This is Fr. Schmemann both at his theological and philosophical best and his psychologically most vulnerable as a human. Fr. Schmemann (+1983), former professor at St. Vladimir's Seminary in New York, pillar of Russian-American Orthodoxy in the late 20th C. takes us to the essence of Orthodox Christian experience and also to the reality of his inner human dilemma. We get a rare and prolonged view of the passions of the private, inner man in contrast to the powerful public figure that he displayed across not only the American Orthodox and nonOrthodox scene, but also internationally, especially in France and the former Soviet Union via his radio broadcasts.
At first glance this book would seem to have a very narrow audience--Orthodox, especially those of traditional Russian background (the very audience that would seem to be most offended by many of the pages of this book). Even recent converts in the West to Orthodoxy, especially Protestants, likely will not understand many of the cultural idiosyncrasies of the immigrant Russian church. But there is so much more to this volume. As a psychotherapist I find in his journals a plethora of insight into the psychological and characterological dynamics of this renowned professor and lecturer. Anyone of a Christian religious background, open to the sacramental point of view, will find sparkling gems of insight and spiritual experience (a topic, oddly, Fr. Schmemann himself despised). In addition, his journals are a veritable time capsule of contemporary events of the 70's and early 80's. We relive Carter, Begin and Sadat, the Iranian hostage crisis and the Ayatollah, the Jim Jones Guyana mass suicide, the British invasion of the Falklands and so much more as though it is happening before our eyes. We get to be a fly on the wall to some of his most private and intimate conversations with the most famous Soviet dissident figure in the West, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who personally sought out Fr. Schmemann to be his private Orthodox confessor when he defected to Canada. Fr. Schmemann's private observations reveal both the energetic genius and the mental illness of Solzhenitsyn.
Most of all we can glimpse into the mind of one of the foremost theological minds of modern Orthodoxy and follow his development of thought, especially pertaining to his great contribution to the Church--the eschatological Eucharistic experience of the Kingdom of God. There has been talk about the prophetic gift he had both as a positive expression in the Church and, surprisingly, from an unexpected iconoclastic fervor against what he viewed as the "idolatries" of his own Church. We don't mistake this "charismatic" figure as a cult leader--he is the ideological opposite of Tom Cruise. It can be easy to see how the most ardent, anti-religious atheist and the most zealous Protestant, evangelical Christian could latch onto a number of the criticisms Fr. Schmemann says about his own Church. But, in spite of that, his experience of the Orthodox liturgical rite, time and again, brings him back to an essential, deep and joyous experience, even in the face of death.
Included is a vast array of critical and penetrating thought about culture, politics, West vs. East, monasticism, women's issues, the difficulty of writing, homosexuality, death, Islam, cults, theology and psychology and psychotherapy for which he had a particular disdain. The emphasis, over and over, however, is the experience of eternal joy (though he frequently seems to lose it in all the "fuss" of ordinary, daily life) and the "one thing needed." There are also mind blowing thoughts about time and eternity--time is eternity fallen. We experience with him "temps immobile" and "all is elsewhere." The Kingdom of God is more likely to be found in a walk in the park, a child's smile, a memory of Paris or crisp winter air than in a theology book. All this culminating in a dramatic and intensely emotional ending that brought bursts of tears to my eyes both times I read it.
I wonder about Fr. Schmemann's family, most notably his wife, Juliana, who translated the journals and son Serge who wrote the impressive introduction. What kind of courage and likely tumultuous discussions it must have taken to publish these journals 20 years after his death. We are told a portion was edited out, but there's plenty here that shows the weak, imperfect side of this giant figure. Unending thanks goes to them for risking this volume. I could easily write a full book or two and five or six full length professional articles on the psychological material alone and its interface with his theological ideas and experiences.
For those interested click on the "History" section of the St. Vladimir's Seminary website and view the CBS Reports broadcast from a link in that section. With regard to Fr. Schmemann's intense criticism of the Russian Church I would also recommend Abp. Hilarion's Orthodox Christianity, volume I, especially the bluntly honest section on the tumultuous and unflattering history of the Russian Church.
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