“Glory to You for Your eternity in this fleeting world; Glory to You for Your memories seen and unseen; Glory to You through every sigh of my sorrow; Glory to You for every step of my life’s journey; For every moment of glory. Glory to You, O God, from age to age” (Akathist: ‘Glory to God for all things’ Fr. G. Petrov in GULAG)
If you are like me, you spend so much of your life explaining and describing Orthodox Christianity. Yes, we are Orthodox; no, we’re not Jewish. Yes, Christians, but neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant. So we explain through tradition, from 33 A.D. Or we try to tell of the divisions after Constantine into East and West, but we notice a glaze in the other’s eyes. We speak of liturgy, spirituality, faith of the desert fathers, and try doctrine—Nicene Creed, God-man Jesus Christ, even the actions of the Holy Spirit.
We are ideally glory people—more, those who praise and glorify the Holy Trinity in the correct manner: Ortho = straight and right; doxa = glory. “Ideally,” because we do not always rise to the occasion to give God our gratitude for everything. We are weak; we expect the good times to continue without pause; we, like most people, cannot understand why bad things happen to good folks (especially us). To be truly Orthodox Christian is to have the same attitude as the akathist from which the above phrase was lifted.
Imagine Protopresbyter George Petrov imprisoned in the horrid GULAG of the Soviet Union, realizing there was only one way out for him—execution and then the Kingdom of God. It’s 1940. He is already partly dead from malnutrition and abuse. He will be shot in a short while. And yet he is able to spend his last weeks on earth composing this hymn of praise to the Almighty Everlasting King.
The form of devotion is called “akathist,” a service of celebration for all the blessings of the Holy Trinity. It can be chanted in church or used as a private devotional. It’s always a spirit-lifter because there is little to be identified as negative. The key term is “Glory,” or “Rejoice,” that word which is an invitation to recognize and unite with the Holy Spirit within that place of our souls waiting to be called upon to expand and enhance all that is divine within us. Everything that will accompany our souls on the ultimate journey to paradise is exalted in these types of akathists. Here is the only pill you need for an attitude change. You will find that a transformation of emotions has taken place when you come to the conclusion. Again Fr. Petrov:
“The dark storm clouds of life bring no terror in whose hearts Your fire is burning brightly. Outside is the darkness of the whirlwind, the terror and howling of the storm, but in the heart, in the presence of Christ, there is light, peace and silence.”
Such a devout Christian sees good in everything, even in those who die daily in the camp:
“How often have I seen the reflection of Your glory in the faces of the dead; how resplendent they were, with beauty and heavenly joy; how ethereal, how translucent their faces; how triumphant over suffering and death, their felicity and peace.”
The problem in praying through such hymns of joy in a fractured world is the contemplation returning to us—how far I am from such triumphant joy! How great is the distance between the Christ in such a man and the Spirit within me. How long will it be until I can pray in such a state of euphoria and optimism? Such persons can truly be called Orthodox Christians. When does my admiration become imitation?