Pastor and Flock [Stanislav Stempkovsky, 2008]
This picture graphically portrays “lived Orthodoxy”. This is how the faith is passed on. We do not learn it from books, we do not learn it at “workshops”, we do not learn it from “facilitators”, nor do learn it at “mission conferences”. The flame is passed organically from one generation to the next, in a natural and loving way, full of ardour, grace, and joy. That is why I have disliked every “convert” Orthodox clergyman I have ever met. They are all too intense and “forced”. There is no sensus ludus in any of them. In short, a rather brittle and joyless lot. It is why I believe that the AOCANA is on its way out of the church. There are too many ex-Anglicans amongst them, and the “salt has lost its savour”, being replaced by a partisanship that is not Orthodox at all.
Look at this photo. This is what we need. I wish I could say straightly what I feel about canon-quoters and Fathers-spouters, but, this is a family site, after all. We need straight hearts and souls, not knowledge.
