"The Virgin Spring" and other thoughts

People at times express amazement that I am a fan of Ingmar Bergman's films.  After all, he finished his life as an avowed atheist,  in his films he is very uncharitable in his portrayals of clerics and those involved in institutional religion, and he tends to be very cynical in his outlook on life in general.  All of these things are true, and there is no dispute on my part about them.  

What appeals to me is that he, at least, is willing to take on some of the hard questions of life, including the spiritual ones.  His movies were not made so much to entertain us as they are to challenge us to think about who we are, why we are here, and what we can do about our relationships with those around us.   He admits that life is a struggle.  Although we are beginning to have a greater sense of this in my country at the present time, the fact is that my generation (as a whole) has not had to struggle all that much in a material sense.  And, because we have lived a relatively comfortable life (as a whole) it has been easy to not struggle with the important things: our relationship with God, and how that relationship works itself out with those around us who are also made in His image.  

Even though many of my generation have gone through the motions of Christian spirituality, we have done it on our own terms.  We have tried to reinvent what it means to be a Christian.  We have tried to reinvent what a life of prayer is.  We have tried to reinvent worship.   We have tried to reinvent the  defining characteristics of  Christianity.  We have made our own golden calf.

I always saw myself as one who was trying to live a Christ-like life.  But, as I have been exposed to the lives of those truly Godly people who the Orthodox Church calls "saints", as I have read the lives and testimonies of the martyrs and monastics who have either a) sacrificed their lives because of their testimony for Christ or b) who are dying daily to self by being committed to a life of prayer cloistered away from the world, I have come to realize that I have fallen far short.  

The standard by which we judge ourselves can be deceiving.  We need to measure ourselves against the life of Christ, and against those who have gone before us who have emulated His life through the workings of the Holy Spirit in their lives, and through the gifts of grace that have permeated them.  And, we need to realize that we will all continue to fail, but we need to get up, to turn from what has caused us to fall, to be honest before God, and  to turn back to Him in humility as we accept His mercy for granting us another breath that we can praise Him with.

The other night I sat with my son as he had his introduction to Bergman's films.   We watched  "The Virgin Spring".   It is set in a pagan world that is just beginning to embrace Christianity.  Max Von Sydow's character has forsaken his Norse gods to follow the Christian God of his wife.   A crisis of the greatest sort challenges that new faith, as well as the faith of those around him.   I won't give the story away,  but I will say that people are forced to face their most internal sins and doubts.  Von Sydow's character expresses one of the most honest prayers I have ever heard in a movie, and that prayer is honored in a miraculous way. 

We all need to embrace the struggle with our spiritual lives.  We all need to realize that we fall much shorter than we care to admit.  We all need to realize that God's love and mercy is far greater than we can possibly understand.  We need to realize that the easier we have it (or make it) the harder it is for us to even want to be on the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal glory.   We can be comforted that there is a great "cloud of witnesses"  who intercede for us, and cheer us on as we struggle to follow the Shepherd who walked before us.

Through the prayers of our holy fathers, have  mercy on us, and save us, O Lord.

A Gift from the Metropolitan

This past Sunday I had the opportunity of being in the presence of Metropolitan Nicholas of the Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church.  The occasion was the ordination of Deacon Maximos to the priesthood.  The service was special for many reasons.  The Metropolitan gave a very thoughtful message that I am sure Fr. Maximos will never forget.  Afterwards, we all retired downstairs to enjoy a communal meal.

Of course, the Metropolitan had the place of honor. In front of him was a beautiful arrangement of spring flowers.  Early on in the meal, some of the children of the church presented him with a  bouquet of long stemmed red roses. He immediately  began to take the bouquet apart and began the process of distributing individual roses to the ladies in the room.  He then passed off this action to Fr. Nectarios, who continued to distribute the flowers  until they were all gone.  It was a wonderful object lesson in what to do with our gifts.

After the meal, when people were leaving, we took the opportunity to approach him to ask for his blessing.  The first thing that he did was reach into the arrangement in front of him and pull out some of the spring flowers which he made into a little bouquet and handed to me.  Then, he commented that he  had noticed us during the liturgy because  he had not seen us there during his previous visits.   Other words passed between us, and we left with his blessing.

In each Orthodox church there is a chair that sits in the nave, near the iconostasis.  It is the bishop's chair.  It is symbolic of the fact that, although the priest has care of the congregation,  this is the bishop's congregation.  Because of the number of churches under his authority, it is difficult to get to each one more than once every couple of years, unless there is some special event going on there.  But, the bishop must keep in regular contact with his priests.  He must encourage them, feed them, pray for them, and do all that will insure the continued growth and health of the faithful in their care.  Like St. Paul, he must encourage those Tituses and Timothys  who look to him.

Hierarch Nicholas' reputation had proceeded him that day.  I had heard many good things about him.  I had been told that he does tend for his flock following the example of his good shepherd.  In our brief time with him on Sunday I was encouraged by his presence, his humor, his concern, his example,  his blessing, and his gift to me of spring flowers.   

Through the prayers of our holy fathers, may  God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit grant him many more years of service.