This article is a continuation of a series in which I’ve been contemplating Orthodoxy in America, and by extension, the West. The previous article in this meandering series of consideration is “Mother Alaska: the Heartland of Orthodox Missions in America.” Links to the other articles may be found in that article.

Modern secular ideologies are cannibalistic. They seek to systematically consume and destroy the very history and legacy that profoundly formed what we know (or knew more accurately) as the “West.” This process has been ongoing for hundreds of years, yet it was greatly accelerated by the revolutions of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries. The agenda to obliterate the Christian fabric of the West (the few strands that remain) is indeed a type of self-hatred. This hatred is making itself more and more evident with every passing day. Similarly to Soviet times, everything that is beautiful and holds to beneficial tradition is actively discredited and deconstructed. The self-destructive wanderings of the modern West exhibit its total loss of identity. It forgets from whence it came, and has no true knowledge of the way forward; its the blind leading the blind. That is why the people of modern society (ourselves included) are rootless and are blown around by so many contrary winds.

Is the West lost? No. I don’t believe it is. In a very real sense, the people who strive to continue and hold fast to the authentic Christian way are indeed those who are true patriots of the West. They are the ones who realize the beauty and eternity that is founded on Orthodox Christianity. The current anti-culture of the day is a self-loathing and destructive force, which, once it eats itself, will turn to annihilate anything of beauty that remains in the world, leaving only the stark bones of naturalistic-dialectic-materialism to adorn the barren wasteland of “progress.” It is fundamentally suicidal.

So that we do not become skeletons on this marionette stage, we, who live in the West, must understand the deeply rich and Christian roots of the West, roots that are kept alive in the Orthodox Church. In truly living Orthodox Christianity, we are not living something simply “Eastern” or “foreign”; rather, it is something profoundly “Western,” or better yet, we are essentially and truly Catholic – whole and universal. Here, in the catholic, the West finds its purpose and meaning. It also finds harmony with the other places synergized in the Catholic reality of the Church of Jesus Christ. Here, North, South, East, and West find true orientation in the Lord Jesus. If we would save the last shreds of our Western culture from the self-haters and suicidal cannibals of the day, we must repent and live the Christian life of our ancestors. In this lies the only hope of the West; only in Christ Jesus can it be healed and resurrected in true Life.

Our world continues to drown itself in the multifaceted crisis that surrounds us, but as Orthodox Christians, we have been entrusted with the only Truth that will set it free. Already, the scattered and fragmented existence of modernity is being further smashed into ever more disjointed pieces. This necessitates that as Orthodox Christians we stand firmly and courageously in the Faith, for only by doing so will we as Christians regain at least a portion of wholeness that is in Christ Jesus. Compromise will only hasten further deterioration and death. Those who still wear the name of Orthodox and yet seek to conform it to the spirit of the times are participating in a spirit of death. They make of themselves coworkers with the self-mutilating butchery of secularism. It was the compromising of Truth that began in Western Europe over one thousand years ago that laid the first stones for the destruction of a truly Christian West, and its separation from its fullness in the catholic whole. The Renaissance and Enlightenment gave birth to Protestantism, which became the spiritual stepping away from the ancient Western Christian way of living. The deterioration has been progressive. Fr. Seraphim brilliantly outlines the progressive sickening of Western society in his monumental “Orthodox Survival Course.” To understand what is transpiring around us, we must comprehend the roads traveled to arrive where we are today.

Only Christ the Lord brings life, and only faithfully following after Him guards and keeps us in this Life. The true culture and heritage of the West are alive and well in the Orthodox Church. If it looks funny or strikes us as strange, it may just be that we have unwittingly traveled too far down the streams of amoralistic anti-Western progressivism. Orthodox Christianity is the Faith of the West; this is the Faith of our Fathers!

Below the reader will find an excerpt from the introduction by Fr. Seraphim (Rose) of blessed memory to The Vita Patrum, the Life of the Fathers, by St. Gregory of Tours. Although sadly, the work is currently out of print, it is nonetheless of monumental value to Christians in the West (I would encourage St. Herman Press to make it available in print once again). The introduction by Fr. Seraphim is in and of itself of profound worth, for in it he writes with both spiritual perception and true scholarly concern. The work by Fr. Seraphim reveals the heart of the West, and it is the only one that will bring it to life again.

At the very end of this post, I provide two download links, one for the Vita Patrum and the other for the Survival Course. I hope for now at least, PDF copies will do; ultimately, it is vital to get both of them in print.

Venerable Father Seraphim, pray to God for us!

Begin excerpt:

To sum up this brief description of 6^th-century Christian Gaul, we may say that here we find already the historical Orthodox world which is familiar even today to any Orthodox Christian who is at home in true (not modernized or renovated Orthodoxy) … In modern times, 6^th-century Gaul may most accurately be likened to 19^th-century Russia. Both societies were entirely permeated with Orthodox Christianity; in them the Orthodox standard was always the governing principle of life (however short of it the practice might fall), and the central fact in the life of the people was reverence for Christ, the holy things of the Church, and sanctity … Does the Christian world of St. Gregory of Tours have any spiritual significance for us today, or is it of no more than antiquarian interest for us, the “out-of-date” Orthodox Christians of the 20^th century?

Much has been written in modern times of the “fossilized” Orthodox Church and its followers who, when they are true to themselves and their priceless heritage, simply do not “fit in” with anyone else in the contemporary world, whether heterodox Christians, pagans, or unbelievers. If only we could understand it, there is a message in this for us, concerning our position among others in the world and our preservation of the Orthodox Faith.

Perhaps no one has better expressed the modern world’s bewilderment over genuine Orthodox Christianity than the renowned scholar of St. Gregory of Tours and the Gaul of his times. In his book, Roman Society in Gaul in the Merovingian Age (London, 1926), Sir Samuel Dill has written: “The dim religious life of the Middle Ages is severed from the modern mind by so wide a gulf, by such a revolution of beliefs that the most cultivated sympathy can only hope to revive it in faint imagination. Its hard, firm, realistic faith in the wonders and terrors of an unseen world seems to evade the utmost effort to make it real to us” (p. 324). “Gregory’s legends reveal a world of imagination and fervent belief which no modern man can ever fully enter into, even with the most insinuating power of imaginative sympathy. It is intensely interesting, even fascinating. But the interest is that of the remote observer, studying with cold scrutiny a puzzling phase in the development of the human spirit. Between us and the Middle Ages there is a gulf which the most supple and agile imagination can hardly hope to pass. He who has pondered most deeply over the popular faith of that time will feel most deeply how impossible it is to pierce its secret” (p. 397).

And yet, for us who strive to be conscious Orthodox Christians in the 20^th century, it is precisely the spiritual world of St. Gregory of Tours that is of profound relevance and significance. The material side is familiar to us, but that is only an expression of something much deeper. It is surely providential for us that the material side of the Orthodox Culture of Gaul has been almost entirely destroyed, and we cannot view it directly even in a museum of dead antiquities; for that leaves the spiritual message of his epoch even freer to speak to us. The Orthodox Christian of today is overwhelmed to open St. Gregory’s “Book of Miracles” and find there just what his soul is craving in this soulless mechanistic modern world; he finds that very Christian path of salvation which he knows in the Orthodox services, the Lives of the Saints, the Patristic writings, but which is so absent today, even among the best modern “Christians,” that one begins to wonder whether one is not really insane, or some literal fossil of history, for continuing to believe and feel as the Church has always believed and felt.

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It is one thing to recognize the intellectual truth of Orthodox Christianity; but how is one to live it when it is so out of harmony with the times? And then one reads St. Gregory and finds that all of this Orthodox truth is also profoundly normal, that whole societies were once based on it, that it is unbelief and “renovated” Christianity which are profoundly abnormal and not Orthodox Christianity, that this is the heritage and birthright of the West itself which it deserted so long ago when it separated from the one and only Church of Christ, thereby losing the key to the “secret” which so baffles the modern scholar – the “secret” of true Christianity, which must be approached with a fervent, believing heart, and not with the cold aloofness of modern unbelief which is not natural to man but is an anomaly of history.

But let us just briefly state why the Orthodox Christian feels so much at home in the spiritual world of St. Gregory of Tours.

St. Gregory is a historian; but this does not mean a mere chronicler of bare facts, or the mythical “objective observer” of so much of modern scholarship who looks at things with the “cold scrutiny” of the “remote observer.” He had a point of view; he was always seeking a pattern in history; he had constantly before him what the modern scientist would call a “model” into which he fitted the historical facts which he collected. In actual fact, all scientists and scholars act in this way, and anyone who denies it only deceives himself and admits in effect that his “model” of reality, his basis for interpreting facts, is unconscious and therefore is much more capable of distorting reality than is the “model” of a scholar who knows what his own basic beliefs and presuppositions are. The “objective observer,” most often in our times, is someone whose basic view of reality is modern unbelief and skepticism, who is willing to ascribe the lowest possible motives to historical personages, who is inclined to dismiss all “supernatural” events as belonging to the convenient categories of “superstition” or “self-deception” or as to be understood within the concepts of modern psychology.

The “model” by which St. Gregory interprets reality is Orthodox Christianity, and he not only subscribed to it in his mind, but is fervently committed to it with his whole heart. Thus, he begins this great historical work, The History of the Franks, with nothing less than his own confession of faith: “Proposing as I do to describe the wars waged by kings against hostile peoples, by martyrs against heathen and by the Church against heretics, I wish first of all to explain my own faith, so that whoever reads me may not doubt that I am a Catholic.” (“Catholic,” of course, in 6th-century texts, means the same thing that we now mean by the word “Orthodox.”) There follows the Nicene Creed, paraphrased and with certain Orthodox interpretations added.

Thus in St. Gregory we may see the wholeness of view which has been lost by almost all of modern scholarship – another one of those basic differences between East and West that began only with the Schism of Rome. In this, St. Gregory is fully in the Orthodox spirit. In this approach there is a great advantage solely from the point of view of historical fact – for we have before us not only the “bare facts” he chronicles, but we understand as well the context in which he interprets them. But more important that this – particularly when it comes to chronicling supernatural events or the virtues of the saints – we have the inestimable advantage of a trained observer on the spot, so to speak – someone who interprets spiritual events (almost all of which he knew either from personal experience or from the testimony of witnesses he regarded as reliable) on the basis of the Church’s tradition and his own rich Christian experience. We do not need to guess as to the meaning of some spiritually-significant event when we have such a reliable contemporary interpreter of it, and especially when his interpretations are so much in accord with what we find in the basic source books of the Orthodox East. We may place all the more trust in St. Gregory’s interpretations when we know that he himself was granted spiritual visions (as described in his life) and was frank in admitting that he did not see the spiritual visions of others (HF V, 50).

Sir Samuel Dill notes that access is denied him, as a modern man, to the world of St. Gregory’s “legends.” What are we, 20th-century Orthodox Christians, to think of these “legends”? Prof. Dalton notes, regarding the very book of St. Gregory which we are presenting here, that “his Lives of the Fathers have something of the childlike simplicity characterizing the Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great” (vol.1, p. 21). We have already discussed, in the “Prologue” to this book, the value of this “childlikeness” for Orthodox Christians today, as well as the high standards of truthfulness of such Orthodox writers as St. Gregory the Great (as contrast with the frequent fables of the medieval West). The extraordinary spiritual manifestations described by St. Gregory of Tours are familiar to any Orthodox Christian who is well grounded in the ABC’s of spiritual experience and in the basic Orthodox source-books; they sound like “legends” only to those whose grounding is in the materialism and unbelief of modern times. Somewhat ironically, these “legends” have now become a little more accessible to a new generation that had become interested in psychic and occult phenomena as well as actual sorcery and witchcraft; but for them the whole tone of St. Gregory’s writings will remain foreign unless they obtain the key to its “secret”: true Orthodox Christianity. St. Gregory’s “wonders and terrors of an unseen world” open up for us another reality entirely from that of modern unbelief and occultism alike: the reality of spiritual life, which is indeed more unseen than seen, which does indeed account for many extraordinary phenomena usually misunderstood by modern scholarship, and which begins now and continues into eternity.

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There is, finally, another aspect of St. Gregory’s writings which modern historians find generally not so baffling as disdainfully amusing, but to which, again, we Orthodox Christians have the key which they lack. This aspect is that of the “coincidences,” omens, and the like, which St. Gregory finds significant but which modern historians find totally irrelevant to the chronicling of historical events. Some of these phenomena are manifestations of spiritual visions, such as the baked sword which St. Salvius (and no one else) saw hanging over the house of King Chilperic, portending the death of the king’s sons (HF V, 50). But other of the manifestations are simply dreams or natural phenomena of an extraordinary kind, which either fill St. Gregory with foreboding (HF VIII, 17) or of which he says in all simplicity, “I have no idea what all this meant” (HF V, 23). The modern historian is only amused at the idea of finding “meaning” behind earthquakes or strange signs in the sky; but St. Gregory, as a Christian historian, is aware that God’s Providence is at work everywhere in the universe and can be understood even in small or seemingly random details by those who are spiritually sensitive; he sees that the deepest causes of historical events are by no means always the obvious ones. Concerning this theological point we may cite the words of a contemporary of St. Gregory in the East, Abba Dorotheus, to whom the writings of St. Gregory would have been not in the least strange. “It is good, brethren, to place your hope for every deed upon God and to say: Nothing happens without the will of God; but of course God knew that this was good and useful and profitable, and therefore he did this, even though this matter also had some outward cause. For example, I could say that inasmuch as I ate food with the pilgrims and forced myself a little in order to be host to them, therefore my stomach was weighed down and there was a numbness caused in my feet and from this I became ill. I could also cite various causes (for one who seeks them, there is no lack of them); but the most sure and profitable thing is to say: In truth God knew that this would be more profitable for my soul, and therefore it happened in this way.” (St. Abba Dorotheus, Spiritual Instructions, Instruction 12.)

St. Gregory, like St. Abba Dorotheus, was always seeking first of all the primary or inward cause of events, which concern the will of God and man’s salvation. That is why his history of the Franks, as well as of individual saints, are of much greater value than the “objective” (that is purely outward) researches of modern scholars into the same subjects. This is not to say that some of his historical facts might not be subject to correction, but only that his spiritual interpretation of events is basically the correct, the Christian one.

The 20^th century Orthodox Christian will find little that is strange in the Christianity of 6^th century Gaul; in fact, if he himself has entered deeply into the piety and spirit of Orthodoxy as it has come down even to our days, he will find himself very much at home in the Christian world of St. Gregory of Tours. The externals of Christian worship – church structures and decoration, iconography, vestments, services – after centuries of development, had attained essentially the form they retain today in the Orthodox Church. In the West, especially after the final Schism of the Church of Rome in 1054, all these things changed. The more tradition-minded East, by the very fact that it has changed so little over the centuries even in outward forms, is naturally much closer to the early Christian West than is the Catholic-Protestant West of recent centuries, which had departed far from its Orthodox roots even before the present-day “post-Christian” era arrived.

Some historians of this period, such as O.M. Dalton in the Introduction to his translation of St. Gregory’s History of the Franks (Oxford, 1927, two volumes), find much in Christian Gaul that is “Eastern” in form. This observation is true as far as it goes, but it is made from a modern Western perspective that is not quite precise. A more precise formulation of this observation would be the following:

In the 6^th century there was one common Christianity, identical in dogma and spirit in East and West, with some differences in form which, at this early period, were no more than minor and incidental. The whole Church met together in councils, both before and after this century, to decide disputed dogmatic questions and confess the one true Faith. There were numerous pilgrims and travelers, especially “Westerners” going to the east, but also “easterners” going to the West, and they did not find each other strangers, or the Christian faith or piety or customs of the distant land alien to what they knew at home. The local differences amount to no more than exist today between the Orthodox Christians of Russia and Greece.

The estrangement between East and West belongs to future centuries. It becomes painfully manifest (although there were signs of it before this) only with the age of the Crusades (1096 and later), and the reason for it is to be found in a striking spiritual, psychological and cultural change which occurred in the West precisely at the time of the Schism. Concerning this, a noted Roman scholar, Yves Congar, has perceptively remarked: “A Christian of the fourth or fifth century would have felt less bewildered by the forms of piety current in the 11^th century than would his counterpart of the 11^th century in the forms of the 12^th. The great break occurred in the transition period from the one to the other century. This change took place only in the West, where, sometime between the end of the 11^th and the end of the 12^th century, everything somehow was transformed. This profound alteration of view did not take place in the East, where, in some respects, Christian matters are still today what they were then – and what they were in the West before the end of the 11^th century.” (Yves Congar, O.P., After Nine Hundred Years, Fordham University Press, 1959, p. 39, where he is actually paraphrasing Dom A. Wilmart.)

One might cite numerous manifestations of this remarkable change in the West: the beginnings of Scholasticism or the academic-analytical approach to knowledge as opposed to the traditional-synthetic approach of Orthodoxy; the beginning of the “age of romance,” when fables and legends were introduced into Christian texts; the new naturalism in art (Giotto) which destroyed iconography; the new “personal: concept of sanctity (Francis of Assisi), unacceptable to Orthodoxy, which gave rise to later Western “mysticism” and eventually to the innumerable sects and pseudo-religious movements of modern times; and so forth. The cause of this change is something that cannot be evident to a Roman Catholic scholar: it is the loss of grace which follows on the separation from the Church of Christ. And which puts one at the mercy of the “spirit of the times” and of purely logical and human ways of life and thought. When the Crusaders sacked and desecrated Constantinople in 1204 (an act unthinkable in earlier centuries for the Christian West), they only revealed that they had become total strangers to Orthodoxy, and therefore to the Eastern Christians, and that they had irretrievably lost what their own ancestors in 6^th-century Gaul had preserved as the apple of their eye: the unbroken tradition of true Christianity.

End excerpt.

PDF for the Vita Patrum

PDF for the Survival Course

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The earth is the Lord’s; it is the creation of His Word. He spoke, and it came into being.

For six days the Lord created the heavens and the earth and all life. On the seventh day He rested (cf. Gen. 1-2). Seven is the core numerical cycle of creation and rest. Days are gathered into seven, a week. This core of seven is the foundation of the creation and movement of time. Seven days. A week. Seven lampstands. Seven Churches (cf. Rev. 1:20). Seven is the symbolic number of completion.

The Lord spoke to Moses, “And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, ‘Instruct the sons of Israel and say to them, When you enter into the land that I myself am giving to you, and the land that I myself am giving to you will have rest – Sabbaths to the Lord. During six years you will sow your land, and six years you will prune your vineyard and harvest its fruit, but in the seventh year, a Sabbath rest will be for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord; you will not sow your land, and you will not prune your vineyard” (Leviticus 25:1-4).

The flow of years was also measured in seven. A week of seven years. Six years, and the seventh was a Sabbath year, a year of rest. Shemitah. A release and letting go. Freedom. Redemption.

Again the Lord spoke to Moses on Sinai, saying, “Now count off for yourselves seven resting periods of years, seven years, seven times, and they will be for you seven periods of seven years, forty-nine years. And you will proclaim with the sound of trumpet throughout your whole land in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, on the Day of Atonement (roughly, during the month of September, my note); you will signal with a trumpet throughout your whole land. And sanctify the year, the fiftieth year.” (Leviticus 25:8-9). Every debt, even if it resulted in slavery, is released in the fiftieth year.

The week of seven years is multiplied by seven, forty-nine. And the fiftieth year is the year of Jubilee. Fifty is the first day beginning the eighth week after the week of seven periods of the seven. After forty-nine days, on the fiftieth from the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the earth from the heavens. The Lord Jesus Himself rose on the day after the seventh day, the first day of the week. A new day, rising on the eighth day. He rose on the eighth day, and the Holy Spirit descended on the eighth day, after the seven cycles of seven weeks.

When the Lord Jesus began His public ministry, He did so by proclaiming Himself to be the very year of Jubilee (cf. Lk. 4:14ff; Is. 6:1ff).

Seven days, seven years, seven weeks of seven years. Then eternity.

The seventh day is the rest of the Lord. He also commands that the earth rest; that it be a partaker of His rest. Moreover, He commands that the animals, the workers, and the poor be given rest. Every seventh year. “You shall perform a release and leave it (the land) unplowed, and your needy people will eat, and the wild animals will eat the remainder” (Exodus 23:10-11). He tells his people, “The Sabbath of the land will be food for you” (cf. Lev. 25:6). Every monetary debt was also released during the Sabbath year (cf. Deut. 15ff), the Sabbath year was a constraint on human greed and wastefulness. The rest of the Lord will be your food. The earth is the Lord’s.

The Lord shows care for all His creation, the earth, the animals, and humanity. Elsewhere, the Lord reminds the Hebrews, “The land is mine, since you are resident aliens, and you yourselves are sojourners in my good graces” (cf. Lev. 25:23). The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. The Lord knows that humanity can be tempted to think that the earth belongs to it. It does not.

The cycle of seven, within seven, within seven, is founded on the Lord’s mercy. Wheels within wheels. He called His people to the same mercy and care not only for those around them but the whole of His created order. It is a call to faith. People, seemingly, live for six days, years, by their own labor. But the seventh belongs to the Lord. All the works of man cease. The Sabbath year was a radical call to faith in the Lord’s provision. The today of true being. A proclamation that the earth is the Lord’s. The seventh day is rest and release from six days, in which have been the labors of men. The six days will have meaning if they are fulfilled and crowned in the rest of the seventh. The work of mankind is only truly crowned and completed in the seventh day. When the week passes no further than six, then its end is the ultimate oppression of man because it is incomplete. Six as a final end is thus the number of a man. Six within six, within six. A man who lives in rebellion against the Rest of the Lord, the Day of the Lord.

“God had thus defined a certain day, ‘today,’ saying through David much later, in the words already quoted, ‘Today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts’... There must be a Sabbath rest for God’s people, and anyone who has entered into his rest, has also rested from his own works, just as God did. Therefore let us do our utmost to enter into that rest” (Heb. 4:7-11).

In my article, The Machine World vs. The Garden Earth, I began exploring two paths of encounter with the created world around us. The machine world is the result of making six the final day of mankind. The Garden Earth is the state of offering “Thine own of Thine own” and calling down the grace of rest through the crown of the seventh day, which is the binding element to the eighth day, the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

On its own, the age of man – the machine world, the week of six – has no rest. And therefore it cannot bring any rest or fulfillment to humanity or the world. When the only end is man, then such an end inevitably becomes tyrannical and death-bearing. The Twentieth century is a textbook on such matters. We seem intent upon repeating it rather than learning from it. In the article referenced above, I write, Modernity views itself as a master of nature, forcing it to the end of progress by any means required. Survival of the fittest, might makes right, law of the jungle. Nature is only a utilitarian tool to be tamed and exploited, juiced for as much yield as possible. When it is, the dry carcass is cast aside. Man stands apart from it, or so modern ideologies would have us believe. He is no longer a gardener. He is a self-perceived master of the machine.

In Jesus Christ, the rest of the seventh day is no longer bound to the limits of time, as it was in the Old Testament. There it was a type and shadow of the one true Day. It is the “today” of living and being transformed, transfigured, through Him. It is both a spiritual and physical being. It encompasses both the material and the spiritual, uniting them in harmonious offering to the Holy Trinity from Whom all life flows. Living in the rest of the Lord, the seventh day of today, begins to reorient a person in his created being, and it opens up his heart to the energy of the eternal eighth day. Such a one is becoming a new creation.

The sincere seeker of Jesus Christ is striving to live in this true reality, which is manifest in the Body of Christ. In an authentic Christian Church, the reality of the garden earth is symbolically presented. Orthodox Christianity takes up the created order, material, and directs it to its substantial reality in God. Humanity enters a garden of the material that is beautifully cultivated; here wood, stones, beeswax, minerals and pigments, metals, fire, water, fragrance, and so forth are offered to the Creator Trinity. The vocation of Adam and Eve is lived and passed on. Since God is the creator of the earth, He fully knows the purpose of its energies (The Machine World vs. The Garden Earth).

Specific seasons are set apart for the blessing and sanctification of the fruits of the earth. At the Feast of Transfiguration, fruits and vegetables are brought into the temple and thanksgiving is offered for them. On the Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, flowers, herbs, and seeds are sanctified in a similar manner. On the bright Feast of Pascha, meat and dairy products are blessed. In the pages of the expanded prayer books of the Church, one finds a host of blessings for the creation of the earth. Bread, wells, water, herds and flocks, bees, vineyards, wine, fishnets, homes, barns, and so forth. The earth is the Lord’s.

During the baptismal service and the blessing of the water, the cosmic view of all created things orbiting around the center Sun of the Holy Trinity is boldly presented: “By Thy providence Thou dost order the world. When Thou joined together the universe out of four elements, Thou didst crown the circle of the year with four seasons. Before Thee tremble all the Powers endowed with intelligence. The sun sings to Thee. The moon glorifies Thee. The stars meet together before Thy presence. The light obeys Thee. The deeps tremble before Thee. The water-springs are subject unto Thee. Thou hast spread out the heavens like a curtain. Thou hast established the earth upon the waters. Thou hast set round about the sea barriers of sand. Thou hast shed abroad the air for breathing.” Here is not simply poetic hyperbole. It is a poetic confession of authentic reality and the relationship of the created order with its Creator. This, in fact, is how the symphony of creation resounds to its Creator.

A prayer (Akathist) to the Holy Spirit continues this existential vision, “Thou, O eternal Spirit, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, didst enliven all beings and all things by Thine awesome envelopment and the formless power of mist over the waters. By Thine life-bearing breath, out of the formless abyss Thou didst produce the ineffable beauty of pristine creation” (Ikos III). The Holy Spirit, together with the Father and the Son, is the binding Being from, and in, Whom all things are sustained and given life. There are no boundaries to the energy and grace of the Holy Spirit, and so the prayer proclaims, “O Great One, Who are present in a little flower and a star of heaven!” As it is written, “In Him, we live, move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28), as do all things in the created order. The telos, the purpose, of every created thing flows from God, and partakes of Him according to its created purpose. All created things receive their harmony and order from the Divine Logos. Although this harmony has been corrupted due to man’s willful sin, it will be fully restored to its pristine purpose on the Day of the Lord.

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In the beginning God instructed humanity to have “dominion” over the created order. The true Christian understanding of this is vastly different from the later development, which at times continued to claim to be “Christian”. The later development primarily understood this commandment in terms of humanity’s conquering the natural order. It viewed it in terms of top-down domination. St. Nikolai Velimirovich instructs us in the genuine Christian understanding, “What does this mean (to have dominion, my note)? Certainly not ‘to conquer nature’ in the modern sense, namely to exploit it, and at the same time worship it. To exploit it, but, alas, not for spiritual enlightenment but only for material and utilitarian aims, and worship it as the only existing God, which practically means to be conquered by nature. No, the cited words have quite a different meaning. Essentially they mean: O man, have dominion over these symbols, and allow not them to have dominion over you! Or: let, O man, all things be to you as a read book of pictures, and you ascend with your spirit to the realm of spiritual realities, represented symbolically in the pictorial book of nature” (The Universe as Symbols and Signs, pg. 35).

When humanity and people lose the proper orientation to the created material order, disaster ensues. We are living in times of such loss. The material order is exploited and worshiped by the slaves of modernity, the servants of the machine world. Because they have totally lost all true spiritual perception, they turn to God’s material creation as a prime source of their existence. But they no longer see the divine logoi operating in it. It’s utilized as base matter devoid of all symbol and transcendent life. In this context, the modern claim of “saving the planet” is a bald-faced lie. The planet, the earth, in such a scheme, is to be saved for the self-proclaimed select few to dominate and exploit. The earth is theirs. The “resources” of nature exist, in their view, to serve for the conquering not only of nature but of fellow humanity. The massive AI data centers are a modern icon of this mentality and state of being. Countless created resources are offered in mass to these centers, even though they have absolutely no authentically creative power. This is so because AI has no substantive logoi; it is strictly virtual. The exaltation of the insubstantial virtual domain to a state of preeminence over the substantial created order is the inevitable end result of the modern myth of man as the conqueror of nature and the self-proclaimed master of progress. It is an attempted inversion of reality. But man as such is an apostate and fallen from the beautiful Christian relationship to the created order. He substitutes created reality for a virtual mirage. Is it possible that the goal of building an Internet of things and beings (IoT & IoB), is but a demonic perversion of God’s substantial creation in the Interconnectedness of the logoi? God’s living and creative energies are sought to be replaced with cold algorithms.

The spirit of destruction behind the apostate system of machine man is further evident in the endless wars that are maintained with diligence. Chaos and destruction are the fruits of the times. They are purposefully cultivated by the servants of the machine world. They must have war because it relentlessly dominates through destruction, and that’s all they can do.

Of such, Rene Guenon says, “Servant of the machine, man must become a machine himself, and henceforth all his work has nothing really human in it, for it no longer implies the putting to work of any of the qualities that really constitute human nature … that which the vast majority of men now living celebrate as ‘progress’ is exactly what is now presented to the reader as a profound decadence, continuously accelerating, which is dragging humanity toward the pit where pure quantity reigns” (The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times, pp. 60, 61).

Machine man is the man of only six days. He has consciously and willfully rejected the seventh day. The machine world gives no rest to people or nature. Everything is driven on 24/7, no holidays, work, work, work. Consume. Exploit. Track. Data. Capital gain. Drain. Exhaust. Stress. Move on like the plague and parasite to the next living thing and repeat. There is no hope of Shemitah. The fruit brought forth by the dominion of only six days reigns terribly in these times. The earth is given no rest because it’s tortured by those of the machine world, the men of six, rebellion against the Lord.

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What do we do? Return to the Lord. The earth is the Lord’s. Let us abide in the week of seven days, which will bring us into the eighth day; recapturing and comprehending, at least to some degree, the authentic Christian vision of creation. Here is found the salvation of the world. The modern world has totally lost this vision. The people of six can only desecrate the world. It is the vocation of the children of the seventh and eighth day of the Lord, those being created anew in Christ, to restore symbolic reality. This personal progression of regeneration then flows out to the world. As a person is healed in Christ Jesus, so he also begins to be healed in relation to the created order. Every created thing is interconnected through its Divinely created logoi. As a person is authentically healed in Christ, he also is being healed in relationship to the world around him. He then comprehends its purpose and his relationship to it and in it. When humanity enters into rest, all of surrounding creation enters with it.

All of creation groans to be delivered into the glorious freedom of the children of God (cf. Rom. 8:20ff).

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(A huge thank you to all those who subscribe to my writings, especially those who have a subscription. This is a real blessing for me. I strive to make most of my writings free to all, and I hope to continue to do so. Yet, in recognition of the extra support paid subscribers provide, soon I’m going to add more subscription-only content. More information will be forthcoming. Thank you to everyone for your continued support; it means a lot!)

Human destinies have been decided in gardens.

“The Lord God planted a paradise in Eden toward the east and there he placed the human he had formed. And God further brought up from the earth every tree beautiful to sight and good for food” (Gen 2:8). The Lord God is the first gardener.

Before the garden of paradise was planted, the Divine Logos went forth, “Let the earth sprout forth fodder plants, sowing seed according to kind and according to likeness, and fruit-bearing trees making fruit whose seed is itself in the tree, according to kind in regard to likeness upon the earth” (Gen. 1:11). The Divine Logos created all material creation, here particularly the plants, trees, herbage, and so forth. The earth, impregnated with the divine command and energy, brings forth life. St. Basil proclaims, “For, the voice which was heard and that first command become, as it were, a law of nature and remained in the earth giving it the power to produce and bear for all succeeding time” (On the Hexaemeron, Homily 5). The Divine command continuously energizes to this day, and for eternity. All of the created order bears the Divinely implanted logoi that move the particular life of all created things, binding together and sustaining all things. Created matter and spirit are eternally bound through the One Trinity Who gives life to all things.

In Eden, the Lord God planted a garden. This action is unique and distinct from the rest of creation. The Lord plants and gardens, preparing a place to take from the earth anthropos, made in His image and likeness. Adam and Eve dwell before the face of God, in the midst of trees and flowers, of the earth, walking in paradise. This is a primordial reality. Humanity was set as a gardener, by the Great Gardener, in paradise.

Once again, in a garden, the body of the Incarnate Lord rests and is laid in a new tomb. Life begins in a garden. Life resurrects in a garden. It’s no wonder healthy humans treasure gardens. If the body and soul are receptive, something deep and ancient reciprocally resonates.

“Supposing him to be the gardener” (cf. Jn. 20:15). When Mary Magdalene first saw the risen Lord Jesus, she supposed him to be a gardener. I suppose that she could have supposed him to be a variety of other vocations. But she did not. Very importantly and particularly, she supposed him to be the gardener. The Scripture takes special note of this supposition. And truly he is The Gardener. The Gardener of Life: dying on a tree, resurrecting in a garden, encompassed by trees and spring flowers, and bursting forth from a cave in the earth.

The created world is “imposed on everyone as a stone for sharpening his spiritual faculties,” says St. Dumitru Staniloae (cf. Orthodox Spirituality, pg. 205). He further contemplates, “the intrinsic structure of the world as a symbol of transcendent divine realities” (Ibid). The ancient and traditional understanding of symbol is employed: “To unite two things without confusing them … a visible reality which doesn’t only represent, but somehow makes an unseen reality visible … and shows two things simultaneously” (Ibid). “This symbol,” he continues, “unveils for us the life of God and signifies for us the entrance of divine energy into the life of this natural world” (Ibid. pg. 206). When a person tends the garden of his heart, being healed and cultivated in the inner man through Christ Jesus, then he begins to rightly behold the created world and its divine purpose and symbol. “A symbol by its very nature does not subject the infinite to the finite. On the other hand it renders the finite transparent and allows us to see the infinite through it” (Ibid. pg 207).

Rene Guneon comprehended symbol in a similar manner through his study of premodern religions. “It is the symbolic value of things that give them their profound significance, because through it is established their correspondence with realities of a higher order; but it is not possible for this correspondence to be effectively determined unless there is the ability to perceive, in one way or another, the reflection of the said realities in the things themselves” (The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times, pg. 134).

For the comparatively immaterial electrical currents to be channeled and delivered, a very tangible, material means must be used: copper wire. The two, the comparatively immaterial and the material, are fused together to deliver a single source of energy. The wire becomes infused with electricity; the two remain distinct but also one in their function. If a person touches a charged wire, he will receive a shock. Typically, a person will even say, “That wire shocked me.” This analogy may aid in understanding authentic symbol.

European “Christian” Scholasticism began to deny any understanding beyond the discursive and deductive. It rejected the authentic Christian knowledge of God’s logoi in the created order, and thus its authentic symbolic substance. This inevitably paved the way for the utilitarian worldview that now lords it over the minds of many men. (See my articles Living Symbols of Creation and The Destruction of Christian Symbolism and the Rise of Utilitarian Materialism for more on this subject.)

The symbol of a gardener reveals a deep connection between the person, the earth, the sky, and plants being tended and cultivated. They are all connected. Humanity as gardener is clearly intertwined with the created order around it. Modernity views itself as a master of nature, forcing it to the end of progress by any means required. Survival of the fittest, might makes right, law of the jungle. Nature is only a utilitarian tool to be tamed and exploited, juiced for as much yield as possible. When it is, the dry carcass is cast aside. Man stands apart from it, or so modern ideologies would have us believe. He is no longer a gardener. He is a self-perceived master of the machine.

Gardening cannot be removed from roots and rootedness. The machine world is dedicated to uprooting and upending all things. One plants, cultivates, and grows. The other uproots, destroys, and makes barren. “This triumph of the mechanical over the natural, the planned over the organic, the centralised over the local, the system over the individual and the community: this is the tale of our time. As this Machine rose ...” Paul Kingsnorth pertinently observes (cf. Against the Machine, pg. xvi). The garden earth stands opposed to the machine world. The machine world would tear down all living things and cover the world in asphalt and high rises and high-speed servers. In the concrete jungle, people cannot grow substantial roots. And the machine world seeks to uproot all living things. “When a plant is uprooted, it withers and then dies. When the same happens to a person, or a planetful of both, the result is the same” (Ibid. pg. 21).

At the start of the 1800s, about 3% of the world’s population lived in cities. By the 1900s, it was around 14%. By the middle of the Twentieth Century, it was 30%, with the number of cities over one million rising to eighty-three. Today, just below half (45%) of the population is urbanized. Now, there are around four hundred cities with over one million people.¹ A massive shift in two hundred years from earth to concrete. By the end of this century, if we make it that long, well over half the population will be contained in cities.² Today, the urban areas and the mindsets they cultivate dominate the rest of the landscapes. Massive cities are icons of the age; they are beacons of the machine world. They are incubators for the machine world mind, removing humanity from its connection to the garden earth.

In my article, The Parable of the Tree in Me, I explore the symbolism of the tree as an icon for the spiritual life of humanity. But authentic symbol is not simply a beautiful idea or image. It’s also not bound only to a spiritual telos. The Lord made the heavens and the earth. The spirit and the body. Material creation will be purified and renewed at the coming of Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Peter 3:7). Fire is understood to be renewing, as when old copper is put into the furnace. All the blemishes are purged, and renewed copper flows forth. The body will be resurrected because the totality of humanity is physical and spiritual, both and.

The machine world also strives to work on these two planes. It strives to fragment humanity both physically and spiritually. Our healing as humans from the machine world is on both planes.

The machine world produces a “stressed” and scattered people. Thankfully, humanity retains some observation. A certain scientist by the name of Dr. Quin Li observed the detrimental effects of the machine on people, but he also observed the positive effects of nature on people. He set about trying to scientifically formulate what he observed. Such ways are needed to speak to people of the machine, which is important for the intended end. Machine man intuits that he has lost something. But he needs to be scientifically told what it is. The machine has told him he must be spoken to in these terms.

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Trees have a deep relationship with humanity to the extent that they directly interact with the human immune and nervous systems. That is, they influence our biological functions. Trees release volatile organic compounds called phytoncides. These compounds have a wonderful influence on humans. Phytoncides are received through breathing. Natural killer cells, vital in keeping the body healthy, increase when exposed to phytoncides. Together with them, the activity of anti-cancer proteins increases. Stress hormones decrease, together with tension, depression, anxiety, anger, hostility, and confusion, all multiplied fruits of the machine world. Phytoncides also aid in lowering blood pressure, suppressing sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous activity and increasing parasympathetic (rest and heal) activity, which facilitates the rebalancing of the nervous system.³ The machine world constantly overstimulates sympathetic nervousness, and thus the epidemic of stress today. The title of “forest bathing” is given to the practice of using forests, or treed areas, to reset a person to some degree through the symbiotic relationship. On a biological level, there is a communion between the human and the trees. Of course, nothing is strictly biological because we are not strictly biological beings. The earth garden builds humanity up; the machine world fragments.

But it’s not only the trees. Good soil, dirt, influences the biology of humanity. In the soil of the earth is a bacterium called Mycobacterium vaccae (M. vaccae). Not unlike phytoncides from trees, it is shown to (possibly) release serotonin, improve moods, and even increase brain function.⁴ On source posits, “Research suggests that M. vaccae may stimulate the release of serotonin in the brain – the same neurotransmitter targeted by many antidepressant drugs. While these findings remain experimental, they provide a biological explanation for something people have long intuited: that spending time outdoors, gardening, or simply playing in the dirt has positive effects on mood. Some researchers now wonder if contact with soil microbes like M. vaccae could partly explain the mental health benefits of nature. Though not yet a medical treatment, the idea that a microbe could support emotional resilience continues to inspire investigation.”⁵ Here is mankind, of the earth, in the midst of trees, walking with God. This is our created telos. The earth from which God took us continues to give to us, by His grace.

This inspires one to wonder what the long-term effects will be of moving childhood from playing outside in the dirt to endlessly staring at screens indoors? The cold glow of technologies brings no such benefits as elaborated above to the psycho-physiology of humanity. Rather, it is being revealed that the shift to screens and technologies has facilitated cognitive decline⁶ and more depression, with all its ailments.⁷ God’s earth garden heals while man’s machine world makes humanity sick. The effects of the machine world quite literally strip humanity of its mind and psyche, while the creation of God aids in building them up. The machine world is the anti-earth garden, to the extent that the fruits it brings forth in humanity are quite literally the diametric opposite of those cultivated in the earth garden. What will be the end result of moving half of humanity into massive cities? What will be the long-term effects of making a society deeply dependent on technology and screens (the portal for a legion of apps and AI assistants)?

Humanity was created from the earth for the earth, by God, for God and eternity. Even our biology interacting with the created order teaches this. Of course, some folks read macro-evolution into the connection between humanity and the trees and earth. But chance mutations could never, even statistically speaking, result in such a symphony and harmony. Only a created intent, a purposeful weaving of humanity with nature, could bring forth such a teleological reality. God is the Great Gardener after all. He has harmoniously woven His creation together. I posit that Darwinism is both a symptom and an enabler of the machine world. Natural selection has selected a select few people (elites) to take its reins and force the world into a determined evolution, which is now intrinsically tied to technology. If once it was “random” mutations, now the elites believe they will bring a firm hand to the process. If there is no God, then the machine world is the result. If there is God, then the garden earth is the created reality.

In an authentic Christian Church, the reality of the garden earth is symbolically presented. Orthodox Christianity takes up the created order, material, and directs it to its substantial reality in God. Humanity enters a garden of the material that is beautifully cultivated; here wood, stones, beeswax, minerals and pigments, metals, fire, water, fragrance, and so forth are offered to the Creator Trinity. The vocation of Adam and Eve is lived and passed on. Since God is the creator of the earth, He fully knows the purpose of its energies. Every sense of a person is engaged in Christian Liturgy, in a similar way as every sense is engaged in a garden. Beauty meets the eyes, chanting the mouth and ears, incense the nose, icons the touch, Holy Communion the mouth.

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The primary material for incense comes from frankincense and myrrh. Not unlike “forest bathing,” these created materials aid in regulating neurotransmitters and lowering cortisol levels, promoting emotional balance and mental clarity. They are frequently utilized in “aroma therapies.” Frankincense contains boswellic acids and terpenes, which have strong anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. Myrrh has antimicrobial properties and can boost the immune system. I’m certain that the Lord knows of this beneficial aspect for His creation. This indicates that even authentic Christian worship comprehends the relationship of the garden.⁸

Not long ago, I was in a very large modern Protestant building. The interior was all black. The stage was the primary focus, illumined with neon and LED lights. It reflected nothing of the earth garden nor the Great Gardener. Rather, in my opinion, it reflected the spirit of the machine world. Reductionist and utilitarian.

Our sweetest Lord Jesus beckons to us to walk in the garden earth with Him once again.

The machine world grinds all around us. Maybe we cannot avoid encountering it, but let us certainly and actively not give ourselves over to its way. The grace of the Holy Spirit energizing in His created order and beyond will bring life and healing to humanity. Let’s strive to walk in the garden, surrounded by trees and flowers, and encountering the Living God.

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1https://pressbooks.howardcc.edu/soci102/chapter/14-1-a-brief-history-of-urbanization/

2https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-population-living-in-cities-towns-and-villages

3https://www.reachlink.com/advice/mindfulness/forest-bathing-research-what-science-actually-shows/

4Soil Bacteria Work In Similar Way To Antidepressants

5Mycobacterium vaccae – The Mood-Boosting Microbe — Rethink Bacteria - Explore the Invisible

6https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/play-your-way-sane/202512/screen-time-might-be-shrinking-your-brain

7https://neurolaunch.com/does-too-much-screen-time-cause-depression/

8Humanity can abuse the created properties of nature. When natural substances are used in excess to force altered states, this can be dangerous. Thus, the garden earth is about balance and proper usage. Escapism is never the goal; rather, it is being present and being consciously healed.

Some topics are worth considerable rumination.

In a fairly recent article entitled Red, White, and Blue Orthodoxy, I reflected on Orthodoxy in America. It’s an important topic. Most of all since it’s growing. I based that article upon the words of Fr. Roman Braga and his thoughts on the subject. I followed that article up with a deeper examination of a topic he touched upon, Puritanical tendencies in American culture. That article is called The Collective of the Pure.

This article continues topics already laid out in the articles mentioned above. It can stand alone, but if the reader has yet to read those articles, I’d encourage it. I guess this is turning into a series of sorts!

I’ve been reading a wonderful book, Orthodox Alaska: A Theology of Missions, by Fr. Michael Oleksa. Regardless of Orthodox Jurisdictional affiliation, this book should be read by Orthodox people in America (but it is insightful to anyone, even if the reader is not Orthodox). At the same time, I’ll recommend a video documentary called Sacred Alaska.

The original Orthodox mission on the N. American continent started in Alaska. This mother mission has much to offer in the way of guidance for American Orthodoxy today. It is also very profitable for us to be aware of the struggles it has endured.

The original Orthodox missionaries cultivated a deep respect for the Native cultures that they encountered in Alaska. The Natives suffered brutal exploitation under the Russian American Trading Company, but they found great advocates in the Orthodox clergy and missionaries. To the extent that the Trading company began to resent them. St. Herman is a foremost example. He also embodies the necessary foundation of ascetic endeavor as a vital foundation for Christian missions.

The original missionaries willingly highlighted the many positive Native practices that they found existing in Alaska. In a 1794 report, the missionaries eagerly describe the similarities between the Native account of creation and the Christian account (see Orthodox Alaska, pg. 102). Many of the native ways flowed easily into the Orthodox Christian way. As one example, the Natives had a deep understanding of Yau or Inua. They comprehended this to be the life force that animates all living things. This already existing understanding flowed and harmonized with the Orthodox understanding of Logoi, the life-giving and God-oriented power that directs and moves everything toward the Divine Logos (see Orthodox Alaska, pg. 125-126). Fr. Michael notes that “The Christian is not commanded to suppress natural desires for the good, but to understand what the genuine good is and actively pursue it”(Ibid. Pg 56). This has been the underlying approach of authentic Christian missions from the earliest times. It is alluded to by St. Paul in the book of Romans and exemplified by his use of the shrine to the unknown god as a leading point for his talk at the Areopagus. The early Christian apologist, St. Justin, used the term logos spermatikos.

St. Innocent Veniaminov was instrumental in establishing written languages for Native tribes. The Orthodox Mission was dedicated to the spiritual reality that Orthodox worship and the Scriptures should be in the native tongues. His famous and profoundly beautiful work, Indication of the Way into the Kingdom of Heaven, was originally written in native Aleut. St. Innocent embodies the Orthodox understanding of respect and honor for the positive in local cultures. He diligently studied and strove to understand the Native ways, and most of all, to incorporate as much as possible. This required a profound Gospel spirit and a rooted and dedicated respect for the people encountered.

Through this authentically Orthodox approach, a uniquely indigenous expression of Orthodoxy clearly began to emerge. The steadfast confession of St. Peter the Aleut while imprisoned in California reflects this indigenous saturation.

St. Innocent eventually expanded this vision to the emerging nation of America, exemplified in his advice upon the Russian sale of Alaska to America. He advised that the native mission in Alaska be continued according to its existing principles. He recommended that the diocesan center of the Orthodox Mission be moved to San Francisco for greater ease of access. He further recommended that Bishops and clergy be appointed in the United States who speak English. “Allow the bishop to augment his staff, transfer its members and ordain to the priesthood for our churches converts to Orthodoxy from among American citizens who accept all its institutions and customs. Allow the vicar bishop and all the clergy of the Orthodox Church in America to celebrate the liturgy and other services in English. To use English rather than Russian in all instruction in schools to be established in San Francisco and elsewhere to prepare people for ordination and mission work” (Ibid., p. 166).

St. Innocent advocated that the Alaskan approach to missions, the use of native languages, and such be implemented in America itself. He envisioned the Alaskan mission as a prototype for the continued missions in the N. American continent.

It’s interesting that to this day segments of Orthodoxy still hold a certain devaluation of native languages. I’ve heard several times from Orthodox sources speeches lauding the great merits of Greek, or another language, and how it’s superior to English, which may well be so. And how the services are the best if performed in Greek, or said language, rather than English. But such a mentality falls short of the missionary vision that was established in Alaska. This vision is the continuation of the vision of Ss. Cyril and Methodius. Themselves Greeks, they worked diligently so that the Slavs could have the Liturgy and Scriptures in their own language. This is the Orthodox mission standard. For certain, some languages may be richer and more nuanced than others, but to those who do not understand them, it means absolutely nothing. St. Paul himself understood this when he proclaimed, “I’d rather speak five words with my understanding than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue” (cf. 1 Cor. 14:19). The exaltation of a particular language can become a form of idolatry, as if somehow God is more pleased with it. This idea was clearly rejected by the Church when it confronted the Three Language Heresy.

Clearly, there is a place in N. America for the use of non-English languages in worship, as situations and pastoral realities may demand. The primary use of a native language does not absolutely negate the use of a non-native language. I believe the issue becomes problematic when a particular foreign language is elevated to a magical place of greater spirituality and purity than other languages. This mentality is not in the authentic ethos of Orthodox missions. The Russian Orthodox Mission in Alaska could have promoted the deep richness of Slavonic and required that all services be performed in it. But they did not; they labored so that the Natives would have the services in their own languages. Slavonic remained in limited usage, but in a more supplemental manner.

In 1867, Alaska was sold to the United States of America and incorporated into its territories. The factors behind this are many and are not the focus of this article. Suffice it to highlight that a clash of cultures ensued. In typical American fashion, men were appointed who knew little and cared not to expand themselves in understanding the people they were appointed over. One such character is Dr. Sheldon Jackson, a Presbyterian minister. He was more or less given free rein in Alaska. Fr. Michael notes that, “Since the Grant administration a decade earlier, the federal government has assigned various Indian reservations to specific Christian denominations and paid the salaries of the missionaries who operated the public schools on the reservations,” (Ibid, pp. 171-172). The US government has a dismal track record of dealing with Native Americans. Abuse and lies prevailed. The Government approach to the Native tribes in what would become the “lower 48” was perpetuated in Alaska. Frequently, Protestant missionaries strove to forcefully adapt Natives to the ways of white culture. Native ways were viewed as backwards and heathen. Fr. Michael continues, “In Alaska, boarding homes were established by federally funded Protestant missions whose goal was to ‘recreate’ young Natives in the likeness of their white mentors … as one Commissioner of Education expressed it, ‘We have no higher calling in the world than to be missionaries to these people [the Native Alaskans, my note] who have not yet achieved the Anglo-Saxon frame of mind,” (Ibid. pg 172). The fact that many Natives were already Orthodox Christians troubled the Protestant missionaries. “These Natives had embraced the ‘wrong’ kind of Christianity and adopted the ‘wrong’ alphabet” (Ibid).

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It is striking that the Calvinistic Presbyterian ministers made a point of suppressing the Native languages. Dr. Jackson himself writes, “One strong stand that I know I was the first to take was the determination to do no translating into...any native dialects. I realized...that the task of making an English-speaking race out of these natives was much easier than the task of making a civilized and Christian language out of the Native languages. We should let the old tongues with their superstitions and sin die – the sooner the better – and replace these languages with that of Christian civilization, and compel the natives in our schools to speak English and only English,” (Ibid. pg 171). In their puritanical mindset, they view English as the superior language. In their understanding, there was no place for the “lesser” native languages. They also associated it with a lower culture that was considered heathen and backwards. Language is intricately tied to people. Thus, I believe it can be proposed that a devaluation of a local language reflects the inner disposition towards the people themselves. If the language is not worthy, the people are not worthy.

The Orthodox missionaries viewed native languages as God-given and a vital part of people’s worship of God. In Alaska, the native languages were used in the Orthodox missions; in the growing country of the United States, the predominant English was considered important to use. But it refrained from promoting one language above another; the vital question was simple: what is the native language? How do we reach people and proclaim the Gospel in their native tongues?

The puritanical Presbyterians viewed English as a superior language and ruthlessly enforced its exclusive use. It was connected to their missionary goal of making Natives into some copy of Anglo-Saxons, although never equal. It was the superior culture in their view. A predominant aspect of the puritanical mindset is superiority. One culture is elevated to a superior state over other cultures and people. Of course, this approach is in stark contrast to the Orthodox approach. The Orthodox mission diligently labored to establish and cultivate a native Orthodoxy in Alaska. The use of native languages together with respect for the many very good native ways was vital. Yet, if the goal is to suppress the native culture, then it generally starts with language and culture, as the Presbyterian approach indicates.

A portion of the Protestant mission was indeed racial, that is it viewed Natives as inferior to Anglo-Saxon descendants. In my opinion, racial degradation is primarily based on ideology rather than simply on phenotypic categories. American Anglo-Saxon prejudices were also directed towards white-skinned people of non-Anglo-Saxon roots, for example, the Irish and the Slavs. The explicitly American religion invented by Joseph Smith reflected a particular European/American Protestant belief and religious tendency (Mormonism is Protestant but not Christian) that white is superior. (Clearly, not all Protestants believed this.) In Mormonism’s early teachings, brown skin was caused by people falling away from God, but they could be restored as a “white and delightful people.” In 1981, this original version from the times of J. Smith of “white” was changed to “pure.” A certain segment of Protestant ideologies clearly valued “white” as a virtuous existence. The Gospel ascribes no merit to skin color whatsoever. The degradation of any phenotypic traits, such as “Black, white, brown, yellow,” and so forth, has no place in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Native Alaskan youth were forcefully removed from their families and put into Protestant-run schools. The predominant policies of these schools then refused Orthodox clergy the ability to come and minister to the captive Native Orthodox, even to the extent of refusing Orthodox burial services. Such policies were applied to non-Orthodox likewise, that is, it was a standard procedure in dealing with Natives. The Protestant goal was to make the Natives as close to white Protestants as possible, which was, in their view, a virtuous undertaking.

The Calvinistic missions approach was to sweep away all Native practices as “sinful, heathen, backwards, and unenlightened.” Let it not escape the reader that many Natives were Orthodox Christians. The Orthodox approach to missions had been to encounter, respect, and cultivate the good Native culture, of which there was much. The starting point was not the assumption that the Natives were totally impure heathens. Yet, this is the predominant starting point of most Protestant “missions” to Natives. A puritanical mindset always operates from a position of superiority rather than as a servant. The Orthodox missionaries followed Christ Jesus and came as those who serve; the Protestant method came as one who would lord it over. I’ll let the reader discern which is the more Biblical way.

It also wrongly utilizes Christianity as a vessel to promote what is considered a “superior” culture. Indeed, said culture may have many laudable aspects, but Christianity is not one earthly culture; nor is the intent to preserve one “superior” culture. Many earthly cultures have been deeply formed and influenced by Christianity. But true Christianity is both incarnate and local while being simultaneously cosmic and eternal. Earthly cultures can participate in the eternal through authentic Christianity. Yet, its job is not to perpetuate any one earthly cultural mode, but rather to sanctify all the earth and its peoples through the Lord Jesus. This will inevitably vary from people to people. Orthodoxy already reflects this in the many cultural variations that have beautifully existed within it for two thousand years, from the splendors of Orthodox Constantinople to the beauty and simplicity of Native Alaskan Orthodoxy.

Under US rule, the Orthodox clergy of Alaska found themselves in a great struggle to protect their native flocks. Many of them worked diligently to do so, but with much opposition from both the local Protestant missionary groups and the government, which in mass supported them. The Orthodox were impoverished while the Protestant missions had firm financial support.

Many native customs became the focus of the law, which sought to outlaw them. In the late 1800s, this actually facilitated a large segment of the Tlingit tribe to become Orthodox, because they recognized that the Orthodox Church respected many of their ways, unlike the Calvinistic Protestants. Fr. Michael writes, “The Orthodox clergy tended to tolerate, if not approve, many Tlingit traditions which the Presbyterians condemned as heathen … In turn, the American missionaries turned increasingly to the civil authorities to enforce assimilation policies … in Orthodox communities, memorial feasts continued to be held at the burial and on the fortieth day following the death, despite the legal ban on such ‘pagan practices,’” (Ibid., pp. 181-182).

In a spirit close to that which would emerge under Communism, Dr. Jackson declared that “’ The days of the Orthodox Church are numbered’ and that ‘twenty-five years from now, there will not be any Orthodox church members in Alaska,’” (Ibid). Together with the communists, he has realized that he is wrong.

During World War II, the Native Unangan, from the Aleutian Island Chain, were forcefully relocated and interned at Government camps due to fears of Japanese invasion. The Camps were inhumane, to say the least.¹ Most Natives were held against their will, and thus can be considered to have been imprisoned by the Government. The first-hand testimony of Dr. Berneta Block revealed, “Once she entered the first bunkhouse where multiple families shared only two or three rooms quartered off with grimy bed sheets for makeshift dividing walls, her horror overwhelmed her. “As we entered the first bunkhouse, the odor of human excreta and waste was so pungent that I could hardly make the grade,” she noted. She and the other investigators laid their eyes upon mothers and children who shared single bunkbeds, huddled together in the damp cold and darkness, and found other children “naked and covered with excreta.” No proper sewage system existed for the inhabitants and the only water supply from a nearby creek was “discolored” and polluted. As another official noted, no living being should be forced to inhabit these conditions.”²

At that time, the US military implemented a “scorched-earth” policy in some Native villages of the Aleutian Chain. Entire villages were burned to the ground, including the Orthodox church of St. Nicholas. The stated goal was to leave no structures that a potential Japanese invasion could occupy.³

The US Government supported actions that disrupted Native homes and foiled attempts to use the native languages, continuing up into the early 1970s. In the mid 1960s, the Government worked with the Assembly of God in certain areas of Alaska in a continued effort to assimilate the Native Orthodox. Besides the cultural suppression, other typical means of fragmenting Native cultures were used, such as saloons and alcohol, together with disruption of traditional ways of life, subsequent poverty, and then social programs to make Natives dependents of the Government. As a very side note, we should be aware that this method is now used widely to subjugate the general population. Drugs are now the substance of choice to cultivate dependency.

Over a century of Protestant missions and the US Government impressing upon the Native cultures that they are “just dumb natives” has had its effect today. This is a terrible reality and a sin of our Nation. Yet, Native Alaskan Orthodoxy survived about a century of focused persecution. The struggle was vastly uneven. A well-funded and focused mission to undermine Orthodoxy in Alaska ultimately failed. Thankfully, God is much greater than the US government. And He upheld the helpless and oppressed. The valiant and steadfast holding to Orthodox Christianity by our Native fathers and mothers in the Faith should be an inspiration and example to all Orthodox Christians in America today.

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For us as Orthodox, we must once again bring to the forefront the mother Orthodox mission in America, which began in Alaska. Orthodoxy in America was, first of all, a strikingly Native reality. The Gospel vision and mission were courageously brought by the Imperial Russian Orthodox Mission, which was eager to cultivate and entrust it to the Native Alaskan peoples. Saints such as Jacob of Alaska exemplify this. Early on, the Orthodox missionaries had a focused and clear vision for a Native local church. One that was distinct in its unique culture but also organically part of the universal Body of Christ. May the daring and desire of these Orthodox missionaries guide us today. Although American culture(s) have many ailments, it likewise has many beneficial expressions. The Alaskan missionaries did not try to make Russians out of the Natives; rather, they strove to cultivate the Native tribes in their distinctive positive ways and cultures. Inevitably, there was cross-pollination. Orthodoxy is incarnate, and it is incarnate on the local level. This means that in America, we must strive not to make imitating Greek or Russian, or so forth, as the somehow the end-all-be-all pattern of salvation. We must receive and respect the beautiful traditions they present while also laboring to incarnate a local native expression of Orthodoxy. As highlighted in previous articles, this will not be uniform across America because it has a variety of regional and cultural differences that must be authentically considered. The task is not easy, but it’s well worth the spiritual labor if we have a Gospel vision for our place and people. Not only should the varying local territorial cultures be considered, but also the linguistic expansion. In certain areas, Spanish may well need to be treated as a local language, for example.

Obviously, the goal is not an Americanized Orthodoxy, but an Orthodoxy that is native to Americans. If the Ancient Greeks were permitted the intense struggle of Christianizing Hellenism, together with other cultures, so may America be permitted. Sometimes it’s still not clear to me in some Greek places in America whether it’s Christianized Hellenism or Hellenized Christianity.

In my opinion, the most troublesome cultural expression in America is that which comes from the Puritan influence. It’s not impossible, but its extremely puritanical mind must be shed for any of its positives to flourish. it is also the one that seeks to subjugate other cultures.

Fr. Michael observes that authentic Orthodox Christian missions “Preferred to encourage cultural and linguistic pluralism everywhere, while, at the same time, striving to bring all nations to Christ, to the truth. It required eight centuries to Christianize Hellenism … The same process was undertaken in Russia, and that nation received the Orthodox tradition in its own language and cultural context, inevitably emphasizing certain aspects of it, while paying less attention to others. The Orthodox Church recognizes that the same will be true as the same faith comes to America. No single nation or culture can ever fully manifest of become the ultimate expression of truth … However each person and each nation is called to strive to embody, to ‘incarnate’ the Word of God, each in its irreproducible, absolutely unique way,” (Ibid. pg. 193). Thus, cultures and the persons sanctified within their context bring into eternity the destiny of their people. It is both particular and universal. The fallen world tends to the right or the left, either it prioritizes the universal, the global, the commune, over the individual and local, or it magnifies the local in nationalistic elitism. Authentic Christianity honors the nation while lifting it into the Catholic reality of the Divine; thus, it harmonizes the universal with the national. May the Lord give us wisdom.

1The Other WWII American-Internment Atrocity : Code Switch : NPR

2The Wartime Internment of Native Alaskans | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

3World War II Aleut Relocation Camps in Southeast Alaska - Introduction (U.S. National Park Service)

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The quote comes from a 2017 interview that has resurfaced on the internet. In it, Mr. Fink (sounds like a Dickens character, “Squeeze them, Mr. Fink, squeeze them!”) speaks about how force must be used to change behavior and, in basic terms, certain prominent groups should use their power and influence to do so. It’s their moral obligation; you lowly folks wouldn’t understand. Those who don’t want to get with the change should be punished in some way. Of course, BlackRock claims that the statement is taken out of context because obviously, clear context is not that clear after all.

Recently, I published an article entitled “Red, White, and Blue Orthodoxy.” It’s primarily a collection of quotes from Fr. Roman (Braga) reflecting upon Orthodoxy in America. He observes that Americans coming to Orthodoxy want a pure Orthodoxy. He reflects that this is an aspect of American Puritan influence. A wholesomely pure thing is very good; it’s the puritanical that becomes problematic. In the early months of 2024, I wrote an article that contemplated the Puritan tendencies in America. As Christians, we should cultivate the wisdom to identify the Puritanical, most of all when it frequently appeals to the longing for something pure. My reflection focused primarily on cultural aspects in America, but I think the extended applications are evident. I expanded and updated the article for republishing here on Substack.

I’m going to go on a bit of a wandering reflection on a series of topics, and I think it will make sense in the end. It will not be systematic but rather a meandering contemplation of some things that have been turning over in my mind for a while now, a small view into my pondering of the Nation and world in which I, together with you, live.

The United States is an interesting place. On a certain level, it is a conglomeration of various cultures. Each culture has a certain mindset, beliefs, behavior, mode of interaction, and so forth. Indisputably, a dominant cultural influence emanates from the New England area; this is the heart of what may be labeled Puritan culture during the early years of European settlement on this continent. This cultural influence was a prominent feature of the original “Thirteen Colonies.”

My children (a number of them now young adults) were both home-schooled and went through public/charter schools. In the vast mosaic of American history, one story was always taught, and sometimes repeated numerous times over several grades: it’s the Salem witch trials. When I would hear they were yet again learning about this event, I would think, really? Out of all the possible events in American history, this event is repeated and highlighted with an odd implication of importance. It puzzled me for a while. There are some clearly implied themes in the general structure of teaching this historical event in the public sphere. Of course, the Puritans were nominally “Christian,” and the modern secularist instruction of history seems to relish any opportunity to present any flavor of “Christianity” as bigoted. But something deeper is at work in the fact that such an isolated event is taught with such prominent importance. If “witch trials” were somehow an integral feature of the Thirteen Colonies, I could understand.

Ultimately, the Puritans also believed, to a certain extent, in “forcing behaviors.” At that time, they claimed that such behaviors – to be forcefully practiced or not – were indicated in the Bible. At least they tried to reference a higher authority. Behavior is connected to belief. An aspect of Puritan society is, we might say, the intent to force society to be “good.” They (whoever the leadership is) know the best, and so, compulsory compliance is a good thing. You’ll thank them later. The Puritans tended to coerce the “good” because people are simply totally depraved sinners, and people are unable to exercise free will. The elect must make sure the rest of the plebs believe and behave well. I would be loath to contend that Puritan influence offered no positive contributions to American history, and I certainly won’t. Here I am focusing on a certain mentality.

David Fischer, author of Albion’s Seed, states, “Yet another component of this culture was its system of social order. In that regard, New England was characterized by a curious paradox. This was always the most orderly region in British America, but it was also very violent in its ordering acts. This typically Puritan paradox of private order and public violence was especially striking in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. For many generations, individual order coexisted with an institutional savagery that appeared in the burning of rebellious servants, the maiming of political dissenters, the hanging of Quakers, the execution of witches and the crushing to death with heavy stones of an old man who refused to plead before the court. These two tendencies, of individual order and institutional violence are closely linked. Among the Puritan founders of Massachusetts, order was an obsession. The prevailing idea of order in Massachusetts was very different from our own conceptions. It did not mean ‘a state of peace and serenity’ as Webster’s Dictionary defines it, but rather a condition where everything was put in its proper order and held there by force if necessary” (pg. 189).

But forcing belief and behavior is not unique to Puritans. Wandering briefly into Europe, before the continent of America was even on the European radar and before Martin Luther even inaugurated what is now broadly known as “Protestantism” (from which the Puritans spring forth), the Roman church had the famous “Inquisition.” “Correct” thought was enforced, and those who did not like the program were punished in some way. Rome is watching. To be fair, it does seem the Inquisition was an extreme incident even in Rome. It’s another field day for those who desire to say, “See, those Christians are a bunch of bigots!” We will leave that stone for others to turn over. But I won’t defend a bad thing, even if it was done in the name of Christianity.

Orthodox people are also not free from the temptation to use authoritarian force to coerce opponents. The terrible crisis of the Old Believers in Russia is an example. Then Pat. Nikon of Moscow stooped to horribly brutal means to break those who opposed his reforms (proper or not). Obey or else. Human beings had their tongues cut out and were committed to fire for their lack of submission. Ah, but they were extremists, so they only got what they deserved! Shoulda just obeyed. Such authoritarianism usually creates a lasting scar and is not found in the New Testament model of leadership whatsoever.

Human freedom of will is a theme that cannot be detached from either the Salem witch trials, the Inquisition, the Nikonian reforms, or the modern age. Ultimately, to forcefully force, through human authoritarian means, behavior or belief, which any group, from old to modern, will claim is for the “good,” treads upon the ground of human free will. Inevitably, to control behavior is to control people. Strict and invasive control of persons is in direct contrast to authentic freedom, for control inevitably treads upon freedom. Such intrusive treading inevitably becomes tyrannical.

“Didst Thou not often say then, ‘I will make you free’? But now Thou has seen these ‘free’ men, the old man adds suddenly with a pensive smile. Yes, we’ve paid dearly for it … but at last we have completed that work in Thy name … today people are more persuaded than ever that they have perfect freedom, yet they have brought their freedom to us and laid it humbly at our feet … And we alone shall feed them in Thy name, declaring falsely that it is in Thy name. Oh, never can they feed themselves without us … So long as man remains free he strives for nothing so incessantly and so painfully as to find someone to worship … I tell you that man is tormented by no greater anxiety than to find someone quickly to whom he can hand over that gift of freedom with which the ill-fated creature is born. But only one who can appease their conscience can take over their freedom” (F. Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov. Chap., The Grand Inquisitor).

A lot can be done in a “name,” even the name of Jesus Christ, and yet much falsely so. There seems to be plenty of people seeking to relieve humanity of its burden of freedom. Purported Christians, together with the Grand Inquisitor, to some prophets of modern technocratic control, such as Yuval Harari, openly proclaim that human free will is over. The details vary as to why. In the modern system, the messengers tell us that it’s because they will hack and manipulate humanity, aka control. If, they reason, you can be “hacked,” then you will lose your free will, or you never really had it to start with. It was just a coping mechanism. You don’t need it anyway; they will control you for your good. Really, all we have is the survival of the fittest; power and control make right. It is quite an irresistible power. I consider the modern secular denial of human free will to be the result of the original religious denial, which in the general Christian world took firm root under Calvinism. Calvinism considered the human will “totally depraved” and completely incapable of responding to the good.

Having briefly followed that little rabbit trail to Europe (and elsewhere!), I wander back to my meandering path of reflection here in American history. The Puritans were but one flavor, although a prominent one on the emerging ideological buffet of America. Generally, Puritan thought rejected free will; it was too corrupted by the fall of man. The only hope for the elect was “irresistible grace” – a grace in which free will has no part. It’s irresistible, like it or not. So don’t try resisting. Frequently, their “puritanical” visions were not shared by the other cultures. The Scotch-Irish of the Appalachians, for example, were of a much more “let me be” mentality. The South seemed content with its connection to the land. And from the West emerged the legend of the cowboy, rugged and independent. I mean no disrespect to the numerous cultures that have had a hand in forming this Nation we know as America by leaving them out, I’m simply painting with broad strokes. It was frustrating for the Puritan culture to encounter other cultures, especially those not too excited about being reformed and controlled for their betterment.

The problem with cultures that are not as interested in forcing belief and behavior is that eventually an aggressive external culture comes and takes upon itself the burdensome task of compelling the culture to be “good” (whatever that may mean). Someone has to have the courage to crush human freedom for the sake of behavioral standardization! For the service of the greater good, someone has to oversee the sacrifice of human free will.

Almost every modern ideology of government views mankind as little cogs in a collective, and the collective must be tuned to work according to the desires of those who “know better” – the elect. It’ll be so harmonious after all. It seems to me that in True Christianity, mankind is viewed as a community of persons, all of whom share the same nature. Transformation fundamentally begins on the level of the person, springing from the heart in a free cooperation with Divine Grace through the Revelation of Jesus Christ. That is, when a person freely gives his heart, then true transformation ensues, and this can inevitably and organically transform cultures and communities. But here, there is no coercion. It is, as it were, “grass roots”; it flows from the bottom up. “Freely you have received, freely give;” “Follow me as I follow Christ.” Then a true unity ensues, one that is authentic. Generally, when things are coerced from the top down, people will synthetically conform themselves to external standards, and yet much of the time it’s done without fundamental transformation – no heart at all. Its uniformity. Resentment eventually can grow in such cases. Put that picture of Stalin up, or else! And so the picture goes up, but very few really like Stalin at all (under Soviet Russia, it was mandated to hang up a picture of Stalin; yes, comrade, everyone loves fearless leader!). In our times, an example could be, hang that “pride” flag up (just wait for June to roll around), or else, you bigot! Wear the pride jersey to celebrate diversity, or you won’t be tolerated! Public apologies will have to be issued.

People are difficult to control, so they must be forcefully collectivized and communized; frequently, in such scenarios, in a very top-down manner. Clandestine agencies are created to monitor people. All those little cogs have to turn the way you want them to; they do get pesky after all. The opposite radical reaction of extreme individualism that spirals into chaotic anarchy is also extremely negative.

Obviously, there should be a proper social order. Proper laws have a purpose and point. Lawlessness is terrible. Robbers rampantly robbing people with no substantial consequences is terrible, for example (seems like I’ve seen this happening somewhere … huummm). But that deals with distinct actions, actions that obviously inflict wrong and evil on a neighbor. Law, in basic terms, should deal with the constraint of evil actions against others and the repercussions thereof. I’m neither an anarchist nor a relativist. “The world that forgets God, my brothers and sisters, is ruled by injustice toward neighbors and inhumanity toward the weak,” says St. Basil the Great. Moreover, Christianity has standards, which those who live by it strive to uphold.

People have been given the freedom to choose to believe the truth or a lie. This freedom comes from God Himself. He asks us to freely embrace Him. If anyone had the “right” to force belief, it would be Him. But He doesn’t.

I believe in absolute Truth, but I don’t find that God forcefully forced Himself on anyone. He calls, “whosoever will, come.” The Pharisees crucified Him because they considered what He was saying to be dangerous. Of course, Truth clearly implies that there is falsehood. Truth conquers through the light, but falsehood wages war from darkness, lies, and confusion. Truth clearly proclaims, “This is true,” and it will not compromise with falsehood, but it has no need to use authoritarian means to counter it. It needs no invasion army. Speak the truth, and those with ears to hear will hear. Truth exposes lies; that is why lies must use force to silence it. That’s why lies must censor the truth. The Lord, it seems to me, is always offering to instruct us but never to control us. Instruction respects the proper balance of freedom. It makes clear the standard of truth that people are called to follow.

Cultures and their ensuing mentalities do go through a certain series of evolutions. “Witch trials” are an inevitable manifestation of a puritanical ethos. In fact, it needs witches to hunt. Here, free will is marginalized, and the “irresistible” power is set as an ultimate guiding force. In a general sense, within this expression, a witch is not strictly someone potentially practicing “witchcraft,” rather it is someone holding “values” not approved by the Puritanic authority. And that is bad mojo. Their evil spell of unapproved thought will disrupt the pursuit of an egalitarian society. Oh, those cursed “conspiracy theories” that inhibit the flourishing of the hive mind! How dare you doubt! For society to be “good,” it must be purged, and everyone must profess the approved manifesto.

Today, much of the central Government, major Corporations, and mainstream media operate along a puritanical mindset. One person I know conjectured that the Federal Government is heavily possessed by the Puritanical mode. They have removed God because they think they are demi-gods. The whole Bible thing has been basically dropped (unless it is a convenient reference for the manipulation of certain people groups); they have a new, improved religious confession now. The same fervor to “control and force belief and behavior” and purge those who will not comply, even with violence, remains very strong. They have been chosen by the gods of money and power to dictate to everyone else, all the poor, unenlightened ones, the correct way to behave. They are the elect, the elite. Money and power do indeed seem to be irresistible. Believe this way, and they will reward you; refuse, and there is a price to pay. If you confess wrongly, there will be an inquisition. Although you may not be publicly burned at the stake or drowned in water, they have found public ridicule, name-calling, discrimination, and such to be very effective. It doesn’t even need to be rational because emotionalism is a better button of control to push. In fact, don’t think about things at all. “You agrarian, trad-fam, intolerant, fascist, extremist, Qtard” etc, etc. “You liberal, lefty, Commie, Boomer,” ect, ect. Witches! Witches!! We found a witch! What do we do with witches?! Burn ‘em!

The commoners must be monitored to make sure they are thinking correctly, for to think incorrectly is a terrible transgression. It is also a very profitable ploy to encourage the commoners to be witch hunters themselves, then they make the work of the elites all the simpler. Watch out, your neighbor could be a witch. Keep an eye on them for the good of society. Report them for the good of society. Who knows what the full implications of the emerging AI will be? Maybe the modern (secular) disdain for the Inquisition and the Salem witch trials is based more in jealousy than in disapproval – it’s not that an inquisition is bad, rather, it can only be carried out by modern secularism because history has chosen it as the guiding light of history. “Christians” are bigots, after all. So, if they lead an inquisition, it’s “evil,” but secularists are truly doing it for the good of all humanity! They don’t like the competition. Suppressing “extremist” behavior and ideas seems to be a savory endeavor. Wrong-think becomes an act of intellectual terrorism against those forcing group-think. I guess there may be something to “the pen is more powerful than the sword.” Authoritarian groups seem to fear unsanctioned thoughts and ideas on a level of almost paranoia. Truth has no need of authoritarian force to secure it. Lies need to be upheld through force and fear. Guns and gulags must be deployed to protect them. Truth calls people into the light, but lies can only thrive in darkness, confusion, violence, and slander.

Stripped of certain constraining Christian factors, the Puritan culture becomes extremely terrible. It becomes truly tyrannical. Secular puritanism is a more ruthless standardization than the religious puritans. When our Nation gives emphasis to it, terrible things are done. Then it’s not simply the other local American cultures that must be subdued, but practically every culture of the world. The decades of forcing “democracy” at the point of a gun exemplify this frightful fruit. The now-normal spying on American citizens by their own government agencies also exemplifies this. It is bad when Fascists and Commies do it, but when it is for the preservation of “democracy,” clearly it is okay. The constant fear-mongering from mainstream media indicates its reliance on lies. The web of “fact-checkers” and censorship is the “civilized” version of cutting the tongue out of your opponent. I’m sorry, you violated the community standards. You can degrade women all day long by watching porn and completely objectifying them, but have the wrong “opinion” and away with you! “Misinformation” is an existential threat. There are witches among us, and you won’t be safe until they are purged! They are ever-squeezing the grip to preserve power and enforce the approved thought narratives. You have to purge society of the witches.

Overall, it seems that the currently approved groupthink and accompanying behaviors are predominantly being forced from the top down. I would wager that if the mechanisms that forcefully force the current approved “behaviors” were removed, a large part of their tenets would naturally wither away. It takes a lot of force, for example, to impose male athletes on female sports and bathrooms. Most normal people realize that a man in a woman’s swimsuit competing against actual women is an absolute absurdity. Maybe that is part of the goal – to so demoralize people that they will assent to absurdity. Maybe the current self-appointed elect ones get a rush of power thrill at forcing people to confess obvious lies. Maybe it is indeed a purposeful psychological attack on the minds of people.

In the religious sphere, good principles like obedience and humility are weaponized by Puritan agitators to herd people into compliance. If you don’t listen, you are disobedient, and God doesn’t like disobedient people. If you are humble, you will listen and ask no questions. Sadly, this is a perversion and twisting of spiritual realities for the sake of control.

And so, it seems that the Salem witch trials do have a prominent place in American history. It could be that the seemingly unbalanced emphasis on it in the teaching of grade-school history may reflect a deep and continuous inner struggle within our Nation. I hope we can rise above the mire of a puritanical existence and control into which we seem to be sinking once again.

That’s my reflection. You are free to take it or leave it.

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A couple of articles that have come up on Substack had me thinking about Orthodoxy in America. The recent feast simply added to it. I recalled reading some passages from Fr. Roman (Braga) of blessed memory in which he gave his considerations and thoughts on Orthodoxy in America. So, I found those passages to help fuel my own musings. But since I was at it, I thought I would share them with you, dear reader. The passages are taken from a book entitled, “Exploring the Inner Universe” (Dormition Orthodox Monastery. Rives Junction, Michigan). All page number notations are from this book.

Fr. Roman was a confessor for the faith. He suffered many years in the Romanian Communist prison camps. Eventually, he was freed and made his way to America. Here he ended his days. He is speaking from his own experience in Christ Jesus and his encounter with Americans. I will add a few comments here and there, but primarily, I will simply present his words for consideration.

“We are now spreading Orthodoxy in America in a formal way. We should go further, though, and move also on the vertical dimension and teach by our own example, by our liturgy, and work at developing an Orthodox spirituality. Spirituality does not come just because we know Church history and dogma. Orthodoxy is not a philosophy; we live our faith. But we must keep in mind that we are working here with Protestants who are not simple people as we are used to. The seed of faith does not grow directly in their hearts without passing through their minds. They search documents, compare dates, establish authenticity, learn by heart Scriptural texts, intersperse their speech with quotations, and this is not bad, because they have discovered the Holy Sacraments mentioned in Church history have been lost in the development of various new doctrines. They see the Holy Liturgy is something other than what they are use to in their churches, that the ordination of women to the priesthood is a scandal, and then they ask themselves, ‘What happened? We are not in the true Church. Let us search for the Church.’ This is how they find Orthodoxy. We do not find them; they find us. They do not come because they are impressed by the depth of Orthodoxy spirituality, because in retrospect, many of us do not have anything to offer them. They look for the Church as a divine institution, and today are in the stages of finding their true place in Orthodoxy. Spirituality will come later” (pg. 124).

Fr. Roman rightly diagnoses the main factor stimulating people in their search for Orthodoxy. Today, we can add that folks watch a bunch of YouTube videos and consume online content. But this is all still missing the “vertical dimension.”

“As I said before, no one came to establish hermitages and to bring to America the hesycastic spirit of sacrifice and the Prayer of the Heart. But that does not mean that Americans did not hear about the Prayer of the Heart. In fact, Americans are quite interested. However, their interest stops at the method because it has a nice resonance. They read the Way of the Pilgrim, the Philokalia, but only as a curiosity as something available to everyone. And they all ask ‘What can I do to see God, to feel His warmth, to become like the Russian pilgrim or the saints from the Philokalia?’ Their question is totally devoid of spirituality, because it is not the technique that introduces you to the spiritual state, but the spiritual state is expressed through a certain discipline that can hardly be defined as technique. The Holy Fathers were not preoccupied with the technical aspects of spirituality and the spiritual life. Nevertheless, we are impressed by their yearning for a pure Orthodoxy. They start by reading the Philokalia. Some are interested in hesychasm in such a way that you must temper them because you cannot build a church starting from the top to bottom. They are very much interested in methodology, because you know that hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer sound very beautiful. But what concerns me it that we do not have spiritual fathers to supervise their zeal and to help them find their own Orthodoxy spirituality without trying to make them Romanian or Russian or Greek.. A Roman Catholic priest once came to see me asking how many times he should say the Jesus Prayer to see the Uncreated Energy, and I stopped him saying, ‘Do not say the prayer anymore.’ This is Western mentality; they are more interested in the technique than the spirituality. It will take time for them to understand that spirituality comes from the Holy Spirit and is not the result of ascetic exploits” (pg 125-126).

It’s not a bad thing, but the journey for many in America starts primarily in the mind. Yet, the mind must enter the heart and work together. There is such a rupture of the mind and the heart today. Healing is quite the task. But the Lord can do all things. We have been instructed from our youth to be mostly in our brains. Lacking the authentic experience of the heart, the emotions are then taken to be “spiritual.” This is why many American religions are either very intellectual or emotional. Neither is bad; the task is finding the balance.

“At the risk of being redundant, I will repeat that Americans who embrace Orthodoxy are not simple people … those who are fascinated by the Eastern Holy Fathers are the intellectuals. They are searching, studying the traditions of the Apostles and the Church Fathers … Because of their Puritanic background, American converts want the pure Orthodoxy of the early fathers, while our parents, the immigrants from Eastern Europe, brought with them local traditions and modifications that had been made due to historical circumstances” (pg. 126-127).

This seems to be a very simple observation, but it is profound. Having something pure is good, but we must be prudent in our search. In the name of “purity,” much abuse is hurled in many directions. Of course, the total lack of concern for the purity of the faith is problematic too. I encountered a piece about Fr. Seraphim (Rose) arguing against his canonization (your personal position on this is not my point right now). One of the strikes given was because he may have had a Thanksgiving dinner with a group of protestants, and in doing so, he probably prayed with them; thus, praying with heretics, and so he can’t be a saint. I think this greatly exemplifies the Puritanic mind that Fr. Roman addresses. We start straining gnats and still end up swallowing camels. For the record, I’ve had Thanksgiving with protestants and prayers have been offered at the meal, so excommunicate me as you will. In some places, it seems that if an Orthodox sneezes with a non-Orthodox, he is anathema! I fear we also forget that with the measure that you measure, it will be measured back to you (cf. Matt. 7:2). Certain people may be strained out by the very purity filters that they applied to others. May the Lord help us.

“No one denies the fact that the Orthodox churches in America keep the name of the national church of their founders; this is a reality. But the chaos that these separate jurisdictions create is another reality … You know that priests and bishops in America serve for anyone who enters the church; they do not ask what jurisdiction the people belong to. Nobody fights with anyone else in this respect. We even have meetings together, we take Communion from the same Chalice, and we share our modes of understanding Orthodoxy. People are united in the same Church, without losing their ethnicity. Priests collaborating in mission work, even if we are in many different jurisdictions. If we use the English language, there would be no problem because after being in America a year, every immigrant should speak English at least enough to understand the Liturgy. Maybe at the administrative level of bishops it is a problem because at that level there are financial contributions, territorial divisions, interests of Byzantine politics, external frictions; and then the Canons of the Church, territorial divisions, and history are all evoked” (pg. 127-128).

He identifies that the greatest hurdle to certain things is not typically on the local level but on the greater administrative level. Alas.

“I think that the American spirit of organization will always be characteristic of the Church here, a spirit that has influenced even the immigrant Church. The deep, mystical sense of Church as the Mystical Body of Christ will not be a contradiction to this spirit. Of course, it is more difficult for converts to understand the Church as an interior universe, an inner Church, as a Eucharistic community, but that will come in time. Most converts come from a Protestant background and did not have the Sacraments, so it is at first difficult for them to understand St. Maximus the Confessor’s vision of the cosmic liturgy. But they have started to understand the importance of monasticism for the spiritual life of the Church” (pg. 128).

In other words, we still have to learn a lot. I believe it is St. Sophrony who said that it takes around 20 years for a person to start becoming Orthodox. Not surprising as it takes about the same time for a boy to start becoming a man. I hope that we can cultivate the deeper understanding of which Fr. Roman speaks. We read about it, certainly, but living it is something else.

“To them, the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church as a living organism, is for the moment a theological system, but tomorrow it will become a mode of spiritual life. You must understand that there is growth in everything, but it takes time” (Pg. 129).

“St. Tikhon was a missionary bishop in America, and he insisted that the priests preach in English; he had the vision of an American Orthodoxy very early” (pg. 129).

St. Tikhon did have a very beautiful vision for Orthodoxy in America. The original Imperial Russian Mission in Alaska worked diligently to cultivate a uniquely native Alaskan Orthodoxy. This is what authentic Orthodox missions do. It is not a monoculture. It is truly catholic, that is, for all people in all places. And it takes the good and particular there, and it cultivates it for the Kingdom of Heaven. St. Tikhon seemed to take the mission approach in Alaska and sought to apply it in the “lower 48.”

“What is in fact Orthodoxy? It is not a theory, it is not created in a theological institute, it is not a dictated doctrine, it is our experience in God. And our [Romanian] experience in God has been preserved mainly in the peasant population. Here in America, we do not have this kind of theology. We do not have this social group. Even the American farmer who has hundreds of acres is a type of industrial owner … there is no peasant class that lives in nature, who sees God in the grain of wheat, in bugs, or in small animals. There are no shepherds like the ones in our country … Perhaps American Orthodox monks will not live the same mystical harmony of the monks in the Carpathian Mountains; Romanian spirituality will never be planted here. Eastern European Orthodoxy can contribute to the formation of American Orthodoxy, but it will never be the same. I believe that God has as a plan for America a new form of Orthodoxy. This does not mean that it will not be authentic, but it must be American, just as Orthodoxy in Russia, Romania, or Bulgaria is not exactly the same. It is Orthodoxy, but it is modeled to each country’s own ethnic culture. Why should we deny the American people the right to develop their own Orthodoxy” (pg 130-131)?

I posted a portion of the above section as a note on my Substack. A perceptive commenter noted that this American expression should also be unique to the local cultures. Anyone who travels across the States knows that there exist cultural differences. A while ago, I read a book called “American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America.” Overall, it’s interesting and helpful for understanding the cultural construct of this Nation. Sadly, I don’t think any Orthodox jurisdiction has bothered to consider this reality. The dioceses in America typically span varying cultures. Some are ridiculously large. Depending on the jurisdiction, you may find places like Colorado and Louisiana, or New Mexico and Florida, or Montana and California, in the same diocese. These are very different regional cultures. Any serious concern for Orthodoxy in America should give this healthy consideration. It also might help the Bishops in their work. Expecting a bishop from coastal California to understand a cowboy culture in the West seems counterproductive on certain levels.

Maybe I will stay outside the American understanding of Orthodoxy but, as St. Paul, I must use the method of becoming all things to all men. Let them develop in their own way. No Orthodox Holy Father imposed to his disciples that they should be like him, but he watched carefully so that they would not imitate anybody but become themselves. In the same way, I consider it wrong for the patriarchs of Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, or Greece to send monks to America to establish Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian, or Greek monasteries with the intention of imposing on Americans their own spirituality. This would be totally wrong. First, it would not fit in with the psychological structure of these people. We need monasticism in America, but we must mold our vision according to the American way of understanding. We cannot come to America with a ready-made Orthodoxy or make some mishmash like some Orthodox stew; that would not be good for anybody” (pg. 132).

I guess I’ll reveal how much of an American I am and say I very much agree with this observation. I’ve seen some folks go to places and come back confused due to issues that Fr. Roman touches upon above. I’m very thankful for the nations that have been faithful and cultivated their own garden in Orthodoxy, but there does seem to be a tendency in some places to set the ethic designation above Orthodoxy. I guess we are still human after all. Ultimately, it is the imposing upon that Fr. Roman says is totally wrong. I hope that we can be thoroughly pollinated by the beauties of Orthodoxy that are unique to particular lands, and which we are blessed to have expressed in ours. This is important. We cannot bring forth some sterile generic “American Orthodoxy.” The Lord preserve us from such a thing! It must be of the land and the people, as it was in other places.

“Yes, I forgot to add something about many young converts to Orthodoxy. They are fascinated by the Russian mysticism, but I do not think they are able or should try to copy it; their realization should be their own, anything else will be damaging” (pg. 133).

I’m thankful that Fr. Roman had the spiritual concern for Orthodoxy in America to try to tackle some of the issues that it faces. They are not easy questions to wrestle with. As Orthodoxy continues to grow, these issues will also. My thought is that whoever can healthily cultivate a grounded Orthodoxy in America will see fruit. It’s a big task. Even the Orthodox Church in America (the jurisdiction) sometimes seems unsteady in its intentions. I deeply appreciate the vision for an authentic Orthodoxy in America. I’m part of this jurisdiction. Yet, sometimes it even falls back into simply following a rather Russian cutout. In certain areas, strict Russian rubrics guide all. Guys geek out about kamilavkas. In other places, it seems that the mishmash carries the day.

The next-to-last commemoration of proskomedia seems a pertinent example. Typically, it commemorates the primary enlighteners and apostles of the land. The OCA book still commemorates Ss. Cyril and Methodius, together with the Great Prince Vladimir. All very wonderful saints. Yet, if we are to cultivate Orthodoxy in America, I offer a small suggestion: for this commemoration, could we commemorate St. Herman, the North Star of the Church in America, and St. Tikhon, Enlightener and Apostle to America?

“In Orthodoxy, we give freedom to every person to develop according to the characteristics received from God. As missionaries in America, we need a lot of discernment” (pg. 134).

May the Lord grant us the discernment. At times, it seems that we shy away from frankly addressing the topics Fr. Roman brings up because we don’t want to be perceived as “untraditional.” As with all the people who have gone before us, the question of Faith and the local culture can be addressed in a very traditional manner. In fact, I would say these questions are very much in the realm of tradition. It may be that Orthodoxy will be the ark that holds whatever is good in our culture. Most of all as it seems to be a habit of secularism to cannibalize every culture.

So, as missionaries in America, we truly need a lot of discernment. All Saints of N. America, pray to God for us!

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Talk about stating the obvious.

It sometimes seems that when a person is younger its easy to forget about the obvious.

While slugging through my own battles, a very practical issue began to emerge for the Pueblo church community. It was a predominantly aging community, and simple access to bathrooms was becoming all the more vital. Yes, you read that correctly. Now I’ll fill it in for you.

The current church was constructed in 1924 after the first church building was destroyed in a flood. As far as I can gather, from that time until about 1950, the only facilities at the church were an outhouse. Yes, just a good ol’ fashion outhouse.

The church sits on about half an acre in what is today a residential area. Before 1950, the priest had a small house across the back alley from the church property. I kinda wish it was still like that. In 1950, the community decided to build a parsonage right next to the church. Yes, quite literally right next to it. Between it and the church is about enough space to pass a car. Apparently, at that time, several parishioners lived in houses on either side of the priest, and he wanted to change that situation. That’s a bit understandable.

Of course, I wasn’t around in the early 1950s to give my two cents, but now I can. Not that it changes too much. So before I get back to the topic of bathrooms, I’m taking a slight detour onto parsonages/rectories. The two will merge at the end.

I’ve been in a parsonage for fifteen years now.

An old timer of the parish once told me, “They built that rectory for Fr. Peter and his wife.” Fr. Peter is the second-longest serving priest here in Pueblo at just over twenty years. He passed away here and is buried, together with his wife, in the local graveyard. Although they desired children, they were never able to have them.

Officially, the livable space in the rectory was built as a two-bedroom, one-bath home. I’d be remiss if I fail to mention the small room that was made to be the priest’s “office.” It is perfect for a couple. It also had a basement, which has made progress over the years. I’ve often wondered if the parish council at that time thought Fr. Peter would live forever. They clearly did not think they might get a priest with a few children. But I’m not the only priest family that has packed into this rectory.

When I arrived, the basement domain included a laundry room, a large, rough-finished space, a room in the back left corner, and a mechanical/parish storage room. And let’s not forget the parish bathrooms. But I’ll get back to that.

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Paul Kingsnorth uses similar imagery in his book, Against the Machine (a must-read). He generally says the modern system is a Machine that seeks to uproot and destroy anything of beauty, humanity, and tradition. The Machine intends to tarra-reform the world into a new order.

Depersonalized and soulless, the Machine has been at work. It’s not one particular system of government or economics. To a great extent, it has engulfed all modern systems. The illusion of choice is important, but ultimately, only one thing is advanced.

“The Machine today as an intersection of money power, state power, and increasingly coercive manipulative technologies, which continue an ongoing war against roots and against limits. Its momentum is always forward, and it will not stop until it has conquered the world. To do that, in must raze or transmute many older and less measurable things: rooted human communities, wild nature, human nature, human freedom, beauty, faith and the many deeper values which we all adhere to in some way of another but find it difficult to describe or even to defend. Its modus operandi is the abolition of all borders, boundaries, categories, essences and truths: the uprooting of all previous ways of living in the name of pure individualism and perfect subjectivity. Its endgame is the replacement of nature with technology, in order to facilitate total human control over a totally human world” (Against the Machine, pg 38).

A Mill-Machine grinding everything into nothing. Since it is soulless, it can only destroy. Many are its human servants today. The hub centers of the Machine, the “Western” powers, display their destructive spirit through their absolute love for war and destruction. I hope you, the reader, understand that authentic peace is nowhere in the agenda of the Machine. Thus, the Western powers cheer for war and destruction. It is funded in the billions. This reveals the desolation of their souls, which they have sold to demonic powers. “It is easy to see that one of the most conspicuous results of industrial development is that the engines of war are being constantly perfected and their power of destruction increased at an ominous rate,” Rene Guenon (Crisis of the Modern World, pg. 89).

In his book, Mr. Kingsnorth recounts numerous resistance movements to the Machine, from the Luddites to the Fen Tigers. In some sense, the question is, how do we make ourselves “wrenches in its cogs”? A simple answer, that is many times more complex to apply, is finding the little ways to actively live other than the Machine society instructs us. It’s okay to start small. Every little intentional act of deviation from the Machine is important.

Mr. Kingsnorth is from the British Isles. I’m from the United States. The examples of resistance in his book were inspiring, but primarily drawn from his geographical area. I began to wonder if there are such inspirational resistance stories from this side of the pond? There are.

Folklore is vital. It speaks of the deeper and less measurable (quantifiable) things in a people and a place.

One such story from the USA is that of John Henry. The folk story of John Henry is considered to be based on a real person. I’ll leave all of those details to some scholastic historian somewhere. My intent here is the story of resistance, resistance against a machine.

If you have never read the folk story, here is a link to the account.

John Henry was a man born with a hammer in his hand. That hammer will be the death of me, he said.

He grew up to be a steel-driving man. What’s a steel-driving man, you may ask? Here’s how steel-driving worked. One man, called the shaker, would hold a long iron drill against the rock. The steel-driving man would swing a big hammer — twenty pounds of iron — and hit the drill. Clang. The shaker would give it a turn. Clang. Another turn. Clang. Little by little, the drill would bite into the mountain, making a deep hole where the workers could set their dynamite.

He was the hardest-working steel-driving man. He could swing a hammer in both hands. He had a wife he loved named Polly Ann.

On a certain level, John Henry was working to pave the way for a feature of Machine expansion, the railroad. Early on, the railroad acted to propagate the Washington Machine. But many other positive things also traveled along the railways.

But John Henry understood when to give a firm and steadfast refusal.

The rail came to a mountain called Big Bend. It had to go through it; it could not go around it.

So the men got to work, digging a tunnel straight into the heart of the mountain. It was dark in there. It was hot. The air was full of rock dust. But John Henry sang while he swung his hammer, and the other men sang with him, and the work went on.

Something about that sweat and labor was very human. One day, a fancy stranger comes and proposes to replace the human with a machine.

One day a stranger in a fancy coat walked up to the tunnel. He had a big machine in a wagon behind him. He smiled a thin little smile. ‘Boss,’ he said, ‘I’ve got something to show you. This here is a steam drill. It runs on fire and steam, and it can drill holes faster than any man alive. Buy one of these, and you can fire half your workers.’

The Machine always sacrifices the human first. It promises wealth to a few and misery to the rest. As then, so today, the servants of the Machine say it is better and faster than man. It was there to deconstruct the human in the name of progress.

The human workers understood what this would mean. The workers got quiet. They knew what that meant. No more jobs. No more songs. The machine would take it all.

The Machine would take it all. Everything there that was human. No more authentically human things. The Machine seeks to take them all.

And so, John Henry challenged the Machine. “’I’ll race that steam drill,’ he said. ‘Me against the machine. Whoever drills the deepest hole wins.’ The stranger laughed. ‘A man against a steam drill? Son, you’re going to lose.’ John Henry didn’t laugh back. ‘Set it up.’

Me. Us against the Machine. The fancy strangers still say the same thing, “Son, you’re going to lose.”

And the feat began, man versus machine. The machine that was seeking to obliterate in the name of “efficiency” the good labor of man. John Henry would not let the Machine take his human labor away. And so the account goes on:

The whole railroad came to watch. Men lined up along the tunnel walls. Polly Ann stood at the front, holding their little boy. Even the birds in the trees seemed to be listening.

The stranger started up his steam drill. It hissed and clanked and started eating into the rock. Dust flew everywhere.

John Henry picked up a twenty-pound hammer in each hand. He nodded to his shaker. And then he began to swing.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

Faster and faster. His hammers blurred in the lamplight. Sparks shot from the steel. The other workers started singing his song to keep him going:

Before that steam drill shall beat me down,
I’ll die with my hammer in my hand!

An hour passed. Two hours. Three. The steam drill was smoking now, struggling to keep up. John Henry’s arms were like two pistons, never slowing, never resting.

Four hours. Five. The stranger’s face was getting red. His steam drill was breaking down. But John Henry just kept swinging.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

At the end of the sixth hour, the judges called time. They measured the two holes.

The steam drill had drilled nine feet.

John Henry had drilled fourteen.

The men roared. Polly Ann cried out and ran to him. John Henry stood there with a hammer in each hand, smiling the biggest smile of his whole life.

And then, slow and gentle, he sat down.

John Henry was not hammering for selfish reasons. He was not just hammering for just his own job. He was hammering for his wife and son. He hammered for his brothers and sisters, his fellow man. He was hammering for the songs. He was hammering for the sweat and blood of humanity. Man versus the machine.

There is something powerful in song. Song has been part of human existence for as long as we can remember. The Machine seeks to silence song. Today, it seeks to silence it by replacing it. The advanced machine, AI, makes anti-songs. It mimics human song and experience. There’s the rub: authentic song comes through experience, blood, sweat, labor, and love. These things the Machine can never know or understand. Today, the Machine seeks to silence human song through artificial song. As it said above, the Machine seeks to take it all. That is why AI is now seeking to replace all human activities, not just song, but art, writing, reading, talking, and so forth. This is not to help humanity but to degrade humanity.

And so let’s take up the human song, “Before that steam drill shall beat me down, I’ll die with a hammer in my hand!” Or to slightly alter it, our song is, “Before that Machine shall beat me down, I’ll die with a hammer in my hand!” John Henry knew it was better to die retaining his humanity than to live as a slave of the Machine.

He was the best steel-driving man, and he used his gift as a sacrifice to protect those he loved. In a very Christian way, he laid down his life for his friends. He gave with all his heart.

“Polly,” he said. “I’m awful tired.”

His wife held him close. The other men took off their hats.

John Henry had worked so hard, and swung so fast, that his big heart had given out. Just like he’d said when he was a baby.

He looked up at Polly Ann one last time and he smiled. “Bring me a cool drink of water,” he whispered.

And then John Henry, the greatest steel-driving man who ever lived, died right there with a hammer still in his hand.

John Henry lived and died a man. Today, our resistance to the Machine is principally the same: live and die as men. Authentic people doing authentically human things. John Henry is an American folklore hero. There will always be the soulless fancy men who want to destroy nature and humanity. It just takes the John Henrys of the day to stand against them. Fellow Americans, let’s find the John Henry in us. Those who are reading and are not from America, please feel free to join in too. I think John Henry is for anyone who resists the Machine. He’d be pleased if you sang his song.

Years went by. The steam drill broke down and got sold for scrap. But the song about John Henry kept going. Coal miners sang it. Railroad men sang it. Children sang it in schoolyards a hundred years after John Henry was gone.

And that’s why, they say, if you stand near an old railroad tunnel on a quiet night, you might hear a faint ringing sound. Clang. Clang. Clang. It isn’t just the wind. It’s John Henry, still swinging his hammer, still refusing to let a machine beat a man.

He died a long time ago. But his song is still going.

And that’s how you know he won.

Let’s take up that song that has waned over the years, the song of John Henry. The Machine doesn’t like it or want it to be sung. Let’s take up our hammers, however that manifests itself for us, and swing away while singing. Songs like his are what the Machine fears. John Henry, we’ll do the best we can to refuse to let the Machine beat man. Find your hammer, my friend, start swinging, and make a stand. Make John Henry proud.

“Before that Machine shall beat me down, I’ll die with a hammer in my hand!”

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Creation is a book of teaching. One of many given by God. “It is clear that whoever reads the natural without knowing the spiritual content and significance of what he reads, reads death, sees death, appropriates death. Also, whoever considers visible nature as the only reality and not as a riddle on the mirror of the spirit, does not know more than a child who may recognize letters but is far from understanding written words,” proclaims St. Nikolai Velimirovich (The Universe as Symbol and Sign, pg 11).

He teaches, “It is written in Genesis: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Gen. 1:1). According to the Fathers of the Church, heaven is meant as the kingdom of spiritual realities, the bodiless and the invisible. The earth is meant as the universal amount of the body and visible symbols of those realities. That is to say, the earth or the universe generally, is nothing but a symbolic picture of heaven” (Ibid, pg. 15).

Although creation is subject to futility due to humanity’s fall, it will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the freedom of the children of God; until then, it groans under the burden of mankind’s rebellion against God (cf. Romans 8:20-23). It was not created for futility. That’s not its nature in the least.

The parabolic nature of creation is part of its God-instilled logoi. When our Lord Jesus walked the earth, he drew many of his teachings from the parables of creation. “Learn this parable from the fig tree,” he clearly taught (cf. Matt. 24:32).

In the modern mindset, nature is utilitarian, not parabolic or symbolic. The Darwinian myth of our age sees in nature only death, survival, and instincts. These are there, but they are not the total picture by a long shot. As moderns, we observe through the narrow keyhole of futility to which creation was subjected, and then assume that this futility is the totality of reality. The apparent brutality of futility is not the nature of creation but the effect of sin and death. We certainly observe it, but we should do so with sorrow because creation is in such a state due to humanity’s (our) rebellion.

Futility does not impede the parable of creation, because it is part of its divinely created logoi, while futility is not. Authentic science views in total, not in compartments. The reduction of “science” to the compartment of strict physical observation, under the influence of futility, is the death of true science. Such is also the death of the spiritual life and understanding. Speaking of the vocation of a true Christian and the exact contemplation of the truth in all things, St. Dimitru says (quoting at first St. Maximus), “’ Going on from here we shall bring to light many and varying logoi of truth by wise contemplation of perceptible things and of intelligent beings.’ In everything that we do or understand, we now have a vision of the whole, of the relationship of our deed or thing with the universal order,” (Orthodox Spiritually, pg. 197).

Today, much of what labels itself as “Christian” is blind to the knowledge of icon in the created order. Is this surprising? Most modern forms of “Christianity” are iconoclastic in their vision. Particularly, Protestantism is a utilitarian spirituality, if those two words can be linked in such a manner. It is the mother of the secular utilitarian mindset. But I digress.

A vocation of the true Christian is to learn to read the book of God’s revelation in His Creation. The saints frequently walk this path of parable. And so must we.

“For a clearer picture of the Christian journey let us adopt the method resorted to by the fathers of the Church, and draw an analogy. When we see a centuries-old tree with its branches reaching to the clouds, we know that its roots, deep in the earth, must be powerful enough to support the whole. If the roots did not go down into the bowels of the earth – perhaps as far down as the tree is high – and if they were not as strong and widespread as the part we see, they could not feed the tree. They could not support it – a slight wind and the tree would fall. We can observe something similar in the spiritual life of man,” writes St. Sophrony (His Life is Mine, pg 85-86).

The tree is a symbol of man in the spiritual life; the Christian is a spiritual tree. “Blessed is the man that has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the pestilent. But his will is rather in the law of the Lord, and in his law will he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of waters, which bring forth its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not fall,” (Ps. 1:1-3).

St. Nikolai propounds, “A tree must be rooted in the earth in order that it may grow. It is a symbol of the soul, which must be rooted in the spiritual, heavenly world, which is its earth, its soil. In order to flourish, a tree must be watered. Even so, the human soul must be watered by the grace of the Holy Spirit in order to be healthy and strong. St. Anthony the Egyptian says, ‘As trees cannot grow without water, just so the soul cannot grow if it does not feed on heavenly sweetness. Only those souls are growing, which have received the Holy Spirit and which are filled with heavenly sweetness,” (The Universe as Symbols and Signs, pg. 26).

“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again! But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. Not only this, the water I give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life,” proclaims the Lord (John 4:13-14). And again, “If anyone is thirsty, let him drink! From within whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will flow rivers of living water,” (John 7:37-38)!

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled,” (Matt. 5:6)!

The branches of a tree are roots in the sky, and the roots are branches in the earth. It feeds simultaneously both in the bright heights and the dark earth. It moves in the seen and the unseen. Both surface and deep waters nourish it; it is illuminated by the radiance of the sun. It dwells in harmony between two planes, the earth and the heavens. The tree receives the energy-light of the sun and makes it its life. So it is with a person growing in the spiritual life. The waters are of the Spirit, the light is the Divine uncreated energies of the Holy Trinity.

“A tree must be exposed to light and warmth of the sun in order to flourish and bear fruit – a symbol again. For the soul too must be lightened and warmed by God, the Sun of eternal righteousness. Only under such conditions can the soul, exposed to the light and warmth of the Living and Life-giving God, live, grow, and bring forth fruit,” (St. Nikolai, The Universe as Symbols and Signs, pg. 26).

A believer becomes a true tree when he receives and cultivates the seed of the Kingdom within himself. The symbolic mustard seed is “Indeed smaller than all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the biggest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air can come and find shelter in its branches” (Matt. 13:32). And thus, “Neither will people say, ‘Look, here’ of ‘Look, there!’ for behold the Kingdom of God is within you,” (Luke 17:21).

“You too, O reader, must be as a grain of mustard seed … you will become greater than the shrubs … so that even the winged creatures of heaven, that is the angels, will take their rest in you who are living the angelic life,” (Bl. Theophylact, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke).

He who would be the greatest must be the least of all (cf. Luke 22;26). Ascent is only possible through descent. Continual descent into the earth builds the capacity to ascend up into the air. “If like the apostles, we recognize the greatness of our calling in Christ – that is, of our election in Him before the creation of the world to ‘receive the adoption of sons’ (Gal. 4:5), it makes us humble, not proud. This lowering, this humbling of ourselves, is essential if we would preserve a genuinely Christian disposition. It is expressed in a constant awareness of our nothingness, as radical and all-round self-condemnation. And the deeper one goes into self-condemnation the higher God raises one,” (St. Sophrony, His Life is Mine, pg. 86).

There is much else we could learn from the tree, but currently it’s not my goal to unpack every facet. The tree bears fruit in its season. It is given a time of harvest and a time of resting. It bears in its rings a record of the weather around it, be it good and seasonable or harsh and unseasonable, its joys and pains. It experiences times of plentiful rain and times of drought. It must be pruned to bear more fruit (if it is a fruit-bearing tree). If its sap ceases to flow, it becomes brittle and dry. Then it will snap and fall and die.

So, when you see a tree, tell it, “You are a parable of me!” I must be a spiritual tree, and the tree is like unto me. And so, God has written His poetic book of symbols in Creation.

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Fearful words are revealed to the Prophet Ezekiel. The Lord commanded Ezekiel to speak to the “sons of your people” (Eze. 33:1), which was all of Old Testament Israel. Today, it can be understood as those within the Church. The prophet says, “When he [the watchman] sees the sword coming upon the land, he shall blow the trumpet and warn the people. Then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet but does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. For he heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning. So his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning shall save his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them. He is taken away in his transgression; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand” (Eze. 33:3-6).

A primary role of pastors – clergy – is that of “watchmen.” This parallels the parable of the “Good Shepherd” (cf. John 10:1-14). The good shepherd leads and protects his flock, unlike the hireling who flees when the wolf comes. The hireling is like the watchman who does not blow the trumpet. The very title of “pastor” is from the Latin for shepherd. A true shepherd strives to guard and care for the flock under his watch.

This vocation is not limited to the clergy: every true Christian is also called to be on watch. St. Paul exhorts Christians to “Be watchful and stand firm in the faith” (1 Cor. 16:13). Undoubtedly, those who have been set as shepherds of Christ’s flock will have much to answer for (myself included!), as St. James says, they “will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1). A vital work of shepherds, together with the faithful, is to warn of “the sword,” that which brings destruction. The watchman is commanded to sound the trumpet, which means to give clear and meaningful warnings. The watchman or shepherd is bound and required to give a warning. If the watchman is faithful in his vocation and still the people choose not to heed the warning, “their blood is on their own hands,” as the prophet said. Yet, if the watchman is silent when he sees the coming “sword,” then all those who perish – all of them – their blood will be on his hands. Of course, in the ultimate sense, this should be understood spiritually. That is, one of the most vital works in the Church is to warn of false teachings and ways – destructive heresies – which kill not only the body but the soul too.

The “sword” will come; the enemy will inevitably attack the Truth, for he desperately seeks its destruction. For this reason we are warned in the Scriptures, “False prophets arose among the people, as also there shall be false teachers among you, who shall introduce privily heresies of destruction” (2 Pet. 2:1). When falsehood, heresy, is allowed to grow in the Church, most of all by those who are shepherds, it is akin to letting the enemy through the front gate with no warning to anyone. Everyone who is led astray into spiritual death will be required of the watchman whose job it was to watch and warn. That’s pretty serious.

Watchmen who do nothing in the face of the enemy sword are responsible for the destruction of many souls. Here, the words of the Lord fully apply, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea” (Lk. 17:1-2). Here, “the one through whom they come” is not only the person – the source – actively promoting heresy and falsehood but also those who allow it to continue; those who do nothing to stop its spread. They also become participants in the spread of wickedness and spiritual destruction.

There is nothing loving about allowing the “sword” to enter and cut people down. In fact, as the Scriptures make clear, this is a hateful action, one which betrays a complete lack of true love for neighbor. Any person who truly cares for his neighbors will sound the trumpet of warning to save them, if they have ears to hear. But the watchman is not responsible for the state of the hearer’s ears, only for whether or not he faithfully and diligently sounds the trumpet, the alarm. Once the alarm is sounded, the people must take action to drive the enemy sword out.

Fr. Theodore Zisis writes, “We are all responsible for the Church, and not only the bishops, for the Church is not someone else’s private property. The bishop, together with the clergy, as well as the laity, as one body with the head - Christ, are responsible for it, each in their own way.”

The responsibility to uphold the Faith diligently and steadfastly belongs to every Orthodox Christian, according to their measure. Each one will answer for his “talent” in the faith. Each will give an answer for whether or not he stood for the Truth. Christians are always called rational sheep. In the Scriptures, they hear the voice of the authentic shepherd and follow. They are spiritually reasonable and do not recognize or follow the voice of a stranger. The sheep are actively involved in discerning the true voice that calls them. There is responsibility here; they are not simply “obedient” because then they would follow any voice claiming to be a shepherd. And such false voices come. They are called to be discerningly obedient. When a false call comes, they are not expected to follow. In fact, they are expected to flee from it.

True Christians are called not to be dumb sheep but rational ones, those who may clearly discern the voice of the True Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ. Rational means that Christians are responsible for their action or inaction. It is false to think that if a person obeys a false decree, he bears no responsibility. Some try to say that all the responsibility lies with the clergy who gave it. Nowhere in the Scripture is it written that the faithful must “just obey” hierarchy, even if the injunction is evidently wrong. Even St. Paul says, “Follow me as I follow Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). Indeed, pastors leading people astray will bear a greater burden. Yet, the people who sheepishly follow will also bear responsibility for their lack of reason and discernment.

St. Basil the Great teaches, “The hearers that have been instructed in the Scriptures should test what their teachers say. Those things that are in agreement with the Scriptures they should accept, but should reject that which disagrees; and they should reject even more those who persist in such teachings,” and again, “On must not be easily carried away by those who feign the truth without examining them, but must investigate each man with the help of the test given by the Scripture” (As quoted in Concerning Frequent Communion, by St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, UMP, pg. 181).

Any proclaimed teacher who claims to be above examination or “special” should be fled from as fast as possible. If anyone says don’t ask questions; just obey, from them run far away.

The opposite situation can also happen; the sheep are so spiritually dumbed-down that they want to drag a good shepherd off into the desert.

Blessed Theophan of Poltava teaches, “Regarding the affairs of the Church, in the words of the Savior, one of the most awesome phenomena of the final days is that at that time ‘the stars shall fall from the sky’ (Matt. 24:29). According to the Saviors own explanation these stars are the Angels of the Churches, in other words, the Bishops (Rev. 1:20)” (Selected Letters, #18). In ancient commentary, the “Angels of the Churches” were understood to be the shepherds of the Church. Angel is from the Greek Angelos, the root meaning is messenger or one who announces.

Lucifer was called the “morning star” or “light bringer.” He fell as a star because he began to consider the glory that God had given him to be his own. He even lusted after the very Glory of God. He forgot his vocation as a messenger of light. His own prestige became a major focus, and in this pride, he brought only destruction. The more he sought his own exaltation, the more he descended into the abyss. As the Lord Himself has laid out, “Whoever exalts himself shall be brought low, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (Matt. 23:12). When he sought to exalt himself above God, he fell. And this fall has terrible repercussions even to this day. The fall of Messengers is terrible.

Sometimes it seems today that the “exalted” leaders of Christendom are too busy seeking acceptance from the powers of this world than they are with shepherding the faithful. Sometimes it seems like the faithful are a commodity to be fleeced rather than the children of God to lay down one’s life for. We do love to build the tombs of the prophets and swear by the gold of the altar.

All those who desire to build a new and better “Christianity” are false watchmen. All those who would have us lay aside the clear revelation indicated by the Scriptures and the Holy Fathers are false prophets and false shepherds. This is not limited to simply clergy but to anyone who claims to “speak in the name of the Lord,” and yet does so falsely. To such and to all the warning comes, “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture … I will attend to you and your evil deeds, declares the Lord” (Jer. 23:1, 2).

The Lord Himself will repay each according to his deeds, “I will recompense, says the Lord” (cf. Heb. 10:30).

The vocation of a true watchman is not to innovate but rather to hold fast (cf. 2 Thess. 2:15). He discerns the enemy sword through the Spirit, the never-changing guide of the Scriptures, and the life of the Body of Christ throughout all time (Tradition). Then he may give a clear trumpet of warning, and thereby aid in saving people from the sword of destruction. Anyone who clearly disregards this evident and God-revealed standard is but a thief and robber (cf. Jn 10:8), and the blood of many shall be required of him.

May the Lord keep us all.

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We live in a world full of trouble. Another word that could be used is care: “the cares of this life.” Christians throughout all times have faced the cares of this life. The aim is not to let them choke out the harvest of the Kingdom in our lives (cf. Mk. 4:19). The Lord tells us simply, don’t be anxious. He knows that we have the “needs” of living in this world. And even these daily cares can be turned to God and work for our salvation. The distractions of living in the world, jobs, bills, chores, obligations, and so forth are not de facto bad distractions. The key is to weave remembrance of God into them. We are called to meet these things with the Lord and be present in the moments of our lives. There are plentiful ancient Christian prayers for the “everyday” tasks of life, lighting the fire, making food, sowing the fields, herding the cattle, and more. God is part of these things, although they are passing away with the world. I think it’s possible to call these things the “blameless distractions.” Not long ago, I heard another priest use the phrase “distraction to destruction.” This, he said, is what is destructive to the Christian. The everyday cares of life are not in and of themselves distractions to destruction, although they could be if they consume us. Approached with a proper orientation, the cares of this life can be filled with prayer and God. In fact, they can instruct us in faith. Just look at the birds of the air.

But we find ourselves in a novel age: that of the computer, the internet, and other technologies, and all they have brought with them. There’s a lurking feeling that, besides the clearly stated promises surrounding them, there is much else happening. Much else that is not clearly stated. And it’s ambiguous for a reason. For all the promises of “making life easier or more convenient,” it seems to have also become even more complicated and distracting. The “freedom of information” has become, in many cases, too overwhelming, and sensory overload ensues. “Being connected” most times involves a technological intermediary. With all our “connected-ness,” our times are also intensely lonely. Rates of depression have never been so high. And why do they seek to make everyone dependent on modern technologies? How many apps does a person really need? A nagging feeling suggests that behind the revealed and promoted “perks and benefits” of the technological age, something else is also at work. Something that we must guard ourselves against. Distraction that surpasses the simple and inevitable “cares of this life.”

Similar to the psalmist, we sense that something is “shooting in secret” (Ps. 63), or that an “unseen hidden snare” is set within (Ps. 140). The gift at the gates may have more within it than meets the eye, like the fabled Trojan horse. Behind the shiny gift of modern computer technology seems a concealed agenda of not-so-glowing intent. For example, it is being revealed that most major social media platforms are purposefully programmed to addict their users. The platforms are intentionally built to keep people coming back and scrolling for hours. But they never advertise this in the least. “Download our app and be addicted!” “Your collected personal data helps us make millions in ad revenue!” There is an English word for purposeful plans that are intentionally hidden; it’s called a conspiracy. The basic definition is a secret plan to do harm. The distractions presented by modern technology are novel in the history of humanity. The intensity of its distraction does seem to be for planned destruction.

Since the fall from Eden, humanity has constructed ways to distract itself. At the start of Great Lent, we read in Genesis how the sons of Cain built cities, made musical instruments, and began the art of metal crafting. They were very industrious. Today, we would call them very productive. They were progressing so well. It is said of Seth, the third son of Adam, simply that he began to call on the name of the Lord (cf. Gen. 4). By modern standards, not so productive.

Yet, later in the Scripture, the instruments of the sons of Cain are repurposed for the glory of God. The great Prophet David sings praises on musical instruments. Bezalel is granted the spirit of wisdom to craft all the furnishings of the tabernacle (Ex. 31-34). The city itself becomes a symbol of hope, Jerusalem. Cain’s distractions are realigned for the remembrance of God.

Much later, starting a little after 300 B.C., was a massive technological achievement: the Roman road system. The construction lasted for centuries, but was mostly complete by the time of our Lord’s incarnation. What is a technological given for us today was an extraordinary advantage in the ancient world. The Roman road system would be the backbone of its military and economic might for centuries. It enabled, for that time, a swift movement of troops and commerce. Yet, those same roads that thundered with the dreaded steps of the Roman Legions also carried the angelic feet of the Apostles to the edges of the known world. The tech system Rome built to dominate other nations became the initial system by which the Gospel permeated the nations.

Yet, the technologies briefly mentioned above remained somehow humanized, in spite of their intentions. Human hands had to play the harp and build the tabernacle. Human feet had to traverse the Roman roads. Technology remains something human.

But what happens when the human becomes displaced? And even replaced? Even by the work of its own hands? In our times, we could ponder on the impact of things like photography, the radio, the telephone, and the motion picture. Sight and sound become one step removed from the personal source. Hands no longer need to depict a picture, and the human no longer needs to be present to be heard. There does indeed seem to be an increased level of peril. Abbot Silouan of Archangel Michael Monastery writes concerning the radio, “When our words are separated from the immediacy of personal presence, relationship is sacrificed for information’s isolated individualism.” The word, disincarnate from the immediate person, becomes less potent in logos. “In Christ, our words become logos, reserved for the immediate presence of the other.”

He further contemplates the impacts of the photograph and how it altered humanity’s relationship with image. The eventual ease of taking a photograph decontextualized the visual and removed it from its reference to “symbol, culture, or virtue.” He contemplates, “With every new technology, comes a morphing of man’s mode of being in this world … if we lay aside our modern stances toward reality born of the myth of progress–newer is better, faster is better, world-wide access is better–we can be truly free to critically examine photography’s true toll on attention, memory, and imagination.” The cheapening of image is at the bases of social media, and the plethora of fluttering images addicts the user to more sights and sounds. Thus, a modern person can “misspend many an hour, and day, frustratedly flitting from photo to photo ad dolorum ocularum.” Distraction to destruction. He ends his reflection with this scenario, “The mystery of memory is made to unite past and present; yet, witness a common scenario: As the sun begins to set, the sky turns brilliant in variegated tones of reddish gold. In awe, all her spectators turn west to behold the sight. Within seconds, a multitudinous array of cameras appear in every anxious hand, incapable of participating in the actual experience from fear that their memory will betray them” (All quotes from Abbot Silouan are from “Doxa,” Great Lent, 2023).

The radio and the photograph altered the age-old manner in which humans encountered the moment and each other. I no longer must be present to hear. I now have an external means of capturing an event. The memory of the moment is focused into a technology. Frequently, the focus on technology becomes the goal of the moment, because we no longer trust our memory.

Yet, there are stories such as in the book “Everyday Saints” of Bishop Basil (Rodzyanko), who traveled to Russia after the fall of Sovietism and met a dying man who was spiritually sustained by secretly listening to his contraband radio broadcast under communism (pg. 387). And it is pleasant to see the pictures of loved ones and have the ability to talk to them over great distances. But these have inevitably altered the manner in which we as moderns encounter the world around us. How do we stay masters of the tools we have constructed?

It does seem that with every claimed “advancement,” a new and heightened danger arises. Because with all the “progress,” mankind becomes even more uprooted. The state of people is by no means better today, in spite of all the technologies. In many ways, advanced technologies have given men the ability to be more barbaric. Progress in technology is not substantial progress; it is an illusion. Technology has, besides giving limited benefits, amplified the ability of men to work evil and sin. Never has there been a time when greed has run so rampant, and violence has the ability to be so widespread. Technology has amplified the sin in fallen man’s heart. The quantification of the material world, including ourselves, has served to suck the soul out of humanity. Humanity is not the better for all of its technologies.

We now live in a tech-saturated world. A world our ancestors of 150 years ago would find mind-boggling. If with the radio and photography we became one step removed, how many steps are we now at? Our every sense is under assault as we move in the world around us. Constant ads, constant music, constant noise, constant stimulation, because so many now fear this one thing: silence. What perils do we face when technologies loom to replace much of what is human? Does technology remain a tool when the human is replaced? Or does it become something else? Humans have had tools–tech–since the dawn of time. But the human was always in the tool. Now, modern technology is becoming human-less and moreover, dehumanizing.

A decent portion of people coming to Christ Jesus in Orthodox Christianity first come across it “online.” Frequently today, when a person enters the church for the first time, he has already watched videos and other such things online. At one point, I heard an Orthodox priest say that the internet is the modern marketplace, it’s where people go for ideas and investigation. St. Paul himself used the marketplace of ancient Athens as a springboard to preach. I dare say that he did not approve of a lot of things there. Yet, the opportunity to present the Gospel was there. But it was still human. Now the marketplace is digital. How do we remain human? How do we use something that is disintegrating?

Most churches have web pages and some sort of digital “presence.” Today, people will search online for “the nearest Orthodox church to me.” Long gone is the “Yellow Book.” It does seem like the tunnel is narrowing; yet, it’s my opinion that while we can we should strive to use whatever aspects we can of the internet and such. But the dangers it presents are much greater than anything before. What portion and how long can we use it? Somehow, the internet begins to swallow everything, like a black hole. But here you are, reading this online. And there I was, posting it online.

As Christians, we must remain incarnate. Thus, the internet is at best an entryway medium and a possible research tool. Once a person finds a good local church, he must become a human part of it. Christianity is not lived online; it never can be. Authentic life cannot truly be lived digitally. It’s impossible. Ultimately, the internet has no substance. Life is substantial. A priest online cannot replace the local priest incarnate for the local community, the Body of Christ. Because the local priest is the person on the ground, in his local plot of earth, sacrificing for the people of Christ’s flock under his care. An online chat group cannot replace the substantial fellowship in the faces of the incarnate persons gathered at church. A grave danger is that online, we no longer genuinely see the face of the other. The danger is that we take digital communication as fellowship, but it’s not. It is just an exchange of information. In a personal conversation, I can see the effects of what I’m saying in the face of the other. This generally encourages us to be human. It’s in the comment sections, where impersonal username meets impersonal username and a battle of insults begins, or an echo chamber of self-confirmation is constructed. We fail to see anything but a screen glowing in our own face. Paul Kingsnorth, author of “Against the Machine”, says, “When we forget the proper direction in which to aim our prayers, we will end up aiming them at the ultimate idol: our own image, reflecting back at us in our little black screens. We will be kings and queens of a deceptively free world, parading through the liturgy of self, wondering why the chaos seems to persist so close beneath the surface of the world” (pg. 134).

Rene Guenon in his work, The Crisis of the Modern World, rightly observes, “The West is said to be Christian, but this is untrue: the modern outlook is anti-Christian, because it is essentially anti-religious; and it is anti-religious because, still more generally, it is anti-traditional; this is its distinguishing characteristic and this is what makes it what it is” (pg. 95). Guenon utilizes “religious” in its more profound ancient meaning, as opposed to the modern use which tends to be either pejorative or of no substantial reality.

It is therefore only in authentic and traditional Christianity that an answer and way forward will be found. Modern Protestantism is not traditional Christianity and therefore is ever chasing the latest fads of the modern world. The Protestant system is a foundational aspect of the modern psyche and is an incubation pod for it. A person must go deeper. I believe that the only authentic Christian answer can be found in the Orthodox Church.

My dear readers, the Incarnate Lord Jesus is our only hope. And we must strive to remain incarnate with Him. I am a priest with online platforms. I believe it can be used in a limited way to present the Gospel and beneficial ideas. But the slope has never been so slippery. I haven’t resolved any questions in this article, but I think we must have further dialogue on the issues that face us. There will be varying thoughts and opinions, and that’s okay. In a family, sometimes hard discussions are needed; sometimes not all the family members see eye to eye, but Christ Jesus calls us to unity, not uniformity. A healthy family must talk about the difficult issues facing it and be willing to hear each other out.

We, as the members of the body of Christ, are called to be prophets for the times in which we live. What is the prophetic word for these oversaturated and digital times? What is the place of the internet and its multifaceted aspects? Because it’s not going away. And further, we have bursting through the doors what is called Artificial Intelligence. How will we remain human? And now many of our race are ready to offer everything on the altar of technology. AI not only synthetically replaces human actions, but it also demands terrible amounts of resources to do so. And created nature is readily offered up: water by the billions of gallons, pollution of creation, and an insane hunger for massive amounts of energy. Now we, as a race, are not simply destroying ourselves, but also the creation around us; all for computer technologies, the pinnacle of the industrial revolution. The tech has long since stopped being with the human, and the human is eradicated from the tech, together with creation. Our tool has ceased to be a human one. So we build to destroy and replace ourselves with an advanced program of our own making. Humanity is insane and self-destructive in its mire of sin.

A serious agenda is to destroy what remains of natural and personal human interaction, with others and the created world around us. There is a conspiracy to distract, and yes, to our destruction. A conspiracy theorist simply floats ideas, proven or unproven. Yet, the identification of a conspiracy is not enough; we must see the secret snares and avoid them. So revealing a real conspiracy is important, and even more so is giving a path through it so that our feet are not caught in its secret snares. The conspiracy is real, and now we must find ways not to fall prey to its machinations.

The Body of Christ has a unique opportunity during these times to become a bastion of authentic humanity. As computer technologies seek in certain ways to disincarnate human interaction, the Church will shine as a place of incarnate human persons, doing the most fundamentally human thing: worshiping the Living God. May the Lord give us wisdom for the times in which He has placed us. May we strive to keep our eyes on Him.

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Tis’ rather modern mankind who has deadened himself to the mystery; mystery that is in reality inescapable. Mystery is the rhythm of creation around mankind. It haunts the soul of modern man with its song.

Mystery means mankind is not in full control. A vital illusion for modern humanity is that he’s in control. Rather, there are movements, workings, energies that are not within his grasp. To provide comfort, modern man analyzes and scrutinizes. Dissected, he gazes at death under a microscope. There is nothing more than what he can touch and see. Observing the mechanism of biology around him offers a false comfort that he understands life around him. We do so long to comprehend.

Once I heard, I forget precisely where, a saying in which rings a truth: “To dissect a thing, first it must be dead.” And we may elaborate, to dissect a living thing, first you must kill it. For life, alive, cannot be dissected. It must be lived and encountered. Life must be communed of.

But life is a fearful thing. So full of mystery, that which may not be analyzed, titled, and compartmentalized. It may be known, but this knowledge is not that of death. It is that of life. The modern world knows through death, and thus it produces so much death and destruction. Many elements of what is called “science” produce an observation of the world that leads to death, an industry fed by Hades. Chemicals that kill and bombs to destroy, weapons of “mass destruction,” but very little, next to none, that heal and engender life. The crown of modern observation, like the terrible crown of Kashchei Bezsmertny. Now, we may destroy ourselves at an unprecedented rate. We are so grand.

Death for modern man is a philosophical necessity. Death becomes his religion. It is the “natural order” of things. Death for the Christian man is an abnormality. It is not the intended telos of Creation. Christianity is not so naive as to discount death, yet it looks through death to the ultimate reality of Life. “Death, where is your victory, where is your sting?” Through death to resurrection. The modern world looks through death into more death, adding death to death.

The earth and creation around us are no longer mystery, symbols, and signs. And so those who desire must make a return, a repentance, from the way of death. A return to the mystery of creation. Creation, created by God with purpose and meaning.

St. Dimitru Staniloae writes, “On the road of our approach to God stands the world – we must pass through the understanding of it. Every man has a mission connected with the world. Everyone must know it according to the power given to him, inasmuch as knowledge can’t come until the gaining of the virtues … A mainly negative attitude toward the world frustrates salvation itself. The world is imposed on everyone as a stone for sharpening his spiritual faculties. By the world man grows to the height of the knowledge of God and to the capacity of being his partner. The world is a teacher to lead us to Christ. Of course it can also be the road to hell. It is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the tree of testing. If we look at its beauty in order to praise the Creator, we are saved; if we think that its fruit is simply something to eat, we are lost” (Orthodox Spirituality, pg. 205).

Reduction of the world to base matter to be exploited, “eaten,” by humanity is at the core of continual woes. The fruits are gathered and hoarded by the powerful because they see them as a means of control. Control of other people and the world. This is how the path to hell is paved.

Dimitru professes, “The intrinsic structure of the world as a symbol of transcendent divine realities” (Ibid). Symbol should not be understood according to a limited modern definition as a mark or sign that represents something else. Rather, “A symbol is a visible reality which doesn’t only represent, but somehow makes an unseen reality visible. A symbol presupposes and shows two things simultaneously. It is a ‘bridge between two worlds’ as somebody has said ... This symbol unveils for us the life of God and signifies for us entrance of divine energy into the life of this natural world … Everywhere we are in contact with the mysterious and we see the light of another world” (Ibid. pg 205-206).

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To my surprise, this article became the most fiercely contested article I’ve ever written. I didn’t expect that. Quite literally, a group was organised to oppose the article. A final goal was to have me remove the article from publication, and indeed, delete all my writings online. I was graciously added to an email group for this end. The group kindly committed to “getting him away from his cult and let’s lovingly walk through what he is and has been doing and keep his feet to the fire until he gets it or gets out.” It was going to be a grand and loving time. So warm and fuzzy and full of Christian generosity. Trust me, at that time, the group seemed to take particular delight in the burning of a brother. It’s from such experiences that the old adage, “with friends like these who needs enemies,” was born.

The article was taken as a public and personal attack: “It occurred to me that you [members of the group] deserve to be aware of the public accusations indirectly levied against ‘you.’” The woes of “online Orthodoxy” were elaborated upon, which is a topic in and of itself. The article was labelled “divisive,” “spreading confusion,” and “condemning others.” The dangers of “over correctness” and “zealotry” were presented. The article was framed as harsh and unbending. We should just pursue Christ, after all, and not talk about divisive issues like conspiracy theories and scandals. We need to just love and not “pursue our own opinions.” The group lamented, “This is embarrassing, silly, and hardly worth a response, but you [the person leading the group] ask for one. Poor Priest Zechariah. Honestly, my main concern is for you [me, as in Pr. Zechariah]. I love and respect you so much, and am sorry that this kind of nonsense occupies any of your remaining energy.”

It was interesting to me how the veneration of icons had now become a topic of nonsense. But such a strong reaction to nonsense! When I requested a direct rebuttal to the article in question, instead of emotional appeals, very little was given. One of the closest concerns relating to the article directly, that was not an emotional appeal to how bad the secret motives of the author are, was, You do realize that a decision not to kiss an icon -- or an inability to kiss it -- is not the same thing as a refusal to kiss any icons, right? Or are you trying to make the case that the dome icons in parishes cannot be venerated without climbing a ladder to reach them?

The first point is beneficial to note: the inability to kiss an icon is not the same as refusal. So I think it’s helpful to take note of it here. The second point wandered into an argument reductio ad absurdum. Such was never a point of the article.

I finally called the person heading up the email group and asked directly, “What is the core issue?” It had been hinted that the article would be submitted to someone (or ones) with “theological” credentials for review and possible rebuttal. I had also submitted the article to five other priests whom I trusted for review and criticism, but none reacted the way this group did. These men were not just sounding boards; I knew that they would be honest in a true spirit of Christian brotherhood. They all found the article of benefit. I never heard if the people with theological credentials ever reviewed the article.

In the course of the conversation, it seemed to boil down to Covid directives. I directly asked the person, “If I wrote this before Covid, it’d be white noise. No one, then, would think twice about it?” “Correct,” was the response. Thus, in light of Covid directives, my article was “divisive.” “Did I write anything theologically wrong?” “No.” The person agreed that the article was technically correct in its information. The core issue was that the article contradicted certain Covid directives, and those who followed them could take it as condemning them. In light of that, the article was wrong. Basically, it was wrong and divisive to write anything that would cause anyone to question the directives. Certain directives had directly forbidden the physical kissing of icons. Moreover, the article was an act of disobedience. The admission was given verbally, and to some degree in writing, the facilitator wrote, “1) I actually was not at all convicted that I/we violated the canons of the Council. I was responding to the implications of the article in their present context of post-covid… That it clearly implies that those who followed the mandates violated the Council. 2) It is a valid response: “Speak to the content of the article itself, not its interpreted implications” [my constant request] (i.e. as written prior to 2019). To that end, I submitted the article to two seminary professors, as if I myself wrote it, asking for “peer review”.

When I originally penned the article, I did so with the simple intent to investigate what the 7^th Council taught on the veneration of icons. I then hoped, as much as possible, to present my findings in an unbiased manner. I firmly believed that an interaction and contemplation of the information itself would be helpful. I did not write the article starting from the viewpoint of, “I’ll prove them wrong!” I can say this with all honesty. I honestly wanted to know for myself, and then share with others, what an Orthodox Council taught on the matter of icon veneration. After all, the Councils were not private events, nor personal opinions. I underestimated the post-Covid environment. Although my driving purpose was not “Covid directives,” somehow it became that issue with certain sectors.

Although at that time, the events of Covid were subsiding, the effects of Covid mentalities were not. These mentalities are not simply based on Covid but also indicate something generally deeper. These effects continue to influence things today, even after the initiating event has faded a bit into the past.

It was sad for me to see how the environment and spirit of Covidism wanted no questioning, even if those questions are based on Orthodox Tradition. I had to work through my own struggles after this event. I was wounded by these brothers, but I also had an opportunity to strive to forgive. It was a very trying situation. I touch upon it all as a method of reflection, and the events surrounding the article. I hope we can all learn.

As I pondered the whole experience, it eventually led to another article that I have also re-posted on Substack called “A Disturber of the Peace.” In 2023, I was taken aback at the lack of desire for authentic discussion of the important topics; rather, the main thrust became to paint the presenter of said objectionable topics, in this particular case, myself, as questionable in motive and spiritual stability. I also observed this tactic being used against other people. It’s interesting because typically, a main appeal of opposing groups is, “You are judgmental and have no love!” Yet, then one is judged and condemned freely by them, as if they see all the inner workings of the heart. Seems a bit self-defeating and contradictory. Constructing narratives and then working overtime to make sure those narratives hold the day, even at the expense of people and authentic information, is always a dangerous path.

Today, I’m thankful for everything the Lord permitted to happen. I learned a lot through the whole experience. I wish everyone who was part of the debacle many blessings in the Lord. It’s about three years since I first published this article with the original title of “You May Not, Not Kiss Icons.” I offer it again for the Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, slightly updated and modified. It’s that old scandalmonger in me! The original unmodified version may still be found on my blog, The Inkless Pen.

For Orthodox Christians, what does it mean to properly venerate an icon?

Are there necessary physical actions of Orthodox when venerating an icon?

Can a person simply venerate it in his heart and forego outward physical greetings?

Many people are already familiar with the theological teaching behind the use of icons, as proclaimed especially in the writings of Ss. John of Damascus and Theodore the Studite. A little while ago, I began seeking to find if there is a proclaimed teaching and tradition of praxis, the question of how we properly and physically manifest the theology of icons. For, I mused, surely there is a “right praxis” in the veneration of icons, as there is a “right theology.” Is the practice of venerating an icon negotiable, or is it nonnegotiable together with the theology?

These and other questions have been raised in my mind through various circumstances. In a pursuit for understanding, I found in English the complete Acts of the Second Council of Nicaea (787), also known as the Seventh Ecumenical Council.¹ All the quotes in this article are provided from this book. It seemed fitting to write a small article that briefly summarises my findings during the first week of Great Lent and the Sunday of the “Triumph of Orthodoxy.”

The 7^th Council convened in response to the heresy of Iconoclasm. This heresy taught that icons were idolatry. It firmly opposed the veneration of icons as idolatrous and scandalous.

From this vast Acts, which covers the seven sessions of the Council, I focus mainly on the seventh session and the proclamation of the Horos from the Council. I will also draw from two letters by St. Tarasius of Constantinople, which are included in the corpus of the writings from the Council.

From these, it should be clear to the reader that the Council insists upon two mutually interdependent actions in relation to icons – veneration and greeting. When it decreed proper veneration and greeting, it also provided very concrete instructions and requirements. It also indivisibly unites proper veneration to proper theology. I believe this will be made clear in the direct quotes that I provide below.

In the Horos of the Council, the holy Fathers first of all truly affirm that they are proclaiming only that which is in accord with the Holy Faith, “We preserve without innovation all the traditions of the church that have been laid down for us whether written or unwritten. One of these is reproduction in painting images, as something that is in harmony with the narration of the gospel message for the confirming of the real and in no way phantasmal incarnation of God the Word, and which serves us by conferring the same benefit. For these two things provide indisputable proof of each other and give expression to each other” (pg. 564). They clearly proclaim it is the Christian Tradition to make holy icons. They further confirm that it is the true Christian way to adorn churches with holy icons, “These things being so, we, travelling the royal road, following the teaching of our holy fathers that speaks of God and [we also follow] the tradition of the catholic church, for we recognize this to be of the Holy Spirit that dwells within her. We therefore decree with all care and precision that venerable and holy images, made in colours or mosaics or other fitting materials, in the same way as the figure of the honourable and like-giving cross, are to be dedicated in the holy churches of God” (pg. 564-565).

Having proclaimed firmly the evident Christian practice of making icons and using icons in the holy churches of God, they begin to elaborate upon the manner in which Christians should relate to them, “They [ie. icons, my note] are to be accorded greeting and the veneration of honour, not indeed the true worship corresponding to our faith, which pertains to the divine nature alone, but in the same way as this is accorded to the figure of the honourable and life-giving cross, to the holy angels, and other sacred offerings. In their honour an offering of incensation and lights is to be made, in accordance with the pious custom of the men of old. For the honour paid to the image passes over to the prototype, and whoever venerates the image venerates in it the hypostasis of the one who is represented” (pg 565). The distinction between veneration and true worship is made clear. Christians do not worship icons; rather, they offer them a veneration of honor. Here, the pious custom of censing icons and lighting lamps and candles before them is confirmed as true Christian practice, and conversely, the refusal to do so is an un-Christian practice; a summary of the theological reality is reiterated. Here, two important words are also used that are vital for understanding Orthodox Christian praxis towards icons – greeting and veneration.

A footnote for this passage reads, “’ Greeting and the veneration of honour’. These words refer to something quite concrete: kisses and a prostration or a deep bow. This is here contrasted to the ‘true worship (lateria) reserved to God alone’” (Ibid, footnote 58). It is revealed that the Fathers of the Council intend to convey to Christians a concrete and proper way, manner, by which to venerate icons. The Christian way. This way includes vital physical actions – kisses and a prostration or a deep bow. These actions are inseparable from the totality of veneration of icons, as will be made even clearer by the following excerpts.

St. Tarasius expounds upon “greeting and veneration” in his letter to the Byzantine Emperors at the time of the Council, Constantine and Irene. He first proclaims that the Council has only followed what is clear Christian practice, “We have expressed and proclaimed the truth in unison, that the sacred images of our Lord Jesus, in that he became a complete human being, are to be fully accepted, as is every depiction of the gospel stories, and also [the images] of our immaculate Lady the holy Theotokos and the holy angels … and all the saints … As God’s holy church received from the beginning, and as was laid down in law by both the holy originators of our teaching and our inspired fathers who succeeded them – and that these are to be venerated (προσκυνειν), that is, greeted (ασπαζεσθαι)” (pg. 582-583). He clearly unites and unifies as one the theology of the icon and the proper Christian praxis in relation to it. The praxis is a manifestation of the theological reality, and a major alteration of the praxis would imply a degradation of theology.

St. Tarasius further elaborates on the vital subject and praxis of veneration, “These two are the same [ie. veneration and greeting, my note], for κυνειν in the ancient Greek language means ‘greet’ and ‘kiss,’ and the addition of προσ adds an intensity of love; as in the case of … κυρω and προσκυρω, κύνω and προσκυνώ express a greeting and extended kiss. For what someone kisses he also venerates, and what he venerates he certainly also kisses, as is witnessed by our human relationships and intercourse with friends which involve both these things” (pg. 583). In the Greek words themselves, which are translated into English as “greeting and veneration,” a very physical manner and reality by which Christians venerate icons is expressed. Implicit in veneration is the very act of kissing together with bows (or prostrations), as St. Tarasius makes very clear. In proper human relationships, kisses are clearly a manifestation of love. If we love the Lord and His saints, we kiss them. The Greek word for “veneration” – “proskonesis” – expresses in itself the concrete action of “a greeting and extended kiss.” It is physical and tangible, as St. Tarasius instructs. It is not simply confined to inward disposition, which is an aspect of veneration, but it equally includes a visible and very distinct physical manner of greeting. The concrete action of kissing is clearly tied to the essential totality and actions of veneration and greeting. To the extent that one might say, to venerate means to kiss an icon. We see this very spiritual reality related in the Scriptures when St. Paul says, “If you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart” (cf. Rom. 10:9-10).

Referencing the Holy Cross, St. Tarasius makes another example and clearly calls Christian to touch holy icons with their lips, which is expressly a vital part of “greeting,” “Again, when we greet the life-giving cross, we all chant in unison, ‘We venerate your cross, O Lord’ and ‘We venerate the spear that pierced the life-giving side of your goodness.’ This manifestly both is and is called ‘greeting’, as is shown by our touching them with our lips” (pg. 584). We show forth and confirm our proclamation of veneration through the touching of holy things with our lips. That which we believe in the heart we confess with the mouth.

Further, in his letter to the clergy of Constantinople, St Tarasius calls “greeting and veneration” one and the same, which seems to indicate that they cannot be synthetically separated and one cannot be offered without the other. To venerate means to greet with a kiss. “We, therefore, following the laws of our fathers and having received grace from the one Spirit, have kept all that pertains to the church free of innovation and diminution, according to the tradition of the holy six ecumenical councils; whatever they allowed to be honoured in the catholic church we receive without dispute. This includes, as we have said, the making of images. To these we assign the veneration of honour and greeting – for both are the same” (pg. 589-590).

According to Christian teaching honor and greeting are the same; to diminish one is to detract from the other. St. Tarasios is simply reiterating and teaching that the Seventh Ecumenical Council already made clear. In the Acts of the Sixth Session, we find it written, “For everything dedicated to the memory of God is acceptable to him. Those who place themselves outside this tradition, which is shared by all those who have genuinely received sonship in the catholic church, are bastards and not sons. Let us therefore perceive that it is right and excellent for sacred images to be dedicated in the church and [for people] to be spiritually raised up by them to the memory of their archtypes, and for these because of their honourable status to be kissed and embraced and accorded the veneration that is their due, whether one prefers to give this the name of salutation or veneration. For the two are the same ...” (pg 544). Veneration and proper greeting are the same thing, although two components, they are a unified action. The act of veneration is “due” to the icons, thus one might say that proper veneration is a Christian duty. The Council makes clear that the believer is spiritually raised up to the archetypes and because of this absolute spiritual truth, a specific and concrete manner of greeting and veneration is commanded – icons are to be kissed and embraced, which embrace seems to be shown in bows and or prostrations. Thus, tied to the indisputable and non-negotiable Christian theology of the icon is an equally vital and unalterable praxis of veneration.

Again, the footnotes highlight the integral nature of “greeting/salutation” (ασπάζομαι) with the action of kissing, “The word ασπασμός the noun from ασπάζομαι, which in relation to images can have the specific meaning of kissing them” (Ibid, footnote 562).

The holistic vision of the Fathers of the Council between the spiritual reality and the physical manner of venerating icons is made very clear when they proclaim, “Those who say that depictions in images should serve simply as a reminder and should not be kissed, accepting the former but rejecting the latter, show themselves to be half-wicked and falsely true, acknowledging the truth in one respect but denigrating it in another. Alas the folly!” (pg 545-546). The synthetic separation of veneration with honor and greeting is not allowed in the theology of the Council. It is not enough simply to accept that icons are true and proper for use in churches; a person must also equally and properly venerate and greet them in the church. It is clear as day that theology and praxis are inseparable. In a proper Christian setting, there is not a veneration of the heart detached from the veneration of the lips, as the Council outlines. The Fathers call it folly to accept in principle icons and then not to maintain and defend proper veneration, which presumes a physical greeting, very specifically bows and a kiss.

I found no exclusions given by the Council regarding if and when icons should not be venerated (with bows and a kiss); rather, it seems very certain that the Council instructs and mandates all Christians to always equally uphold the theology of icons and the very specifically outlined mode of their veneration. Thus, as icons must always be accepted in the church, so they must always and without exclusion be properly venerated as instructed and decreed by the Council. Veneration applies to those icons within the scope of physical possibility for veneration; icons in domes, for example, are not expected to be venerated by the faithful as prescribed. Typically, Orthodox churches have specific icons set out for primary veneration, but this doesn’t preclude the veneration of other icons as moved by the faithful.

The vast spiritual importance of proper veneration is exemplified in a series of “anathemas” proclaimed by the Seventh Council at the end of the Horos, two of which relate very directly to the physical aspect of veneration – kissing. “The holy council exclaimed: ‘We all believe accordingly, we all hold the same, we have all signed in accord. This is the faith of the apostles, this is the faith of the fathers, this is the faith of the orthodox, this is the faith that has sustained the world. Believing in one God, to be praised in Trinity, we kiss the honourable images. May those who do not hold accordingly be anathema! May those who do not believe accordingly be driven far away from the church! … We accept the sacred images. We subject those who do not believe accordingly to anathema. To those who apply to the sacred images the sayings in divine scriptures against idols anathema! To those who do not kiss the holy and venerable images anathema! To those who call the sacred images idols anathema! … If anyone does not accept the gospel narratives when painted, anathema! If anyone does not kiss them as being in the name of the Lord and his saints, anathema!” (ibid. pg. 577-578).

The very act of venerating icons – kissing and embracing – is a theological proclamation. It’s an act of confession: icons are holy and that they are mystically connected to the person (hypostasis) of the one we venerate through them. It is a confession that the holy things convey to us only that which is holy and blessed. For, as the person our Lord Jesus Christ, and all His saints, would never convey anything evil to us, so it is impossible for icons to do so. It is thus vital to always and at all times maintain proper physical veneration; it seems clear that the Horos of the Seventh Council patently instructs Christians to always venerate icons as they have been instructed from times of old. It is not enough to “confess in the heart” that icons are venerable, but one must “make a confession with the mouth” through proper veneration – a kiss with the lips. The two cannot, as the Council teaches, be separated in any way; this it makes clear is the “royal road of the Fathers.”

Because it is of continual profit for us as Orthodox Christians to be fed by the words of the holy Fathers, I will end this article with one last quote from the Horos of the Seventh Council. Every Orthodox Christian is called to the lofty standard of the Faith as proclaimed in the consensus of the Body of Christ. This standard is the governing guide for all equally. May we hold fast to the Faith that has been entrusted to us. May we not estrange ourselves from Christ our Lord.

“As for those, therefore, who have the presumption to think or teach otherwise, or like the accursed heretics to spurn the traditions of the church and concoct some innovation, or to reject any of the things dedicated to the church – gospel books or figures of the cross or painted images or the relics of a martyr – or perversely and wickedly to intend to subvert any of the lawful traditions of the catholic church, or indeed to degrade to common use any sacred vessels or holy monasteries, we prescribe that if they be bishops of clerics they are to be deposed, while if they are monks or laymen they are to be excommunicated” (pg. 566).

The world will never stop bringing complicated issues to the doors of the Church and the Christian Faithful. The wrestling with these issues is what the Church does, but always from the foundation of Truth. We must, as the Scriptures instruct, “Be ready always to give an answer to every man who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Pet. 3:15). I hope that, starting in my own heart, we will be ready and willing to examine the issues of the day in light of the truth of Revelation. When it becomes clear that something may be out of harmony with this Revelation, I hope that we all can attune ourselves to it. In this article, I’ve presented what I believe to be a true and authentic recap of the teaching on the veneration of icons, as set forth by the 7^th Council. This is the faith handed down to us as Orthodox Christians. I hope we never forget it. May the Lord help us.

1The Acts of the Second Council of Nicaea (787), Translated with notes and an introduction by Richard Price. Liverpool University Press, 2020.

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“Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:34-36).

Foundational to Christian living is the remembrance of God. Remembrance while waking. Remembrance while at work. Remembrance while fulfilling the duties of life. Remembrance while going to sleep. The Christian is called to cultivate the remembrance of God in all things. It need not be elaborate; the believer may offer this service from the inner chamber of the heart. He may offer it in solitude or while in the midst of a multitude.

The littlest of things may serve to turn our hearts and minds to the Most-Holy Trinity. While at work, “Lord fashion me according to Your image.” While eating, “Lord feed me with true heavenly food.” While drinking, “Lord, give unto me the Living Water.” Even when we encounter unpleasant situations – that insane driver on the freeway! – “Lord, have mercy and save us! Lord deliver our race from the evil one.” Thus, we can train ourselves to use everyday events to lift up our minds to Heavenly things. Short prayers peppered throughout the day, these will act to cultivate in our hearts the remembrance of God. Our psyche becomes exercised in the good.

If remembrance of God is foundational to the Christian life, then its opposite is foundational for the anti-Christian life: forgetfulness of God. The enemy seeks to use all of the cares of this world to drown the soul in forgetfulness. He seeks to lull it into a false sense of complacency or keep it constantly occupied in worry and fear. He seeks to dehumanize humanity. In a state of dehumanized forgetfulness, he drives our race to the cliffs of perdition. The masses staggering forward in the darkness of forgetfulness are constantly told, “This is true freedom.” And under duress, they begin to believe it.

The devil seeks to convince man to reduce himself to bare material existence – there is nothing beyond what can be seen with physical eyes and touched with fleshly hands. Even if the possibility of something greater is admitted, it is simultaneously wiped away as “unknowable or unknown.” Thus, humanity seemingly frees itself of any duty to contemplate higher things – after all, the thought stirs, what is truth and how could it be actually known? The shuffling masses are well supplied with the narcotic of indifferentism to eternal realities. It is but a small step from indifferentism to outright hostility.

A fundamental confession of modernity is that materialistic existence is the sum of all “good.” For the enemy to make such an illusion seem a reality, he seeks to purge the human consciousness of any striving and longing for Eternal things. Obliterating the remembrance of God in the heart of man is key to this. Humanity is convinced that freedom is found through choking its own soul.

Aldous Huxley, in his work “Brave New World Revisited,” has many very interesting admissions. Regardless of whether one thinks Huxley was trying to warn people about the goals of the elite or that he was engaging in the very typical tactic of “hiding in plain sight,” is not of the greatest concern to me at the moment. One way or another, he expressed ideals, methods, and goals – the spirit – of the “new order” that seeks to take control of man.

“Whatever may have happened in the early years, it seems fairly certain that torture is not extensively used by the Communist police today. They draw their inspiration, not from the Inquisitor or the SS man, but from the physiologist and his methodically conditioned laboratory animals. For the dictator and his policemen, Pavlov’s findings have important practical implications. If the central nervous system of dogs can be broken down, so can the central nervous system of political prisoners.” – And for that matter, those of the general population, we might add – “It is simply a matter of applying the right amount of stress for the right length of time. At the end of the treatment, the prisoner will be in a state of neurosis or hysteria, and will be ready to confess whatever his captors want him to confess” (Brave New World Revisited, Harper Perennial, 2004, pg. 289).

Such tactics were used throughout the Soviet system, as historical evidence testifies. One of the most diabolical of such experiments was carried out in the Communist Romanian prison of Pitesti. It was simply called “Reeducation.” The modern materialist views man as but a biological machine; the human machine needs to be reprogrammed according to the specifications of the governing “powers.”

Controlled stress on people is purposeful. Today, we constantly hear about “stress.” Modern life is de facto “stressful.” A host of ailments, both physical and mental, are connected to high stress. A host of resources are produced to help people with “stress management.” The whole of modern society has been calibrated with a certain level of stress. A Chinese water torture of stress. A constant level of stress is calculated to mentally erode people.

Mr. Huxley continues, “But confession is not enough. A hopeless neurotic is no use to anyone. What the intelligent and practical dictator needs is not a patient to be institutionalized, or a victim to be shot, but a convert who will work for the Cause” (Ibid).

There is a new anti-evangelism going on, one that indeed has conversion as its goal. Modern stress is calculated to wear people down into a primed state, ready to be converted to whatever the modern “cause” might be. Technology and screens then act as triggers to instigate and direct reactions. I take the time to highlight these things so that we may be aware of the methods that are being employed. Christians are told to be watchful. We cannot disallow that we are part of the human race, and if not careful in Christ Jesus, we may be susceptible to the sly tactics devised and utilized.

“Turning once again to Pavlov, he learns that, on their way to the point of final breakdown, dogs become more than normally suggestible. New behavior patterns can easily be installed while the dog is at or near the limit of cerebral endurance, and these new behavior patterns seem to be ineradicable. The animal in which they have been implanted cannot be deconditioned; that which it has learned under stress will remain an integral part of its make-up” (Ibid. 289-290).

The “recondition man” – the enemy’s perverse imitation of Christ Jesus’ making of men “new creation” (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17). But here the goal is to make a hallow man, an animal man that is stripped of all humanity; a utilitarian object that if found to be of no sufficient use or practicality, may be discarded with little resistance. In a multitude of ways, the uniformity of forgetfulness of God is actively being cultivated in the psyche of people.

In the means and methods of producing psychological stress elaborated by Mr. Huxley, the reader, I’m sure, will notice much in common with the social environment that surrounds us. “Psychological stresses can be produced in many ways … it has been found that the deliberate induction of fear, rage, or anxiety markedly heightens the dog’s suggestibility. If these emotions are kept at a high pitch of intensity for a long enough time, the brain goes ‘on strike.’ When this happens, new behavior patterns may be installed with the greatest of ease” ( Brave New World Revisited, pg. 290).

This is why our world is full of what some have labeled “pseudo-ideas.” The human mind is purposely broken down and fed false ideas from every side, even fantastical and self-contradicting ideas, which it then takes as some sort of reality. In this state of constant emotional and sentimental reaction, it is very easy to control. Now, with the continued development of AI, we may no longer trust what our eyes see on a screen. Is that even real? Wait, that’s AI! That’s not a real person! The mind becomes exhausted in the confusion of what is real or not. There’s no mistake here.

People are segmented into groups, each group being inculcated that some opposing group is the source of every world ailment. Fear is played upon; people lash out at others whom they view as the “problem.” Concerted effort is focused on dehumanizing the chosen “enemy.” Hatred keeps them enslaved in a ruthless, spiraling chaos.

The environments of war and conflict, both abroad and nationally, are directly related to this psychological experiment. The flow is constant, high-pitched – because the brain must be broken down and exhausted. Fear, rage, anxiety. The program is written everywhere. Its effectiveness relies on environments of destabilization, and thus it has no authentic interest in tangible peace and stability. It will talk of peace but artfully circumvent it. Devoid of authentic love, the agenda can only use fear and hatred as reconstruction tools.

He continues, “Among the physical stresses that increase a dog’s suggestibility are fatigue, wounds, and every form of sickness” (Ibid). And then, as if explaining events of our day, he elaborates, “Illness is even more effective than fatigue as an intensifier of suggestibility” (Ibid). We witnessed this methodology under covidism. It was primarily psychological – masks, lockdowns (applied, eased, and applied again), new social habits, threat of death unless a vaccine is taken, and so forth. It’s also why the threat of some new disease, just around the corner, is ever in the mainstream media. Covidism proved that people, even Christians, are willing to accept a “new normal” under the psychological threat of illness and death. It was priming the pump. It indicated that people are indeed willing to accept new standards of human interaction (or lack thereof). Even Christians were willing to accept the modification of worship and interaction with the Divine under the threat of a “Pandemic.” Some Christians refused the non-masked entrance into church buildings; some even willingly segregated the unvaccinated or barred them from worship. All of this happened. No Christian group was exempt. The excuse was concern and care for one’s neighbor. A worthy cause. Frequently, worthy ideas are hijacked and altered to promote a particular agenda.

Those who would not accept the new mass psychosis were many times cut off, even by those counted as friends. What do such actions say, and have we as Christians repented and reconciled? Will those Christian leaders who became promoters of covidism admit that they were wrong? It would be a positive thing. Or has it just been easier to brush it under the carpet? This clearly indicates the importance, and on some level the potency, of what is being addressed in this article. Although it may seem at present that covidism is done or dormant, I bring it up because substantial ground was taken; through it, the reconditioning of humanity. Certain mentalities were cultivated in many people and are still there. Certain global institutions took copious notes and are ever warning of the next “pandemic.” The last one was too effective not to try again. Don’t worry, the response will be even more effective and “lockstep” next time!

Mr. Huxley notes, “Intense, prolonged fear broke them down and produced a state of greatly intensified suggestibility … If indoctrination is given in the right way at the proper stage of nervous exhaustion, it will work. Under favorable conditions, practically everybody can be converted to practically anything” (Ibid. pg. 291).

As covidsm was losing its potency, the world was hurriedly moved into its next crisis. Somehow, a war was begun in a European country most Americans couldn’t find on a map. And it became the great scapegoat for a plethora of global “shortages” and hostilities. War also provides an enemy to hate. The seemingly inexhaustible “treats” in the Middle East are always in the playbook. Look, another crazy with nukes! We must also take into consideration that people tend to be more open to saviors in major global instability.

And let’s not forget about the use of “climate” for fearmongering. Keep the masses in a state of anxiety and worry. The Earth itself is imploding on itself! The current powers care nothing for human life or the earth; both are simply grand tools of psychological warfare. For them, “climate” concerns are only useful for implementing greater control systems.

There is undoubtedly a certain reality behind the materialist understanding of the human psyche. The methods have been implemented with great success in many places. It does at least confirm that the human mind will be conformed to something or someone. We are impressionable beings. It’s vital to consider the source of the impressions on us.

Ven. Fr. Seraphim (Rose) candidly proclaims, “The psychological trials of dwellers in the last times will equal the physical trials of the martyrs. But in order to face these trials we must be living in a different world.”

So, what is the Christian to do? Remember God! If in situations of heightened stress we become more “susceptible,” then let us turn these constructed situations of continued crisis around us to a beneficial end. In trials and tribulations, let us turn to God. If the goal is to wear us down, then let’s encourage ourselves in the Lord. The goal is to mentally weaken us, so let’s strengthen our minds in Christ. “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner!” Ultimately, the plans of the Devil, executed through those sad persons who serve him, will all come crashing down and be destroyed.

The Scriptures admonish us, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (1 Pet. 5:6-9).

“Cast thy care upon the Lord, and He shall nourish thee; He shall never suffer the righteous to stumble. But Thou, O God, shalt bring them into the pit of destruction; blood-thirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in the Lord” (Ps. 54[55]:23-24).

And then, if we remain in Christ Jesus, we may say with the righteous Joseph, “Do not be afraid, for I belong to God. But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good” (Gen. 50:20).

If, in all the instability of our days, we cultivate in our hearts the remembrance of God, then we will find the calm path through the stormy waters. Even in all the global machinations of men, we may be reminded of God, “O Lord, this world is passing away, and all its lust, only Your Kingdom abides forever! Remember me when You come in Your Kingdom!”

Counteract the psychological attack of the evil one by cultivating in your psyche the remembrance of God. May we have the sobriety to understand the tactics being used against us, and to implement the proper spiritual defense in our Lord Jesus.

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me … In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn. 14:1; 16:33).

A prayer by St. Anatole (the Younger) of Optina:

“Deliver me, O Lord, from the deceptions of the God-hating and evil antichrist, whose coming is at hand, and shelter me from his snares in the secret desert of Thy salvation. Grant me, O Lord, strength and courage to firmly confess Thy Most Holy Name, that I may not abandon Thee because of the devil’s fear and that I may not deny Thee my Savior and Redeemer, nor Thy Holy Church. But grant me, O Lord, cries and tears for my sins, and spare me in the hour of Thy dread judgment. Amen

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It enjoys wide usage because it’s effective. Quite possibly, given the rise of technology and the advent of online platforms and social media, it has more expansive ground in which to be applied.

Of course, character and motive cannot be totally ignored. Nor should it entirely. As a drastic example, no one would listen to a pedophile on the topic of caring for children. And rightly so.

Yet, in most circumstances, the varying character weaknesses or flaws that each of us inevitably bears do not automatically discredit a speaker and subsequently his ideas.

When such flaws, or personal situations, sometimes greater than the control of the person, are used as tools to silence and discredit a valid topic, something is wrong. When there is little to no attempt to actually engage the ideas presented, and rather the focus is to subvert the speaker by any means possible, then something is wrong. Frequently, this happens to shut a conversation down and completely silence the speaker. In such circumstances, it is profitable to ask, what is the person trying to say that is so concerning to those who are aggressively trying to shut down all discussion on the matter?

We live in an age of hyper-ad hominem fallacy. An arsenal of labels is unleashed on people who do not think and do as certain powers and groups feel they should. Shaming is a very useful means of control; thereby, core issues are seldom addressed.

Ideas have always been dangerous. For better or worse.

Moreover, in true Christianity, we have the standard of Divine Revelation by which to test and weigh whatever may be said or written. Is it in direct and active contradiction to the Faith? If so, how and why? Yet, sadly, we also easily fall into an ad hominem trap. Sometimes we become more intent on shooting the messenger than trying to hear what he may actually be saying. Shoot first – ask questions later, this may work well in Westerns, but for authentically productive and conciliar addressing of pressing issues of the times, it does not work so well.

Of course, in Christianity, if someone is clearly and blatantly opposing the established teachings of the Faith, there is a real problem. In such cases, we are commanded to give such ones no heed. Yet, the endeavor should be made to present reasonable and established proof of how and why a teaching, or whatever it may be, is violating the Faith. We are not required to give ear to those who are clearly opposing the Faith. The Faith is not relative.

A Lesson from Sacred History

In Byzantium, in the 600’s, a teaching called “Monothelitism” was developed. The intent was to reconcile the Orthodox with those who had embraced the heresy of Monophysitism (the teaching that Christ Jesus had only one nature, the Divine). Monothelitism – One-willism – basically taught that the Incarnate Lord had only one will, the Divine will. It stated that there was no human will in Christ Jesus. The goal was to find a compromise between the Orthodox teaching and Monophysitism. This novel teaching was opposed on many levels. It acted to introduce a new conflict within the Church and the Byzantine Empire at that time.

In 648 AD, the Emperor Constans II issued an edict known as the “Typos,” in which he forbade any discussion for or against Monothelitism. He hoped that by forcing people not to talk about the issues, the swirling problems and conflicts would just go away. They, as in most cases, did not. He also supported the Monothelite cause, and the gag order was intended to aid the acceptance of Monothelitism.

Several saints opposed and condemned the Typos and Monothelitism, such as St. Martin, the Patriarch of Rome. In 649 AD, he convened a council, known as the Lateran Council, at which both Monothelitism and the Typos were condemned. The Emperor demanded that St. Martin accept the Typos, and he replied, “Even if the whole world were to embrace the new doctrine which is contrary to Orthodoxy, I will not. Even if I must die, I will never renounce the teaching of the Gospels, the Apostles, and the Holy Fathers” (The Great Collection of the Lives of the Saints, April. Pg. 154). St. Martin was arrested, condemned without a trial, tortured, exiled, and died a confessor of the Faith. A sacrifice to forced silence. He was labeled, “An enemy of the realm: a heretic, a foe of God, and a traitor to the Graeco-Roman Empire.” The Patriarch of Constantinople collaborated with the Emperor to have him silenced and exiled.

The great confessor and teacher of Orthodoxy, St. Maximus, was in Rome at the time of the Lateran Council. He was a staunch opponent of the Typos. St. Maximus, together with two of his disciples, was also arrested and brought to Constantinople. The account of his life during this time offers very helpful instruction for us today. The tactics used by the Emperor’s committee, with Patriarchal support, as it strove to discredit and manipulate St. Maximus, are worth a brief examination. The goal was to trap St. Maximus by various means. In many ways, they reflect the plethora of tactics still in use today, particularly when, within the Church, certain people may wish to advance novel teachings. For this article, I have highlighted a few tactics and Maximus’ saintly response to them. May they help to instruct us.

Tactic 1: Isolation

First, the committee appointed by the Emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople (who was championing the Typos) attempted to isolate St. Maximus. A goal of this tactic was to make it seem as if he were the only one (or one of very few) who opposed the Typos.

“On arrival they announced that they had been sent by the Patriarch, and they said to the saint, ‘To which church do you belong? To that of Byzantium, of Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, or Jerusalem? For all these churches, together with the provinces subject to them, are in unity. Therefore, if you belong to the Catholic Church, enter into communion with us at once, lest by fashioning for yourself some new and strange pathway, you fall into that which you do not expect’” (Life, pg. 14)!¹

This tactic seeks to paint the person with the undesirable ideas as isolated and on the fringe; in essence, it is saying, “Everyone else is with us, why aren’t you? You are the only one with a problem.” Sometimes, if possible, the opponent will be literally isolated; in St. Maximus’ case, he was eventually exiled. Today, since literal exile is not very viable, people may be instructed to have nothing to do with the “problematic” person, all the while, the issues he may have raised remain predominantly unaddressed, and he is persistently painted as a “problematic and troublesome person.” The goal is to create a feeling and environment of isolation in the hopes that he will recant his stance (whatever it may be).

St. Maximus’ reply is very worth reading, “Christ the Lord acknowledges as Catholic that Church which maintains the true and saving confession of Faith. He called Peter blessed for his correct confession of Him, upon which He built His Church. But tell me: on what basis have all the churches, as you say, entered into communion? If it is on a foundation of truth, I do not wish to be separated from them.” (Great Collection, pg. 366). The saint aptly directs the course of discussion back to the central matter – the true confession of faith. What are the issues at hand? Whether he is indeed the “only one” or not does nothing to truly address the core issues. Most importantly, he maintains that the sole foundation is truth; without it, no unity can be authentic, and no teaching can stand.

It is worth noting that if someone, after due and proper investigation, is found to be in fact teaching things clearly opposed to the Faith, and they remain unrepentant, then it is proper to avoid fellowship with such ones. The Scriptures command this. St. Maximus refused fellowship with several Patriarchs of Constantinople precisely because they stubbornly refused to reject the heresy of Monothelitism. St. Maximus did so on the principle of his Christian conscience, based on revealed Christian teaching and truth, and regardless of what “everyone else was doing.”

The steadfast faithfulness of men like Ss. Maximus and Martin were foundational in the teachings of the 6^th Ecumenical Council, which took place after their deaths.

Tactic 2: Exaggerated influence

It is interesting to consider that after the method of isolation failed, a course of mild flattery, in the form of exaggerated influence, is pursued. One of the appointed persons, Theodosius, said to St. Maximus, “‘We have a proposal to make, and hope you will agree to it and delight the world.’ ‘What is it’ … said the saint, ‘and who am I that my concurrence will please the world? … ‘The Emperor and Patriarch want you to explain why you have cut yourself off from communion with the see of Constantinople,’ Theodosius said” (Ibid. pg. 369). In another section, it was claimed that he was subverting the entire Empire.

An exaggerated influence of the person is presented, either for good or bad. By recanting one’s stance, it’s presented as if the “whole world will rejoice.” But if not, the same person becomes a terrible stumbling block for untold multitudes and a leader of everyone into error!

St. Maximus’ reply is of great edification. Cyrus, Patriarch of Alexandria, published the Nine Chapters, which were approved by the see of Constantinople. Soon, the novelties proposed in that document were followed by others, overturning the definitions of holy councils. These innovations were devised by the primates of the Church of Constantinople: Sergius, Phyrrus, and Paul, as all the other churches know very well. This is the reason I, your servant, am not in communion with the throne of Constantinople. Let the offenses introduced by those men be rejected and the abettors deposed; then the way of salvation will be cleared, and you will walk the smooth path of the Gospel unhindered by heresy. When I see the Church of Constantinople as she was formerly, I shall enter into communion with her uncompelled, but as long as the scandal of heresy persists in her and her bishops are miscreants, no argument or persecution will win me over to your side” (Ibid).

The Saint once again brings the topic around to the vital issues. He, in both the above cases, avoids the trap of either intentional isolation or flattery/accusation. Indeed, he states that his upholding of the faith is not the source of scandal; rather, it is the novel innovations because they are heretical. The Saint then gives a beautiful outline of the Orthodox confession, which I will not reproduce for this article. To strive to uphold the Faith is not divisive; true division comes from those who aggressively introduce false teachings.

St. Maximus refused communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople because he was promoting a false teaching. St. Maximus did not wait for an Ecumenical Council to do this; his faithful stance in Truth inspired a later Ecumenical Council. When a clear and persistent violation of the Faith is present, a severing of communion with the perpetrators is justified and called for.

Tactic 3: It’s not dogmatic

Once again, St. Maxmius’ adversaries shift their tactics: “Accept the Emperor’s Typos not as an expression of dogma, but as his personal interpretation and a means of silencing controversy.”

St. Maximus replies, “If the Typos is not a dogmatic definition establishing that our Lord has a single will and operation, why have I been exiled” (Ibid. pg. 371).

St. Maximus further states, “If the Emperor commands me to do something temporal and of transitory significance, and if it be not opposed to God or harmful for the eternal salvation of my soul, then I will gladly fulfill it” (Life. pg. 25).

The keen-sighted Saint understood the significance of the Typos, that it indeed had deeply influenced the very manifestation of the life of the Church, and thus was dogmatic in nature. His opponents attempted to downplay the Typos and make it appear that St. Maximus was overreacting. He was making much ado about nothing. But if it were as they claimed, why was so much effort being put into discrediting, silencing, and opposing him? Why all the force to make him comply? Although St. Maximus’ opponents claimed the Typos was not dogmatic, their actions clearly indicated otherwise. Their great effort to enforce it evidenced that for them, it was a matter of faith, but a wrong faith. St. Maximus understood this very well.

Moreover, decrees that have bearing on the life of the Church inevitably enter into the realm of dogma, such as the Typos. St. Maximus shows us that any decree, be it Imperial or Patriarchal, should and must be evaluated in the light of the revealed standard of the Faith. When any decree or teaching is enforced simply for the sake of “authority” and at the expense of the Faith, there is no sin in questioning it. If it is valid and reasonable, then let it prove itself as such through examination in the light of the Faith. When authorities refuse this process, it indicates their decrees may not be firmly founded on truth. Truth will always stand up under scrutiny.

At some point, St. Maximus’ opponents physically beat him up because he would not cease to call the discussion back to the reason and standard of Faith. Beating someone into submission reveals that there is no authentically reasonable stance being promoted because it must be upheld by force. Ultimately, truth does not need force to stand. A lie does.

Tactic 4: Don’t talk about it, if you do, you are divisive

Once again, an amicable demeanor is assumed by the opponents and a more nuanced approach is undertaken to shake St. Maximus. “The Typos does not deny the two wills in Christ, but merely orders that there be no discussion of them, for the sake of peace” (Great Collection, pg. 374). It’s implied again that St. Maximus is being overly scrupulous; the issue is not “dogmatic.” The Typos does not outright deny the dogma of the two wills in Christ. Anyway, the pursued goal is noble – that of peace. St. Maximus is a disturber of the peace. His insistence on addressing the core issues of the Typos is making a mountain out of a molehill, so they claim. At the center of the Typos was a gag order forbading the discussion of the theological issues of Monothelitism. It was claimed that the decree was only concerned with peace; thus, anyone who persisted in speaking against it opposed peace. Who doesn’t want peace? Although from our historical vantage point, it is clear that the Typos was more an effort to silence the voice of the Orthodox who opposed the heresy of Molothelitism. By forcing silence, the promoters of heresy hope it would take root without further great opposition. Positive ideas are frequently used as a cover to enforce a false agenda, such as “we just want peace, so shut up!” Episcopal authority was abused to force submission.

St. Maximus answers, “To suppress confession of the faith is to deny it. The Holy Spirit declares through the prophet, There are no tongues nor words in which their voices are not heard (Ps. 18); consequently if a word is not uttered, it is not a word at all” (Ibid). Silence in the face of the compromise of the Faith is a public statement. Silence in the face of falsehood acts to perpetuate deception. To suppress a correct statement or confession of the faith is, as St. Maximus says, to deny it.

“Troilus said, ‘Believe what you wish in your heart. No one cares what you think, as long as you do not stir up trouble.’ ‘Our Salvation does not depend merely on faith of the heart,’ said St. Maximus. ‘The Lord teaches, Whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father Which is in heaven. Furthermore, the divine Apostle tells us, With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. If God and the prophets and the apostles command that the mystery of faith which is the salvation of the whole world be confessed openly, then our salvation is hindered when its proclamation is forbidden” (Ibid. pp 374-375). Believe whatever you want in your heart; no one cares, just don’t vocalize it! Of course, if no one really cared, then why were such great lengths taken to silence St. Maximus? The effort to silence a speaker shows that there is a great concern and that the topic has hit a chord.

Essentially, St. Maximus responds that neither an Emperor nor a Patriarch has the right to silence a correct proclamation of the Faith. A true statement of Faith trumps an Emperor or a Patriarch. No authority is vested in them to silence it. If a statement or decree is false and outside the boundaries of the Faith, let it first be reasonably shown to be so by the standard of Faith. If it can be proven thus, it should then be totally rejected. But a correct statement of Faith is not divisive and never can be when it is made in response to a novel teaching. It is the introduction of novelty that is the true source of division. “People must not be forced to keep silence with regard to confession, lest the salvation of people be hindered,” says St. Maximus (Life. pg. 29).

Forced silence on matters of Faith will never bring peace nor heal a situational wound. Those who introduce novelties will strive to make it appear as if the “divisive ones” are those striving to uphold the correct confession of faith. Rather, those who introduce novel teachings are the ones dividing the Body of Christ.

Tactic 5: You are condemning others

The Saint was then accused of condemning, hating, and anathematizing both the Emperor and the Patriarch. The Saint makes a very important distinction – a person can strongly disagree with a decree of someone (and even cease fellowship with that person) while at the same time not condemning or hating that person. To speak against an error that a person promotes is not de facto a condemnation of that person; one may condemn an error without condemning the person promoting it. But frequently, those in error take the condemnation of their idea or stance personally and will claim that their opponents hate and condemn them personally.

“‘If you are a Christian,’ objected the treasurer, ‘then why do you hate the Emperor?’

‘Whence is that evident?’ Asked the Saint. ‘Indeed, hatred is a hidden feeling of the soul, just as is love.’

‘From your deeds,’ replied the treasurer, ‘it has become known to all that you are an enemy of the Emperor and the empire …’

‘Where is there reliable proof of this?’ asked the Saint.” (Life. pp. 33-34).

Very sadly, the Emperor and his men were so invested in the Typos that they took any criticism of it personally, to the extent that anyone who opposed it was labeled an “enemy.” In such an environment, it is very difficult to have any productive Christian discourse. Of course, no substantial proof could be offered that St. Maximus was indeed a true enemy, and the only “deeds” to condemn him were his refusal to compromise the faith even under pressure of Imperial decree, together with his persistence in holding to the standard of Orthodoxy.

“‘Did you anathematize the Typos,’ asked Troilus.

‘I have confirmed several times that I did,’ answered the Elder.

‘If you anathematized the Typos, it follows that you anathematized the Emperor,’ asserted Troilus.

‘I did not anathematize the Emperor, but only a scrap of parchment which overthrows the Orthodox teaching of the Church,’ explained the godly one” (Great Collection, pg. 383).

We see that one may condemn a decree or teaching of error without condemning the person who is promoting it. At times, a person who persists in unrepentant heresy may eventually be condemned, but this is the work of the Universal Church. Or it may be said that by willfully clinging to heresy, a person removes himself from the Church. Disagreeing with a decree or teaching and refusing communion with them is totally possible while, at the same time, refraining from condemning the person(s) behind them. This is a very important point. Reiterating teachings of the Faith is not a condemnation of persons; falsehood should be condemned while leaving all persons in the Merciful hands of God. Sadly, a firm statement of Faith may be construed as an arrogant condemnation of others that is disturbing the peace, as the life of St. Maximus shows us.

St. Maximus professed very strong words against the false teaching, but he refrained from a wholesale condemnation of the persons behind it. He denounced and anathematized the false teaching and refused to commune with those who actively promoted it.

St. Maximus’ opponents accused him of arrogance. They implied that he thought he was the only one who would be saved. They sought to connect the confession of truth to arrogance. Throughout the life of St. Maximos, the virtues are weaponized and twisted to try to pressure compliance. Those promoting the false teaching claim that those who do not receive it are arrogant and proud. The virtue of humility is twisted to provoke submission. Yet, authentic humility has nothing to do with compromising the faith.

“‘So then, you alone will be saved, and all others will perish?’ they objected. To this the Saint replied, ‘When all the people in Babylon were worshipping the golded idol, the Three Holy Children did not condemn anyone to perdition. They did not concern themselves with the doings of others, but took care only for themselves, lest they should fall away from true piety. In precisely the same way, Daniel was cast into the lion’s den, he did not condemn any of those who, fulfilling the law of Darius, did not wish to pray to God, but he kept in mind his own duty, and desired rather to die than to sin against his conscience by transgressing the Law of God. God forbid that I should condemn anyone or say that I alone am being saved! However, I shall sooner agree to die than to apostatize in any way from the true Faith and thereby suffer the torments of conscience’” (Life. Pg 38).

At times, even a simple restatement of Faith is interpreted by false teachers as a condemnation because their own consciences are ailing them.

St. Maximus teaches, “There is nothing more burdensome and grievous than when the conscience accuses us in anything, and there is nothing dearer than the calmness and approval of the conscience” (Ibid. pg. 40). Whenever a Christian is told that his conscience does not matter, something is very twisted. In fact, whenever the Christian conscience is trampled and disregarded – flee far away!

The lives of the saints are full of so much instruction! I recommend reading the life of St. Maximus in its entirety. From the small portions presented above, we may learn how important it is to hold a true confession, and how even small compromises, even in the name of peace, can be detrimental. We learn a few tactics that are used to leverage a person into denying his stance and submitting to the ones that his opponents desire. Frequently, all direct discussion of the actual issues is suppressed, and various means of intimidation and character assassination are exploited. The extremes of both flattery and degradation are used. Most of all, we learn from the life of St. Maximus that it is never wrong to speak about the correct teachings of the Faith, and that when these are being compromised, it is a betrayal of the faith to remain silent. Further, we see that every Christian is given freedom by God to speak openly about the correct teaching of the Church, while at the same time not condemning any people to perdition. We can leave them to God, but as St. Maximus says, we must give an answer for what we have done and said.

St. Maximus eventually had his tongue cut out and his right hand chopped off. All in the name of keeping the peace. He was exiled to a desolate place, and there died in poverty, despised and neglected by the majority of people. Yet, today we remember him as one of the preeminent defenders of the Faith, and all those who persecuted him in the name of peace and obedience to the Emperor and Patriarch are (because they did not repent) remembered as betrayers of the Faith. May the Lord help us to stand in a humble but steadfast confession of His Divine Truth. The honors given by earthly authorities fade away; the honor bestowed by the High King of Heaven abides forever.

1All quotes from the life of St. Maximus for this article are taken either fromThe Great Collection of the Lives of the Saints. Vol. 5, January. Compiled by St. Dimitry of Rostov; or The Life of our Holy Father Maximus the Confessor. Holy Transfiguration Monastery. In the text, I will note either Great Collection or Life and provide the page number.

(This post is an expanded and revised version of a post I wrote a few years ago.)

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A similar spiritual exhaustion is manifesting itself in the “West” precisely because it’s abandoning its authentic spiritual fabric: Christianity. The 20^th century was a time of accelerated de-Christianization, not to mention the 21^st. The fruit of the promised “freedom” of secularism is clearly coming to fruition in our days.

A. Solzhenitsyn aptly comments, “The Western system in its present state of spiritual exhaustion does not look attractive.”

Yet, modernity seems to think that if the dosage is turned up, it will surely work a miracle. But more of a bad thing typically only makes things worse. Yet, modernity would rather convulse in its intensified stupor than wake up, or so it sometimes seems.

Another vital aspect of secular-humanism is that it must shut down every possible avenue of reasonable dialogue. This is accomplished by villainizing anyone who holds a view contrary to its own. Thus, labels such as “bigot,” “hater,” “racist,” “transphobic,” “phobic” this or that, “fundamentalist,” “far” this or “far” that, and so forth, are readily employed. The goal is to cultivate irrational and base emotional reactions in people. These then prevent them from reasoning in a more profound manner: a pattern based on the higher principles of immutable morals and spirituality. Or at bear minimum, it obstructs any basic and reasonable exchange. The purpose is to keep people swirling in a spiral of constant knee-jerk reactions to sound-bite information – react, react, react! But never stop to consider and contemplate. Thus, secularism dismantles any authentic and intellectual dialogue. And that’s equality at its finest.

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The unexpected. It throws a monkey wrench in the routines. Sometimes it’s pleasant, like a scenic detour. Sometimes not, turning things topsy-turvy. At times it’s small and manageable, and at times it’s a bit more than bargained for. Usually, there’s very little perceived control over the unexpected. Somehow, both the routines and the unexpected weave together in the flow of this life.

On December 18^th of this past year, I was unexpectedly in a car accident. It came while in the midst of a routine. I was just running out to get my wife from work. Routine. The drive is usually under ten minutes. Here in my neck of the woods in Colorado, the winter has been very warm. That day was fairly warm, sweatshirt weather at best. The time rolled around to run out “really quick” and get my wife. It’s warm out, so I just slipped on my sandals. No socks! After all, it’s a short drive. Routine. I do it a few times a week. Same route. There and back again in under twenty minutes. Then it’s tea time.

I leave the house. Turn left. Down the road. Four-way stop. Yup. Drive a little more, light just ahead. From a distance, it’s red. I start slowing down. It turns green while I’m still approaching. Solid green, give a little gas, and let’s go. Entering the intersection, on the left side of my peripheral vision, it clicks that the oncoming car is not stopping. Straight on through the red light. Bang! Boom!

The unexpected. It’s interesting how, in certain circumstances, time moves in a very different manner. The few seconds before the impact, in which my brain registered the inbound vehicle, seemed to hang in a suspended state. Slow motion. On impact, everything suddenly sped up to an accelerated rate with much shaking and movement. Is it simply perception, or is there an elasticity to time in certain moments? Maybe it is a combination of both.

I didn’t have the fanciest car. It was a 2012 Jeep Patriot. I’d had a great experience with it. No major problems. Just over 100k miles. It was a budget car for a budget priest lifestyle. As a side, it was surprisingly good on some 4x4 roads. And it got me through several bad snowstorms.

In May of 2025, my wife and I were returning from a little getaway in the mountains. Our wedding anniversary is in late April. Unsurprisingly, for Colorado, it began to snow the day we had to drive back. And it snowed and snowed. I put that little Jeep in four-wheel drive, and it plodded along like a tank. Some other cars were not so fortunate. So, it did well.

Originally, I bought it to use for side work. My flush priest salary has to be supplemented sometimes with side work. Back before seminary, I did woodworking, construction, and remodeling. Here and there, I pick up side jobs in those spheres. The little Jeep was the work vehicle. Pack the tools in and off I go.

Not anymore. After time slowed and then sped up, my Jeep was done. The impact was on the front driver’s side tire sector. A little more into the intersection, and it would have been on my driver’s door. Thank you, guardian angel. I know I made a bit of extra work for you that day.

Even the insurance company issued the solemn decree of finality for my Jeep. “Totaled.” The way it was bleeding fluid in the intersection, I was not surprised when the final proclamation of termination was made. Fair well, faithful machine.

Thankfully, the other driver and I were relatively fine. In the following days (and weeks) my neck and back did ache quite a bit. Mild whiplash. Currently, I’m still healing up from it. It’s fascinating how the jumbling from the impact will affect your body.

The other driver was a kind man. We got to spend an hour or so chatting while we waited for the police to arrive. Oddly enough, within the few minutes that our accident occurred, four other car accidents happened. All within a mile of each other. Was something in the air? I don’t know. Since neither of us was calling for an ambulance for medical attention, priority was given to the other accidents. An ambulance was dispatched to provide emergency lights as we waited. My car was immobilized in the intersection.

The EMTs were friendly folks. After asking if we were okay, one began to chuckle a little and said, “Man, you guys could be brothers.” Then it dawned on both of us: white males, mid to late 40s. I was in a flannel shirt; he was in a flannel shirt; I had dark gray pants on, and he had a similar color. And don’t forget the Peaky. But I can’t help it if the guy who hit my car has great style. I had a graying beard; he had a graying beard. But mine was longer and used to be red. Of course, he had shoes on, and I only had sandals. The EMT asked me, “You do realize it’s not summer?” Yeah. Routine got me. Nonetheless, I enjoyed my encounter with this man, as unexpected as it was.

Our talkative EMT noted, “You guys are the friendliest accident I’ve seen in a long time. Most people are cursing each other out and threatening to sue.” I think the accident was just as unexpected for the fellow who hit me as it was for me. He was running one last errand in Pueblo before embarking on his drive home. He lived in a small town a bit away from Pueblo. An accident is not a pleasant way to end the day.

Eventually, the police and the tow truck arrived. Procedures were followed, and we were dismissed. Well, that day went in an unexpectedly different direction.

On the 20^th of December, a dear older parishioner, 96 years old, unexpectedly passed away. My wife got fairly ill. Nativity was approaching. Substantial time on the phone with insurance companies. Things can tumble in ways similar but different from a car crash.

The minutes tumbled by, and I wanted to catch a few for writing. It didn’t happen. Now, as things aren’t tumbling quite as fast, I managed to catch a few moments to write this. I’m on the mend but still feel the pulled muscles from the car crash. Thank you to everyone who has followed my writings. I appreciated it. The unexpected set my routines a little off course. By God’s grace, I hope to get them back on track a little more.

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Chapters 4 & 5 of the chapters on Knowledge by St. Dimitry of Rostov. My translation from the Russian.

Chapter Four

On the fact that a person must labor and strive in spiritual work until he come to the enlightenment of the mind

1. The exterior human intellect of this world requires external human teaching, yet the spiritual – the interior intellect – should not seek human training, but rather Divine instruction from the Lord Himself. Human science is one thing; quite another is the science of God. Just as a person learns human knowledge from other people, so it is fitting to learn divine instruction from God. Just as a person who has not received instruction from other people will not understand human learning as he should, similarly, a soul that has not been taught by God through mental action, prayer, and heartfelt – tearful – compunction, cannot receive instruction in Divine reason and all things pertaining to God. The person who has been taught by God in Divine things is able to understand everything human, even without having been instructed in any human teaching. But anyone uninstructed by God in Divine things is unable whatsoever on his own to understand anything Divine; he understands only the human – the carnal. The Holy Spirit is the fountain of all wisdom and reason: only through receiving Him may a person know and comprehend all things interior and exterior.

2. The apostles did not learn from men to speak in other tongues, but rather from the Most Holy Spirit, Who suddenly descended upon them, and they began to speak in different languages, “As the Holy Spirit gave unto them.”¹ And the Lord did not open a book for the education of His disciples, but “Opened their mind to understand the Scripture.”² Therefore, only diligence is required of us, and with diligence – podvig, so that we may accept and receive grace. If only we acquire diligent care, then we will smoothly find and have everything we need. For every teaching and everything is given by means of great care and fervent diligence. In all circumstances, the careful person will learn about external things together with everything spiritual, while a careless and inattentive person can never become practiced and learn anything. That is why the Lord, teaching and encouraging us, says, “Keep on asking, and it shall be given to you; keep on seeking, and you shall find; keep on knocking, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives, and the one who seeks finds, and the one who knocks it shall be opened” (Matt. 7:7-8).

3. As there are various successes and degrees in external education, so it is also in spiritual instruction, for there are spiritual successes and degrees. Enlightenment of the mind is given according to the measure of diligent podvig and progress, and according to the measure that the mind is enlightened, the grace of the Lord is given. Insofar as a person strives with great focus, to that extent he succeeds, and to that extent he is enlightened, and to that extent he is united with the Lord. The one who has success [in diligent podvigs], becomes enlightened in soul and united with the Lord in his mind, and is assured of his salvation; thus, before the resurrection of the body, he is risen in soul and always lives for the Lord.

4. Insofar as a person is exercised in mental action, to that extent he will recognize his infirmity, and to the extent that he recognizes his infirmity, to that extent he is enlightened in his mind, that is, to the extent that he advances in humility and heartfelt compunction. And no one is able to know his infirmity except through skillful action over a long time – until his infirmities wither completely on all sides and he understands fully that he has nothing of his own.

5. And so, no one can know his infirmity before he is tempered and crushed through the various temptations that are permitted [by God]; until then – until a person experiences all these temptation – he absolutely cannot come to the knowledge of himself and his infirmity and be humble. And thus, commonly, God first tests His servants with various temptations – so that truly knowing their weakness, they will always remain humble and not rely on themselves to any degree, for gold and silver are not perfected without testing through the refining crucible of fire.

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Chapter 1

The first cause of Adam’s fall was imprudence and complete ignorance of himself

1. Many people ascribe numerous and various causes for Adam’s fall: some say unbelief, others say disobedience, a third group will say pride and desire for preeminence, and still others will give various other causes. But we do not recognize any of these as the primary cause, except for imprudence¹ and failure to examine all things.

2. In Paradise, the first commandment given to Adam was to do and to keep, that is, to do with the mind,² in order to comprehend well, and to keep the commandment so as not to break it. But since he did not act with mindfulness, he did not keep the commandments, and because he did not practice mental action above all else, unbelief arose in Adam – disbelief in God, Who spoke and commanded; then from unbelief were born disobedience and transgression; from the transgression came the falling away from the Lord’s grace and estrangement from His Divine love.

3. If Adam had comprehend the Benefactor and reflected upon the commandment, and if he had believed, he would not have disobeyed the commandment; nor would he have eaten of the forbidden tree and been cast out of Paradise, and fallen into death and corruption, and God would not have performed so many miracles for us until He returned us to reason and the knowledge of all things.

4. Since Adam fell away from God and His grace through no other cause but imprudence, we are united to Him in no other way but through reason and the knowledge of all things. For he who has truly known himself has known God, and whoever knows God has known himself – he is united with God and, having rested from all his works and labors, he has entered the sanctuary of God and always brings intelligent service to God.

5. Yet, no one can know God until he first knows himself; he will not know himself as he should, unless he first comes to the knowledge of creation and to the contemplation of all things visible and intelligible in the world. And when he comes to the knowledge of creatures, then he can come to the knowledge of himself and God. In this manner, he will come into perfect union with God in love.

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