Wisdom…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment
Orthodox news sites can sometimes be places where people simply argue, places long on rhetoric and short on solutions yet www.monomakhos.com has also provided some gems like this one from the late Fr. Alexander Schmemann.
Fr. Alexander Schmemann

On New Year’s Eve we feel the mystery of time more powerfully than at any other time. We feel, in other words, that its flow – in which we live and in which everything constantly vanishes as the “past” and constantly places us face to face with the unknown future – essentially contains within itself the main question that everyone is called to answer with their lives.

“Vain gift, chance gift – life, why have you been given me?” asks the poet [Pushkin] in his immortal line. Indeed, it is enough for one moment to turn away from the cares that absorb us, enough mentally to stop the ceaseless waterfall of time, disappearing into the abyss, in order for the question “Why is life given and what is its meaning?” to rise from the depths of the subconscious, where we normally hide it from ourselves, and stand before us in all its implacability.

I was not, now I am, and I will not be; thousands of years passed before me, and thousands will come after… On the surface of this unimaginably infinite ocean I am but a fleeting bubble, into which a ray of life flashes for a split second, just to be extinguished and disappear then and there.

“Vain gift, chance gift – life, why have you been given me?” What, in comparison with this only honest, rueful question do all the loud theories mean that seek to answer this with tiresome theoretics of a “bright future”? “We will build our new world. He who was nothing will become everything” [from The Internationale]… The most naïve, gullible, and dull-witted person cannot but know that all this is a lie. For both the very one “who was nothing” and the one who “will become everything” will disappear from the face of the earth, from this hopeless mortal world.

Therefore, regardless of whatever we were taught by pathetic prophets of a pathetic happiness, only one real question stands eternally before man: does this ever-so-brief life have any meaning? What does it mean, when compared with the boundless abyss of time, that this flash of consciousness, this ability to think, rejoice, and suffer, this extraordinary life that, however seemingly futile and random, is still looked upon by us as a gift?

Now the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s. And as long as it strikes life for twelve short seconds stops and pauses, and everything as it were focuses on what is now to begin, posing and responding to the same torturous question: what is this – another step towards a meaningless end and disappearance, or the unexpected flashing of a ray of renewal and new beginnings? In response come words from an infinite loftiness and an infinite profundity: That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth… And of His fulness have we received, and grace for grace (John 1:9-12, 14, 16).

These are the words of the Evangelist John the Theologian in the very beginning of his Gospel. They are thoroughly imbued with the joy, confidence, and love of a man who has seen the light of true life, about which it is said that it shines in darkness and was not overcome by the darkness (John 1:5). Listening attentively to them, the very same joy, the very same confidence, and the very same love begin to be kindled in our own souls. Time is powerless if this light shines above us. Life is not vain, life is not chance, but is a gift from on high, from God, about Whom the same John the Theologian said that in Him was life, and this life was the light of man (John 1:4). And every man that comes into this world is once again set alight, is once again gifted this life, and the love of God is addressed to each one of them, and to each one of them is addressed God’s commandment: “Live!” Live, in order to love! Live, so that your life will be filled with love, light, wisdom, and knowledge! Live, so that in your life darkness, meaninglessness, and eventually death itself will be overcome! For eternity already shines through this world and through this earthly life. This gift of life in the world and with the world is given us that eternal life with God and in God may become part of us.

Yes, suffering, doubt, trials, the bitterness of separation – all these have fully become part of our lot. How often we are weakened in this battle, and give up, and fall, and change! How often we are scared and lonely, how often we lose heart when we see how evil and hatred are triumphing in the world! But the One Who gave us this life and granted us freedom taught us to discern good and evil; He gave us the loftiest of all gifts: love. For He said, and continues to say: In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33). We, too, can overcome in this very world, and in it our lives can shine with that same light that once flashed forth and continues to shine – that light that the darkness has not overcome.

The clock strikes… Let this mysterious future come to us; for, whatever it might bring with it, we know and believe that God is with us, that Christ has not orphaned us, that He is faithful that promised (Hebrews 10:23). Here are the marvelous words of Vladimir Soloviev:

Death and time reign on earth, Do not call them your masters; Everything, whirling about, disappears in the haze The only thing fixed is the sun of love.

Yes, this is our calling, our freedom as children of God: not to call “masters” those things whose dominions have been destroyed, and not to close ourselves from access to the Sun of love, faith, and hope.

The holiday will soon be over, and routine, labor, fatigue, and depression will begin. But let us not permit the daily routine to overpower ours souls! Just as sunlight penetrates through closed shutters, so too let the light of Christ, through this mysterious holiday, become present in our daily lives, rendering our entire lives an ascent, a communion with God – a difficult but joyful path to eternal life. For the Apostle John said: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

As the Music Door…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

starts to swing open I find myself asking questions. Most of them are about faith.

For most of my adult life I’ve structured my Christian life around my work as a pastor. It’s rhythms and flows shaped what I did, where I went, and how I was a Christian. I know little of any other world. I’ve been preparing or serving in churches and chaplaincy since 1985. I’ve been involved in some sort of pastoral responsibility almost permanently in that time. So what would I do if that role was gone?

Could I be a faithful Christian if I wasn’t a Priest, if I didn’t have the order and duty of a Priest surrounding me? Would I end up being distracted? Would the cares of life and just all the busy things take me away? Would I lose my grip?

After all preparing to be, and serving in some ministry capacity is most of what I know. Even when I was bi-vocational for the past five years I thought of myself as a Priest and tried to live, as best I could, like one. If that part of my life ended what would it be like? More importantly how would I be a faithful Christian if my title was only “mister”?

Right now I’m glad to help where I can. I don’t mind traveling to make sure a church is served when their pastor needs a well deserved break. I’m good at doing an exclamation or two during the Liturgy and I can usually find something to do or clean when there’s down time, and there’s a lot of down time.

At the same time I am a good musician. People pay money to hear me. I’ve made friends. I’ve made connections. In the Church I’m on the side but on the stage I’m front and center. When I was a child I would dream about days like this and now they seem to be here. The doors seem really wide open.

Yet what good what any of this be without faith, without the life of God? In the end there’s only an audience of One that matters. What good would any of it be if at the end there was only the applause of earth? New directions are out there and they have a call but is this “the” call? Is this God or is it a clever ruse to take away the most important things and leave me stranded?

I’m still figuring these things out. One thing I do know is that my admiration for those people who live this Faith day in and day out in the “world” beyond the Church walls has grown. It’s easy, in some ways, to be a Christian when you have all the trappings of ordained ministry. The church walls can protect you and people’s expectations change when they see the collar. I am convinced that the true heroes of the Church are those people who find the way to be faithful without the props that come with vocational ministry.

Could it be that I am supposed to enter this world? Could it be that one part of my life is over and a new one has begun? I don’t know and frankly even the idea of asking such questions is frightening. I guess for right now its just about being faithful and putting one foot in front of the other.

Sabbatical, Year Two…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

and now what? Where to go what to do?

There is unspent energy out there, energy waiting to go somewhere, energy that exists without a goal. There are people waiting in the wings while the stage is full, just watching. There is old and there is new but nothing in between.

Times are tough. If you’re a Priest and you have a reasonably good situation then you hold on for all its worth, especially if you’re not financially able to retire or haven’t really prepared. If you’re a seminarian you know you’ll probably get something, anything, because the Church has paid your way and there’s an interest in return on investment. But there’s nothing else.

If you’ve been out of the loop for even a short time there is really nowhere to go. No one is retiring and anything that comes open goes to the kids. I understand this. I was warned about this when I asked for a sabbatical. Yet its still hard to be floating somewhere in the middle, attached but not grounded, needed in some way but without really knowing for sure. Harder still if you’ve been too busy to develop the kind of corporate connections you thought you wouldn’t need because this is the Church.

The truth is that the grass is always greener on the other side. There are Priests out there who probably feel trapped in their own parishes but have no way of reasonably getting out at this time. So they mark the days and envy those of us not really tied down to a parish and the freedom that comes with it. Meanwhile there probably are others who look at life in a settled parish with a certain kind of envy as well. Its hard to be trained to do something and then find yourself unable to do it.

Ideally, I think, it would be nice if there was a wave of support for developing new parishes that could soak up some of the people and the energy of those who are temporarily out of the loop. Yet parishes are having a hard time keeping afloat themselves and so supporting a mission is problematic.

Its possible, as well, that a glut of Priests could be the catalyst for conceiving of priestly ministry in ways outside of the parish pastorate. What other things could Priests do as Priests in the world outside the parish walls? The possibilities seem to be there but can the wineskins hold the new wine?

As for myself I rested, relaxed, found a home here in the Twin Cities and then, realizing that the usual doors for ministry were at least temporarily closed decided to make my own way. The door that opened was music and I’m walking through. I have no idea if I’ll get that letter in the mail from a Bishop requesting my service. I’m in the bubble, not a seminarian who will get a parish or a senior pastor well rooted so I’m not holding my breath. Yet the music door is wide open and i can get into places and serve people with my bass guitar in ways that I could never do with my collar.

So I play, here, there, and everywhere. It keeps me busy. It keeps me doing things for God and others. Who knows? One day it may provide me with a living. The point is ministry is ministry whether I’m serving at the altar or up on stage singing about God. That, in the end, seems to be the answer, just be faithful with whatever gifts you have and lets the details rest in higher hands, not just the Bishops.

For Those of You…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

who’ve wondered about the band I play in you can see some very rough video of tonight’s show in River Falls, WI, on Facebook. Just go to Facebook and search for “The Redemption Alley Band”.

From the Antiochian Archdiocese…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

Nativity Sermon of St. John Chrysostom

BEHOLD a new and wondrous mystery.My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn. The Angels sing. The Archangels blend their voice in harmony. The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise. The Seraphim exalt His glory. All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He Who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side, the Sun of justice. And ask not how: for where God wills, the order of nature yields. For He willed; He had the power; He descended; He redeemed; all things yielded in obedience to God. This day He Who is, is Born; and He Who is, becomes what He was not. For when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His. Nor yet by any loss of divinity became He man, nor through increase became He God from man; but being the Word He became flesh, His nature, because of impassability, remaining unchanged.And so the kings have come, and they have seen the heavenly King that has come upon the earth, not bringing with Him Angels, nor Archangels, nor Thrones, nor Dominations, nor Powers, nor Principalities, but, treading a new and solitary path, He has come forth from a spotless womb.

Since this heavenly birth cannot be described, neither does His coming amongst us in these days permit of too curious scrutiny. Though I know that a Virgin this day gave birth, and I believe that God was begotten before all time, yet the manner of this generation I have learned to venerate in silence and I accept that this is not to be probed too curiously with wordy speech.

For with God we look not for the order of nature, but rest our faith in the power of Him who works.

What shall I say to you; what shall I tell you? I behold a Mother who has brought forth; I see a Child come to this light by birth. The manner of His conception I cannot comprehend.

Nature here rested, while the Will of God labored. O ineffable grace! The Only Begotten, Who is before all ages, Who cannot be touched or be perceived, Who is simple, without body, has now put on my body, that is visible and liable to corruption. For what reason? That coming amongst us he may teach us, and teaching, lead us by the hand to the things that men cannot see. For since men believe that the eyes are more trustworthy than the ears, they doubt of that which they do not see, and so He has deigned to show Himself in bodily presence, that He may remove all doubt.

Christ, finding the holy body and soul of the Virgin, builds for Himself a living temple, and as He had willed, formed there a man from the Virgin; and, putting Him on, this day came forth; unashamed of the lowliness of our nature.

For it was to Him no lowering to put on what He Himself had made. Let that handiwork be forever glorified, which became the cloak of its own Creator. For as in the first creation of flesh, man could not be made before the clay had come into His hand, so neither could this corruptible body be glorified, until it had first become the garment of its Maker.

What shall I say! And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment. The Ancient of days has become an infant. He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He Who cannot be touched, Who is simple, without complexity, and incorporeal, now lies subject to the hands of men. He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infants bands. But He has decreed that ignominy shall become honor, infamy be clothed with glory, and total humiliation the measure of His Goodness.

For this He assumed my body, that I may become capable of His Word; taking my flesh, He gives me His spirit; and so He bestowing and I receiving, He prepares for me the treasure of Life. He takes my flesh, to sanctify me; He gives me His Spirit that He may save me.

Come, then, let us observe the Feast. Truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the Nativity. For this day the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness diffused, and spreads on every side, a heavenly way of life has been ¡in planted on the earth, angels communicate with men without fear, and men now hold speech with angels.

Why is this? Because God is now on earth, and man in heaven; on every side all things commingle. He became Flesh. He did not become God. He was God. Wherefore He became flesh, so that He Whom heaven did not contain, a manger would this day receive. He was placed in a manger, so that He, by whom all things are nourished, may receive an infants food from His Virgin Mother. So, the Father of all ages, as an infant at the breast, nestles in the virginal arms, that the Magi may more easily see Him. Since this day the Magi too have come, and made a beginning of withstanding tyranny; and the heavens give glory, as the Lord is revealed by a star.

To Him, then, Who out of confusion has wrought a clear path, to Christ, to the Father, and to the Holy Spirit, we offer all praise, now and forever. Amen.

I bought a movie camera…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

a few days ago. You can tell how old I am because I remember movie cameras, super 8, home projectors, the chattering of film moving by, pictures of kids, grandma, and dad with a funny hat. No editing.

I never had them. When you had four kids and worked at a hardware store buying a movie camera was not high on the priority list for my dad. So we have pictures, but no movies. Of my father who passed away in 1994 I have only a few seconds of video taken by my uncle. Of my brother Paul, now gone 5 years, I have nothing.

For some years I had skulked around the camcorder, I guess that’s what they call them now, section of the store. I was doing the math in my head. Could I afford it? What else would I need? All the while the devices kept on getting smaller and less expensive. A few days ago the dam broke loose.

I don’t care that much about the presents, really. But the memories, those really matter. Time is short.  Life is fast.  Things and people taken for granted sometimes disappear before you notice. I don’t want that to happen anymore.

It’s a Kodak Play Sport, orange, smaller than some cell phones, easy to use and an hours worth of video fits on a removable disk just slightly larger than a postage stamp. More than anything else this Christmas I wanted the memories, just the time spent with the people I love, people growing up and older right before my eyes. I wanted the moments captured for a gift in the years to come. So I bought it.

I hope my family won’t be annoyed. It’s all about love. Really.

It's a Good Day Today…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

December 21, the day when everything changes.

The sun is low in the horizon. In a few hours winter will be here. There are cold weeks ahead and almost certainly snow. Yet its a good day, the day when everything changes.

Each day for half the coming year we add a little bit of daylight, sometimes just a minute or two. That’s okay. They add up, all those extra bits of sun, all those lessening shadows and collectively it means that whatever happens in the next few months can be endured because its is not inevitable.

Spring is inevitable. Even if its hovering around zero and a foot of snow has fallen its all a temporary thing. The little extra moments of sunshine, each one will not be denied. Winter pushes. They push back. In time they crush the snow and ice under its own weight and it disappears into the ground.

Yes, I know. What goes around comes around but for now it’s going to go my way. I’ll deal with June 21 when it comes. In its own way today is the first day of spring.

I Think Right Now…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

I like Ron Paul. He’s not a messiah but he talks a lot about freedom and I think freedom is empowering. He speaks of non intervention, too, and I think that we’re long past the time where we can meddle in the lives of other nations or give our very best to the ungrateful.

Could this change? Yes. Is he the ultimate hope?. Not even close. But freedom matters and in a country where our politicians seem to be just rearranging the seats at the nanny state table of largesse, he’s speaking a completely different language. For that alone he should be considered.