By Father
Andrew Lemeshonok
We came to the
church to escape from captivity, from the hollow and darkness and to start a
new life. This is where everything will be with God: our health problems (instead we rely on doctors, prescriptions and medical procedures), our salary (for we constantly want to know about the exchange rate) as well as all our relationships (does he really love me? Will he
accept me or will he drive me away?) – all these things will seem childish and miniscule to us if we enter a different life. If there is the grace of the Holy Spirit in
you, if there is love of Christ in you, if you have compassion for any living thing,
especially for God’s creations, if you feel you are thankful, then what else do you
need? Which relationships? What do you expect? The fullness of life is within
you, for you have found God, you bowed down to Him, you serve him and you put your
life in His hands because you are ready to trust Him until the end. The sin
will disrupt you: look here, look there, what will tomorrow bring when get old and what pension will you get...
Even though we are all just small grains of sand in the universe which is in God’s hands, we still do not trust Him: “You did not give me enough. You removed me from something, and I lost something…” We act childlike trying to organize our world on our own, trying to be the architect Himself. This is wrong! A person lives like this and when the moment of truth comes, he says: “My whole life was meaningless…”
Even though we are all just small grains of sand in the universe which is in God’s hands, we still do not trust Him: “You did not give me enough. You removed me from something, and I lost something…” We act childlike trying to organize our world on our own, trying to be the architect Himself. This is wrong! A person lives like this and when the moment of truth comes, he says: “My whole life was meaningless…”
This is why
today we need to start changing something. Otherwise, God can tell us: “I have told
you! I came into the world for your sake! You have been forgiven a million times, you have
confessed…” We have necessary food, we just need to accept it, to perceive it.
In this case, there will be no questions left. It was Hamlet, who wavered: “To be or not to be? That is the question”. But to us the answer is
clear – to be!
Christ
defeated death, what else do you need? Why are we getting confused out of
nothing? We know everything we need to know in advance: today we are here, on
the earth, but tomorrow we will go to heaven. We need to prepare for this moment. But time is on going. It seems
that yesterday we celebrated the Forgiveness Sunday, then the Great Lent ended,
then Pascha, Ascension of the Lord – and we are going to celebrate the Nativity
of Christ again. The trees are blossoming now, but I see that the leaves have
fallen down already. What temporary thing are you going to take hold of?
Christ
defeated death, what else do you need? Why are we getting confused out of
nothing? We know everything we need to know in advance: today we are here, on
the earth, but tomorrow we will go to heaven. We need to prepare for this moment. But time is on going. It seems
that yesterday we celebrated the Forgiveness Sunday, then the Great Lent ended,
then Pascha, Ascension of the Lord – and we are going to celebrate the Nativity
of Christ again. The trees are blossoming now, but I see that the leaves have
fallen down already. What temporary thing are you going to take hold of?
This is why we
need to understand simple ideas: we need to serve God and our neighbors. Do
your best, try to find an opportunity to serve. These are your spiritual savings. This
is the very way to attain the Holy Spirit, which every person needs to enter the
Kingdom the Heaven.
May 29, 2017
St. Elisabeth Convent
CONVERSATION