Reflecting the Spotlight

The recent warm reception of my guest post, "One thing is needful" at St. Lydia's Book Club has helped me appreciate how much grassroots effort plays a role in introducing new writers to a wider audience in the digital age. Say what you might about mutual appreciation societies, but it is useful in any field to expose your work to the criticism of your peers and receive encouragement from them; that's what professional conferences are for (not that I'm claiming to be peers with those who have responded). And while I'm certainly not a professional writer, and a blog is not a professional conference, the collegial interaction of writers in the blogosphere serves much of the same purpose.

One responsibility of engaging in a collegium is giving back. With that in mind, I wanted to highlight a couple of authors whose work I find authentic, compelling, and highly enjoyable, but whose work is not likely to show up at St. Lydia's Book Club.

I've recently highlighted the Foy Davis fiction of Gordon Atkinson, but wanted to recommend his new blog Tertium Squid, too. Tertium Squid is Atkinson's new blog chronicling his continuing search for truth. I was first "introduced" to Atkinson when he blogged about visiting St. Anthony the Great Orthodox Church in San Antonio at Real Live Preacher. His appreciation for the beauty of the Divine Liturgy sparked a flurry of conversation in the Orthodox blogosphere, some of it merely appreciative of the fresh perspective, some of it speculative that Atkinson was headed for conversion. In addition to blogging about his faith perspectives at RLP, Atkinson writes fiction that is refreshingly raw and honest.

Raw and honest might also describe the non-fiction that Claudia Mair Burney wrote on her blog Ragamuffin Diva, and while her Amanda Bell Brown Mysteries are informed by that grittiness, they are decidedly romantic fiction (and quite enjoyable). I discovered Burney when I stumbled across her write-up of the Ancient Christianity and Afro-American Conference. As is the case with Atkinson, the thread I think I enjoy most running through Burney's work is a diligent and honest search for Truth. Burney's latest project, The Sunshine Abbey, continues this trend. Her latest post "A Simple Shaft of Light" recalls some of the same ideas I wrote about in "One thing is needful" with respect to looking for and finding salvific beauty in the world around us.

Both Atkinson and Burney have had their flirtations with Orthodox Christianity, but are not Orthodox (Burney was--and is still little-"o" orthodox--read about that story here). So while both might be better qualified to be profiled at St. Lydia's Book Club, it is not likely that either will be. I hope that I can use my little bit of spotlight to shine some light on these excellent writers, too.

Foy Davis

I have recently read all of Gordon Atkinson's Foy Davis stories and wanted to share them.

I first heard about the (now former) Rev. Atkinson when his blog post about a visit to St. Anthony the Great in San Antonio started burning up the Eastern Orthodox Christian blogosphere (large demographic that this is) including my own post.

These stories are less cultured than Atkinson's writing at Real Live Preacher (where the St. Anthony's blog post was written), but perhaps even more reverent about life in general despite the salty language (!).

Thought others might enjoy reading these stories that aren't about religion and philosophy, but are, really.

Here's an excerpt from the latest:

Foy nodded solemnly and rubbed the stubble on his chin. He let his hand drift down to his breast pocket. He felt the shape of the Bible through his coat, then let his hand drop.

“Roy, I’m so sorry.”

“Well, I’ll tell you I feel pretty good about it, all things considering.”

“Really? You feel good about it?”

“A man spends his whole life wondering how he’s gonna die. Everybody dies. It’s kindly natural to wonder about it. I’m not gonna die a horrible death like some I saw in Korea. I’m not gonna burn up or fall to my death - I’ve always been terrified of the idea of falling. Drowning too. I never wanted that. I know exactly how I’m gonna die. I’m 78 years old. I made it. I’m gonna be right here in this bed or one like it. Or maybe at home. If I get to hurtin, they’ll shoot me up with happy juice and I’ll shuffle off, as they say, with my loved ones around me. Man can’t ask for much more than that. No sir, I feel ready.”

Foy nodded. They sat in silence for a few moments.

“Did I tell you about my coffin?"

Foy smiled. Roy had told him about the casket at least five times.

“No, tell me about it.”

http://foydavis.com/

Cross-posted at Texags.com R&P board

"Western" Approaches to Eastern Christianity

Gordon Atkinson, aka Real Life Preacher, has become something of a celebrity in Texas Orthodox circles after having blogged about his first contact with the ancient Christian worship at St. Anthony the Great church in San Antonio, TX as part of his sabbatical leave from Covenant Baptist Church, also in San Antonio.

Reading Rev. Atkinson's description of his first visit, I was reminded of the statement of Prince Vladimir of Kiev's envoy, after visiting the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople in the late tenth century

We knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth, for surely there is no such splendor or beauty anywhere on earth. We cannot describe it to you; only this we know, that God dwells there among humans, and that their service surpasses the worship of all other places. For we cannot forget that beauty.

Seeing Orthodox worship new again through Rev. Atkinson's eyes, I was moved to tears at the overwhelming beauty of the Liturgy, as well as its strangeness to the western ear and eye. He did an outstanding job of relaying that sense of being part of something bigger than human scale, something that isn't necessarily easily comprehended by human intellect or senses, because its not intended or directed toward us.

Rev. Atkinson seems somewhat amazed at his reception and celebrity in Orthodox circles. Permitted to speculate, I think that he is seen as a convert on the brink. What we know that Rev. Atkinson might not yet understand is that once you start engaging the historic church, you either end up in an Apostolic communion, or leave Christianity altogether. We American Orthodox are particularly interested in high-profile stories of conversion because, like the consumer-driven lifestyles we lead outside of church, we are looking for celebrity endorsements of our own desires. (It's OK, go Google "Celebrity Orthodox Christians". I'll wait).

I was discussing this phenomenon with a friend several weeks ago, and we both felt that this trend was regrettable. To be clear, I'm always very happy when someone finds their way to the Orthodox church, but the emphasis on the high-profile convert seems antithetical to the conciliar heart of Orthodoxy. More to the point, the celebrity endorsement par excellence is the Pope. This economy of endorsement and reinforcement is Western in approach.

Finally, to get the point of this article (which ultimately has nothing to do with Rev. Atkinson, though he was a convenient vehicle to get to the point) is that I propose a different phraseology to delineate orthodox from non-orthodox thought. I fervently pray every day for the unification of Orthodox churches in America. I expect that this will ultimately result in an uniquely American expression of the Orthodox faith (as has been the case in Greece, Russia, Albania, Serbia, etc.). While an American church would encompass Canada and Latin America as well, certainly the United States will have a huge impact on that expression. I've long held that the U.S. is a system of government founded on economic freedom and entrepreneurship. Part of that entrepreneurship is adaptation and pastiche. U.S. culture is at its best when it has adapted and adopted beautiful cultural expression from elsewhere. I hope that an American Orthodoxy would do the same (as a very small example of this, my family has adopted the Serbian tradition of Slava to pay homage to a Christian heritage that was not Orthodox).

So, if there is to be an American Orthodoxy, it will be western, so "Western" is no longer as useful a term to denote something that is non-Orthodox. I would propose that most of what is antithetical to the Orthodox faith in western culture arises out of post-enlightenment thought, and so I'd suggest "Post-Enlightenment" as a useful substitute for "Western." Getting back to my example, a consumerist approach to celebrity "endorsement" of Orthodoxy is a post-enlightenment approach to faith. It begins in my presuppositional authority and looks for a faith that fits me, instead of my submission to objective Truth.

I'm guilty of this. My entree to Orthodoxy was Frank Schaeffer's Dancing Alone. I found it (and more importantly, read it) because Frank is Francis' son. I became intrigued by Orthodoxy because it satisfied my own longing for room in my faith tradition for the mystical. We American Orthodox, by and large, are protestant in the way that we approach the faith. We have an embarrassment of riches with respect to the number of parishes, and so we pick and choose (I like that priest, or I like the politics of this parish) where we will worship or even if we will worship (there isn't a church of my jurisdiction locally).

My hope and desire for Rev. Atkinson is that his struggles will pay dividends for his family and his church, and I hope that along the way, the blemishes of American Orthodoxy don't get in the way of simple Orthodoxy.