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Editor’s Foreword:
I’m in plain type; my interlocutors are in italics. God, I owe so much to my correspondents…
BMD
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I fear that there hasn’t been much on Vladyki Constantine in the general press. If it’d been there, I would’ve posted it. Is this a consequence of the inward-looking nature of the “Ukrainians?” There was MUCH more on Nicholas Smisko (let alone Metropolitan Laurus and Patriarchs Pavle and Aleksei). Here’s the sad part… Metropolitan Constantine was a decent man… and he got the least press of all of ’em. That’s not fair…
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The old journalism adage goes, “It it bleeds it leads”. I’m afraid that also means that bloody fools, bleedin’ idiots, and bluebloods also get more than their fifteen minutes of fame.
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I know my limitations; I’m not a theologian, that’s why I stay away from it (that includes the canons and the Fathers)… I know enough to know that I “know nothing”. My training’s in history… that I DO know. It’s not good to think that one’s a “know-all”… I run up against my limitations daily. If there’s anyone who knows my limits, I do. It’s why I stay out of Greek things usually… I don’t know them! I learn something new from each article I read, and I can say that the last four years of writing this site have taught more than all my classes in college did. Be good… I hope that you had a wonderful holiday… hoist a jigger of Bushmills and SMILE. God did make a GOOD world for us… it’s not His fault that we shit on it. However, we CAN recover the joy… but you gotta “wanna”… you KNOW what I mean!
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As for us, we have to think ahead to when the guns fall silent. Building up the ruins is a different enterprise than storming the redan. It’s LONGER… and much more “tedious”. Nevertheless, you or I will NOT see the end of it before our earthly time’s up. Our task is to lay a good foundation for our children to build upon… and that’s a noble cause.
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When you say, “put pressure on the authorities to investigate this and get to the bottom of it. If they won’t… go to the civil authorities… it’s what they’re there for”, you’re saying something that’s anathema for some of the politically-conservative, who consider government to be the enemy, rather than any protector of the populace. My experience with some members of a convert parish was instructive in that regard.
They consider government to be the enemy because many of them are involved in shady business doings. It’s quite that simple. Besides… X is another one of Gleb Podmoshensky‘s disciples. One of my CA friends saw X driving from Platina some years back. They’re all together….
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That’s because you play the tragic part of the prophet. You bring about tectonic shifts with your boldness, yet both sides whip you in the end. Yet, you’ll have your just reward, but it won’t be at the hands of the goodthinkers…
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Both the Holy Synod meeting and the London Conference are due in October. I’ve been told that a new face is coming to NY. A source tells me that the buzz at Peredelkino is that the ROCOR and the MP Abroad are going to merge… but you knew that, didn’t you? C’mon. If my other source is correct, and the South is on the verge of revolt… well, let them go. “Good riddance to bad rubbish”, I say. They never were of us in the first place. What’ll happen to Freddie M-G and Dreher?
I’ve anticipated the merger of ROCOR and the MP; it was inevitable. If only the Southern clowns would go away, go out the door as schismatics. I hope some fool in the ROCOR doesn’t decide to give them a home. Didn’t ROCOR receive the Washington DC deacon who refused the Eucharist to a lesbian? I think others on Monomucky claimed they’d gone to the ROCOR.
That’s due to Potapov. He’s a rightwinger, both theologically and politically. Interestingly enough, Lebedeff’s not so bad. He’s an apparatchik… so, he’s going to do and say what keeps his bread buttered. Do note his silence. I should add that some of the more obscurantist rightwingers are at Jordanville. Do note that the Centre refuses to give permission for a bishop there. Yes, there are unrepentant shits in the ROCOR. They’re the ROCOR equivalents of the OCA‘s troublemakers. However, as one of my Centre contacts scornfully wrote, “Jordanville? It’s nothing but a minor Ukrainian skete and seminary”. In short, there’s a whole lot of mud out there, and it all has to come out before we can start cleaning things up.
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It’s what I’ve been writing for five years… is it God’s good time, though? That’s not ours to determine… 1917 wasn’t our decision, either, come to think of it. Even some Renovationists are despairing of the situation. Shall we drain the chalice to the dregs? It’s not bloody pleasant, I can assure you. As for me, I’ll be glad when it’s all said and done. I’ll be able to concentrate on Russian Church, cultural, and art matters. I’m looking forward to the future (for the present situation’s in its terminal stages… anyone can see that). It’s “April 1945“… and we stand on the banks of the Odra.
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Odd, ain’t it, you can find simple humanity in the “irreligious” Northeast and Pacific Coast (and Industrial Midwest), but heartless brutality in the so-called “religious” Bible Belt.
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We all have to work together after the edifice falls (and it shall)… gloating is STOOPID. To rebuild shattered trust and confidence isn’t a matter of waving a wand… it’ll require a generation of steady and unsung labour… and we won’t see the end of it this side of the veil. However, it’s our duty to our kids and grandkids (that’s how I see it, any road).
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They’re getting ready to leave us… we’re not “good enough” for them, you see. Don’t worry about them… it does take all kinds…
I agree. I have my hands full just trying to live my life.
I’d say to them, “Don’t let the door hit you in the arse as you leave… and don’t come back, now, see”… and I’d check to make sure that they hadn’t stolen the silver or poisoned the cat.
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Barbara-Marie Drezhlo
Friday 20 July 2012
Albany NY
Voices from Russia 
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