We are taught by our God that our soul is worth more than the whole world (Matthew 16:26).
We know that the city makes you want everything that is in it, and this is contrary to the will of God. Christ wants us to desire the Kingdom of Heaven, and everything else will follow.
There is no desert, and civilization is increasingly developed. How to lead a spiritual life when there are more and more cities and less and less villages? What helps in spiritual life in a metropolis?
Here are the answers of modern Orthodox Christians who shared their experience of living according to God in a big city. So they notice that several things are needed.
Be attentive to spiritual life
It is easy to fall away from Christ if you do not watch your thoughts, desires, and actions. Spiritual reading of Scripture must be a priority. We must be attentive to our spiritual life. Scripture will feed the heart and soul. It is necessary to understand the interpretation and understand how to apply it in a specific life. “You need to maintain and develop faith in yourself,” says programmer Andrei, who has learned the commandment of the Gospel: “Having heard the word, keep it in a good and pure heart and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). Being attentive to your eyes, ears, and feelings is necessary for purity of heart, fidelity in marriage and chastity before marriage.
The most important thing: I don’t know how, but to love Jesus Christ and relate everything to him, every decision, every direction of thought, and even every step.
Make time for faith so as not to become fussy
The Lord teaches us: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with gluttony and drunkenness and the cares of this life” (Luke 21:34).
Vladislav, a Sunday school teacher, says that it is necessary to quit smoking, not drink alcohol or at least once a week on non-fasting days. Sleep and food - do not exhaust yourself and do not overindulge.
Anna shares that in the city there is a continuous bustle around, a race from morning to night. And the noise... the noise in which a person, not only God, cannot hear himself, so he must specially devote time to the Creator and the soul.
A Christian student cited a quote from St. Ambrose of Optina: “We must live on earth as a wheel turns: only one point touches the ground, and the rest constantly strives upward; But as soon as we lie down on the ground, we can’t get up.”
B. This Christ is life
This Christ is life, the only life, and no other life is real (John 14:6A). Christ, who is Father, Son and Spirit, is life.
At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, the Lord told the disciples to go and baptize people in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (28:19). But Acts and the Epistles no longer say that. Acts says that people were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus (8:16; 19:5), and Rom. 6:3 and Gal. Romans 3:27 says we are baptized into Christ. This shows that Jesus Christ is Father, Son and Spirit. Baptizing people in the name of the Lord Jesus and into Christ is the same as baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit. Therefore, Jesus Christ is Father, Son and Spirit.
A person's full name consists of three words. This is similar to the Triune God. One God has three titles: God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit. The incarnation of the Triune God, Christ, is life, the only life. Any other life is not real (1 Tim. 6:19b).
Prayer
Anna advises: “You must always try to remember God. If you go somewhere, cook, clean, work with your hands, you should always pray and thank the Lord. It helps me a lot too.”
Vladislav: “Resort to undistracted prayer as often as possible.”
Maria: “Do not deviate from morning and evening prayer. If there is another rule, follow it. Pray before starting work, including computer work, and after finishing.”
In the city, in general, by nature there is more fear, because everything here depends not on nature, but on man, everything is mechanized to the limit. There's more stress here. Therefore, a stable prayer rule is necessary. Andrey, a believing businessman, notes: “To maintain Faith and Love in Christ, I try to observe the daily reading of the Holy Gospel, morning and bedtime prayers, they educate my conscience and give rise to the fear of sin in every matter.”
“When you are afraid for yourself or for someone else’s life,” says the Christian, “prayer fills the mind and heart, displaces fear, calms, humbles and gives strength to live on. I really love looking at the lights in the windows of neighboring houses at night. The thought often comes to me that I am given the opportunity to see only a small piece of the world that fits through my window, and the Lord takes care of every soul, every person. There are so many of us, and we all have our own sorrows and joys. I feel that I am so small, and the Lord is so Big. It makes me happy to pray at night when the city sleeps. The lights in the houses are going out, and the stars are shining in the sky. At such moments you understand how close God is to us and how He waits for each of us.”
Sergey, a young web designer, is convinced that it is necessary to believe that all events in life happen according to the will of God. “Then you remain calm, don’t get irritated, and there is prayer and your heart is light.”
D. Christ is in believers as the Spirit of life
Christ is in believers as the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2A, Rom. 8:9B). He is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 15:45b). When I came to the United States about thirty years ago, I began to tell people that Christ is the Spirit. We have written many hymns for our collection that speak of the experience of Christ as the Spirit (see Hymns 91, 100). Some of these hymns were written by Brother Nee. They emphasize that the Christ whom we experience as life today is the Spirit (Hymns 263, 315, 459).
Outward manifestation of Christianity
Maria, teacher, mother and university researcher: “It doesn’t matter where I am. But there are some practical points. If you see a temple, cross yourself. You pass by icons, including houses, too. You must always try to remember that God sees you and that you have a Guardian Angel, constantly turn to them and thank them.”
It is imperative, according to the thoughts of a long-time Christian, that it is necessary to treat one’s work conscientiously and try to participate in some good deeds for the Glory of God.
K. says: “I try to help morally and financially those who need it: sick friends, children from an orphanage, homeless animals. This all helps me keep faith."
A. Christ is the center of the Divine Trinity
Christ is the center of the Godhead. The Godhead is the Divine Trinity: Father, Son and Spirit, and Christ is the center of the Divine Trinity. As the center of the Divine Trinity, Christ expresses the Father and becomes actual as the Spirit (John 14:10-20).
In what sense does Christ express the Father and become actual as Spirit? In the four Gospels we see a wonderful person named Jesus. He spoke the Father's word (John 14:10) and did the Father's work (John 4:34; 17:4). He did everything that the Father did (John 5:19). In In. 14 shows that the Son is the incarnation and expression of the Father (vv. 7-11) and that the Spirit is the reality of the Son (vv. 17-20). Christ is the Son, and He is the Father (Isa. 9:6; John 14:8-9) and the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 15:45b). When He carried out His earthly ministry, many knew that He was a Nazarene, the son of Mary. However, He was also the embodiment of the Triune God. It was the Son, but He was with the Father (John 8:29; 16:32) and did everything through the Spirit (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:18; 12:28). He did everything with the Father and through the Spirit. He expressed God the Father, acted through the Spirit, and ultimately became effective for us as the Spirit. In the Gospels we see the Father, Son and Spirit in one person - Jesus. It is Him we must live as our mysterious life.
Mortal memory
Even passing hearses can help. Remember your last one.
Tatyana believes: “When you remember that you are going to die, all your sins appear before your eyes, especially those that you have always hidden... This greatly helps to lead a repentant lifestyle.”
Irina remembered how she was at the funeral service in the monastery, when they were seeing off the famous old priest in Odessa: “After the funeral, you begin to think that everything and everyone has a deadline.”
“In my work,” says the faithful woman, “I’m an accountant and I know that everything has a deadline, you have to account for everything. Despite the weather, entertainment, desire, relationships at work, the date will come and you need to submit a report. So, the time will come and you will have to answer for all your sins, but I don’t know when it will come, you need to always be prepared, and there are a lot of distractions in the world. And you begin to live and think why to do this and what it will lead to.”
Conversations with the priest. Christian in the modern world
Hello , dear visitors of the Orthodox website “Family and Faith”!
P
Here is the next episode of the program “Conversations with Father” on the Soyuz TV channel, dedicated to a complex and very relevant topic - a Christian in the modern world.
The guest of the TV show was the rector of the Church of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen, Archpriest Mikhail Braverman.
Hosted by Mikhail Prokhodtsev Recorded by Nina Kirsanova
– Father Michael, let’s start our conversation by trying to somehow answer the question that Christians and especially priests are often asked today: why is there so much evil in the world? We know that yesterday a terrible incident occurred in France, many people died. And of course, in this regard, the question always arises for believers: why are so many wars, sorrows, and disasters happening in our world?
– One can only sympathize and mourn the victims of the French terrorist attack. And of course, it is terrible that a person has distorted his path so much that he becomes a source of death for his own kind. Indeed, for many people, the existence of injustice, disasters, and wars in the world gives rise to doubt about the goodness and greatness of the Creator. If God allows such untruth and such evil to happen, then either He is not All-Powerful, or He is not All-Good. How did people of faith answer this question?
In the Old Testament there is one of the most dramatic books - the Book of Job, which tells us about the suffering of the unjust, the suffering of the righteous. And so the righteous Job, who in one moment practically loses everything - children, property, sweat and health - asks God: why is he suffering? But Job's questions do not lead him to renounce God. Moreover, he declares: “Are we really going to accept good from God, but not evil (or rather, what seems evil to us)?”
Remember, three friends come to Job - wise people who say very correct things about how man is a sinner before God, that heaven is unclean before God, and that God sees shortcomings in His angels? And accordingly, any suffering that a person endures is fair. But nevertheless, the friends are condemned by God, and Job is acquitted. Job knocked and knocked on the door of God's mercy, and God revealed himself to him. And after Job received the fullness of the Revelation about God, he did not ask anything, he only said: “I will put my hand to my mouth.” Job did not receive an answer to his questions, but when he saw the greatness of God and God’s mercy, he simply had no questions left. This is what the righteous man did, trusting completely in God.
Sin and injustice are a consequence of human activity. Man committed the first sin - in paradise he fell away from God, and as a result of his falling away from the Source of life, sorrow, illness, and ultimately death entered the world. What did God do? When man became sinful and imperfect, God sent His beloved Son into the world so that the Son of God would also become the Son of Man. The Lord did not come to destroy the existing sinful and flawed world order, the Lord came to share our lives with us. The Lord, being sinless, offered Himself on the Cross as a Sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. And finally, the Lord, being immortal, like the Man on the Cross, accepts death.
It would seem that all the forces of evil brought the Lord to the Cross and this became the triumph of evil. But in reality, who can fight with God? Because the death of Christ the Savior became the threshold of His resurrection. Because the Lord, having suffered death, destroyed death by death, that is, the Lord turned untruth, evil, sin, the greatest atrocity into His victory. And the second time, as we know, the Lord will come into this world with glory to judge the living and the dead, and His Kingdom will have no end. Then sin will be destroyed, then the last enemy - death - will be destroyed.
In the meantime, we perceive God’s mercy and God’s greatness through faith. Faith is not only the conviction in the existence of another invisible spiritual world and its Creator, faith is trust in God. We know God not just as some Supreme Absolute, between Whom and man there can be nothing in common, we know God as a loving Father, Who sends His Son into the world (the Son ascending to the Cross to suffer death), and, finally, as The Holy Spirit, the Life-Giving Lord, who on the day of Pentecost descends on all Christ’s disciples and builds the Church on earth.
Not all questions have answers. Abba Evagrius of Pontus once said this: “Now there is no answer to this question, but the time will come when there will be no question.”
- We have to hope.
- Believe, hope and love.
– The book of Job that you mentioned is a book about hope, because Job, in spite of everything, hopes...
- He trusts in God, and hope does not shame the righteous. Remember at the end of the book it says that the Lord doubled Job’s property, doubled the years of his life? And about the children it is said that he had seven sons and three daughters, and the Lord gave him the same number more: again seven sons and three daughters. Because those children who died are alive with God, for the Lord says: “God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living; with Him are all alive.” And this is also our hope.
– How can we today learn the hope that Job had, that our Lord Jesus Christ had on the Cross of Calvary, when He endured terrible torment?
– Thank God that, after all, we do not live in the most difficult circumstances (remember Job). And it seems to me that it is very important in life to learn to thank God for everything: for every day you live, for every human meeting, for good or rainy weather. Because if we learn to thank God, then we testify that we understand: we are under God’s protection, we must be guided in life by God’s Providence. And then not only what is joyful to us, but even what is sorrowful and often unpleasant, we will accept as a gift of Divine love.
The Apostle Paul says this: “All things work together for good to those who love God,” not only what is good and good, but also what does not seem so to us at first glance. All this works for our good, but only if we learn to love God and remember that the hairs on our heads are all numbered. Remember how the apostles said: “Lord, increase our faith.” If this is how His closest disciples prayed to their Divine Teacher, how much more should we, spiritually small, sinful people, ask God to strengthen faith, hope, and love.
– The Apostle Paul in one of his epistles calls on believers: “Rejoice; and again I say: rejoice!” The feeling of joy is very familiar to us in an elevated state, but this is said about our entire life. How to rejoice in suffering? Can suffering, some difficult circumstances, temper a person in joy, and not in grief and sadness?
– I am for there to be less illness and less suffering in our lives. But a person will always cry, will always worry, experience one or another physical, mental, spiritual suffering. Therefore, of course, in sorrow, in joy, we must always be with God. Moreover, a person begins to truly believe and truly pray most often when he finds himself in cramped life circumstances. Then a person really turns his call to God from the depths of his soul. And when everything is measured, calm, good, a person has the feeling that he is self-sufficient. But man is not an autonomous being: we need God. Moreover, the Lord God created us for Himself, so that man could communicate with Him in paradise. Of course, after the Fall this living connection was interrupted, but it was restored again in Christ the Savior. And while we are in the Church of Christ, we go through prayer to Heavenly God the Father.
– If we take Christianity two thousand years ago and now, do Christians today face the same goals as before, or in connection with the challenges of the time do some new goals appear, new calls for those who call themselves a disciple of Christ?
– I think the ultimate goal of human life is salvation, this is the most important thing. Salvation is being with God, searching for God. On the path to God, we fight with ourselves: with our passions, sins, with the temptations of this world. Of course, the temptations of the world change, but our heart remains the same as it was in those days when the Lord preached on the streets of Jerusalem. Therefore, of course, a person’s vocation, a person’s happiness has not changed, it is hidden in Christ the Savior. Probably, the Church is the most stable social institution, because the Church, since the time of the apostles, has consistently maintained its teachings and its structure. It is necessary for us, modern people, to remain in the Church. And for this you need, of course, to study, because the world of the Church is complex, it has developed over millennia. And most importantly, a person must know that in the Church he is looking for God, and if he is looking for God, then he finds himself.
- Yes, indeed it is. The church is the place that opens the gates of eternity to us. Because even if you look at its structure, the clergy, the church ritual, the liturgy, all of this reeks of antiquity and even more. That is, we feel both the antiquity of this religion and its emergence somewhere from this earthly space.
- It's like that.
– As for vocation, we are Christians, we know that our calling is to be with God. At the same time, each person is looking for some kind of unique calling. How can a Christian find it? And is it worth looking for?
– How many people live on Earth?
- So many.
– It is impossible for every person to find a job according to his calling and get up to work with joy in the morning, but every person is called to work in order to live, support himself and his loved ones. It seems to me that if we talk not about professional fulfillment, but about a person’s fulfillment as a Christian, then everything else (social, professional, everyday sphere) fades into the background. It seems to me that it is much more important to find God in life. And then it is not so important whether you have succeeded as a singer, as a bus or trolleybus driver - what is important is that you have succeeded as a Christian, it is important that you are walking along the path to God. And then all other aspects of life receive the correct dimension. If a person has realized himself in the professional sphere, he thanks God for it. If he did not have such an opportunity, he is not at all embarrassed, because he knows that he has something much more than professional fulfillment. It seems to me that this is what we need to focus on.
“But we must learn, perhaps, to perceive life this way.” Because often people, being already Christians, look, say, at those around them, see that there are super-rich people around, and the person is on a different rung of the social ladder, he tries to catch up with someone, but he doesn’t succeed. And he wonders: why? Others live! This is the argument: people live, why can’t I?
- Man is somehow strange: he always looks at those who are better - those who have a larger apartment, a latest model car, better health, a higher salary. Why does a person never look at those who need help, who are seriously ill?
Each person has his own life, his own destiny. Therefore, envy is one of the most unpleasant flaws in a person. In order to get rid of envy, you need to remember your personal relationship with God. Again, if a person is used to, or at least learns to, thank God, then how can he be envious? Is it true?
- Yes.
- Therefore, let us get rid of our shortcomings and let us little by little, a little, through humility, approach God.
– If a person just becomes a church member, then, as a rule, he feels great strength in himself, for example, to tell his neighbors about Christ or to carry out some kind of church obedience. I have often encountered the question: if I became a Christian, should I bear some kind of church obedience? Is this necessary?
- And I really like it. I like it when young active people come to the temple, after some time they come up to me as the rector and ask what they could do for the temple. And for such young people, a youth society has been created at our church. Young people gather, read and study the Gospel together, and then do some simple good deeds: visit either an orphanage or a nursing home with concerts. This is amazing. This is the church life that is inspired by worship and which continues outside the doors of the church. Because we are Christians not only when we come to the divine service, we are Christians even when we leave the temple and go out into the world. Remember the wonderful cry: “Let us go out in peace!” that we hear at the end of the Divine Liturgy?
We are leaving for the world, which, according to the word of the Apostle John the Theologian, lies in evil, but we are leaving with the peace of Christ. Because the peace of Christ is given to us by the Lord Himself in His Church. And with this world we go to fulfill our duties, which are different for everyone. And whenever possible, of course, we preach our faith. But how do we preach? Not by grabbing people on the streets by the sleeves and not by instilling something in them, but with your entire life, ideally. Because if people know that we are Christians, they see that we are changing for the better, then people also want to change, because a person has a craving for perfection.
– It happens that a person strives for this change and succeeds, but those around him perceive it negatively, for example, at work they start laughing at him, calling him a “holy saint.” And the person thinks: “I’m probably doing something wrong... Let me change a little in that direction.” How can you find a compromise with your colleagues here?
– Still, we do not change so that others will notice it. We change for God. Therefore, if we have a feeling in our souls that we are doing something right, then why pay attention to what they say about us? If a person does something serious professionally (poet, artist), he cannot listen to opinions about his work, because he will be dependent on these opinions. And a person must depend on himself and on the Giver of all good things.
– There is such a concept: “evangelical act.” Is it something so great that we need to wait for some specific circumstances to do a great good deed, or do we need to collect from small things?
- What a good question, but I don’t have an answer. It seems to me that an evangelical act is an act in accordance with our conscience, in accordance with what the Lord wants and expects from us. Mercy is an evangelical act, crying with someone who is weeping is an evangelical act, rejoicing in another person’s success is an evangelical act. Therefore, our entire life should ideally consist of very small, but evangelical actions.
Another thing is that this should not lead us to increased conceit, to exaltation. Where does spiritual life lead us? To two things: to the full awareness of our smallness before God, the realization that we cannot do anything on our own, and, accordingly, to full hope in God’s merciful good will, which can be done for us.
– You and I have already started a conversation about the fact that if we, Christians, change, it is not at all so that others will notice it. Nevertheless, others often notice this, because even in a person’s appearance significant changes occur: girls, for example, may begin to wear a long floor-length skirt, a headscarf, or look somehow more modest after their conversion; young people cannot afford to go to the temple in shorts, do not go to some parties that they used to go to, and so on and so forth. And this is what people pay attention to. And here the question is: should Christians (people who live in the world) look something special or not?
– I have a feeling that Christians should be recognized not by a long beard or long skirt, but by their smart and kind eyes. It’s just that it’s really easier for a person to be given external attributes, external things - this has always been the case. It is much more difficult to delve into and try to change your life than to simply establish a certain everyday environment. We are too superficial people, the external content is easy for us and the internal content of our faith is very difficult for us. Therefore, we must remember that life with God is not about the style of a dress or the cutting of a beard. Life with God is a contrite and humble heart that remembers its Creator and Maker.
– As for our affairs... For example, before becoming a Christian, before becoming a church member, a person played such genres of music as punk or metal , that is, he was engaged in such creativity that is informal, unusual...
– Well, creativity should always be informal, right?
- Yes, sure.
- Here's what's happening here. When a person turns to God, he really rethinks his life and simply refuses many things that are not sin. For example, a person wrote poetry and novels, but after becoming a Christian, he may stop doing this. After some time, when he has already grown a little spiritually, he can return to this, but with the realization that he is a different person, and accordingly, he already puts a slightly different content into his creativity. Therefore, it is very correct that people suddenly change, sometimes end, some of their affairs after becoming a church member. And it is very good when they return to good deeds again, but already having experience of a Christian, prayerful life.
– As for art, can it be divided today into Christian and non-Christian?
– It seems to me that we generally live in a time when there is not only culture, but also anticulture, there are many things that are aimed at dehumanizing a person. And of course, this affects mass art, cinema, and music.
– As for contemporary art, how should we approach it? Can Christianity contribute something to it? We know that this phenomenon is very controversial...
– It seems to me that all art is consonant with longing for God. Because art shows us that harmony that does not exist in the world after the Fall (such harmony was once in paradise). And therefore art is something very important that speaks about the essence of a person. The beauty of the Lord will save the world. Therefore, any true art for me always testifies to God. Does great Russian literature testify to us about God?
- Certainly.
– Do Tarkovsky’s films testify to God? Certainly. Do Brodsky's poems testify to God? Certainly. Therefore, art is what makes life more cozy, comfortable, and beautiful. Look how much art there is in the world of the Church: church architecture, church icon painting, church painting, singing, bell ringing - all these are areas of church art. Therefore, we are friends of any creativity, as long as this creativity lifts a person to the sky, and does not trample him into the ground. And therefore, it doesn’t matter whether art is contemporary or not, it’s not the style or the direction that’s important, what’s important is the content, what the author puts into his work.
– I know that you also paint...
- For relax.
– It’s also good for relaxation. Question: what inspires you? Because many young people are thinking about what they can be inspired by in order to create some good, interesting work.
– Our whole life is inspiration: any meeting, a beautiful evening, a good mood or, conversely, a gloomy mood – all this is a reason for inspiration. Living in our beautiful city of St. Petersburg, how can one not be inspired by its beauty, its grandeur, its harmony...
– I agree with you. Despite the fact that sometimes it can be very cloudy and gloomy, as it was today... But then the sun came out.
– And the most interesting thing: it’s raining, everything around is gray, but we must remember that somewhere there, behind the clouds, the sun is always shining.
– As a priest and as an author of books about worship, you would like to know: what place should worship occupy in the life of a Christian, how often should he pray during worship?
– What is happening in the Church? A service takes place in the Church, and most importantly, church sacraments take place in the Church. Therefore, to be a Christian is to live in the Church, and the Church expresses itself through worship. Therefore, nothing is more important for a Christian than to participate in worship; Accordingly, understanding worship and loving worship is the basis. Here we live, a whole week busy with things that each have their own, and on Sunday we all prepare to come to church and participate in the Divine Liturgy. We are leaving, and we have another week ahead of us, and we remember that we will live in this world with that joy, with that light that appears to us every time when the liturgy is celebrated in church.
– But love for worship is cultivated in a person gradually...
- Educated. And to be a Christian means to be a person who is being educated and growing.
– Orthodox worship is very beautiful, but many people find it very difficult.
– It is really very complex, because it reflects centuries of church history, and the Old Testament is also included in the service. That is, worship is really a sea, an ocean; we need to navigate it, and for this, fortunately, we have every opportunity. Christians in the modern world live a little differently than they lived two thousand years ago, but it’s great that now we have the Internet and we can find answers there to the questions that interest us. The Internet is not for playing, but for studying, reading books, learning languages, finding answers to pressing questions. How wonderful, right?
- Yes indeed. And the phrase that all the best belongs to us, Christians, probably means that everything needs to be used for its intended purpose.
-Phrase of Justin the Philosopher.
- Yes. As for worship, questions often arise, especially among young people: how to love it?
– But it’s much easier for a young person to study something, to delve into something. How to gain knowledge about worship? First of all, attend the service, read books, of which there are a lot now, and remember the most important thing - Who is invisibly present in the Church. If we want to learn to love Christ the Savior, then we must understand that worship is glorification, the correct glorification of God. And if this is so, then how can you not love a church service? Because the church service expresses our calling: the calling of Christians to love God, the calling of Christians to open their hearts to God and, finally, the calling of Christians to praise God. This is best expressed in worship. A person begins to go to church for services, and gradually the service begins to open up for him.
- And then he can bring his friends with him and explain to them what is happening, because at first, of course, it’s a little difficult...
– It’s difficult, but any good deed requires effort, albeit small, but feat.
– As for our daily life, it often happens that a person has become a disciple of Christ, joined the church, but around him (maybe even his closest family members) people are completely unbelievers or even perceive his “new strangeness” (many might say so) in a very in a negative way. How should such a person behave with his neighbors?
– Of course, it’s a difficult situation when your loved ones don’t understand you and don’t accept you. But this does not make them cease to be close to us and our family, so the Christian’s job is to humbly pray for such people and have the hope that patience and work will grind everything down.
- As for love...
– Love is something we only strive for, because if we loved as we should, in full, we would be saints, but since this does not happen, accordingly, we are still only on the way. Will learn.
“There are such difficult situations today when a believing young man or girl can break off relations with the people they loved because they are unbelievers. How to be here? Is it worth doing this? Is this love?
- Don't know. And what do you think? It seems to me that I’m older than you, let me ask you about this. You are younger, so you tell me: is it worth breaking off such a relationship?
- I think no. This is, of course, a very big temptation.
“But if people are thinking about starting a family, then it is very difficult for a believer to live with an unbeliever. After all, faith is a fundamental question. Therefore, I do not have an answer to your question. Do you have a fiancee, Mikhail?
– I’ll tell you later, after the broadcast. By the way, the Apostle Paul has an answer to this question.
- The Apostle speaks about when this is already a given, when an unbeliever lives with a believing wife: “And how can you know whether you will not save an unbelieving husband?” But this is already a given.
– So that the marriage does not fall apart, he supports it in this way.
Today there is a lot of literature on offer about faith, how to enter the Church, and so on. But, of course, the first and main book is the Gospel. It is clear that the Gospel should be a reference book for a Christian, but where to start: what should be a reference book in a reference book? Maybe some kind of separate one and the first? Or should it be your own, individual choice?
– I think you answered. People are different, and different people are fascinated by different things, different aspects of the Christian life. For example, I have always been very interested in reading interpretations of the Gospel. But you, for example, may be interested in reading more about the lives of saints. Some people are interested in reading about the history of the Church. Everything that inspires us, that pushes us to move forward, can only be welcomed.
It would be nice, dear Mikhail, if my books became your reference books, it would just be a human pleasure for me. But I'm kidding, of course.
– In fact, it is so. Since you have books about Orthodox worship, and I study liturgics, I, of course, use yours too. Thank you!
- Thank you!
– As for board books...
– But, for example, the book of Abba Dorotheos is a reference book for a Christian? Certainly. “The Invisible Warfare” by Nicodemus the Svyatogorets – a reference book? Works of Paisius Svyatogorets? Certainly. This is something that can be re-read. And every time you discover something new, every time you get inspired.
– I agree with you. Father Mikhail, many today are falling ill with some kind of melancholy, despondency and satiety...
- Is it true? I didn't notice. But I will know. It seems to me that our life is not very easy, so what kind of satiety is there?
– It happens that this also applies to Christians: and they are caught in this snare of melancholy, despondency, sadness...
- The holy righteous Alexy Mechev said: “He who does not work is not worthy of the title of man.” We must force ourselves to work on all levels: physical, mental, spiritual. And if this is not done, then, of course, a person will first fall into laziness, then into melancholy, then into despondency.
– A friend of mine once asked me a question, I would like to address it to you, since it was very difficult for me to answer it. He said: “Here we have a commandment: love your neighbor as yourself. Neighbor is the one who is nearby. All people are our neighbors, because we are all creatures of God. But I can’t go beyond my immediate family circle: I have a father, a mother, for example, a grandmother, and I love them. And I can't love the rest. How can I learn this today?”
– It seems to me that the question is absolutely correct and the person evaluates himself absolutely soberly. Indeed, our strength is very small. May God at least love your dearest ones correctly. Of course, a person treats the people around him differently in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. You begin to treat people completely differently when you have your own children. This is a matter of maturity, growing up. I don't have an answer for your friend, let's leave all this for now. But it is very correct when a person evaluates himself realistically. Because many people set high standards for themselves, which they do not achieve at all, but they think that they live up to their choice.
– I would also like to ask about these levels, because often students of the Theological Academy also ask this question. When a person decides to change, he can really set himself a very high bar...
– In our youth, we probably need to set such goals for ourselves, even if they are unattainable, but they really encourage us to change our lives.
– But sometimes it turns out like this: a jump and...
– We live, grow up and gain experience that we very little correspond to what is required of us. And this makes us gradually humble ourselves and set real goals for ourselves.
– It’s not always so easy, because you want to soar...
– In your youth you need to be passionate and alive. This, of course, will lead to mistakes, but we learn from mistakes.
– Let me return to the previous question: many people are interested in how a priest cultivates love for people.
- Hardly. Because sometimes it seems to us that people do everything in their power not to be loved. Still, the priest must understand: what he does exceeds his weak strength. Therefore, all we can say in the end is: “Lord, forgive us sinners! Lord, help us! Because a person on his own is not able to change, a person on his own cannot do anything spiritually. But the Lord says: “Without Me you can do nothing,” that is, everything is possible with God. And so to open your heart to God, to let God into your life, to cleave to God - this is the task of both the priest and every believer. And then, indeed, what we cannot do due to our weakness will be done by God’s mercy, God’s grace. Little by little.
– Today’s time is often called a self-centered time...
– Of course, young people are sitting in a cafe, everyone has a mobile phone and everyone is looking at its screen. This is a familiar picture to everyone, right?
- Yes, this is a big problem. But people have already paid attention to this, and there are even centers and parks where a person must hand over his mobile phone at the entrance...
- How good!
- That's for sure. As for self-centeredness... After all, the Lord calls us not just to renounce our “I”...
– In order to find our true self, we must renounce what is not from God in us, what is superfluous in us. That is, indeed, by giving up ourselves, we find ourselves. By infringing on ourselves, by cutting back on something, we gain some kind of freedom.
– As they say: ours is only what we give.
– Yes, these are the words of St. Maximus the Confessor: what you gave is yours. Of course, we still need to grow to this point.
“Probably everyone who has ever done a really good deed, not only exalted themselves, but experienced exactly that joy...
– Let me tell you a funny story about this. One boy at school states: “And my dad says it’s better to give than to receive.” - “Your dad is probably a priest?” - “No, boxer.”
Giving, of course, is good, because when we give, we again fulfill our Christian destiny - to be people who bring joy.
– If we summarize our meeting today, then let’s try to paint some image of a Christian of the 21st century.
– Dear Mikhail, you are a graduate of the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary. For me, you are such a young man who lives in our wonderful city in the 21st century, works on an Orthodox TV channel, and continues to study at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. For me, you are such a wonderful example of a young man who realizes the most important thing - his Christian freedom.
– Thank you, Father Mikhail. And for me (I think, and for all our TV viewers) you are the image of a priest, a servant of God. Not everyone can be a priest, but everyone should strive to be the same...
– The Apostle says that all Christians are the royal priesthood. That is, all Christians are called to communion with God. In this regard, we all have such a wonderful calling - to serve God, to glorify God.
– Whoever is called to what, let him serve in that. Father Mikhail, what would you like to wish our TV viewers today?
– We have already said today that the calling of a Christian is to pray, rejoice, and give thanks. I wish all our dear TV viewers that there is joy in life, gratitude to God and fervent prayer to God.
– Thank you very much, Father Mikhail, for today’s very interesting conversation.
The action of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian. Conversations with the priest
Conversations with the priest. Spiritual health
Gratitude
A Philadelphian of our time confesses: “First of all, I thank the Lord for everything that happens in life. I read a prayer of thanks, akathist “Glory to God for everything.” This helps me understand and accept all events in my life as a manifestation of Divine love. I often lack someone to talk to, and then I understand the value of prayer as an opportunity to talk with the Lord.”
Faith in a big city is a victory over loneliness, over fear and weakness. Christians in a metropolis can be the guardians of the Tradition of faith and church life. You must always be in Church, remember that you are a Christian. This means being faithful to Jesus Crucified in soul and body.
Priest Andrey Gavrilenko
