A Girl in a White Dress ( I. L. Rusov, 1954)
I have been ill lately, and my doctor has “asked” (ordered, actually) me to rest, including intellectual labour, save for my ordinary work. Ergo, I have not been posting. Apparently, I had been burning the candle at both ends, and one pays for that in the end, unfortunately. However, things were caught before they fell apart, that makes it easier to put them right. Even a fool knows that a blood pressure reading of 158 over 82 is very bad, indeed. In short, I came very close to a heart attack and a stroke, and I thank God that I heeded the warnings in the end (I do admit that I am a fairly stubborn sort, as all Russians are, I am afraid). The situation can be righted, but, only if I do what is right, follow directions, and REST. It is the only way to obtain a happy end to this, thank you very much. If the situation has built up over several years, it shall take a year or two to put it completely to bed.
Therefore, my output shall be considerably less than before, but, I shall do my best to get something up a couple of times of week. I must add that my staritsa seconded my doctor’s orders. “If you do not obey your doctor, it is a failure in obedience and humility”. YOUCH! A week ago, I sent her the e-mail, “Now?” Her reply was just as terse… “No!” Startsi are interesting… the real ones often give the answer, “Pray, then, do what you think is best”, or, “Talk this over with a friend closer to the situation, it is better than talking to me”. All too many people, I fear, do not wish an “elder”; rather, they desire someone to take decisions for them and take the responsibility for them… quite a different creature, wot?
Of course, if this is true for an individual, it is also true concerning an institution. Therefore, all the irresponsible talk emanating from the Syosset gang saying saying that “everything has changed” is pure utter rot and rubbish. Indeed, one of these ecclesiastical paladins was at our parish on the first Sunday of the Easter Lent and actually said (the utter cheek and hubris of it all!), “Everything has changed! You can send your money to Syosset now!” I kid you not! Then, again, the rector of the parish is a corrupt apparatchik (Igor Stepanovich Burdikov, a notorious sort in OCA circles for being one of Herman’s attack dogs), so, what else does one expect?
It is going to take a generation to repair the grievous damage done over the last 50 years by Alexander Schmemann, SVS, and the Syosset mafia. It is that simple. The financial crisis was a piffle, a mere imbroglio in a teacup. That is, it was serious enough, but, not life-threatening in itself. Metropolitan Jonas faces a daunting task… he faces a united cabal that, ultimately, rejects his vision of the Church and refuses to change one iota in any substantive way.
Let me give a concrete illustration. Yesterday, Nicky and I attended Easter liturgy at St John the Baptist parish in Mayfield PA (his brother Gregory is the deacon there… a most estimable and excellent man… hear, hear!). Since St Tikhon’s is in the vicinity, we took a motor down there. Interesting in the extreme, my dear readers, it was, indeed! Metropolitan Herman’s name has not been removed from the signage for the seminary, nor has his name been removed from the reserved slot in the car park.
“Everything has changed”. Au contraire, NOTHING has changed. This is after six months after his “removal”. If you hear a Syosset apologist claim that “everything has changed”, well, remember what I told you… and keep your money in your wallet, and do check your pocket or your purse after you’ve been in the presence of a SVS or Syosset minion… the two institutions are beyond the capacity of the present OCA to maintain, and they are always in need of funds… you get the picture.
In conclusion, just as I need time to heal properly and completely, so does the OCA. If the OCA refuses to take its medicine (dissolution of SVS, sale of the Syosset complex, dismissal of the “national staff”, and removal of the metropolitan residence to St Tikhon’s) give the “national Church” nothing… yes, nothing at all. Remember, over 2 percent of the national budget goes to the housekeeper… an amount which is inordinate in anyone’s calculations. One either does what is right or one dies, it is that simple. If I refuse to heed my doctor, I die. If the OCA refuses to heed what is needful, it shall die. We can either change our habits and live, or, persist in our ways and die.
I have decided to live. Shall the bishops who make up the present OCA choose likewise? Time shall tell us.
Barbara-Marie Drezhlo
Albany NY
Easter Monday 20 April 2009
