In light of a few recent conversations, I would like to explore authority and obedience. And maybe our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Negative views of authority surround slavery, dictatorships, church hierarchies and sometimes the military. The negative adjectives associated with these types of authority, which are sometimes also applied to marital relationships are controlling, abusive, oppressive, arrogant, power hungry, angry, condemning and harsh. Groups that tend to be more sensitive to being under this type of authority are women, those associated with poorer, exploited countries (formerly known as minorities, but that is changing in America), Protestants, and those who have chosen stigmatized, usually considered immoral, lifestyles.
I believe there is some basis for this negative view of authority, mainly because I think it takes a Saint to do it right. Otherwise power tends to corrupt. This may be why there is so much time spent in the Bible teaching how it should and shouldn't be done. But I don't want to focus on the qualifications of a proper authority figure right now, who is necessary as without it there would be chaos and anarchy because the oppressed aren't perfect either, but on the needs of those who are under authority, who will someday have responsibilities, perhaps for just a dog or a plant.
What do children, plants, dogs, poor people, women, enlisted men, immoral people, and Protestants need from those in authority? Maybe Maslow got it right to some extent in his hierarchy of needs. Food and shelter, safety, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualization. I don't think people are completely stuck in one stage of need at a time, but maybe Maslow doesn't either. Different people view the fulfillment of these needs different ways, and this leads me to what people generally need provided for them, a safe place in which to grow and be and to be free. I don't think we can be truly free in a fallen world, without someone protecting us, and that is the main role for those in authority, imo. A hierarch protects the people by providing education, shelter from destroying influences, nourishment for growth, and appropriate boundaries for creativity and exploration. I find myself for the first time in my life in the upper zone as most of my life heretofore has been about struggling to have the most basic needs met. But now I have a husband who provides beyond any of my hopes and expectations, and my children are getting of an age where they don't need constant care, though I'm always listening and try to be aware of their activities. George wants me to have interests and to succeed in them and that is such a blessing. Meanwhile, he works gruelling hours to provide for me and ours, and for that I am very thankful.
So, the Orthodox Church paints beautiful pictures for what a self-actualized person is in her teachings of the Incarnation and resultant Saints. But each Saint is an individual with their own personal relationship with God, though even that is more communal in the Orthodox Church. I don't want to go into specifics about how to be a Saint, but I do believe it is the only way to become who we are intended to be - truly free people in the infinite, safe, nurturing boundary of the Body of Christ. But this is not a right, speaking of the Declaration of Independence, because it is conditional on becoming Christlike through our free will, faith, and walking in His ways by the grace of God. I hesitate to use "obedience" here because of how it has been used on abused people, and we women are very sensitive to that. Pedophiles gain an advantage by coming across as a caring adult authority figure. Somehow I don't think abused men have the same issues of authority and forced obedience as women, maybe because they grow up to be considered authority, powerful figures automatically and thus shed their vulnerability to domination, and many end up becoming oppressive dominators, though some may be so turned off by it that they become passive and don't exercise their authority in it's proper way.
I don't want to villify obedience, but I think the problems of exploitation are so much greater than the problems of disobedience in women in particular because I think we naturally want to please. Children are another matter, some want to please and some are more stubborn. Which leads me to stressing that authority is about providing safe boundaries/shelter. Both call to mind walls and a roof. We have this physically in our homes and Church buildings, but we also need to learn how to provide walls and a roof around their tender hearts and minds where they can grow into the fullest expressions of their individual personhood as they were created to be. I feel most in the presence of God when gazing at an innocent child's little face, and that is what we need to guard more than anything - their innocence. It's not about agressive control, but protecting their safety and the safety of those around them. After all they will someday be in charge of my grandchildren, and maybe even me if I get old and need additional care. If I want my grandchildren raised in the Church, I must play a very active role in enforcing how important it is for them to be raised in the Church. The Church needs to be the biggest influence in their lives, not sports, school, though it can complement the Church very nicely, not rest and relaxation, not vacations, entertainment, or even a career, though our Priest says that honorable reasons for missing Church include sickness and a job that requires it to provide for your family. This is also why two of my sons work at Chick-fil-a which is closed on Sundays unlike most other minimum wage jobs. I've told my kids that the main thing I want for them is to always attend Church regularly, and for my grandkids to as well. This probably means marrying an Orthodox spouse, or at least one that supports the kids going to an Orthodox Church. To me it is a matter of conditional life and death, otherwise known to Saint Maximus as ever well being, or ever ill being.
Oftentimes our immediate happiness is put on hold when we are caring for those we are responsible for. This is what denying self and following Christ are all about, but He promises that we can never give up more than He will eventually give us, and He has proven this true to me my whole life, though it usually takes a lot of time and testing. I'm glad Orthodox Lent is so long. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
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