In two years of involvement in
life in Haiti (for the most part staying as far away as possible from
political matters and discussions), I have heard countless rumors of
things happening and things to come. As they were generally
unpleasant, especially for the people of Haiti, I am happy to be able
to say that none of them have come to pass… yet. I have become
increasingly aware of the total absence of any reliable source of
general information in Haiti… and I am in a far better position than
the vast majority of the population, which at best is limited to the
totally untrustworthy announcements of several politically motivated
radio stations, a couple of television stations (available of course
only in the largest cities) and a handful of newspapers (only one
daily)… all of them the product either of an opposition faction, or of
the government.
As I write, I am insulated by a large mountain range
from the capital city, where today the government changed hands — I
hope and pray peacefully. But I don’t know, and well may not know
until I try to enter the city on the way to Vigil on Saturday. To get
from here to the church, I must pass through one of the densest, least
passable, and least politically stable areas of the city.
None of
this would be of very great importance to me (or, presumably, you —
apart from the question of my personal safety), were it not that it
reveals to me the great extent to which we must say the same of our own
situation “at home”. We are just much better at hiding the reality
from ourselves. Just how much do we really know of what is going on in
our country, even our own states and towns? How long was it before we
discovered that South American narcotics were being trafficked by
agents of our government to raise funds for illegal operations in the
Middle East? How long before it was admitted (if ever) that countless
Americans were dying of exposure to “harmless-to-people” chemical
warfare in Southeast Asia and the Middle East? How many of us are
aware that even today our government is training Central Americans (all
of the “right” political persuasions, of course) in tactics of terror
and torture… in good ol’ Georgia? There, the “School of the Americas”
can count amongst its graduates countless figures since become
notorious for their terrorization of their own countrymen… and in at
least one case the assassination of American missionaries. But all
that, we may say, is “just political”. Let us continue…
Twenty-one
years ago (almost), I was baptized and with joy became a member of the
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. Fortunately, some of my past
experience prepared me for what was to come. Within months, I found
myself being assured (!) that the Church was on the brink of apostasy,
that a “false union” with the Moscow Patriarchate was imminent, that
our bishops were falling into ecumenist apostasy, and the like. On one
occasion, I was admonished by a “senior” priest that it was unimportant
what my bishop said on a subject… all that mattered was what “the
Elder” thought. That “Elder” himself has since fallen into apostasy
(all the while loudly proclaiming his innocence and the betrayal of the
Faith by the Church, of course).
I heard the same rumor time and again… sometimes originating with sectarians within the Church (“Say not, ‘I am of Paul…’”), on one occasion clearly traced to a cleric of another, schismatic body. Of course, I hear it still. Is it more likely to be true today than twenty years ago? I sincerely doubt it.
The
moral? “There shall be wars and rumors of wars….” Whether in the
affairs of the Church, or of our own country, or of other, far less
information-ridden countries such as Haiti, it is probable that no
“information” should be given much credence. As a wise, truly elder
hieromonk once told me (when I inquired about something I had been told
which I undoubtedly should have left alone): “Believe nothing of what
you hear, and only half of what you see.”