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Autumn 2007 Jacob’s “Give me this water, that I may not thirst...” John 4:15 Howwell Can We Get There From Here? Orthodox Church in America • Diocese of Washington and New York Jacob’s Autumn 2007 “Give me this water, that I may not thirst...” John 4:15 CONTENTSwell THEME How Can We Get There From Here? 3 by Fr. John Shimchick The Atlantic City Rescue Mission 4 by J. William R. Southrey St. Matthew House 6 by Fr. Ray Velencia Fr. David Kirk 8 by Julia and Albert Raboteau PUBLISHED WITH THE APPROVAL OF SPECIAL FEATURES HIS BEATITUDE, HERMAN, ARCHBISHOP OF Lessons in Life and Love 10 WASHINGTON AND NEW YORK by Stephanie Skuby Memorial Service 12 EDITOR by John Congdon Fr. John Shimchick PUBLICATION OFFICE LITURGICAL MUSIC 24 Colmar Road Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 What’s Happening Musically 14 856-665-2491 by Doreen Bartholomew and Carol Wetmore EMAIL WATER FROM THE WELL [email protected] Compass of Affection 16 Review by Diana Pasca WEBSITE jacwell.org FILM DIOCESAN WEBSITE dcnyoca.org In the Valley of Elah 18 Review by Jack Wheeler ILLUSTRATION C. Spencer Morris YOU MUST READ THIS Materials published in Jacob’s well is Eighth Day Books: New. Used. Timely. Timeless. 20 solicited from its readers voluntarily, by Jurretta Jordan Heckscher without remuneration or royalty payment. The publisher and the staff of Jacob’s Well assume no responsibility DIOCESAN FINANCES for the content of articles submitted on this basis. Material herein may be Treasurer’s Report 22 by Larry Tosi reprinted with acknowledgement. Deadline for next issue – February 1, 2008 THEME How Can We Get There From Here? by Fr. John Shimchick Jacob’s In this issue it is our intent to a hermit well known for his wisdom. Since the Autumnwell 2007 explore the potential and reality hermit would only receive common folk, the king took off his crown, put on simple clothes, left his of two words: here and there. bodyguard behind, and entering the woods to the It has been fi ve years since our last published hermit’s cell alone he encountered the hermit and issue of Jacob’s Well and much has happened certain events that would forever change him. “You can’t get within our Diocese and our Orthodox Church in You can read the whole story on our website, there America (OCA). We have undergone a fi nancial but here’s what he learned from the hermit con- from here.” crisis and reorganization within our Diocese and cerning the questions of when, who, and what: (Ogden Nash, well are in the midst of the resolution of another and “There is only one time that is important – Now! 1957) greater fi nancial crisis and reorganization within It is the most important time because it is the only the OCA. We have been drawn in to the smaller time when we have any power. The most neces- and more manageable worlds of our individual sary man is he with whom you are, for no man parishes, with less and less anticipation of support knows whether he will ever have dealings with and direction from the broader Church. This is any one else: and the most important affair is, to where we are at right now, it’s our “here” and per- do him good, because for that purpose alone was haps we could remain indefi nitely in this position man sent into this life!” if we must. But it is not an enviable place from So our goal in this issue and all those to come “ T h e r e i s o n l y which to move forward. It is a holding pattern, a is a commitment to presenting the examples al- mode of self-preservation; it is what one does in ready taking place within our Diocese of how WE o n e t i m e t h a t order just to survive. CAN get there from here. We welcome informa- i s i m p o r t a n t This is where we are right now, but it need tion of activities taking place within parishes, and – N o w ! ” not be our destiny. If we must admit where we the refl ections of our parishioners. We will seek are it is so that we might affi rm the possibilities of to review events, utilizing our Diocesan website where we could be, of what is the calling not just to remain current, and also to examine broader of individual parishes but of the vision of our Or- themes found within literature, poetry, and fi lm. thodox Church in America. It is so that we could We aim to be a vehicle for transmitting the trans- remind each other that the broader Church is still parency and openness of Diocesan administration worth caring about, and “that you and I may be and fi nancial records. mutually encouraged by each other’s faith” (Ro- Above all, in relaying as honestly as possi- mans 1:12). ble the reality of where we are, we hope to be a means of hope in examining the path of where For the time being we must leave certain mat- we can be. ters regarding the crisis within the OCA to the authority of our Holy Synod of Bishops, working with the Metropolitan Council. Yet, while so much may seem to be beyond the control or power of individual parishioners or parishes, much of the incentive for moving forward, for getting “there” is already taking place by individual people and within particular parishes. Our last issue from 2003, available only on- line, sought to develop the themes from Leo Tol- stoy’s story, “Three Questions.” When is the best time to do each thing? Who are the most impor- tant people to work with? What is the most im- portant thing to do at all times? In the story, a certain king was willing to offer a great reward to anyone who could provide him the answers. A number of people came forward, but not satisfi ed with any of their responses he decided to consult 3 THEME The Atlantic City Rescue Mission Jacob’s by William R. Southrey Autumn 2007 well The agency in which I serve is the At the Mission, we have many stories that Atlantic City Rescue Mission, which is demonstrate Tolstoy’s questions. One in particular a place that gathers in the community’s happened during this past winter, which was very severe and brought us many more people to care lost and lonely homeless people. for. A man that came to us with feet so frozen that they were literally dying off of his limbs, put staff In terms of Tolstoy’s story, “Three Questions,” members to the test. This man was sent to the in which a king asks for wisdom in discerning the Mission from a hospital in another county of New right time to begin everything, the right people to Jersey that gave him some medical attention, but listen to, and the most important thing to do, the Mission is a wondrous place through which we they sent him to us for further care because he have the opportunity to learn such profound les- was indigent and couldn’t pay his medical bills. sons. Everyday, we serve men, women, and moth- The Mission is not a medical facility, so we ad- ers with children who have been broken by the dressed his needs the best we could. pressures of this world, whether by the transgres- sions of others, or by choices that they have made We discovered right away that the hospital themselves. For whatever reason, they have be- had left the man’s frozen feet attached to his come disenfranchised from society, utterly hope- warm body, and they were dying slowly, painfully less, and in many cases, very near to death. on him. They blackened and became gangrenous, full of dead tissue, and a pungent odor. This poor The right time at the Mission is always now, man was given to us with no help, no hope, and it because the people come through the doors in seemed at that point, no immediate opportunity such a condition that necessitates immediate at- to get the help he desperately needed. He was tention. They need hope – now. This presents a from Poland and did not speak English well, which considerable challenge to busy staff members that also presented a language barrier. are already providing care to hundreds of others in the course of a day. The Mission is unique in As I observed staff members attempting to that it offers hope, in its purest form, to people care for the man, I noticed that they were most who have no hope. The hope exists in the many concerned at fi rst about the overpowering odor and vast lessons in life that shape up our inner- from his dying feet that turned their stomachs and most parts, our souls, into the proper image – that the potential transmission of disease. I understood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. their concerns, however, a person who needed “Our man needed the touch of human hands and the compassion of their hearts. ” Such pure hope is realized through the pro- care and encouragement was attached to the cess of theosis, that innate desire to partake of the black ugliness. divine nature; the desire to know intimately that God became man that man may become god. It is This is what unfolded: Our man needed help what we offer to those broken souls that end up at from us “now.” He needed the touch of human the Mission , and it is why we do what we do.