[Frederica-l] Videos & other stuff

Wed May 23 17:00:22 EDT 2007

1. More videos! 

Beliefnet has now posted 4 of the videos we filmed a couple of months ago. At 
the "Preachers and Teachers" page there are the two I sent out previously, on 
Fasting and on the Christ of Sinai icon. The new videos are about my 
conversion story, and about the connections among our sins, the devil, and the puzzle 
of why there is suffering in the world. 

_http://www.beliefnet.com/av/PreachersAndTeachers.aspx?v=22566fc0c9c999a61a9ce
7ed6c8d90cb45e5cbdf512ad_ 
(http://www.beliefnet.com/av/PreachersAndTeachers.aspx?v=22566fc0c9c999a61a9ce7ed6c8d90cb45e5cbdf512ad) 

Seems you can't get an URL for each individual video. When you click the 
above link, the fasting video will load and start playing. Along the bottom of the 
screen you'll see photos of me, and each one goes to a different video. Hover 
over it with your cursor and you'll see the title. 

2. Podcast!

I'll be doing a weekly podcast for Ancient Faith Radio beginning in June. 

_http://www.ancientfaithradio.com/_ (http://www.ancientfaithradio.com/)     

scroll down and you'll see the announcement, and a link to click in order to 
hear the promo. I'm proud to say that the terrific theme music (named "Frank") 
is by my son David Mathewes (ie, the *real* Dave Mathewes). He's a prolific 
composer and performer, and I'm hoping to find a way to make more of his work 
available online. 

3. Beliefnet also invited me to throw in my two cents regarding "spiritual 
parenting": 

_http://www.beliefnet.com/features/spiritualparenting.html?pgIndex=10_ 
(http://www.beliefnet.com/features/spiritualparenting.html?pgIndex=10) 

4. There are new family photos on my website at 
_http://www.frederica.com/display/ShowGallery?moduleId=408936&galleryId=22269_ 
(http://www.frederica.com/display/ShowGallery?moduleId=408936&galleryId=22269)  . But I'm still trying to 
figure out how to make them the right size when you click through, and I'm 
having trouble getting them to line up in order. At least I got them downloaded! 

5. I also had an interview with Jon Sweeney for his website, 
_www.ExploreFaith.com_ (http://www.ExploreFaith.com) , about spiritual disciplines. I was able 
to explore something I always wanted to look into. You remember a few eyars 
ago when a book called "The God Gene" was in the news, which claimed that the 
author had identified the gene that causes a person to have a sense of 
"self-transcendence." It seems that this means a feeling that the boundaries of the 
self are melting away and you're becoming one with the universe. However, that's 
not something that happens in Christian prayer; we have a *stronger* sense of 
self, a stronger awareness of the need for repentance, as well as contact 
with a distinct other Person, Jesus Christ. What people experience in Buddhist 
and in Christian prayer are two very different things. 

_http://www.frederica.com/writings/whats-your-spiritual-exercise.html_ 
(http://www.frederica.com/writings/whats-your-spiritual-exercise.html) 

***** 
Explorefaith: Your spiritual journey has taken you from growing up Catholic, 
to practicing Hinduism in your twenties, to Anglicanism, and finally, 
conversion into the Orthodox Church. Would you say it was primarily belief, or 
practice, that drew to you to Orthodoxy?  
FMG: Strangely enough, I had finished most of those changes by the time I was 
21; the "wilderness wandering" was brief but intense in my teens. When I came 
home to Christianity my husband and I went to Episcopal seminary and enjoyed 
being part of the "renewal" movement in that denomination. In the late 80's we 
were concerned about theological drift in that church, and that is why we set 
out to examine alternatives.  
So it was primarily Orthodox belief that initially attracted us; the fact 
that the Orthodox Church doesn't "update" its worship services means that it is 
still practicing the faith of the first few centuries. We were searching for a 
church that doesn't change. However, we got more than that in the bargain, and 
I'd say that the best thing about Orthodoxy is that it preserves ancient 
wisdom about how to cultivate the presence of God-how to become a god-bearer, like 
a candle bears a flame. The "science" of how to do this is reinforced by both 
beliefs and practices, but the centerpiece is the vibrant and transforming 
presence of Christ.  
Explorefaith: Who are some of the real champions of Orthodox spiritual 
practice in the last century?  
FMG: Communist persecution produced some extraordinary saints. The book 
"Father Arseny" presents an excellent example. During the time this priest was held 
in a Soviet prison, he practiced such love and humility that even hardened 
criminals and communist authorities were converted; many miracles accompanied 
him. The book is a collection of reminiscences by people who knew him from all 
walks of life, and was circulated underground for many years until the Iron 
Curtain fell and it could be published.  
My own spiritual father, Fr. George Calciu, was another survivor of communist 
torture and attempted brainwashing. He was imprisoned with Richard Wurmbrand, 
who became well-known in the West as the author of "Tortured for Christ" and 
founder of Voice of the Martyrs. I never knew anyone as full of life and joy 
as Fr. George. He died this past November, and my new book is dedicated to his 
memory.  
Mother Gavrilia is sometimes called "the Orthodox Mother Teresa;" she was a 
medical doctor, and later a nun, who traveled in India, worked with lepers, and 
brought healing and the light of Christ everywhere she went.  
Mother Maria Skobtsova fought Naziism in Europe , and at one point smuggled 
children to safety by hiding them in trash cans. She was executed at 
Ravensbruck. 
St. Silouan was a Russian peasant, uneducated and humble, who became an 
extraordinary "athlete of prayer" on Mt Athos. His biography by Fr Sophrony 
Sakharov is a staple of Orthodox spirituality.  
Among Orthodox, a "champion of spiritual practice" wouldn't necessarily mean 
a mystic (we don't really have the concept of "mysticism"); it would mean 
someone who was being taken over, inch by inch, by the flame of Christ. It's 
expected that the presence of Christ is already within us, and what we have to do 
is get out of the way, removing fear and sin that block its spread. A spiritual 
athlete may have extraordinary spiritual events going on internally, but what 
would be seen on the outside are superhuman love, patience, humility, a 
presence that transforms others. Saints make everyone they meet more able to be 
themselves.  
Explorefaith: Your new book, "The Lost Gospel of Mary," tells a story about 
the Virgin Mother that many people have never heard before. Was that your 
intention?  
FMG: Yes, I think the fact that Mary is controversial among Christians must 
grieve our Lord, who naturally loved his mother very much. He would want us to 
love and honor her, but not to worship her; the very idea is horrifying. Since 
there's been a see-saw about Mary over the last thousand years, I wanted to 
go back to an earlier time, before the trouble began, and examine three ancient 
texts about Mary. I hope that by recovering the understanding of the early 
Christians, we can stand on solid, common ground.  
Explorefaith: There are many spiritual practices for relating to Mary, aren't 
there? Are there some that are particularly Orthodox?  
FMG: We Orthodox don't use the rosary, or say the Roman Catholic "Hail Mary," 
or honor Mary in any form apart from Christ; there isn't a form of 
spirituality directed exclusively at her. We do honor her for her role in God's plan of 
salvation: the conception, birth, and mothering of Jesus. She stands for all 
the human race, in that she loaned her body, an ordinary body like ours, and 
from it Christ took on flesh. And that very thought is astounding, bewildering; 
how could God be contained inside a human body, one he himself had made? 
Orthodox never get tired of exploring that mystery, and in so doing we celebrate 
Mary and cheer for her as if she's a hometown hero, sometimes at great length. 
The third document in my book is a lengthy hymn (actually, a kind of sung 
sermon) written around 520 AD, celebrating Mary's role in God's plan of salvation. 
Orthodox still offer this worship service every year, near the time of the 
feast of the Annunciation (March 25).  
Secondly, we ask Mary to pray for us-just as we would ask any friend or 
prayer partner. The second text in the book is a prayer asking Mary's help, the 
earliest prayer yet found. There are several short prayers to Mary that are used 
regularly in Orthodox worship, including one which is like the first half of 
the Hail Mary, and is made of the Scriptural words addressed to her. Usally the 
last prayer of a service is addressed to her.  
And thirdly, people just love her. Orthodox dote on her, and love to think 
about her, talk about her, and keep her picture (as a young mom, holding Jesus) 
all through their homes and churches. The first text in the book is a story 
about Mary's conception, birth, and early life, and its distinguishing mark is 
affection.  
Explorefaith: It seems to be acceptable, even normative, for people today to 
borrow spiritual practices from various religious traditions. I'm thinking of 
Catholics who do Yoga, or Methodists who do sitting meditation at the local 
Buddhist center. What do you think of that?  
FMG: Sometimes what various religions have discovered is simply a 
physiological mechanism. If you slow down and take deep breaths, it will calm you - it's 
as simple as that, and nothing uniquely "spiritual." It may well be that 
faiths that don't radically separate body and soul are more likely to discover such 
tools. Christians can take these up, if they are not linked to any contrary 
religious affirmations.  
However, other religions depart from the Christian path sooner or later. We 
can see this in the different results people report from the two kinds of 
prayer. Buddhist meditation, for example, aims at freedom from the "delusion" of 
self-awareness, the supposedly false idea that one's self has value and 
permanence. In that kind of meditation there can be a sense of personal boundaries 
dissolving and personality fading away, as the person becomes one with 
everything.  This is the kind of thing scientists are looking at when they talk about 
the "God gene," the genetic variations or changing brain activity observable in 
a person who experiences this melt-away kind of  "self-transcendence."  
That doesn't happen in Christian spirituality. It's the reverse; for us, 
"self-transcendence" would mean "death to self," humility, a willingness to "count 
others  better than yourselves" (Phil 2:3) and to submit one's will to 
Christ. He liberates us from old sins, learned from misperceptions and fears planted 
by the devil's malice. Christ is Truth, and the Truth sets us free.   
In the experience of prayer, the distinct person  of Christ becomes more 
perceptible, and he is clearly a different person from the self, a powerful 
personality of overwhelming love. The Christian pursues this in prayer, and 
discovers the capacity to be increasingly filled with that presence. It doesn't 
dissolve the self, but fills it with Christ's warmth and brilliance,  like a piece 
of iron in a furnace is filled with the light and heat of fire (a biblical 
analogy would be to the Burning Bush.) It's a genuine change, not just a matter of 
thoughts or emotions. Yet it's the opposite of the boundaryless dissolution 
above, so the "God gene" arguments don't apply at all. Rather than dissolving, 
the self comes into clearer focus, as we become ever more able to bear the 
truth about themselves, and come to honest repentance and receive Christ's 
healing.  We are liberated from old sins, which were learned from misperceptions and 
fears planted by the devil's malice. Christ is Truth, and the Truth sets us 
free. 
So the Christian becomes ever more increasingly a unique individual, a healed 
personality, occupied more and more with love. The personality doesn't 
dissolve; it is clarified and restored. Likewise, what we meet in prayer is not 
amorphous nothingness, but a Person who comes ever more clearly into focus, a 
Person who is incarnate love. The prayer that developed in the early church, to 
help believers acquire the habit of "praying constantly," is a short plea 
addressed to Jesus, the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on 
me." That prayer reinforces the sense that there are two persons involved, 
rather than a melting, featureless unity. So the experience of Christian prayer 
is very different from that of many eastern religions. We could even say it is 
the opposite: it is love between two persons, between Christ and the 
individual believer, and that contact fills and overflows the believer with Christ's 
love for all.  
Explorefaith: Would you mind sharing with our readers some of your own 
personal, spiritual practices? What do you do each day, as an Orthodox Christian, as 
a human, as whatever, that connects you to the Divine?  
FMG: Thirty years ago I began rising in the middle of the night for my daily 
prayer time. I still do this. Fr George recommended that I begin that time by 
saying the Nicene Creed and Psalm 50; after that, I say a hundred Jesus 
Prayers. I go return to bed and go back to sleep in continuing prayer.  
When I wake in the morning, I say some prayers before I get out of bed (there 
are a short series of prayers, called "the Trisagion prayers", which open 
virtually every Orthodox service), and greet the icons in my room before starting 
the day. I put on the teapot and, lighting the candles, say some more prayers 
in my icon corner; this is when I go through my intercessory prayer list, and 
each day I pray for a section of the parishioners in our church directory. 
When I go to my computer, I first do bible study in the New Testament and 
Psalms, using wonderful Bible software that provides the helps I need to study the 
texts in Greek.  
Throughout the day I try to remember to say the Jesus Prayer. I try to note 
on the clock whenever a new hour begins, and to say at least some Jesus Prayers 
during each hour. I am trying to learn to "pray constantly" as St. Paul says. 

Three nights a week, and more in Lent, there are church services, which I 
usually attend (and of course there is the Eucharist on Sunday). At bedtime I say 
the Trisagion prayers again and go to sleep saying the Jesus Prayer.  
I also keep the Orthodox fast, which is to abstain from meat and dairy and 
some other foods on Wednesdays, Fridays, and during the 4 "Lents" of the church 
year. Essentially, it's a vegan diet, and we are keeping it a bit more than 
half the days of the year. I have hypoglycemia, so I adjust it slightly, and in 
particular when I'm traveling and don't have access to "home foods."  
The most important spiritual discipline is how we treat other people, 
however, so that keeps me involved in volunteer work, financial giving, and 
attempting to practice love and to subdue pride in every human interaction. This is the 
most challenging discipline, to me, but potentially the most transformative. 

********
Frederica Mathewes-Green
www.frederica.com

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