May Journal Entry



In April I wrote about a trip home to see my father in California. I have lived in the Midwest longer than I lived in California, but it still feels like 'going home' when I return to the west coast.

On that same trip in April, I had the good fortunate of personally meeting a new friend, author, artist and professor, S.T. Georgiou. Steve is a gracious and faith filled man. To use one of his phrases, he is a man who I would describe as living in "the flow of grace".

On our last day in the City Steve picked up my husband and I at a restaurant in downtown San Francisco called (of all things) "Swan Depot"! (Great seafood at a tiny little place with a counter for about a dozen people and a line snaking out the door). We had finished eating and Steve just walked up to us on the sidewalk. I felt like we had known one another for ages. I introduced my husband and we hopped in Steve's car for some 'madcap' driving all around the City.

Steve drove us from one place to another on our tour of the City, a City I had not visited in 30 years. A born and gifted teacher, Steve explained each site and the history. It was like being on one of the best field trips!

Our first stop was "Holy Trinity". This is Steve's church and he got the keys so that we could see the interior.

Beautiful icons adorned this magnificent building and Steve explained that the artist, Robert Andrews (now a man in his 80s whose work graces many churches), had his hands blessed by St. John Maximovitch when he was a very young man. It is amazing to see the extent of his work and realize that those blessed hands have patiently and beautifully created magnificent icons for decades within many churches.

The icon of Jesus that spans the domed ceiling is the largest portral of Jesus in the Western hemisphere. (See: http://www.helleniccomserve.com/robertandrews.html-- or google Robert Andrews Iconographer”).
 
Holy Trinity is the oldest Greek Orthodox Church west of Chicago, the oldest church within the San Francisco Metropolis, and the eighth oldest church within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. Their history spans over 100 years, their Divine Liturgy was first celebrated on Christmas Day, 1903.

From Holy Trinity Church we traveled to the Ocean (there is no smell as wonderful to me as the smell of the Pacific Ocean) and we climbed on the side of a large cliff overlooking a deserted beach below. This beach (lower Ocean Beach which stretches from Fort Funston toward Pacifica) is where Steve frequently walks and discovers rocks, glass and other pieces to use in writing his icons. (See S.T. Georgiou's icons, left and bottom)

As we were leaving my husband heard some squawking in the bushes and could not help but investigate. He discovered a red parrot in one of the bushes, apparently desiring some attention.

Onward we moved, driving to the Russian Orthodox Church, “Holy Virgin Orthodox Cathedral” on Geary Street, inside of which is the body (relics) of St. John Maximovitch. We arrived early for Vespers (the evening prayer service in the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church). I was quite moved by the observance of the evening prayers. Every inch=2 0of the church was bursting with color and light; icons, candles, paintings and incense, reflecting God's beauty.

Little Russian ladies, with their bowed heads covered, moved quietly greeting among one another with hugs and blessings, praying and kissing icons. There were confessions being heard, monks chanting prayers, incense; spirituality and prayers bubbling up all through the sanctuary. And the somber and imposing looking priests in their black robes and hats were singing like angels.

I love the welcome I discovered on one of the Russian Orthodox websites, it describes so well the experience of our visit...."Our Church strives to live by the message of Christ, in which there are no outcasts and all are welcome! Please join us at the Russian Orthodox Church in San Francisco, California and see with your own eyes the beauty which we wish to share with you!"

We traveled on to pick up Steve's mother and sister, and we were treated to dinner at a Greek restaurant. All of Steve's family are educators and his mother and sister currently teach home school curriculum in San Francisco. Steve's mother, Anastasia, was a delightful and exuberant woman, born and raised in San Francisco. A teacher all of her life, her energy belied her age and her dark eyes flashed with a passion for life.

Steve is one of those rare people who radiate the beauty of his faith. His gratitude flows outward within the gifts he shares; his teaching, writing, art. He seems to continually discover God's beauty in the world and respond to it. He is a blessing in a world hungering for the hope and healing of authentic and simple beauty. I know I have been most blessed by this new friendship.


S.T. GEORGIOU is a teacher, writer, and artist.  He lectures at San Francisco State University, San Francisco City College, and at the Center for Arts, Religion, and Education (C.A.R.E.) at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.  Steve's areas of teaching and study include the Interdisciplinary Humanities, Comparative Religion, Iconography, Thomas Merton and Robert Lax Studies, Desert Monasticism, and Spirituality and Healing.
(See: www.spiritcurrents.com)

Posted by Debra Classen at 5/5/2009 3:22 PM
Categories: Journal
Tags: Holy Trinity May Journal Robert Andrews San Francisco
 

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