And I would add Ferguson. It is interesting the stark
difference between what we see in the media and what I experience when I go on my morning walk in
the canyons of Orange County California. I will not be here much longer, but I
am trying to soak up the beauty of this unique expression of Nature in the
midst of historic drought.
The dictum “As above, so below,” has it’s origins in the ancient
Christian conceptualization of the meaning of Earthly existence. Thy will be done on
Earth as it is in Heaven is another way of understanding this concept. The
physical world is the Spirit manifest. When God said, “Let there be,” then what
ever was spoken on the agenda for that time became a reality.
The great caveat in creation was giving Humans total and
complete freedom. Freedom to the extent of completely denying the existence of
the Spirit that permeates every molecule of matter. Freedom to choose to do
disastrous things, freedom to choose life over death. Along with our freedom
there comes evil, from which we are to encounter and transform.
We are told in the realm of virtual reality is that we must
be in a constant state of helpless fear that the “other” will kill us either
through violence or disease. We must avoid one another, isolate ourselves, arm
ourselves and above all kill the other before they kill us, especially if they
are bad, then it is almost a duty.
In the beginning of the most recent incursion of violence in
the middle east, it was astonishing to me the passive acceptance of brute force
as the only solution to the crisis. One person said to me, “there is no other
option, this is a time where we humans just have to get this out of our
system.”
What is the proper response to grave evil? How do we
encounter real fear? Dr. Cornel West in a recent interview quoted Civil Rights
activist W. E. B. Du Bois questions: How does Integrity face oppression? What
does Honesty do in the face of deception? What does Decency do in the face of
insult? And how does Virtue meet brute force?
West answers in the voice of Black Prophetic Fire, “ So, in
the face of terror, in the face of trauma, in the face of stigma, 400 years of
Black people wrestling with all three, what do we produce? This caravan of
Love, this love train- love of justice, love of the poor, love of working
people.”
In response to the horrors that Christians are experiencing
in the middle east, there was an ecumenical prayer vigil in Orange County
California. I had heard of plans for this event at a Byzantine Catholic Church
in Anaheim. The woman who sat next to me at the after service luncheon was
remarking how the terrorists must be stopped. I expressed my desire that we as
a community of Christians try to find a new solution to dealing with evil since
violence only prolongs the problem. She told me I was talking to the wrong
person, that bombing was the only solution, and then talked about how much she
loved coming to this church and asking how she could help with the upcoming
Christmas craft fair.
Several weeks ago I attended a lecture regarding the state
of Christians in the Ukraine. This was another eye opening experience as to how
deeply people of faith are suffering in another distant land. While our local pundits
proclaim oppression because mall greeters say “happy holidays” in stead of
“Merry Christmas,” groups of Priests
from different denominations stood in solidarity with the protesters in Kiev,
having prayer vigils and joint Mass in the midst of all the street violence,
and shielding their parishioners from the brute force of the police.
There were
many tales of pastors in Crimea being kidnapped, tortured and killed. In
response to this, the Clergy in the Ukraine are claiming a centuries old cannon
law that forbids Christians to engage in war. If the priest knows that a parishioner
participated in warfare, the fighter would be excommunicated. The soldier had
to do 11 years of penance to be readmitted to the Church. The Greek Orthodox
priest from San Diego who led the discussion said over and over, “War is
brokenness, War is against God, we are not to participate, if we do, we are
broken.” I would not call Orthodox Christian Cannon Law liberal by any stretch
of the imagination, it truly astounded me that this was law dating from the
first centuries of Christianity. The priest went on to say, “The just war
thing, that is a Western invention, that goes against the spirit of the Word of
God.” Brave words from a man serving the military and weapons manufacturing
communities of San Diego, California. (This area is where Top Gun was filmed, if
that gives you any indication of the environment.)
I took my father to the Prayer Vigil in Orange County. My
name should be Popov, but the Ellis Island immigration agents in 1914 told my
grandfather his name was too long. Popov means Priest, and my father told me
his father always said “We are Priests, we come from Priests.” Evan Georgieff
Popov came to this country to avoid fighting in World War 1. So, the
descendants of Balkan Priests sat down in a beautiful modern Greek Orthodox
church, flanked with choirs from three different congregations. The roster was
impressive. Clergy from Syrian, Armenian, Greek, Russian, Coptic, and numerous
Roman Catholic Churches processed down the middle aisle together. The sat in a
very large semi circle in front of the ornate gold leafed mosaic altar of a 20
foot Virgin Mary with the Christ Child over her heart. Each and every
denomination had a part in the lengthy service, from music, to readings,
blessings and prayers. I thought, if it was not for ISIS, this gathering of
congregations which have been split for nearly 1000 years would not be here
together now.
The most profound aspect of the Vigil commenced with the
sermon given by the home church Orthodox priest. The Homily began with the
retelling of the numerous horrific tragedies perpetrated against Christians all
over the Middle East and Africa. The theme of the sermon came from the New Testament
Scripture found in First Corinthians.
“Brethren, it seems to me that God has put us Apostles on
display, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a
spectacle to the whole universe, to angels and to men. We are the fools for
Christ. To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are
brutally treated; we are homeless. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are
persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. But thanks be
to God who has given us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” 1 Corinthians
4: 9 – 13, 15:57
The Priest said in a thunderous almost accusatory voice, “What
do we do in the face of such cruel violent persecution? We are Christians, we
endure! And not only do we endure, we pray for those who persecute us! We pray
that their hearts be changed, of course they are committing such terrible acts,
they do not know Christ! Let us pray that they can come to know the Christ!”
The Vigil then went on with a community prayer, where we all
read in unison a prayer for the members of the terrorist groups that are
slaughtering and oppressing our Brothers and Sisters.
"Help us to repay their evil with goodness that we might not be overcome by evil but conquer evil with good. Deliver us from anger and the desire for vengeance. So we pray for all those who fight in the name of the Islamic State: enlighten their minds and hearts... forgive them...."
We then took a collection
to help the families that have escaped the terror.
I had found my home, the home for my troubled and weary
heart, I had found the answer to the questions I had been asking for so long,
what should be do in the face of this terrible tragedy, what can we do that is
different? Instead of praying for victory in war and bombing, we were praying
for the ultimate victory of love over hate. Instead of fearing our neighbor, we
came together. As Christ said to his Father in Gethsemane, “Let them be one, as
You and I are one.” For that moment in time, in deep loving response to the
terror and suffering of those we had never met, we prayed for transformation,
and we affirmed that our response to oppression, deception, insult and brute
force as Christians is LOVE. Our job as we were told in Corinthians is to
ENDURE, and our method is by coming together in community to support one
another with what ever gifts and talents we have to give.
It may have taken us
2000 years to get it right, but now we were behaving as Christ behaved. He
forgave his oppressors, and here we were in the middle of tract houses and
conservative populations praying for just that. The purpose of evil is to invite people to transform themselves for the better, to resist the evil and become better for it. I saw that in the service, and I see this happening the world over when people respond in loving kindness to unspeakable horror.
It is clear that the adversarial powers do not want us to
come together, because that is where we find the Christ in action. The constant negativity and fear streaming through the airways and internet is spiritually significant, inspired by the evil one to chase us away from one another, so we can not experience and manifest the Christ.
The
Angels and the Trinity know what we are capable of, which is why we have been
given such a tremendous gift in our lives. They know we are capable of great
deeds, of transformation, of endurance, of choosing life over death, and love
over hate.
In the midst of the canyons in the early dawn hours I walk,
the land burnt from past fires and parched from drought. I do see life, flowers
blooming, lizards, birds and rabbits going about their business. In the death,
there is life. In the great horror of our current age, there is hope and there
is triumph in the face of the greatest evil ever known. All because of the goodness that ordinary every day people are capable of expressing in the face of immense challenges.
