- Apr 12, 2019
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When I first came to Orthodoxy, I was deeply invested in political issues. I spent much of my time reading, worrying, and debating about politics. After a little while my worldview became "divided", segmented. "Here are the political things, here are the Orthodox things...if there be some overlap, good...if there be some contradictions, well I'll just keep the two separate in their respective spheres." became my approach. However, it turns out that for most people, holding two mutually exclusive ideas at once isn't something we are comfortable with for long, and so a tension builds up; the two things must either be reconciled, or something must be discarded.
Politics were very dear to me; I wanted to keep them. But this tension prompted inquiries: "How ought I approach politics? Is it wrong for me to devote so much time and effort to them? etc." which was met with what I viewed at the time as a non-answer: "Don't worry about it. Just keep coming to Church. It will work itself out in time." Nonsense, I thought...and yet... as time passed, I found myself reading fewer news items. I found myself less interested in defending political positions or preferred politicians. I found myself less inclined to argue when I came across an opinion I didn't agree with, or becoming outraged about it. It all happened very naturally, without force. As if suddenly, I realized the tension was gone and that something new had taken its place. Around that time I stumbled across a post by Fr. Stephen Freeman which provided a perspective that I wouldn't have considered before, let alone accepted:
"Our warfare is not the earthly form that appears in the merely political realm. Our true warfare is to intercede as Daniel did through every means given to us.
An important insight within all of this is that what we ourselves see is not the full extent of the story. Human history is not entirely human. When Pilate questions Christ, he assumes that he is a key player in a human drama. But the true drama is being acted out in the heavens. The entire cosmos surrounds what happens on Golgotha. Our daily lives are no less intertwined in the business of the heavens.
This unmasks the foolishness of modern thought. We have reduced our world to the merely secular, presuming that we ourselves are the driving force of history and that the outcome of things is in our hands. The Church, however, has its “citizenship” in heaven (Phil. 3:20). Actions that might seem out-of-the-way in the light of secular history have more to do with reality than is realized. The offering of the Bloodless Sacrifice at the altar in even the smallest congregation carries more eternal weight in heaven than all the votes cast by men. The outcome of history in Sodom and Gomorrah turned on the possible presence of but ten righteous persons.
We should remember to live lives that matter. Pray. Forgive. Repent. Intercede. Confess. Commune. The Lord sustains the universe through the prayers of the faithful."
(See here https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/glor...07/09/politics-and-the-princes-of-this-world/ for the full posting.)
Politics were very dear to me; I wanted to keep them. But this tension prompted inquiries: "How ought I approach politics? Is it wrong for me to devote so much time and effort to them? etc." which was met with what I viewed at the time as a non-answer: "Don't worry about it. Just keep coming to Church. It will work itself out in time." Nonsense, I thought...and yet... as time passed, I found myself reading fewer news items. I found myself less interested in defending political positions or preferred politicians. I found myself less inclined to argue when I came across an opinion I didn't agree with, or becoming outraged about it. It all happened very naturally, without force. As if suddenly, I realized the tension was gone and that something new had taken its place. Around that time I stumbled across a post by Fr. Stephen Freeman which provided a perspective that I wouldn't have considered before, let alone accepted:
"Our warfare is not the earthly form that appears in the merely political realm. Our true warfare is to intercede as Daniel did through every means given to us.
An important insight within all of this is that what we ourselves see is not the full extent of the story. Human history is not entirely human. When Pilate questions Christ, he assumes that he is a key player in a human drama. But the true drama is being acted out in the heavens. The entire cosmos surrounds what happens on Golgotha. Our daily lives are no less intertwined in the business of the heavens.
This unmasks the foolishness of modern thought. We have reduced our world to the merely secular, presuming that we ourselves are the driving force of history and that the outcome of things is in our hands. The Church, however, has its “citizenship” in heaven (Phil. 3:20). Actions that might seem out-of-the-way in the light of secular history have more to do with reality than is realized. The offering of the Bloodless Sacrifice at the altar in even the smallest congregation carries more eternal weight in heaven than all the votes cast by men. The outcome of history in Sodom and Gomorrah turned on the possible presence of but ten righteous persons.
We should remember to live lives that matter. Pray. Forgive. Repent. Intercede. Confess. Commune. The Lord sustains the universe through the prayers of the faithful."
(See here https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/glor...07/09/politics-and-the-princes-of-this-world/ for the full posting.)
