Wisdom…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

by Steve Robinson

You know him as Steve the Builder, or the host of Our Life In Christ, the very popular radio program on Ancient Faith Radio (where he and Bill Gould are referred to as the Orthodox ‘Klik and Klak.’ Steve Robinson is a reader at St. John the Theologian Orthodox Church in Tempe, AZ.

It is no secret to those who know me that I aspired to the priesthood for about 50 years of my life. For 30 of those years since I got fired from my one “full time ministry job” I’ve been a construction worker to put a lot of food on a large table under a large roof for a large family.  Since I became Orthodox almost a dozen years ago, I’ve been “THIS close” to being ordained a few times, but by God’s grace it hasn’t happened. Now I know… well, actually it’s more like “now I can admit”… why.

You see, even in grade school I wanted to be a priest so I would be seen and regarded as “a priest”.  For nearly 50 years the priesthood was a goal that would fulfill my self-perception.  I “knew” I was called to the priesthood at age six, and I continued to “know” it for the next 50 years. It didn’t happen in the Catholic Church. I did a stint in ministry in a protestant church. But as sure as I knew I was “called”, I also knew I wanted other people to know I was called.  Someone once asked,

“How do I know if the fire I have inside is from God?”

It is whether you want other people to notice the fire.  I know this because I confess that I wanted people to notice the fire. And a lot of people did. And it both confirmed my “knowing” and convicted me of my falsehood.

Since becoming Orthodox, over the years laypeople, monks, abbotts and abbesses, priests and even bishops fed my delusion by trying to get me ordained. But I knew with a knowing deeper than my private lies to myself that it was my ego calling me, not God. In a dark place I knew that those who wished me the priesthood were responding to a well crafted facade, an illusion of piety, a chameleon-competence in putting on appearances and role playing. They only knew me for minutes at a time, perhaps a few hours now and then. Construction work paid well, it is honorable labor, but the priesthood would give me a true identity, the robe would affirm to others my self perception as a “spiritual person” better than paint crusted jeans and a stained T-shirt. I would be at the altar, I would be talking up in the front.

But the Scriptures tell me that I AM a priest.

By virtue of my baptism, I have a royal priesthood.  By virtue of marriage and family, I am the Father of my household.  I knew that even as a Protestant. But in my younger days that was not good enough for me. Being the priest of a wife and two kids at Sierra Vista Street was not fulfilling enough. I needed to be admired, listened to and the leader of dozens, not three. My then-wife didn’t want me to be a “priest” of a church. I did. It became partial fodder and an occasional topic during several years of marriage counseling. She knew before we got married I wanted to be a minister. She didn’t want to be a minister’s wife and married me anyway because she didn’t think it could ever happen, I was too “radical”. But it did for 3 years, and it was still on my agenda when I got fired for being too radical. I know now that the bottom line was, my self-perception was more important to me than she was. I was not willing to lay down my “real life as I perceived it” for her sake. I resented that she was a roadblock to me being what I thought I was supposed to be, even though she would have reluctantly followed.  Reluctance was not good enough, I wanted a cheerleader. But she would not cheer, but only wear a martyr’s smile.

After 35 years, I now know she was right and all the bishops, monks, priests and elders since her were wrong.  I am not fit for the priesthood.  My intimate community knew what those who have “authority” didn’t.  But I didn’t want to hear my community, I wanted to hear what I wanted to hear, even if I knew it was false.

So I came into Orthodoxy as a former divorced protestant minister.  It is called a “canonical impediment” that some jurisdictions offer economia for and some don’t.  On a “legalistic” level, a Bishop is well within his rights to relax the canon. On a spiritual level, I look at what it means to be the “husband of one wife” and to “rule one’s household well” as a qualification for the priesthood and I see the genius of the requirement.  It is simply Ephesians 5: if I am not willing to give up the priesthood for the sake of the love for my wife, then how can I imagine that I will be able to love the Church and my spiritual family with maturity and with integrity and in truth?  In the one case I am posing as a husband, in the other I am posing as a priest. The proving ground of the priesthood of the Church is the priesthood of home and family. If I do not love my wife enough to sacrifice myself for her sake, I am a poser as a husband. If I cannot sacrifice in marriage, I cannot sacrifice myself for the Church. In both situations it is about “ME”, not love… and in the end a man will lose both his first church and his second ordination and spiritual family.

There are stories of men who were forcibly dragged to the altar and ordained.  I have been forcibly dragged to my true altar. I now wear the vestments of my true priesthood willingly.

These are the vestments of a true priest.

These are the most difficult to wear because they have a hidden glory.

If a man will not wear these in peace, with joy, diligence and gratitude and offer himself to put bread on the altar of his family’s supper table, he is not fit to wear the gold vestments and offer the bread of the table of the Lord.

FYI…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

I’ll be performing at a “jam” this Sunday evening at 5:30 p.m. in the Caribou Coffee on Highway 694 and Rice Street in Roseville, Minnesota.

A “jam” is an informal music show where the gathered musicians have no set list of songs, often no written music at all, and perform tunes chosen by the members of the group. Originally a product of jazz culture other forms of music have adopted the idea of “jamming” and the results can be quite enjoyable. This “jam” often has musicians of substantial talent, especially the guitarists, whose ability to make music on the fly can make for an entertaining show. My job is to create the groove on the low end and let them shine.

Drop in if you can.

Just a Reminder…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

there is no religious test for a politician in the United States, even if you’re an observant Christian.

For good reason, the Constitution bans any religious test to hold public office in the United States. No one need be Christian to run for president. But neither should being Christian — even an enthusiastic Christian — be treated as a kind of presidential disqualification. “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity,” George Washington avowed in his Farewell Address, “religion and morality are indispensable supports.” The sweep of American history bears out the wisdom in his words.

Read more here.

Interesting News…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

Rare inscriptions on a 2,000-year-old burial box may provide fresh insight to the death of Jesus Christ, researchers said.

Called an ossuary, the limestone box could reveal the home of Caiaphas, the high priest involved in the crucifixion of Jesus. The Israel Antiquities Authority, which confiscated the ossuary from looters three years ago, passed it along to Prof. Yuval Goren of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Archaeology who led the authentication effort.

“Beyond any reasonable doubt, the inscription is authentic,” Goren said, after conducting a thorough examination of the limestone box, which boasts decorative rosettes in addition to the inscription.

Goren’s findings mean the unusually descriptive inscription sheds light on one of the men behind Jesus’ death. The full inscription reads: “Miriam daughter of Yeshua son of Caiaphus, priest of Maaziah from Beth Imri,” naming the deceased within the context of three generations and a potential location.

The Maaziah refers to a clan that was the last mentioned order of 24 orders of high priests during the second temple period, Goren explained. While there are some records of the clan in Talmudic sources that detail their lives after they spread into the Galilee in 70 AD, the reference to Beit Imri gives new insight into the family’s location prior to their migration. 

Though it is possible that Beit Imri refers to another priestly order, the researchers said, it more probably refers to a geographical location, likely that of Caiaphus’ family’s village of origin.

More on the US and Gibson Guitars…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

Mr. Juszkiewicz (CEO of Gibson) says that the government of the country where the rosewood comes from certified it for export, and Gibson jumps through rather elaborate hoops before it buys the wood after it is imported to the U.S. The Lacey Act, which puts American importers of exotic woods at risk, is discussed here. One of the ironies, as you might expect, is that America is a trivial importer of rosewood from Madagascar and India. Ninety-five percent of it goes to China, where it is used to make luxury items like $800,000 beds. So putting Gibson out of business isn’t going to do a whole lot for the forests of Madagascar.

It also seems that the Martin Guitar Company, which uses the same kinds of woods as Gibson in its guitars hasn’t been raided. Nothing about Fender, MusicMan, etc.. This is a strange case. Obscure law, federal raid, property seized. No indication of any crimes committed. One government certifies the product for export and another, ours, decides that this wasn’t good enough. Of all the things the Federal government should be doing why are they spending their time and effort on this? Is there some need for us to be protected from the blight of vintage guitar owners whose decades old instruments may or may not be in violation of another country’s, or our’s, recent law? What benefit is there to putting a venerable American company, Gibson, and its worker’s jobs, in jeopardy for such a bizarre thing? This just doesn’t pass the smell test.

Anyway, ignore the comments section and glean what you can from the article. And if you have a vintage instrument be prepared to show your papers when they come knocking on your door.

The Richest Man in Dallas…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

has died. An article worth reading despite the comments about other Bishops which I think should be attribued to grief.

Robert Dmitri Royster left this life in the upper room of a dilapidated cottage, one so frail the faithful worried that the ceiling would collapse from the weight of those praying at his bedside. His razor-sharp mind had been scattered by old age. His once-strong body had been stripped by mortality of all dignity. The elder had barely a penny to his name, having given it all to the service of the Lord and His people. But I believe he died the richest man in Dallas. Blessed are his spiritual children in their inheritance.