinity. There were other howlers to be noted, but I think I've given my frustrations in reading this book enough of a voice. I can only hope that, as was the case when we read "The Shack," that the discussion will be better than the book.

Clergy-Laity Conference and other sundry items

Last week, our parish hosted the Metropolis of Atlanta Clergy-Laity conference. As far as I can tell, things went pretty well. From a personal perspective, it was a great opportunity to see some friends from the not-too-far-gone seminary days. It was interesting to compare notes and look at the challenges we are facing in our various parishes.

The best part, though, was the reminder of why I felt blessed to go to the seminary in the fall of 2004. At the end of the first year, those who remained formed a group that seems to me to have had (and still to have, as I was reminded this past week) something special. A few of us graduated early - but were still sent the graduation T-shirts of the class of 2008 - and a few people from the incoming class of 2005 joined and fit right in. We have different talents and often radically different approaches to the practical problems that might appear, but it seems to me that every person from that group who graduated the school of theology was there for the right reasons. The love of God and His Church was tangible in the discussions we had in those few moments we managed to find for ourselves - all together, or in smaller groups. I think those discussions did me good.

In other news, I seem to have an almost-nine-month old version of Sir Edmund Hillary, or a reasonable facsimile. Evidence here (that is the back of the sofa and yes, he got there on his own), here, and here. Fortunately, he seems to balance that with a down to earth (or, rather, water) approach.

And now, for the regularly scheduled slumber.

From the Metropolis of Chicago

March 19, 2009

Dearly Beloved,

As we pursue the struggle of repentance and holiness during this season of Great Lent with the renewal of our commitment to Christ our Lord, we have become aware of a threat to the freedom of our spiritual and religious lives in the State of Illinois, though such dangers are appearing more frequently throughout our nation.

The Illinois General Assembly is considering a bill (HB 2354; “Reproductive Health and Access Act”) that would affect all health care workers by removing their right to conscientious objection to abortion and related procedures, forcing them to participate in or provide abortions or face legal punishments. This bill would basically make the right to an abortion a fundamental human right in the State of Illinois.

Not only will this severely impact health care providers, especially the many excellent Catholic hospitals of our State where the sanctity of life is always respected and many Orthodox Christian doctors and nurses, but it will also contribute to the ever-increasing callousness of our society when it comes to all perception of life’s sanctity at all ages, from the pre-born children in the womb to the elderly.

In our nation, the right to conscientious objection on religious grounds has always been respected in times of war and for those who choose to refuse to participate in acts of capital punishment. It seems now that some Illinois lawmakers want to infringe on this hallmark of our democracy. It seems such lawmakers have forgotten the “weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith” (Matt 23:23) just as our Lord pointed out so long ago. This proposed law is unjust and violates the very principles of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Life of the world.

The forces that oppose religious freedom and are actually seeking to increase the number of abortions in our society are well organized, well funded, and well connected to the political process. It is high time for Christians to raise their own voices to demand their elected officials attend to the “weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.” Perhaps those who want this bill believe we will be distracted by the economic crisis facing our nation and affecting many of us personally. We must resist the temptation, especially during this Lenten season, to neglect this matter as “someone else’s problem.” None of us wants the government to come between us and our doctor. We should likewise not want the government to come between health care workers and their God. If we allow one step, we will never prevent the next.

Let us Christians unite together to put an end to our lawmakers bowing before the powers of those opposed to life. Therefore, for the faithful in Illinois, we urge you to contact your State Representatives and insist that this bill, HB 2354, be defeated. You may contact your representative on the internet at www.ilga.gov, or obtain proper contact information by calling The Catholic Conference of Illinois (312) 368-1066. For our beloved faithful outside of Illinois, pray that this bill be defeated, and contact your own local officials to protest the over-increasing callousness of our society when it comes to the sanctity of human life. And thus may we arrive at the conclusion of this Lenten season truly proclaiming the victory of the Life of the World, our Lord and Savior, over the dominion of death!

With Paternal Blessings,
Metropolitan IAKOVOS of Chicago

I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to... I guess

The following is the article I wrote for our September parish bulletin. I realize the previous article posted was back in May. What can I say? I'm only human...

The Red Green Show, the source of the title - a show whose long run ended only recently, had a number of things to say about human nature - in a dry, Canadian humor sort of way. The most common theme (appearing in a myriad of situations) seemed to be that "to err is human." Most of us have probably made the excuse at some point that we're only human. Having lived around Boston for almost three years, I saw the local and national media repeatedly say "Manny is just being Manny" whenever Boston's arguably best player would lose interest in a game, or even outright refuse to play. On the other hand, the term "humane" is often used to describe things done with kindness, thoughtfulness, and love.

So what does it mean to be human? What does our faith have to say about it? Any answer to this question has to begin with the story of creation in the book of Genesis. There, man is created in the "image and likeness" of God (Genesis 1:26). The Fathers of the Church understood this to mean that there is planted within us a seed (the image) which we need to grow in order to become holy as God is holy (the likeness).

Shortly after creation, there is the well-known story of the fall: the serpent tempts Eve, who in turn tempts Adam, and they both are driven out of the garden. The consequences of the fall are things we see around us every day: suffering, illness, death.

A number of the early Fathers, notably St. Irenaeus of Lyons, have said that the state of man before the fall was not one of perfection. Rather, then as now, it was a state of potential perfection. Even before the fall, man had the need to cultivate the image that had been placed within him. Adam and Eve had been placed within the garden for that specific purpose: to grow from their child-like beginnings into godlike persons whose humanity would have reached its fullness in communion with God. In this regard, human nature has not changed; its lofty goal of godliness remains in place.

What has changed, however, is the relationship between us and God. First, the aforementioned fall meant that the image of God within us was distorted/darkened and it became more difficult for us to know what it means to be godlike. Second, it became more difficult for man to be in close communion with God. The image of the angel standing guard at the tree of life (Gen 3:24) illustrates this difficulty. Still, the Old Testament is replete with images of people who drew near to God: Isaiah, Deborah, Elijah, Ruth, and Elisha are only a few examples of those who strove to fulfill the calling to holiness.

The last major change in the human condition occurred with the Incarnation, when God Himself obliterated the gulf that had appeared between man and God, allowing us to behold the second person of the Trinity become man, to commune with Him in the Holy Eucharist. This did not undo the original fall. Rather, it created a new reality, the God-man (theanthropos) Christ. The significance of the Incarnation was underlined by St. Athanasios: "[f]or therefore did He assume the body originate and human, that having renewed it as its Framer, He might deify it in Himself, and thus might introduce us all into the kingdom of heaven after His likeness. (Second Oration against the Arians)." We had lost the garden of Eden; we are now invited into the kingdom of heaven.

This, then, is our condition. Fallen, but receiving help to rise; darkened but having the great Light. It is easy, because of our fallen condition, to forget that we carry the divine image within us and that we are called to become the likeness of God. If we look at only the fallen part of humanity and if we allow ourselves to use our fallenness as an excuse, it is easy to see the negative conotations of the word "human." We are, however, members of the Church. We believe in the Incarnation; we have the witness of the saints; we are invited by God to become one with Him and one another at every Divine Liturgy. For us, as Orthodox Christians, human beings are defined more by our potential to become saints than by our current level of sinfulness (regardless of low or high that may be).

However, all that we know about God and about ourselves amounts to very little if we do no put our knowledge to proper use in order to fulfill our potential (see James 2:19). We know from the Bible that we are called to be lights in the world, drawing our light from the One who is Light. We do this by cultivating the virtues, beginning with St. Paul's three (faith, hope, and love) and extending through our daily lives with patience, forgiveness, alms-giving, forbearance, meekness, temperance, chastity, diligence. In these, and in communion with God, we believe that human nature attains its fullness. It is our responsibility, by virtue of being members of God's holy Church, to be (and continue to become) examples of this fullness of humanity.

Christianity has never denied the difficulty of the path which we are called to travel. We say that the path is narrow (Matthew 7:14) knowing that busy lives, less-than-virtuous people, worries, and our own egos are only some of the obstacles we find on our way. It is because of this difficulty that St. Paul compares the Christian with an athlete and a soldier. He knows well the difficulties, but he also knows the rewards: both the final reward of the kingdom of heaven, but also the rewards in this life, the strength and peace that come upon those who draw near to God.

Thus we understand human nature. The fallenness exists; it is something that we cannot deny. However our focus as Orthodox Christians is on our high calling to become godlike and live with God in His everlasting kingdom. God has already invited us in - let us do everything in our power to answer that invitation, so that we can say, inspired by St. Peter's admonition (1 Peter 1:15-16) "to be holy is human."

I'm a PC

Since I have a hotmail account, I received a Microsoft e-mail asking whether I wanted to tell the world what kind of PC I am. Granted, I'm not actually a computer, but I couldn't resist. I went to the page, clicked on "Upload Picture" and was taken to a place where I was asked to complete the sentence "I'm a PC and..." I completed the sentence truthfully: "I use linux." Somehow I don't expect that to come up in any ads :)

Kitchen Arguments

Tonight, seeing that we had some fruit in the fridge that was starting to leave "ripe" in the rear-view mirror, I decided to try making a pie. Since the results turned out quite well, I posted the recipe on a friend's blog (said blog is dedicated, in part, to pie recipes). The following exchange ensued:

M: You posted your recipe in metric!
P: Well, yes, I did!
M: Metric in cooking, I just find that funny.
P: My cookbook is in metric.
M: Your cookbook has funny vowels.
P: My cookbook has recipes you like!
M (with a dreamy facial expression, sighs): Yeah...