In episode 11, I interview Nora Kowalchek, who is known in online Orthodox circles as “Mother of Five.” She’s just a normal person doing normal things like working, being a wife and a mom, and owning a home, but she is also ardently committed to rearing her children in the practices and faith of Orthodox Christianity. This is a very abnormal thing to do in our intensely worldly society, where nearly everything is pitted against children to mature into godly men and women. It takes much dedication, time, prayer, and selflessness to remain committed to raising the Church’s next generation of laity and leaders, hence, Kowalchek’s motivation to resist the covid rules set forth by the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).
She sees these jurisdictional directives as both detrimental to the salvation of her son and daughters and to the future of the Church as a whole. So Kowalcheck decided to voice her heartfelt opposition to the regulations implemented by the OCA bishops, not because she wants to be a rebel to authority, but because she knows she must take a stand for what is right – to defend the even higher authority of truth.
If you’re not Orthodox, don’t be scared. Kowalchek answers a few “Orthodoxy 101” questions, which may be of interest to you as far as intellectual inquiry goes. Plus, the greater theme of our discussion taps into to the battles happening in American Christianity and the greater society as a whole: faith vs. man, self-determination vs. collectivism, corporate gathering vs. radical individualism, freedom vs. fictional safety, the “Great Unreason” (as Jack Kerwick calls it) vs. true reason.
Speaking of that, here’s Kowalchek’s essay, “The Loss of a Generation,” that struck a chord with many other Christian parents who share her concerns, including Archbishop Alexander’s wording from his March 10 statement: “This is not a season of trial in which to test one’s piety through unreasonable faith.” Interestingly, I cannot find the Archbishop’s original statement on the OCA website or pretty much anywhere on the Internet, other than the full text posted on the St. Athanasius Orthodox Church’s Facebook page.
Also of note is this Father Peter Heers‘ interview with Archimandrite Savas Agioreitis. Kowalcheck shared it with me today because the two discuss “the holiness of the Temple and Holy Things,” and why Christians should defend the Holy Canons and how they instruct us to kiss icons, participate fully in communal worship, and receive the Eucharist.
Kowalchek mentioned St. Mark of Ephesus as one historic example of a Christian who challenged bishops when they strayed. Although he was a devout monk, we lay people can still look to his dogmatic, polemic theology as a guide of how we too can be “the conscience” of the hierarchs.
Be sure to check out Kowalchek’s blog Jacob’s Story, which is about her experiences having lost a child. She says writing about her son’s death helps her to find her way “through the fog … in spite of grief.” It’s a beautiful site, filled with trials and triumphs, heartache and happiness, and compassion and kindness. It will surely speak to you if you’ve lost a son or daughter, or know someone who has.
Listen to this episode above, check it out on Libsyn, or watch it on YouTube.
Comments
Nora, thanks so much for this interview, and the letter posted at Monomakhos.
As an adult solo Orthodox noob, it’s great to get your very qualified perspective as a parent of five. Many of my reasons for not attending Church during this “new normal” overlap your own, plus a few other convenient excuses like my daughter getting the Covid, and me throwing out my back. As a Catechumen I feel like I have little no right to raise my voice, but I’m glad you have. I miss my chats with your husband during coffee hour. I miss singing under his choir direction, and I miss feeling his bottomless bass rise up through the soles of my feet! I also miss Church as a whole.
I should probably friend you up on the Coronabook.
So glad you liked it. Even though all this insanity has been very difficult mentally, physically, and spiritually, it has opened doors to test and strengthen our faith, as well as nurture friendships. I knew Nora before, but feel I am much closer to her now, and have learned so much from her compassionate AND passionate example!
Same goes for you, Robert. I feel like you’re a kindred spirit, and your heartfelt inquires into the Church, as well as its modern-American manifestations, show how much you care about your Christian walk and how serious you are about proclaiming that Orthodoxy is the “one, true faith.” I’ve learned much from you, too, friend! I pray God may bless and protect you and your family.
“O Lord, Thou who steadied the hand of Peter as he began to sink on the stormy sea, if Thou are with me, no one is against me. Grant to me the shield of faith and the mighty armor of the Holy Spirit to protect me and guide me to do Thy will. The future I put into Thy hands, O Lord, and I follow Thee to a life in Christ. Amen.”
I’m not an Orthodox Christian, although I am a Christian. I am also an alternative health care provider, who are mostly politically liberal, if not downright progressive. What I noticed since Trump became President is with each wave of tyranny, whether imposed by the administration or the state governor, a significant segment of the population starts shying away from the progressivism. Spygate or FISA gate (or even Obama gate) does not affect a significant percentage of the population and is interesting “table talk” over a glass of wine.
The next wave, which is COVID-19, affected the liberals in the health care space because they KNEW for a LONG time that masks are useless, pointless and some of the more conservative ones came out and said it’s a mind control device. What I see now is these formerly liberal health care providers are now not-so-liberal as the pain of cognitive dissonance has started to affect them. It is also affecting the more traditional liberals (the big government, free speech ones like JFK) and now they are coming out and denouncing the cultural Marxists.
As this mask thing drags on, churches will be affected. Although Trump has been wishy washy on vaccines, I expect him to expose his true feelings as one gets closer (someone in his family was vaccine-injured, so he does know) and that will affect religion and churches. Their cognitive dissonance will have to do with forced vaccines (not mandated by Trump, btw) by tyrannical governors or mayors. I expect Trump himself to roll out other therapeutics via Twitter to escalate the level of pain. That is when you will see fracturing of the churches and know who to leave and where to go.
People don’t change without experiencing pain. That has always been true. When the pain of cognitive dissonance becomes too big, people change. First it was normal Republicans, then moderate Democrats (blue collar ones), then liberal Democrats (the health care people) and soon churches (those affected with the Stockholm syndrome). With each wave, the media inflicts more pain, more people tune out the “official narrative” and go to their favorite social media sites, like Twitter or Facebook. Although there is censorship, FB has lessened it and I expect Twitter to too. The silver lining is that people see for themselves how the cultural marxists are a bunch of whiny brats.
Many good points, Eileen, and I agree with much of it, although I am not quite as optimistic as you. I will say, though, that one positive consequence of these crazy times is that it is overwhelmingly obvious who is an ally and a compatriot, and who isn’t. Lines have been drawn in the sand, which should have happened a long time ago, and when people get pushed into a corner, as you said, they must pick A or B. It’s becoming more and more like the Spanish Civil War; there were only 2 sides – the fascists and the commies – and people had to pick 1 or die. I like to say that the scabs are being pulled off of all the myths and the bullshit, and folks are starting to get it … I just think it might be too little too late for Murica.
Found it: here’s the original PDF of the OCA’s “unreasonable faith” statement. file:///home/chronos/u-e1d8888b33eed26541e5b2933ea99fa4f540627a/MyFiles/Downloads/DOS-2020-0310A-COVID-19.pdf
It’s no contradiction to worship Christ and to revere those who best followed in His footsteps. I wish Catholics and those within the Orthodoxy didn’t have to explain this. But we live in a Protestant country, and Protestants often don’t have such a great understanding of Christian history.
Agreed. Lacking history, Christian and otherwise, is a HUGE problem in Murica.
Nora, thanks so much for this interview, and the letter posted at http://www.monomakhos.com/lost-generation/
As an adult solo Orthodox noob, it’s great to get your very qualified perspective as a parent of five. Many of my reasons for not attending Church during this “new normal” overlap your own, plus a few other convenient excuses like my daughter getting the Covid, and me throwing out my back. As a Catechumen I feel like I have little no right to raise my voice, but I’m glad you have. I miss my chats with your husband during coffee hour. I miss singing under his choir direction, and I miss feeling his bottomless bass rise up through the soles of my feet! I also miss Church as a whole.
I should probably friend you up on the Coronabook.