Alexander Schmemann, a Russian Orthodox theologian no one would ever accuse of being a liberal or
a secularist, saw the problem clearly: "Yet the world has become secular not because it has become 'irreligious,' 'materialistic,'
'superficial,' not because it has 'lost religion'—as so many Christians still think—but because old explanations
do not really explain."
What Schmemann is suggesting is that we stop seeing "the world" as the enemy and start seeing it as
our dialogue partner. Instead of condemning its questions, we should start answering them. Sometimes, in this dialogue, we
will be critics, questioning worldly ways and strategies—sometimes the criticism will need to be prophetic. At other
times we will need to humbly accept critiques from the secular realm, especially when we use religion to license prejudice
or when we speak an outmoded language, engaging in the idolatry of confusing form and substance. Supernaturalism, for example,
is a largely obsolete language for discussing transcendent realities. We need to help people think about God, the Spirit,
and ethics in ways that actually confront the world we live in The Church must not become a place to hide out from the modem
world.
We are living through pretty depressing times and I see lots in my world and in my Church that makes
me weep. As Jeremiah would put it: "Horror is all around." Hatred and violence—much of it religiously inspired--is sweeping
the planet. There is a lot not to like. But the problem is not secularism, the problem is the evil that corrupts human hearts
distorting secular and religious life equally.
But I also find this secular world and the new time we live in to be wonderful, exciting. Our time
calls upon us to enlarge our souls. As always seems to happen, scientific and technological advances are way outpacing moral
and spiritual advances. We get breathless and frightened trying to figure out how to behave in ethically responsible ways
in a world that we really don't understand. The old arrangements—religious and political—are just not able to
cope with new problems and issues. The new wine is bursting the old wineskins. But what an adventure it is to explore these
realities and dream the dreams of God! People say that there are no new frontiers—unless maybe a manned mission to Mars.
I say: BALONEY. The real adventure is just beginning—we are now crossing frontiers of the Spirit that call for ultimate
courage, ingenuity, responsiveness, freedom. We are just beginning to learn what faith really is.
The world my ancestors believed in—the 3 storey universe of Genesis, or the mystical, musical
spheres of Ptolemy, or even the world of Copernicus and Newton—all these worlds are gone. They are explanations that
do not any longer explain. Some are freaked out by that—I find it exhilarating. The world—as Teilhard de Chardin
said—is always moving. Life does not stand still—not even for Holy Mother Church.
But not to fear-the world needs us as much as we need it. It has questions about the meaning of it all, it has deep yearnings
for God, it has impossible dilemmas over how to behave in ways that will be healthy for human well-being. And we—the
Body of Christ—are the ones called to be the priests and rabbis for a new world. All we need is faith that God is as
real today—among quasars and microscopes—as he ever was in monastic libraries. And then to have courage to lead
an expedition into the life of God in the world of today. Life does not get more exciting that this.
Yours in Christ,
— Pastor Bastien
Taken from Footnotes, June 2004
