study 6: less/ more personal

'Deposition', Russian icon, late 15c.

'Deposition', Italian icon, early 14c.

Liturgy, God, man

Why I wrote this

This essay is a natural outcome of the hurt and dismay which I experience almost every time I participate in the Eastern Orthodox Liturgy. Why such emotions? – Because I came to firmly believe that in the overwhelming majority of cases the Liturgy is not conducted properly, from a lay person’s point of view. I have deliberately chosen these words which are doomed to be perceived as the silliness of a philistine who does not understand what she is talking about. I readily agree that I am, in the eyes of many, especially the Eastern Orthodox clergy, a double philistine: as a laity and as a woman. That is right: I am writing as a lay person who wants to be with Jesus Christ maximally fully, especially in the established by Him, for this very purpose, sacrament of the Eucharist and who, as a laity and as a woman, can participate in the Liturgy only as much – or, more fittingly, as little – as the Church “tradition” allows her. 

Путин без зеркал

Загадка мистера Путина

В настоящее время президент Российской Федерации В.В. Путин купается в свете прожекторов, ярких, как никогда. "Мачо", "супермен", "самый вежливый человек" (вставьте любое любое клише) продолжает оставаться для Запада загадкой. И, судя по реакциям и действиям подавляющего большинства западных политиков, они продолжают не видеть, с кем они имеют дело.

Существует несколько причин этой странной слепоты, в том числе вполне сознательные и рациональные, например, получаемые их странами временные выгоды, пока они остаются слепыми и глухими. Тем не менее, даже если вообразить гипотетическую ситуацию, в которой политики разом отказываются от временных выгод и концентрируются на глобальной и вполне реальной проблеме Третьей Мировой Войны, начатой в Украине, они бы все равно не знали, что им делать с "мистером Путиным". И это совсем не удивительно, т.к. они воспринимают его как другого человека.

Putin without mirrors

The enigma of Mr. Putin

Currently the president of the Russian Federation, Mr. Putin, is more in the spotlight than ever. “The super tough guy”, “the Russian macho” – whatever the cliché – is as “enigmatic” to the West as ever. Judging by the actions of the overwhelming majority of world politicians they are still unable to understand with whom they are dealing. 

There are multiple reasons for that perceived blind spot of course including rational and conscious reasons, for instance the temporary benefits their countries may reap while they remain ‘blind’. Still, even if one imagines the hypothetical situation when the political leaders of the whole world suddenly became free from those temporary concerns and concentrated on the very real and big issue of the Third World War starting in Ukraine they still would not know how to deal with Mr. Putin. This is not at all surprising because they think of him as another person.