We should become peasants.

[JohnMarq]

I've been thinking about this somewhat. If something like this ever did happen, I think perhaps the best way to do it would be to buy some land, live on it, and then if anyone wanted to join you you could sell them or give them a section of the land. They'd be responsible for building a dwelling place, any utilities, etc. It would be, legally and according to the law, their property. The community would be what it was made to be. People would gather when they chose to gather. People could work where they wanted to work. People could have whatever "modern inventions" they wanted. At least at first, and possibly the entire time, an "outside" (outside the community) church would be attended for the eucharist. It wouldn't be "the community attending the Church," though, but really the community would make the Church their home parish. In other words, it'd be no different than living anywhere else and going to a parish. Of course, more (reader) services/prayers could be done on the property, as a group or by individuals as they saw fit. One family could do missionary work via the internet and work at an aerospace company, another family might work on a local farm and live very simply and reclusively.

There's a similar situation at Agape Community in TN, although they have a regular Church with Liturgies there. We especially appreciated the daily vespers we attended during our brief stays a couple years ago.

I think they have an approach to the land/housing issue that's similar as well. Last I heard, there are adjacent properties that are for sale by the community, with the restriction that those who buy and then choose to sell again do so with the approval of the community, keeping the owners Orthodox.

Re-reading parts of this thread reminded me... does anyone know of the Amish man (Bishop?) who converted to Orthodoxy, studied, was ordained, and had a parish in Western PA that was partly "horse and buggie"? If so, are they still functioning in that way? Haven't heard anything about him for several years now.

-John

P.S. Paradosis: Was there anything from the priestly response you mentioned a couple months ago that would be postable?

[Justin Kissel]

Some of the stuff said by the priest actually made me rethink this whole thing, which is one reason I dropped out of the thread for a while (though there were other, personal, reasons). I will seek permission to post the first email on here, and if I can't get permission, I'll summarize what I "got out of it" (though that will take some time).

[Julianna]

Some of the stuff said by the priest actually made me rethink this whole thing, which is one reason I dropped out of the thread for a while (though there were other, personal, reasons). I will seek permission to post the first email on here, and if I can't get permission, I'll summarize what I "got out of it" (though that will take some time).

People've moved to be around our Cathedral in rural Buena Vista which's in the middle of nowhere. If people'd wanted community elsewhere I'm sure Vladika Gregory would provide like I've said but would people want a ROAC priest leading the community?

[Theodora Elizabeth]

I've been doing a lot of reading on "simply living," also known as "voluntary simplicity," over the past few years. About a year ago, I began looking for a book on such from the Orthodox perspective. Didn't find anything (but maybe I've not looked hard enough), but it hit me last night, that I don't need such a book - I already have it in some writings by St. John Chrysostom. I've found this particularly in the two little volumes published by SVS Press: "On Marriage and Family Life" and "On Wealth and Poverty" (both are part of the "Popular Patristics series, all under something like $14). I've also found much appropriate in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers.

I've found that living simpler fits with Orthodoxy hand in glove. Back when I was an Episcopalian, I got lots of comments about my "streamlined" life. Now, as an Orthodox, at least in my parish, there are many others who are doing the same things as I am, some to raise large families, others out of necessity. For once, I am not out of place for renting an apartment! I think more in my parish rent than they own.

I would be interested in your comments on "living simpler" within Orthodoxy.

Thanks,
Theodora Elizabeth

[OrthodoxyOrDeath]

I think the simpler the better. Here is an excerpt from something on Fr. Seraphim Rose which I hold close to my heart....

---

I met Fr. Seraphim a year and a half before his death in 1982. Like him, I had been seeking Reality through Eastern religions, etc., by seeking to escape pseudo-reality through a Zen- like breakdown of logical thought processes. Finally reduced to despair, I listened to Syd Barrett's two schizophrenic-withdrawal, childhood-regression solo albums over and over, until I had memorized all his word-salads. (In Russia, this is known as "going crazy on a full stomach.")

Then one day Fr. Seraphim came to the campus where I was going to school. He drove up in an old beat-up pickup truck, and emerged with his worn-out black robe, his long hair, and his exceedingly long gray beard which had become matted (I found out later that he had not taken a bath or shower since becoming a monk ll years before--which is common monastic practice in Israel, Greece, and Egypt--but for some reason he didn't smell). It was the image of absolute poverty.

Thc next thing I remember is walking with Fr. Seraphim through the college. Dinner had just ended, and the students were milling and hanging around outside the cafeteria. Everyone was staring at Fr. Seraphim, but he walked through them as naturally as if he had been at home. In the middle of this progressive American college, he seemed like someone who had just stepped out of the 4th-century Egyptian desert.

Fr. Seraphim went to a lecture room and delivered a talk called "Signs of the Coming of the End of the World." He happened to be sick at this time, and sniffled throughout the lecture. Obviously exhausted, he yet remained clear-headed, cheerful, and ready to answer questions at length. I could see that he was at least as learned and far more wise than any of my professors, and yet he was clearly a man off the wilderness, more at home in a forest than in a classroom.

What struck me most about Fr. Seraphim was that here was a man who was sacrificing himself totally for God, for the Truth. He was not a university professor receiving a comfortable salary for being a disseminator of knowledge, nor was he a religious leader who hankered after power, influence, or even a bowl of fruit to be placed at his feet, as did the "spiritual masters" who then had followings in the area. He was not "into religion" for what he could get out of it; he was not looking for a crutch, to "enjoy spiritual life." He was just a simple monk who sought the Truth above all else. And I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would die for that Truth, for I could sense that he was dying for it already.

[Etienne]

Augoustinos N Kantiotes, Bishop of Florina, Greece has written a beautiful book called, 'Follow Me", published by the Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, Belmont, Mass.

The good bishop is the oldest of the bishops of the Church of Greece. Very strict and one, living as he does in a quite isolated diocese, has a possibly surprisingly acute world view and missionary view. He, as I recall, writes that if, "I have 600 grammes of bread and my neighbour 400 grammes, I am a thief". He has avoided many of the temptations sometimes attributed to bishops, including refusing any suggestion of transfer to a wealthier diocese.

He has written a number of books, of which I have a number. Many are available in English and are written in accessible style

[OrthodoxyOrDeath]

sgjspencer,

"Follow Me" was given to me by my Godfather when I was received into the Church from new-calendarism. It is a most excellent book! I read it twice.

I didn't think anyone else would have known about it since it is rather obscure, just like Florina.