Icons
Sunday afternoon we met with Father Mephody to discuss the world of icons. To go to church in Russia is to be brought into a world of icons, candles and incense wafting in the air. People bow to the icon and pray and kiss the icon. Father Mephody, doing his best with an English translator, made it clear that these are not false idols. The Orthodox know that idol worship is a sin. They believe that icons are a path--a place where the spiritual realm meets the earthly realm.

In the evening before dinner we watched a movie with the lads in the monastery. The monastery has been working with heroin addicts who come out to live with them for about two years. They use film therapy--they watch a movie and then share their feelings. I think father Maphody has discovered that addicts have a terrible time knowing what they feel and sharing it so watching a movie just helps bring them out.

We watched a very sad movie on Russia during Soviet time. It was a time of mistrust, secrecy and just trying to get by. It was hard, but Father wanted all of us to share with the group and discuss it. He wanted to know the American views on Russia. He also wanted the group to share with us their views. Before you know it faith and politics were being discussed and it was exciting! One interesting point was on Afghanistan--they believe Americans don't listen and that we should have listened to them when they said stay out. They had been there before and knew it is bad. They are also mad that we let heroin cross freely into Russia--even may promote it. We finally stopped after 11:30 pm and went to bed.

Ice Fishing!

In the morning on Monday we were told it was too cold for ice fishing. We kept asking questions so they said we could go for 30 minutes. We got all bundled up and took a horse-drawn sleigh ride to the Volga River and went out 150 yards or more on the river. The Volga River is one of the largest in the world. I had prayed earlier for a big catch since the Russians only went out because we wanted to. We brought in the first net which is about sixty yards long. They have nets that stretch 60yards and are maybe five yards top to bottom. There are floats at the top of the net and metal rings in the bottom. The fish literally swim right into the net and get caught. As we were bringing in the net we got excited because good-size fish were coming up. By the end of the net we caught 20 fish with two big fish they were really happy to have and one tiger fish which made the lad jump up and down. They were so excited we drilled a second hole. Paul Wood got to do the drilling.

To make a long Big-Fish-Story short, the next net was overflowing--over 30 fish caught and two of them were Tiger fish. We now had been fishing for two hours and were very cold. We got back in the sleigh and felt that we were in a surreal event. Where were we? What year was it? Had we just gone back 300 or maybe 500 hundred years? Would one of the Czars come to visit? It was amazing.

A Meaningful Goodbye

We came back to tea and the traditional gift-giving time. We exchanged pictures, cups, flags and most of all, gestures of deep care and appreciation for each other. Later that day it was time to leave. We walked out to the edge of the property crossing a new bridge until we got to two cars waiting for us. There we were beside the River Volga and the land covered with snow. Father Mephody and Father Silone were getting ready to say goodbye. I must say there was something special in Father Mephody's peaceful and loving eyes. We were both shepherds from thousands of miles away and that made us brothers of the calling of God. We held each other’s hands and then gave the traditional three kisses. I then turned to the dancing eyes of Father Silone. He had a big smile on his face. We did the three-kiss tradition and he grabbed me and gave me a bear hug and started pounding my back. We all laughed and then everybody said good bye.

We begin our hour trek across the Volga and down the river path to the train station. I will tell you tomorrow of our ride to Moscow and the great Tretyakov gallery that will take us into the world of Russian Art. Tomorrow find out what dominates the museum and for us we are off to the Kremlin in the morning. God Bless till we meet again. Pastor Paul

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