Thursday, February 16, 2006

heard of this?

okay, maybe I'm the last one in our weird little Ortho-world not to have heard of this, but I was listening to ancientfaithradio today and they had several quotations from an astounding piece of work called "Prayers by the Lake" by St Nikolai Velimenovich (sp?). It is profound and fresh stuff, man. I could only catch one little bit long enough to write it down (I'm happy to report I was working on an icon and so up to my wrists in egg yolk and poisonous powders) but it was this:

"All the world would not have the power to nourish one single blade of grass if God did not give it the power to do so".

I love how this perfectly expresses the relationship between God and the environment. There is no 'mother nature' -- as CS Lewis said, she is our sister, not our mother. God is the one who sustains it all.

Having said that, not raping, pillaging and dumping toxic crap all over our sister is just common sense, no?

Anyway, I am wondering if anyone has actually seen this book and where it can be found for meeeee to have. I want it! I waaaaannnnt it!

8 comments:

MommaKim said...

http://store.holycrossbookstore.com/prbylabbiniv.html

Kassianni said...

wow, another book store! yay! thanks kim!

elizabeth said...

i read a prayer from this book on Sky's Now and Ever blog...

stunning.

i should get this book too someday; the beauty in the words is astounding.

Matthew Francis said...

Thank you! I've been looking for this book too. This is the same St. Nikolai that wrote "The Prologue from Ohrid," - Bishop Nikolai of Zhica... a truly brilliant and poetic pastor. They called him "the Serbian Chrysostom." He earned two doctorates before he was 30 (crazy!), and preached at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. He was for a time (I think in the 1940s) the dean of St. Tikhon's Seminary. The Mission Station up in Whitehorse is named for him.

elizabeth said...

wow; that's cool; thanks MF for the info...

Matthew Francis said...

No problem. It keeps me off the streets.

elizabeth said...

:) well; glad u r not on the streets :) and i appreciate the info you do give

have a great weekend... the sun has decided to come out in ottawa; yea!

Jenny said...

Well, you better get over here to our streets! But then we'll let you come inside.

Thanks for that info -- most interesting. So he was Serbian. . .