☦️ Eastern Orthodox Monastery of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco/a reading from Fr. Innocent

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Times of Stress

“...men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (Luke 21:26)

As I gaze out the window from the monastery's visiting room while a cheery fire dances in the wood stove, I am relieved to see the rain fall. A nice, steady rain marks the turning of the season and the cool of a California winter. We are especially thankful to see an end to the fire season in Northern California. It has been a disastrous year for wildfires, to say the least. While our monastery has been spared, many people in the cities of Redding and Paradise have lost their homes and even their very lives. The recent incident of violence in our monastery (see article that follows) have also made us realize how vulnerable we really are and how near death is to us every moment. These events have left us shaken and wondering at why these calamities befall us.

Yet, we should not let ourselves be easily shaken or lose our faith. Last year, I attended a talk given by Fr. Zacharias of Essex where he touched on this theme. He reassured us that extraordinary events and social upheaval of our times have been prophesied already in Holy Scripture. We should not let ourselves be shaken, but, seeing these events take place, do as it says in the Gospel: “Look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Orthodoxy in the United States is still a tiny minority—a mere 0.3% of the total population. Even though we are few, we can offer a certain “leaven” of influence. Most importantly, we can offer the solace of sanity. If one looks at an icon of a saint, one sees no extreme emotion. One sees serenity, peace, and strength. We can gaze at the icon. We can take into ourselves the same spirit of passionlessness in the face of much external turmoil. This is how we ought to live. This is the sanity we can give.

The real danger we face is not wildfires, acts of violence, or even death itself. Our foe is the over­whelming fear and dread that the thought of these calamities engenders. In monastic literature, we are en­couraged, above all, to keep our peace. We must believe that this is always possible. Perhaps the “peace that passes all understanding” is a serenity that doesn't match the circumstances, but is ours by virtue of our being children of the Prince of Peace.

—Hieromonk Innocent
December 2018 Newsletter