1. Слово на новый год

Reflections on time and the temporal. The Lord, who bears the universe by His power, bears us. At this moment, God holds us in His right hand over the abyss of nothingness. Let us keep ourselves pure. Our future is in God's hands So another year has passed - and a new summer enters the succession of passing years, to pass away like all the others. Day is continually added to day, month to month, year to year, and the multiplication of time shortens time. The river of time flows continuously and quickly and rushes to the line beyond which there will be no more time. But we are not standing on the banks of this river, so as to be only outside spectators of its flow. No, but along it, or together with it and in it, we ourselves are drawn along the same path of temporary changes towards our end. Therefore, thinking about time is not alien to us; it touches on a very significant feature in our temporary life, and if at any time it can occupy us, then all the more inevitably it must occupy us now, when we gather in churches to pray to the Lord Almighty for the sanctification and blessing of the new summer. Living in time, we know a lot about time: we know that time is fleeting, that it must be treasured, that lost time can no longer be recovered, that the period of time given to us is short, and what must be accomplished during its continuation has an eternal price, that time is only for a while and over time everything must give way to eternity. But what is temporary itself? How does that happen in time? Continuous changes are before our eyes, and from our lips we constantly hear: now, yesterday, tomorrow; but what is the value of what is now, or this hour? Where did what happened yesterday or an hour go? Where will what will happen tomorrow or in an hour come from? Do not think, pious listeners, that the spirit of idle inquisitiveness raises such questions. No. They lead us to very important truths - truths that should guide us in the use of the time given to us and govern our entire life. Therefore, having decided to briefly answer these questions in this conversation with you, I do not think of deviating from the purpose of the conversations offered from this sacred place. So, 1. What is the value of what is now, or this hour? We are in the habit of expanding our existence, as well as the existence of the whole world, in space and time, we see ourselves and all other things far in the past and extend our gaze far into the future. Meanwhile, our actual existence is one moment, like one thin strip of light in the thick darkness of the night. And there is no affirmation (support) under us. And yet we stand, like the whole world, showing a certain constancy, a certain firmness. Who keeps us in this abyss of insignificance (non-existence)? Who prevents the nothingness around us from consuming us? Who, by taking away reality from the past, preserves existence for the present and, by bringing into the future, which does not exist, brings into existence? Everyone has a ready answer to this. He who created us, in whom is the source of all being, who contains and lives everything. Thus, brethren, we believe that nothing can happen for even one minute without the action of the almighty power of God within it; but let us not forget to add to this that it is impossible to be - not only this big world, but by name every thing, by name to each of us. When pronouncing the word - Almighty, others are accustomed to think that He only holds the world, while we are held by the world. No, the world will not help us: it itself does not have firmness in itself, it is all like a drop from a tub, or “a guard on the balance” (“arrow on the scales” (Wisdom 11, 23)). It is in vain that they think highly about the world and its laws, about nature and its forces, as if there is something inviolable, indisputable, indestructible in them - and under the guise of science they invent idolatry for themselves, which is more fatal than the mythological idolatry of the ancient Greeks. No, brethren, the life of each of us is maintained not by the laws and forces of nature, but by the power of God acting in us. The Lord, who bears all things (the universe) with the verb of his power, also bears each of us with the verb of his power. Let us confirm this thought in our minds and imprint it on our hearts. The all-effective power of God carries us over the abyss of nothingness—and we live, move, and are. He will take away his spirit, withdraw his hand, and we will disappear and will not be remembered by anyone (anymore) alive. But if the Lord holds us, then he touches us. He doesn’t just see us mentally; no, it touches us like a hand to a hand or air to a body. Comforting and scary! It is comforting to feel that not far from us is the existence of the All-Good Father and Provider, the always ready Attendant of our petitions and prayers, willing and able to help. It is terrifying to feel such closeness of the Pure to the unclean, the Good to the evil, the Generous to the stingy, the Meek to the proud, the Judge to the sinner. Is it not because the remembrance of God and His closeness to us is avoided in every possible way because the thought of His closeness is incompatible with impurity of the heart? But it exists, and our crafty oblivion will not eliminate reality. Yes, our God is fire, consuming everything unclean and sinful. And He is always nearby, and there is nowhere to run away from Him. This gnawing of conscience, which torments us for sin, is the touch of the All-Holy God to us, is His word: stop, repent. And there is nowhere to hide so as not to hear this voice. The only refuge is repentance. And there will be no peace until there is repentance. So, God, who holds us, touches us: either be clean or repent. Here's a lesson from the present! 2. Turning to the past, we ask: where did our past go? Where is what happened in a year, in a day, in an hour? - Seems to be swallowed up by nothingness. What was is no longer there: our deeds and words are gone, there are no sorrows and joys, there is nothing that was in our soul and in our heart. And we ourselves are not there. It seems so. And how someone else would rejoice if much of what was felt, loved, planned and carried out disappeared forever and was never remembered! But no, nothing disappears, nothing turns into nothing: neither a thought, nor a word, nor a desire, nor a deed, just as the sap is intact, particle by particle, forming a tree. Let something else be forgotten, slipped from memory, but it is still there, intact, not lost, stored. Our life is like a ball of threads. The threads are wound layer by layer and form a ball: only the top layer is visible, but the rest are all intact, only covered. So it is with us: deeds are added to deeds, thoughts to thoughts, feelings to feelings, and form us ourselves, our soul in the form it now is. Only recent deeds and those that can no longer be covered up are remembered, but all other deeds have not disappeared, but exist, only hidden inside the heart and conscience. Unwind the ball and you will see all the threads in the same form as they were wound. So there will be a time when everything hidden inside us will open up, come out and be obvious to us and to everyone. You know what time it is! How joyful it will be for those who have nothing in themselves except pure and godly deeds. They will rejoice as one who has found a treasure hidden in his village rejoices, or as a rich man rejoices when he lays out in front of everyone the expensive things that were hitherto hidden in his treasuries. But another would not even want to look at much of what would then be revealed from himself, he would not want to look, but he would look and be tormented, others would see it too - God, Angels, saints, and they would increase his torment and torment. I would like to turn my eyes away from myself, but not turn them away, I would like to run away and hide, but where will you run and where will you hide from yourself? He will cry: Mountains, fall on me and cover me from the face of Him who sits on the throne; but the mountains will not fall and cover it! What should we do? - Do not allow anything unclean and sinful into yourself, set a standard for your eyes, lips, hands and feet and what corresponds to them in the soul - thoughts, feelings and desires, so that the treasury of our being (heart and conscience) that consists of them is always pure, bright and God-loving - to our delight on that day. For if not a single action of ours is wasted, if every thought, every feeling, every word and deed, look, everything, down to the slightest movement, leaves its trace in us, remains in us and together with us will appear at the universal judgment in our justification or condemnation, then judge for yourself whether it is prudent to allow something inside yourself that you would then like to tear out, but it will be too late. Who pours poison into his veins with his own hands, or heaps coals of fire on his own head? – Let us remember that our life is not a joke, and nothing in life should be a joke, for everything in it has an eternal price. But what to do with the bad things that have already happened? – If, through frivolity, negligence, enthusiasm and passion, something bad has already been allowed into our life, let us take care in advance to avert the extreme into which it will put us at the hour of revelation of all our affairs. What has been done has already been done, and what is done bad will remain bad forever, and there is no way to do it good. There is only a means to blot out a bad deed and blot it out so that it will never again be remembered among human deeds. The remedy is repentance. It only blots out sins, and will not be remembered by anyone (in the future). Let us wash ourselves with tears of repentance and be clean, and we will appear clean at the judgment of God. Thus, nothing that is transitory perishes, but remains in us forever: therefore, either do not allow anything unclean, or, if you have already allowed it, take care to blot it out with repentance. Here is a lesson from the past. 3. Finally turning to the future, we ask: what will happen to us ahead? What does the future hold for us? The most interesting question. But no created mind can answer this for us. We can say what will happen from this or that seed, but we cannot say what will happen to this or that person, although his future, as from a seed, is revealed from him, from what he is now. We cannot say, for the arrangement of his fate includes, on the one hand, his own freedom, which cannot be subordinated to correct calculation, and on the other, the actions of God’s Providence, all-free and independent, although always just and all-good. That is why we almost constantly see transformations incomprehensible to us both in the fate and in the characters of people: the good fall, the bad rise; the rich gets poorer, the poor gets richer; the glorious one is dishonored, the unknown one rises in glory - and all this in ways unknown to us, so that no one can guess what the future has in store for him. All our consolation and tranquility is in God, in the fact that our God is infinite love, is our God, and we are His children, and wants only good for us, and not only wants, but also arranges everything so that we taste this good, and brings His very providential arrangements into fulfillment. He embraces us with his care, seeks us with his blessings, and fills us with all goodness. The mother will forget the child, but the Lord will not forget us. Isn't this fame enough? Is it not clear to the eye of faith that everything that happens to us, coming from the hand of the Lord, will be for our good? Let us not know definitively what will happen to us in the future, but knowing one thing, that what pleases God will happen to us, we are confident that only good will happen to us. And isn’t it better, instead of any desire to determine our future, to desire one thing, that what God wants would happen to us, and to pray for one thing: Thy will, O Lord, be upon us! – This is the most reliable guiding light in the darkness of the future, a rein for our vague desires, empty fears and bleak hopelessness! He who grasps this cat (having taken hold of this “anchor” (Heb. 6:19)) of hope, even in the shadow of death, will not fear evil, and will face all sorrow without fear, believing that it comes from God’s love for us for our purification, as a fiery step to perfection in the Christian life. We can say that the life of a devotee flows unerringly into the will of God. How the Lord leads him by the hand to his destiny and calms him with his love. Is it not because most of the sorrows that befall us are because we lack this devotion, because, contrary to the will of God, we bring our own will into the arrangement of our fate and undertake to act ourselves, when everything should be left to God’s arrangement. We pre-empt when we should have waited, or we wait when we should have acted, we make mistakes out of frivolity and, out of unkindness, we choose the wrong path in life. True, God has an abyss of goodness, and He often deigns to graciously correct our mistakes, but sometimes we take a step that cannot be corrected except with painful fractures. Here comes the sorrow! But who is to blame? On the other hand, why do sorrows come to us? - A sin for our sake. So, let us leave sin - and there will be no sorrows and troubles to punish it. Yes, brothers, King Hezekiah is on his painful deathbed. The Prophet comes and on behalf of God announces to him the definition of death. But Hezekiah, turning to the wall, prayed tearfully, and God changed his definition. Nineveh is predicted to fall; but the people in sackcloth and ashes brought repentance - and God’s decree was canceled. Do you see the power of repentant turning to God? Do you see this equalizer of our life’s path, turning the stubborn into the right and the sharp into smooth paths? Do you see this water that extinguishes the fire of God’s wrathful judgments? Therefore, if doubt arises whether there is some terrible decree of God about us and our fate, let us sigh and fall to Him in repentance, and the storm will pass. Or better... since we do not know the judgments of God, we will continually sigh, cry and repent for our sins and thereby avert all kinds of sorrows. Do not think that apparent causes are the true causes of what happens to us and around us. No. Everything is controlled by the invisible beckons of God, and these beckons are always in direct correspondence with the movements of human hearts. God acts on us according to how we behave in relation to Him. If we don’t repent, he punishes; if we repent, he has mercy. Here the key to explaining upheavals and changes is not in our private life alone! God will not despise a contrite and humble heart. Thus, the entire future is in the hands of God: therefore, either walk in devotion to God blamelessly in His will, or hasten through repentance to avert the threatening decree of His judgments. Here's a lesson from the future. Let us now briefly repeat all the instructions offered to us on behalf of time! - At the present moment, God holds us in His right hand over the abyss of insignificance and touches us with His power: let us either keep ourselves pure, as He is pure, or cleanse ourselves by repentance, if we have already committed something unclean. Not a single action of ours, becoming past, passes away, but remains in our being and together with us, while in ourselves it will one day appear for judgment in our justification or condemnation; Let us take care not to allow anything unclean into ourselves, which in the hour of judgment could put us in a difficult situation from which we will no longer be able to extricate ourselves, or if something reproachful has already been admitted, we will hasten to blot it out with repentance. Our future is all in the hands of God; So, walking unswervingly in His commandments, let us surrender ourselves entirely to His Fatherly guidance; To avert the punitive visits of God, let us precede His presence with confession of sins and sincere repentance for them. So there is one lesson from everywhere - a lesson of purity and repentance. And what other instruction can one expect from time, when the purpose of time itself is repentance? We were created to live in paradise. But they sinned and were banished to this sorrowful land. For what? - To bring repentance. Our life on earth is penance. And what is characteristic of the one who bears penance? - Complain, lament and cry about your sins. Amen. You might be interested in: