Those who utilise “usernames”, and then attack others, are the scum of the cyberworld. In fact, there was a vigorous discussion on kuraev.ru, where the consensus was that people who hid behind “usernames” are mendacious cowards… they attack others, but refuse to stand and be recognised. I for one think that such people are punks and that all decent folk should boycott their sites… what say you?
There are several sections… as there have been interesting things going on. Friends tell me that the children are out raising yet another rumpus… but what else does one expect from “Gavriil”, “John”, “Josephus Flavius”, and the “Ochlophobist?” They all refuse to sign their actual names… that tells you volumes. At least, Orr signs his actual name, that’s to his credit (that’s worth a drink at the KGB, Chris), all the rest are gibbering “usernames” with no reality outside of the cyberworld… it also tells you not to trust them… anyone who refuses to sign their name on their driving licence to their posts is a punk and a poseur; they are without any cred whatsoever. We’ll return to this later. Anything in italics comes from my correspondence with others. Anything in bold italics comes from my correspondents. Anything in normal type is new material.
BMD
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They’re truly on their last legs. I know why Moscow is allowing this to happen. They know that if they were to intervene before the natural death of autocephaly, there will be “if only” regrets on the part on some parties. Therefore, it’s actually better to wait for the patient to expire on their own.
Apparently, some of the konvertsy are writing dumb things about me… no, I don’t waste my time reading their rot, but well-meaning friends keep me informed. One konvert even claimed that I attend a Greek Archdiocese parish… which is NOT true (there are Sundays that we DO attend St Sophia here in Albany as it is more convenient (and it’s large enough to be anonymous… no small thing that), nothing more sinister than that). You have to laugh at such… most of ’em are snot-nosed young ‘uns who’ve never been hurt. You CANNOT reach spiritual maturity until you have walked away from the mess in the Church at least once. I don’t mean for a week or two… I mean for a year or two, at least. Also, you can’t reach real wisdom until you’re in your 40s at the least… before you can start on the way to be wise, you have to wake up in a cold sweat at least once, with an utterly true and vivid realisation of your personal mortality and your own death. THAT’S SCARY. There are times when atheism seems all too probable. I think you know what I mean. Let’s keep it focused… none of these children truly realise the SERIOUSNESS of it all. Their age precludes it… and it’s proper for their age, after all… “You can’t have old heads on young shoulders” is not only an old bromide… it’s true!
Be good and do enjoy the summer with your family… we have so few of them on this earth in the end, don’t we? God will judge you if you don’t…
******
I just had to write. Congratulations! You’ve hit so many nails on the head this time. The Russian emigration (all parts) has for far too long been just another corrupt family business, a mafia… just like the Patriarchate of Antioch with its four ruling families. Thank God, we are getting new blood into the Russian emigration from Russia.
You said it! Keep repeating it until they get the message. It’s so simple, but blinded by American phyletism (i.e. the US Dollar) or anti-Orthodox French cultural chauvinism, the OCA and the Paris group just don’t get it. For them, “Russian Orthodox” are dirty words linked to a narrow ethnic group and Soviet history.
When will they even begin to understand? They will only “understand” when they realise that they and their structures are built on and motivated by HATRED… hatred of everything authentically Russian Orthodox. Moreover, you cannot build a Church on hatred… this is the real reason why they will disappear, just as the fragments of ROCOR, which did not love the Russian Church inside Russia, have already disappeared into the abyss of little sects.
Keep right on!
Batiushka (an MP Priest)
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I get about ten times the hits of the usual Orthodox blog… Friends tell me that bishops read it… if so, that’s nice… if not, who am I? You truly have to be impassive about such things… and the earnest and keen young ‘uns who pretend such… should we tell them that their imposture is SO transparent? They WON’T listen, after all. Let’s not forget that we were dumb and young once… for me, I have NO regrets, dear, what about you? I believe that regrets are for the terminally silly. You did what you did… God willing, you learned something of it!
Do enjoy this glorious summer (at least that’s what we have in upstate NY)… when Nicky finishes his afternoon assignment, we’re off to enjoy it ourselves. Do pack an alfresco lunch and get out with your family… it’s what God wants of us, after all… to enjoy the Creation that He made for us. Be good.
******
I shall be frank… I think that many of them [OCA apparatchiki and hierarchy] are not believers. If they were believers, they would act. We are paying for decades of mocking traditional beliefs and believers. All we have to do is hang tough… and press charges. It’ll be “Jenga”… take out one piece… need I say more? Let’s see what happens…
As for recommending this or that book… that’s not how you find out about Orthodoxy. Are you within driving distance of Holy Cross Monastery in West Virginia? Go there… ask no questions… attend a service… eat with the brothers. That’s the ticket! Remember, if you want to know about Russian Orthodoxy… well, pray with Russian Orthodox people. Don’t play “head games”… we Russians say, “Gore ot uma” (“Sorrow comes from thinking”). Listen to our music (both secular and religious), look at our art, go to our services, eat our food, and share our lives. Read? Don’t be ridiculous… that’s so WESTERN. God can be met… He cannot be understood. NEVER forget that…
Why not look at my art site? Look at the paintings by Fr Mikhail Maleyev in particular… his human studies of elders are EERIE (in a good way). Here’s one of the meatiest:
Here’s an interesting art photo:
http://01varvara.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/aleksandr-frolkin-thinking-about-eternity-2010/
Here’s a deep thing by Maria Vishnyak:
http://01varvara.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/maria-vishnyak-it-was-only-a-moment-2000/
To end, this, here’s a human study of a widow:
Let the pictures speak to you in their wordless way… there is such a thing as “the sound of a colour”. Engage your soul and leave your mind behind.
It’s why I fight… we must never let mendacity, greediness, and cupidity rule us. There is Beauty and Truth… it’s well worth fighting for. It’s why I am SO disappointed in Stokoe… he refused to stand tall over the Bobby K payoff… Love and Truth are never “measured”, never forget that. It’s everything or nothing… it’s the way the Good Lord operates.
******
Where are Christ and His Compassion? He’s not to be found on either side (not in the West, at any rate)! DO think on that one…
I’ve been jabbing it to Weigel, haven’t I? I can’t believe how dense and stupid this guy is… he’s a scholar? I think NOT. All he is is an apologist for Corporate America… he’s not even a good papist. To talk about the Ukraine and religion and not mention Metropolitan Vladimir once! I’m writing a piece totally dedicated to ripping this poseur down. Why do Orthodox Christians cooperate with “conservatives?” They’re not our allies or friends. I have similar reservations about so-called “progressives”. All I see is that on the right, you have Papists/Proddies who want us to share their heterodox delusions, and on the left, you have militant secularists who despise us for being religious. It’s not easy being green!
Where are Christ and His Compassion? He’s not to be found on either side (not in the West, at any rate)! However… Weigel’s unalloyed HATE just oozes through everything he writes. I’ve rarely seen the like before. My RC friends tell me that he’s sort of a fringe figure, but when I asked them, “Why does he get so much air time”, their reply was, “He’s the neocons’ token Catholic”. THAT was interesting… it appears that Catholics are not as “conservative” as the corporate press paints them out to be! Neither are Orthodox… but all too many are taken in either by teabaggers on the right or secularists on the left (SVS is particularly noisome in its kowtowing to multi-culti pseudo-academic claptrap).
I think that Prof Narochnitskaya is correct… Orthodoxy and the West are two different civilisations… not two different cultures… two different civilisations. We Orthodox here in the West are NOT Western Orthodox, rather we are representatives of Orthodox Civilisation on Western soil (I argue that the distinction is not fine).
Quite a bit, no? Just had a few thoughts I wanted to share…
What is this Americanism “a teabagger”? A fascist? Conservatives, Proddie or Papist, would do us all in. They hate Orthodox. Believe me; I tried to engage them 20 odd years ago. It does not work. As for a different civilisation, you are absolutely right. It is in the neocons’ textbook, A Clash of Civilisations. Orthodox Civilisation is listed as a separate civilisation. Thank you, Mr Huntingdon for recognising that part of reality. {A Clash of Civilisations has been translated into Russian, and is probably more popular in Russia than the West, mostly due to many common features it shares with the work of the great Slavophile historian Sergei Solovyov: editor} You are right. A great mistake is made in saying Western Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox. That’s why we have a double-headed eagle. Orthodox = Christian, and that is worldwide. The apostles did not call themselves eastern or western or northern or southern.
(From an MP priest)
Two decent ordinary Americans debunk the “teabagger” nutters… such people give conservatism a bad name.
Batiushka…
Teabagger: extreme right-winger… their wish is for a theocracy that would jail gays, outlaw trades unions, repeal all social legislation, bomb all those who refuse to kowtow to the USA, and erect a police state (in the fashion of G W Bush). They believe that “free enterprise” and “rugged individualism” underlay a “healthy” society. Palin is one of these. I fear that some Orthodox are taken in by them due to their “social conservatism”. The konvertsy are virtually all “teabaggers”… one of them called me a liar when I said that the Church does not “excommunicate” gays.
The Church does not approve of homoeroticism, nor shall it ever approve “gay marriage” or other such rot… but it has mercy on individual homosexuals (indeed, Fr Vsevolod Chaplin has spoken of hearing confessions of homosexuals). The konvertsy hate it when the Church throws its mantle of protection over those savaged by the mob. To be sure, the Church is not like the Anglicans… but the Church is wise… it knows when living compassion trumps the sterile word on the page. I swear the konvertsy would crucify Christ anew, if they could. He was a rebel, after all…
I hope that you and yours are well in this glorious spring. Be good…
******
Some of us have been kicking around why the OCA, in particular, is bedevilled with corruption and problematic in its actions. Here are some of my conclusions:
They will continue like a drunk until there’s an Event (something that will bring it all down… God only knows what!). They’re feeding on the feelings of innocent, simple, and pious people who love their Church… for whatever reason, they’ve willingly tuned out the corruption. This can carry the thieves far! These creeps know how to play such sweet and humble people… down to the last dime! So, until Moscow or the Feds seriously kick in the door, it’ll be the same ole smut.
******
One of my Carpatho-Russian friends said:
One of the most magnificent things you do is give DIGNITY to the Carpatho-Russian people. You don’t portray them as being Great Russians (we are NOT!), but as what they really are… a fraternal Orthodox Russian nationality. I hear Fr Dmitri Sidor knows about your respect for us (not always known to exist among the Great Russians!) and is thankful. I heard mention of this from people in Rostov, of all places!
THIS humbles me… if this is so, it means that my small offering is doing some bit of good. It’s a good place to end, isn’t it? However, we do have to control the toddlers… is there any way that we could keep them from a keyboard until they grow up? At least, they should have the moxie to sign their real names to their posts… until they do, they are unworthy of respect from any mature adult. Should I mention that none of them has a tithe of my hits or uniques?
Be good all of you… it’s a magnificent summer out there. Nicky and I were out today in Greene County in the Forest Preserve and hiked to the top of Bastion Falls… we had Chinese sitting on a big rock, how about that? God’s Creation is beautiful… long faces are for hypocrites and poseurs. REAL Christians can SMILE… the phonies… you’ve seen their visages, haven’t you? I confide that it’s impossible to reach them with reason, logic, facts, or even with love… all you CAN do is to suffer them (you needn’t suffer them GLADLY… you merely need not kill them on the spot)… now, you know what NOT to do! No small beer that, wot? Go out there and enjoy!
Barbara-Marie Drezhlo
Thursday 3 June 2010
Albany NY
Editor’s Postscript:
A dear friend sent me this:
My own contacts with Jonah, Herman, Philip, Theodosius, and others have shown me that we do not seem to be playing the same game at all. Or, rather, they seem to be playing at a game, while I expect them to be actually living a life… one that will have very real ultimate consequences. With certain other individuals, I have seen occasional moments of “wakefulness”, but then some siren song, such as “the good of the Church”, or “tort exposure”, or “public relations”, or “protecting your turf” fills their ears and they seem to drift off again and take their places at the game-board, safeguarding their funny money, and moving their pieces around the squares, never getting anywhere but “GO” or “JAIL”.
I also appreciate your saying, “there are times when atheism seems all too probable”. Anyone who would be popular, well-thought-of, or in-the-mainstream must at least flirt with the idea. Believing in God and following Christ is the most IMprobable thing anyone could do. If it appears, to someone, to be the path of least resistance, I think one that person does not yet understand what is being asked of us by Our Lord. “Be perfect, even as I am perfect”… the phrase tears at my heart just to type it!
Sunny Jim
Need I add anything to this? It would be criminal!
BMD
Voices from Russia 
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