Women and the fuiesthood The second areathat needs confession is the matterof the priesthood. Onewouldhave hoped thatthe fairhful ofthe Orthodox Church would never havehadto defend the Church from the idea of women in the priesthood. Unfortunately, that time is upon us, And most unfortunately, among those who seem to be promoting this thought aresome ofthe very hierarchs andclergywho should behelping usto stand on holyground. Let us begin our discussion with a metaphor. One ofthe sen- sibilities one gains from reading textsfrom othercenturies is a profound sense of how differently people thought andexperienced the world. This adds to both the beauty andthe difficulty in reading Hawthome or Chekhov. One begins to realize that peoplein the pastused to havea profound sense of their position in the world. This sense ofposition or identity, might involve the land owned by one'sfamily,one'sposition in the family, one's father's occupa- tion, the family's position in the town, one's own work and reputation, and so on. People had differentroles and even wore different clothes according to their position. One's sex wasa key part of one'sposition and identity. Orthodox people understood that one's position and identity,forgedout of these facts of life, were accorded to each person uniquely by God's Providence, as part oftheirpath to salvation. Today, however, we havelostour sense of position and iden- tity, as people and as a people, in this rudemodern culture and in ourdemands for ourselves asindividuals. The issue of women's ordination is very, verysimple. It is not God'swill thatwomen be priests. It is not partof our position in life. The authority of Tradition and the sacred history ofthe Church over the past two thousand years resound with the voiceof God's OFSTONES AND SERPENTS holy will. This is not something thatwasinstituted andenforced by men; it is the will of God. The reason for setting only men apart for the priesthood is partly dueto God'scare for His Church. It wasthe women andone teenage boy (SaintJohnthe Apostle) who stood at the foot of the Crosswhile the men hid. Why? Partly because of the women's love and courage, partly because their position in society allowed themto do so. During the tenibleCommunist years in Russia, it was the womenwho preserved the faith and kept the true Church alive. Why? Because the clergy were killed off first. Because of their position aswomen, many of them weresaved from immediate persecution. They packed the churches whenthe mendid not dare go. They helpedpersecuted bishops and buriedthe dead. They played a large part in keeping thefaith alive. Because oftheir posi- tion as women,they were able to do much that the men were unable to do. This reality is also part of God's love and Providence for women. It is a blessing. Because we are given the freedom not to have ecclesiastical authority, and are therebyreleased from the burdensome obligations andperilous spiritual responsibilities that this typ€ of authority entails, we are able-like God's mother-to ponder what is revealed to us silently, within our hearts. This free- dom also enables us to focus our energies on making andkeeping an Orthodox home, andon raising Orthodox children. Teaching in the homeis no less important thanteaching in the Church; it is merely different. Partof our problem in seeing this is thatwe do not reallyrec- ognize Who God is. If we fully recognized that we are created beings, creatures made by God,if we truly sawwho we are in rela- tion to Who He is, we wouldhave less problem in accepting this restriction. We wouldbe less liable to try to dictate to the Almighty and more likelyto bowourheads and say, "Thy will be done." We cannot just takewhat we like about Orthodoxy and leave the rest, or forever kick against the pricks. We do ourselves a disservice if we do because we do not allow ourselves to enterinto the faith moredeeply. Beyond that, it is not goodfor us to pry into the dis- 209