FROM IG: Андре́й Рублёв / Богоматерь Владимирская (Andrei Rublev's Theotokos of Vladimir) // I always recommend Tarkovsky's supreme masterpiece of film and art Andrei Rublev for anyone who wants to have their minds totally blown with the possibilities of painting (or in this case *writing* icons), what truly great film looks like, the history of Russian turmoil, the experience of God, and of course the hopeless and always savage atrocities of war (i.e. the violent, animal hive mind / propaganda that human beings are so prone to being devoured by without serious spiritual guidance to intercede). Orthodox Christians don't see the Virgin Mary quite in the same light as western Christians like the Catholics, who made up Mary's own "immaculate conception" so she wouldn't be stained by the original sperm sin of Adam, or the Protestants who honestly just see her as the necessary tube to squeeze out Jesus. Theotokos literally means "Mother of God" and she is revered not only for her Divine Mercy and Love but also her humanity. In all Orthodox Nativity icons midwives are seen cleaning up afterbirth by Mary's feet. The Theotokos is a Divine Intercessor who brings people to God by her Grace-- through prayer and the constant reminder that she lived, birthed, and died like everyone else on earth (the Catholics also erased her death to make her more unhuman). Through Divine Love and Grace all miracles are made possible for us the Human Beings. It's impossible to know God's Love when crippled by fear and fixation with death. Most Holy Theotokos, Save Us! (ps: isn't it incredible how long egg tempera lasts on properly primed panel with rabbit skin glue- 600 years !)
I remember permanently deleting facebook in 2016 after Trump was elected. The hysteria from all sides was obviously magnified and exacerbated by an extremely online, paranoid population all glued to their phones and devices - more specifically glued to like four websites including facebook. I read that Russia is outlawing instagram as a purveyor of “fake news,” meanwhile facebook is temporarily allowing calls for violence against Russians. Swarms of Americans and westerners are calling for war and violence against Russians and gobbling up the most war propaganda and anti-Russian sentiments since the last red scare (no I am not a Putin supporter of course not). I refuse to watch and be complicit with a new rabid pro-war social media that denies any sort of moral ambiguity regarding the current situation. Everyone during covid was primed for war, the perfect conditions Hannah Arendt foresaw were met for the rise of totalitarianism and utter paranoia. People were banned permanently from Twitter, FB, all of it for bringing up the possibility of lab leaks, that cloth and surgical masks are totally worthless, and that covid mrna / adenovirus vaccine mandates were unethical. Everyone is already at war with each other online and the only way to stop is to stop participating. For these reasons I am no longer participating in instagram (or tiktok, the juul-like mega-addictive mega psyop gambling machine that is surely on track to permanently disable the attention spans and critical thinking skills of millions of young westerners). It is also Great Lent, a good time to cut out the unnecessary, sometimes dangerous decadent things that come between us and awareness of God, which is Love. As Simone Weil said, what you spend your attention on is prayer. I’m praying for all Ukrainians, all Russians, and every one of us that we may find love in our hearts for all of God’s children and refuse to be complicit with the machinations of endless war.