Kizzy I think you are misreading St.Nikodemos or just using him for your own ends. Having pets simply for vanity and taking care of them at the expense of your fellow man is a bad thing and what St.Nikodemos writes immediately after the quote you gaves shows that this is what he was saying. People paying $600 for a pet snake is a good example. Pampering a poodle or pet chihuahua with water purifiers for their drinking water is another example.....
...You are too jarred!...
As much as I like Bach and his Organ Fugues I would never want it in church.
I wasn't judging a church father, but rather, the way in which people try to blanket everything under the statements which come from a monastic tradition. My point was that some monastic traditions were even against chanting. While St. Nikodemos does talk to the points you made, he also says "guard your ears from the sounds of birds," etc. My point was that his recommendations are from a monastic viewpoint and while he talks about avoiding the extremes you mention, he also talks to behaviors which are non extremes. By the way, I only have a small beta fish and I do not like when people treat a pet better than a child- I know he makes this point. But he also makes the point that listenting to birds singing is bad, regular bathing is bad, and all touching should be avoided. Looking at the sky however is okay... "Be careful not to bring your hands and your feet close to other bodies, especially of the young. Be especially careful not to stretch your hands to touch anything, unless it is necessary, nor upon members of your body, or even to scratch yourself... " I suppose he would disapprove of hugging your children? In fact there are cultures that don't hug them... What is necessary touch?? Note, after the discovery of the orphans in Romania, who at the age of 12 were no taller than a small 3 year old, we learned that touch is essential to growth and development. I know the health researcher in the case and the institute continuing the work. We know from the research that touch, such as therapeutic massage, reduces depression in severely medically depressed patients. It also speeds recovery from certain illnesses. When he discusses bathing he mentions that people who are 'dried out' don't smell and to get this way, he recommends prostrations ... basically to work up a sweat and dry out. He speaks of a King who was dry and didn't smell. Then he says an occasional bath for health is okay. So what was occasional then? What is occasional now - once a year?? once a week?? once a day?? As a health researcher on a leading global health project I will tell you that the leading cause of infant death in the world is not hunger, nor poor quality or quantity of water, but lack of washing with soap and water. 6000 children under five die each day from diarrheal disease and respiratory infections - the equivalent of 20 jumbo jets crashing each day. The biggest misnomer is that AIDS is the leading killer... the leading killers are Respiratory infections (non-Aids related) and Diarrheal diseases- both preventable by washing with soap and water daily and hands more frequently.
It is not that I think the writings are bad. There are some good points and beauty in them. The problem is that people try to use them as hard and fast rules for all occasions, in all situations, and take it upon themselves to play judge and jury on their interpretation. And who was talking about playing a Fugue in church?? Not me. Subtle support for a choir who is singing the hymns is a completely different thing. And while you may not like it, in all the parishes I've been a steward of, everyone wants it ... And while you enjoy chanting, there are people who do not find any connection to it and prayer, in fact they find it a disruption in their praying. Like I said, the the musical tradition of the church in America will evolve. In my opinion, America is where all of the challenges it had in the first 1800 years in the East are happening in one place, at the same time, in a much shorter span of time. It also is faced with challenges it did not have in the beginning. All of the challenges include: evangelism to diverse cultures but living side by side in the same place, rather than miles away from each other; struggling to survive in a culture that must respect all faiths equally(that didn't happen in the early church); separation of church and state, and the financial requirement that the congregation support the church/clergy financially. And the churches must support the Archdiocese, which supports the Patriarchate...
Remember, one tradition that didn't follow Orthodoxy, was the fact that the church as originally conceived was funded by the Emperor...being a priest was the best paying job in town back in the early days. The Emperor had to issue an edict limiting them to no more than 420 in the Hagia Sophia. In Greece it is funded by the Government. So the struggle in America is completely different from anything before... and finding it's way to connect with American experience so it's fundamental tenets can be appreciated is very important.
