The strains of St Nicholas’ Church bells ring out over the harbour of Pothia. It’s Sunday morning, the mystical chanting of the priest dominates the sound space for several hours. Our balcony is adjacent to the church. We are drawn into another realm, writes John Haren.
The stillness of the waters of the harbour. The occasional movement of a small boat coming or going, to and from this island of Kalymnos. This is not Santorini or Mykonos. It is not saturated with tourists. Pothia is a modest township with generous, humble and welcoming people.
During the morning, the faithful file in and out of the Orthodox ceremony. This is St Nicholas’ Church. His image adorns the walls among icons of Jesus and Mary. The artwork is as entrancing as it is overwhelming.
St Nicholas was quite the man. A bishop in the early Church who is patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, unmarried people, pawnbrokers, children, brewers and students.
He is known as Nicholas the Wonderworker, and his habit of secret gift giving gave rise to Santa Claus. Legend has it that he saved three young women from prostitution by dropping a sack of gold coins through the window of their house three days in a row so their father could pay a dowry.
Pothia on the island of Kalymnos. Image: John Haren.
With the sky bluer than blue and the sun radiant, the chanting continues to beguile. No better place to be on a Sunday morning. St Nicholas found quite the location.
While on our Greek sojourn we are reading Tomas Halik, the Czech theologian. He invites the reader to contemplate a new kind of Church, a new way of being for humanity. In fact, he says it is already happening, except that the institutional Church hasn’t quite recognised it.
It’s clear that Pope Francis does and is at the forefront of a movement, not just for change, but for a new recognition of what it is to be human, and how to live a spiritual life in these times.
It is clear that the institutional Church takes its time in understanding the signs of the times and becoming engaged in an era when so many people are searching, but not finding the Church to be a lifegiving source of inspiration.
I find solace in the idea that even if the Church cannot, or will not, change in the short term, then it can at least be an enabler of people finding new pathways for their spirituality.
Image of St Nicholas in a shrine in the church grounds. Image: John Haren.
Outdated dogmas and practices may still take generations to overhaul, but the notion that all of humanity can participate in a new way of being is enticing. Of course, those who want to maintain control and keep the status quo will not be the enablers. But Halik says the invitation is for all of us who have a broader vision to push on regardless.
Every day on Kalymnos we are reminded of the humanity, the generosity and the divine within each person. Elsa, whose bakery we frequent each day, greets us with an engaging smile, adding some extra sweets to our standard bread order.
Michael at the Information Centre is taking time off next week to handpick the olives on his property to make extra virgin olive oil; each olive lovingly picked to make the best product he can.
Yanis, the 83-year-old taverna owner, is delighted when we take up his suggestion to visit the lovely port town of Vathy and return to report what a wonderful day we had.
Neighbours Maria, Popi and Yani are our gateway to the Kalymnian experience, plying us with their sumptuous cooking and explaining local customs.
These are the gifts that we can be, and are, for each other. Moments to be cherished in our everyday lives and celebrated as the best versions of humanity. Simple expressions of life, enabling us to live more generously and more harmoniously.
St Nicholas’ Church in Pothia on Kalymnos. Image: John Haren.
The chants from St Nicholas’ Church invite us into a contemplative mode, but it requires these acts of daily personal interaction to provide us with the evidence that the substance of our humanity are acts of generosity, compassion and, ultimately, love.
The ceremony concludes and people file out carrying bread that has been blessed during the service. We are the fortunate recipients of this bread, broken to be shared, as people walk past our balcony and greet us. St Nicholas would be proud of his flock.
Proud of all Kalymnians who themselves are gifts to each other as well as gifts to strangers like us.
As Halik indicates, the Church can be an enabler of new ways of being, new opportunities for living, recognising the God within and the God without.
