So often we lack any sense of historical perspective in America. We love to use the saying about he who does not know history is doomed to repeat it. Then we promptly go out and make a mistake that could have been avoided with just a little knowledge of history. You see, the typical American attitude is to see something that we think needs to be changed, and then want it to be changed immediately. We see something that needs to be fixed and wonder why it was not fixed right away.
We Orthodox are also prone to that. Recently Pithless Thoughts published the graph above, right around the time of the Episcopal Assembly (of the bishops of the Orthodox Church in America). Both before and after the assembly, you could read bloggers seriously complaining because full unity had not already been reached, or because the bishops had not rebelled against the Old World patriarchs and forcibly established a new patriarchy here in the USA (we really hate outside authority), or because we had not solved all the issues of current Orthodox practice, etc.
The graph above points out how recent our experience of Orthodoxy is in America, in comparison to some significant world events in Christianity. Guess what! Look at the space between Pentecost and the First Ecumenical Council in Nicea. God was willing to wait that long to settle the issue of the Trinity. This could mean that no one alive today will be alive when God finally decides to give unity to Orthodoxy in America. More than that, it means that God’s timetable is certainly not ours. We love to say that, but we complain as though we do not believe it.
Our situation in Orthodoxy in America today is neither ideal nor canonical. But, the situation between Pentecost and Nicea was worse. We are talking about purely structural issues, but the basic faith is there. They were dealing with the basic faith not being present and with heretics seriously leading the Church astray. And yet God did not see fit to change the situation quickly back then. Why should He be in any more hurry today than He was back then?
We try to get around that by saying that it is the fault of the bishops, or the fault of the Old World Patriarchs, or purely the fault of some set of human beings. But, when we fall into that way of thinking, we show just how American we are. We want it fixed right away. Worse, since part of our Orthodox claim is that the Holy Spirit is within us and guiding us, we often are essentially implying that the Old World bishops and Patriarchs do not know the Holy Spirit and/or do not listen to Him. If one goes too far along that route, one will be in danger of implying that the Holy Spirit is either not truly present in the Church or is not truly capable of communicating with us. Or, in very typical American fashion, we will be implying that we are the only ones who really know how the Church ought to be handled on this continent. That is, we Americans are the only ones who truly know the mind of the Holy Spirit.
Do I want one Church on this continent? Yes! But, not at the cost of changing our very theology on what the Church is and how God works through the Church, and not at the cost of implying that God does not know what He is doing and that it would be much better if He were to move faster to finally confirm that we are correct in our thinking. We do not need Orthodox believers in the USA trying to push for an Orthodox version of the Declaration of Independence, lest it be God from whom they are trying to declare independence. And that is the biggest American danger, that we might be trying to declare independence from God in our attempts to supposedly uphold canonical Orthodoxy. Let us not go this route.
Father, I should have you write the annotated version of the Orthographs. Well said. Thank you.