ARHIVELE OLTENIEI - Universitatea din Craiova

Communication and Communion 171from God to man. Of course, our perception is obscured by the consequences ofthe fall, by sin especially. Therefore, more than often, we do not understand God`smessage, we distort it, sometimes, or even deny that there is any message at all.“To love is not easy, and mankind has chosen not to return God’s love. Man hasloved the world, but as an end in itself and not as transparent to God. It seemsnatural for man to experience the world as opaque, and not shot through with thepresence of God. It seems natural not to live a life of thanksgiving for God’s giftof a world. It seems natural not to be eucharistic.” 22But when we try to make silence inside ourselves, when we trust Godthat He can purify our hearts, we become aware of our destiny to be receiversbut also signifiers of this profound message, that is, Life itself. Father AlexanderSchmemann wrote: “The only true temple of god is man and through man, theworld. Each ounce of matter belongs to God and is to find in God its fulfillment.Each instant of time is God’s time and is to fulfill itself as God’s eternity.Nothing is “neutral.” For the Holy Spirit, as a ray of light, as a smile of joy, has“touched” all things, all time – revealing all of them as precious stones of aprecious temple.” 23 King David was very good at reading the cosmic message,the discourse of Creation: “The heavens declare the glory of God, / And thefirmament shows his handy work. / One day tells another / And one nightcertifies another. / There is neither speech nor language / But their voices areheard among them. / Their sound is gone out into all lands: / and their words intothe ends of the world.” (Psalm 19, vv. 1-5).We argue that, contrary to what happens in secular culture, in theorthodox cult there is place for a good, benign logocentrism. Inside the HolyTrinity, the second person, the Son, is the same as God - The Word, TheIncarnated Logos (“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.”- John 1,14). As we all know, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was withGod, and the Word was God” (John 1, 1-3). An overwhelming power resides inthe word. An utterance may be benediction or curse, redemption orcondemnation. “…but the tongue can no one among men tame; it is an unsettledevil, full of death-bringing poison. Therewith bless we the Lord and Father, andtherewith curse we men made after the likeness of God. Out of the same mouthgoes forth blessing and cursing. It is not right, my brethren, that these thingsshould be thus. Does the fountain, out of the same opening, pour forth sweet andbitter?” (James 3, 8-12).But we must not mix up the word as prayer, or confession, or liturgicalperlocutionary speech act to the magic formula or the poetical play upon the“signifier”. The ultimate manifestation of human creativity that is prayer impliesnot only request but also gratitude and doxology. From the Christian point ofview, our treatment of the word is not without eschatological consequences,considering that we shall be judged for every useless word we uttered in our life.22 Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World, p.75.23 Ibidem, p.58.