The Tension between Creation and Fallenness

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

In response to yesterday's Meditation on "The Glory of Autumn," Spencer Settles responded with his own wonderful reflection which captures the tension between the "very good" of creation (Gen. 1:31) and the fallenness of this very same creation wherein fear and death are daily realities. We probably fluctuate between these two poles in our own minds and hearts. We cannot pretend that our faith is not challenged on a daily basis!

_____

Thank you for this wonderful reflection, Father! I too have always loved Fall and often experience the same sense of God’s exorbitant blessings when looking at the skies and trees and feeling the cool breeze of an Autumn afternoon. I appreciated you sharing memories from your childhood. Especially striking was the juxtaposition of such fond familial and communal reminiscences with those of the looming terror of war (especially nuclear war, the specter of which has never truly left us, though it has perhaps never again risen to the level endured by your generation). 

It’s appropriate now as we ourselves enter into Fall with our attention suspended uncomfortably between the beauty around us and the strife in our own nation and abroad. It’s a reminder that, beneath all the good that remains visible in God’s creation, there is yet that persistent whiff of corruption, death, and evil. Or perhaps we should look at it the other way around: that overriding the discordant tones of human sin that echo on, we can still hear the glorious reverberations of the original strains which serve as the promise of the inevitable resolution! Thanks again for spurring such thoughts!

In Christ,

Spencer

 

PASCHA - Day Twenty Seven — To Resurrect the Cosmos

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

CHRIST IS RISEN!  INDEED HE IS RISEN!

"The work of Christ therefore presents a physical, one must even say, biological reality. On the cross, death is swallowed up by life. In Christ, death enters into divinity and is destroyed there, for "it does not find a place." Thus, redemption signifies the struggle for life against death and the triumph of life. Christ's humanity constitutes the first-fruits of a new creation. Through it a life force is introduced into the cosmos to resurrect and transfigure it for the final destruction of death. Since the incarnation and resurrection, death is unnerved, is no longer absolute. Everything converges towards the complete restoration of all that is destroyed by death, towards the illumination of the entire cosmos by the glory of God become all in all things, without excluding from this plentitude the freedom of each person before the full awareness his wretchedness, which the light divine will communicate to him."

From Dogmatic Theology by Vladimir Lossky (+1958)

_____

Vladimir Lossky wrote what today is still considered the classic of Orthodox theological literature of the 20th c. And that book is The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. That book had an enormous influence on me when I first encountered it as a young man. I have subsequently read through it many times, together with his other books, as the one from which today's paschal meditation is taken. 

For all inquirers and catechumens, I continue to recommend reading The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church for all those who are ready to study a more challenging work. Not "easy" reading, but deeply inspiring and a "taste" of the richness of the Orthodox Christian Tradition. Lossky combines eloquence of expression and theological depth in his writing, and this has the result of a theological vision that is not only intellectually attractive, but which also speaks directly to the heart and soul, and which creates in us a thirst for the living God encountered in the Church. And that is one of the main goals of theology.

Great and Holy Saturday ~ On this Blessed Sabbath, the Son of God completes creation

 

 

Great and Holy Saturday Great and Holy Saturday is the day on which Christ reposed in the tomb. The Church calls this day the Blessed Sabbath. By using this title the Church links Holy Saturday with the creative act of God. In the initial account of creation as found in the book of Genesis, God made man in his own image and likeness. To be truly himself, man was to live in constant communion with the source and dynamic power of that image: God. Man fell from God. Now Christ, the Son of God through whom all things were created, has come to restore man to communion with God. He thereby completes creation. All things are again as they should be. His mission is consummated. On the Blessed Sabbath he rests from all his works. Holy Saturday is a neglected day in parish life. Few people attend the services. Popular piety usually reduces Holy Week to one day—Holy Friday. This day is quickly replaced by another—Easter Sunday. Christ is dead and then suddenly alive. Great sorrow is suddenly replaced by great joy. In such a scheme Holy Saturday is lost. In the understanding of the Church, sorrow is not replaced by joy; it is transformed into joy. This distinction indicates that it is precisely within death that Christ continues to effect triumph. We sing that Christ is “...trampling down death by death” in the troparion of Easter. This phrase gives great meaning to Holy Saturday. Christ’s repose in the tomb is an “active” repose. He comes in search of his fallen friend, Adam, who represents all men. Not finding him on earth, he descends to the realm of death, known as Hades in the Old Testament. There he finds him and brings him life once again. This is the victory: the dead are given life. The tomb is no longer a forsaken, lifeless place. By his death Christ tramples down death. —Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann, Great and Holy Saturday

Two More Reflections on the Eclipse

 

Photo by Sarah Holiday, shared by Nuns of Holy Transfiguration

Dear Parish Faithful,

I have received two new reflections on yesterday's solar eclipse, and wanted to share them with the parish. 

First, this from Erin Settles, a wonderful "first-hand" witness! I am further aware that others in the parish witnessed the total eclipse. I liked her description of the great difference between witnessing a total eclipse compared to a partial eclipse. We were impressed with what we saw, but we missed the "real thing!"

Fr. Steven
____

Hi Fr Steven! 

I just read your email about the solar eclipse, and wanted of offer a few thoughts and observations. 

I traveled with Spencer, the kids, and my mother to Indianapolis to be in the path of totality for the eclipse. Spencer and I saw the 2017 eclipse, and were completely amazed, so we knew we wanted to try as hard as we could to see this one. John was only a baby then, and I hoped very much that he would get to see this one, since he is now almost 8 and would be able to appreciate it. I wanted my mom to be able to see it as well. For a while, forecasts were predicting cloud cover for our location, but John and I partnered in daily prayers regarding eclipse visibility, and are overjoyed that the Lord granted our request to have an unobscured view at the moment of totality!

In 2017, I read a quote by someone who said that the difference between a total eclipse and a partial eclipse is like the difference between dying and almost dying. I found that to be absolutely true. Things change dramatically in the last minute before totality, and when 100% eclipse is achieved, you are able to witness something unlike anything I have ever seen. There is a complete metamorphosis in that instant. The sunindeed appears to be “black as sackcloth,” with a stark, white, flower-like corona around it. There are 360 degrees of sunset surrounding you, and stars in the darkest part of the sky. It is an otherworldly vision that causes me, as a Christian, to praise the Creator for gifting us with such wonders.

And as I was praying that my family would be allowed to behold this particular wonder, I also prayed that it would serve as a witness to everyone who saw it that our world has been made “just so.” The type of solar eclipse we can experience on Earth is unique among the planets: our moon is unusually large compared to other planets’ moons, and while it is about 400 times smaller than the sun, it is also 400 times closer to us than the sun, so that the two objects appear almost exactly the same size in the sky. Not only that, but the moon’s orbit allows it to pass in front of the sun in such a way that it covers it precisely, blocking out 100% of its light, while still allowing its ghostly white atmosphere, the corona, to be plainly visible, which is the only time we are able to see it. If one’s mind is open to the idea, a total solar eclipse is a wonderful opportunity to see the fine tuning of what can seem to be a random universe.

My family will remember the eclipse of 2024 as an example of answered prayer, a demonstration of the beauty God lavishes on creation, a testament to His care in ordering the heavens, and a memorable time of excitement and adventure for our family.

Praise be to God in all things!

Erin Settles

_____

I also received this last night from our good friend, Mother Paula. You may want to look at the photos that the monastic mothers and sisters were able to take. Pretty impressive. I am glad that they made the trip and were able to enjoy the majesty of the eclipse!

Dear family and friends,

Some of us were blessed to travel to a state park in Garrettsville, Ohio east of Cleveland today to see the eclipse in its totality.

We enjoyed hiking on the Rocky trails, having a picnic lunch and then watching the beautiful eclipse.
Hope you will enjoy The photos.

God is wonderful in all his works!

Yours in Christ,

Mother Paula
OMT nuns

Here's the link to our photo album for today

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Tpih2w226yv69Ltp6

LENTEN MEDITATION - Day XXIII — The Solar Eclipse

 

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

"And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night."  (Gen. 1:16)

“There was no sound. The eyes dried, the arteries drained, the lungs hushed. There was no world.”  — Annie Dillard, describing her experience of the 1979 eclipse from a vantage point in central Washington State

"Most of our communal enthusiasms these days are human-made: the Oscars, the Super Bowl, the election, the new Beyoncé album. A total solar eclipse is a product of the natural world. It happens without elaborate stagecraft, without any outlay of capital. For this reason alone, it’s a rare occurrence. And there won’t be another in the United States until 2044."  — Melissa Kirsch of the NY Times

The current fascination - if not obsession - with yesterday's total solar eclipse is in itself a very interesting phenomenon. One issue, at least, is the question of motivation: What was behind the movement of an untold number of people all through Mexico and North America who did everything in their power to see as much of the eclipse as possible? Perhaps some of you traveled further north yesterday for that even more "total experience." As to motivation, we have astronomers/scientists, of both the actual and the "backyard" variety, who "live" for such moments. I can only imagine their mounting anticipation in the closing hours of the countdown. And I can only hope that their expectations were met, if not perhaps surpassed. There are countless human beings who are drawn to any and all of the different phenomena in the world of nature, both terrestrial and in the heavens above. Because of how rare it is, a total eclipse is then an event awaited for with great excitement. 

Then, there are theistic persons who are awed by God's omnipotent authority over the cosmos; and who desire to always glorify the "the Maker of heaven and earth and of all things both visible and invisible." The eclipse could have accentuated that impulse toward the glorification of God. Or, there are "religious" people who are determined to find a foreboding "sign" in the eclipse, even if it means embracing wild and baseless apocalyptic speculation, usually of the "doomsday" variety, and based on an offensive misappropriation of the Scriptures. And then, there are the countless multitudes drawn to the eclipse out of a curiosity to witness and participate with others in a rare spectacle drawing us closer for a few precious minutes in a communal experience - mingling shoulder-to-shoulder with our political and cultural rivals as we share a rare moment of peaceful co-existence as members of the human race! I was probably somewhere in that particular mix.

I stood outside the house with Presvytera Deborah and with neighbors up and down the block gazing upward with our solar eclipse glasses protecting us from the power of the sun. In fact, and perhaps strangely, I was equally impressed by just how light it still remained even though about 98% of the sun was covered by the moon here in Cincinnati. What a powerful source of light and energy! There is some real logic to the "solar worship" of days gone by. It was the cult of sol invictus that drew the Emperor Constantine toward monotheism and even the Christian revelation in the fourth century. And then it was over and we returned to the house and the mundane events of a typical day. All-in-all, a bit anti-climatic, but then again we did not witness the effect of a total eclipse and the surreal effect of total darkness for a few minutes in the middle of the day. The images that I later saw were quite impressive. Is that what Annie Dillard was describing in the passage above? And perhaps was that your experience? 

Doing a bit of follow-up reading on the subject, I came across a few voices that expressed some of the motivation and anticipation to behold the eclipse. In one article, I heard the voice of someone called Ali. She said the following: “I’m not a spiritual person. I don’t usually think about the bigger picture of what we’re swimming in. But I felt that at the eclipse. I had a sense that I’m this one person in this huge thing.” Ali further added: “Sometimes, the things that we’re not in control of are really beautiful. It’s not just bad things.” To use an astronomical term, that just may be appropriate in this context, was Ali and countless "non-spiritual" observers of the total eclipse somehow "orbiting" around the notion of a cosmos of not just intrinsic beauty, but of "something" purposeful, structured and designed? Were they longing for something or "Someone" that they cannot quite find the words for, but Who remains paradoxically present in His perceived absence? 

Just what is the "bigger picture?" Or, just what are we "swimming in?" I am hoping that it is not a hauntingly beautiful, but yet empty cosmos utterly devoid of any transcendent presence. Not to crash the party, but without God, I cannot but wonder what anything is really "about," including cosmic phenomena. Random beauty can both attract, but also evoke a certain dread on another, more intuitive level - the level of meaning. I am certainly not denying the meaningfulness of any distinct person's experience of the eclipse regardless of their worldview. And that would include the older man I saw briefly on the television who could not speak because he was weeping so hard when interviewed about what he witnessed. But on a day on which we literally looked up from our earthbound concerns, I think that many of us cannot but turn our minds to the "God question." Is everything around us - on earth below or in the heavens above - God-sourced or self-sourced?

At every Vespers service, when singing or chanting Psalm 104, we glorify our Creator for the magnificence and abundance of His creation: "Thou hast made the moon to mark the seasons, the sun knows its time for setting." (v.19) These two great "lights" are God's handiwork, effortlessly brought into existence by God's uttered Word and perfected by God's Spirit. These two lights were brought to our attention yesterday, and regardless of how momentarily, I do hope that it evoked a sense of awe from our limited vantage point. Or, perhaps we can simply say, together with Mireya Munez of Mexico: “I wanted to thank God because we are alive and He allowed us to see it,” she said. “I hope to be alive to see the next one, too.”

O LORD, how manifold are Thy works! In wisdom has thou made them all. (v. 24)

Fr. Steven

Science and Faith, and 'Pointers' in the vast Cosmos

 

Christ the Creator

Dear Parish Faithful,

I have been recently reading some studies focusing on Gen. 1 & 2. That brought this older meditation to mind since it touches on "cosmic issues" about the created realm. It is not about "proving" anything; or even that Genesis can be read "scientifically," because it cannot be so read. Yet, both Gen. 1 and scientific investigation of the universe can both lead to theological and speculative wonder in their independent ways.

"The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19)

 

In the past, I attended a lecture entitled "Our Amazing Universe." It was delivered by Dr. Jennifer Wiseman, who studied physics at MIT and earned a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University. In addition she has continued her research as Hubble Fellow at The John Hopkins University. Very impressive credentials! To use a misused term, I am a "layman" when it comes to astronomy, though this is clearly a fascinating and essential scientific discipline. I would like to simply offer a short summary of a wonderful presentation that captivated a large audience of at least five hundred participants or more.

In the first part of the lecture, we were treated to a computer-generated slide show (on two large mounted wall screens) of some incredible images of the universe, including galaxies, clusters of stars, nebulae, super novae, and the more familiar planets of our own solar system. Dr. Wiseman informed us of the continuing research into the vast dimensions of the universe made possible by the technology of ever-more powerful and sophisticated telescopes. What I was ignorant of is the fact the Hubble telescope circles the earth every ninety minutes! Some of these telescopes are placed above the earth's atmosphere, thus allowing for incredibly clear and wide-ranging views of the cosmos. We saw some wonderful images of star clusters that were so thick that the black space in between was not that visible. And the stars were of different colors: red, blue, green and yellow. 

Our own vision of the sky is very limited because the enormous amount of light from our urban and suburban settings simply reduces our visibility to the moon and a few other stars. We are missing a lot! One of her points was to impress upon us the sheer unfathomable scope of the universe, which holds billions of galaxies comprised of billions of stars, one of which is our own sun, though it itself appeared as a tiny dot on one of the shots of our own Milky Way galaxy. We may know this already, but in the context of her lecture, combined with the amazing images we saw, the effect of those statistics is rather staggering. Or, we should say "awesome."

Dr. Wiseman is a believing Christian - my guess would be something like an Evangelical - so the second part of her lecture was made up of a series of what she called "philosophical and theological" questions and observations. Her first question was: Does the universe seem to make any sense or have any deeper meaning? She was very even-handed in sharing the views of prominent fellow astronomers/scientists. Some argue that it really does not have any deeper meaning beyond its sheer size. Others find it all very meaningful. (One scientist asked: Does the fact that we even ask the question point to the inherent and unavoidable quest for meaning?) 

This raised the further issue of the relationship between science and religion. As a scientist herself, she presented an eloquent defense of how the two - both of which are concerned with discovering "truth," though each discipline a "truth" of a different sort - need to be and can be reconciled. She presented a "two book approach" to this issue of science and religion: the book of nature/science and the book of the Bible are revealing one and the same reality, though different language and thought-forms are used in the process. This sounded very close to something that St. Maximus the Confessor (+662) once wrote. Though he put it something like this: God is revealed in creation, in the Law, and then in the Person of Christ.

Just as my own aside, I believe strongly that we, as Orthodox Christians, cannot ignore this dialogue, and that we need to articulate our own understanding of this relationship, with a clear-headed sobriety about the amazing scope of scientific discovery over the course of the last few centuries. We cannot ignore the discovery that we live on a planet within a universe that is over thirteen billion years old. This allows us the freedom of some exciting and deeply meaningful theological thought. In other words, we cannot abandon the realm of science - and the universe itself - to a one-sided secular mode of thought.

Returning to Dr. Wiseman, once she impressed upon us the vastness of the universe. And how it reveals the power, majesty and awesomeness of God. (Our own Prayer of the Great Blessing of Water formulates this in a rather poetic and archaic form, but the point is well-made). She informed us that the overwhelming majority of the scientific community now unhesitatingly accepts the "Big Bang theory" of the origin of the universe. Atheists, however, are somewhat reluctant in their acceptance, because it points to the idea of a "Creator." Yet, she asked the unavoidable question of our own perceived insignificance within this vast realm. How short is our life in comparison to that of a star! This allowed her to remind us that "ancient man" was perplexed by those same questions, including the author of Psalm 8, whom she thought was a shepherd gazing up into the night sky (with a clearer vision than our own!):

"When I look at the heavens, the work 
of thy fingers, 
the moon and the stars which thou hast established;
what is man that thou are mindful of him?
and the son of man that thou dost 
care for him?"

Bu the psalmist then includes this incredible thought:

"Yet though hast made him little less 
than God,
and dost crown him with glory and 
honor.
Thou hast given him dominion over
the works of thy hands..."

Dr. Wiseman interpreted this "dominion" as the capability of scientific thought. For regardless of how insignificant we may seem, it is only the human person who can consciously reflect and contemplate the vastness of the cosmos.

And she finally made the connection between the universe and Christ. Quoting the unrivaled Prologue to St. John's Gospel, she reminded us that this vast universe is the creative work of a Person - the divine Word of God through whom the Father brought all things into existence. And then that this divine Person became incarnate - "The Word became flesh." Everything is thus connected to and given meaning in Christ. That, at least, is the "faith perspective" of her lecture. Dr. Wiseman does not believe that science can be used to "prove" the existence of God; but there are "pointers" within the cosmos, revealed in the Scriptures, that can indicate that direction. Archbishop Kallistos Ware makes the same point in The Orthodox Way.

This was a very well-thought out presentation by Dr. Jennifer Wiseman. With clarity and conviction; and yet with her vast array of scientific knowledge clearly present within her soft-spoken and humble demeanor, she led the audience to a deep reflection on the nature of scientific discovery and how that can lead us to Christ.
An evening well spent!

 

Begin the New Year with Thanksgiving

Dear Parish Faithful,

"The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims His handiwork." (Ps 19:1)

On Wednesday evening, there were clearly over fifty worshipers in the Church for the chanting and singing of the remarkable Akathist Hymn, "Glory to God for All Things." This hymn seems to gain in popularity and participation on an annual basis. Those who are familiar with this hymn unanimously praise its beauty and power.There were also many from our Youth Group present, as they shared a common meal together before the service. Perhaps the hymn further planted seeds in their young minds and hearts about the presence and grandeur of God.

The "presentation" of the beauty of the natural world is one of the key components of this Akathist Hymn.This remarkable text is attributed to Archpriest Gregory Petrov (+1942), and/or a certain Metropolitan Tryphon ((+1934), both of whom perished in a Soviet prison camp. This hymn is replete with prayerful thanksgiving to God for the glory of the natural world in which we can more than detect the hand of God. In the praises from the hymn, we hear:

Glory to You, Who have shown me the beauty of the universe, 
Glory to You, Who have opened before me the sky and the earth as an eternal book of wisdom ... 
(Oikos 1) 

Glory to You, Who brought out of earth's darkness diversity of color, taste and fragrance, 
Glory to You, for the warmth and caress of all nature, 
Glory to You, for surrounding us with thousands of Your creatures, 
Glory to You, for the depth of Your wisdom reflected in the whole world, 
Glory to You, I kiss reverently the footprint of Your invisible tread ... 
(Oikos 3)

The Hymn, of course, speaks of other aspects of life for which we praise God - of His over-all providential guidance of our lives and the world to their ulitmate fulfillment in the Kingdom of God; of our relationships of love and fellowship with others; of the gifts of creativity and human endeavor, etc. As this Hymn expands our mind by effectively bringing to its attention the endless range of the world's diverse beauty that surrounds us; it can simultaneously expand our hearts to "open up" to God's presence in the world and in the face of our neighbor. The Akathist Hymn "Glory to God for All Things!" is "uplifting" in the best sense of the word. For it lifts one out of those daily perceptions of life that only vaguely remind us of God's presence; into a clarity of vision that sharpens that presence by reminding of realities we know of but often bury beneath our narrowly-focused preoccupations.

Many people - and I include myself - like new beginnings. For a new beginning means a new and fresh start. And this in turn leads us to (re)assess our lives in relationship to God. The Church New Year on September 1, may be little more than a neglected note on the church calendar hanging on the refrigerator or wall. In the endless "battle of the calendars" it may pass right by. In the "daily grind" it may seem quaint in its utter insignificance. However, if it can somehow catch our attention, it may be the starting point of renewing our relationship with God - and with our neighbor and the world around us. To take the time to observe the beginning of the Church New Year may be a small victory that reveals a larger and often hidden desire to make God first in our lives.

Guest Essay: 'Flowers for the Life of the World'

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

Here is a wonderful ministry carried out by Erin Lockridge. Please read what Erin writes about this in the reflection below. The flower bouquets will be available at the For the Life of the World Cafe (formerly Moriah Pie) here in Norwood as long as they remain in season. The principle of purchase is "pay-as-you-can."

 

_______

Flowers for the Life of the World

by Erin Lockridge

I once had a part-time job at a florist shop, prepping the flower stalks for the designers to use in their arrangements.  I would unload refrigerated trucks of boxes from all over the world - the Netherlands, China, Ecuador, Columbia, Kenya, California - slit open the cardboard and unpack the blooms, uniform and flawless. It was my job to strip leaves from the stems of the snapdragons, cut the thorns from the roses, pinch the pollen from the lilies (that would otherwise leave an orange stain on customers’ noses), and get it all in water before the designers needed them. At the end of my first day, I looked at the mountain of discarded plant material beside my workstation and thought, “jackpot!” planning to scoop it all into a garbage bag and take it home for my compost pile. When my supervisor saw what I was doing, she said, “No way. You don’t want that stuff anywhere near your garden.”

Surprised, I did some reading and discovered that, while the global floral industry generates billions of dollars and provides livelihoods to many, the hidden costs are high. The vast and dynamic orchestration of farmers, hothouses, warehouses, airplanes, cargo ships, and vendors, demands fuel, land, irrigation, and massive amounts of refrigeration. The short-cycle production process utilized to supply the demand for perpetual blooms, requires extensive use of agro-chemicals, some of which are banned in the U.S. because of their toxicity. Because flowers are not an edible crop, the regulations surrounding their pesticide content are loose and, while I had the ability to eventually do less-toxic work, others at different points in the supply chain don’t have that privilege.

The flowers we now grow here in Norwood may only be a small industry that requires little more than a pair of snips and a couple of buckets, but our hope is that it brings life beyond the ephemeral joy of the blooms. Maybe these bouquets inspire gifts of beauty and care between neighbors and friends. Maybe the flowers bring a brightness to the park down the street where they grow.  It gives me great satisfaction to hear the hum and buzz around the gardens and to know that the plants offer food to countless pollinating insects and songbirds, shelter to spiders, snakes, and crickets, and health to the soil below. Even the leaves, lacey with insect holes, point to the hope that these bouquets -in the humblest of ways- are for the life of the world beyond ourselves. And, yes! the pile of discarded plant material that accumulates next to my workstation will most definitely go into our compost pile.

 

Metropolitan Tikhon: On the Church New Year and the Day of Prayer for All Creation

Dear Parish Faithful,

Please read His Beatitude's pastoral letter carefully on the Church New Year and the theme of creation. On Tuesday evening, September 3, we will have a service, entitled "Vespers for the Environment." I believe - but am not certain - that this service comes from the ecumenical patriarchate. It reflects a very Orthodox appreciation for the world in which we live, and our vocation to be good stewards of this world given to us by God as a gift.

Fr. Steven

• Read and download Metropolitan Tikhon's message in PDF format. Original posting here.

• Explore numerous resources for youth, teens, families, and parishes on Caring for God's Creation on this special page on the OCA website.

* * *

The Beginning of the Ecclesiastical New Year 2019 

Archpastoral Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon

on the Beginning of the Ecclesiastical Year,

the Day of Prayer for Creation

September 1, 2019

To the Venerable Hierarchs, Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America,

O timeless Word and Son without beginning, united with the Holy Spirit, Co-maker of all and Co-creator of all things visible and invisible: bless the beginning of this year; bring peace to Thine Orthodox people, through the prayers of the Theotokos and all the saints.

Doxastichon for the Indiction at Lord I Call.

On this day, the Ecclesiastical New Year, the church calls us to contemplate and meditate upon our Creator and His Creation. This first day of the New Year not only marks a renewal of the liturgical cycle, but, as the beginning of the year, it draws our attention to the beginning of all and to God who has no beginning. As such, we are given the opportunity to offer prayers for the preservation of the earth, for the welfare of us who inhabit it, who are part of it, and who crown it, and for God to grant us the wisdom and grace to be good and faithful stewards of this earth, the Lord’s creation, given to us freely and always imparting more gifts for our nourishment, benefit, and life.

It is easy to take creation for granted, to see the world around us as comprising inanimate objects and dumb beasts, servants to our purpose and delight, or obstacles in our way. Indeed, in the beginning God placed human beings at the head of creation, creating us in His image and likeness to have “dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” (Gen. 1:26) Yet, as with our Lord and his Kingship over us, we are not to dominate nature, but humbly commune with it in a relationship of love, of care, and of stewardship.

While Genesis shows that the world was created for the service of humanity, the Psalmist so eloquently puts into divinely-inspired words the ultimate, higher purpose of God’s creation:

Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest… Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy winds fulfilling his command. Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, beasts of the earth and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds. Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth, young men and maidens, old men and children! (Ps. 148:1, 7-12)

“Let them praise the name of the Lord!” the Psalmist exclaims. We are of creation, and ultimately ought to be of one mind and purpose with all created things, praising the Lord. While creation praises the Lord by its very existence, we offer our praise to the Lord through our stewardship of creation and created things themselves, a reality revealed so fully in the Eucharist.

Thus, as we celebrate the beginning of the New Ecclesiastical Year, I exhort you to bear in mind the beginning of the world, and the world itself. Let us give thanks for creation, with the words of the beautiful Akathist “Glory to God for all Things” on our lips. Let us contemplate the great mystery of creation, which offers itself for our nourishment and earthly life. Likewise, let us further meditate upon the culmination of creation: Jesus Christ, our Lord, offering his very body and blood, his substance and life, upon the Cross for our life. Let us join the earth, wood and water, sky and stone, praising and worshipping the Lord, the Giver and Creator of Life. May our Lord and Creator inspire us, that we may heal our state of enmity with nature wrought by sin (Gen. 3:15-19), that we may strive for the preservation and renewal of the world, and that we might sing His praises with the earth and all that is in it as good stewards of His creation.

With paternal love and blessings,

+TIKHON
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada

Science and Faith, and 'Pointers' in the vast Cosmos

Dear Parish Faithful,


"The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19)

Yesterday evening I attended a lecture entitled "Our Amazing Universe." It was delivered by Dr. Jennifer Wiseman, who studied physics at MIT and earned a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University. In addition she has continued her research as Hubble Fellow at The John Hopkins University. Very impressive credentials! To use a misused term, I am a "layman" when it comes to astronomy, though this is clearly a fascinating and essential scientific discipline. I would like to simply offer a short summary of a wonderful presentation that captivated a large audience of at least five hundred participants or more.

In the first part of the lecture, we were treated to a computer-generated slide show (on two large mounted wall screens) of some incredible images of the universe, including galaxies, clusters of stars, nebulae, super novae, and the more familiar planets of our own solar system. Dr. Wiseman informed us of the continuing research into the vast dimensions of the universe made possible by the technology of ever-more powerful and sophisticated telescopes. What I was ignorant of is the fact the Hubble telescope circles the earth every ninety minutes! Some of these telescopes are placed above the earth's atmosphere, thus allowing for incredibly clear and wide-ranging views of the cosmos. We saw some wonderful images of star clusters that were so thick that the black space in between was not that visible. And the stars were of different colors: red, blue, green and yellow. Our own vision of the sky is very limited because the enormous amount of light from our urban and suburban settings simply reduces our visibility to the moon and a few other stars. We are missing a lot! One of her points was to impress upon us the sheer unfathomable scope of the universe, which holds billions of galaxies comprised of billions of stars, one of which is our own sun, though it itself appeared as a tiny dot on one of the shots of our own Milky Way galaxy. We may know this already, but in the context of her lecture, combined with the amazing images we saw, the effect of those statistics is rather staggering. Or, we should say "awesome."

Dr. Wiseman is a believing Christian - my guess would be something like an Evangelical - so the second part of her lecture was made up of a series of what she called "philosophical and theological" questions and observations. Her first question was: Does the universe seem to make any sense or have any deeper meaning? She was very even-handed in sharing the views of prominent fellow astronomers/scientists. Some argue that it really does not have any deeper meaning beyond its sheer size. Others find it all very meaningful. (One scientist asked: Does the fact that we even ask the question point to the inherent and unavoidable quest for meaning?) 

This raised the further issue of the relationship between science and religion. As a scientist herself, she presented an eloquent defense of how the two - both of which are concerned with discovering "truth," though each discipline a "truth" of a different sort - need to be and can be reconciled. She presented a "two book approach" to this issue of science and religion: the book of nature/science and the book of the Bible are revealing one and the same reality, though different language and thought-forms are used in the process. This sounded very close to something that St. Maximus the Confessor (+662) once wrote. Though he put it something like this: God is revealed in creation, in the Law, and then in the Person of Christ.

Just as my own aside, I believe strongly that we, as Orthodox Christians, cannot ignore this dialogue, and that we need to articulate our own understanding of this relationship, with a clear-headed sobriety about the amazing scope of scientific discovery over the course of the last few centuries. We cannot ignore the discovery that we live on a planet within a universe that is over thirteen billion years old. This allows us the freedom of some exciting and deeply meaningful theological thought. In other words, we cannot abandon the realm of science - and the universe itself - to a one-sided secular mode of thought.

Returning to Dr. Wiseman, once she impressed upon us the vastness of the universe. And how it reveals the power, majesty and awesomeness of God. (Our own Prayer of the Great Blessing of Water formulates this in a rather poetic and archaic form, but the point is well-made). She informed us that the overwhelming majority of the scientific community now unhesitatingly accepts the "Big Bang theory" of the origin of the universe. Atheists, however, are somewhat reluctant in their acceptance, because it points to the idea of a "Creator." Yet, she asked the unavoidable question of our own perceived insignificance within this vast realm. How short is our life in comparison to that of a star! This allowed her to remind us that "ancient man" was perplexed by those same questions, including the author of Psalm 8, whom she thought was a shepherd gazing up into the night sky (with a clearer vision than our own!):

"When I look at the heavens, the work
of thy fingers,
the moon and the stars which thou hast established;
what is man that thou are mindful of him?
and the son of man that thou dost
care for him?"

Bu the psalmist then includes this incredible thought:

"Yet though hast made him little less
than God,
and dost crown him with glory and
honor.
Thou hast given him dominion over
the works of thy hands..."

Dr. Wiseman interpreted this "dominion" as the capability of scientific thought. For regardless of how insignificant we may seem, it is only the human person who can consciously reflect and contemplate the vastness of the cosmos.

And she finally made the connection between the universe and Christ. Quoting the unrivaled Prologue to St. John's Gospel, she reminded us that this vast universe is the creative work of a Person - the divine Word of God through whom the Father brought all things into existence. And then that this divine Person became incarnate - "The Word became flesh." Everything is thus connected to and given meaning in Christ. That, at least, is the "faith perspective" of her lecture. Dr. Wiseman does not believe that science can be used to "prove" the existence of God; but there are "pointers" within the cosmos, revealed in the Scriptures, that can indicate that direction. Archbishop Kallistos Ware makes the same point in The Orthodox Way.

This was a very well-thought out presentation by Dr. Jennifer Wiseman. With clarity and conviction; and yet with her vast array of scientific knowledge clearly present within her soft-spoken and humble demeanor, she led the audience to a deep reflection on the nature of scientific discovery and how that can lead us to Christ.

An evening well spent!

Let Us Receive 'The Blessing of the Jordan'

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

"For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men ... awaiting our blessed hope, the appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ ..."  (Titus 2:11-13)

On January 6, we celebrate the Feast of Theophany. To use its full title, we celebrateTHE THEOPHANY OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, a title that we usually summarize as "Theophany" (sometimes "Epiphany"). 

 

This year the feast was on a Sunday. The church was filled for the Feast, so we can then truly say that our communal celebration was festal. Serving the Great Blessing of Water outdoors added to the beauty of the day, as the sun was shining and the birds were chirping as we blessed the waters as a sign of the cosmic redemption of matter in and through Christ. As the Russian philosopher, Nicholas Berdyaev wrote: "The grass grows and the flowers bloom within the Church." 

 

Truly, our festal celebration was an excellent beginning to the New Year.  The Theophany commemorated on January 6, is actually the original date on which the Lord's Nativity was observed, together with the Visitation of the Magi, and the Baptism of Christ.  This nexus of events are distinct "theophanies," or "manifestations of God" to the world, each of which reveals the presence of Christ as a light illuminating the world, as well as being the long-awaited Messiah and Savior.

 

In fact, Theophany is sometimes called "The Feast of Lights." It was in the 4th c. that our current Christmas day of December 25 was established slowly throughout the Christian world.  The Nativity of Christ was a more hidden theophany; while the Baptism was more open in nature.

From the appointed Epistle reading of the Feast, TIT. 2:11-14, 3:4-7, we learn of the two "appearances" (the Gk. word is epiphania) of Christ: basically His Incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth, and His Parousia, or Second Coming, as the Lord of Glory.  Thus, the first appearance was in the past; while the second will be in the future. The first appearance was in humility; the second will be in glory. We live in the present, between these two appearances. We commemorate the one, and await the other. And our mode of life should reflect the fact that we have been baptized "into Christ."  

In his Epistle to Titus, the Apostle Paul refers to this baptism as "the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit"(3:5).  The purpose of this baptism was "so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life" (3:7).  

 

The appearance/epiphany of the grace of God and the grace that we receive in Baptism is "training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world" (2:12).  Baptism essentially allows us - by the grace of God - to transcend our biological mode of existence; so that we are now open-ended beings capable of transformation by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.  Although subject to our biological condition, we are not enslaved to it, with "no exit" in sight. That is a potential gift unique to human beings.

At the Third Royal Hour for Theophany, we heard a beautiful passage from the Prophet Isaiah, who anticipated the transforming power of Baptism and the mode of life that would accompany it:

 

Thus says the Lord: "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before My eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless; plead for the widow. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:  though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."

 

The Baptism of the Lord is directly related to our own personal baptism. This was prophetically delivered to Israel; anticipated by John's baptism in the River Jordan for the "remission of sins;" and now actualized in the Church each and every time that a person - infant, child, adolescent, adult - "puts on Christ" in the sanctified waters of the baptismal font. If, as the Apostle Paul declares, we have "put on Christ," then we need to manifest a Christ-like life to the world to the extent that we are able. The Feast of Theophany brings that to life for us as we now, as then, receive the "blessing of the Jordan."

When we "bless" the waters, we are basically acknowledging the initial "very good" with which God blessed the created world "in the beginning" (GEN. 1:31). We do not disparage the created world, but rather rejoice in it. We are definitely not dualists! 

 

However, that initial state of pristine purity was lost through the subsequent presence of sin within the world, to such an extent "that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now" (ROM. 8:22). 

 

Therefore, the entire cosmos has been awaiting the redemption that only the Son of God could bestow through His Incarnation, Death and Resurrection. In this way, "the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God" (ROM. 8:21). 

 

By blessing the material world — probably best exemplified through the blessing of that most primal and foundational of all earthly elements, water — we anticipate that eschatological liberation here and now within the grace-filled life of the Church. To summarize this ecclesial recognition of the goodness and sanctification of the world around us, we can turn to the explanation offered by Archbishop Kallistos Ware, from the Festal Mention:

The fall of the angelic orders, and after it the fall of man, involved the whole universe. All God's creation was thereby warped and disfigured: to use the symbolism of the liturgical texts, the waters were made a "lair of dragons.' 

Christ came on earth to redeem not only man, but - through man - the entire material creation. When He entered the water, besides effecting by anticipation or rebirth in the font, he likewise effected the cleansing of the waters, their transfiguration into an organ of healing and grace. 

Further, in discussing our traditions of taking some of the blessed water home with us, Archbishop Kallistos writes the following:

...Orthodox are encouraged to drink from the water that has been blessed at Epiphany and to sprinkle themselves with it; they take it also to their homes, and keep it there to use from time to time. In all this they are not guilty of superstition. If they act so, it is because they are convinced that in virtue of Christ's Incarnation, of His Baptism and Transfiguration, all material things can be made holy and 'spirit bearing." (The Festal Menaion, p. 58-59.

The Leavetaking of Theophany is not until January 14. That means that we will continue to celebrate the Feast next Sunday at the Liturgy.  

 

During this time of the Afterfeast, a good practice is to incorporate the troparion of the Feast into our daily prayer life: both in our personal prayer and as a family. Before blessing our family meals together, we could sing or chant the troparion of the feast, so that we are doing at home, what would be done in church - extend the celebration of the Feast and thus be more attentive to the liturgical rhythms of the Church calendar.