The Transfiguration of Christ

Today is the feast of the Transfiguration of Christ on the Julian calendar. Something Fr. Dimitri said in his homily this morning caused me to reflect on the great harm done to our souls by celebrity(idol) infatuation(worship). (Note: I'm not confining "celebrity" to the entertainment industry. It could be a politician, an athlete, a televangelist, etc. Anyone who glorifies himself or herself unduly.)

Fr. Dimitri pointed out how careful Christ was to conceal His glory until the time was right, and only then with three hand-picked disciples - Peter, James, and John. Even so, as the icon of the Feast indicates, the Transfiguration of Christ was overwhelming to the three disciples. They are depicted falling, gasping, and shielding themselves from the blinding holiness of the glorified Christ.

I'm not sure I can express this very well - but what struck me was how "un-careful" celebrities and their admirers are with "glory". That is, the celebrity carefully orchestrates the impact of their presence so as to maximize its effect and celebrity admirers crave the impact their idol has on them. Even though it is only earthly glory, and a far cry from Christ's transfiguration, this carelessness results in much damage. It's almost like a soul-burn. Over-exposure "sunburns" our souls and sets processes into motion for both the idol and the idol-worshiper that lead to spiritual, mental, and physical illnesses. Just reflect for a moment on the fate of some celebrities and the pathetic lives of "groupies." Neither escapes unharmed. Just to be clear - I'm not aiming this entry at anyone other than myself. Only God knows how guilty I have and continue to be of idol worship of one kind or another.

Jesus, being truly man and truly God, and the only One Who is in reality "glorious" - protects us until we are ready for a bit of a glimpse. Until our hearts are cleansed at least a little, especially of pride which distorts and twists all things good into destructive passions, Christ feeds us with His humanity, giving us His body to eat and His blood to drink. Like one of the prayers we read after communion states: "Strange wonder, I who am grass partakes of fire and am not consumed." All this just makes me love Him all the more. Our humble God, which might seem like an oxymoron to our power and glory hungry culture, loves us enough to conceal Himself. How fitting to be reflecting on the humility of Christ on the Feast of His Transfiguration. In truth, there is no glory outside of humility.

Living Homily

We have a new priest in our parish, and so now we have two. Fr. Nicholas, who has been our priest since the parish was brought into the Orthodox Church will remain as Priest Emeritus (he now refers to himself as GRANDFather Nicholas) and Fr. Dimitri will be the Rector, or priest-in-charge. Fr. Dimitri just graduated from Seminary (St. Tikhon) and this is his first parish. There are obviously many opportunities for the devil to meddle in a transition such as this, because all of us struggle with lack of humility. We're a week into it, and Fr. Dimitri has begun serving 40 consecutive liturgies which is a very traditional way for priests to get their "sealegs." Thus far I am struck with one main thing: Fr. Dimitri and his wife fit like a glove in our somewhat unique parish/community. We have a very small but tight community, and before he arrived I had my misgivings about the ability of anyone to step into this role smoothly. But something occurred to me last night that should have been obvious.

We had Fr. Dimitri and his wife Mary over for dinner, and as I heard him recount his journey to priesthood and this particular parish, it became very clear that this has all happened as a result of the prayers and virtuous life of our beloved Fr. Nicholas. He knew he needed to secure a "replacement" long before any of us were thinking about it and I am quite sure he has been praying for the right person for a long time. God has answered his prayers. To watch Fr. Nicholas hand over the reigns to an inexperienced man almost 50 years his junior is instructive. It may be the most important homily Fr. Nicholas has ever had to deliver. It will certainly be the longest. I think it will be his best.

Welch and Rawlings

I am notoriously slow to discover music I like, especially if the music has become popular. That is...I'm so wary of fads that if some artist starts creating a buzz, I'm immediately uninterested. Once my skepticism wears off a little and the buzz dies down, then I get around to checking out what all the fuss was about. So, you'll please excuse me if I'm just now getting around to listening to Gillian Welch and David Rawlings.

I was browsing through the used bin at Music Millennium on Burnside the other day and came upon Time (The Revelator). I bought it on the strength of the Title and the look on her face alone - plus it was only 8 bucks. She looked familiar to me - something about her chic-gaunt-haunted-flowery-dress look reminded me of women I often saw when I was a boy growing up in Appalachia. Well OK, she does seem a little well-scrubbed, but I was still surprised to find out she's from LA and not some "holler" back home.

From the opening notes of the title song I was captivated. I love following Rawling's F-hole guitar around all the twists and turns he takes while Welch lays down a subtle, piercing, and just a little lazy, melody. David Rawlings provides a "barely-contained" understated accompaniment to what would otherwise be pretty standard mountain music. Well...except for her lyrics. I'm not always sure what she's getting at - but it is convincing nonetheless. I wouldn't be all that interested to hear either her or David Rawlings by themselves...I think I'd be bored with it in short order. But together, they are the definition of synergy. Very organic but very little tye-dye. I'll be keeping this one.

P.S. Here's a nice interview in the New Yorker with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings: The Ghostly Ones

Faith and Fight

I "stumbled upon" a series of open letters that chronicle one man's battle with cancer. The man, Fr. Victor Sokolov, is a priest in the Orthodox Church and serves at Holy Trinity Cathedral in San Francisco. He exemplifies a true Christian approach to suffering and difficulty. I encourage you to click on the following links and read his story.

His battle is with cancer of the body, and mine (thus far) is with various cancers of the soul. His cancer wastes away his body while mine wastes away my peace of mind, relationships, and spiritual health. There are many ways to present an Orthodox approach to life and its many, many battles. Fr. Victor's encounter with cancer is giving him the opportunity to incarnate his faith in a quite visible way. I found it beautiful, instructional, and inspirational. His story makes me want to fight harder.

Original Announcement

Unction Service

February Update

March Update

April Update

May Update

June Update

Life on Mars

This past week I saw the movie March of the Penguins, read an article about life teeming at the bottom of the Artic Ocean, and saw a snippet from some PBS program about how sea life thrives in the "draino-like environment" around certain volcanic vents under the sea. I then thought of our attempts to determine if life has existed on Mars by looking under various rocks there. Given the way life flourishes on this planet, perhaps we won't have to look very hard if and when it turns up in other places.

All this reminds me of that passage in Genesis that paints a picture of the Holy Spirit "hovering over the face of the deep", bringing forth life. I am also reminded of the prayer to the Holy Spirit that begins the Orthodox Vesper Service:

O Heavenly King, Comforter and Spirit of truth Who art everywhere present and fillest all things. Treasury of good gifts and Giver of life. Come and abide in us and cleanse us of all impurity and save our souls, O Good One.

I am learning to believe in a good and generous God, and this helps me conclude that wherever God creates life it will be full, irrepressible, and obvious. However, if one believes that life comes about by some random combination of circumstances (i.e. without love), then there is no reason to expect life to be abundant.