He certainly pulls no punches:
"We are all men and women of our times. In so far as life's circumstances pose limits that condition everyone from the start. But there is a very real sense in which some persons are in no way people of their times. Because like the Old Believers of Russian Orthodoxy or the Lefeverite schismatics of post-Vatican II Catholicism, they seal themselves within a cultural ghetto and pull up the drawbridge to keep the rest of the world at bay. This approach was foreign to Fr. Alexander and his cultural openness was instantly demonstrated in the American phase of his life and ministry by the ease with which he adapted to that new cultural environment."
- Fr. Taft on Fr. Alexander Schmemann's place and importance in the development of liturgical theology
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His words resonate with me, but on further reflection I'm unsettled. Certainly being of one's time is equally being of one's place. Japanese Orthodoxy should look Japanese. Aleut Orthodoxy should look Aleut. If I might be so bold, Byzantine Texas should look Texan.
ReplyDeleteIf that's true and I were born into a community of Old Believers, should I not be an Old Believer? I mean isn't the desire to artificially manipulate these communities more akin to the much maligned "modern project". Conservatism is certainly one part preservativism. It is descriptive, not prescriptive in nature, isn't it?
I think even great teachers of the Church can fall prey to utopianism, at least when they focus too often on the way things "ought to be" as opposed to the way things "are."
As if a "correction" (maybe I can just say "change") in form by dictation will bring about theosis. Theosis is a maturation, not a discipline.
I guess I'm feeling bold today, forgive me.